Mothering Sunday

Mothers!

 All Sundays are special in their way and I even remember the time when everything closed on a Sunday making it a really special day of the week. In the British calendar Mothering Sunday is two weeks before Easter Sunday, a day originally set aside for children in service to go home to visit their mothers. In other parts of the world this is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. As a well-travelled Mum I would like my children to remember me on both Mothering Sunday days - some hope! Only one of my children has remembered on Mothering Sunday at the time of writing that I'm their Mum.

I have still had a wonderful day despite being a bit forgotten. I went off to play tennis in a hurricane this morning. Any chance of the ball landing in was in the lap of the Gods! Then for lunch, Richard and Danielle invited me out to a bikers' cafe for a fry-up. Amazingly, the queue for greasy spoon type of food was enormous - such is the popularity of this place on the A5. One young woman arrived some time after us, saw the length of the queue and announced loudly how she was starving. I loudly suggested that this was probably hyperbole on her part and that there are many people in this world who really are starving. She must have left the line or fainted in a corner of the carpark as I did not see her after that. 

Hungry bunnies

The food was worth the wait. Ezra-Mae and Danielle had three gigantic sausages in a long bun covered in cheese with loads of sauce splattered over it, Richard had a massive burger, I had an omelette with black pudding and chips. Mattaya had a bit of everyone else's food. The girls dived in  - literally - we needed loads of napkins to clean up the girls who had food up to their elbows. Luckily, Danielle still has a doggy so the doggy bag will go to a good cause. Thank you for taking me there - I remain stuffed for the foreseeable future. 

Super Sausages!

As for doggies. Shadow gave me great cause for alarm on Saturday. She fell over in my kitchen and couldn't stand up properly. I sat on the floor with her and stroked her for the longest time. My plans to go out with her were scuppered. I thought this was it. Danielle turned up to pick her up and she wobbled downstairs to greet her. So it seems fifteen-year-old Shadow lives to fight another day albeit with a bit more of a wobble. 

My day isn't over yet. Nicolas will be coming round to visit with not-so-baby Phillip later on. Nicolas is from Lebanon and his wife Nata is from Ukraine. Both have family back in their homeland. On the list of countries that are suffering at this time, these two come pretty high up. My FB feeds reflect anti-Israeli and anti-Trump rhetoric. Beyond the noise and the gung ho banter, real people are dying or being displaced as the world plunges to great depths of idiocy. I can't help thinking that Israel will be illegally  occupying  ever more parts of the Middle East. Russia will benefit from this distraction and Trump will forget the excuses he first made for escalating the war. God help Us All.

And to my son, Sam... if you should read this, I am pleased you put in a late call to wish me a Happy Mothers' Day