Mary came by 9:45 bearing gifts for us! A blue polka-dot plastic bag for me, great for shopping, toting, etc. A lady in her church makes them. She also brought 2 little bags for the kids, so adorable, from the same lady; and inside a little doll made out of 'flannel' (wash cloth) and a little sachet with lavender inside. Mary also went and got me a vegetable peeler that she mentioned to me on Monday - so thoughtful and quick!
David and Schaeffer set out around 10:30 or so for John Lewis to collect the new buggy! Yeah! Adelaide wanted some "mommy time" and wasn't so big on leaving quickly - so we kind of took our time getting ready, did a puzzle, etc. Good thing, because as we were about halfway down our street, I noticed a lorry (truck) back near our house, knocking at the door and then getting on his cell. SO GLAD I took a leisurely morning and that I turned around, because he was indeed at our house, come to fix the dishwasher! Turns out it was only a nob below the sink that needed to go left instead of up. Ha! Good for him! I asked him a few other questions around the house and thankfully he was very understanding and thorough with me. The British seem to be very thorough, precautionary, and of course energy efficient. Labels on foods remind you to save energy here and there, and even the coffee bag says, "Remember, only boil as much water as you need."
Met David at our agreed spot (will be thankful when we get 2 cell phones, as well as 2 sets of keys!), got crepes for lunch (my favorite spot 3 years ago, so very glad there was still a stand in the same spot! The girl from Hungary was very chatty; the girl from Britain was not) and ate them at the Round Church. Then popped in to meet Annie, I think like the administrative assistant who takes off today for 2 weeks since she's getting married on Monday. Adelaide was interested in the displays and what they said and what the pictures were about - so we talked over dinner about taking her back and reading more about it all. She liked that idea.
I took kids back for naps; David stayed in town since he had a mtg. with Martin and Ian in an hour at 2:30. The new buggy is so wonderful to push! Schaeffer was about asleep when we got home. Adelaide wanted some time to play before rest time. She helped me put the wash on the line to dry (thankfully a little sun today), and then we worked on a puzzle. She told me she missed our house back in Montgomery, and were we ever going to go there again? Would she ever be in her bedroom with her bed again? I responded that I don't know, only God knows, and encouraged her to keep talking because I like knowing what she thinks about all the change lately. She said it's easy and it's hard, it makes her angry and frustrated. I thought that was pretty big for a 4.5 year old to verbalize! She missed her bed and her mirror. It all brought tears to my eyes, for her and just the reality that this is hard in some ways. I was very glad for the time with her.
But then we were on to a tea party, or rather a juice party since we don't have her tea-set yet and I don't have herbal pink (raspberry) tea for her yet. Ti-Ti and Lovie joined us and sat there with their cups at the table. Then she went on to her nap. I rested and started a new book, since I just finished my other novel last night - so sad to end a book! But the one I started today is Susan Schaeffer Macaulay's "For the Children's Sake" and is very interesting!
Schaeffer woke up first, so we had some time outside looking for snails and found a hand shovel in the garden which brought him some digging pleasure. Then Addie up around 4:30. I wanted to take them to a park, but it didn't seem like there is one close-by. We set out about 5:15 for the Botanical Gardens, just a block away. I got a brochure and a form to join for 45 pounds for the 2 of us per year (kids are free); so I'll do that when we have our HSBC debit card. Then decided to let Schaeffer out on our street and walk around our block; he loved running along side! I had seen a little playground yesterday while looking out the back loft windows with Adelaide; so wanted to see if it was somewhere we could go, although I was doubtful since it wasn't marked on the map. We tried 3 entrances on 3 different streets, but no luck.
But coming up the street to Mills Road, who should round the corner just at the same time as us but David! How convenient, esp. because he was heading home and we had the key, and no cell phone to communicate otherwise (or even tape to leave a note on the door!). He took kids home, and I popped into the Co-op for some groceries. Home, dinner, play, clean-up, devotions, read. A later night than hoped for, but down by 9:20. Schaeffer's in the single bed and seemed excited about that, once he realized his paccy was NOT in the cot like he thought and cried about as David was folding it up.
I mopped kitchen floor, which should actually probably be bleached a few times - but at least better than before. Writing, reading and typing now.
1 comment:
Good to hear from you. Just posted a few pics of you guys during that last week.
Post a Comment