Poor Pa was unwell
today,his wrists, always painful, were swollen and inflamed and he
had not slept at all well. I decided that he should stay in bed and
have breakfast on a tray. Sunday breakfast of hot bacon rolls with a
glass of orange juice and a cup of tea is a nice easy meal to eat in
bed,no knives and forks you see.
We turned up the
heating to keep him snug and almost a s soon as he had finished
eating he fell asleep at last. My son was in his study keyboard
bashing and with Pa asleep it seemed a good time to strip down the
kitchen ready for the Christmas baking ,which will begin on Tuesday.
I am always amazed at
how quickly the kitchen can become disorganised with utensils put
away in the wrong places and counter tops littered with bits and
pieces that really belong in drawers I emptied the counters, cleaned
them thoroughly and then replaced everything logically. How long this
order will last when the boys have been in there for a couple of
hours is debatable, let me say that I would not bet money on it's
lasting even a day!
I have never understood
the mentality of a person who takes an item out of one drawer and
then returns it to a different one. Not do I understand why my
menfolk take a piece of equipment from a shelf or cupboard and then
when they have finished with it leave ornamenting the kitchen table,
or the window sill, the counter tops or God help me thee garden seat.
It is one of the universes unsolvable mysteries.
All I can say is that
after forty two years of trying to educate Pa in the intricacies of
putting things away tidily I have, for the sake of my sanity given up
this impossible task The only thing to do is let the boys enjoy there
chaos and be forbearing then tidy up fro time to time when they are
not around
Pa has the gift of
making a room untidy simply by passing through it. On entering the
drawing room the other day I found his coat draped over the back of
the sofa and a bag cardboard for the recycle bin on the floor.
In the study a load of
clean laundry was dumped in to a chair and the new load of washing
adorned the kitchen table. This chaos had been accomplished in the
forty five minutes it took me to attend a Doctors appointment. Quite
an achievement really I suppose.
Life is far too short
to argue about such matters but if I placed all the minutes and hours
I have spent over the years picking up after my untidy family it
would probably amount to several years, what a waste if precious
time!
With the kitchen
looking immaculate I prepared dinner, Pa decided to come down to eat
with us. His poor hands were still badly swollen and very painful so
I had made a cottage pie topped with cheese and served with diced
root vegetables and gravy...nothing to cut up.
Pa seldom complains
about his problems but I know how much he detests having his food cut
up for him when his arthritis is bad.
During the past year my
own hands have become similarly afflicted and this is making things
difficult. Still there is always a way around these problems,and I am
acquiring a battery of devices specially designed for disabled cooks.
It has been a very cold
day and we were all glad to be indoors keeping warm and cosy,even the
cats showed no interest in going out of doors and judging by how
quite the village has been everyone else had the same thought. The
only sign of life was a lone tractor chugging up and down the bare
hill in front of our house spreading the fields with manure, a lonely
job I should think.
Looking out at the
bleak landscape it is difficult to believe that in a few short months
these same fields will be flushed with green as the wheat begins to
grow again.
Pa is tucked up safely
in bed again and soon I shall make hot cocoa all round and put the
fire to bed.
Most of the village in
already asleep. Tomorrow it is back to work or school for most of our
neighbours and there families and since I must be up early to let in
my cleaner I had better turn in myself, just one more game of
computer solitaire and then I have a date with my hot water bottle.
Good night...or good
morning... where ever you happen to be.
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