Where DID those two weeks go? I had such a wonderful time. The weather wasn't fabulous, but we did get some nice days. The holiday got off to a shaky start because I was ill on the Sunday so didn't get the house as clean as I wanted, and then on the Monday morning we stood at the bus stop, getting more and more anxious before phoning the hotline number only to discover.... the bus to the airport doesn't stop there any more!!! Eeek! We only had just enough cash to get a taxi to the airport, and it was a rush to get to the gate on time. Thank goodness for online check-in, eh?
Luckily for us, it all went very smoothly after that. My brother, SIL and niece came to meet us at the airport and took us for lunch in Paris (thank you guys!) before we caught the train up to Caen where one of my sisters picked us up. It was so lovely to get to the seaside again, and to see my wonderful mum. Oh how I've missed her! She is doing SO well. She is practically back to normal. One of the big differences, that makes me and DD smile, is that she buys sweets now. She NEVER had sweets in the house before!
We read a lot, swam at the local outdoor (seawater) pool, went for drives, took lots of pictures on various beaches, and just chilled with my momma. I didn't even mind when it rained. Just to be there with her, enjoying her company when this time last year I thought every breath would be her last, well, it was just wonderful.
On Thursday I invited one of my mum's friends over so I could meet her at last. She is around the same age as me and she and her husband adopted two little Chinese girls. L, the oldest, was adopted first and she just adores my mum - when she ran the library L called it "Pat's House" because she thought she lived there LOL. The youngest, E, is a little livewire, afraid of nothing. Together they form quite a pair. I was anxious to get some pics of them, and from the display on the back of the camera I think I've done ok.... can't wait for them all to be downloaded, which is my biggest job to do today. Actually, I thought I'd lost them all earlier, and the battery died - but I think they are safe. Fingers crossed.
Last but not least, my OH surprised us by saying he was on his way to pick us up at Heathrow last night, so we got home in great style in his Merc. A great improvement on the no. 724 bus, ha ha!
Now my house looks like a bomb has hit it, with open suitcases on the floor downstairs - mine had a cat curled up on it this morning when I came downstairs. Talking of the cats, they are SO happy to see us. They looked a bit rough and wild when we first got home, as they are of the fluffy variety and hadn't been stroked for 2 weeks, let alone brushed. The lovely Em who feeds them says she doesn't even get to see them, as they hide when she comes in. They are very vocal today, and are enjoying digging their claws into our shoulders as they lounge across us, bless them! They have had a good grooming each, and have tucked into some canned food as a treat - I usually feed them Hills or Iams dry food, and now they are both cleaning themselves at my side. (They seem huge next to Kiko, Steph!)
So I really should get on with tidying up now. Thank goodness the sun is shining. For the moment. Oh, yes, and before I go, what a shock I had when I looked out the back window to see they've lopped down a couple of trees in the cemetery that backs onto our garden! At least they've left the pine trees alone, and there are other trees out there, but our little bit of wall looks very bare compared to before! I'm sure it was necessary as the branches were right down low over our side of the wall, but I wasn't expecting it! I think the tree will "sprout" again, because some of the thick branches are much smoother than the trunk. Can you tell I'm no tree surgeon?
Right, well I'll update with photos when I've had a chance to resize and upload some.