Chicken, veg, potato gratin; blueberry muffin

With everything that had been going on recently, yesterday I forgot to take my afternoon dose of painkillers, and paid for it with a night of fiery feet. I was therefore not best pleased when I was woken up by mum asking about her painkillers, then again by one of the church ladies coming to ask if mum wanted to go to church, then by mum asking something I can’t remember because I was already falling asleep again, and finally by my brother-in-law phoning to say hello.

With sleep deprivation added into the mix, today has been a difficult one, with mum and I taking terms to snap at each other then apologise for being grumpy.

Not long after waking up, I noticed that the suet log hanging on the floral arch had once again been devoured by our resident jackdaws. I slowly and awkwardly hobbled out to hang up a new one, under the watchful eyes of a young blackbird at my feet (literally close enough to touch, if I was capable of bending down without falling: he needs to learn some caution, I feel), a jackdaw on the fence, and a magpie on next door’s roof. I’m going to have to set up a subscription for regular supplies of suet logs, as the new one is more than half gone already.

This afternoon I overrode mum’s objections to watch the film Inside Out: I have mentioned before, I think, that mum dislikes films, but she ended up watching most of this one with me. As the credits rolled, she said “well, that was quite sweet”, which… a compliment? About a film?! 😯

It actually proved useful when mum later had a brief bout of directionless tears: when she went into her negative self-talk routine (and now I know where I get it from), I reminded her that it was just the blue one taking charge, which got a slightly shaky laugh.

This afternoon groceries were delivered, including the much-anticipated toilet paper but, tragically, without coffee ice cream, which I thought I had ordered but apparently didn’t. With only three and a half tubs left, mum followed her meal of chicken, Mediterranean veg, and a potato gratin¹ (which I forgot to take a photo of, sorry) with a blueberry muffin and cream instead. And then ate the half-tub of coffee ice cream as well. (In the interests of full disclosure, I joined the ice cream party with half a tub of Haagen-Dazs salted caramel ice cream. It’s currently half price at Tesco, and very delicious indeed )

Tomorrow is the medical appointment which has sent mum spinning in anxiety spirals all day, asking me for reassurance that it will all be OK, then making fun of me when I do, then apologising fir making fun of me. (It’s been one of those days.) Wish us luck, please: I have a feeling we’re going to need it.

1. Last time I cooked the gratins, mum refused to eat her one as she “doesn’t like them”. By today she had either forgotten or changed her mind, as she ate one with the enthusiasm I think they deserve. ↩︎