Lamb shank, roast carrots, roast potatoes, green beans

Today was a slightly better day, thankfully. The only time I came close to letting my frustration boil over was just now, when I was utterly rapt, watching Hamza Yassin watching a bay full of wading birds¹, and mum decided she was bored and started playing music videos on her phone. 😠

Mum once again spent most of the morning lying in bed, getting up, deciding she felt too ill to be up, and going back to bed. Around lunchtime a friend popped round on her way home from church with a cute little gift bag which kids at the Sunday Club² had made for church members who were unable to attend church. I thought it was a lovely idea, but mum abandoned it on my bed without a second thought. I’m happy to rehome the biscuit, fruit teabag, and LED candle, but the little wooden cross and religious text are a bit wasted on this atheist.

Most of the time I can forget that I’m disabled, but sometimes it really hits me. One such time was when I went out to plant my saffron crocus bulbs today: I put on my shoes and jacket, picked up my crutches, grabbed the bag of bulbs, and manoeuvred my way down the step onto the patio.

Then I had to ask mum to bring the pot over and put it down in front of a garden chair, and move the bag of compost to where I could reach it without it being in my way. Once the bulbs were planted, we had to do it all again in reverse, then I had to get back into the house, somehow avoiding getting dirty marks everywhere from my muddy hands.

No wonder saffron is so expensive.

For dinner I cooked (or at least reheated) a slow-cooked lamb shank in mint gravy (meant as a meal for one, but there was plenty of meat on it for both of us). I chose it as one constant in mum’s fluctuating food tastes is that she likes lamb. I know this is the case as mum ate most of hers despite saying she wasn’t hungry – probably because during the afternoon she ate four slices of bun loaf with butter, two chocolate éclairs, and most of a ‘sharing’ bar of chocolate. 🙄

Now it’s Strictly (for mum), and writing this while listening to the wind and rain outside (for me). I’m glad I planted those bulbs in a terracotta pot, or they’d be in the Solent by morning. 😬

1. Hamza’s Wild Isles, on BBC 1 and iPlayer. Sorry if I sound like an advert, but I strongly recommend it. Wonderful wildlife, with a presenter who squeals and jumps up and down with excitement on seeing a kingfisher. ↩︎
2. What would have been called Sunday School when I was that age. ↩︎
3. Don’t worry, it’s just that the bulbs are shooting. (Mum’s joke not mine – I’m just glad she can still make jokes.) ↩︎