Battered prawns with pasta salad and leaves

Another day of doing more than I really wanted.

Mum woke up with a headache and stomach ache, as usual, and tearfully called me several times until I gave her painkillers and reassured her that this is nothing new and it always wears off.

An electrician came and fixed our wall light, finding the pull-cord tangled up inside the fitting. The fix took less than five minutes and cost £60, which I have to remind myself is not the cost of the repair but the cost of the training and experience required to make the repair in five minutes.

Once the electrician had headed back out into the wind and rain, mum emerged from her bedroom feeling rather better, giving a clear indication of how much impact her anxiety has on her pain levels.

This afternoon our cleaner, ‘Lil’, came round and did her routine cleaning, then cleared space in the conservatory for a new heated clothes airer. I ordered said heated clothes airer.

Then she helped get our Christmas decorations down from the loft, although mum surprised herself by volunteering to be the one to climb the ladder and fetch the boxes. Sadly one of the storage bags had been up there so long the plastic had perished and it split, sending glitter all over the freshly vacuumed carpet.

Lil vacuumed again, but every time I walk through the living room door all I can see is a sea of glitter, which we will be finding in and on everything for as long as we live. ✨️✨️✨️

By this time I was too weary to put up the tree or any of the bigger decorations, but the lighted candle arch is up and switched on. The tree will go up over the next few days, followed by the door wreath and anything else I can find that hasn’t yet shed all its glitter onto the carpet.

Then I ordered Christmas presents for mum’s friends, as mum has made several meaningful comments about how she can’t cope with such things anymore. I hope her friends like what I chose: I’ve been told before that I’m a good gift-giver, so I hope I’ve picked things they’ll like. (I’m not saying what I’ve got them just in case any of them read this: I don’t want to spoil the surprise!)

Then I contacted the online retailer I ordered some Christmassy bedding from only to watch it sitting, unmoving, in the courier’s warehouse ever since. At least know the one for mum’s bed will be a nice surprise, as there’s no way she’ll remember choosing it after all this time.

Then I cooked dinner – by which I mean I threw some ready-prepared prawns on a baking tray and put it in the oven. The prawns were Birdseye lemon and parsley, and were really very good: can recommend. (And they had enough real lemon in them to make my mouth and throat itch, which I guess is good?)

This evening mum asked if anyone would be coming to sort out our slow-clearing drains, and I was able to tell her that someone is coming tomorrow. Mum expressed satisfaction that these people are turning up to fix things, seemingly unaware of my role in arranging it: in fact this afternoon she asked me if I knew how the electrician knew we needed him.

Who needs Father Christmas when you have a Cat to make presents – or at least home repair experts – appear out of thin air? It’s just a shame I can’t make glitter disappear the same way. ✨️