Garlic mushroom pasta

As always, the moment I woke up this morning mum wanted help with her headache.

I went to the loo – because some things just have to take priority – then got mum her painkillers. I sat on the edge of my bed to admire the rare sunny day and collect my thoughts, and mum called that her stomach was hurting. I got mum her stomach tablet, then sat on the edge of the bed to get dressed.

Before I could get anywhere with that, there was a knock at the door. Still in my nightdress, I went to answer the door and found a golden labrador there. She wagged her tail and licked my hand enthusiastically, and then I said hello to the human with her, who is the person mum’s friend wanted to set me up on a playdate with.

It’s quite nice hanging out with a fellow introvert, as she knew that, when I said I appreciated her bravery in knocking on our door, I really meant it.

We sat and chatted for a while, and the dog showed me how well she could sit and give her hooman a paw in exchange for a treat (she wasn’t asked to do so – she just knew it was a good way to get an extra treat!), and how she could turn herself into a canine pretzel to get belly rubs while her head and tail pointed in different directions.

I thought mum was ignoring us, but from her expression of surprise when she came into the living room and found two humans and a dog where she expected one human to be, she had been asleep and genuinely didn’t know we had company. I don’t think mum was very pleased – as far as she’s concerned, this is still her house and I’m just visiting, and don’t get to do things like having friends round – but she loves dogs as much as I do and was quite prepared to give doggo some more fuss.

Then my new friends headed back out into the sunshine, leaving a cloud of golden dog glitter behind them. Particularly on my trousers, from which even a generous application of sticky tape was unable to remove all the hair. Totally worth it, though.

This afternoon, with the rain once again sheeting down, mum’s friend again popped in for a cup of tea (which is why I have the chance to write this on my laptop rather than using my phone). Friend commented how nice it is that, despite her health problems, mum remains cheerful.

I may have given an involuntary snort at this point in the conversation.

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Dinner this evening was a Tesco side dish of roasted mushrooms in garlic cream sauce, which I just added to some cooked pasta. Mum greeted it with great enthusiasm, which is a relief because some days she loves mushrooms, and other days she hates them, and I never know what sort of day it’s going to be until I serve dinner.

Mum didn’t eat much of it, but enjoyed what she had. I would be more patient with her finicky appetite if she wasn’t now enjoying a large piece of cake, to be followed by the inevitable coffee ice cream.

And with fine hypocrisy I’m now also going to go and have something cake-like, because if you can’t beat ’em you might as well join ’em. 🍰