Back again.

Here I am again! It's been a long eleven days or so. Thank you for all the kind messages...they were greatly appreciated.

We had the funeral on Monday and it went very well. I know there's isn't such a thing as a "good" funeral but it was exactly what my mum would have wanted, with the right songs and flowers and the small group of her surviving relatives there. Because it was such a small funeral (18 of us) the minister made a very personal address, with a lot of people mentioned by name. It was the same chapel we used for my father's funeral, thirty five years ago, and she had the same flowers as in her wedding bouquet. And then we all went back to a local hotel and had tea and buns and sarnies and a good gossip with all the cousins we hadn't seen since the last funeral. Which my mum would have enjoyed hugely, alas. So I think we did her well.

However it's been a fairly exhausting period, with the arrangements to be made and her affairs to be brought into order. I do have an older sister and we shared the tasks but there was still a lot to do. Plus, just to add to the gaiety of the week Lad got a real wallop at rugby practice last week (huge bruise on cheekbone, massive keeker and two skinned and badly bruised knees, Princess went down with the lurgy of the moment and then just in time for the funeral she passed it onto her brother. So he was standing there drugged to the eyeballs with ibuprofen and paracetamol, chalk white with two huge greening bruises on his face, trying not to cough too much. He couldn't even face the buns and sarnies afterwards, so he had to be feeling rough!

He's still off school, come to think of it. And he's given the wretched bug to me now. *koff koff* It has not been a good couple of weeks, really.

Must do a craft update sometime though. I haven't done much knitting (half a sock) but I did get to spinning group a couple of times, just to take my mind off things and destress a little.

My Mum.

My mother died today. She was 83 and though she had an ongoing heart condition that we knew was going to cause trouble "one day", she was still going out and about and getting on with her life. Until yesterday afternoon when she was out shopping on the High Street, tripped, fell and broke her hip. Even then she was quite positive about the whole thing and the doctors at the New Royal were going to operate to fix the hip this afternoon or tomorrow. Except quite unexpectedly, after morning ward rounds and as her op was being arranged, she went into cardiac arrest and died almost instantly. Boom. I was actually on the phone to the ward asking about the scheduling of the op as the crash team went in. My sister and I went rushing in to the hospital immediately but we were far too late of course. Not unexpected, given the poor condition of her heart valve, but a bit of a shock nevertheless.

Isn't it amazing how just as you think you're going into a quiet and peaceful patch for a couple of months, life can turn round and bite you on the bum? Poor Mum. She would have been 84 on Tuesday.

The Mom Song.

The kids didn't really get it, but I thought this was hysterical...

Palz.

I bought a cheapo little cat bed in the sales. There was only one but I thought the boys would probably ignore it so wasn't too bothered. Wrong. It has become No1 Primo Top Spot in the house to lie in, especially since it's placed on top of where the central heating pipes run. And under the clothes airer. There is always a cat in it. Always. They take turns.

Except tonight they were both in it. They don't usually sleep together so this is a first. Aren't they cute? They are closer than Theo and Missy ever were, and Theo and Missy were littermates. They are palz.

Happy New Year.

Happy New Year to you all.

I hope it's a good one. There was nothing much wrong with 2008, but it was a bit mediocre to be honest and marred with a non-stop series of grotty little niggles. I want 2009 to be a year where we can get on with a few things, you know? A positive year, rather than just blah....

It got off to a bit of a blah start though. Lad has had that rather icky gastro bug for the last few days and has not strayed far from a loo. Then last night Princess started throwing up...she's stopped now but is still feeling rather grey. Then at about two hours into the new year I was struck down with my version of presumably the same tummy bug, but with the best...or worst...of both varients, argh. It was not a pleasant way to kick off a new year!

So today we are all having a quiet day Chez Fishwife. I was planning to pay the ritual New Year's Day visit to the allotment, but as the plumbing up there is merely a bucket I thought it best not to. Instead I have been wandering around with bleach, disinfectant and doing laundry on boil in an effort to stop this bug in its tracks. Joy...

Hope your celebrations were a bit more fun!