Tuesday 23rd of December - Daily Trials with Mother & Christmas

Tuesday 23rd of December - Daily Trials with Mother 

Well folks Christmas is creeping ever closer and though it has been just over a week since I last wrote I must admit Mum has been very quiet, well with me that is! I have to say I recognised the anger in my sister's voice as she spoke about the many ranting phone calls she has had from Mum this last week, either about the 'Crackerjacks' (Snacker-Jacks) Mum hadn't received with her shopping or the stamps that Mum so desperately needs before they go up on the 1st of January.  Anyone would think my Mum wrote a letter a day the way she was insistent that she needed the stamps now! and not on December 31st!!  

However today Gary and I popped round with Mums Christmas present, a bit early I know but I was feeling so lousy that Gary said probably best not to see what tomorrow brings health-wise otherwise we may never get her presents delivered.  I have to admit that seeing Mum once a week makes life a lot easier, less stressful but of course not easy for my sister.  However at the moment I am not fit enough to run around on Mum's errands.

In fact today I realised something, which it has only taken me nearly 63 years to know and that is that our Mum is not happy unless she is actually complaining about something!  Seriously, yesterday it was the fact that Morrison's had obviously got her shopping mixed up and delivered the wrong items, such as Duck Eggs that Mum never asked for and I forget what else.  As there were six wrong items it was obvious (to me) that someone had picked up the wrong order and mixed them up and someone is probably sat there without any Duck Eggs but several packets of Snackerjack Corned Crisp snacks!! Not really a fair swap. However the reason I say I realised today was because Mum handed me a letter to post addressed to Blackpool Coastal Housing in which she said she had complained about the neighbours feeding the pigeons and seagulls and wants the Council to do something about it!!  I mentioned that most of the council staff are on holiday now so it won't be attended to until the New Year and she replied "Well at least I feel better having reported it, you know you have to keep these people on their toes!!" A bizarre image of a Nazi officer sprang into my head punishing soldiers making them stand on their tip toes!! Thankfully I managed to stop myself from laughing as it was then that I realised all these years that is what Mum has been doing keeping my sisters and I on our toes while she has a fresh complaint each day!!   

Anyway have a Merry Little Christmas if you are reading this before Christmas, Mum is thankfully off to my sister Michelle's and no doubt she will have a tale or two to tell, my sister that is!!  In fairness it is my sister's turn this year and to be honest I wouldn't have been fit to cook for the three of us, so probably just as well.  Scott (our youngest son) is taking us over to Gavin and Louise's (our eldest son and his wife's home in Manchester) so we are looking forward to that.

I am sure there will be a few tales to tell after Christmas probably mainly about the little 'object d'art' that Mum usually gives one or the other of us, which usually gets put in odd places around the house to make others smile on the day.  I think one of the funniest items was a Bull that Mum had obviously bought in Benidorm and she thought it would make a lovely Christmas present.  Watch this space for more news .....

14th of December - Daily Trials with Mother & a Ducks Leg!

Monday 14th of December 2020 - Daily Trials with Mother

Well I know I haven't written my Blog since last Monday mainly because my concentration and brain off is not good, but apparently that's all to do with Long Covid! Hmmm However I must say I can tell it's getting close to Christmas as Mums daily phone calls have been ramping up, instead of our usual one daily chat, we are now up to five or six. 

Tuesday Mum was lamenting the fact that her neighbours were still not speaking to her or as she put it "Well I am still in Coventry!"  I wondered what on earth she was talking about, thinking she had actually packed her bags and gone, when I said "What on earth are you doing there?" Humph said Mum "For goodness sake I 'm not there, I mean my neighbours still aren't speaking to me !" Well what could I say? I decided to change the subject and said that I thought her decorations looked good when we called, to which Mum replied "Well Alison hasn't seen them!" Me - "Well no I don't expect she has seen them as she's in Norwich, have you thought of face timing her on Messenger? " Mum - "I can't work out what to do in my new tablet thingy" Me - "Well ask Michelle when she is next round".  Humph goes Mum and the next time my sister Michelle rings me she tells me how Alison our youngest sister has rung and asked if Michelle will film Mums Christmas decorations, as Mum keeps going on about them!  Michelle is that wound up she says "Anyone would think they were as good as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon!  I chuckle at the other end as Michelle is getting a taste of what we have had since March.

Thursday we have our usual round of calls, mainly asking if we have got one channel on or another. So when the phone rings at 10.45p.m. I am rather alarmed, Gary dashes through to pick it up as I am almost asleep, when my Mum sharply says to Gary "Oh it's you! I was hoping to speak to Karen!" Gary thrusts the phone in my hand and I ask " What's the matter Mum? " "I want your advice, you know I ordered my shopping from Morrison's? Well they have charged me for twelve second class stamps as I asked for them, but they haven't delivered them! "  Me - "Well there won't be anyone there now, I suggest you ring them in the morning." Mum - " Well I did that at six o'clock and they said they would ring me back but they haven't! " Me - "Well I suggest you ring again in the morning." Humph goes Mum and puts the phone down, no Goodnight no nothing! Grrr

Friday morning the phone rings at 9.30a.m. Fortunately I am up, so I answer the phone "Hello Mum, sorted your stamp problem out?" Mum almost screeches back " Well no I haven't but now my kitchen and bathroom are smelling, I think I have a blocked drain! " Me - "Well have you rung the council or pulled your cord?" Mum - I rang the council and the stupid girl there said because of Covid they would only come out if it's overflowing ! Me - "Well that's not good, are you sure it's not something gone bad in your kitchen?" Mum - " Of course there's nothing rotting in my kitchen! " Me "Well pull the cord and report it as there's nothing I can do. " In the meantime I also email Blackpool Coastal Housing and ask them if they will kindly send someone out to investigate, as Mum says the smell has had her awake since four o'clock when she decided to clean out her cupboards!  Later that afternoon Mum rings to say they have been out and cleared the drain which was blocked.  I thank BCH by email.  Crisis over hopefully...

Saturday Mum rings to say that the kitchen and bathroom still smell a bit and she's run out of Crackerjacks! I tell her the snacks are called 'Snackerjacks' Mum replies "Well whatever they are, I have not got any left and your sister was supposed to bring some." Me - " Well if she said she would I am sure she will. Although she still needs to go careful visiting the Supermarket, after all if she comes into contact with Covid she could be very poorly or even have to isolate over Christmas and then you wouldn't be able to go for Christmas Dinner! " "Well I don't know all these rules and regulations, you had better speak to your sister."  

Sunday the weather is atrocious and so both my sister and I say we will not be going round to Mothers, which she isn't happy about but understands and we have several telephone conversations about Strictly Come Dancing before the night is over. Dancing is something that my Mum could talk about for hours and having attended many Dance Festivals previously I am sure she thinks she could be a Judge on there!

Monday my sister Michelle rings to let me know that Mum has rung her at nine o'clock to say her bungalow is stinking and she has hardly slept due to the smell and her mouth hurting because it's full of ulcers! Probably from all the Snackerjacks she keeps eating!  Michelle rings me back later to say that she has solved the smell problem; Mum had left a Ducks Leg (that she had taken out of the Freezer), on top of the Fridge which had thawed out and stunk the place out!!  Oh my goodness did it stink! I called round in the afternoon with some Febreeze, which I sprayed around for twenty minutes to get rid of the smell as my sister had already cleaned down the side s and of course the top of the Fridge Freezer.  Of course Mum denies that she put the Ducks Leg up there as she reckons she everyone cannot reach the top of the fridge! I say "Well I know I haven't left it there!" as I haven't been round for over a week. Humph goes Mum and with that I decide it's time to go. ....

Monday 7th of December 2020 - Daily Trials with Mother, Christmas and her Visitors !!

 Monday 7th of December 2020 - Daily Trials with Mother, Christmas and her Visitors !!

        Well I know I haven't been on my blog for over a week but I am sure you will not be surprized when I say I don't seem as wound up with Mum now as our main contact is through the phone.  However I still worry that my sister is actually still visiting shops to pick up items that Mum has forgotten each week on her Morrison's shop, such as her 'Snack a Jack Toffee flavoured Rice Cakes', which of course are essential items!!  I have never known anyone eat as many, apparently she has chomped through twenty packets since last Saturday and that's without her teeth in!! So goodness knows how she manages to eat them, I despair, because if you suggest it might be those that are making her gums sore, her reply is "Well what do you expect me to eat as a snack?"  After she has told me that she simply had to get up at four o'clock in the morning to have some soup as she couldn't sleep due to the pain in her mouth! I mention that maybe just a warm drink would help, but Mum humphs and tells me that she can only get back to sleep by eating something!

        As it happens I have been round to see Mum as my sister took her electricity reading so I could register it, but when it was approximately 170,000 more than the previous reading, I began to get really worried!! Thankfully as it happens Michelle had taken the reading off the Solar Panel unit, which I didn't even realise was in the same cupboard but you learn something new everyday.  So thankfully Mum will not be receiving an enormous electric bill or I would definitely know about it!!

        We have managed to put our Christmas Tree up inside and also put the lights on the outside Tree, although when I told Mum that was all we had done this year, she said "Oh dear, are you not putting out any of your snow scenes?" I replied "No Mum because we simply haven't the energy to get all the boxes down from the loft and nobody would see them anyway as we won't be able to have any visitors like we normally do." Mum - "Well I want to get some decorations up and I need my card hangers putting up, so maybe you could help me when you are next round as your sister said I would have to wait until the weekend as it was too early.  I don't know what's happened to you all this year, you normally like Christmas"  My reply when we had this conversation was "Well we are still in November Mum and I have already told you we haven't much energy still. Besides this Christmas isn't really going to be the same as usual." Mum "Well when I went to the Dentist the other day I bought some bottles of booze." Me "What for Mum? We must have moved thirty plus bottles of wine and mainly spirits when you moved last Christmas so why did you need any more?" Mum - "Well I only bought cheap booze ready for the visitors." I can feel my blood pressure starting to rise as I try to reply calmly "But you can't have any visitors Mum, have you forgotten about the Coronavirus and the Tier 3 restrictions that don't allow visitors to other houses?" Mum - "Yes but Christmas week three households can meet up." Me - "Well I think that is meant to be the same three families or groups not three different ones each day!"  Mum - "Well I don't know I feel like a prisoner, I am sure I would have more company if I was in hospital!"  (Little does she know, as the only time I saw anyone was to do observations or bring water or food and even then they were in and out as soon as possible)  I put the phone down before I say something I shouldn't and simply bury my head in my hands as I know Mum would be a nightmare if she caught the virus.

        When we pop round on Sunday 6th of December, to check the electric reading, Mum tells us that she has already tried to book her Covid vaccination at the Doctors and is indignant that they wouldn't let her book an appointment!  I mention that they said on TV that everyone that would be given a vaccination in the first wave would receive a letter directly from their surgery.  Humph says Mum, well I don't know (in that silly little girl voice of hers!) but I hope they don't forget me!  I glance at Gary and roll my eyes and think well how could anyone do that?!  We remark on the decorations and card holders that Mum has up on the walls, as it does look lovely, Mum tells us that her friend Tracy came round to put them up, I shake my head at Gary as I know he is tempted to say Tracy should not have been visiting but I know that would set Mum off.  I have to say that I am grateful that it is my sister's turn to have Mother round for Christmas Dinner this year, I really don't think Gary and I could cope if she was at ours for Christmas Dinner.  Hopefully providing we are well enough we are supposed to be having dinner with our sons, who we haven't seen properly since we all fell ill, so it will be a lovely to see each other but no doubt Mum will be expecting a visit whether we feel up to it or not......