I Tried

 So after complaining about the heat I decided to try and go out!  Hannah had tests at university so I asked David to take her.  She usually gets the train and walks half an hour to the campus, but last week the temperature was up to 37C, real feel was 41C.  Walking in that heat would be rather dangerous!  We dropped her off and went to the mall for some lunch. We had a little stroll around but after an hour I felt sick. Even with the air conditioning I got over heated because of wearing a mask.  So I tried but I guess staying home is the best until the weather cools down.

The cats are suffering from the heat as well. They won't stay in the rooms with air conditioners preferring the corridors.  They have fighting more recently and I have no idea how to stop them, I spent two hours yesterday putting them in different rooms but they just go back and start fighting again.

playing peek a boo

Toast shutting Frodo up!

Hoping next week is better!  Forecast is for rain and thunderstorms, hopefully things will cool down!

Struggling

 It's summer.

It's hot and humid. 

And I've had enough!  But another 2 or 3 months to go!

Plus my allergies are bad!  I have year round allergies but spring and autumn are the most difficult times.  Summer I usually get a few sniffles and that is all.  This year has been very bad! Last Saturday I woke up at 3am drowning in snot!  I sneezed for almost 3 hours, using two boxes of tissues.  I had to cancel classes, the one class I did teach I spent more time sneezing than teaching!  Not nice!

There are so many things I want to do but until it gets cooler I can't do anything!  I'm sitting in a room that doesn't have air conditioning, just a fan blasting on me and I'm soaking wet with sweat!  It's not the hottest time of day, it's almost 7 in the evening.

Mikey had work on Sunday doing balloon art.  He's quite good at making different animals and characters.

Mikey's Mario!

The cats are not enjoying the heat.  But they won't stay in the rooms with air conditioning.  They hang out in the corridor or shower room, it's a bit cooler there!

Finding cool places!

What a Week

 It was one of those weeks where somethings went right but others went wrong! I don't remember what days things happened on, gets a bit blurry!

The summer has really started, over 30C everyday and high humidity, so I get up early to get David's and Christopher's breakfast, about 4:30, after that I do whatever housework I can get done.  I'm really trying to keep things clean.  By about 8am it is already too hot, especially in the rooms that don't have air conditioners.  The other morning I was washing dishes when I felt my feet were getting wet, the sink was leaking.  David managed to fix the pipe, but it is just bound with tape so I'm wondering how long it will last.  At least the floor got a good cleaning!

I decided to get a new air conditioner.  The one in my room wasn't working at all, it was over 15 years old.  I went to one store that had cheap units but the plugs were wrong and to get an adaptor would take 2 to 3 weeks.  I can't wait that long, I need sleep.  Even though it gets a few degrees cooler at night the humidity is still very high! I fall asleep only to wake up a couple of hours later soaked in sweat, very uncomfortable.  It was installed on Friday, I was looking forward to a good nights sleep.  But of course that didn't happen.  Woke up at 3am with my nose dripping, I then started to sneeze which went on for about 4 hours, I used two boxes of tissues!  Saturday was really bad, I had to change my lessons I was that sick!

We also had a really incredible thunderstorm.  Poor cats were freaked out, I wasn't doing much better.  David and I drove to the city to pick up Hannah, she has a long walk from the university to the train station.  I'm glad we went because the storm was really over head when we picked her up.  One airport had to close because lightning had hit the runway making a hole!

Fluffy and Frodo hiding from the storm

At to that cockroach fights, stepping in cat pee or vomit and chasing the cats when they escape it has been a crazy week!

Shopping

 Hannah wanted another pair of summer trousers.  So we went shopping yesterday and as always going in for one thing turned into buying 7 things!  This happens every time we go to this one shop.  She got two pairs of trousers, a pair of shorts, with cats on them, two T-shirts, one shirt, a dress and some underwear.  I'm still trying to figure out how this happened.  I can say that this time I was feeling sorry for Hannah.  She had her first covid vaccine on Thursday, she didn't get any side effects but her arm was really painful for a couple of days.  Apparently that's a good thing!

The shirt  and the pattern on the shorts

Also this week is 3 years since Mama cat adopted us!  Three years ago, on a day when the weather was really bad, torrential rain for hours on end, causing floods in a lot of areas, Mama cat had her kittens outside of our window.  Of course I let her in and took care of the kittens.  I thought that we could adopt out the kittens but except for one that didn't happen.  So now we have a family of nine cats!

Mama with the first litter

Steve, Fred and Alan

The brown one is the one that was adopted.

I Don't Like June

 Not just because the heat and humidity start but June has so many bad things happen!  

The beginning of the month is my husbands birthday. When he was alive we would celebrate.  So the day is really bitter sweet.  I'm grateful for the time that we had but would of loved a few more years together!

Also my brother in law committed suicide at the beginning of the month.  He had suffered his whole life with depression and various health problems.  I don't know what pushed him over the edge, he was only 33.  

Lucky, our dog died last year.

I was diagnosed with cancer 3 years ago.  So far I'm clear.  Every June I have to go through a load of tests to make sure it doesn't come back.  So far okay!

And my Mom passed away 17 years ago the end of June.  I can still remember Dad calling me.  I was getting the kids ready for school.  I felt in was unreal!  I knew she had terminal cancer but I had hoped for longer. My older boys have some memories of her.  But Hannah only met her once when Hannah was a year old.  I try to tell the kids about the things she did.  Making me fairy wings,  bread and butter pudding on cold winter days, playing eye spy with Steven,  Steve's spied something beginning with 'm'.  Mom and I guessed for ages, the answer was a motor cycle going down the road!  I remember in the winter before central heating she would drag our blankets down to warm in front of the fire and fill up hot water bottles!

I was looking through some photos that I have.  Hannah scanned them for me to share here.

Mom and Dad's wedding

Trip to Coronation Street

Holding Mikey, first grandson

Blackpool, I think

Last time with her, she is holding Hannah.

I also came across these two photos.

The top one is my cousin holding her daughter, the bottom one is me and Hannah.

Very much alike!

One Year Ago

 This week a year ago we lost our lovely dog Lucky.

Somehow I'm still deeply saddened by this.  I know she was a dog but for me she was a very special dog.  We got her for Christopher, he was 10 years old at the time and really having a hard time.  We had to move in with my mother in law, which was hard on all of us.  She wasn't the grandmotherly type at all.  Christopher was being bullied at school and the teacher had no way of stopping it.  Because of this I let Christopher stay home sometimes.  This back fired because my mother in law kept telling him that he was being bullied because he was stupid.  Poor kid didn't have a safe place to be.  We had just got Lucky at that time, so playing with her and as she got bigger long walks really helped Christopher!

A coupe of months old 

Lucky at a couple of years old

After a year we managed to move out from mother in laws house.

Moving to where we live now was great for us.  Both of our dogs had a lovely big yard to play in. Our other dog died a year after we moved here.  Because of the rental agreement they could be inside but the way we set things up we could open the windows from the living room and they could get in.  I would of allowed them in but my neighbours might have reported us and I couldn't risk getting evicted.  When the weather was bad, too cold, too hot or too wet we would let Lucky inside.  But she was never really happy, she would sit by the window and cry.  She hated thunderstorms.  One year we had a very bad storm.  Hannah, Lucky and I sat in the corridor crying!  

She was a very friendly dog.  Even the vet said he had never met such a friendly dog.  She was always happy to meet people but we had to be careful as she would jump up!  One time my husband decided to use the bike to walk her around the area.  My husband came back limping!  Apparently he was riding a bit fast, Lucky was having a good run when something caught her attention and she stopped suddenly pulling my husband off the bike!  He didn't try that again.

I was glad that we had such a big dog after my husband died.  She was very friendly but have the deepest bark.  I always felt protected with her in the house at night.

My fondest memories of Lucky are the long walks with Christopher.  She was very strong and I have back problems so I couldn't walk her myself.  But Christopher and I would go in the late evenings, after the pavement had cooled down, for about half an hour or more.  It was a nice time to talk to Christopher, especially after my husband died, one on one time became important for my kids!

I miss her so much.  During the first year after my husband died I would go and talk to her, she would love me up with her daftness and cuteness.  It really helped!

So now I'm crying!

Neighbours

 The past few years we have had problems with our neighbours.  They keep complaining about the trees in our yard.  We cut down the trees but they still complain.  This week it came to a head.  On Tuesday a lady from the rental company came and said that the neighbours had called again and said we should cut the trees, then on Wednesday the leader of the town association came and said the same.  So Mikey called at company that came and cut down four trees, 4 hours of work cost us almost 800 pounds.  Mikey had to pay as I don't have any extra money.  I thought the company was going to do more but apparently not.  I'm so angry about this, I know the yard is a mess but between crazy work schedules, still cleaning out the other house and my health the yard is low on my list of things to do.  This week I had to clean out the pantry, a couple of potatoes had fallen down the back and were growing in there, but of course as I started moving out a few things I found more that needed doing.  Tomorrow I have to tackle the under stairs cupboard and my walk in closet, that is on top of the daily chores!

The disaster of a yard!