A small glimmer of hope?

Day 35

Sophie woke me at 7am this morning and went for a run while Keith and I watched two episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, which is fast becoming a favourite in the morning. Something I might actually miss when I go back to work, as it starts at about 7.15am, the time I'd be getting ready to leave!

Keith and I popped over to Mum and Dad's house as we were both worried we couldn't find my Dad's wallet yesterday and I didn't want to leave it in the house. Luckily, Mum had told me where it was when I'd called her in the early evening so we found it straight away, which was a relief!

The weather was a bit grey again this morning and back home I chatted with a nurse from the hospital who said that my Mum was sounding good and that they were arranging for her to come home in a few days. I also chatted to a manager of a care home in Northampton, who had vacancies for my parents if we decided to go down that route. The cost of care is alarming, though!

Because it was cool and cloudy I decided to mow the lawn and tidy up the garden. Keith and I also signed up to our local council's garden waste collection scheme as we have so much to get rid of after cutting back the bushes and trees. Our compost container is full to the brim and sadly, the tip at Brixworth is closed, which I find a bit baffling - they could let a certain amount of cars in at a time and if we all kept our distance, what would be the problem? The waste operators don't actually handle any of the things that are tipped or recycled!

After I'd mowed and strimmed, the garden looked lovely and I cleaned out the bid feeders and put out fresh water for them. I feel like I've neglected our little feathered friends a bit lately!

At lunchtime we all popped over to Brixworth and Sophie went to the post office to send a parcel while I visited the Co-op. Tomorrow we're having a neighbourhood collection for a local food bank so I bought some tinned foods to add to the pile.

Back home it was time for lunch and Sophie and I sat in the garden munching on toasties with a cuppa. It was actually very pleasant - do I dare to believe there's a glimmer of hope on the horizon?

After pottering around some more and having a bath Sophie and I walked down to Walgrave and my cousin Kim phoned. We had a long chat about my Aunt Pat - I've spoken to more members of my family in the past four days than I have in four years!