Wednesday 31st July

Thankfully it was no where near as hot as yesterday.

Many people use the last day of the month to reflect back on how it went. Sort of like this;

I think the best thing to say is I have reached this stage of the Summer after surviving and equally mad and demanding May and June more less in one piece, after all the appointments - dentist, pulmonary rehab sessions, oxygen cylinder and prescription deliveries and collections, clinic appointments for me, eye and medical appointments for my father, the last few piano lessons of term - that seemed to fill every day in the diary and every crevice of my mind. 

Not to mention creating and activating powers of attorney for my father, and completing and submitting my tax return!

Still, I got here in a state of relative sanity - no, please don't ask 'relative to what?'

We've also been to visit Prairie Gardens five times, the local Nature Reserve once, and local National Trust Gardens twice.

We've been to cafes with nearby family and friends and traveled across three counties to spend the day with friends I haven't seen for years and years.  

In other words - it's a full life! How do people find time to go away on holiday?

August kicks off with medical appointments for my father, one already scheduled, another I'm working on, three for me, plus associated blood tests, and an arm chair to buy for my father. In between times we need to get the car serviced; a small detail, but needs to be worked in with everything else.

The admin, the emailing, the telephoning, the sifting through papers, the sitting listening to horrible hold music has been exhausting.

Did I blog about this? No. Why not? Well, because in spite of all this going on, there was something good in every day. A book, flowers, visits to gardens, meeting friends, or even, bliss of bliss, a day of nothing.

I suppose we all tend to present an upbeat face on life to the world. I am lucky in that I have BestBeloved and  close friends that I feel free to be completely open with, rather than only 'half-open'.

They keep me sane when I'm getting bogged down. One blogger recently described it as 'being in a slump'. That's a very good description. I applaud and appreciate her honesty, and am repaying it by this blog post.

Did I say BB and my friends keep me sane? Hmm. I'm not sure if I will get away with sticking googly eyes on all the oxygen cylinders - there may be repercussions....