Trying times

Phil’s mum and dad have been staying with us here in Overstone for over a week now and it’s been way too long.  I am the first to admit that I have little patience but even Phil is finding them hard to tolerate.  I love them to bits and all that but their little old folk habits have really been testing.  They can’t help their age, or their arthritis or their little signs of dementia, I know that but it’s been week where both of us have had to grit our teeth.  I love spending the day with them when we go down to Melton but 8 days has been too much.  We’ve tried to make them as comfortable as we can next door but seemingly it’s not enough. Each day we’ve had to listen to their various moans and groans and god how much Phil’s mum likes to whittle.  Its been hard enough fitting in outings around dads water tablets, not to mention their daily rituals such as coffee at 10am and having lunch on the table for midday on the dot.  We’ve done our best but I don’t think they’ve had a good week which is a shame.  Of course, the weather hasn’t helped but that has been beyond our control.

It’s only when I spend a lot of time with Phil’s parents then I realise where Phil’s relationship with food comes from.  His mum and dad are obsessed.  Not just with eating but the shopping for food and the preparation.  They like to stock up which maybe is something from the war days and not having enough to eat.  Not only do they like to stock up their cupboards but Phil’s mum likes to know at least 3 days in advance what she’s having for breakfast, lunch and tea.  On Tuesday we took them to Lidl in Weston Favell.  We had only just got into the car park when Phil’s mum realised that she had left the gas fire on full in the caravan and George noticed that he had left his walking stick behind.  Oh dear, never mind we got them both a trolley to help them walk around the store.  And walk they did, forever.  How can anyone spend a whole hour in Lidl??????  Well we did and what a waste of a life.  I thought to myself when I was going slowly up and down each and every aisle, kill me now!  Phil felt much the same way and in the end he went to the car to retrieve his headphones and I nipped across to the shopping centre.  Needless to say that it was a long morning.

When we got back, I popped the lasagne in the oven next door along with some baked potatoes and some garlic bread but unfortunately when I went to serve up at midday I realised the oven had turned itself off so lunch was a disaster.  Barely warm lasagne, hard spuds and soggy garlic bread which didn’t go down well with the old folks.  In the afternoon I took refuge in a huge pile of ironing which was a welcome distraction and Phil worked on drafting a letter to his solicitor.  

I was up early and on the way to MK just after half seven on Wednesday morning.  I know it sounds mean but I was glad of the escape. I picked up Sue and we went over to Monkston to start painting her 2 bed house which needed to be made good for rental.  Sue was suffering with a head cold which had come out the day before and I wasn’t sure she was fit enough to paint but we had a productive day.  Together we painted the kitchen, the lounge and even managed to start in one of the bedrooms.   There is still a way to go, we are back painting tomorrow but I’m sure we will be finished by the end of next week.  After dropping off Sue I met up with Phil at the GP flat.  He’d taken mum and dad for an outing in Tesco’s and after lunch, he too made his escape. 

Jim picked up Phil for their usual Wednesday boys night out and Sue came round for supper.  I just cooked some salmon and mash which we washed down with red wine.  It wasn’t a late night, Sue was suffering with her cold and I was in need of my bed.  We had to be up fairly early on Wednesday because the BT engineer was coming to fit in a landline.  Our slot was anytime between 8am and 1pm.  I had a doctor’s appointment at 9am so I left Phil to wait in for BT.  

After seeing the doctor I stopped off at Sue’s and we went to Tesco Express and then I went back to the flat.  The BT engineer was there scrabbling around fitting the new phone box.  As with everything with the GP flat, it wasn’t straightforward.  Phil said that the engineer said he couldn't connect us without a box.  Phil explained that the box went when the wall came down and that he would have to bring the wire down from the loft.  The engineer said he ‘didn’t do lofts’ but he would check if he could bring it in from outside.   Fortunately he could bring it in from a box outside; the only trouble was he’d have to do it from the flat downstairs.  Phil had to knock on Maurice’s door to check that this was okay.  Unfortunately Maurice had been on a late shift and was still in bed when Phil banged his door.   Anyway, eventually we got the line and now have a working telephone line and broadband with a decent enough speed. 

We weren’t in any great hurry to get back to Overstone and decided to catch up with internet stuff seeing as we wouldn’t have a connection at the caravan.  Phil searched for holidays and a couple of hours later he’d booked us a fortnight in Lanzarote.  We fly off next week.  Whilst I am really looking forward to a break away, there is so much to do before we leave and I’m not sure I have enough time to do it.  This morning I have been up since 4am making list after list.  The good thing is that Phil phoned mum and dad’s plumber yesterday afternoon and the new central heating system is installed and all ready to go which means that Phil can take them home today.  I think they are pleased to be going back to their bungalow and I know we are.  There is lots of packing up to do this morning, not just for them but for us also as we are making the big move to the GP flat.  We do need to winterise both the caravans but we will come back and do this one day next week.  For now I must stop whinging and must get doing as there is much to be done.