Old, knackered and Rubbish!

We are woken by Louis again, who comes in the bed for a cuddle, before demanding his breakfast, Alice has asked for a lie in, as this is the only day of the week that she doesn't have to be up early, so I delay starting breakfast until nine. I bath Louis, and shower and shave myself and watch match of the day for half an hour or so and then start to cook breakfast. The free range pork and wild mushroom sausages, and the field mushrooms, are cooked over a low heat, in order to ensure that they are browned evenly and we add the bacon and eggs last and then serve them on triangles of buttered toast with baked beans as a side dish. I keep Alice's sausage and bacon warm on a hot dinner plate from the microwave and fry her egg when she comes down to breakfast at ten. The sausages were worth every penny, incredibly tasty and hardly any fat, and we still have enough left for breakfast in the morning. I leave Alice in charge of Louis at half past ten, while I pop next door to Saint John's for Mass. The church is packed this morning, with quite a few youngsters following on from their first communion. I am joined in the pew by a young mother holding a babe in arms and supervising her daughter who looks to be about three and has a comic book of the Mass with pages to colour in. I have just completed my prayers, when the bell sounds and Father David enters, leading us into our first hymn, which only the choir seems to know, but the braver souls pick up the tune from them and by the final verse, most people have joined in. It is a lovely hymn, but not one of the usual stalwarts that Father Roy tends to select. After communion and the final hymn, I return to Sarah's house and Collect Louis and Norman, before driving back to Tickton to pick up a fresh set of clothes. Louis wants to play football, but first we have to take Norman for his morning walk. We get as far as "almost straight wood" before Louis had had enough and so we turn around and retrace our steps to my house, leave Normy in his basket, before driving to Tickton playing fields, which we find deserted. Undeterred, we make our way to the doctor's park at Molescroft, which is also empty, so Louis and I have a kick around on the five a side pitch, and after half an hour are joined by another boy and his dad, so the four of us play against each other. Five a side can be quite tiring, but two a side is really exhausting, particularly when Louis insists on being the goalie! Fortunately, I am rescued by the appearance of another group of boys who want to play and this allows me to be the referee. Which, whilst requiring less running, needs the judgement of Solomon, particularly when Louis concedes a goal. Five year olds don't like to lose, and Louis keeps trying to adjust the score in his favour, but the bigger boys aren't having any of that. A short time out, convinces Louis that winning is less important than having other boys and girls to play with, as we have now been joined by another dad with daughters. One of the fathers pleads with me for a spell as ref, so I am forced back into the game and promptly get told off by a seven year old for being rubbish. I correct him, old, knackered and rubbish! The game breaks up at three o'clock, as people move on to a late lunch or a visit to the Hayride Pub, which is just round the corner. I have cut a deal with Alice to keep Louis out of the way until four, so that she can revise, so we return to Tickton and I make him a snack to keep him going until dinner. We return to North Bar with Norman around four thirty and Alice keeps Louis amused colouring pictures, while I put a shepherds pie into the oven, that Sarah has left for us and then microwave some garden peas in a Pyrex bowl. Despite following the instructions to the letter, the pie is barely luke warm, when I take it out of the oven and so we have to resort to microwaving each person's portion separately. We get there in the end and it tastes reasonably OK, afterwards we serve strawberries as dessert and then Louis and I take Normy for his last walk of the day, round Seven Corners Lane, but have to turn back down After ten minutes, as it starts to rain heavily. It is now seven o'clock and time for Alice to take Louis to bed. Tomorrow is a school day and we all need to be up early, I flop in front of the TV again, too tired to read and watch a "feel good film" with Queen Latifah and Gerard Depardieu, before crashing out around ten. It has been a tiring day, but rewarding to spend so much time with my grandchildren. Sarah's back tomorrow evening and I can rest up once I am back in my own home. The baby sitting has the added advantage of taking my mind off my consultant appointment, which is scheduled for Tuesday at ten, and when I will find out the result of my scans.