On Thursday January 22nd Beth drove us to Walton-le-Dale near Preston to see my niece Kate and her two young children, 2 year old Jackson and 14 week old Mia. After the heavy snowfall on Wednesday my beloved and I had been apprehensive about the drive, but the snow had been wet and melted quite quickly. The roads even over Blubberhouses were absolutely clear of snow, but the surrounding countryside looked picturesque as we went over the tops. However as we got further West there was no sign of snow and the sun shone when we arrived after an uneventful journey.
Kate was there to greet us with a chattering Jackson in her arms; initially he seemed pleased to see us, but then became very clingy and miserable. The poor lad had been awake several times in the night and was clearly sickening for something. Kate, bless her did her best to comfort him and Mia was having a sleep so she could devote herself to his needs. The poor lad is frustrated as although he has a few words and phrases most of his language is an expressive babble, so he cannot communicate what the real problem is. Fran took that afternoon off so she joined us late morning which was great. I took them all out to a restaurant, where we had something to eat, although the change of scene initially cheered Jackson he did not want to eat or sit down. We cut the visit short so Jackson could go home to have a sleep which he obviously needed.
Mia was too interested in her surroundings to doze off to sleep, so Fran suggested we take her for a walk whilst Kate had a chance to rest after her poor night. The pushchair was surprisingly heavy but it was lovely to have a long walk as we took it in turns to push and although Mia resisted sleep for a while she did eventually succumb. The weather was much brighter than it had been at home when we left. It was lovely to have a long walk until towards the end my bursitis played up again and I found myself hobbling. Bless her Fran went to get the car to pick me up whilst Beth pushed Mia and I must admit it was a relief to sit down and rest. It is so frustrating as I had wanted to do more walking once I was retired but I have to limit it to avoid it making the bursitis flare up again. Apparently there is no explanation as to why it does suddenly develop and mostly it had improved until I did the long walk with Fran. Obviously I will still have to limit my walking distance until it clears up completely. It was lovely to see the young family, have a walk and spend more time with Beth. I do hope Jackson is soon recovered.
BRIGHT LIGHT 