10th April 2011

Monday kicked off with a trip to Glenfield Hospital for a barium scan, essentially an opportunity for medical machinery to have a good nose around my insides and check that nothing untoward was happening. The original appointment had clashed with Sarah’s interview in Sheffield, so I’d rescheduled.

On arrival, I fed £3 into the ticket machine for four hours’ parking, only to be back in less than an hour. If the leaflet had mentioned how quick the process was, I could have saved £1.50, or at least bought a celebratory coffee. The scan involved downing a cup of barium (not on any Michelin-starred menu, I suspect) and watching it make its way through my digestive tract. The main side effect? A few days of alarmingly white poo, which I decided was best kept to myself until now.

Tuesday saw me driving to Thurcroft, only to discover that the Thurcroft Hotel, the only building in the village with any real architectural flair, had been demolished over the winter, soon to be replaced by flats. A shame. I’d barely arrived at Nan’s before David turned up to reclaim his hard drive, now loaded with films courtesy of Suraj, plus the mountain of DVDs I’d brought along for him to copy. He was thrilled, stayed briefly, and left, soon to begin a road trip to Bulgaria in his new car.

Wednesday was more hands-on. Nan and I headed to Rotherham for garden seeds, dropped in at the ‘Get Sorted’ unit to see David and Gen

ya (just in time for a thirty-second chat before they dashed off to teach), then returned to Thurcroft, where I planted potatoes, carrots, beetroot, and beans. I also fixed the warped back door frame while Nan was at the hairdresser’s, and we rounded the evening off with the satisfying sight of Manchester United beating Chelsea on the telly.

Thursday began with bush-trimming and flower-border weeding. Nan shot off to the shops on her bat-mobile (it goes alarmingly fast) and returned with lamb chops and sirloin steak. Just as I was leaving for home, the man who cut her lawn arrived, wielding the exact same mower as mine.

Back in Market Harborough, the house was empty, Sue was teaching, and I assumed Sarah was in school. Charlotte had texted earlier asking if I could fit a door carpet for her, so I headed to Rothwell… and was surprised to find Sarah there, liberated from school early. While Charlotte and Sarah played with Ellis in the garden, I laid the carpet, then patched a leak in Lucas’s pond with a bike tyre repair kit (which worked).

Unfortunately, the day took a turn for the worse when Sarah, trying to climb back over the fence from the field, slipped and badly sprained her ankle. With the swelling starting, I dismantled part of the fence, freed her, and carried both her and a bag of frozen peas to the car before heading for Kettering Hospital.

The good news: no break, just stretched ligaments and muscles. The bad news: while waiting for me to fetch the car, Sarah was randomly punched by a mentally disturbed woman in the waiting room. On hearing this, I confronted the attacker, but it was obvious she was in severe psychological distress. A nurse whisked her away before matters escalated further. Not an experience I, or Sarah, will want to repeat.

We returned the somewhat defrosted peas to Charlotte and arrived home in time for tea. I was relieved to find my evening Beer Festival meeting had been cancelled.

Friday was glorious. Sarah hobbled to school on crutches, and Sue headed off for the Easter Bonnet Parade in Rothwell with Charlotte and the little ones, and I busied myself in the allotments before buying supplies for a Family Steak Night. Suraj, not expected home from visiting his sister until Saturday, surprised us by turning up hungry just as the food was served: steak, chips, peas, onion rings, and garlic mushrooms courtesy of Nan. After dinner, Sarah and Charlotte pounced on the bags of clothes Suraj had brought from Coventry, with Sue soon joining in. The negotiations over who got what were intense; Suraj wisely retreated with Lucas to visit Harvey, son of Jamie’s friend Tansley.

Saturday morning brought Lee for a weekend stay. He and Sarah visited Charlotte, then Brigitte and Jim came around; Jim and I went to the Rugby Club to watch the 1st Team, followed by the Tigers on TV at Willow Bank, while Brigitte and Sue chatted. Later, Sue took Sarah and Lee to a friend’s 18th at the Rugby Club. They returned early, crutches not being ideal for dancing, which means Sarah’s line-dancing class on Tuesday is definitely off the cards.