The Mummy on the Bus says ‘Never again!’ (by sarah)

People have been being horrified that I wait until Al is free to go shopping rather than taking Jean on the bus - now I know full well that getting up the hill to the bus stop with the pushchair is a bit of a no-no. Al struggles to get the pushchair up the other side of our valley which is a lot shallower and due to the narrowness of the lanes if a vechile does come along - in some places you have to pretty much scale the sides to get out of the way - also something I feel I can not physically cope with.

But Tuesday I had people to meet and shopping to get and Als time was already pressed so he gave me a lift in and I said I'd get the bus back with the shopping. Now I recalled there was a reason that we had only taken the pushchair with us once on the bus when Jean was really tiny but that reason had escaped my mind.

I had shopping, I had torrential rain, I had a soggy baby and a pushchair I never collapse becuase it hurts my wrists to do so. I put Jean on the bus and gave her her now soggy blanket (bus was late and there were a lot of people waiting for it. I struggled with folding the pushchair up and then discovered that it was an awkard fit even when it was folded - then I remembered 'Oh yes I couldn't get onto these buses easily with the crutches becuase of how narrow and steppy there are.' A lady on the bus helped me get Jean past the urine smelling old guy who had his shopping trolly in the ilse taking up more space than the pushchiar would have, muttering to himself and occasionally shouting - whilst I wrsteled with the shopping and pushchair. On the seat I lift Jean sending my poor arm into spasm enough to grit teeth, so then I'm worried that the nice lady who's just helped me is going to think I'm mad or rude or something.

The next bit was fine as Jean was entranced by the 'Oh dear water! Wet! Floor water!' though one of the men on the bus was commenting loudly that 'no wonder the buses never run on time' as my attempts to get one the bus had obviously taken some time. Jean happily played peek-a-boo with school girl behind us (with the nice lady who helped), this was up until she founf the yummy! some nice person had shoved their sandwitch down the side of the seat which of course Jean found and being two wanted to eat. So then I have a disgrunteled child who does not understand why mummy wont let her eat the perfectly good yummy - and I think why hadnt I noticed it when I sat down, coming to the conclusion that as the bus started to move before I'd sat down I was a little pre-occupied!

Annoyed with not being allowed to eat yummy or stand on the seat Jean decides to get off of the seat and as I try to stop her my spasming arm decides to get worse meaning that I could not stop her flying off the seat at the bus suddenly stopped - fortunatly she landed on the shopping which was all soft stuff. After two more escape attempts she was imprisioned on my lap with my good arm holding the wrist of the bad arm as I had very little use of it. Miffed Jean wriggled as best she could to escape though eventually she gave that up.

The to the next fun bit - getting off of the bus. Fortunatley urine smelling man had gone taking his shopping cart thing with him but that still left me with Jean, shopping and a folded up buggy and a bus stop next to the A46 and I mean RIGHT next to it - no pavement or stuff. An old lady retrieved Bob the duck who Jean had hurled for me and I managed to stop her just before she dived off the bus whithout me. I then had to make sure I had a grip on her with one hand as she wanted to look at the 'doot doot cars!' whilst I wrested the pushchair off the bus, over the shopping I'd had to put down becuase I jsut could not physically do anything else.

I grabbed the shopping retrieved the pushchair from the mud (where the shopping had to take its place) reinstated the pushchiar pulling a muscle in my back as this is a proceedure you really need both hands for and a chin just really doesnt cut it! Child now thouraly soaked as it was still tipping it down - rammed into pushchair with soggy shopping half squashed uncermoniously dumped into the basket underneith bag on back I headed across the road into the pub where they dried the blanket for me and made extra hot hot chocolate for me whilst I waited for Al as we needed to be somewhere else in an hour.

Jean thought it was a great day out.

I think bus journeys are out intill she is no longer in a pushchair - the journeys fine on my own but not with a pushchiar. It is probably doable with two people but not on my own! Oh and did I mention the fact that the driver didn't have any change so the trip cost me £3 instead of the 2.50(60) it should have :(

The shopping was fortunatly all still usable at the end of all this which was a relief though I did discover that I'd forgotten the urgent nick-nocks (pull up nappy-nicker things) for Jean!

Stephen Hawking and Lucy Hawking (by sarah)

We really enjoyed this talk though in hind sight we wished we had perhapse taken the cubs and scouts as it was about the childrens book they've writen together - although it was for children even Alaric learnt something new (or rather understands something more now - namely how stuff Can escape blackwholes). Lucy is a very good and engaging talker too which was cool.

I have to say I didn't enjoy this as much as the Pratchett talk but I think this was due to two things - firstly the theatre was freezing and due to verious happenings I had upset my pelvis again so it was aching fourciously. I was actually shivering! Secondly when Stephen Hawking was talking I had a bit of a problem understanding - now I think most people would not have had this problem as it is due to the fact that as a small child around the point where you really start to get the hang of spoken language, I was almost completely deaf and had to have several operations to sort it out. (ok look it was server glue ear and I had several lots of gromets put in but I had other stuff done at the same time so was put under full anaesthetic). This means that I really struggly understanding people if I can't see their lips move, if I can't see that then all I get is a jumble of noise with just the odd word coming out distinctly.

Of course Stephen Hawking talks with a synthacizer so I had no lips to read (I used Als monical whilst Lucy was talking). Would would have been good for me would have been the transcript up on the great big display screen they had in there. I know that public talks can be hard to write down in a corherrent form normally but that restriction does not apply here. Obviously I do not expet things to be altered for just the small fraction of the population that has these kinds of problems but it did ruin the talk for me a bit.

Terry Pratchett (by sarah)

Finially after living in Chelt for over two years we got to go to the Litrature festivial - first year we had no way of getting there and no one to look after jean and I was still shaky on the crutches, last year we just didnt have any spare cash to spend on the ticketsbut this year we got to go!

And yesturday we say Terry Pratchett being interviewed by some woman from a litrature programme on the radio. He was quiet frankly brilliant - I didnt expect that, I thought he would just be an oldish man being interviewed but he was sooooooo funny and he feely does have my dads scense of humour :) He is also quick witted and sounds like Mr Hedgehog when he was telling me bed time stories! (ok well dads good at accents and there used to be a hedgehog and badger and pigeon and fruit bat etc.... who would tell me stories and stuff).

Anyway I was glad to here that he is writing something other than a discworld noval and said himself the same things me and Alaric had said about the novals becoming a bit samey but people wanting the familiarity etc... I think that it must be a great reflief to go and do something different that isnt tied in to all the previous stuff, reduce the pressure of whats expected etc...

What I was sad to hear though is that he had suffered a little stroke - he hadn't even known he said and the only difference he detected was that he can no longer tie a tie and that he has certian adverts stuck in his head - he then proceeded to lighten the mood again by singing some of the jingles! Again he can actually sing which was cool.

Today we are off to see Stephen Hawking and his duaghter which should be fun though Al has already been to various things with Hawking I havent so I'm really excited! Unfortunatly I hadn't noticed that Tom Reynolds was going to be doing a slot and therefore didnt factor him in which is a shame as we'd have quiet liked to have seen him - oh well :/

However me and Al have had everyone we tell about who we are seeing at the festivial laugh at us! I think that there is a certian expectation when you say you are going to the Cheltenham Litrature Festivial that it will be all arty and high brow. This angers me slightly as surely writing is about communication and if artistic - expression - the same people who would not dare be seen listerning to Pratchett as its not proper litrature will praise Shakespeare and the like, forgetting or ignoring the origins and history of the very subject they are being so 'knowledgable' about.

Cricket Gear II (by sarah)

I have just realised that I forgot to actually show people what the picture of the Cricket Gear that I painted during my GCSE's actually looks like!

Here's the salaric post on it!

http://www.salaric.co.uk/2007/08/26/cricket-gear/

Its not a very good photo but it is of the picture in pride of place at the Cranham Cricket Club :)

This Weeks Disastors (by sarah)

Wednesday - the Rainbow man came and drilled wholes in our floor and concluded that we are still quiet wet.

Thursday - stomache v.v.v. bad wondering if boiling the spring water is actually killing the e-coli that resides within.

Friday - Barbara tripped over the leads of one of the fans that are drying her house out and hits her head and shoulder queit badly.

The weekend was fine as Alaric was about and so dispersed mine and my dads bad luck fields. Except for Sunday when we discovered that there may have been a double booking of the hall cuasing an issue with Cubs and Scouts.

Monday - broke Moo Cow glass that my friend Helen got me for my birthday yonks ago. Chipped one of the mugs that belongs to the nice set we got as a wedding pressant whilst unloading it at the Big Yellow.

Tuesday - Discovered that the Doctors have lost my blood tests so I have to have it all done again including starving. Discover that Jean has head lice and whilst out getting nit stuff the van breaks down and I discover that my RAC card is not where I thought it was. I trip over the rolled up carpet in the mill and jar my pelvis so that it is once again going clickity click. Confirmed issue with the Hall for cubs and Scouts - start trying to contact everybody.

Wednesday - Jean wakes me up with cries of 'Mummy, oh dear poo! Mummy oh dear water wet, Mummy oh dear cot floor icky yuck.' She had had a server containment breach of the nappy kindwhich resulted in bath, and all bedding washed including, 'MY TEDDY! Bear, bear no!' Teddy and bear and hopsital bear and kitten and Mrs Seal all had to go into the washing machine somehting that Jean was most indignant about with tears an' all.