Finding life hard?: A second childhood

Yes, GrandDaughter3 loved the house.

After I'd successfully taken it apart on my own I set about putting it together again solo. But I needed Husband to tell me where I'd gone wrong.

Let's talk Italy.

As we'd been unable to visit before because George was so unwell the children were back in school so time with them was limited but I've still come back croaky. Whether that's because GrandDaughter3 sneezed near me several times or just too much use I don't know. I'm not used to talking a lot but grandchildren demand it. Every car journey it was "Granny, tell us a story."

And I am very happy to oblige. We had a lovely holiday even though there weren't many trips or outings. Husband spent a lot of time gardening or doing repairs around the house - the house is very old and in need of some work - and I played a lot. With the children, with Lego, in the sand pit, Hoses and Ladders (the Fireman Sam version of the old favourite), Uno, and the new favourite, a charity shop bargain, Speed Jungle.

We must have played at least ten games and I lost every one. A game that requires fast reflexes is always going to favour a six-year-old over a sixty-nine-year-old. I don't think we were playing exactly by the rules but basically the idea is to get rid of all your cards. If two players put down matching cards the first to grab the totem passes his played cards over to the other. And it's the image not the colour that has to match and there are several very similar ones. By the time my brain has worked out that actually two of these cards do match Grandson4 is always doing a celebratory dance.

We also did lots of colouring, which was relaxing in contrast.

We managed to take in quite a few ice creams though not my holiday standard of one a day.