Posted in This 'n' That

We felt the full force of winter this weekend. On Friday night Robin took Hugh and Meredith into town. Hugh had his tennis coaching and Meredith was going to play with her friend Suzy. Hugh's tennis lesson goes for an hour and it finishes at 4.30pm when it's starting to get dark here in wintertime. I think it's an odd time to have a lesson for little boys, but I don't have much say in that.

Ever since we moved out to the country Hugh has not had a problem with his asthma. When we lived in the city he used to get it very bad, especially last year when we were renting an older-type house and Christchurch city is not known for its clean air in winter. We are situated in a valley and sometimes in winter there is no wind or sea breezes and the smoke from fires just hangs over the city for days. Hugh got really bad with his asthma on Saturday and we think it is from having to go into town on Friday evening. Robin said the smoke was almost tangible and he could see it hanging over the city as he drove in. It's a good reminder for us not to take Hugh into tennis when the weather is like this. The poor boy has been bad over the weekend. I called the doctor's office and the nurse told me to give him 2 puffs with one minute spaces in between, three times. She said that is all they'd do if I took him in to the emergency rooms. It does work really well.

On Saturday it snowed most of the day, but it didn't settle on the ground, but it was very nice to sit by the fire with the children and the dogs and watch videos and knit. I ate something for dinner (I think it was the sausage) that didn't agree with me, and I've had a bit of a tummy ache all weekend. Nothing too bad, but I always worry about the baby.

We had some good friends call in yesterday afternoon with sugar buns and coffee and a chat. It was a bit warmer yesterday, but this weekend has been very wintery and bitter, bitter cold outside. I love winter though and I love storms. The children were a little bit scared on Friday night when the wind was howling around the house (think Wuthering Heights). I remember being scared of the wind when I was little too and lying in bed and trying not to think of the big glass window that might shatter all over me (I have always had a very active imagination), so I was sympathetic and told them how I love the wind and the sound it makes. It didn't take them long to fall off to sleep.

It is raining again this morning as I lie in bed hoping the morning sickness is going to improve so I can get up for a shower. I've pulled back the curtains and am watching the rain fall in my orchard and the clouds sweeping across the sky. It's lovely.