The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike) Part 1903 by Angharad Copyright © 2012 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

Pippa and her family left after supper which was after Dr Who, I did manage to stay awake for that, although the kids watched it from behind the sofa–carnivorous snowmen–whatever next?

The children were still fizzing like bottles of pop after Pippa and her boys went until they suddenly seemed to run out of steam about nine o’clock, a feeling I knew myself. I took them up to bed, read them a story while The grownups talked, drank, snacked and watched a rerun of Lord of the rings, I’ve seen them all before so I let Frodo wander on his own this time. I also wondered how the small group of heroes could bash so many orcs without getting tired. I’m knackered after chopping up a few bits of kindling.

Talking of which Simon lit the log fire in the lounge, so they’ll be falling asleep with the effects of warmth, full tummies and alcohol. I went down after seeing the little ones were asleep and the three girls were also in deep slumber. Danny was in his element watching the battle scenes from Helmdeep and still wide awake while Simon snoozed alongside him.

The elder girls, Julie, Jacquie, Phoebe and Sammi were sitting in the kitchen drinking spritzers, I did allow them a small amount of alcohol although Jacquie, Sammi and Julie are over eighteen, they respected the younger Phoebe who isn’t. I quite admired them for their abstinence.

In the dining room Tom and David were in deep discussion about something or other and Ingrid sat watching them with Hannah asleep on her lap. The looks Ingrid was giving David tended to indicate they had something going and it wasn’t cookery skills. I wished them goodnight and went off to bed after speaking to the girls and to Simon and Danny; Danny having promised to go to bed straight after the film finished.

I cleaned my teeth, had a quick wash and went to bed–my Christmas ended soon afterwards as I zonked out, tiredness and a couple of glasses of wine taking their toll.
I neither heard or felt Simon coming to bed–apparently it was about two o’clock when he woke up with some ancient movie playing on the telly and realised Frodo had gone back to his hobbitation for the night.

He also let Bramble out of the conservatory and she must have come up on the bed because she was curled up with me when I woke up the next morning. I moved when the radio came on–only to switch it off–and she made that purrp noise cats do when they’re disturbed in a safe place. I placed my hand down on the noise and was rewarded with a lick from a sandpaper tongue and then being climbed over by a purring mountaineer. I gave up and got up when she sat on my head and started pummelling me. I knocked her off and she must have landed on Simon who gave a loud snort turned over and went back to sleep.

I left him to it and sneaked downstairs where Tom was making himself coffee, “Kettle’s jes’ biled,” he said so I nodded and made myself some tea hoping I had time to drink it and return to full consciousness before the children woke up.

“I see Ingrid is makin’ eyes at David,” Tom said quietly.

“Perhaps they both need a new start in a relationship.”

“Aye,” he nodded and sipped his coffee while Kiki sat at his feet waiting for her walk. “Why d’ye no come f’a walk wi’us?”

“And who’ll feed the children when they discover what time it is?”

“Stella an’ thae ither girls or their adopted faither?”

“He was still in a coma, even the purring banshee couldn’t wake him this morning.” I’d fed the cat and she was now looking for mischief so I shut her out in the conservatory.

“Sae, go an’ dress an’ come f’a walk?”

He gave me a look of pleading that wouldn’t be lost on the spaniel, that I agreed and finishing my tea dashed upstairs and dressed quickly carrying my shoes down instead of putting them on to lessen any noise. A couple of minutes later we were walking down the drive, our arms linked as the dog trotted ahead on the extending lead.

We were fortunate to get back before a nasty shower lashed its droplets against the windows and as I took off my coat and shoes, I was greeted by several children who seemed to think I’d been kidnapped or something equally horrid. Their squeals of joy probably seared through Simon’s skull as he held it in his hands and asked them to be quiet.

My walk with Daddy had been quite a philosophical one, him asking me what I wanted to do with my career and my life. Beyond Simon and the children I wasn’t sure what I really wanted to do.

“Sae whaur’s thae woman wha’s goin’ save thae world gone?” he asked me.

“I don’t even know if I could save the dormouse, Daddy.”

“Ye must go on, ye’re on o’ thae best communicators I’ve seen, dinna waste yer talent.”

“So you keep telling me. I really don’t know what I want and until I do, I won’t find it, will I?”

He shook his head in agreement.

“Will ye return tae teaching?”

“I have to honour my contract in the new year but after Easter, I don’t know. Sometimes I think I’d like to go on a cruise in the hope that I was shipwrecked on a desert island to give me time to think and reflect.”

“Aye, and whit we all dae without ye?”

“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” I pushed my hands deeper into the pockets of my coat. I wasn’t that cold but neither was it that warm. He wrapped his arm around me.

“Ye’ve done a wonderfu’ job wi’us all, mebbe we shud, gi’ye some time tae yersel’.”

“Come on, Daddy, let’s go home, my tummy’s rumbling.”

“Aye a’richt.”

Breakfast followed and Simon sought sanctuary in my study while the children played noisily with their new toys, and despite saying he didn’t want one, Danny loved his remote control helicopter and frightened the kitten half to death when he buzzed her with it. Kiki came to her rescue and playing at ground to air missiles, she shot his contraption down meaning he spent half the morning trying to find someone to re-solder a broken connection. I promised to do it after lunch, which I was doing, David having time off until dinner. It got me some assistance in the kitchen from Danny who normally only eats here or takes food out of it.

Between us, and with help from the older girls, I made a large pot of soup with bits of turkey stock and vegetables which I then attacked with the hand blender and served with the bread Danny had helped me make in the machine. I also took some homemade rolls out of the freezer and after a quick turn in the microwave went into the hot oven on the Aga and backed up the fresh bread.

By mid afternoon on Boxing Day, I returned the kitchen to David and Ingrid and went over to my bike workshop with Danny and his flying contraption. I hope it taught him a lesson, bullying the kitten and then having to wait to enjoy himself and work to get a favour from someone else, to whom his pleasure wasn’t a priority.

Thankfully, my efforts worked and he spent the rest of the afternoon buzzing his way round the large garage which used to be a barn, until his batteries ran out–or should that be the helicopter’s batteries?