car wash

When Jessica collected the gang from pre-school, they said they'd like to clean her car. She was happy to oblige (as long as they promised to cut the activity short if she deemed their fingers too cold). She sent me this picture of Eve wielding the hosepipe.

Meanwhile, Zeke had a day with Grandad as he needs to be 48 hours clear of the bug before returning to Jess. He had a whale of a day and was bursting with beans when I got in from work. He's a huge Grandad fan!

I didn't feel much like eating today but Antony worked his magic in the kitchen and I returned home from work to tempting chicken pie and sticky toffee pudding. My tummy feels full and much much happier. Hurrah!

The food tasted better than it has for ages because something bizarre and wonderful happened today. I've been aware of a reduced sense of smell for a while but I didn't realise how bad it had been. I woke up without the usual face ache (which has been a problem since late October) and I was mainly just relieved that I didn't feel nauseous but also confused and delighted by the lack of sinus ache. Then weird things happened - I could smell my toothpaste, my perfume, soap, fabric softener on my clothes. I stopped for a takeout coffee at the station and as soon as I walked into the cafe I was hit by the strongest smell of coffee and overly sweet syrups and toast, glorious toast. And the guy who checks the train tickets.... he always used to douse himself in terrible aftershave but I thought he'd given all that up while I was on mat leave. But no, his aftershave is still there, still pretty terrible and I was SO grateful to smell it (even though the sudden strength of all these old new familiar smells was kind of turning my stomach again). Right now, I'm blipping from the bath and I can actually smell the bubbles. Such a wonderful gift, I didn't realise until I lost it for a while.