Vomo-matic and Splotchy (by sarah)

Alaric is officially a medical mystery with his splotchy legs as the three main contenders are all things you wouldn't expect him to still be walking around with/not have a sky high temperature. Also they don't quiet look like any of them but sort of like all of them. So it could be Lymes disease, cellulitis or meningitus (or blood poisoning). They took bloods and his GP has prescribed antibiotics. The blotches are already reducing but the skin over the affected areas is all shinny and a bit well sort of dead looking if I'm honest :/

But it does seem to be responding well to treatment.

The other two things it could be are spider and snake bites though that has not been suggested by the medical people he's seem but by a wider group of 'services' friends ie police, nurses and the like who have had to deal with such things. What ever it is the treatments seem to all be antibiotics.

Also because this didn't make our lives interesting enough....

Yesterday Jeany woke up and said she felt sick but then perked up and ate breakfast and this is often the case with her in the mornings anyway. She went on an outing with friends were she proceeded to spew up all over the cafe and her friends mum's foot - ewww!

It was very hot and heavy yesterday with the impending thunder storm and she seemed fine after cooling down with head bands and what not. So we had dinner and she went to bed and covered herself up in her dovet! And so at about midnight there was the splatty sounds followed by a pathetic 'Mummy!'

So I ended up cleaning sick out of hair, jet washing the road rug and making her stand outside in the cool air outside whilst daddy cleaned the carpet in the girls room and constructed a floor bed with only a sheet to put over her. We also added a cool foot bath and a wet flannel into the mix - not all at once as you don't want to shock the system cold.

However though she seems alot better it may not be heat exhaustion and so if she throws up again today I can't take her with me to my workshops at the weekend for health and safety reasons 🙁 ie don't spread the plague!

So fun and games here! Plus I am sort of running on no sleep now.

Manky Bites Got Mankier (by sarah)

Friday the bites that Al had had the 'I can't walk' reaction too seemed to be under control if he took antihystimine to stop his calfs swelling but they started to get red swellings around them. We thought they might be a bit infected from scratching or something and went off for our busy weekend of travel putting savlon on them. Saturday though Al wouldn't dance at the wedding as the legs felt 'heavy' and they didn't look too good and I was worried they were getting bigger so I drew a line around one of the areas. Then today (Sunday) on the way home from London Al started to complain that there were shooting pains in his legs. This is what they looked like when we got home.

They are so hot and mottled and have yellow/white rings in the middle of them.

So I have sent him off to A&E on his own as I am here with kids. I am quiet worried about him. It may well be an over reaction on my part but I really think he needs antibiotics.

The Bitten Alaric (by sarah)

I was awoken this morning by Alaric crawling on his hands and knees saying, 'Wifey there is something terribly wrong, I can't stand up.'

It was said sort of jovially so I thought he was winding me up and was not impressed as I'd had a late night but he wasn't. It was as if his calves were in spasm except they weren't - I massaged them incase it was just cramp but there was no knotty muscles or anything.

He had no temperature or anything, the only thing that was unusual was the insect bites or stings or what ever they are. They are all over the bottom half of his legs and I didn't like the look of them the day before - I think they are from Wednesday when he took the cubs out for a wide game on the common but they could be from the weekend when we were amping and they have just gotten worse over the week.

His legs had been feeling weird during the night, trying to straighten them as you would for walking caused extreme pain or the panting variety. Of course the first thing that popped into my head was 'oh my god he's got lymes disease' but it looks like it is probably an allergic reaction to the bites.

So he has taken antihystamines and anti-flamatories and that should sort him out.

On a purely selfish note, apart from working out how I was going to orginise stuff if he was really ill, like children and money and hospital trips etc... part of me was thinking - why a Friday? Basically Monday and Friday are my getting stuff done days as it is a nursery day etc... it was a stupid thought but a real on none the less.

Jeany got ready for school for me and was as good as gold - as she always is when there is a crisis and the school car share people were happy to drop the kids off at school which was Al's job. I'm keeping an eye on him but am hoping that the tablets work and I will be able to go to Jean's exhibition still as she has worked so hard on it and me and Al eel these things are important - obviously if he doesn't she a marked improvement I wont go.

In the Woods (by sarah)

We went into the woods with cubs to talk about climate change and so that they could get muddy in the stream 🙂

Mary adored the adventure running around trying to get over gates and finding dappled sunshine on the forest floor - of course she also tried to go into someones house when we came upon it!

This is not a brilliant pic but - I found a moss pig! It was on what is known as The Winni the Pooh tree and I just really think this bit looks like a pig (piglet?).

And of course the muddiest of all the children was Jean who had decided to go out in crocks and pale yellow trousers instead of wellies and water proofs like she was supposed to!

I only just managed the walk but it was completely without stick and did involve chasing a certain toddler for about an hour!

The Gloucester Litter Picker (by sarah)

Today on the outskirts of Gloucester we saw an old man litter picking the road verges with his own bin in hand - I found this inspirational and heart breaking - the litter should not be there for a start, and litter that is a accident etc... should get cleaned up as part of the city maintenance, the old man is caring for his local environment and as such is a leading light. I couldn't get a photo and it started raining so I have drawn a sketch of him from memory.