Ali and Poppy Visit Part One: 11 March 2010

POPPY

I spent all of Tuesday cleaning, clearing up and making beds, moving clothes etc. Jim was in London for the day so didn't get back until late. I was worn out!

On Wednesday we finished off, put the cot together, found cot bedding and by the time we'd finished the spare bedroom looked a treat. Our bedroom, however, looked a complete tip! We assembled our new king sized bed then realised we didn't have a king sized quilt or bottom sheet! We left early to collect Ali and Poppy from the airport and called in at Dunnes on the way, where we were able to buy the missing items. Phew!

Soon Ali and Poppy appeared through the arrivals and I was so thrilled to see them both, as was Jim of course. Poppy talks non stop, repeating just about any word anyone says and is now really understanding what the words mean too. She has an amazingly cheeky grin and pulls some funny faces.

We wondered how Buster would react to our visitors and he was a bit of a pain the first evening, as Poppy was a bit grubby from the journey and all he wanted to do was lick her! However, we managed to keep him vaguely under control and Poppy says his name delightfully - he's now 'Busher' as she has trouble with her st sound.

I had plenty of new toys for Poppy to play with. I obtained them from Freecycle but they are all in excellent condition. The train huffs and puffs and goes along, a large frog talks and the bus on wheels sings any number of songs. She had a great time playing with all these exciting new things before bed. A quick bath, milk and into the cot, where she slept all night, apart from one little cry.

Today we walked down to the lake, the short way so that we could push her in the pushchair. She was tired but really enjoyed it and Kevin came out of his house to meet us. Buster caught the scent of a hare and ran right to the top of the hill like a maniac. We saw the hare rushing off in the opposite direction! Kevin told us that they often leave false trails to mislead predators. It certainly worked in this case.

I took a photo of Jim, Ali and Poppy:

Poppy was getting a little fed up, but cheered up when Buster came to see her:

We headed back and Poppy had a 2 hour sleep - we had worn her out. Buster did too - he was worn out from chasing that hare.


Jim entertained Poppy by shouting 'GOAL' and putting his hands above his head so Poppy did too. She was highly amused.

After Poppy's sleep, Jim and Ali took Poppy for a walk down to the orchard and up to the allotment - Ali said it's the furthest she's ever walked. Buster and Poppy are getting on really well and on the allotment she fed Buster lots of stones and leaves - which he obligingly ate!

I am so enjoying their visit - it's far too long since I saw Poppy. I had to cancel the last visit because of the snow. She is so gorgeous and funny. I haven't managed to get a cuddle out of her yet - but I'm working on it. We've had some great playing time though.

That's enough for today, we have a whole day tomorrow so will probably go to Coole Park and maybe somewhere else - it depends how Poppy goes.


Poppy says bye everyone.