“Polly put the kettle on, we'll all have tea”

We have a very confusing little mystery and in the absence of Hercule Poirot, Robbie has been investigating. Just after Christmas I noticed that my tea had a funny taste, at first I thought it was just my imagination but then Robbie noticed that his coffee tasted a bit odd too. He insisted that the problem could be traced back to his mishap on Boxing Day when a bottle of vanilla essence launched itself out of the cupboard and spilled on to the worktop. He thought that some of the vanilla essence must have gone into the kettle, it seemed a bit of a long shot, but it could have been the cause of the trouble. After a couple of days I made a close inspection of the inside of the kettle and found that it was a bit greasy. I gave it a good clean and rinsed it about twenty times before drying it with a paper towel, but I didn't have a chance to test it before I went to work. 

When I got home from work Robbie made me a cup of tea and to my dismay it still had a horrible taste. More detective work followed which led to us replacing the kettle in case there was something wrong with the other kettle. The first cup of tea seemed a bit better but then things went down hill and the nasty taste was back. I tasted the water from the cold tap and it seemed fine, but the water in the kettle had a horrible taste so the mystery deepened. 

We had almost given up hope, but earlier this evening Robbie showed me the jug that he uses to fill the kettle. I always fill the kettle straight from the tap, but Robbie is a creature of routine and he insists that the correct way to do it is to use a jug. Unfortunately the jug that he uses is the old plastic measuring jug that I use to make gravy etc. It always gets washed up but I think it must be the jug that is tainting the water, I will replace it when I go shopping, but from now on Robbie will use a glass jug to fill the kettle. We have had two decent cups of tea since replacing the jug so we have our fingers firmly crossed. I hope we have solved the problem

Driven to Distraction.

Thursday went past in a whirl of activity, I still had my usual jobs but I also had to catch up on all the jobs I had put off while I was getting ready for Laura's birthday. One job that simply couldn't be put off any longer was cleaning the hall carpet, but unfortunately I had far too much help. I started by hoovering which prompted Meg the dog to attack the hoover, each time I wanted to push the hoover forward there she was there to chase it back. Picking up an aerosol can had a magical effect, Meg vanished into the lounge to make herself invisible while Oreo streaked past me in the other direction. I sprayed the carpet with the carpet cleaner, and got down on my knees to work it into the carpet but as soon as I put the can down Oreo reappeared to attack the foam that was blocking his way to the kitchen and his food bowl. Meg didn't want to be outdone by a cat and decided that in the absence of her favourite fox poo, this foam would be good to roll in, so I had to work the foam in with one hand while waving the aerosol can in the other to scare away the animals! Fortunately the end result was good, I had to leave it to dry and then hoover it again and it looked much better, so perhaps the exorbitant price for the product was justified after all.

A Burning Issue!

Emily sent a text to Laura to say that she had set fire to the cheese grater because someone had left it in the oven. It didn't make sense, how could she set fire to a cheese grater? I was fairly dismissive thinking oh well it is only a cheese grater, it is over 20 years old, it is no big deal. I told Laura to tell her not to worry about it, but Emily kept mentioning it and seemed very upset by the experience.

I didn't speak to Emily until last night when I got the full story. The cheese grater was the tip of the iceberg so to speak, it was the only thing that actually caught fire, but it wasn't the only item in the oven. Apparently Emily had lit the oven to preheat before cooking a meal for herself and her boyfriend. Some time later they became aware of a horrible smell of burned plastic and when she opened the oven she saw the handle of the cheese grater burning and a number of other blackened items in the oven. Apparently there were plates and saucepans in there too. She asked quite reasonably who would use an oven as a cupboard? The answer wasn't hard to deduce - Robbie!! He had tucked them away so that he could leave all the cat and guinea pig food on the worktop ready for my mum. I was too busy packing the car to notice that the things were not in their usual places, I assumed that the oven was empty and newly cleaned, just as I left it. It and all it's unexpected contents are now black and burned, that will give me something to look forward to when I get home!

Morning Madness 02.03.07

This morning was a mixture of sadness and frustration. Emily was getting ready to go to the funeral of her special friend Charles. She chose to go with her friends rather than me, I'm sure she was right, but I feel so inadequate to support her. She bought a nice purple top to wear, it was his favourite colour. I can't imagine how his family are finding the strength to cope.

Laura headed to school with all her art coursework, it has to be handed in for marking. She has worked very hard on it and I think it is good, but I can tell she is anxious about it. She sets herself very high standards and she is more critical of herself than is good for her.

Mornings with Sam are never easy, but this week has been increasingly challenging. Yesterday he made cookies with Laura and his school trousers ended up covered in cookie dough. As usual I got his clean clothes ready last night and set them out ready for him. This morning a 'Tasmanian Devil' with wild hair appeared in the lounge apparently dressed and ready for school. On closer inspection he was wearing yesterday's clothes and when required to go back and start again he produced a tantrum that even Robbie couldn't emulate. It seemed almost as if his speech and movement had been flicked to fast forward.

When he was eventually washed and dressed to my satisfaction we encountered another problem. Sam absolutely refuses to have school dinners, it has nothing to do with the 'magic finger' payment system, it is about his unwillingness to queue. I really struggle with crowds and I actively avoid busy places, so I have some sympathy with Sam, but I suspect this is another aspect of his autistic syndrome disorder. I really don't know how to help him, but I want to help him overcome the problem, otherwise his life will be really restricted.

I dropped him off looking relatively neat and tidy, but he will emerge from school this afternoon looking as if he has been dragged through a hedge backwards. Why do some people always look clean and neat while others couldn't look smart for more than five minutes if their life depended on it?