What a day!

We got home an hour ago.

9:45 Trike to swimming pool; Aquanatal swimming instructor is ill, so no class. Huh. I'm ill, do I get a day off? I didn't think so. However, they were giving we bumpy ones a free swim session instead, so I accepted that, put Linnea in the creche for 30 minutes, and went swimming.

10:30 Linnea joined me in the pool. Suddenly, she is afraid to swim off on her own without holding on to me. This has never happened before as far as I can remember. I have no idea what caused it. However, patience and singing ("Swimming like the fishes/octopus/dolphin, swimming like the fishes/octopus/dolphin, swimming like the fishes/octopus/dolphin, 1-2-3, swimming like the fishes/octopus/dolphin, swimming like the fishes/octopus/dolphin, swimming like the fishes/octopus/dolphin, swimming in the sea" - never say I'm not creative) got her kicking around the pool happily enough again, though nothing like as confidently as she was a week ago. It's incredibly weird.

11:30 we were out of the pool and eating from the snackbox, and I called Rob to see if he could give me directions to the park opposite his workplace. Er, no. He can't remember street names, nor describe landmarks, and he's not very reliable at left and right. Still, I got there in the end, alive in spite of negotiating several roundabouts on the trike, and we cycled off to Tescos.

Linnea had chips, and she and I both had smoothies, and Rob went home. Then I took Linnea around Tescos in a trolley; she doesn't often get to go to real supermarkets, because we don't often buy from them. I was pleased - Tescos had Dove's Farm "Tasty Bars", Oat Supreme oat-based cream-substitute, mad-craving tortilla chips, snap mesh tea balls, a sieve to replace the one I gave Linnea for her sandpit, the Cbeebies magazine with a game on the front, more tissues for my evil nose, a comb and a scrunchie, and Locket lozenges also for my evil nose.

Then we cycled home along the Thames, so we saw a squirrel, ducks, geese, goslings, swans, dogs, other people cycling, canal barges, big motor-yacht-things, bridges, nettles, trees, a working lock, and some stuff I forget.

And we've been home just over an hour, and I'm about to turn the TV on to CBeebies for the first time since Friday. I'm not doing too badly.

(I'm exhausted and sick and in pain, but Linnea's not watching too much telly. And tomorrow is Wednesday, with Tiggers Toddlers and later the Homestart volunteer, so quite restful in its own way).

(I need a Triking userpic).

Trike

Pedalling around Reading today, I've learned a lot about roundabouts, cyclists, and cars. Many car drivers honestly think that cyclists belong on footpaths, not roads, and drive accordingly. Many cyclists agree. Cycle tracks that go around 3/4 of a roundabout are not useful if the turning onto it from the road means turning 100 degrees up a slight bump onto the pavement and then up a hill. It's much easier, safer, and less disruptive to stick with the car traffic.

Many car drivers think the trike is great. So do many cyclists. And many pedestrians, especially those with children. Most commonly asked question: "Can you cycle it on the road?"

When navigating through traffic in a legal and safe manner, it's very irritating to be overtaken on the footpath by two cyclists cycling abreast without reflectors or helmets.

Linnea pointed out "Man no shirt, man no helmet" when she saw a man cycling without a hi-vis vest or a cycle helmet.

Cyclists assume that the trike must be very difficult to cycle. It's not. What's difficult is getting the Sam Brown Belt on around the bump. The hi-vis vest won't go on, and the belt has to sit under my bump in front. Still, I assume I'm visible from the rear, and anyway I only cycle in daylight. Perhaps I should get a hi-vis cycle helmet cover. I really do like being visible (memo to self: put hi-vis smiley face stickers on the trike box somewhere).

I still need a Trike icon.

Digitalis and a catlick

I'm tired of citing this every time someone says "And the best thing is, it's totally natural, so you know it's safe!" I see it a lot in pregnancy and breastfeeding communities, which I find particularly worrying.

So what else can I cite? What other noxious medicinal toxins are Totally Natural and well-known enough that most people will have heard of them?

*sigh*

In brighter news, today Linnea and I watched Charcoal (black cat) washing her face. It was visibly educational of Linnea. She made a few remarks about soap and showers and Charcoal washing her hair, and wiped the bolognese sauce off her own face with a muslin, but with catlike movements, and copying Charcoal in that she did the chin first, then the forehead, then the cheeks, etc.

Speaking of washing hair, I have no idea what to do with mine. Now that I'm swimming once or twice a week in a chlorinated pool, the not-washing it method doesn't work so well. It feels like it's full of glue again. I've tried washing it with whatever bottle of shampoo we have in the house and that doesn't help much either. I'm going to try washing up liquid soon, in case it's excess of grease that's the problem, but I have a weird feeling it's the scales on the hairs standing up that's the problem. Too much cider vinegar will make it sticky. Should I try plain white vinegar?