Sun, Spanners and Santa Pod

So this heatwave has hit me like an absolute tonne of bricks and in that I know I'm not alone. As a young woman I would have described myself as a sun worshipper. I loved it, thrived in it, didn't matter if I was working — working outside was even better, getting a tan while being productive and being paid for it was a bonus. I have worked on the markets in cut off jeans and a bikini top and loved every minute of it. But, apart from the fact that as a country we are not set up to manage these extreme temperatures, especially not for extended periods of time, the ebullience of youth has faded and the stress of actually adulting in this heat has overwhelmed my enjoyment of this sunshine streak.

My brain has turned to mush, my joints, normally more cooperative in the warmer months, are giving me heck and all I am good for between the hours of 9am and 8pm is fanning myself and looking bewildered and confused when asked any question at all. Hence why I am sitting here in bed this Saturday morning procrastinating about completing the payroll I had planned to do yesterday.

Andrew and the boys have gone off to Santa Pod this weekend — it's Cole's birthday and Wade was away last weekend so didn't see his dad for Father's Day, so they have dragged him along this weekend. Yesterday afternoon saw the usual frenzy of four guys zipping round the place grabbing stuff from everywhere — washing lines, drawers and cupboards, the floor, the fridge — until finally they were on their way, leaving the ripples of their departure in their wake, and a growing calm and stillness.

They so deserve the weekend, all of them have worked so hard for such a long time. There's still more to do and the problems just keep coming at us like a steady stream of spanners being thrown into the works, each one sapping a little more strength, a little more resolve. This week we called a two day holiday because of the extreme temperature as we were concerned about our staff having to work in it. Andrew still went in both days though, as he does — his work ethic, scribed into all the kids, is quite something to see. A blessing and a monster at the same time. I try to temper it, keep a balance, but it's like trying to cage a beast — and to be honest, after 26 years of marriage I am not so different when there's a job to be done.

Again, hence why I am sitting here in bed blog writing instead of working. But I have been up since 6am, fed the dogs while it's cooler, let them have a mooch round the garden, chucked in a couple of loads of washing — two machines, one people's, one dogs' — and made myself a cuppa. So I haven't been idle. It's funny how at this time of day I seem to be able to take on the whole world, yet get to 1pm and I am quite useless.

So with the wind blowing a lovely cool breeze through one window and out the other, I'm going to stop rambling and complete the payroll.