Another week in Nashville

I can't remember any more when we had William for the nights ... several times even if there was school the next day. Papa had tried it out and decided that the drive/traffic to school at that time in the morning was not too bad. William is an excellent guest to have and we had a lot of fun.

When he was in school we tried to help Helen. This room was previously a "catch-all" but she wanted to change it into her office (to prepare for her classes etc) to make space in the living area for William to have a little desk with drawers. That was his wish.

I had tried to support Helen as much as possible when she was not working. She sorted an immense amount of stuff and also parted with incredibly much not needed any longer. I was the helper with the trash bags to the bins outside. When there was not much left to sort in this room and she was working, James and I put a coat of paint on the walls. She was soooooo happy which made us happy of course too.

We also had a good suggestion about her problem with the breakfast overhang. It was tipping and might come loose. She had another piece of furniture which was EXACTLY the right size. Helen had to dismantle something from underneath the counter though but she is good at that.

Papa and I also found a barstool for sale which Helen liked (take photo, texting, get go-ahead, love my gadgets). I don't have a photo but William is so happy and eats his breakfast there every morning.

The rewards were eggs from her "ladies". I must say that the hens are actually quite fun to watch. I had brought my brand-new portable induction cooking plate and pots to try out more things and learn. It was a Costco special purchase and I am so happy with it. The whole two weeks there I didn't use the "regular" stove even once. The eggs turned out really well... and faster on the induction.

Of course as many 8 year olds, William likes computer games and his iPad. Of course those are not bad in general. I for example love my gadgets too. Oh yes. But you know, too much ...

But he is so good. I think he actually gets bored of it because when you have an idea what to do he is very happy to do it with you ... especially games like Monopoly, Connect4, etc

We found a cheap Battleship game which had never been used. So the pegs and ships needed to be separated. 

Ah, Saturday! 

William was spending the night in Lebanon at his father's farm. Helen's friend Betty (which we learned later actually had been Ben's mother Joy's teacher way back) wanted to meet us again ... and we her. She is such a sweet and interesting person. She came around 10 am and brought a birthday gift for Helen. James put a nail over the door to the back yard later for it to hang. It looks perfect there. 

Time just flew. Not a boring minute. We had given Helen a Christmas pudding in the Advent-calendar but she had passed it on to Betty (who knew where it came from). She had brought it back with two different sauces (I think her husband had British roots). She even had brought a little bourbon to pour into one of the sauces. The cake went well with the coffee and we talked about the different customs of Christmas pudding.

Betty had to leave shortly after noon and William arrived later too. We had found cheese fondue in Richmond and brought two packets for Helen. This is the evening she wanted to enjoy it and came over to the townhouse. She also brought the salad, ha-ha. 

William loves veggies but not cooked. So we had raw veggies and hummus for him to nibble as much as he wanted. Even though he loves goat cheeses (manchego) he was not impressed with the fondue. He was happy what we had for him though. It was a lovely evening.

William spent the night and Helen went home. William didn't have a good night. At 3 am he woke me that he was very thirsty. He went back to his bed but said (in his sleep) that his heart was racing. Needless to say I did not get much sleep for the rest of the night. He was truly puny and not feeling well when he  woke up in the morning. After conferring with Helen she told us to just come over with him. We had planned for him and Papa to do something together after dropping me off. It was supposed to be our last day until we were leaving in the evening to drive half way. 

Plans changed. With William not well (even had a temperature) and Helen having to take care of him,   we left soon to pack at the townhouse. At 1 pm we were on our way ... skipping lunch.

As it is our custom we stopped after 2 1/2 hours in Strawberry Plaines to have our lunch (normally breakfast). Don't know whether it was before it was Sunday or Super Bowl Sunday or something else but the roads were good to drive. The weather was perfect. 

When we had to fill up with gasoline we couldn't resist the DQ. Don't worry. He did not drive like this. We were parked.

We were home at midnight. Not bad at all. We had scratched our plans to stop part way for the night. It wasn't necessary. As always, sorry to leave Helen and William. Hope to be back soon.