Since Monday the days have gone like this

F's appetite returned sometime on Tuesday afternoon and her energy came back Wednesday morning. I had forgotten how lively she is normally, after over a week of her being rather listless and sofa/media attached. By Wednesday afternoon she was generally back to jumping/clambering/running around as usual.

HH came on Wednesday afternoon, bringing excellent sparkly craft books which will be so useful - we had a similar book with fairy-themed makes and bakes and have done several items from it, so I know we will get good use out of this set of books - F loves to look through and choose a project. I showed HH the house and we managed quite a bit of satisfactory chat as I did a few chores that had piled up whilst I'd been doing my paid work. Thanks for the visit and the books HH, it was lovely to see you.

Then in the evening, B (old friend we only see once a year at most generally these days) was arriving for a 2-night visit. It was so lovely to have her stay and really spend time together. Wednesday evening we stayed in, watched 'Kenny' (on Ady MT's recommendation a few months back), which we all really enjoyed. Thursday evening, B and I went to the pub like grown-ups! That was great too. Lovely to catch up on where our lives are and where we're going. She filled in an online job application whilst here as she is looking for a job after being freelance (botanist/ecologist) for a long time. We looked back on old photos of times together including a holiday we had in the Dordogne, 6 of us, about 11 years ago, great memories.

F has been playing a very detailed pretend game involving a journey made by monkeys across a 'snow desert' (duvet), encountering and surmounting various obstacles, represented by household items and items of furniture. They jump/climb/swing etc.
She has also been using my old laptop a bit, particularly with some DK CD-Roms that my mum gave us (given away with the Daily Mail) - so far she has looked at the Human Body one and the Science Experiments one and they have been great for us, I've learned stuff, she's learned stuff, we've had fun. As she has recovered from this recent bug, she seems to me to be embracing new things again, in particularly good form. Doing really helpful things, independent things, practical, sensible things, sometimes without being asked. E.g. noticing something was in the way and moving it, going to get herself juice and throwing the carton away afterwards because it was empty, making no mess when pouring juice, etc. She has also been pushing forward with reading a bit, I've noticed, less worried about guessing words, having a go, more. All very good.

Today I was out at a writing day with Nic MT, where we both wrote till our hands ached, and there was tons of chatting and laughing too. I get a lot out of those days, very good for the psyche/soul.
Came back to J's pasta and some wine and my lovely daughter and Strictly Come Dancing recorded earlier. All very nice, as Saturdays go, thanks.