Hannah slept over at her friend's house after trick or treating with her and I collected her in the morning, after which we went to Mass with my mum. In my head I had some idea about reinforcing the stuff we did on Halloween, but bit daft really, considering she'd had almost no sleep. So I just cuddled her.
Afterwards DH came to meet us outside and the four of us took my aunt and uncle's ashes to
Epping Forest Woodland Burial Park where we had a very simple burial. It wasn't even a service. I tried to read a poem and sobbed all the way through (which is most unlike me; I gave the eulogy at both their funerals and managed not to cry in the middle). We then went out to have some lunch together, before Hannah, Mum and I dashed off to meet Louise and Lucia at the skating rink.
Hannah was invited to a skating party there in the summer and won a free skating session in a competition. It expired yesterday so it had to be done, even if that made the day manic and tiring. Also a shame that her illness last week meant we had to go in half term. It was heaving. L and L often go in the week during school time and have the ice to themselves. Still, the girls had fun and they saw one of the senior students from their drama school which always pleases them. The grown ups sat and gossiped over tea and hot chocolate. I *can* skate but my feet are so wide and hire skates so narrow that I always feel as though I have the blades on the inside of the boot! So I don't skate!
We dropped Mum home and went back to L and L's house for dinner as we were all going out to the theatre in the evening. Yummy meal of lamb stew, which I love but don't cook at home because veggie daughter misses lamb terribly; it's been her biggest sacrifice!
In the evening we went to
Rich Mix, to see The
CrickCrack Club for Day of the Dead. Louise spent many years in Mexico, where Lucia was born and the tradition of celebrating Day of the Dead has remained with them. Hannah no
Can I have a sneaky proud mummy moment?? In the interval, Louise took the girls out to get popcorn and they came back with crisps instead, *because* Hannah had taken one look at the miniscule bag of popcorn they were selling for £3 and said, "that's really rather expensive, isn't it? I don;t think we should buy it because it's not worth that much," or words to that effect and refused to be pressured into it. Louise came back and told me that she really admired Hannah for being so principled. The show was amazing, three very talented storytellers talling tales from all over the world about death and the pleasures of life. Some of them were a little near the knuckle but the girls are still just about young enough for it to pass them by!
Got home late and had to carry a very weary Hannah so we are having a quiet day today!
