Scarlet Fever

Well the official diagnosis of E is that he has a streptococcal infection (with some symptoms of Scarlet Fever) that the Doctor called Scarletina. This has resulted in a red rash and was preceded by common symptoms including nausea and vomiting (but no coating on the tongue).

E is now on a 10 day course of anti-biotics. He needs to be kept in until he has finished the course.

Because it is a "notifiable illness" we have had phone calls from the health agency. The initial contact suggested that close family members might need meds as well, but they called back later to say that they would wait to hear what the Doc said. The Doc in fact simply extended E's antibiotics course from 5 to 10 days. The Doc also told us that there were a lot of streptococcal infections in the area. This is also apparently a first for our local Nursery that E attends. At present they have Chicken Pox going round, so we were expecting E to get that. This was a total surprise.

The chances are that D's "bad cold" is also a strep infection as it is taking a bit longer to get over than the usual cold.

So far M has no sign of even a sniffle.

Plague House

MORTICIAN:Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!

CUSTOMER: Here's one -- nine pence.

DEAD PERSON: I'm not dead!

MORTICIAN: What?

CUSTOMER: Nothing -- here's your nine pence.

DEAD PERSON: I'm not dead!

MORTICIAN: Here -- he says he's not dead!

CUSTOMER: Yes, he is.

DEAD PERSON: I'm not!

MORTICIAN: He isn't.

CUSTOMER: Well, he will be soon, he's very ill.

DEAD PERSON: I'm getting better!

CUSTOMER: No, you're not -- you'll be stone dead in a moment.

MORTICIAN: Oh, I can't take him like that -- it's against regulations.

Sorry to report that we are ill. D has had a rotten cold (man flu, aches, pains etc) since Tuesday but had to work through it, spent most of yesterday and today in bed. J has been off all week, and E appears to have just come down with it. M is the only one not to be showing signs of infection yet. Good thing too, or we would all be in a pickle.

Definitely man flu. No woman in this house got it.

Snowmen

Dan and E build snowmen, and explore the snowy garden.

Snow's Different in the Day

Birds perch atop a snow covered chimney.

No washing out on our road today.

Snow can make the world very black and white, but there is always some colour.

Snow's Back

Having a day off during half term and went into town with the boys. We walked back and just as we were getting home it started snowing. It is still snowing now at 9:30pm. Maybe we can go sledging this weekend.

Eyes on the goal

Sometimes you stumble across a quote that reminds you of things forgotten. Things unbelievably important but somehow swallowed up in the day to day. For me, this is one of those quotes. It's Brigham Young:

“Your spirits when they came to take [earthly] tabernacles were pure and holy. There is no spirit among the human family that was begotten in hell; none that were begotten by angels, or by any inferior being. They [are all the children of] our Father in heaven. He is the Father of our spirits; and if we could know, understand, and do His will, every soul would be prepared to return back into His presence. And when they get there, they would see that they had formerly lived there for ages, that they had previously been acquainted with every nook and corner, with the palaces, walks, and gardens; and they would embrace their Father, and He would embrace them and say, ‘My son, my daughter, I have you again;’ and the child would say, ‘O my Father, my Father, I am here again.’” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 4:268)

More Fun in the Snow

It's been freezing all week, we've had plenty of snow, and for once the snow did not thaw before the weekend which means... we could go sledging.

Met up with the Nats and the J&HKs at the Cropston entrance to Bradgate Park, and must have played for at least 2 hours. It snowed on and off, and when it wasn't snowing we had glorious sunshine. A perfect day for it.

We had no sledge so I made one before we left from scrap wood. It was based on the design of a successful one my Dad made. We nailed Corex (the stuff 'for sale' signs are made of) to the underside of the runners and that made run nice and smooth.

The only real upset was when it was home time.

Enjoy the pics.

E on the sledge that Dad built.

Heading up the path with E in tow. We met up at a less busy and more gentle slope just before you get to the gift shop.

Heading up the hill. If you want to go the whole hill you need to aim for a gap in the wall on the way down. Here J and JK head up the hill for a race. E is the tiny dot top right and Uncle N is already at the top.

A tired E heading home along the path.