Springiness is happiness

Is spring sproinging at last? The lovely mild weather is bringing the greenery out, and yesterday morning my husband stepped outside and when he came in, he brought a waft of green and earth and growing things, and oh, that was good for the soul. Of course, I've been out, too, but somehow I notice the smell more when someone brings it into the house.
Suddenly I am feeling brighter and more optimistic, less prone to my winter drama queen mode. And that can only be good.

My older child is poorly at the moment, and has had day two off of school. He's the best patient ever - apart from waking his little brother up in the middle of the night to fetch us when he needs a drink. He takes everything in his stride, and I often think I could learn a lesson in patience off of him. I'm not a neurotic mother by any stretch, but this child has Keratitis in his right cornea, and every recurrence brings a risk of scarring. Eventually the scarring is likely to be bad enough to need an operation or it will result in blindness. The virus is set in motion by tiredness and illness, so I'm taking the poor mite's temperature every five minutes, shoving vitamins down him, and making him drink...juice, water, milk, anything that comes to hand. And through it all, he gives me his ear for the thermometer, lets me shine torches down his throat, and gives me matter of fact updates about how he's feeling on demand. What a star.
I'm a huge fan of Sheffield's Children's Hospital, I think they do a fantastic job. But we don't need to spend any more time there than we already do.

This week we've done loads in the garden. I have that sinking feeling that the weather will close in soon and spring cleaning fever will attack. Which would be fine if the damn house ever stayed clean, but today I mopped the floor and it was filthy - absolutely shamefully filthy - within 15 minutes. I'm tempted to sell the boys and buy in a cleaner...