Monday morning arrived with a scorching 35°C forecast, which, to be fair, was fantastic news when you've got mountains of washing. I don't think my clothes had even hit the washing line before they were practically dry.

First stop of the day was taking my daughter for her first meningitis vaccination, as they're now offering it to students heading off to university or further education. One jab down... hopefully one less thing to worry about.

As for me...

I woke up feeling like someone had filled both of my ears with expanding foam.

After starting my new medication for my autoimmune condition just a few days ago, I seem to have managed to collect a rather impressive selection of side effects.

Not all fifty-odd listed in the leaflet... thankfully.

Just the lucky dip of:

• A horrendously painful mouth ulcer.
• A sore throat.
• Blocked ears that make me feel like I'm underwater.
• Dizzy spells that appear whenever they fancy.

I made it exactly two and a half days before waving the white flag.

The pharmacist and an NHS doctor both advised me to stop taking it immediately, so that's exactly what I did. I've also let my rheumatologist know.

While I was at the chemist, I picked up a tube of Bonjela for the mouth ulcer. I honestly can't remember the last time I tasted Bonjela—it must be years! The moment I squeezed it onto the ulcer, that unmistakable taste instantly took me back to being a child. It's funny how certain medicines have a taste you never forget.

More importantly... it actually worked.

It didn't perform miracles, but it definitely took the edge off the pain, and after spending the last couple of days feeling like I'd swallowed a handful of drawing pins, I'll take any relief I can get.

Honestly though... if this is my body's idea of "adjusting to medication," I'd hate to see what it considers a bad reaction.

At the moment, my ears feel completely sealed up, my mouth feels like I've swallowed a cactus, and I'm walking around like I've had one too many glasses of wine—without any of the fun.

Still... at least the washing's dry.

Because sometimes that's the only thing in life that actually goes to plan.

And Then Came the Cold...

After stopping the medication, something slightly annoying happened.

I developed a full-blown cold.

Seriously?!

After all that worrying about sore throats, blocked ears and whether I was reacting to my new medication, it turns out that at least some of those symptoms might simply have been the beginning of a cold.

Typical.

Suddenly the blocked ears and sore throat made a lot more sense. Maybe my body wasn't rejecting the medication quite as dramatically as I'd thought, maybe I was just coming down with something at exactly the same time.

Although that horrendous mouth ulcer and the dizzy spells are still on my suspicious list!

The good news is that I woke up this morning cold-free, my ears are feeling better and, finally, the mouth ulcer has gone. Goodbye Bonjela — hopefully we won't be meeting again anytime soon.

After speaking to my rheumatologist, we've agreed that once I'm completely better, I'll give the medication another go. So, Sunday is the day.

This time I'm going to take it slowly and see how my body reacts when there isn't a cold muddying the waters.

I'm hoping that round two is considerably less eventful than round one.

Honestly though...

Who knew taking one little tablet could turn into such a detective story?

Medication side effect or common cold?

I'll report back next week...

And Where Did the Rest of the Week Go?

Honestly though...

Where did the rest of the week go?

Absolutely nowhere.

There were no exciting adventures.

Just...

Admin.

Lots and lots of admin.

The sort of admin where you sit at your computer for hours, achieve approximately 742 tiny things, and yet somehow have absolutely nothing interesting to show for it.

There was washing.

More washing.

And then, because apparently people in this house insist on wearing clothes every single day...

MORE WASHING.

I did manage to spend some time sunbathing in the garden.

And when I say garden, I'm using that word rather generously.

At the moment it's less beautiful summer oasis and more...

weeds and straw with a sun lounger plonked in the middle.

But the sun was shining.

It was warm.

And if I closed my eyes, I couldn't see the weeds.

Perfect.

So that was pretty much the rest of my week.

Admin.

Washing.

Sunbathing amongst the weeds and straw.

Nothing particularly exciting.

But sometimes...

That's life.

And honestly though...

After some of the weeks we've had lately, I'll happily take boring.

And then we arrived at Saturday.

My daughter had another make-up job, this time in Hammersmith.

I put her make-up suitcase safely in the car.

Look at me... Organised mother. We'd been driving for around 30 minutes and had made it half way when my daughter suddenly realised...She'd forgotten her actual bag. 

You know, the bag containing all her bits and bobs.

And where was it?

On our driveway.

Of course it was.

So I turned the car around and drove all the way back home.

Grabbed the bag.

Got back in the car.

And started our journey across London...

AGAIN.

Somehow, despite our completely unnecessary tour of North West London, I managed to get her to the job for 3:10pm.

Only ten minutes late.

I genuinely don't know how I managed it.

Maybe I temporarily developed the ability to bend time.

An Iced Mocha, A Cream Cake & The Thames

Once my daughter was safely at work, I wandered into Caffè Nero and ordered myself an iced decaf mocha. Or coffee mocha. Whatever it's called. It was cold, it contained coffee, it contained chocolate and, after the journey I'd just had, it was lovely.

But then I spotted it.

A cream cake.

And I stared at it. I mean, I REALLY stared at it. You know when you look at a cake and can practically taste it without actually eating it? That was me.

Unfortunately, I also knew exactly what would happen if I ate it. It would taste absolutely delicious for approximately five minutes... and then I'd feel ill.

So I did something incredibly grown-up and sensible.

I left the cream cake where it was.

Was I happy about this? No.

Did I continue looking at it? Absolutely.

Honestly though... there are few things more depressing than being sensible in front of a cream cake.

Afterwards, I parked back near the road where my daughter was working and realised that, literally, a couple of minutes away, there was the River Thames, a bike path and FREE PARKING.

And it was gorgeous.

But I also noticed something else. The Thames had really receded, and along the edges you could see all this exposed mud that would normally be hidden beneath the water.

Of course, being me, I found myself staring at it and wondering...

What exactly is lurking in all that mud underneath the Thames?

And then, while I'm sitting there questioning what might be living beneath the surface, I could actually see people swimming in it!

Rather them than me.

There were people sailing up and down the river too, which was lovely to watch from the safety and comfort of my bench. At one point, one of the little sailboats actually capsized. Thankfully, they seemed to know exactly what they were doing, but it certainly gave me something to watch!

We've had what feels like a continuous heatwave this summer, and seeing how much of the muddy riverbank was exposed really brought home just how hot and dry it's been.

There was a beautiful walkway running along the river, so I found a bench and sat down, plane-watching...

No rushing, no shopping, no hospital, no pharmacy, no supermarkets and definitely no cream cake.

Just me.

I watched the sailboats and the swans. I watched people walking their dogs, people sitting and chatting and, of course, people voluntarily running up and down the path in 28-degree heat, which frankly raised even more questions than what was lurking in the Thames mud.

I decided I'd have a little walk myself.

I managed approximately two minutes before my knee started giving way.

So... back to the giant steps outside a deluxe block of flats.

And actually?

It was lovely.

I sat there for around an hour and a half, just watching the world go by. I don't get many opportunities to do absolutely nothing, and sometimes you don't realise quite how much you need to just sit still until you finally do.

And Then There Was My Hair...

There was, however, one slight problem.

It was 28 degrees and that morning I'd straightened my hair.

I'd actually stood there and thought, "Hopefully it won't be too hot today."

HAHAHAHA.

After sitting beside the Thames for around an hour and a half, I'd practically roasted myself. I was sweating, and my beautifully straightened hair?

Straight into a ponytail.

Honestly... why did I bother?

But despite the forgotten bag, the emergency drive home, the cream cake I couldn't eat, the heat, the dodgy knee and the completely pointless hair straightening...

It turned out to be a really lovely afternoon.

Sometimes the nicest moments aren't planned at all.