173. Neighbours (1)

I wake up and think my life is wonderful as yet an other morning when I can laze around with not a care in the world is stretching ahead of me. I am thinking that I have had a truly excellent night sleep, totally undisturbed.

That was me being over optimistic as usual. Me and my positive thinking getting carried away.

Blip. Goes my phone. Message from my mother.

'Bins all burnt. Neighbours' wall all black. He wants you to claim on your insurance. He's lost your number.'

What on earth is this about? What bins? What fire? What neighbour? 

I cannot make any sense of all this so, in order to see things with a clearer mind I make myself a cup of coffee. I look outside. Not a very promising day: grey, cold, damp and windy. Yet my positive thinking is turned on full blast and so I think: perfect day for decluttering and blogging.

I sit and sip my coffee. I am still a little sleepy. I am musing over the fact that it is my husband's birthday the following day and I have plans to make, things to buy, menus to draw, tables to landscape ...

Blip. Goes my phone. Message from my husband.

'Someone set fire to our bins. Neighbours' wall all black. No doubt he'll ask us to claim on our insurance.' 

I am awake now. This seems to be for real. I shout at Baby to go outside and take a look. She goes and sends me a picture.

Oh. 

No.

All our rubbish is gone! It is a shock to see that out of all the carefully-set-aside-to-be-recycled items there is only a tiny pile of glistening black and grey slime left. Baby burns in as I am staring at the pic with a blank mind. 

'Look Mum! There's a tin of baked beans! ... And these are your students' test papers!'