The Road to Hell is Paved....

I have all these wonderful ideas, and loads of good intentions about carrying them out, but somehow when it comes to actually doing the deed I seem to run out of steam.

In my minds eye I have rearranged my lounge, completely refurbished and reorganised my dining room, turned my tired old fashioned bedroom into a stylish boudoir (including getting ALL my clothes hung up in mirror sliding door wall to wall wardrobes) but somehow I still stay the same. Piles of stuff everywhere! Old furniture, old clothes etc etc. My house is rather like one of those sliding square puzzles, but to be able to move things around I need that space to move things into. That's my big problem. No spare space. Just cupboards, shelves and wardrobes FULL of stuff! The overflow sometimes makes it to a black bin bag and the wheelie bin, or even a trip to the tip - sorry! Civic Recycling Amenity *cough*. Sounds posher I suppose but it's still a tip, a well organised tip though. You also need a passport to get in there, a recent bill, or some proof of local residence because we don't want Bournemouth's rubbish, or Purbeck's, or Wimborne's. When they are supposed to make money from re-cycling you'd think they'd let anyone in! Wimborne do! We are also automatically scanned for car reg. and logged, and only allowed a limited number of visits per month. So woe betide anyone doing a major clear out and trying to make 5 trips in 2 days! You'll be stopped and interrogated!

My 'garden' is also a source of worry. I can just about manage to cut the grass once in a while and clean up after Honey but I have a beautifully wild nature reserve :-) I have birds and butterflies galore, squirrels, and foxes too. It helps living next door to woodlands and a playing field. I get many countryside visitors you would not expect in a town, yet I am only a mile up the hill from all the shops in the town centre.  I look after the front garden ok with the occasional helping hand from my son, my sister when she comes to visit, and my next door neighbour who loves to potter in the garden. He has donated a few plants from cuttings from his garden and it looks lovely now.

I am getting hungry and I've just had a look in my fridge. It's looking a bit bare. There's the remains of an iceberg lettuce, some cheese, eggs, bacon and a bag of potatoes. Looks like it could be a store cupboard lunch. Tuna pasta bake anyone?

Or maybe beans on toast with melted grated cheese :-) There's always something I can rustle up without having to shop. Uh-oh! Now I feel really hungry. The beans are sounding good. I am down to the last tin of the dozen I bought months ago when they were on BOGTF. Lovely tasty Branston beans - bought one pack of four and got two free! I'll have to stock up again! I am also down to my last tin of tuna. The pasta bin is looking low. Hmm bad planning to run low on larder basics all at the same time.

However it avoids too many trips to the shops and reduces the temptations of buying cakes and chocolate. Mmmmm C H O C O L A T E!!! Chocolate cake heaven!

Honey is still hobbling around, sometimes walking pretty well then carrying her bad leg for a bit. She is still managing to get up and down stairs even though it looks like it hurts her to do so. I keep checking her leg and there is no sign of swelling or infection. The pin holes have healed over almost completely now and are barely visible. We have survived 2 weeks of no walkies and she asks every day at the usual time if we can go. She understands 'no' and then changes it to asking for her dinner LOL. No mistaking the rattle of her dish!

We had a mini thunderstorm last night. One flash from Bournemouth way and a fairly quick rumble after it but that was all we got, with a brief splatter of heavy rain drops. Obviously Bournemouth got the full whack because Jenny came in shortly after and said the Frizzells roundabout was flooded right across the road!

I hope you have a good weekend and get some sunshine. For those of you planning a barbecue - good luck at dodging the showers and storms :-)

xxx

Where did the weekend go?

First long weekend done and dusted. Hope you all had a good Easter. I have been alone, apart from Honey, for most of it. James did come to lunch Sunday, as usual. Sausages and mash for him, as usual. I had a lovely tasty, tender pork steak, roasted in oven with onions and mushrooms, served with a load of fresh broccoli. It was lovely.

Yesterday being Monday meant pub quiz night. Last week the pub was heaving! Every single chair and stool was in use. Even the tall bar stools were hijacked by one team round a small table. We had something like 14 teams and, for the first time in about 2 years, the quiz master paid out a 3rd place prize. It was back to 'normal' last night with 8 teams. But was a good night.

The quiz master likes to make 'holidays' a bit different so instead of 6 rounds of 5 q's with 2 pre-selected joker rounds, making 40 points in total, we had 4 rounds of 8 q's with one joker round, played and marked as we went.
The first round was a real stinker and we managed a miserly 1 (yes one) point, but highest score that round was 3 LOL. The others improved as we went and we maxed the last 2 rounds. Unfortunately we went for round 2 as our joker and got 2 wrong! That was a vital 4 points gone, instead of 2, and we'd have tied for 1st place. As it was we tied for 2nd place and lost out on the tie breaker question. So a good 3rd place in the end. We won the pic round which was also a harder one.
It was just James and I last night, as Kev & Sheila were grandparenting, and Jen was back late from Salisbury and too tired to quiz. So James blitzed the pics and I answered the quiz. We got the same number of q's right as the winners but played the joker badly :( Ah well, such is life.
We made some new friends as a newish team (about 2 months attending) came and sat next to us as their usual table was taken, 3 ladies of the silver haired variety. They were very nice. The pub lounge bar is on 2 levels and teams tend to stay either on upper level or lower. It's funny how we all have our favourite table and feel unsettled if we have to sit elsewhere. We have our fav. table and a second best in case first choice is being used.

I had a tasty pasta bake with side salad for my dinner. It was described as 'chicken and smoked bacon pasta bake'. I had 2 tiny cubes of chicken and a few scraps of bacon in my portion, lots of pasta and loads of cheese sauce so it tasted good, but more like macaroni cheese than chicken and bacon.

How's Honey? I hear someone ask. Well she's doing just fine now. The first couple of days were bad as she would not put her bad leg to the ground without whining and wincing. I phoned my vet and got some pain killers prescribed. They did help and she slept a lot the first few days. Her sore leg did not stop her making it upstairs, although she was very slow and careful coming down as she HAD to use her bad leg. A week later she is a different dog. She is walking almost normally on all four legs, just occasionally 'carrying' the bad leg if it hurts a bit. She has started nagging me for walkies. Even after a week of not having a walk at all (vet's orders - 3 weeks to go yet) her walkies body clock is still working LOL. Nothing like being shadowed by a dog who's whining and giving me the 'big-brown-eyes' look, an almost silent 'PLEASE take me out'. I pacify her with her dinner. She always gets fed after walkies, so if she gets her dinner she knows walkies will not follow and stops begging.
Right now she is curled up on her duvet bed right near the lounge window to catch the sunshine patch. She loves to sunbathe and feel the warmth on her back. The sun is much higher in the sky now and instead of the sunny patch being halfway across the lounge as it was a month ago, it is now just a few feet out from the window and the warm sunny patch is limited. She looks happy.

I had some good news yesterday - I am getting the grandsons for a sleepover in June :-D. James has almost finished clearing his old room so I can get on with painting it and sorting the furniture so one of the boys can go in there, and the other in our 'official' spare room. Except Jen has used that as her bedroom overflow lately so there is a pile of 'stuff' to clear out (hopefully into the bin). [ I hope you're reading this Jen! LUVU!!]

John had a rough weekend, with a huge tooth abscess that came up almost overnight. He's on anti-biotics now and hopefully feeling a lot better.

It's less than 2 weeks to our Fairport gig and I'm getting into panic mode. We have not sold out and would love a few more ticket sales before the night. But it's hard times all round and people are not spending their money if they can help it. :(
I will enjoy the concert anyway. It will be great hosting the 'lads'.

Have a great week and enjoy the Royal wedding.
TTFN xxx

Just another week

Is it really a week since my last blog? Sorry - I know Honey posted but I need to be in the mood to write.
During the last week the weather has varied from frosts, and me using my winter duvet for a couple of nights, to today's scorcher, 21oC out this morning and a whole lot warmer in the car sitting in the sunshine :(
I took Honey to the orthopaedic vet yesterday with apprehension. One of the vets there said last time she should be ready to have the frame off on this visit and I got all optimistic and excited. Then I saw the senior vet and he said they'd X-ray her leg and see if 'maybe' some of the pins could come out. I thought 'here we go - another visit, more X-rays more money'.  I left her there yesterday expecting him to say 'another 6 weeks', but when I went to collect her there she was with no pins at all and the frame gone! The leg looked a bit messy - some bleeding drying on her leg and massive bruising, but they gave me instructions on how to manage it at home, bathing it with salty water. If I have any worries I can call them or take her to my own vet.
It obviously felt strange to Honey and probably very sore for a few days yet. But she is walking on it, albeit limping, and taking the step in and out of the back door very carefully. It must feel strange to her as well as painful at the moment. The vet said no walkies for a month!! A whole month! I'll have to make the effort to walk more by myself because I need the exercise and I know Honey will not be happy. It was bad when she broke her wrist in the first place, now we are almost back there again :(
She is managing to get up and down stairs ok even if slowly.
Still, today is day 1 without the frame and pins so it is a step forward, even if it seems like 5 steps backwards at the same time, as she is much less mobile for a while.

The official Fairport publicity machine is in full swing now and main mass 'snail mail' mail-out has taken place. I expect our remaining tickets to go quite fast now :)
I am getting excited about the night but also worried. Have we done everything we need to? Is everything booked/ordered? Will I have any nails left by then?
Whose idea was it to put on Fairport in the first place?
I am all for a risk free quiet life. I am not one of life's gamblers and this is a huge gamble for me. I don't even do the lottery!

I have a few personal issues to get sorted this week - not least getting James over to clear out his room finally. He only moved out 18 months ago! I want to get it painted and refurbished as a guest room, or alternatively a 'dressing room' cum storage room for Jenny, so I can make what was the guest room a decent room again for visitors.

It takes me so long to get things done now, as I can only stand up for a short time without sitting down for a minute or two. I am better moving around than  just standing still, but I can't carry anything bulky or heavy. It's one side of getting older I hate.

Enough of me and my life - I hope you've got the summery warmth too and get the chance to enjoy it. Just don't fry yourself please.
Bye for now xx

Scorching Sunday



what I'd look like after sunbathing

 How soon a week passes. At least it is showing promise of Spring and better weather. Have had some nice sunshine this week which has cheered me up no end. Today was actually hot here with a blazing sun. I stayed out of it mostly, as I burn easily and have to slap on the SPF 30 to avoid the lobster look. ( see pic >)
John is lucky and goes brown almost instantly.



Pub quiz night Monday brought more chocolate but no money. James and I managed a respectable joint third in the main quiz and James won the picture round.
Thursday night was the singaround at Wimborne Folk Club which had just enough performers to go round twice plus 2 more songs. Nice variety of performers too so it was a good mix. John and I were chairing the evening.

Wednesday brought a bit of panic. My blind friend Linda was poorly for a few days and suddenly developed a nasty pain in her ear. She phoned her doc and the night locum booked her into the out-of-hours GP clinic at Poole Hospital and I picked her up and took her there. There is only  the A&E entrance open at night for security but it means a bit of a trudge around to get there, then you have to wind your way round the hospital corridors to the out patients' clinic bit. Although that clinic did not appear to be busy we had to wait 45 mins to see the nurse practitioner :-(  They checked Linda thoroughly and said it was a throat infection causing pressure on the ears but no sign of an ear infection. They sent her home with instructions to take paracetamol.
After finding our way back down the corridors to A&E, then exiting the hospital and walking back to the parked car, I was knackered and in increasing pain in my knee. I wanted to text John to let him know what was happening but could not find my phone in my bag :(  I had dropped it some time at the hospital. It could have been at the car park ticket machine, or in A&E, or at the clinic. Anyone could have picked it up. I looked under the car in case I'd dropped it then kicked it under the car, and checked all round the parking are and ticket machine but no sign of it. I was in too much pain to walk all the way back to the GP clinic again so took Linda home and went home myself.
I tried phoning the hospital but none of the switchboards are manned at night. I contacted O2 and blocked the SIM from being used.

My phone

I phoned the hospital first thing next morning but no sign of the phone being handed in :-(  I did not worry so much about the phone itself but was desperate about losing phone numbers on there. Jen came home early from work and got a text message. Someone had found my phone and put their own SIM in to activate it and had texted jen from my inbox. We arranged to pick up the phone from the cleaner who had found it and jumped in the car to go there, taking Honey with us to walk after. I managed to walk through to the 'staff only' section where the cleaners base was and asked a group of ladies which of them was Frankie? It turned out Frankie was male! A very nice young-ish man: balding, goatee beard, a few pounds excess baggage and just a tiny bit camp. But a very nice man and I gave him a big hug and a large box of choccies :-)
I had my phone back! WOOHOO! All my numbers are there so I am saved. All I had to do now was wait for a new SIM to arrive. That came yesterday but did not work on my phone :-( The 'chip' part of the SIM was totally different in appearance to the old one and my phone did not like it. So now I am waiting for another one to come :-(

Friday I enjoyed a couple of hours with my grandson, Alex. His school broke up lunchtime for the Easter hols and Di could not get away from work early enough, so I collected him from school and we enjoyed some play time in the garden together. :-)

Tom & David

Friday night was our own folk club, with a lovely band

called MaryJane from  Southampton opening the evening, followed by the brilliant Tom McConville and David Newey. A small audience but very appreciative of a brilliant night's music.

Máire & Chris

Tonight John and I went to Bournemouth Folk Club and saw Máire Ní Chathasaigh & Chris Newman in concert. Superb sets, made even better by Máire not singing! Last time I saw them her voice was well past its 'best before' date. She is very Irish and plays the harp like an angel. He is a brilliant guitarist, with strong jazz influences.
It was a good night. It is pretty obvious who is the boss in their marriage! The CD cover pic says it all >


I hope you have a good week ahead - enjoy the sunshine while it's here.xx

Mothering Sunday April 3rd 2011

Well did you get a treat? Breakfast in bed? A cup of tea/coffee? Nope - me neither :(

Well the only other being in my house was Honey and she couldn't manage to carry the mug upstairs with her pinned leg ;-)

I had an earlyish text from Jen who's in Salisbury with Helen and the horses - I'll be out tonight when she gets home. James came over for lunch - sausages and mash again *sigh* I had a fish pie with assorted green veg (fish pie reduced in Tesco to £1 on sell by date) Was lovely too. He brought me a chick flick DVD and a lovely card.
Just as I'd dished up James's lunch and halfway through serving mine, Craig arrived for a flying visit with a load of daffs and card :-) Daffodils are one of my favourite flowers.
I'd bought myself some Lily Longiflorum Monday, the smelly white ones with orange pollen that stains anything they touch. They are fully open now and look lovely on the window sill. They also make the room smell nice, instead of doggy! Now I have 2 vases of daffodils to go with them :-) Thank goodness no-one bought me chocolates, I'd only have eaten them!
I am having a bit of a treat tonight, going to see Chris While and Julie Matthews at Bournemouth Folk club. Two of my favourite artists. I'm picking up John early so we can get there and put out flyers before the hordes arrive.
It has been quite a nice afternoon after the dull grey morning. I am taking Honey walkies soon - I hope it's not too busy at the park today . I don't like it there at weekends, especially Sundays as there is often racing at the cycle track and cars parked all over the field. Honey doesn't like the noise from the tannoy at the track either, it must remind her of her dog racing days.
I was watching TV earlier, Avatar on one of the movie channels, and now there's some really gory horror movie on with people being killed, squashed, burnt, chopped up etc - bloody body parts everywhere! Nice afternoon movie for Mothering Sunday :-(

Hope you've had a good day and that you have a good week ahead.

 For those of you no longer have  a Mum to treat and spoil, a few words...

"You can shed tears that she is gone, or you can smile because she has lived.

You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back, or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.

Your heart can be empty because you can't see her, or you can be full of the love you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, or you can be happy for tomorrow because of your yesterday.

You can remember her and only that she's gone, or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back, or you can do what she'd want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on."

~ David Harkins ~



My lovely Mum
1912-2004



 

Frig's day again

How was the week? Not too bad at all.
Monday morining I picked up Linda from Bournemouth airport and popped her home after her week in Switzerland. Looks like she had a good time.
Pub quiz Monday night with Jen and James. We finished third in main quiz, but won the picture round. It was a very quiet night at the pub. Not only were there not many teams but they were small teams too this week.
Wednesday was Alex's 6th birthday so we all popped over for tea. He was one happy boy and very excited! Jen gave him a new SuperSoaker water gun - very effective it was too. Shoots a long way! Alex got soaked giving it a test :-) James gave him a Nerf gun shooting foam darts/bullets. We all got shot!
I gave him the latest Lego Star Wars III game on the PS3 and he and Jack were itching to play it all through tea. Gotta love those Lego games - brilliant characterisation.


My 62nd birthday January 2011



Craig and Di were off to see Katy Perry at the BIC tonight so I did the grannie babysitting bit tonight. Those boys try every trick in the book to prolong bed time. Jack tried to hide from me but his voice gave him away. I surprised him by pinching his bum which was all I could see of him LOL Told him Grans have eyes in the back of their heads and can see round corners. I think he almost believed me!We have a repeat birthday celebration on Monday as it's Jack's 10th birthday! Expensive time of year!

Monday my knees felt good so I walked Honey without a stick and walked a bit further than usual. Silly me! Felt ancient Tuesday morning and struggled to stand up let alone walk. Took max dose of Ibuprofen that day and still struggled with pain. Not been too bad the rest of the week.

Jen and I both had our cars MOT'd today and both passed ok. So another thing off list. I've renewed my car insurance too. My car has it's 6th birthday today - 1st April.

It's still in pretty good nick, especially after it's body work spruce up after the silly woman reversed into me.

Jen and I spent some time looking at new cars at the Mitsubishi garage. Nice to day dream! A neat ASX for me (£22K) and a bigger Outlander for Jen (£25K) ... come on Lotto - pick our numbers!