Hard Times & Happy Easter!

Why do bad (and good) things come in bunches? Usually 3 at a time. Just when everything seemed to be going well, a close friend has health problems, serious ones. Tests for one condition have shown up a second, and now a third problem has reared its ugly head, resulting in a hospital visit :( I hope it all gets sorted quickly!

I had a lovely day yesterday. It was sunny and bright although not exactly warm. Linda and I went out for lunch at a local eatery and had a lovely meal. I had my favourite duck, with red cabbage and potatoes Dauphinoise with a cider and apple sauce. It was delicious!
I do feel guilty enjoying myself when I know someone close is not.

This last month has seen some happier times. It was my grandsons' birthdays within a few days of each other - an expensive time of year! :( Alex is now 7 and growing up so fast. Jack is now 11 and showing signs of the dreaded puberty! He seems to have settled down at school again proudly showing off his end of term report with loads of merits and awards! It might not be 'cool' to celebrate progress and awards with your mates, but Jack was obviously proud of his achievements and glowed with pride at our reactions.

I have been to two wonderful concerts in the last month. We saw Mike Harding at the Tivoli in Wimborne - simply brilliant! He has lost none of his wicked sense of humour and told many great jokes and funny stories. All this was interspaced with songs of humour and pathos. He can still perform and entertain the masses. He missed out on his usual post concert curry as someone had kindly brought in some Sweeney Todd pies for him.


The same weekend I took Linda to see Joan Baez at the Lighthouse in Poole. It was a packed house and she got a rapturous welcome from everyone. She is 71 now but looked 58. Slim and neat in jeans and a jacket, understated and casual, but her personality stood out. Her voice has lost none of it's clarity and quality and she was amazing. She did almost 2 hours without a break, supported by her son Gabe Harris on percussion and an amazing multi-instrumentalist called Dirk Powell who played 7 - yes seven! - different instruments through the evening. He played guitar, bass guitar, banjo, mandolin, violin, piano, and piano accordian! A one man band if ever there was one! It was a stunning concert and everyone fell in love with her that night.

I am trying to be very good and sticking to the fruit and veg mostly this weekend. My weightloss programme has had a bit of a wobble but I am now back on track (I hope)
I have still not quite made that first stone off and it's annoying me. I keep getting within a lb or half lb and then putting a lb back on grrrr!
I WILL do it this week!

Have a great Easter weekend with friends and family.
xxxx

Health Matters and more

I had my first 6 month diabetes check up with the nurse on Friday. It was good news all round. My Hb1ac (background long term blood glucose level) is steadily falling as I manage my food intake and lose weight too. My BP is ok. Sugar levels good. Weight coming down steadily now - 1/2 lb to my first stone off with Slimming World! The nurse was very pleased at my progress. She tested my feet for circulation and sensitivity and they are fine - strong pulse and good reactions to the soft 'pricks' all round my toes and soles.
I have enjoyed the sunshine and warmer days we've had this week. Like a lot of people I feel brighter and more energised by sunshine. However last night and today the rain has taken its toll on my pains and I had a bad night last night. My sympathies to everyone suffering pain of any kind who find it worse when the weather changes.

Honey has also enjoyed the sunshine this week and has been quite frisky and lively. We have met her favourite doggy friend, Lenny, twice this week. He is a lurcher who has the same colouring as Honey and is almost her size. He is such a sweetheart and wags his tail so much his whole body wriggles with delight when he sees her. He squeaks in pleasure too. She goes all silly and leaps about when she sees him. They are just good friends and love to romp about together and run around. He also loves a good cuddle with me and I adore him and make a big fuss of him.

I am looking forward to a long summer of concerts and festivals, but could be faced with having to get a load of new clothes! I am now starting to wear clothes 2 sizes smaller than I was and could well be one or two sizes smaller yet by mid-summer!  Woo-hooo!
If you are slimming down too then good luck with it and stick at it!

Mothers

One one hand I revel in the fact that I do not have to hunt for Mothering Sunday cards, nor fork out for suddenly expensive flowers, but on the other hand I so miss my Mum. It's been over 7 years but she is still very much in my thoughts.

Me and my lovely Mum

How she kept going, doing things for herself despite the pain of arthritis. She lived to the wonderful age of 92 so there is some hope for me yet :-). Even with advancing years she always took care to give us little 'treats' when we visited. Baked one of her delicious cakes, or made a mountain of 'buns' (today's cupcakes) because her grandchildren loved them so much. She knew my favourite meal was one of her steak pies with juicy tender chunks of beef topped with the most delicious, crumbly, golden, buttery pastry. So if we were visiting she'd make the effort if she could. Since it was hard to stop her, we resorted to taking her out to the pub for a meal so she would not have the bother of cooking for us all. It became a standing family joke that we'd guess Mum/Nan would have fish and chips. She would deny she always had it, then study the menu and choose... fish and chips LOL.

It is only in recent years that it has hit home that Mum was the last of her generation. I am the youngest in my generation, with a load of cousins to keep track of, all of us aging, with children and grandchildren. It is a sign of passing years when the only time we all get together is at funerals.
I have fond memories of aging grandparents and aunts and uncles, who fell asleep after Christmas dinner, while we 'youngsters' played board and card games. Now me, my sisters and cousins are the 'oldies' who struggle to stay awake after a good roast dinner  :-) We are the senior generation of the family who sit back and welcome the cards and flowers from our children and grandchildren this time of year.
My biggest pleasure? those wonderfully carefully made cards from the grandsons, covered in weird drawings, stuck on feathers and shapes, dripping in glitter!
I do not crave the big bouquets but a simple bunch of daffs, my favourite flowers, mean as much if not more.

I hope your family treats you well this Mothering Sunday. Take pleasure in being there for them. Make the most of your Mum if she is still around for you to treat. Tell her how much you love her and appreciate her. Love is far more valuable than any flowers or cards.
Happy Mothering Sunday! xxx

It's warm!! Well warmER

The bird bath has been very popular this morning. It has been frozen pretty much constantly for the last 2 or 3 weeks but now had water again rather than ice and there has been a lot of splashing going on. The birds have queued up in the trees to take their turn. Just watched a robin hogging it. He/she was loving it and splashed around a lot. It's still only about 6C outside but seems so much warmer than 2C with a wind chill of -5.

I had an early start this morning with Jen going to a new dentist for the first time and guess what? The only appointment I could get to see my doctor in the next two weeks is 8.10 next Monday morning! :-( It's bad enough being a Monday but 8.10?? He is fully booked this week and only in on Monday next week *sigh*.
Between a long wait for a blood test to be done and now a wait to see doc, it will be over a month since initial request. Good job it's not urgent eh? At least I know the blood test results will be there. They should already be there now!

Mum

Did you watch 'midwives' last night? I found the deaths of the loving brother and sister very moving and I was in floods of tears. It brought back some awful memories and some good ones for me. I re-lived the day I heard my Mum had finally left us after a severe stroke, followed by my lovely hubby, Peter later that same day.
I had spent time at Mum's bedside that last week, just sitting holding her hand and talking to her, not knowing if she could hear me or if it sunk in, as she drifted in and out of consciousness. One piece of news I know she did hear was that my first grandchild was on the way. Later on she managed to say "Craig - baby", with difficulty, in a lucid moment.
 Losing Peter was a huge blow and nowhere near as peaceful as he had the full response team working on him to bring him back. They sent me out of the room while they tried all sorts to bring his fluttery heart back working but to no avail. I don't think he knew what was happening. I had found him 'asleep' in his chair in front of the tv, but could feel a faint pulse so opened the front door and  dialled 999 while I tried to drag him onto the floor. The paramedic was there in less than 2 minutes! and the ambulance followed about 2 mins after that. They did all they could.
All that happened 7 1/2 years ago now yet the memories of that day will be with me forever. It took me 3-4 years to be able to watch CPR and re-suss scenes on Casualty and Holby City without feeling that panic again.

January 2011

My grandson will be 7 next month and is the most adorable little boy. I had the chance to spend time with him and his half brother last week, enjoying bedtime especially. Alex is gentle and loving and loves being read to in bed. I got special lovely hugs as he snuggled down. Jack is almost 11 now and way too grown up for a story or hugs and kisses... but he can't run away when he's in bed *evil grin*.
Horrible Grandma inflicting kisses on him!

I am lucky that this last cold snap came before most of my camellia buds had opened. The few that had went brown very quickly with the deep frosts, and the rest seem to have halted their opening. I hope they do recover and open later rather than just dropping off.
The pic was last year showing the first buds opening. Not so many are open yet so fingers crossed they survive the frosts.
The blooms are lovely and the bush looks spectacular for about 3 weeks.
There are daffs well up now and should be flowering before too long :-)
Spring is on its way.


I am watching the skies for the starling flight displays, but it is maybe a bit early yet. There are several around Poole town and I love to watch them while I walk the dog pre-sunset. It won't be long - I've seen small training flights taking place with last years babies practising the moves.

We had a shock last week to find our quiz pub has changed hands and the new owners were moving in on Tuesday! I do hope they don't do major changes to the menu, but I expect there will be quite a few. The Acorn is one of the few remaining pubs in the area that is a drinking pub that does food, rather than a restaurant that does beer. Their meal prices were very reasonable with most dishes in the £4-£7 range. Good basic pub grub, nothing fancy, but well cooked and a good plateful for the money. We will miss Margaret's meals. Hope they have some food in for tonight!

Keep warm folks - not long until summer! :-)
xx

Febrrrrrrruary moans and groans

I knew winter had to come some time - and it's been - two weeks of near arctic conditions with a flow of air straight from Siberia! Normally I enjoy cold weather and snow (we didn't get any) but my knees have reminded me I am getting older and cold weather sets off the pains something rotten. The knee injection has fully worn off and I'm back on pain killers to keep functioning.

The diet is going well with over half a stone off so far. Slimming World seems to suit me and is easy to manage. My friend Linda is doing it with me and we both have good and bad moments. But we have our holiday in May to look forward to, both being something like 2 stone lighter than when we started!
Honey had a bout of illness with a raised temperature and dramatic stiffness in her back legs. The vet wasn't sure if it was a strained back or possibly viral arthritis. She was on home rest, anti-biotics, and anti-inflammatories for over a week before she gradually got freedom of movement again. It was painful for her going up and down the step in and out of the garden for quite a few days and she took ages to hobble upstairs to bed. I thought she'd sleep on her day bed as it was obviously painful for her to get up and down the stairs, but she would rather face the pain and sleep near me at night than sleep alone downstairs.
She is now off all the medications and seems ok again. I started walkies again gradually, keeping her on the lead for a week so she didn't go mad and run about too soon. She is now back to running her laps at speed, but doesn't run as fast or as long as she used to. I have to remember she is now 8 1/2 and not as young as she used to be. She is about the same age as me now so I should expect her to slow down a bit.

It's that time of year when we look ahead to summer festivals and try to plan which we are going to. Two are dead certs - Cropredy, celebrating 45 years of Fairport Convention - and Shrewsbury because it's the best folk festival in the country. Both of these are camping jobs  but it's ok once tent is up. My tunnel tent is spacious with plenty of head room for little me. Half tent is bedroom, half is living space. It's supposed to be a 4 man tent but like most tents they are better with half that number.

I love my double thickness air bed. So comfy to sleep on. No that isn't me on the bed! But it is like the bed I have. 1 metre wide and a decent height off the ground. It takes up half the bedroom space in the tent! If needed you can unzip it and make a single thickness king sized bed :)
There is also the benefit that should you lose any air from either mattress you do not end up feeling the ground under your bum :-)

Getting excited about Cropredy - they've been announcing bands being booked and it's looking great. Richard Thompson is down for the Friday night and of course will join FC for the final long set on the Saturday night. They have booked Legend to come back again. A Bob Marley tribute band fronted by Bob's son. They were last there a few years ago on the wettest Cropredy I've experienced and yet everyone was smiling during their set. It was like the sun shone on the stage and spread a warm glow through everyone. It was impossible to not move to the beat of the music. Lovely to see the 'mosh pit' people all dancing around in waterproofs and umbrellas. I hope they don't bring the rain back this year.  Friday also sees the Saw Doctors and Joan Armatrading! Did someone say 'folk'?

Depressing January

This is a bad time of year for SAD sufferers so I make sure I get out when the sun shines. It is hard to enjoy it though when I remember the phone call I got on Tuesday. My friend Gill, who has been undergoing intensive chemotherapy for multiple secondary cancers, finally lost her battle on Monday night. Her husband, Bill, realised she was going down fast and managed to get her into a hospice just before the weekend. She had the best of care in her last few days. I knew she was not going to make it through this bout of cancer but I had hoped the treatments would stave off the inevitable a bit longer. She had so much spirit and strength of character facing her last weeks. All her thoughts were of how her husband would cope and how the dogs would be after she'd gone. RIP Gill.

Losing Gill has helped me realise how little use I am making of the remaining (hopefully many) years of my life. Heaven knows what my 'prospects' are. My Mum made it to 92! But my dad died not much older than I am now! My health issues - obesity, diabetes - shorten my life expectancy so I am thinking probably mid 70's. My oldest sister is now 75 and full of life so the outlook is not all bad.
You may think I am being morbid, but death holds no fear for me. You cannot escape it. Everyone dies at some point. So why be scared of it? I am trying to make sure all my 'matters' are organised and listed so the children can settle the estate easily.
I am now taking positive measures to improve my general health. I have asked the doc to prescribe sessions at the gym for me and I am taking my friend Linda to slimming world next week to sign on. I have been increasing my dog walk lengths gradually, but having good and bad days with my knees sometimes curtails these. I have stopped using a walking stick where possible as it helps me walk more upright and balanced. If I need a stick then I use 2 for better balance. I do often take a stick to the supermarket as it is useful when things are out of reach on high shelves! But the stick sits in my trolley. I am still getting pain relief from the last steroid injection but it is slowly wearing off now and the next step is referral to the orthopaedic surgeons for a knee replacement.
John has made real progress with his new knee but it is looking as though he may have done too much too soon and is having a few problems now.

Honey had a tremendous run around on the beach yesterday. I went down about 4pm and the car park was almost deserted at Sandbanks.

We had the beach to ourselves for a while and Honey made the most of it, charging around at full speed and stopping at intervals to do her amazing backwards helicopter spins. They are hilarious to watch! I managed to walk the length of one section of beach and back. It is hard going on soft sand but walking the tide line is ok. I knew all about it last night though :( my knees both ached like mad all evening. I was thinking of 20 years ago when we first moved to Poole and how we used to walk into Bournemouth from Sandbanks, and back again! We used to have a coffee at Branksome cafe before heading back. A lovely walk taking a couple of hours. I am pooped after half an hour now :( But then it was before I had any knee pains at all, and I was a couple of stones lighter!

I have packed away all the Christmas decorations in labelled boxes, I just need someone younger and fitter to stick them up in the loft! I have bought large Lego sets for the grandsons for the last 2 or 3 years and they come delivered in these brilliant big boxes. They have made a big difference to packing up the dec's rather than just chucking them all in black sacks.
 I have enough baubles in assorted colours to decorate about 5 big trees, but it does mean I can change colour schemes easily. The turquoise and pink this year was a BIG change for me. I usually go for silver & white only, or blue and white, or gold and red. But I now have silver, gold, white, red, green, dark blue, turquoise, pink and purple! So can choose any 1, 2 or 3 from those.

The sun is shining and I need to move and sort out some lunch. Walkies later so hope the sun holds!
Have a good weekend my friends. xx

2011 another year bites the dust

What happened to 2011? Other than flying by, not a lot. Now I will probably write loads so get a coffee and get comfortable before you read any further!

2011 started with my beloved Honey hopping around with her right front leg in a huge metal frame with the leg all pinned together. She made good steady progress as the year wore on and had the frame removed when the surgeons were happy it was healing well and the bones had fused.

However it was not quite fused enough and a second arthrodhesion (sp?) was carried out with insertion of an internal plate and pins. So it was back to square one with no exercise for 2 weeks then gentle lead walks for another 6 weeks. After 9 weeks she declared fit and well and so we increased the walking using an extending lead for a few more weeks. Then it was off the lead time. Cautious at first, Honey soon found she could run again, although it was short runs and only half speed. She steadily built up the runs until now she is back to almost full speed and running the laps she used to do. It is lovely to see her romp and play with her friends.

My health has been on a bit of a roller coaster too. My knees both have osteo arthritis but the right one is the most painful. I had a steroid injection in it in the summer which did not last long, and a final injection in the autumn, which seems to have worked well. It is wearing off now but slowly so I am still getting some relief. I have tried to not use my walking stick and it has helped strengthen my core muscles and balance is better. The big shock of the year was being diagnosed as type 2 diabetic. I knew I was at risk of it as I have been obese for many years. The initial education given to us at the diabetic unit at the hospital was superb. We had very enlightening sessions with a brilliant dietician and her advice and guidance notes given us has enabled me to lose over a stone in weight.

I am on medication for the diabetes and controlling my diet to keep my sugar levels under control. But I have ended the year on a bad note with some lax eating over Christmas. No Christmas pud, and only eaten 3 bought mince pies over 3 weeks is not too bad, but sadly I have lapsed a little after Jenny made some delicious mince pies and brought some home for me. I have rationed them out but they are rather nice. We had chicken for Christmas dinner and I had a load of left overs. So on 27th I made a huge curry. Loads of veg, chicken, tinned tomatoes and a heap of delicious curry spices. I love curry flavours but don't like too much chilli so although spicy and tasty my curry is not hot. I kept adding a bit of this and that until I had a wok full! It has done me 4 generous servings, two I have had and two in the freezer for another day.

Folk wise the club has had a modest year, the big highlight being hosts to fairport Convention in May. What an amazing night that was. We have booked them again in 2012 - with fingers crossed for ticket sales.

I had some time away at festivals, with Fairport's Cropredy Convention in mid-August, and Shrewsbury Festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Both festivals were brilliant and thoroughly enjoyable.

I made good use of my new tent, really a 4 man tent but very spacious for one! I lurve my double thickness, extra wide single air bed. It is very comfortable to sleep on and raised up high enough to make it easier to get in and out of. Shrewsbury was cold at night as usual. But not as bad as the year before.

We also managed a day away in Suffolk for the Bounty Hounds' OXJAM day festival. It was a superb day out and were very comfortable staying the night with our good friends the Bosleys. I left Honey at home, being cared for by my offspring while I was away.
Christmas 2011 was a quiet one as usual. We altered our 'normal' routine and moved the main meal to evening dinner so Jenny could spend Christmas morning with Helen and the horses, then come home for dinner with me and James, and stayed home to spend Boxing day with Craig and his family. Things have been very strained between Craig and James since August and James did not come over on Boxing day. My grandsons were on top form and we had some fun playing games after a scrumptious turkey dinner.
Tonight looks like being a quiet one on my own. However you see the new year in, may it be peaceful and happy. Drink a toast to loved ones no longer with us, and friends and family who mean so much to us.

May you all have a wonderful 2012. HAPPY NEW YEAR!