Month: May 2022

I woke up at a reasonable time this morning and knew that the dawn had broken. The birds were singing their heads off and the light was creeping under the blackout blinds. But I knew it wasn’t sunshine. Nevertheless, I raised the blinds in hope. Nope. No sunshine. Just a grey sky and a damp garden. Ah well, I thought, maybe it will brighten up later.

Regrettably, the sun has been notable by its absence today. We have had plenty of dark skies and several bouts of rainfall. There was one moment when the sun peeped through the clouds as John and I walked up to the dry cleaners in Kenilworth. It was so warm that it caused us to comment on its heat. But two minutes later it had gone and we were commenting on the cool air instead.

I wonder when we are going to get some lush weather? I could do with a bit of sit out on the swinging chair in the garden with my book. Maybe tomorrow? It’s the first day of June tomorrow – surely we are in for some decent weather soon and we can cast the clouts……

We scrambled ourselves ready this morning to nip over to the Kenilworth Newbies to babysit for an hour while Michael and Danielle went to look for a car. They came back not having bought one. However, we think they may have narrowed down the choice of carriage to accommodate their larger-than-expected brood. Fingers crossed that a decent vehicle comes on the market shortly.

On the way home, as it was nearly lunchtime, I suggested we go to Oakes Farm for a bite to eat. John has been feeling particularly miserable in recent days as he frets about the situation with his prostate cancer. Not having heard from the consultant, we have been pestering the secretary and anyone else who would listen. In the absence of anything sensible from the NHS, John has been investigating private consultations to see what can be done.

This morning, however, it was the GP John contacted, and he was actually quite helpful, revealing that he had had the results of the MRI scan (which we haven’t received) but they weren’t as positive as we had hoped. Then, out of the blue, a text message came through, announcing an appointment for John to have a ‘pre-operative assessment’ by phone next Tuesday. We’ll see what’s what then but, in the meantime, John is all over the shop with anxiety, as you can imagine. Not sure I’m a lot of help but I am trying to keep an even keel on things as best as I can.

Meanwhile, John has been determined to do a bit on his car this afternoon. This time, it was sorting out a wiring harness for the door of the Lotus. This involved lots of soldering and fiddling with tiny bits of wire. John has a specialist tool for the job and a large box of little connectors, all different colours, to play with.

He decided to play with it all at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. I was in the lounge when I heard a clunk and a tinkling of something all over the floor, followed by, “Oh, sh*t!!!” As I rounded the corner of the kitchen, I saw all the pretty-coloured connectors strewn all over the floor. Ha! We then spent a happy hour together at the breakfast bar – John with his soldering iron working on his wiring harness, and me with a pair of tweezers encouraging the connectors back into their respective homes in the box. Eeeh, we do live an exciting life!

In between times, I have been pottering about with a bit of housework and intermittently watching (or fast-forwarding) the tennis. Some of the matches have been fabulous – and the standard of play absolutely stunning – so I am enjoying watching.

And there we are. Another day over. And tomorrow, I start my 30-Day Yoga Challenge to raise money for Cancer Research. Thank you to everyone who has donated. I am thrilled because every penny helps.

The link for donations is here if there is anyone else happy to add to the coffers of research that only charity currently funds. Or, at least, I don’t think Cancer Research gets any/much money from the government, do they?

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/annes-yoga-challenge-giving-page-9

Take care everyone. God bless.

I know we don’t go to work, but there is something psychological about a Monday, isn’t there? It reminds us of those days long ago when we dragged ourselves out of bed to get into the office or wherever it was that we did a few hours in exchange for some pay.

So we felt lucky this morning that we could stay in bed for just a bit longer and generally relax a bit. In the aftermath of what has been a busy few weeks and being ‘on the go’ we are both feeling quite tired.

“What are your plans for the day?” John asked. This morning I planned to get on and finish writing the quiz ready for Wednesday evening and then this afternoon? I shrugged. I didn’t really know – I thought I’d better keep it free just incase the Kenilworth Newbies needed a hand. In the end, they didn’t call us, so we were at our leisure.

John beavered away on Mum’s affairs again, getting the run around from one council to another. He is a good man, helping me. He knows I am grateful, but I’m just not that great at showing it…..ah well, maybe tomorrow…..

Meanwhile, we both took a little potter up to the shops to buy some nice things for lunch and our evening meal, which we both enjoyed. The walking bit is a bit of a struggle for John just now, but he’s pressing on and took himself out again this afternoon to get a breath of fresh air.

I decided that a spot of Roland Garros was what I needed, so spent much of the afternoon watching that before I finalised the quiz. Honestly, the quiz took nearly all day, I was so slow! Anyway it’s finished now, so all good.

And that’s been us today. Not a lot to report really.

Take care everyone. God bless.

We have had a busy weekend at Lucy’s wedding. It was beautiful. I wore make-up and more or less cried the whole lot off before we’d even started, what with this emotion and that all welling up unasked and uninvited. But I didn’t care and didn’t mind because the event was such a happy one.

We were blessed to have Jack stopping with us on Friday evening and overnight so that he wouldn’t get lost in the throngs of people at his house on Saturday morning. Apparently, the girls were up at about 5.30 a.m. to make the journey from Lucy’s friend’s house to Pete and Dawn’s just after six – and then the preparations began: the Bucks Fizz and croissants for breakfast; the posh PJs and robes with their names on to float about in; the love and laughter and, of course, the hair and make-up.

I might have this wrong and be wildly exaggerating, but not only was there a bride, but four, or was it five(?), bridesmaids and the Mother of the Bride; plus (seemingly) half a dozen other women there to take care of the making-up and styling of hair, as well as the Mother of the Groom putting in a late appearance. And Pete, of course, who kept well out of the way unless it was to serve food and drinks.

There was a last-minute scramble to retrieve Lizzie’s contact lenses, with Ben having to rush to the church to collect them from one of the Groomsmen (don’t ask) and then rush back again before the bridal party could set off and she could see to sort out the train to Lucy’s dress. But set off they did and Lucy was hardly late at all. The congregation was ready and waiting, having been invited to arrive a good three-quarters of an hour to half an hour before the service began. So it was all as slick as could be.

Meanwhile, Jack was as good as gold at our house, having set himself a schedule to keep to. Within it, he found time to walk up to the shops with me to buy more cat food and have a snack before he got dressed in his suit and we all set off.

In the excitement, I forgot to take photos except for one or two. Here’s us, happy as sandboys after a glass of prosecco at the reception:

We had drinks and milled about with people while the photographer took lots of photos before we sat down to the wedding breakfast. Hmmm, I wonder if Jack ate the chocolate bar he popped in his suit pocket to stave off the hunger pangs? I never did ask. We just drank prosecco……

Here’s another photo I took though, of the lovely Dawn, looking absolutely stunning in her wedding outfit. The suit fitted her perfectly, and her colour choice just right. There wasn’t another guest who could compete in my opinion.

After some very good speeches – all short and to the point, witty and wise – and toasts to the bridesmaids, Mums and Dads and the Bride and Groom, we tucked into some great food for the wedding breakfast. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

I had promised Alison that I’d dance – which I did but not for very long. By nine o’clock I was bushed and decided I’d follow John who had already retired, and go to bed. Alison danced on with the youngsters until midnight apparently.

And here’s the bride herself – photo courtesy of John – and, no, we didn’t capture one of Tom with her on the day – although he was there! Hehe.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Crikey, the week has zipped past and we’ll soon be saying ‘Good Morning’ to Friday already! We’ve put the bins out – which normally classes as excitement for the week but not this week – there’s been far more thrilling things on the horizon.

We are still doing a spot of baby-sitting over in Kenilworth until Danielle is all healed up, and so we spent a good part of Tuesday and early Wednesday there. We were at home just minding our own business on Wednesday evening when a phone call came in from Michael. He’d had to take Danielle down to The University Hospital Coventry, for someone to look at her wound. It had come unzipped and a clean-up job, plus antibiotics, was in order.

I was just about to sit down and do the blog when we downed tools. Lily had stepped into the breach and offered to babysit, but the trip was taking far longer than anticipated so we were on the late shift. We arrived just before ten o’clock and I took Lily home before we settled in for an evening of TV.

Michael had said we could stay over if we would like to, especially as they weren’t sure how long they would be, so we took our overnight bags. By midnight, we were wondering whether to get our pyjamas on or not. “We’ll give it another hour,” we said. Just after one o’clock, Danielle texted to say they’d finally been seen and attended to and so would be on their way. They finally rolled in just after 1.30 a.m.

It’s never dull here, is it?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, John has had a week of ups and downs – feeling under the weather until the tablet that was missing finally kicks in and puts him back on an even keel. But it’s not just that. It’s the frustration with the broken NHS. Not only has nobody been looking at teeth and oral health, but it seems the prostate people have been having a sluggish time too.

Having been promised, in March, that the consultant would be in touch in 3-4 weeks, there’s been a deathly silence. We’ve tried to shake them up but the consultant ‘has been on holiday’ and although John is on the waiting list for a biopsy, there are no dates yet available and none planned. So says the anaesthetist. It doesn’t do you any good, does it, all this waiting about and the unknown? It certainly hasn’t done John much good this week anyway.

However, my go-to solution for anxiety is displacement activity. So that’s more or less what I did today. I spent the morning having a good clean round and took out some of my frustrations on scrubbing and swilling and polishing. And later on, ironing.

John went for a walk this morning to try and control his anxiety and then, this afternoon he had all the pleasure of another COVID jab.

I spent a happy forty minutes chatting to George this afternoon as he solved all my problems on the computer via remote control. Isn’t technology amazing? You don’t actually have to have the expert physically in the room with you these days. Marvellous.

About three o’clock we toddled down to Pete and Dawn’s for a cuppa and to hear how all the preparations for the weekend are going. Quite well, I think, but like every Mother of the Bride, Dawn keeps thinking up jobs for Pete to do. Hehehe!

The bridesmaids, the bride and the mother-in-law are all descending on Pete and Dawn to get ready for the BIG DAY and, as they do these days, the girls are having breakfast in their special PJs and dressing gowns. The dressing gowns were hung up, but a bit crumpled having just come out of their wrappers, so I set on to iron them smooth. I mean, you can hardly have the girls looking creased in the photos, now can you?

And so our day has flashed past again, with me peering into the future of tomorrow and wondering how I am going to fit it all in…..gone are the days when we thought we’d got plenty of time. Hey ho.

Take care everyone. God bless.

By the way, Susie Dent’s Word of the Day is ‘misken‘ (15th century): to refuse to recognise something by pretending it’s not happening. Can’t think what she’s referring to………

I didn’t feel too bad this morning when I got up, but John was feeling rubbish. However, we were able to get onto the doctor this morning to sort out a situation that had arisen with his drugs. For the last couple of weeks one of his tablets has been missing, so yesterday I nipped up to the chemist to have a discussion about where it might be. Apparently, it wasn’t on the prescription sent through from the doctor. Oh.

We were lucky – we were only the ninth person in the queue waiting to get through to the surgery on the phone. Well, that was after six attempts……anyway, it transpired that a passing thought that John had expressed about coming off one of his tablets was taken as a full-on wish and the consultant wrote to the GP, whereupon the tablet vanished from the prescription. All restored now though, so soon be back on an even keel we hope.

That is, if we ever take delivery of the darned things! We called at the pharmacy to collect them. The chemist had a search around, but couldn’t locate them. He looked on the computer. “Oh, yes, they’re done.” he said, and searched again elsewhere. Still no luck. He came back and told me that they’d be ready in fifteen minutes. So we came away with the intention of popping back up a bit later. John did go, but they were still nowhere to be found, so…….”We’ll deliver them to you tomorrow.” they said. Grrr……. I reckon they are lost.

John stayed at home this morning and went for a walk before tackling some carpet shampooing – I was mightily impressed to see what he had done!

In addition, he phoned through to the Coventry Council to research how we might continue to fund Mum’s Care Home fees. It’s amazing isn’t it, how quickly those little bits of savings go down the pan? He got through to a very nice young man who was exceedingly helpful and ‘put us on the list’ for an assessment. Might be a while before anyone comes out to see us though…..

While John was busy beavering away at home, I went out and enjoyed myself. I went to visit my cousin, Janet, for a good old natter, some scones with jam and cream, and a lovely cup of tea. It was smashing. It’s been a little while since we saw each other, but we always get on very well, so I think we both enjoyed our morning together.

This afternoon we thought we’d have a drive out to Hatton. Michael had seen a very nice table in the antique shop there that he thought we might like. Disappointingly, the table had been sold. But we enjoyed our drive out and we met my friend, Louise’s, sister Denise and her husband Nigel, in passing in the car park, and had a bit of a chat. It was very nice to see them.

We took a leisurely drive through the scenic route home and via the garden centre in the village, where I was seeking to buy a butter dish. They had a lovely one there, so I bought it and then we came home for a well-earned cup of tea.

I shot off to yoga class at tea-time, which I really enjoyed. I think I might be getting the hang of it at last….. hehehe – and then this evening, we sat and watched a bit of TV. Quite an eventful day, one way and another!

But what I’d like to know is, after some very good days, why do I feel so blooming irritable? Poor John is getting the thick end of it…….. perhaps I’ll feel better tomorrow?

Take care everyone. God bless.

Just because I haven’t mentioned it, doesn’t mean COVID isn’t still around. The ONS reports that 1 in 55 people currently has the virus; 1 in 36 people who have had COVID report Long COVID symptoms. According to one report, this time last year, infection rate was 1 in 1,000 (although I haven’t verified this figure).

Our Sundays don’t often resemble what I consider to be a Sunday. We are often rushing about, or finishing jobs, doing DIY or something of that nature. But today? We had a run out into the country this morning, stopped off at a café and had a cuppa and a bite to eat before a leisurely drive home again.

The drive out, of course, was necessitated by the leaving-behind of my coat at the Fig and Favour on Friday. So we made an effort to get up at a reasonable time and make the journey. Once we got there, we naturally fancied a coffee. Then we looked at the menu and were seduced by the offer of American pancakes smothered in maple syrup and served with a compote of berries. Well, I was, anyway. John simply ordered a croissant.

But look’ee here! A photo of me at the café wearing my Grace Kelly’s……….

Home again, and I encouraged John to try on his wedding clobber. Paul had very kindly come over yesterday to bring some nice shirts and ties for John to try on and see if anything was suitable. And there was. We have kitted the ol’ man out now, so I was able to take the shirts and ties back to Paul this afternoon.

I left John watching the Grand Prix and spent an hour at Paul’s. I might have stayed longer but there was a football match that he was keen to watch so, just before the four o’clock kick-off, it was kicking-out time. I am not sure where he will have watched the match as he doesn’t have Sky and local Leisure Club wasn’t showing it. Perhaps he went to the pub.

John had finished watching the Grand Prix and wasn’t that fussed about watching the footie, so he got the steps out and some guttering equipment, and went outside to have a go at shoring up the gutter above the kitchen. Meanwhile, I made pie for our tea…..

Ah, yes! A Sunday: a drive in the country; a visit to relatives; the Sunday papers and pie (or roast, but not today) – how nice was all that?

Take care everyone. God bless – and watch out for Monkeypox now, which is beginning to spread. Crikey, you couldn’t make it up, could you???

We have had a brilliant day. George and Sue came up and we spent the whole day nattering to our hearts’ content.

Sitting around the kitchen table, we kicked off with coffee and croissants this morning, where we were glued until mid-day because we were so busy talking. Eventually, I suggested we move into the lounge where there are comfier seats, and we carried on our chatting all afternoon.

The morning was enlivened with a visit from Paul and Freddie, so I got to play games too. Freddie, just aged six, outwitted me at both Ludo and Connect 4……….oh heck, what’s going to happen when I challenge him to a game of chess? It won’t be long before he’s outwitting me at that too, I guess!!

George and John spent a happy hour watching qualifying for the Grand Prix, mulling over the various merits of the drivers, the cars, the pit stops, the track and the officials. Oooh, they did enjoy themselves!

Sue and I, meanwhile, tucked into a rather nice bottle of Prosecco and then a rather nice bottle of Pino Grigio. I threw caution to the wind for the day and abandoned the diet I am supposed to be on…….I’ll start again tomorrow – maybe.

And that was us – nothing much else to report, other than I’ve signed up for a Yoga Challenge in June. I thought I’d join John in a fundraising venture – this time for Cancer Research. 30 minutes of yoga a day – I think I am going to enjoy that!

If anyone would like to sponsor me, there is a link to the Facebook Giving Page: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/annes-yoga-challenge-giving-page-9

If you don’t do Facebook but would still like to donate, please let me know.

Take care everyone. God bless. Enjoy the weekend.

Today we tootled into the countryside, crossing several county borders – West Midlands, Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Shropshire. Our aim was to take the innards of John’s Lotus to a car trimmer in Ditton Priors. John had had a conversation with the chap, John Snell, a couple of weeks ago and, yes, no worries, it’s a job he can do. Wonderful.

“It takes an hour and a half to get there,” warned John this morning before I set off for yoga, “and we’ve to be there by 2 o’clock.” Righty-ho. I got back from yoga to find John getting ready for a shower, after having walked there and back to the doctor’s surgery this morning. He was jiggered and all hot and rather sweaty.

However, we made it. We set off just before 12.30 and had a lovely run. Admittedly, the motorway isn’t marvellous, but the countryside beyond it was, and we had a very pleasant journey. We arrived on time in the village, too. Except we couldn’t find the house. We had a bit of a magical mystery tour as we circled round and round until we finally gave car trimmer, John, a ring and asked, “Whereabouts is your house?” The poor man had to stand at the top of his road to wave us in.

He had a good look at all the pieces my John had brought and he nodded. Yes, no problem, he could do it all. Fingers crossed it looks good when it’s finished.

On the way back home we stopped off in Hagley for a cup of coffee and, as we hadn’t had any lunch, a bite to eat. We really enjoyed it. It was in a very nice little café called ‘The Fig and Favor’ which we will be visiting again in a day or two’s time as I left my coat there with my house keys in the pocket……

Home again and we just pottered about with one or two things – John went into the garage, of course, to do a little bit more on the car, while I did a spot of tidying round and feeding the washing machine and tumble dryer. Rain, you know – no good for drying the clothes.

And there we have it. Quite a pleasant day one way and another.

Take care everyone, God bless.

We weren’t up with the lark this morning – instead we lay in bed all luxurious-like until we were ready to get up. In my case, this was just after nine o’clock. In John’s case, it was just after one o’clock in the afternoon. Hehe.

The poor man is absolutely bushed and needed a good, long rest. However, his tooth is improving as the antibiotics kick in, so we are hopeful that by next week he’ll feel a bit better once again.

I have been mulling over what to do about John’s teeth, since there is a suggestion that the current crumbling is due to one of his tablets. As fortune would have it, he has had a letter from the Birmingham Dental Hospital today which reminded me that he hasn’t had an appointment there for ages. The whole of Lockdown in fact.

The letter is apologising for the lack of care, which is due to the staff having been deployed elsewhere during the COVID pandemic – and now there is a massive backlog. Well, I am about to add to it and phone them up tomorrow. John needs some specialist care, so I am going to make sure he jolly well gets some. Ha! Watch this space.

My purpose in getting up at a semi-reasonable time this morning was to go into town to buy a hat. We have a wedding to go to and a hat is a must. I also thought I’d see if I could get some nice trousers for John so that he’s not strung up like a sack of potatoes in a pair from his wardrobe that are ten sizes too small.

I was very lucky with the purchase of my hat – the first shop I went into had several just the right colour and type so I had the luxury of trying them all on and the attentiveness of the shop assistant. “When is the wedding?” she enquired. “A week on Saturday,” I replied. “And what’s your role?” she continued. “Well….” I started on a long convoluted explanation of Dawn being my dearest friend and Liz being my god-daughter and how we’d been in the shop recently to buy Dawn a hat and…….”Oh, I remember!!” she exclaimed and, with her eyes sparkling, she said, “I remember the beautiful colour of her outfit and the accessories she chose. Oh, I do hope you all have a wonderful time!” I mean, how nice is that, eh?

I wasn’t so lucky with trousers for John. Having long legs, it’s always a struggle to find a pair of trousers just right. There are rails and rails of ‘regular’ trousers but very, very few long ones. I have brought a couple of pairs home for him to try however, but I am expecting another ‘tootle into town’ to return them. More watch this space……

This afternoon we were delighted to sit and have a coffee with Paul who called in. Bliss. He is such good company and it was fabulous to have a relaxed chat together without anything pressing in on us.

After Paul left, John pottered into the garage and I sorted myself out to nip across to Kenilworth to drop William’s car seat back, having forgotten to take it out of the car yesterday; to pop into Waitrose to change an item I’d bought that was too small; and to go across to Paul’s to collect the hats we’d left there last weekend.

All errands were accomplished and, once home again, we settled into our armchairs to catch up on some programmes we’d recorded. More bliss.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Thought for the day:

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We had promised to have William and Thomas for a sleepover on Tuesday night but, in the end, only William came. We had been over in the afternoon to the Kenilworth Newbies to help out, which turned out to be very lovely – tumbling out of their back gate and into the park behind their house for a play on the swings and things.

When it came to the sleepover, Michael and Danielle thought it was a big ask, but I didn’t want to disappoint William as we had promised. We know that William is a delight to look after so after a bit of discussion, we plumped for having one, rather than both, of the children.

William was a delight to look after – we had fun at bathtime and were very companiable chatting and reading bedtime stories afterwards.

A good night’s sleep was had by all except John, who never has a good night’s sleep, and at 5.45 this morning William came padding through to our bedroom. I made room for him in bed and suggested he get in. He did – for a nanosecond. “I’m hungry,” he declared, “and I’d like some breakfast.” Ah. Oh. Right. Best get up then. So we did and the day started early. Here’s the early bird choosing his breakfast cereal…..

We had a lovely morning filling up the bird feeders, playing with the cars and some old figures like He-Man, Power Rangers and Transformers, that had belonged to my boys when they were kids. I know we knock plastic, but the toys don’t half age well, don’t they?

Just before nine o’clock, William went and winkled Grandpa out of bed so that I could nip to the vets to collect some medication for the cat (who has hypothyroidism after all) and then collect Dawn from the hairdressers. William was reluctant to walk, having cut his heel the other day and found his shoe rubbed rather painfully.

Grandpa was good for entertaining William with Origami. He made a little Scotty-dog out of paper – I am not sure how impressed William was, but he enjoyed snipping his own pieces of paper with his scissors anyway.

Pete arrived to collect Dawn just as I was leaving to take William home, so they stayed for a bit of a chat with John before they, too, left. John spent the rest of the day working his socks off, cleaning round the house. I was delighted when I got home at tea-time to find that he’d vacuumed everywhere. Not only did he do some cleaning, but he set to work on his car, too.

This all sounds marvellous and John ‘must be feeling better’ but in fact, he’s not feeling great just at the moment. He has an abscess under his tooth so is on antibiotics. He visited the dentist yesterday, who gave him a rather bad report. It looks like a couple of teeth may have to come out and may be a side-effect of a drug he is taking. Hell’s bells – anything else?

This evening we had Quiz Night – a tough one but thoroughly enjoyable. Once again, we knew some of the answers…… in fact, John was on form in the James Bond round. Good fun.

That’s all folks. Take care and God bless.