Month: August 2022

Personally, I like the heat. Mind you, I only like it when I am swanning about on holiday and dipping myself into the sea…. or perhaps, as we did à la trip to OZ, in a lake on Fraser Island, maybe……. Regrettably, we aren’t doing that just now. But I am doing the second best thing, and I had another go at open water swimming today. It’s getting a bit better each time I go, but I am still a wuss at getting into the water. Never mind, once I get in I am fine.

Anita and I took a tutored session today which was very enjoyable. However, the poor instructor had a dicky fit when she saw me! She exclaimed that I looked just like her Mum. Not only that, I had the same Christian name, too….. spooky eh?

I was longer at the swimming session than I planned, but it didn’t matter, John was ensconced in front of the TV when I got home. As it happens, he had been in the garage and done some tinkering, so he was just having a rest, so I let him off.

After lunch, we went about our separate ways again. John into the garage and me to the dining room with the painting pot. Now then, John’s decision was OK, but mine was a mistake. It was too hot, wasn’t it, for painting? Eeeh, the paint clagged up like nobodies’ business…….. so now I’m rethinking my approach…..maybe get up at five in the morning? Or maybe leave it until Monday? What say you?

In the meantime, John has been pondering his life, as you do, and the other day came out with the observation that his luck isn’t great: “If I fell in a barrel of bosoms, I’d come out sucking my thumb!” he declared, mirroring his Dad’s little saying, which caused us much amusement many years ago. Not so sure John is feeling amused by it just now though. He thinks it’s true…..

Life, of course, has its ups and downs and John has been also reminded of the Irish song, ‘The Sick Note’ or ‘Why Paddy’s not at work today’**, in which he identifies himself as Paddy half way up, meeting the barrel coming down! Oh dear!

Mind you, he wasn’t saying that when he looked very chipper having a very nice McDonalds on Tuesday!

We had a nice meal out on the patio this evening in the warmth of the evening though, until we we thought we were so tired we perhaps ought to go to bed early. Ah… OK. So that’s what we’re doing.

Night, night everyone God bless.

**If you don’t know the song, I’ve copied it here for your delectation and recommend the Dubliners Lego version of it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/66cxc9emQgY – it made me smile anyway!

Dear Sir, I write this note to tell you of my plight
And at the time of writing I am not a pretty sight
Me body is all black and blue, me face a deathly gray
And I write this note to tell why Paddy’s not at work today

While working on the fourteenth floor, some bricks I had to clear
Now to throw them down from off the top seemed quite a good idea
But the gaffer wasn’t very pleased, he was an awful sod
He said I had to take them down the ladder in me hod.

Well clearing all those bricks by hand, it seemed so very slow
So I hoisted up a barrel and secured the rope below
But in me haste to do the job, I was too blind to see
That a barrel full of building bricks is heavier than me.

So when I had untied the rope, the barrel fell like lead
And clinging tightly to the rope I started up instead
Well, I shot up like a rocket and to my dismay I found
That half way up I met the bloody barrel coming down.

Well the barrel broke my shoulder as on to the ground it sped
And when I reached the top I banged the pulley with me head
Well I clung on tight, though numb with shock from this almighty blow
And the barrel spilled out half the bricks fourteen floors below

Now, when those building bricks fell from the barrel to the floor
I then outweighed the barrel and so started down once more
Still clinging tightly to the rope I sped towards the ground
And I landed on those broken bricks that were scattered all
around.

I lay there groaning on the ground I thought I’d passed the worst
But when the barrel hit the pulley wheel, that’s when the bottom burst
A shower of bricks came down on me, I knew I had no hope
In all of this confusion, I let go the bloody rope.

The barrel then being heavier, it started down once more
And landed right across me as I lay upon the floor
It broke three ribs and my left arm, and I can only say
That I hope you’ll understand why Paddy’s not at work today.

By heck, but it’s warm, isn’t it? We came back home this afternoon from a wonderful afternoon out visiting Richard and Jill in Malvern, in which we ate and drank well and nattered to our hearts content, when I realised my swimming costume from the open water swim on Wednesday was dry, but not washed. Oh…. and I need it for a 9a.m swim tomorrow!! Even though it was seven o’clock, I quickly popped the items from the washing machine onto the line and bunged the cozzie in the machine on a quick wash. By the time it was finished, an hour later, the previous load on the line was dry and ready to put away. Howzat, eh? A dry cozzie’ll be along any minute now!

We had a good journey down to the Malverns this morning, no-hold ups and great scenery on the way, of course. It is ages since we’ve been down to Richard and Jill’s and I was looking forward to it. Jill has master-minded a wonderful garden over the years and I was keen to see it. It didn’t disappoint. A fabulous wetland area in the front garden and lush vegetation in the back garden, including lots of fruit and veg. Wasn’t half jealous of her green fingers!

She also cooked up a lovely picnic-style lunch, while Richard found just the right drinks, and we tucked in with gusto. Lovely afternoon with old friends. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?

I had had a lovely time last night with another old friend, too. I met up with Sue Wakeford at The Folly at Napton. She was down in the Midlands for a few days, catching up with friends (including me, yay!). We sat outside in the balmy evening air and were treated to the Mikron Theatre Group (specialists in presenting to canal users, apparently) performing their play in the gardens of the pub. Not that we concentrated on the performance, mind you. We were too busy gassing….. very, very nice to see Sue, I must say.

Winding backwards to Wednesday, it was another exciting day with an open water swim for me with Linda and Anita and then, for us both, Quiz Night. Once again, lots of lovely laughter among dear friends.

Meanwhile, in between times, we have had some lovely chats to the Sleaths-who-are-holidaying and been envious of their time at the seaside. It looks like they are having a whale of a time one way and another! Splashing in the sea and the man-made splash pools, mackerel fishing and cream teas – can’t be bad, eh?

Freddie on the fishing trip all smiles and very hopeful at the beginning of the trip, and looking very dapper……. but apparently they didn’t catch anything. Shame!

In other news, it has taken a trip across to Jersey to see Granny and Grandad over there to get a photo of the Kenilworth Newby boys together all smiling! Wonderful!

Back at the ranch, John has continued his quest on the car and, despite some setbacks, he is making progress. Oooooo…. I hear you say! About time, too, I say! Hehehe. He is especially enjoying his new piece of equipment he bought last week, which he says is worth its weight in gold.

And John’s new motto is to greet each new day as a mayfly does. Taking it one day; and one day; and one day; and one day at a time. I’ll drink to that! Mind you, I’ll drink to anything! Where’s that Prosecco?

Take care everyone. God bless.

Susie Dent’s Word of the day yesterday was ‘mafting’ (18th century): overpowered by stifling heat and an oppressive lack of air. Phew!

A day or two since I wrote a few words in the Blog. We have naturally been busy, but we have also been preoccupied with our visit to the oncologist on Tuesday, 9 August – a date that’s now prominent in our minds. What were they going to tell us?

Yes, the biopsy confirms it’s cancer. Yes, there’s an enlarged prostate. Yes, more treatment is necessary. Probably radiotherapy. But before we do that, lets have another look at it under a microscope to see what’s happened since the last CT scan nearly six months ago….. oh, and we’ll do another bone scan, too.

The young man we saw was very nice. He was thorough and explained everything very well. But we can’t get away from the fact that earlier in the year, John’s PSA reading was 42, and now? It’s 92. Can’t get away from the fact that the Gleeson score is 9; and it’s a T3 cancer.

As always, we hope for the best. We’re both frustrated at the delay, but relieved the oncology team are at last involved and seeing John face-to-face, eye-to-eye.

The young man consulted ‘the boss’ after our discussions and came back with a plan of action: “We’ll make an urgent request for a CT scan and bone scan,” he said, “and, in the meantime, take this pill. It might make you feel a bit tired. Carry on with the hormone therapy.” Righty-ho. So, we await more tests and more results before anyone will actually do anything……

Home again and what are the choices? Sit in a chair and wring our hands while we wait? Or carry on with the life we’ve whittled out for ourselves? We chose the latter of course, and John was back at it, working on the Lotus, while I picked up a paintbrush.

A letter arrived on the mat yesterday for a CT scan on Sunday at ten past five in the afternoon. Well, that’s quite a quick turn round! Good. We hope that the rest of the plan is as quick and the appropriate treatment can be agreed and started. Otherwise, we might be doing a little bit of agitating……

I am not sure what our current mood is. Exhausted, mostly.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Ah, yes! It’s so good to take some time out, isn’t it?

Of course, we continue to potter along with our projects – John beavering away on his car most days, and me, labouring on the decorating of the dining room. Not much to report on either project, other than we work at them but nothing much to show for our efforts just at the moment – but in between times, we have taken a little bit of time out.

On Friday, we spent a lovely afternoon round at Pete and Dawn’s to wish Dawn a very happy birthday. Such a lovely afternoon – not only with dear friends including Alison and Peter as well, but also with Lizzie and baby Arthur, and Lucy – the recently married ‘Mrs Henshaw’. We oohed and aahed over Arthur who determinedly held fast to any finger on offer to take him for a walk throughout the house; and over his speech. Boy, that boy can talk!! Marvellous.

More time out yesterday, too. After a hiatus in visiting, it was time to go and see Mum. Bless her, she is much the same and was absolutely delighted to see me.

She had a nasty bruise on her arm though – and she had no idea from whence it came. She shrugged. “No, it doesn’t hurt,” she said, “it just looks unsightly.” And it did – but I was relieved she wasn’t suffering. When I left at tea-time, the staff were on their drugs rounds, so I didn’t get chance to speak to them about it. Might give them a ring tomorrow and ask about it. Although I doubt they’ll know where it came from either!

We spent our time together singing ‘Que sera, sera’ (quite a lot), looking at photos, and a bit of light chat. Mum also spent some time folding, unfolding, refolding, pleating and un-pleating a tissue that I’d given her. By the time she’d twizzled it round and round to her satisfaction and popped it in her pocket, she was exhausted….. then she started on another one. Oh, the concentration……

Of course she didn’t want me to leave, looking anxiously at me lest I fail to return at some future date. In the end, it reminded me of when I was handing the children over to the childminder/nursery staff/infant school when they were little. I had to peel her from me and ask one of the carers to take her for her tea. Heart-wrenching really.

After the visit to Mum on Saturday, we gathered ourselves together to go over to Michael and Danielle’s for a barbecue. What a relief to have something other than jobs to do. And to have someone else cook. Lovely. Food was delicious (just as I like it) and the company great. We enjoyed it and came home just after the boys had gone to bed. We were as tired as the boys, I think!!

This morning was another bash at those projects. John was excited on his – he has bought himself a new toy – a drill press, so that he can punch holes into pieces of steel. The drill, and his unsteady hand, had failed to provide the finish he was after, so off to Machine Mart we went. Apparently, it’s a wonderful piece of equipment and works just as he’d like it to.

He tells me that ‘he who dies with the most toys wins’……. I think he’s definitely winning…….

This afternoon was another time out. We went over to Dave and Chris’s to see how they were doing after Chris’s knee op. Oh, it was lovely to see them. And Chris is doing very well and making good progress. Lots of exercises and rest and she’ll soon be as good as new!

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit, chattering about this and that. In fact, I was so relaxed that I just closed my eyes for a moment to concentrate on the conversation….. apparently, I didn’t snore.

Replete with coffee and walnut cake we stayed on until just gone six o’clock. Wow! How time had flown! I had been anxious not to outstay our welcome and tire Chris out, but not a bit of it. “No need to rush off, ” Dave grinned. So we didn’t. Smashing.

Had a lovely phone call from Paul in Port Isaac this evening where he and the family are enjoying some rather good weather and some R & R. So glad for them all. It’s been a stressful time one way and another – not only in recent months, but over the last few years. They all deserve some respite. Fingers crossed they all come back refreshed.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Yesterday was a ‘William day’ as he had slept over, so me and him spent the whole day playing, or baking, or mooching in the garden, or reading.

The day started early, at six o’clock, and I knew I had to get up because William was loudly declaring that he was hungry. He was very excited to see that we had those little packets of cereals and he could hardly wait to choose which one he wanted. In the end, he opted for a mix of three of them……. made me smile. Of course it was allowed. It’s Grandma’s rules, isn’t it?

Naturally, we spent some time space travelling in the ‘Harry Potter’ cupboard, along with a clutch of cuddly toys and Glo sticks – and, of course, the obligatory snack. I mean, who doesn’t love a bit of ‘whooshing’ to another planet? I had a special ‘booster’ cushion that I think I was supposed to use for all the ‘controls’ on it, but I sat on it instead – floorboards ain’t half hard these days! William didn’t mind – he’d got enough controls inside the ‘space ship’ to keep him happy.

Here we are, hatch door open, having landed on Mars and about to get out to investigate the unknown territory……

Later on, we made some butterfly cakes and had great fun doing that – William chattering all the while about the lovely butterflies we were creating. Afterwards, he asked if he could have an episode of one of his TV programmes. As we’d had a good hour and a half of TV in the morning (I was just resting my eyes on the sofa after breakfast) I thought not. William pulled a face. “I always have an episode when I am bored,” he stated. Oh.

Well, we can’t have boredom, can we? We spent a little while in the garden investigating the pond and the insects and bird feeders – both of us shocked at the damage the blooming squirrels had done; and then, once inside the house again, we got out a load of books and had a happy three quarters of an hour browsing through them. Ah…..bliss. Just the way I like to spend my day. Heart full to the brim with love.

Bless him, William didn’t want to go home and would have stayed another night if he could. But I had booked into a trial of open water swimming at Cliff Lakes with Linda and Anita, so another overnight stay wasn’t possible.

Open Water Swimming? Moi? Erm……. that was something different!! I have to say, it wasn’t too bad. Anita and Linda took to it like ducks to water, but I had to make a fuss. Oh, Lord, if only I could take things in my stride…… anyway, I did a partial submerge but decided the water felt too chilly and I wasn’t confident in my swimming all of a sudden, so I ran to get a wet suit.

A bit of acclimatisation with a helping hand from one of the lifeguards (well, shouting, actually……”Lie on your back! In a star! Lift your hips up! Put your head back! Hips! Lift your hips! Stop moving your hands! Keep still!) and I managed to swim fairly reasonably, up and down the lanes we’d chosen to swim in. We’re going to go again.

Last night was Quiz Night and I arrived half-way through, much to John’s disgust. Without me there, he’d been having a whale of a time and was a very happy bunny. “I’ve been free…..” he said. Hmmmm…. right…… I offered a tart reply. Freedom? That’s not allowed is it?

Today, neither of us has felt great. I hit a low a mood – not sure why – and John hit a stumbling block on his car repairs. “I’ve been trying to do the trim,” he said, “but it’s not gone well. I can’t see, I can’t breathe and I’m dizzy when I cough or stand up.” Off to the doctors tomorrow then.

Meanwhile, the original Kenilworth Sleaths are enjoying themselves in the summer holidays. Yesterday, they had the obligatory visit to A&E for a repair to Freddie’s head, which he had clonked on the radiator. He’d been bouncing on the bed. Now what have I told him about little monkeys bouncing on the bed?

However, he’s better today, and a very happy chappy taking a turn on a quad bike with Daddy. Honestly, his helmet is almost as big as him! Just wondering if I should suggest he brings the helmet home with him for when he is bouncing on the bed……. gosh, I love that boy.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Just poddling along y’know – then, out of the blue, one of your grandsons bats his big blue eyes and says, “Can I have a sleepover at your house, Grandma?”. Well, not today I suggest, because we’re all in a bit of disarray. “The ‘Blue Room’ where you sleep is full of stuff.” I reply. He sidles up to me and says silkily, “I could help you tidy it up?”

I’m afraid I am no match for a smooth-tongued, blue-eyed boy. Obviously, William has come for a sleepover….. and……..ooooh, I love it!!!

For the last couple of days we have had the cabinet maker in, fitting the new cupboards in the dining room. Sawdust everywhere. And, in response to last week’s carpet fitting in our bedroom, I have spent a little while cleaning and putting furniture and clothes back in place in there.

Of course, I had a mad moment and thought I’d wash all my scarves (of which I appear to have many), so that they’d be nice and fresh in the chest of drawers. Bedding and last week’s clothing to wash, too, so I was busy. But never, ever too busy to say ‘yes’ to the grandchildren coming to stay/play. It’s what grandparents are for, after all, isn’t it?

And here’s the blue-eyed boy himself, saying ‘night, night’ to Thomas, Mummy, Daddy, Chester….oh, and Oliver.

Meanwhile, John is also poddling along, but not feeling quite so chipper. His back is hurting him; his breathing is currently shot with an extra infection of pseudomonas; and a change of catheter today introduced some pain that he’d not had before. All in all, John isn’t feeling great. Didn’t stop him welcoming William with open arms mind you, and begin the initiation on the intricacies of car restoration……

Take care everyone. Count your blessings if you can. God bless.