Author: anniesleath@hotmail.co.uk

I am re-defining the meaning of ‘urgent’. The dictionary definition is ‘requiring immediate action or attention’. The NHS definition is ‘sometime, any time, whenever we find the right paperwork.’

The GP referred me on a ‘2-week urgent’ referral. Naturally, I didn’t hear anything and had to follow it up. And then I still didn’t hear anything, so had to follow it up again, whereupon the secretary at the GP surgery offered me a hospital phone number to call.

I called the hospital yesterday and got a: ‘No, we don’t have anything…. oh, wait a minute, yes we do!’ response. This morning I took a phone call to advise that they had booked me in for an appointment on 3 July. Six weeks since I went to the docs. “OK,” I said, “although this was supposed to be a 2-week referral. Is 6 weeks OK?” Yes, yes, it’s OK – don’t worry. Right.

This afternoon, I took another phone call. “Can you come tomorrow morning?” Err….no. We’re at the hospital with John tomorrow. Ah…. OK, thanks anyway. Five minutes later, “How about Friday?” Yep, I can make that. So something is happening now, at last! Watch this space.

Meanwhile, it’s been a lovely, if tiring day. Yoga this morning, which I enjoyed but which was challenging, despite it being a class in which we make miniscule movements. Who’d have thought that could be tiring? But it was.

John was on the computer when I got home, so I went and had a long bath to ease my aching joints. Bliss. I took so long that it was a quick turn-around to be ready for our afternoon out with Nev and Jane, who had travelled up from London to see us.

They arrived, as promised, just after one o’clock, and we drove into Solihull for a meal at the Japanese restaurant, Kibou, where we had taken them before and enjoyed it.

We had a great afternoon – good food and good company. The conversation flowed easily and we had a laugh together, debated a bit of politics and fretted over the cricket score. A cracking game but pity about the result…….

Once we were home, we rested on the sofa until it was time for me to pop out to my Bible Study/Prayer Group meeting where I had an interesting time. Always lots to think about in these sessions and to try to understand, given that the time the Bible was written in is very different to today.

We are both weary now after our full and exciting day, so it’s an early night tonight – for me, anyway!

Take care everyone. God bless.

I delivered Freddie to school this morning and it dawned on me that the weekend is over. Welcome to Monday.

We had another good day yesterday, with church in the morning and then not long after mid-day, the Kenilworth Newbies arriving back from their weekend camping trip, to spend the afternoon together. I planned a roast dinner about three in the afternoon but, on hearing that they had all recently eaten, I postponed it until 4 o’clock. Ha! Should have kept it at three. I didn’t serve up until gone 4.30, such is my ability to plan these days. I had forgotten to put the veg on……

We had a really lovely day though. I love it when the house is full of excitable children. Regrettably, we ended up coming indoors because of a thunderstorm, so the high energy levels and high-pitched voices, instead of dissipating into the distance, reverberated from all four walls. They are always so thrilled to see each other.

As the Kenilworth Newbies left to bath the boys and put them to bed, Freddie and I, too, got ready to go over to Kenilworth. I thought that the night before school would be better spent in Freddie’s own, familiar surroundings.

It turned out well, and Freddie settled to sleep really quickly, got up early this morning and was all smiles as we set off for school. I think I can safely say that the weekend was a success.

I was grateful for all the love, attention and activity that John and Andrew had offered Freddie, too. It was smashing to see him grinning from ear to ear as he had fun with Uncle Andrew and look lovingly up at Grandpa as he settled into the crook of Grandpa’s arm on the sofa.

John and I did a spot of tidying up this morning once I was home and then, at lunchtime, we abandoned all efforts as we were both tired. In fact, John was too tired to go to his exercise class today and had a well-earned nap on the sofa instead. We thought we’d ‘go’ to the cricket, so switched on the TV and watched it all afternoon. Nice.

Andrew is starting his new job tomorrow, so he set off just before 4 o’clock. House seems quiet now….. still, time for a bit of recuperation maybe.

While I was sitting with nothing much to do, I decided I’d chase up my hospital appointment for my gippy tummy. “No, we don’t have a referral for you here,” declared the girl on the other end of the phone.

I patiently explained that I’d been waiting four weeks for an urgent ‘two-week referral’ and, not having heard anything, had chased it up via the GP last week. I had been reassured that the referral had been sent. “No, I can’t find anything here for you. Let me look in a different database…. Oh…. yes, here it is. But they’ve used the wrong form. I’ve emailed them twice to get them to do the right proforma, but I haven’t heard anything.”

Well, I decided I wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer and gently asked her to double check that nothing had been returned because, when I phoned the surgery on Friday, they told me it had gone across. “Ah….hmm…. oh…. yes, yes, here it is. They have done the right form now. Ok, I’ll expedite it….” Well, thank you. But, do you know what? Anxiety is not good for a gippy tummy.

Take care everyone. God bless.

It’s been party, party, party for Freddie today!! And now, naturally, we’re sitting back, exhausted!! Hehehe!

It was a 6.30 wake-up call this morning, with a cheeky grin and a snuggle into my bed. Fortunately, Freddie is keen on a morning snuggle so was happy to stay there for a good 45 minutes before it was breakfast-time, so I got a bit of respite. We pottered about eating breakfast, chatting and getting dressed, ready for the day, before taking cups of tea to the sleeping beauties of the house, John and Andrew.

Once Freddie was all spruced up, looking smart in a ‘complementary-to-his-hair’ T-shirt and socks but contrasting trousers, we made our way to LaserQuest in Coventry for Freddie’s first party of the day. Gosh, it was exciting for him – and lovely for me to see his excitement, too. All his friends gathering round him as he arrived, and the birthday boy, Oscar, squeezing him tight and lifting him up in the air, so thrilled was he to see Freddie join the group of friends.

I left Freddie at the party with a promise to collect him at mid-day, and swanned off back home to collect John and Andrew for a house-viewing in Kenilworth. I am trying to keep an open mind, so that I don’t shut off any avenues, but the house was a ‘no’ from me. It was also a ‘no’ from John, but for different reasons. The house had been extended at the back which left the tiniest of gardens. Although I hadn’t known it before, a reasonable-sized garden is a ‘must’ for me. John found the rooms not quite laid out as he’d have liked so it didn’t sit easy with either of us. We’ll keep looking.

We duly collected Freddie from his party and went home for a spot of lunch and a rest on the sofa. Well, I say rest, but snooze was the order of the hour. All three adults were inspecting the back of their eyelids and Freddie was sitting as good as gold, curled up in the crook of Grandpa’s arm all the while.

We got ourselves going about three o’clock for The Picnic in the Park at Lavender Hall Park this afternoon/evening. I prepped a bagful of goodies; John prepped his scooter; and Andrew prepped for the rum and ginger that they’d be selling on a stall in the park.

Freddie had a ride on Grandpa’s scooter of course…..

…….and then, once in the park, Uncle Andrew swung him round and round by his hands, much to Freddie’s giggling delight and a grimace from Andrew.

There was a ride on the swinging chairs before refusing the tea-cups; and a go on the ‘Hook-a-Duck’, which revealed a win whereby Freddie came away the proud bearer of a Minecraft sword. Bouncy castle, bouncy slide and an exploration of a van with a ball pit, punching bags and spiral slide were next, and then, ‘Can I have an ice cream, Grandma?’ Of course he could, only did he want to stop eating his candy floss first?

Andrew and Freddie played football; I joined in catch-a-ball and we all enjoyed a little bit of picnic food. Oh. And drink of course!

A good time was had by all. There was music and the sun shone; we met up with lots of acquaintances who hugged us tight and wished us well. Blessings, eh?

Take care everyone. God bless.

An exciting weekend ahead! Freddie is staying with us, as Paul and Harriet are off ‘Glamping’ at the Isle of Wight Festival. We thought we might be able to see them on telly, so watched a bit of the concert tonight, but boy, what a lot of people there are there!!! And, no, we didn’t see them! Maybe tomorrow?

In preparation for the young man’s arrival after school today, I thought I’d better go and buy food that would suit a 7-year old, given that our cupboards are pretty bare. I toddled off to Tesco just before 10 o’clock and took forever to do the shopping. Although I’d got a list, I am sure I bought more than what was on it…..

However, home again, I pottered about, putting the shopping away, cleaning out the fridge on the way and was generally humming happily to myself as I prepped lunch for John and me, when who should walk through the door, but Andrew! Surprise!!

I hadn’t been expecting him home just then but, as always, I was thrilled to see him. He had been spending a few days in Wales in a 2 Michelin-starred restaurant there, doing a ‘stage’, (pronounced “staahj”) i.e. unpaid work. The restaurant in question is called Ynyshir, near Aberystwyth and Machinellyth, and has just been acclaimed as the best restaurant in the UK.

He had enjoyed the work and, as the week went on, it became clear that the Patron Chef liked him and his work, so offered him a job! Wow! Watch this space!!

Andrew’s arrival put paid to my attempts at putting the shopping away because soon afterwards it was time to go and pick Freddie up from school. We left John at home for a snooze and met up with Michael at the school gates to swap some items between us – most notably, a cot mattress and a couple of cool boxes for their weekend away camping.

We waved goodbye to the Kenilworth Newbies and took ourselves to the Warwickshire Golf and Health Club where Freddie had an hour’s worth of Lego Club. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and then came home and did more Lego! Just look at that cheeky grin as he waited for Lego Club to start!

We tootled home, and, on arrival, Freddie burst through the open patio doors a-whooping to say hello to Grandpa, only to find that Grandpa was entertaining guests. Another surprise!! George and Val had arrived on their way home from visiting Val’s sister in Heartlands. It was such a delight to sit and chat to them for a while before they had to head off.

Family and friends. You can’t beat it, can you?

Take care everyone. Prayers for all those who are ill or struggling in anyway right now. God bless.

Arriving back from our holiday we thought we’d be refreshed. We were, in one sense: our souls were full of family and friends, having caught up with Michelle and Tim in Bristol on our way back. The journey home was a bit of a monster though, with hold-ups pretty well all the way up the M5. We played ‘tag’ with Michael and Danielle as far as Bristol, waving as we passed each other:

And we felt tired out by the time we got back to Balsall, and that persisted for a few days. Heaven knows why! I’m still putting my fatigue down to the ‘do a bit, rest a bit’ required after Covid but, in reality, I am heaps better than I was and can keep going for ages now.

John is putting his fatigue down to his condition. We went to see the prostate cancer consultant last Tuesday and she said that, disappointingly, John’s PSA level had risen again. It was 4, then 9 and now 12.5. Although he is on this all-singing, all-dancing drug that helps many patients with prostate cancer, there is a certain percentage for whom it’s not quite as effective. Ha! Guess what? It looks like John might be in that category. Quelle surprise!!

Although the PSA level isn’t very high at the moment, it’s the direction of travel that they are concerned about, so the consultant ordered more scans to see what the state of play is. We went over to Solihull Hospital this evening for the first of those: a CT scan, where dye is injected before the scan itself. At the end of the month, John will have a nuclear bone scan and then back to the consultant for another review. Watch this space……

Meantime, despite his fatigue and in between naps, the ol’ man is pushing on. Disgusted at the rate at which the weeds are growing in the patio, the flowerbeds and the front drive, he decided to do something about it.

On Saturday, he ventured outside to view the situation. “Have you got one of those weed removing tools for the patio, Anne?” Erm….. yes…. maybe…. I know there’s one in the shed somewhere. But for the life of me, I’ll never find it ‘cos the shed is jam-packed full and it’s chaos in there. The ‘shed tidy-up’ is on my list of things to do, but……. maybe tomorrow? (Doubt it…. hehehe!)

Anyway, I offered John a hoe so that he could chop the weeds off at slab height. John looked askance at the hoe, but thought he’d have a go. I went indoors to carry on with other chores.

Every so often, I would look out of the window to see how the Chief Gardener was getting on. Well, the sight made me laugh! He’d do a bit, sit down on a strategically-placed chair, and then do a bit more. There were chairs strewn everywhere. I chuckled as I watched.

But I chuckled even more when, on the last time I looked, he was no longer putting his back into it. He’d gone and got the flame-thrower and was busy scorching the weeds to death instead!! Regrettably, no photo to accompany the picture I’ve tried to paint. But it wasn’t half funny.

He did a bit more weeding on the front drive today. No flame-thrower this time but I narrowly avoided killing him as I drove back from yoga. There he was, Mr Determined, sitting in his electric wheelchair in the middle of the drive, hoe in hand, and giving the blighters what for! That’ll show ’em!

All for now, folks. Take care and God bless.

When we were on holiday we were delighted to know that the downstairs bedroom had been allocated to us. ‘Whoo-hoo!’ we thought, ‘Not far to go for anything.’

The bedroom was the most amazing room we had ever seen. All black. Well, apart from the white bedding. The walls, ceiling, furnishings and furniture were all noir. Very ‘Goth’ – even a diamante-studded skull and a top hat sporting a feather as decoration. Wow.

We settled in. Fumbled our way to bed in the dark. Lost things and couldn’t find them – black on black being very difficult to see when your eyesight is as bad as ours. But we loved it.

What I hadn’t realised at the time though, was that the distance from the bedroom at the back of the house to the dining area was miles. I didn’t think about it at all and tootled about as I do. It took John hours to get to his meals (slight exaggeration) and it was only when he got home that he realised just how far he’d walked while we were away.

You see, we were in the room on the bottom left. The dining room was in the Conservatory on the bottom right. Hehehe. Great excercise.

Once we were at home, John said, “I think we’re going to have to get a bungalow.” Eh? Where did that come from, I wondered. And then he explained how wonderful it was to be in a living space that didn’t require all that walking. For example, an open-plan kitchen/diner/lounge. Apparently, even our house is a challenge now. And not only that, but we can’t keep up with all the maintenance chez nous.

So, what are we doing? We’re getting the house valued, of course! And looking at bungalows…… Watch this space! It’s going to get interesting.

Meanwhile, this week sees another of my college buddies reach the 70th birthday milestone. So, off we toddled to Ashby-de-la-Zouch today for an Afternoon Tea with Anita. And what a smashing time we had as we stuffed ourselves silly with all the lovely food!! Loved it.

Gosh, what a very great blessing it is to have such dear friends. Anita is such a pleasure to be with and such great company. Lucky us.

Take care everyone. God bless.

We had a marvellous week away with the family over half-term. The weather was glorious; the accommodation lush; and the company great. We felt truly blessed that everyone made it – apart from Mike, Christiana’s husband, who was working.

We ate and drank well; managed time in the hot tub and on the tennis courts; and finished the traditional holiday jigsaw. The children really enjoyed themselves and there were very few squabbles, which gladdened my heart.

We went out for meals, went to the seaside and had fish and chips, and catered brilliantly well for ourselves in the house. We had a slap-up meal on the Wednesday evening, courtesy of our resident chef, Andrew, of course, when he cooked us a three-course meal with a mains of Beef Wellington – everyone’s favourite!! Gosh, it wasn’t half good!

Far too many tales to tell of the holiday but, suffice to say, it was lovely all being together for a week. Here’s few photos that offer a flavour of the fun we had……

5-in-a-bed; 3-on-a-scooter; kick-boxing-in-a-posh-frock; chaos-in-the-queue-for-fish’nchips; the-biggest-stick-find-ever; a-night-time-story; we-finished-it-jigsaw; and still-holding-hands-at-70.

G’night folks! See you tomorrow!

Yesterday, being Wednesday, we anticipated Quiz Night. I had very carefully prepared a couple of rounds in readiness but, when it came to it, there was a flurry of comments on our little WhatsApp group which offered a postponement. Well, that suited me! I was flat out with preparations for next week, when we take another well-earned rest and spend half-term in Somerset with the family.

In between being out and about and entertaining (see below), we were making best use of the washing machine, washing line and tumble dryer, to get all our togs clean and ready in time for slotting into suitcases.

We had spent the morning to-ing and fro-ing from Heartlands Hospital and Solihull Hospital as well as home, where John had his immunoglobulin treatment at the former hospital, and I had a blood test at the latter.

I popped home mid-morning and was just about to make a pot of tea when the doorbell rang and it was Linda again, returning the cardigan I had left at their house a couple of weeks ago! We had a good natter for half an hour before she set off, heading home to Devon, and I set off back to Heartlands.

Pete and Dawn came for a cuppa and chat-chat in the afternoon, which was lovely. Always so refreshing to see them, even though we talk about our woes! It’s nice to share, isn’t it? Despite our woes being the topic of conversation, we always have a good giggle at ourselves and our spirits are uplifted. Smashing.

At the point of Pete and Dawn’s departure, Paul and Freddie arrived, bearing bags of goodies to make a barbecue meal. Oh, lush! Harriet arrived soon after, and then we were into the throws of playing with Freddie – and boy, did Grandpa have a whale of a time with Freddie-in-a-Box! Howls of laughter coming from the pair of them as the ‘newly-carved-into-the-box-and-designed-by-Freddie‘ windows were opened and closed, and the lid lifted and shut.

Shooed out of the kitchen and away from the barbecue, I wandered into the garden to continue that bit of pruning of the jasmine, and Freddie joined me to play in the sandpit. That was nice. We were chatted companionably as we worked – particularly exclaiming over the spiders, the ants, the unidentifiable bugs and the very-nearly nest in the jasmine. So lovely.

The meat was superbly cooked on the barbecue by Paul, and the salad-y bits were skilfully prepped by Andrew. No work required from John or I. Boom!

As it was such a lovely evening, we took the opportunity to sit outside on the patio to eat our food. Oh, how blessed we all felt.

And, to round off the evening before we had to say our goodbyes, Freddie and I played in the ‘woods’ at the bottom of our garden, hacking our way through the ‘jungle’ and emerging triumphant back into civilisation where mowed lawn meets wilderness. Cool, eh?

Another hospital day today, with John at the Urology Clinic this morning in Solihull, to discuss the state of play with the ‘bag-for life’. Appointment was at 11 o’clock, at which time we duly arrived. We waited patiently for about fifteen minutes, then a nurse came along to say the the Urology Consultant, whom John had been keen to collar, was delayed. He’d been called into theatre to an emergency surgery. Rats!

Fortunately, the senior Registrar took his place and John was able to talk freely and easily to him. After our initial wait of over an hour to be seen, we came away with a plan to trial the ditching of the ‘bag for life’ – although John isn’t holding out much hope of the trial being successful. We’ll see – fingers crossed.

Home again and we had a short break for lunch before I toddled off to see Mum, and Andrew toddled off to see about a temporary job, leaving John to do a tidy-up in the kitchen while we were out.

Mum was a little bit better when I visited today, although she didn’t recognise me at first. However, we soon got into our little way of entertaining each other and she remembered then. We were able to have a chuckle together today, which is the first time for a while, so I came away a bit happier than I had been previously. She is still not eating much, but she has tucked into one or two things this week, so the carers felt a bit more confident that she really is on the mend.

So that’s us, folks! Nearly Friday already! Gosh, where did that week go?

Take care and God bless.

After all the revelry on Sunday, I was tired out on Monday!! John was also tired out so we had a day off and didn’t do anything strenuous at all.

“Can you get up by 10.30?” I asked John, as I took him a cup of tea in the morning. “Yes,” he replied, “Why?” The reason: we had a guest coming at eleven o’clock but I had arranged a doctor’s appointment at 10.30 and wasn’t sure I’d be back in time.

I toddled off to the surgery to bleat about my gippy tummy, where I was ages, finally arriving home at almost half past eleven. Linda had already arrived and she and John were nattering away like nobody’s business. We grinned at each other, “We don’t see each other for years on end and now twice in a fortnight!” exclaimed Linda.

Oh, but it was lovely. We really enjoyed the brief visit and have agreed we must not leave it so long until the next time. Linda is very easy company and it was a pleasure to sit chatting for a couple of hours.

After Linda had left, Andrew and I went to collect the car we’d left at the Kenilworth Social Club. Home again, and John was beavering away on the computer, so I wandered outside to see if I could do any titivating in the garden.

To be honest, we’ve done nothing on the garden this year, apart from plant some dahlias. As I looked round, I was a bit overwhelmed because, of course, everything is suddenly flourishing – weeds ‘n all! Ah, well, you’ve got to start somewhere, haven’t you? So I grabbed a pair of secateurs and set to on the jasmine. It had taken fright over winter and almost all of it was dead wood.

I have noticed one or two other plants have totally died in the garden this winter, which is a bit of a shock as I thought they were nicely established. A visit to the garden centre I think, in week or two’s time.

Meanwhile, John and Andrew had decided to tackle the dining room door. For some unaccountable reason, the door no longer hinged all the way back when we opened it. A new hinge was required and John was on the case. They successfully managed to take the door off, put the new hinges on, and put the door back on again. Boom!

More door fiddling was on the agenda today, though. Apparently , the new hinge had changed the set of the door and so it needed planing down. “While you’re over in Kenilworth having your hair done,” John said, “can you call into Michael’s to see if he’s got my planer? I think I lent it to him.” Yup. I called in, collected the planer and handed it to the handymen in the house. Lots of whizzing, screwing, lifting the door on and off again, and an hour or two later, there it was – a perfect fit! Thank you, boys!

Who knows? We might yet get this house ship-shape! Mind you, give us time. We’ve only been in it 40+ years…….

Take care everyone. God bless.

We had a wonderful day today. Oliver Charles Sleath was christened at St Nicholas’ Church in Kenilworth and a good time was had by all.

The sun shone, everyone wore their Sunday best, the baby was an angel, the cake was a triumph and we celebrated with great food and drink. Marvellous.

We were all up early-ish, showering and putting on our posh clothes and making the last minute preparations to take bits and bobs over to Kenilworth for the buffet. I went over to Rugby to collect Danielle’s Mum, while Andrew and John drove straight to Kenilworth Social Club to get things set up.

The christening service was lovely; just the right balance of informality and solemnity with Oliver definitely star of the show, even having a bit of a laugh at the font. Oliver’s looking a bit unsure, but he dealt with it wonderfully well – not a peep out of him!!

We all piled back to the social club where the frivolities began. The kids had a whale of a time on the bouncy castle; the adults had a whale of a time catching up with each other. It was particularly nice to see Christiana and Mike with their children. It’s the first time I’d met Nicholas, and what a bonny boy he is!!

And here’s darling Freddie, looking as happy as Larry, wearing the mask he’d made. Ah…. I do love a christening party!

Regrettably, we didn’t organise photos of us, so no funky frock photos, as everything happened so fast and furious. Time just swept by and before we knew it, we were feeling weary and saying our goodbyes to everyone by mid-afternoon.

Once home, John had a snooze in bed and I had a snooze on the sofa….. Oh, yes, a good day was had by all.

Take care everyone. God bless.