Author: anniesleath@hotmail.co.uk

On Sunday, I actually went to church. Physically arrived at the building itself and took part in the service. Wow. It’s a looong time since I did that. People were surprised to see me and even went so far as to say it was was good to see me back. Nice.

In the afternoon, I closeted myself away, leaving John to watch the footie, while I did an online writing course. It was lovely – just me and my pen. Well, and the others on the course too, but they don’t count!!

All in all, a very passable Sunday.

Today, however, has been a funny old day. I gave myself the jitters this morning trying to sort out the fees for Mum’s Care Home. Had very hefty bill from the Council, who are picking up the payments off-set against her house. They need to recoup Mum’s contribution against what they’ve shelled out as a lump sum for their initial payment. Ha! We hadn’t had a refund from the home yet, so that stumped me. Anyway, after a few phone calls it’s all sorted, but I did have the collywobbles for a minute or two.

I then gave myself more collywobbles this afternoon trying to source a reasonably-priced minibus to ferry my Centre Stage friends out for a meal on Saturday. I thought I’d done it, but one of the group was shocked at the cost, so we’ve abandoned that idea. I’ll think about it again tomorrow. More tummy turns incoming……. it’s mad, isn’t it? I used to be such a confident woman!! Ah, well, it’s all good character-building, so they say.

A bit later than intended, I shot over to Kenilworth, on a mission to deliver Advent Calendars for the children. My text message had asked whether the ‘adult children’ would also like Advent Calendars? The reply was clear: “Do bears sxxt in the woods?” I’ve taken that as a ‘Yes’. Hehe.

John stayed at home, recuperating after his exercise class this morning. He’d worked hard and was busy telling me that they’d changed his leg curl regime. I nodded, knowingly, as he started to tell me that he had been doing 3 reps of 12, lifting 7 kilos on each leg. ‘Ah-ha!’ I thought, ‘it was too much,’ and feeling sorry for the old boy. But no. They’ve now got him lifting 14 kilos on each leg……… crikey!!

In the end, I didn’t make it to the Kenilworth Originals. I stayed a while at the Kenilworth Newbies, helping with grandchildren duties while Michael worked up until 7 o’clock. It’s a long day on your own with 2, then 3 children, once William is home from school, isn’t it? Glad to be able to help. It’s always fun with the grandchildren.

And I have now arranged to go to the Kenilworth Originals tomorrow in the afternoon instead. I have a delivery to make with a deadline looming!!!

Take care everyone. God bless.

We’ve had a lovely couple of days. John’s University friends came over for the evening last night, staying overnight at local hotels, before breakfasting with us this morning at Oakes’s and travelling back whence they came.

They had come to see us, naturally, having suggested a surprise visit to John a few weeks ago to cheer him up, but then combining the visit with bringing birthday wishes to us both. They were, however, also hoping to catch up with whichever of our ‘boys’ might be around, too. In the end, only Michael was available and he came to say ‘hello’ to everyone at tea-time yesterday, which was great, and they were delighted to see him and two of his boys.

After the ‘surprise’ had been sprung a couple of weeks ago, John had set about making all the arrangements. He did brilliantly well, organising the food and drink and checking on who could, or couldn’t come.

Having done lots of catering in the last week or two, we decided to have an Indian Take-Away, much to everyone’s delight. It was delicious – and there was masses of it, too. Far too much food for us all to eat in one sitting, so there is now some spare sitting in the freezer for another day – and there were some very full bellies last night.

The evening went with a great swing. The boys had indicated that the football might be on the agenda. Was that OK? Well, yes, as it turned out. Several of the girls also fancied watching the footie, too! Champagne and beer were the order of the evening to help us all cope with the vision of England creeping to a 0-0 draw and enabling a very knowledgeable flow of football conversation. Hehe.

Our guests left just after eleven o’clock and had a bracing walk back to their respective hotels, all hoping that they’d be up and about at the appointed breakfast hour of 9.30 the following day.

And yes, we were all there at Oakes’s right on time for a hearty breakfast. And, although the memory of the night before still lingered……. we all did well and enjoyed the fare on offer.

We hugged our farewells at the café to Kelv and Ren, George and Val and Fran, sending our best wishes with Fran to invalid Pete, who was/is languishing in bed with bad knees/ankles/shins.

And the Take-Away from the weekend? That would be…..not the food, or the drink, but the friendship. 50 years on…..

John texted the group to say ‘thank you for coming: ‘It was great to see you all, a great morale booster. Thank you all.’ And George texted back: ‘The pleasure is all ours. You have been close friends for a long time and will continue for a long time to come.’ Boom! I’ll second that. Smashing, eh?

Take care everyone. God bless.

Here we are 50 years ago…… mostly all still present, but not necessarily in the same order!

I had a lie-in, but John was up and out of the door early on this morning, hot-footing it over to Solihull Hospital for his Pulmonary Rehabilitation Class. Bless him, he brought me a cup of tea before he went.

I finally winkled myself out of bed and took myself over to the yoga class, which was very full this morning. Lots of people like me swapping in because of commitments at the time of their regular class. I wore my mask, just in case…..

It was a good class and I enjoyed it. But I am beginning to feel my age. Not only have I got a dodgy shoulder but I’ve got a couple of dodgy hips, too. And funnily enough, it’s the sitting down that gives me jip for one of them! Ah, well, what can you expect? I persevered for most of it, even managing the plank, which doesn’t really need your hips to work!

John came home and collapsed through the front door, having worked very hard at his class, too. Apparently, after he’d done two of the leg exercises, he couldn’t quite fully manage the third. His legs, as they were last week, were like jelly. “Don’t they supervise you and ask you how you’re getting on?” I wondered. Well, of course they supervise them! John has his own personal therapist. But she clearly doesn’t stop him before the point of no return…..

Anyway, John had a good long sit down this afternoon, while I had a little go round at a tidy-up. We’re still digging out from the weekend…… so the vacuum cleaner came out, the toys went back up stairs, the chairs went back in the dining room, and the coffee table was liberated from behind the sofa. We’re nearly there.

As the afternoon wore on, I committed myself to an open water swim this evening. I had been thinking about it since I was given one of those warm robes, that you see tri-athletes wearing, for my birthday. I booked in and I got my kit ready.

And we were just about to set off when the owner of Dosthill Quarry phoned. “Are you planning on swimming this evening?” he asked. “Yes,” I replied, “we are just about to leave the house.” It transpired that in the last day or two there had been some cancellations and he didn’t want to keep the quarry open if hardly anyone was going to turn up.

Well, there were five of us. I have to admit I was nervous. I wasn’t sure how I was going to cope with the cold water. But John came with me for moral support and made lots of appropriate noises and comments to encourage me in. The ladies who were there were also very supportive and so I made the plunge into the 10.5° water.

I didn’t do the whole circuit though. Too nervous for that, so just swam round and round in ever decreasing circles near the steps. That is, until John shouted more encouragement and suggested I go round the buoy nearby. I did a few more ‘laps’ and then got out. Last in, first out, but I was pleased with myself nonetheless.

Here we are – ‘The Bluetits’ – post-swim:

John and I stopped off for a fish and chip supper on the way home – and our day was complete. Go us!! Exercising all day long……

Take care everyone. God bless.

We decided to take it easy this morning, rather than get up early and break our backs trying to get things done before we went out. So it was a bit of a potter about with extracting pots from the dishwasher, and then stacking it again, before we set off to Lutterworth to meet up with Dave and Chris and George and Sue for lunch.

As it happened, we were the first to arrive, much to everyone else’s astonishment. I don’t think we have ever been early in all the times we’ve met up with them over the years. But the journey was good, with the sun shining brightly, and the roads were fairly clear. Gone was the rain and there was very little water on the road.

We went to ‘The Elms’, which is just a standard pub offering a carvery lunch, but which we always enjoy. Naturally, we all piled our plates high and then sat back after we’d eaten, complaining of being very full. “Dessert, anyone?” George wondered as he perused the menu. Erm…… that’ll be a ‘no, thank you’. We had all eaten far too much food to squeeze in a dessert.

The lack of dessert didn’t stop us sitting at the table for hours on end, however, chatting away until gone four o’clock. Copious amounts of tea and coffee were consumed as we whiled away the afternoon, enjoying each others’ company. Loverly.

I came away the better, laden with a bottle of Prosecco and a plant as birthday gifts. Lucky me! Just what I like.

Regrettably, being a Pooh Bear of very little Brain, I forgot to take photos of us all, so it’s a blank page in that regard. Ah, well, next time, maybe?

Once we were home, we were still full after our lunch date, so we didn’t bother with anything to eat at tea-time. Rather, I sat and put the football on to see how the Canada vs Belgium match would turn out, but mostly fell asleep through it….. I think John stayed awake though!

And then, of course, being a Wednesday, it was Quiz Night. As always, great fun and great to be puzzling over the answers. We thought we were on fire this evening as we answered a lot of the questions correctly. However, it transpired that the quiz was easy so the 84% success rate didn’t mean as much as we thought it did!

Take care everyone – when I look at the world there’s some horrible goings-on, so I hope our corner of an ‘every day story of village folk’ soothes the soul. God bless.

I would like to know what constitutes an ordinary day? I am not sure that we have any really. Every day seems to be extra-ordinary!

Take today, for example. I thought we might just poddle about at home, clearing the decks after the weekend, take in a bit of the World Cup and generally relax. But no, of course not! It transpired that Andrew’s lift back to Cambridge was no longer on offer at quite the right time, so we suggested we’d take him back. An excellent journey there and back, but it wasn’t quite what I’d been thinking we’d be doing today!!

It’s funny though, isn’t it, how emotion overcomes you sometimes? As we said our farewells to Andrew through the car window, I suddenly felt that I didn’t want to let him go. It’s been so fabulous to see him and spend time with him in recent weeks. Firstly for a whole week on our family holiday; then he came across for John’s birthday lunch last weekend; and then this weekend for my birthday. Obviously, we’ve been spoilt by having his company, and I wanted more. But hey, he’s got a life to lead, so I did let him go, but I held his hand very tight before we drove away.

We were lucky with the weather today. I had feared that it would rain on the journey and make the drive unpleasant. However, there was no rain at all. I am thanking one of my Twitter acquaintances, who said she was doing a ‘hope-it-stays-dry-for-you’ dance!

Not only was there no rain, but the sky and sunset on the way back were absolutely stunning. There were fabulous rays of sunshine fanning out from behind a cloud, inking the sky oranges and pinks and purples. Utterly magical, filling my heart with hope as we drove along. Even John thought it was good!

We made a detour home to collect a toy from a ‘Marketplace’ seller in Henley-in-Arden. That meant we were a bit later home than we’d planned, but I was pleased with my purchase and I hope that the children I plan to give it to will be, as well!

We were peckish when we got back and desperate for a cuppa, so we set on the minute we got in to feed and water ourselves. Ah…. we felt better for having done so.

This evening I left John watching the World Cup – Australia vs France – while I went to my prayer group. I was hopeful that Australia might make a good showing, having scored the opening goal, but when I got home I heard that the hope had been unfounded and it was 4-1 to France.

We had a really interesting discussion at the prayer group. It’s always fascinating to hear the group’s views on things and it always gives me food for thought……… Today we talked about the equality of Man – or not, depending on the circumstances and the human interventions that insist some (wo)men are more equal than others. Now there’s a philosophical debate! Gosh, we could have been there all night!! So much to think about!! But we weren’t, and we wended our way home just after nine o’clock.

Take care. God (in whose eyes we are all equal) bless.

I might not have said, but it was my birthday on Sunday. The family came and we partied. Lucky, lucky me!!

I was delighted because not only did the boys and their families come, but David and Darrel, Gloria, Christiana and young Alexander made it, too! I felt very privileged and very grateful that everyone could come and that no-one cried off at the last minute due to sickness.

We had a wonderful time, of course. I mean, what do you do when you have the family all together? We ate, drank champagne (and were very merry), chatted, danced and, of course…… we played sardines!! There we all were, a giggling bundle of bodies huddled together as, one by one, we found the person who was hiding.

Ellie was best. She found a fabulous hiding place that Andrew had very carefully prepped ready for his turn. She spied it before he got to use it, and she hunkered down behind the sofa bed in the SnuGym. It took us all ages to find her!!!

Even Grandpa did good on hiding, too. He slipped off, telling us he was off to hide, and so we all gathered in the lounge and counted down – very loudly. “Ten, nine, eight……..five, four, three, TWO, ONE! Coming! Ready or not!” We scampered all around the house, listening out for Darth Vader. Nope. We couldn’t hear him. Nor could we see him in the dark, of course. However, slowly and at regular intervals, people kept disappearing. So we knew he had been found. But where? In the end, we all found him, lying down by the side of the bed in the main guest room, and we all piled on top. Hehehe. Great fun.

Obviously, being my birthday, there were presents. Gosh, I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t read the cards without crying; then I cried when I opened the gifts; and then John had prepared a photo album following my life from a youngster up to now, and I couldn’t look at that without crying either!!

And naturally, there was cake and candles and birthday singing. More blubbing. But I did manage blow the candles out OK.

Eeeeeh…… 70, eh? Who’d a thought it?

Take care everyone. God bless.

Yep! It’s Saturday!! A glorious morning to wake up to with the sun shining brightly into our bedroom. Fabulous. I opened the blinds and let the day in before I was up and at ’em!

John showered and did his medication before coming down to see what there was to do. It was prepping food this morning ready for Pete and Dawn, and Carol and John’s, visit this afternoon, and we got it all done right on time. I then tidied myself up just before they arrived at lunchtime. Oooh… exciting!

Carol had baked the most delicious birthday cake – coffee and walnut, my favourite – which went down a storm with everyone. We had a delicious buffet meal and some Prosecco (Really? Qui? Moi?) with which to wash it all down. And not only that, but we had great company too! Here we all are giggling our heads off as we tried to do a selfie……..

Not a lot else to report, really. We chatted and chatted. We ate and drank and chatted some more……. to the extent that Carol and John, who had thought they might leave about tea-time, didn’t leave until 9 o’clock. But hey, we were having such fun!!!

In between times, the postie had been and dropped some cards through the letterbox, as well as some lovely flowers from Fran and Pete. Lovely. Just what I like! So pretty and delicate.

I was very grateful for the gifts that the besties had brought me today, too. A spa day, a beautiful pearl necklace, and a lovely little key-ring bearing the motif: ‘Home is where the heart is’. Can’t be bad, eh? What a lucky woman I am!!

Take care everyone. God bless.

We have had a fairly gentle sort of day today – we needed it after yesterday’s busy one – so there’s not a great deal to report.

I left John in bed this morning while I went to yoga. Had a good class. I think Jaime decided that, because it’s my birthday, she wouldn’t make it too tough!! So I managed most of it. The only thing is, these days I can’t shift my left shoulder very well, so some poses are only halfway houses! Ah, well, if that’s all, I can’t really complain, can I?

Jaime and the class sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me just before I left, so I was very touched. And she also gave me a gift, which I haven’t opened yet. But how lovely was that?

When I got back from class, John was up and just finishing his breakfast. I had a cup of tea, and then we motored off to Waitrose to buy one or two things for the buffet(s) at the weekend. I was quite shocked at the prices of some of the things and picked them up and put them down again. Fortunately, John had made the effort to come with me today, and he said, “Oh, just choose what you’d like!! Don’t look at the price for once!” So I did choose what I liked. Hehehe.

We put most of the shopping away, but John was jiggered, so he plopped into his armchair and promptly fell asleep for the afternoon. He said that after his exertions at his rehabilitation class yesterday, his legs felt like jelly. I wondered if he’d overdone it? He thought he hadn’t really, but when he told me what he’d actually done at the class, I thought he definitely had.

Anyway, this afternoon was a pottering about afternoon for me, tidying up a bit and finishing putting the shopping away. I fretted as to whether I’d got all the things I needed to feed people, but Paul phoned and said he’d go to Costco and pick up some trays of things on Sunday morning anyway, so not to worry. However, I have cooked my famous ham so the family will be pleased on Sunday, I’m sure.

I have been thrilled to receive flowers today from George and Val and a crate of half -a-dozen bottles of wine from Graham and Gail as gifts for my birthday, so that was wonderfully exciting!

Another thrilling arrival was an email from the photographer we had hired on holiday, with the link to the photos she’d taken. I am delighted with them! There are some really lovely photos in among the many she has sent. Here’s one of us all, laughing like drains as we try and get ourselves into some kind of order!!

Eeeh, but we didn’t half have a good time!!

When the College Crew were here the other day, one of the lovely gifts I received was a book entitled, “A Happy Poem to End Every Day”, which is very enjoyable! Here’s today’s by William Blake. Oh, what a wise man:

Hoping to take his advice this weekend!! Take care everyone. God bless.

I should say so!!

We had a busy planned today and it didn’t disappoint. Not only did our plans come to fruition, but we had unexpected visitors, too!

John was still a-snoozing this morning when the doorbell rang. I wasn’t actually up, although I had been up and was just contemplating getting dressed. I threw on a pair of jeans and tanked down the stairs. An unfamiliar face was waiting at the front door. I unlocked Fort Knox and wondered what he wanted?

It turns out that he’d come to fix our roof!! Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather!! This was a most unexpected, but happy event. “You’ve had a damaged roof?” he said, “From scaffolding? I’ve been sent to repair it.” Well, sir, you are very welcome!!

He set about the repair very professionally and, from what I can tell, has done a nice job. He wasn’t at the house very long – probably about two and a half hours – but I think it took him longer than he thought. He had to winkle out the old, broken tiles which were well-entrenched, but he managed it and we now have a smooth roof. Yay!

Meanwhile, I had already assured the Kenilworth Newbies that I was up. “Am up and plan to be at yours for 9,” I texted. I was on babysitting duties while Danielle worked on finalising her project. Michael texted back that that might be awkward. Danielle was planning to come to us. Oh…. ah!!!!

Danielle arrived about 9.15 and we were off for the day. John was up and getting ready for his Pulmonary Rehabilitation Class; and I was raring to go to play with Oliver.

I had a delightful morning with Oliver. I won’t say it too loud, but honestly, he is the easiest baby to look after. He just plays. And coos and chats a lot. When he is not doing that, he is crawling all over the floor to reach any toy that happens to be out of reach. Such a pleasure.

Just before lunch, John was still out; Danielle was beavering away at her computer; and I was dandling Oliver on my hip when the doorbell rang. Another man at the door. This time, it was someone I knew. Someone I knew, but hadn’t seen in years. Richard Bones, no less. He was in the area and decided to call in. Well, how wonderful!!

It was very exciting to see him after all this time and we chatted away as if we hadn’t been away from each for years on end. “I’m sorry, Richard, but do you mind if I carry on with getting lunch ready?” I said. I was going out later to visit Mum and had just started getting some rolls cut and buttered. He didn’t mind at all. So we nattered as I prepped food and looked after Oliver.

John arrived home and couldn’t quite believe his eyes. And there we all were in the kitchen, mulling over times gone by. Lovely.

Regrettably, I had to leave about 2.30 to set off to Mum’s. I left Danielle to mind the baby, and John to entertain Richard. I think they managed OK……. hehehe.

Mum was very well, but clearly losing even more of her memory. She had no idea who I was when I arrived. I could have been anybody. She was just toddling out of the lounge as I went in to find her. “Hello!” I said, with a twinkle in my eye. “Hello,” she replied, as if I was just A.N. Other. “I’m just going to the loo,” Right. So off we went.

Once she was sat down in her her chair, I asked her if she knew who I was. “Oh, yes,” she said firmly. I waited, expectantly. But there was no proper recognition in her eyes. Eventually, I pulled my mask up and said, “It’s Anne!” She still had no proper recognition and replied, “Anne? Anne?” puzzling over who I might be. “Your daughter!” My daughter? Oh, dear…..

We talked some more and I told her about my upcoming birthday. “Well, I’m older than you!” she said triumphantly. I laughed. “Well, you will be older than me, because you’re my Mum!!” I replied, giggling. “I’m your Mother?” she exclaimed. “Yes, you are,” I said, gently.

Anyway, she seemed to accept that I was her daughter – although, apparently, I reminded her of someone. “Hazel Dawson?” she said, calling to mind her lifelong friend. “I wonder where she is now?” I hadn’t the heart to tell her that her very dear friend died a couple of years ago.

But we had a very nice afternoon and she pored over all the family photos I shared with her and she was very happy to chuckle over the younger members of the family, saying how good-looking they all were.

I came away at tea-time, taking Mum into the dining room to have her tea. As I left, she was being upbraided by one of the ladies at her table because, it seems, she was about to use her blouse as a hanky. “Hazel! Use your tissue!” came the refrain I had been using all afternoon. I think it’s a lost battle…….. ah, well, she’s happy.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Because…..because…. because……..

We make decisions based on what we know, don’t we? And sometimes we base decisions on what we think we know. Thus it is that I have chosen to have a ‘festival’ of celebrations for my birthday, rather than one ‘big bash’. Thought I’d eke it out over a couple of weeks based on what I think I know…… Anyway, it started yesterday. Whooo-hoo!

The College Crew came to visit – and what a lovely time we had. Nothing fancy, nothing flash, just a convivial afternoon and evening together. It was lush.

Everyone, bar Janet and Trevor, were able to come – although it was a bit touch and go at one point. Liz texted to say that because of the heavy rain and the state of the roads, they might not make it. Although disappointed, we understood.

However, we were just polishing off the savouries from the buffet, when the doorbell rang, and there they were! The weather had cleared, the roads weren’t quite so iffy and they’d made the decision to come. How very lovely.

It is just so good, isn’t it though? To be among friends and to enjoy each others’ company and to celebrate together. Regrettably, I failed on the photo front and didn’t get a shot of us all together. Never mind, we all know we were there, so that’s what counts.

We ate well, had some lovely drinks, and I had some cracking presents. I was particularly touched because each and every gift was so apt! How well they know me. Such dear friends.

Sue and Chris and Sue D stayed overnight, so we had a lovely breakfast together before the Pearce’s went on their way. For once, I forwent the trip to the hospital with John today, in favour of a fabulous walk in Katharine’s Wood with Sue D in the beautiful sunshine.

John took himself to hospital and managed – but I think it was an effort. For instance, he had to park in the main car park and walk across to the MIDRU building where the haematology clinic is currently housed. It is quite a walk and a bit uphill, so he had his daily exercise, arriving home at lunchtime fairly exhausted.

We both put our feet up this afternoon. Might even have dozed off for a moment or two…..

Then this evening it was Quiz Night. But not Quiz Night as we know it. I quizzed from the Paul and Harriet’s house, and John quizzed from home. It is Lily’s 17th birthday, so an evening out with the birthday girl was in order and a request for babysitting made.

Freddie was an absolute delight. He went to bed with no bother at all and soon fell fast asleep. I sat downstairs in Paul’s big leather chair in front of a huge screen to join in the quiz, initially offering apologies for John’s absence. The last thing he had said to me before I left, was that he was going to go to bed. Two rounds in, and the screen crackled to life with a sepia view of John logging in. Well, how delightful!

A great quiz and we enjoyed it – even knowing some of the answers!

The Kenilworth Sleaths arrived home after their evening out, so I said my goodbyes and wound my way home. Another full day, eh? Wouldn’t have it any other way.

Take care everyone. God bless.