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Yesterday was a bit of a wash-out. I cancelled my yoga class as I’d had a very late night trying to get through to A & E to find out how Mum was (didn’t succeed) and then an early start, phoning in again. She was comfortable when I finally got through and was due to be transferred to a ward.

I decided I’d go back to bed to recoup my energy ready for the afternoon onslaught of the dreaded endoscopy.

John reminded me that we were due to view another bungalow, so I had a bit of a snooze and then was up at 10.30 and off we went. The bungalow was very interesting but there is such a lot of work to do on it and it only has two bedrooms, so not ideal – and I am not sure we could manage all the work required. It’s on the back-burner.

Just after lunch we went off to Warwick Hospital, where John dropped me off, and then I waited my turn for the procedure, which was exceedingly uncomfortable, but I’m still here to tell the tale, so couldn’t have been that bad!

The results were relatively positive in that there was no cancer detected (phew!) but they did find a large (6cm) hiatus hernia and gastritis. They have given me pills to take so we’ll see how it goes. Had a bit of a dodgy tummy overnight but it’s settling down now. Might be back to normal by Monday….well, that would be nice wouldn’t it? Normal? Whatever that might be!! Hehehe.

Today promised to be a busy day. We went up to Sapcote, in Leicestershire, to buy a new bumper for John’s Lotus. Fortunately, this one looks like it’ll fit. We had a nice chat to the chap who was selling it to John, who came home very pleased that at last he can move forward.

On the way home we went to Heartlands to visit Mum. We had just called into the café for a sandwich and a coffee before going up to the ward when my phone rang. It was the doctor on Mum’s ward wanting to update me as to the state of play. “I’ll come up now,” I said and hopped upstairs to meet him.

They have Mum on a drip to reduce the dehydration and to administer pain relief. However, as the doctor explained, this is not a long-term solution and, once the electrolytes in her blood have stabilised, they will stop the drip and try her on food and drink by mouth. Unfortunately, the path of dementia is that the patient forgets how to do that, and this looks like this is what is happening to Mum.

The infusion of fluids has brought Mum’s consciousness back enough for her to chat a little bit – and possibly try something to eat or drink? So I did try her on a sip of water and a spoonful of yoghurt. Two sips of the former that just moistened her lips, and she said, “That’s enough. I shan’t want any more.” And three goes at the yoghurt with just the tip of the spoon laden, before she put her hands up and smiled, “Thank you,” she said, “but no more.”

She was compos mentis enough to respond to the photographs I showed her, looking lovingly at each and every one, oohing and aahing at the children in particular; and she definitely recognised me today. We even had one verse of her favourite song, ‘All good friends and jolly company’, which made her laugh. But one verse was enough. John came up to the ward too, for a few minutes, and she was able to greet him and bid him goodbye. Bless her.

The staff there were lovely – really gentle, caring and attentive, so I felt confident that they would do their best for her. “You can always phone us to see how she is,” they said, smiling at me, with sympathy in their eyes.

We came home mid-afternoon vowing to put our feet up for an hour or so before rushing off to Kenilworth to wish Thomas a happy 3rd birthday. I had just put the kettle on when Andrew walked through the door. How lovely. He was on his way to Kenilworth, also to wish his godson happy birthday. “Are you coming over?” he asked. “We will, ” I replied, “once we get the call”

The family whooped it up at the Kenilworth Carnival and Funfair this afternoon and, when Michael phoned, John told him not to worry about us but just to enjoy themselves. We were definitely too weary for lots of standing around in a noisy, even if it was a happy, atmosphere.

In the end, the call came but we were settled at home and still rather weary. Not to worry, we said, we will see Thomas tomorrow and he can have his gift then….. if he needs it after he’s opened this little pile of presents!!

Take care everyone. God bless. Please keep my Mum in your thoughts and prayers if you are so inclined.

So, I prepared a few things to take with me on my visit to Mum this afternoon. The jewellery cleaner equipment, the slippers I had repaired, a box of chocolates and some flowers.

I had taken a phone call yesterday to ask if I could collect Mum’s rings. One of them had fallen from her finger. She hasn’t been eating or drinking very much for the past five weeks, and she has got thinner and thinner. “No worries,” I said, cheerfully, “I am planning on a visit on Thursday afternoon anyway, so I’ll sort it out then. Have you got the ring in an envelope?” Er….. no. They had put it back on her finger and she was still wearing it.

My plan was to encourage her to remove her rings to clean them and then suggest I look after them at home for safe-keeping. Normally, she will not take them off.

When I arrived at the Care Home, the Manager greeted me with relief. Mum wasn’t well, and could I take all the rings from her wedding finger, please? They had found them all in the bed this morning. “Is she aware she’s not wearing them? Is she upset by them having come off?” I wondered. The answer was ‘no’. No encouragement or coercion needed then, in removing the rings.

So I have brought them home. I’ll give ’em a good polish here instead!

As the Manager had said, Mum really wasn’t well. She didn’t recognise me, I don’t think, and she certainly wasn’t interested in anything at all – not even the flowers which normally take her eye. She didn’t talk to me either and spent most of the time I was with her chatting gobbledegook to her Teddy, or generally fretting about the ache in her lower back. I presume she felt uncomfortable due to the fact that she’s more or less skin and bone now.

The Care Home had tried to get the GP to visit but nothing doing. One of the carers told me they would try again but would call 111 to get advice. This evening I took a phone call from the paramedics. Apparently, Mum had deteriorated since my visit and so the Care Home had called an ambulance.

Mum is on her way to hospital but I don’t know which one yet. I am awaiting further information…..could be three in morning before I find out, couldn’t it?

Take care everyone. God bless.

We were up early this morning for a visit to hospital for John’s regular immunoglobulin treatment. Normally, once he’s hooked up to the infusion, he has a lovely time snoozing the whole morning away. Not this morning though. The staff were very busy and he had to keep time on his own and flag when the infusion needed changing. Bless him. He was tired after he’d finished.

Other than that, it’s been a relatively lazy day. I shot into the Jewellery Quarter on my way back home to collect a necklace I’d had repaired and then it was an afternoon of catching with TV programmes.

The garden was calling, as was the sunshine, but I was feeling tired too, so stayed in. John did a bit on the computer after he’d had a rest, and then went out into the garden for another rest on the lounging chairs. I carried on watching TV.

At tea-time, I had a plan to make Coronation Chicken with the leftovers but found I had no mayonnaise. Ah well, I thought, I’ll make some! It turned out really successfully but boy, what a faff! It’d have been quicker to have run up to the shops to buy a jar.

This evening it was Quiz Night and we really enjoyed it. Great company, as always, and good quiz questions. There were many we didn’t know the answers to, but many we did, so we were happy.

Not a great deal done today, but it’s nice occasionally to have a day of ‘busy doing nothing’, isn’t it?

Take care everyone. God bless.

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!