leukaemia-limbo-dance

See? This is the problem when I only do a Blog every so often. Can’t remember what we’ve been doing………

Anyway, I’ll have a go.

Saturday: There had been a plan to go open water swimming in the morning, but….. of course, I’d enjoyed some lovely bubbly Prosecco on Friday night, hadn’t I? Thought it best not to go swimming early on Saturday just in case. So I didn’t. And that then set the tone for the day. Not doing much at all! Drifted through the day…… John managed a lot of snoozing in his chair. I managed a bit of tinkering round the house. Andrew kept us company.

Sunday: “D’ya wanna come for food” we asked the Kenilworth Newbies, “and eat in our new dining room?” They said ‘Yes’. Regrettably for us but fortunately for them, whichever way you want to look at it, the Kenilworth Originals were still on their holidays on the other side of the world, so they weren’t going to make it. They were still enjoying themselves and trying out new skills…..

Trying to ignore the thrills on the other side of the world, Andrew and I went to Oakes’ to buy some lovely food. Andrew then banished me from the kitchen to set about magicking up the most flavoursome beef roast. Oh, wow! I’d love to be able to cook like that. I mean, this isn’t ordinary food; this is Andrew’s food. So good, that I can’t even describe it…..it was absolutely delicious!!! D’you know what? I reckon that boy could make a career out of cooking! Hehehe!

After we’d eaten, I allowed myself to be commandeered by the children. I love it. “C’mon, Grandma! Let’s go to the space ship!” exclaimed William. “C’mon! Let’s go!” re-iterated Thomas in less intelligible terms. So we mounted the wooden hill and made our way to what-I-call-The-Harry-Potter-Cupboard, which is now ‘The Space Ship’.

We fiddled with a few buttons, pressed a few knobs and swooshed into orbit, right across Mars (the landing) into the other space ship (in the main guest bedroom), where we giggled ourselves into position. “Get in, Grandma!” said Thomas. “Quick!” said William, “The Aliens are coming!” (That would be Mummy, who loomed large at the window and grinned at the boys enjoying themselves.) Oh, gosh. We so enjoyed ourselves that William didn’t want to go home. Note to self: must learn to wind us all down at the end of the day….. having far too much fun!

Monday: Oh, crikey! It’s a while since I dropped in to see how Mum is getting on. I thought I ought to see her, so drove over today. Ha! She is, naturally, on top form. She even recognised family members in the photo-show.

“Now, I remember him from his auburn hair!” she proudly proclaimed. Wasn’t sure of his name, or relationship, but knew she knew him! That’d be Paul, then? “Ahhhh…..” she cooed, on seeing a photo of John, “Now, I know him!” Not sure of the name….or who he belongs to, but: “He looks nice, doesn’t he?” I had to agree. He is my husband, after all.

And then we sat silent, as Mum sipped her tea and nibbled her biscuits. She, with her thoughts; and me, with mine. Hers soon led her to hum ‘Que sera, sera’; mine led me to days gone by, remembering when she was a force to be reckoned with. Now, we were just two close relatives, comfortable in each other’s company and no words needed. Gone were the tussles, slights and affronts. Gone were the criticisms, said and unsaid. Just a grateful acceptance of companionship. Praise the Lord.

Once home, I remembered that John had offered to help move Michael’s shed. Other proposed times having come and gone, today had been allocated. “We’re going round to Michael’s about 3,” said Andrew. Yes, John confirmed. So muscles and brains had been booked and ready to help shift the shed.

It was marvellous. John mostly provided the brains; Michael and Andrew mostly provided the muscles. But boy! It was fun! There was a lot of: ‘To you….to me…..no, this a-way!…no, that a-way!… watch out!… mind your toes….’ Even the children joined in ‘moving’ their own shed. And I haven’t seen John so happy for a while.

Family life, eh? Love it! And can’t wait to see the Kenilworth Originals now that they are back home!

Take care everyone. God bless.

And, in case you were wondering…… Susie Dent’s Word of the Day is: ‘Zugzwang‘ [tzoog-tzwung]: a situation in chess (and life) in which a move must be made, but each possible one will make the situation worse.

Boom! What is she talking about?

Well, tablet-gate is over and John is feeling much better now that he is taking his pills! Phew! He didn’t do a great deal yesterday and had a slow start today but he has been out working on the car on both days. So we’re back on track.

I didn’t do a great deal yesterday either, other than plough on with the tidy-up round the house and do some ironing. I am such a messy worker and have strewn things all around over the last few weeks whilst I’ve been decorating. Thought it best to start putting things away….. including clothes from the ironing pile.

But the best medicine? A text message that looked like this:

Whoop! Whoop! was my response. I was so excited that I promised to go to the station to pick the boy up. Regrettably, I mixed up the train times and arrived fifteen minutes late, by which time Andrew had had time to walk up the hill, dive in to the Brickmakers’ Arms and down a pint of Guinness.

I managed to catch up with him at the shops. “You didn’t have to collect me, you know, Mum,” he said, grinning at me from ear to ear and in that tone that patted me on the head. “I know,” I replied. “But I wanted to….” And, as I explained later, collecting him would mean that I didn’t have to wait a second longer than I had to, to see him again.

We had a lovely evening together. I proposed we watch a film but, in the end, we watched trash before John and I crashed out of the running around ten o’clock, leaving Andrew to choose a film/programme he fancied.

I think he must have gone to bed late because he was still in bed at lunchtime today. John and I had done our morning chores, had our lunch and were ready for a nap ourselves by the time he got up! Hehehe.

We did have a nice sit down with a cuppa this morning though. Father Peter called on us, which was a nice surprise. We stopped what we were doing and settled down for a lovely natter. Really enjoyed the conversation and felt blessed with a prayer just before Peter left. “I’m off to the tip now!” he grinned. “Enjoy!” we responded. We do love a good tip trip.

This afternoon, all was excitement (well for me, anyway) as the dining room furniture arrived. Two wonderfully polite and competent men brought the goods in, assembled the table and arranged the chairs. “Lovely,” I said. “Let me show you how to open it out,” one of them said, and he carefully showed me the button to press and how to swivel the leaf to lengthen the table. Then they packed up, ready to go.

Andrew said he thought it was very nice but it wasn’t going to be much good when there were lots of people round, as there were only six chairs. Oh, yes! I hadn’t noticed that!! “Didn’t we order 8 chairs?” I queried. “No,” replied the delivery man, “six chairs,” he said firmly.

Of course it transpired that we had ordered eight chairs. And yes, they did have the other two chairs on the van. And so they brought them in. Phew! Thank goodness for Andrew and his eagle eyes! I’d have let the men drive away…… oh, Lordy, I need a minder to keep me on track!!

John came in to have a look. “Show me how it opens,” he said. Ha! Could I remember a) where the button was; b) which direction to pull the button in; and c) how to swivel the leaf? Err…. that’d be a ‘no’ then.

We pulled, pushed, pressed and wheedled to no avail. Finally, Andrew solved it and we opened the table up. But the swivel leaf? Hmm…. well, you need to be strong to press that in to turn it. Am I strong? Err….. that’ll be a ‘no’ then. Andrew to the rescue again. I definitely need that minder!!!

It’s not the best photo, but here it is – we can now sit together an eat!

We had plans to entertain this evening, so I took Andrew across to the Kenilworth Newbies where he cooked the evening meal and generally entertained the children because that’s what Uncles do. I think they had a lovely time together and Uncle Andrew was roped in to read the bedtime story……. apparently the book was hard. Chuckle, chuckle. The kids look engrossed anyway!

Meanwhile, Margaret and Chris, friends from church, came round this evening to drink Prosecco and wine and eat a few nibbles. We had a good laugh together and properly chewed the cud about all sorts of things. Such a pleasure to be in their company and we thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Just before bed, I thought I’d investigate the situation with the alarm that was beeping its blooming head off on the solar panel system. It had started at 2.30 this afternoon but, what with one thing and another, I hadn’t had chance to clamber up into the loft. I did the usual thing of switching it all off and on again but it ain’t playing. Booo. Ah, well, a job for tomorrow. *Sigh*

Susie Dent’s Word of the Day yesterday was ‘fremescence’ (19th century): a slow-building roar; a growing sense of unease or dissatisfaction. Hmm………spot on. Shall be phoning the solar panel company tomorrow.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Oh, dear! John, bless him, has been so busy on his car that he quite neglected himself this week. Apparently, on Monday evening he found he’d run out of tablets. Rather than rush out to make sure more were forthcoming, he carried on regardless until this morning when he admitted to me that he hadn’t had any medication for 36 hours.

Hmmm…… I could tell. He wasn’t great at all. He’d got up and gone to the chemists to see about getting some more tablets, only to find that the lady who does them wasn’t in until this afternoon. After a bit of kerfuffle, I persuaded them to give John his anti-depressants at least, and then toddled up to the chemist’s shop myself this afternoon to have a word. All sorted by this evening and it looks like the ol’ man is getting back onto an even keel. But note to selves: mustn’t do that again. It’s not good for either of us!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch……. I was supposed to go over to Lizzie’s yesterday morning for a cuppa, a chat and a cuddle with baby Arthur. However, she texted first thing to tell me that, although she felt OK for me to visit, she had a headache and a tickly throat. Hmmm….. we took a rain check. I’m still cautious about any infection.

Instead of visiting, I took the opportunity to do some resting. I worked a bit on chores, then took myself out into the garden for a cuppa and sat in the sunshine. It was lovely to take in the last of the summer days in the warmth of the day.

I left John beavering away on his car, unaware of the impending ‘tablet-gate’ and sauntered off into town in the afternoon. Traded in my old phone in the Apple shop; upgraded my contract for airtime and popped into John Lewis to buy a new side table for the lounge.

That last bit wasn’t so easy. They thought they had one in stock. “Here, take this receipt to the collection point and they’ll give you said item.” Ha! Of course not! John Lewis no longer stocks anything. So I had to go back into the department to arrange for delivery instead. All in all, it took a bit of sorting out.

By the time that little purchase was completed, my nerves were on edge, it was twenty to four and the traffic was building up. I put off my planned trip to Melbicks Garden Centre. The M42 was rammed.

Despite John feeling very unwell this morning, he had an appointment at the dentist in Kenilworth, so we went. One of his fillings had fallen out so a refill was necessary.

Once we were home, John rested and snoozed in his armchair and I successfully went on the trail for drugs and came home, triumphant, with the antidepressants. We had a bite to eat, then both of us snoozed in our chairs this afternoon. Golly!

I finally woke up about four o’clock, did the final push for all of John’s medication and prepped my kit for an open water swim. I met up with Linda and we had a really good swim. We didn’t push ourselves, but I couldn’t help counting…… did 12 lengths @ 50 metres per length. Pleased with that! Not yet brave enough to do the circuits though……

Home again, and John was looking a lot brighter. Phew! Too poorly to join in with Quiz Night this evening though, so I went solo. It was our turn to be Quiz Masters but, knowing that I was going to be late back, Hazel sat in the hot seat for the first half of the evening, for which I was very grateful. And the quiz evening was fun. So lovely to be among friends and to have a laugh. Lifts the spirits no end.

Susie Dent’s Word of the Day yesterday was her ‘regular reminder that ‘lalochezia’ is the use of swearing to relieve pain, anxiety, or frustration.’ Might have found my self in that particular situation several times today……..

Take care everyone. God bless.

As all days now seem the same to us, we don’t really count Bank Holidays, but we know other people do, so it’s always a delight to entertain whenever there is an extended weekend.

On Sunday, we had invited Michelle and Tim to come and visit. They had hoped to come the previous weekend but, with hospital visits and so on, it wasn’t quite the right time then. So they made an extra-special effort to come back up the motorway to see us yesterday. And what a lovely time we had.

The weather was warm and balmy; we had seats and tables outside to sit at; we had food and drink available – so we relaxed into a few hours of chat. I was particularly interested in seeing photos of Michelle’s son, Paul, and his fiancé, Zoe, getting married on Thursday. It looked like they had a fabulous day and they, and their guests, looked beautiful.

Michael and Danielle called in after they had been to a christening and were delighted to meet up with Michelle and Tim. It had been a while, I think, since they had seen each other.

The children were very well-behaved, so we were able to carry on chatting and not be distracted too much. Although I couldn’t resist, and neither could they, of course…..

We were delighted that Michelle and Tim stayed well into the afternoon, but they had a two-hour journey home, so the farewell came all too soon. We were on the doorstep saying goodbye when I suddenly remembered that I’d wanted a photo of us all together. Photo duly taken, Michael chuckled, “That’ll be appearing in the blog tonight!” Ah……. maybe not. Tim wasn’t too keen, so we had another one taken with Michelle…. and here we are! Don’t we look good?

After Tim and Michelle left, we carried on enjoying ourselves en famille, playing in the garden, playing in the house, eating an evening meal together, bathing the children and putting them to bed before we settled to an evening chinwag. Ah….. bliss!

This morning I was up with the lark. At 5.45 William came through and told me that he was awake. “Ahh….. you’re awake?” inwardly groaning, I played for time…… “I think it’s a bit early to get up, so let’s rest for another half an hour, eh?” William, as good as gold, went back to bed for twenty minutes.

Of course, it wasn’t long before Thomas was awake, too. The dog had barked, hadn’t he? Michael wearily came downstairs, Thomas in arms. Gosh, neither of us were on top form at that time in the morning!!! But the children were….

Anyway, we soon got the hang of it and I took the boys back upstairs to play in William’s/Freddie’s room for an hour with the door shut, so that everyone else, including Michael, could extend their shuteye for a bit longer.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our day. We had breakfast of course, early on, but treated ourselves to a mid-morning Bank Holiday Brunch in the newly-decorated dining room. We played a bit and, while Thomas had his nap and Michael and Danielle went to a Garden Centre for an hour, we watched TV a bit, too. When the grown-ups got back, they brought a cream tea home with them for a treat which was lush! I had lots and lots of cuddles with baby Oliver and we felt blessed for the company of family. Bank Holiday? Don’t mind if we do!!!

Take care everyone. God bless.

Well, yesterday turned out quite nicely! We had been waiting for the electrician to call and had half-thought that we may need to do the job ourselves in the dining room if he didn’t turn up. But, lo and behold, first thing yesterday, he and his son both arrived to finish the sockets and fix the light fitting in the ceiling. They were done and dusted and on their way to another job by 9.15. Yay!

I was pleased because it was another step to getting the room finished. The blinds arrived yesterday afternoon, which John promises to fit tomorrow, and I had a phone call this morning to tell me that our table and chairs would be arriving next Friday. Boom! It’ll be done then. Nice. Anyone want to come for dinner?

After the electricians had gone, John was up and about and we were on our way to Birmingham to drop the rear bumper from the Lotus in to the metal finishers to be chromed. Nice, easy journey there and we found the place in depths of Smethwick very quickly.

John hopped out of the car and went in. He was ages. I was beginning to wonder where he’d got to when he emerged. It transpired that the chap was a lovely bloke and he and John had got chatting. Well, that was nice, wasn’t it?

Home again in time for lunch and to prep some bits and pieces ready for a barbecue. Paul had phoned earlier and wondered what we were up to. Not a lot in the afternoon if they wanted to come round? Yes, that would be lovely thank you. Fancy a barbecue? Don’t mind if we do!!

We had a great time. We cracked open the bottle of champagne that Paul had given us on our wedding anniversary and we’d had on ice since then. We chatted and laughed and ate and drank and generally enjoyed ourselves. Freddie was in a bit of a funny mood, but once he started playing with the seed pods from the irises in the pond, he was absorbed and as good as gold.

There was a marvellous moment as we sat at the table when all three of the men reached out and held hands – John, Paul and little Freddie. Male bonding – wonderful.

This morning, John and I had a long lie-in. It was the brandy wot did it! We were alright until we had a glass or two of that last night – hehehe. Neither of us wanted to get up early so we determinedly stayed in bed until we’d had our sleep out.

When we did get up we were equally determined to have a day of rest today. Watching the cricket; watching a bit of Grand Prix practice and qualifying; a little potter here; a little potter there. It’s been a relaxing day. Makes a change from rushing about like a lunatic!!

Take care everyone. God bless.

Round and round and up and down we go! We had a lovely morning this morning. Danielle texted to ask if we were up for a visit and I naturally said yes! We try not to turn down an exciting activity such as seeing the family, if we can help it.

Danielle and the children arrived about ten o’clock. We spent the morning playing with the toys, mostly mixing the plastic food in pots, cooking it in the ‘oven’ (which was under the coffee table or the radiator in the hall) and then doling it out to each other to ‘taste’. Mmmm, sweetcorn leaves? Delicious!

William was keen to go upstairs and play in his ‘space ship’ in the Harry Potter cupboard. “Not you, Thomas,” he said, “Just me……..” and then as an afterthought, “…….and Grandma.” Well, that was fine for a while as Grandpa was entertaining Thomas, but it didn’t last long and everyone bar Grandpa came up to find out which planet we’d landed on.

William really wasn’t keen to be sharing ‘his’ space with Thomas. I think it’s a sibling thing, because he’s always perfectly happy to share the space with Freddie!! Anyway, after a bit of wriggling and squirming with his emotions, I could see he was struggling in coming to terms with the sharing notion of this particular place.

“Come on,” I said, “let’s go and find a space ship for Thomas!” We all trundled into the newly-carpeted main guest bedroom; I put baby Oliver into the very centre of the bed (remembering the latest rolling thing he’s developed); and opened one of the recently-emptied cupboards. “In here!” I declared, setting a blanket inside for them to sit on. “I’ll get a torch.”

I left Danielle holding the baby and, when I came back, found that both the boys were keen to play in the new ‘space ship’. Thomas didn’t mind sharing his space with William at all. And William didn’t mind sharing the space either.

“Get in,” Thomas commanded me. Oh, crikey! Was I going to fit? Yep. I did. There was just enough room for the three of us. The boys were in and out like Jacks-in-the-Box. We landed on a new planet every few minutes, Thomas shutting the door on me every time, with the command: “Stay there!” Both boys peeped in through the window in the cupboard to check I was still there before they went off to search for ‘treasure’. Marvellous fun.

They all went home at lunchtime and John and I had a bite to eat before setting off to Heartlands for an appointment with the oncologist this afternoon.

The news is not quite what we’d hoped for, but were half expecting. The scan has revealed that the cancer has escaped from the prostate. It also revealed that there is an enlarged lymph node nearby and a spot on the pelvis. “The treatment is to carry on with the Bicalutamide drug you started three weeks ago,” said the consultant. “We’ll check your PSA levels today and I’ll phone you on Monday with the result. If the levels aren’t reducing, we’ll start you on another drug, Enzalutamide, instead.” Right. OK. Containment.

So there we are. This is life as we know it. Happy times with the family (and friends) and irritating times with b****y cancer. We both feel exhausted with it all and John feels angry that time elapsed at what may have been critical points of his care. Of course, we can always get in touch with PALS, but have we got the energy? We’ll see. Not today anyway.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Positive thoughts and prayers still appreciated if you are so inclined. They hold us up, knowing that people are thinking of us, so thank you to all who do. Much appreciated.

We are both keen to get things done! Neither of us is very speedy in our respective jobs however, and so the toil continues.

John has carried on with his car. However, he is very tired at the moment and struggling to drag himself up the stairs for anything other than bed. Although he did make it as far as the shower today, after he’d been working in the garage.

He still has the residue of the pseudomonas infection lingering, so I suggested that he might like to get a sample down to the doctors so that more antibiotics could be prescribed if necessary. It may be the chest infection that’s causing him to be tired. We don’t really know. Fingers crossed that’s what it is and it can be sorted quickly.

Of course, his tiredness was nothing to do with entertaining grandchildren yesterday afternoon, was it? We popped over to Michael and Danielle’s for a couple of hours to offer a little bit of relief from the non-stop childcare of 3 children under the age of 5.

What is delightful is that the children are all live wires, with enquiring minds and increasing levels of independence. Makes for great fun when you’re trying to look after them all and attend to their differing needs – honest!!! It’s a bit like herding cats – especially as Oliver has now decided he’d like to roll over. From his back to his tummy. The trouble is, he can’t do the reverse – roll from his tummy to his back, so he constantly needs rescuing. It’d be funny if it wasn’t so exhausting – he’s a bit like a beached baby whale and makes everyone aware, very loudly, that he is stuck!!

But John and I did find a lovely few moments with him in the garden when he wasn’t rolling around though. Smashing. You can tell we’re all smiling – even baby Oliver.

We had planned to call in to see Paul and Harriet too, yesterday, but when it came to it, John was absolutely shattered and it was ‘Home, Jeeves!!’ instead. We treated ourselves to fish and chips for our evening meal. We nearly needed a mortgage to buy one portion of fish and chips, a curry sauce and a pot of mushy peas. £13.10!!! Crikey!! We’re not going to be doing that again in a hurry!

My focus for today was to clean and tidy the main guest bedroom after the carpet fitter had been yesterday. I did get it finished, but it took me all day. This is what I mean about toiling. Nothing is speedy any more!!

John, meanwhile, was focussed on working on the Lotus again. Well, after he’d spent the morning inspecting the back of his eyelids, that is. And then inspecting them some more after lunch. About 3.30 he roused himself and said he’d get out and do a bit, which he did. I think it was a fairly successful session but the poor man was shattered by his exertions and had to fairly haul himself upstairs for a shower and to set up Quiz Night this evening.

I had left him in the garage and had gone off for my open water swim, so I wasn’t there to help. He did manage, but the minute the quiz was finished he was off to bed.

For the record and for those who might be interested, I thought I ought to let you know that my swim was successful. I went on my own (mind you, there were 199 other ladies in the lake at the same time!) and without the support of my dear friends. They were both doing something else this week. I managed to get into the water without too much difficulty and swam 400 metres. Regrettably, I didn’t do the open circuit – just stayed in the lanes. I didn’t quite have the confidence to tackle it today, despite the fact that I’d promised myself that I would. Next time, maybe?

Take care everyone. God bless.

And anyone so inclined, please send positive vibes and prayers for John. We see the oncologist tomorrow.

It was Pete’s 70th birthday last Thursday, so as a celebration, he and Dawn invited us and Carol and John round for Sunday lunch. “Can I come and help do the prep?” I asked. Well, naturally, that would be very nice, thank you, they said. “Shall I bring the puds?” offered Carol. Agreement all round. Brilliant. So we were set.

Apparently, Pete and Dawn have a very special way of cooking chicken which I didn’t know about. Also apparently, Dawn was panicking by nine o’clock as I hadn’t arrived to put the chicken in the oven yet……oops. Anyway, all was well in the end. I did arrive and put the chicken in the oven in time. Between us, Jack and I managed to get that cooked along with roast potatoes and parsnips, plus ‘all the trimmings’ and a pile of veg. And pretty much on time, too.

For once, Pete didn’t have to cook. He was able to sit back and enjoy his glass of champagne before lunch and then tuck into whatever was on offer. Judging by the food piled high on everyone’s plates it was definitely a ‘winner, winner, chicken dinner’!!!

Dessert was on the winner list, too. I mean, an exotic fruit salad? Yes, please!! And a second pudding? With cream? Don’t mind if we do!!!

What a fabulous time we had. So very lovely to eat with friends and spend the afternoon together. In fact, we were so enjoying ourselves that we couldn’t drag ourselves away and it was well into the evening before we said our goodbyes. “Hang on!” I said as we were halfway out of the door. “We haven’t had a team photo!!”

Of course, by then, we were giggling so much that I couldn’t take a decent selfie at all. Poor John is very blurred…..

After the day’s shenanigans we were tired so we were straight to bed once we were home to be ready for an early-ish start this morning. John was to be at Heartlands for 10 o’clock to be injected with a radioactive substance in preparation for a bone scan later on in the day.

It all worked out quite smoothly, in fact, but John has felt pretty tired all day. In between the journeys there and back, John rested while I fiddled about with more painting. This time, it was the skirting boards in our old bedroom that were the target. We’re having a new carpet in there tomorrow…… that’ll be nice. Might have the house looking decent soon.

Take care everyone. God bless.

The weekend starts on a Friday, right? Well, at least, for some reason this week I thought it did! I thought yesterday was a Saturday and today I’ve been thinking it’s Sunday, so I’m very confused!

Never mind, I’ll get the hang of it soon. Although, to be fair, John had a similar impression….. he wasn’t quite sure whether today was Sunday, either.

Despite my confusion, yesterday was a good day in that: a) I put the wallpaper up in the dining room; b) we saw two of the grandchildren, Lily and Freddie, which always gladdens my heart; and c) John got his windscreen fitted on the car.

Once we were up and about yesterday morning, I girded my loins to start on the wallpapering in the dining room and John girded his to get the windscreen ready to fit on the Lotus.

For the wallpaper, it was only one wall, so not difficult really, and the paper turned out to be good quality so easy to hang. It was easy enough, too, to interrupt the job so that I could help John lift the windscreen onto the car – which was a success. Woohoo!! (Does a little dance)

The grandchildren arrived after lunch. I’d invited Lily round. “Do you want to earn a few bob?” I’d asked her. Daft question really. “Yes, please,” she’d said. And I knew she’d be up for the job I had in mind: sorting out my kitchen cupboards. She loves organising things.

Anyway, it transpired that Harriet had a Zoom meeting and Freddie had asked if he could stay at our house too, so we had extra child slave labour on offer. He helped with the cupboard-clearing, not so much the cleaning and tidying mind you, as he found all sorts of exciting things to play with (and eat).

“Can I have this Boost we found, please?” he pleaded. Yes, of course. “Can I make a mixture?” he wondered. Yes, of course. “Use anything you like,” I said blithely, dispensing all responsibility while I finished the wallpapering. Ha! That’s a fine mess you’ve made there, Freddie!! “You’ll have to clean up after yourself, Freddie,” I warned. He was good boy and did wipe up the mess, but left us with his ‘mixture’ as a treat……. mmmm, lovely!

After the job was done and Harriet returned, I squeezed a little more slave labour out of the children. “Can I do some shredding?” Freddie wanted to know. I ummed and aahed a bit, because shredding requires supervision, doesn’t it? Anyway, in the end, I got the shredder downstairs and the boy worked wonders with a pile of papers that I’d had hanging around for the last few months.

They’d both earned their wages very successfully by the time they’d finished.

Today, we were up and about relatively early getting ourselves ready to go down to Pete and Fran’s for the afternoon. We had a good, albeit slow, journey down the M1 where there were lots of roadworks and 40/50/60 mile an hour restrictions. However, we weren’t held up in any traffic jams, so we arrived more or less at the time we said we would. Crikey! That’s a first.

We had a really lovely afternoon together. Fran, as always, cooked a great lunch for us, which we thoroughly enjoyed. As we sat there at the dining table, stuffed full of food, she said, “Cheese, anyone? Or perhaps later?” Yes, later, please!! Couldn’t have eaten another morsel just then. I mean, we had two puddings to choose from and we had to sample both, didn’t we?

We sat out in the sunshine with our teas and coffees and nattered away to our hearts’ content before the cheese and port came out. Regrettably, as I was driving I had to forego the port, but by all accounts, it tasted like nectar.

Not only did the cheese come out but cake as well. Once again, we had to sample it, didn’t we? I don’t think we’ll need to eat for another week!!! We waddled home…..

Take care everyone. God bless.

After the thunderstorms and downpours overnight on Tuesday I am delighted to report that John’s handiwork with the water butt proved to be perfect! It was FULL yesterday morning! Ooh, I can’t tell you how excited I was by the sight of water almost lapping the edges when we lifted the lid!! What a sight for sore eyes, eh?

Wednesday was quite a busy day for us one way and another. We were up early and out of the front door by 8.30, zooming off to Heartlands for John’s regular immunoglobulin treatment.

Bless him, he’d had a rotten night’s sleep and he was looking forward to a snooze in his comfy chair at the hospital. No such luck apparently. With new nurses on the ward, he was charged with calling the nurse back every thirty minutes so that they could check the flow of the infusion – to either speed it up or slow it down. That kept him awake. Not only that, he was waiting for a telephone consultation from Paneesha mid-morning, so that kept him on his toes and awake, too. By the time I collected John at mid-day, he was longing for his comfy chair and some shut-eye at home….

While John had been enjoying his morning at the hospital, I kept busy with a spot of painting, a bit of washing and hanging it out to dry (in a drizzle), tidying round, stripping beds and so on. Having spent much of my spare time titivating in the dining room recently, the rest of the house has gone to rack and ruin, so it was calling……. ah, it’s still calling, dagnammit!

After lunch I put a casserole in the oven, so that I could have an early meal before my open water swim later on at 6.30, and then I set on to peel, slice and freeze the pounds of apples that I’d picked from Paul and Harriet’s tree the other day. Great fun. There’s something very satisfying about ‘grow your own’, isn’t there?

I left John watching TV while I shot off for my swim. Just the two of us this time – Anita and me – as Linda is on her ‘olidays in Somerset. We enjoyed it again, and I thought I did a lot better at getting into the water. However, when I suggested such a thing, Anita said, “No, you didn’t,” making us both laugh. Oh…. alright then. Next time maybe?

We swam in the lanes again and did non-stop swimming to prepare us for the moment when we actually strike out of the lanes and get into the open lake. Yes, we agreed, nodding to each other, we can probably do the 250-metre circuit without a worry. Hmmm, hope so – planning to have a go at that next week.

After a significant lapse of time since Anita and I agreed we’d meet up in Solihull for a visit to the Apple shop and a spot of lunch, we finally made it today. And what a lovely day it was. We had such a lovely time together.

Anita planned to buy a phone. We browsed and fiddled with the display models; we chatted to the young man who was serving us. I thought I might buy a phone too. “Do you do deals?” I asked cheekily, “Buy one, get one free?” No, they didn’t – but they did price match. Boom! That’ll do. So we both bought ourselves a phone each. “There’s clearly no cost of living crisis in the Apple shop,” Anita observed, as she looked round the crowded shop. No, there certainly wasn’t. Ouch! I did feel a bit guilty about getting a new phone then. But I’d already paid, so………

Once the purchasing was over, we took ourselves off for a bite to eat. “We can try the Italian?” I suggested, thinking of Carluccio’s. Anita would have preferred an independently-run Italian restaurant. Maybe Cotes, which was next door? I baulked a bit at that one, it seemed to be very busy. We spied a Japanese restaurant across the road. “How about that?” I offered. We were a bit doubtful, never having eaten in a Japanese restaurant before. It wasn’t busy, so we braved it. And loved it.

John was busy on his car when I got back from town. “How’s your day been?” I wondered. “I’ve been asleep most of the day,” John replied, sheepishly. “Dunno why I am so tired.” Hmmmm, me neither?

“I’m just going to nip up to Pete’s,” I told him, “to give him his birthday present.” Right. John was just in the middle of gluing up his windscreen: “I can’t stop now,” he said. Well, I was only going to drop the present in, wish Peter a happy 70th birthday and not stop, so no worries. Hahaha. “John not with you?” they said; “Come in, come in.” they said; “Have a drink!” they said. Honestly, I really didn’t stop long.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Oh, by the way, Susie Dent’s Word of the Day is a reminder of ‘ipsedixitism’ (18th century): the assertion that something is ‘fact’ based on one person’s opinion. Once again, I have no idea to what or whom she is referring……chuckle, chuckle.