leukaemia-limbo-dance

Just before Christmas, my granddaughter, Catherine, came back to live in Kenilworth with the Kenilworth Originals. Feeling for me in my bereavement, she boldly declared, “I’ll come every Friday and cook your tea,” upon which declaration she has made good. Almost every Friday evening, when she or I are not off gallivanting somewhere, she arrives straight from work, laden with all kinds of goodies with which to cook my tea.

Last night it was a lovely chickpea curry. I thoroughly enjoyed it and, of course, enjoyed Catherine’s company, too! How fantastic that my beautiful granddaughter should be such good (and willing) company. We nattered our heads off!! Great times.

This evening, I had a babysitting evening scheduled at the Kenilworth Originals. Harriet is off on a yoga retreat with her sister, and Paul and Lily were taking in a Kings of Leon concert in Birmingham. With Catherine going to bed before Freddie, as she’s up at an ungodly hour for work tomorrow, I was all set.

Mid-afternoon, Paul phoned. “Would you be up for Freddie to sleep over at yours instead?” Well, of course! I don’t mind at all. “He’s keen to sleep in the cupboard……” Well, I had to laugh. Honestly, that ‘Harry Potter cupboard’ is seeing it all!

Not only have I been enjoying the grandchildren over the last couple of days, but on Friday, I also enjoyed the company of my cousin, Janet. She came over for lunch and we had a really lovely time chatting, settled in our armchairs in the garden – in the sunshine – before she went off to play ping-pong with the U3A in the afternoon.

Janet had the privilege of meeting Thomas and Oliver, too, as Michael had called in with some bits and pieces ready for tomorrow. Thomas will be four on Monday and he’s having a birthday party. “Grandma,” he said to me, “We’re coming to your house for my party!” Hehe. Danielle looked worried. “Is that alright?” she asked. Of course it’s alright. What an absolute privilege that my grandson wants his party here. Wish us luck!

Back in January, I promised myself that I would plan at least one thing each month to give myself something to look forward to. As the year has rolled on, I have found I have had lots of things to look forward to, so I have done well, thanks to dear family and friends.

One such outing ‘to look forward to’ was the Rothesay Classic Tennis at The Priory Club in Edgbaston. I had texted Linda C and asked if she fancied a day out. She had said ‘yes’ and so there we were today, in fabulous sunshine, in a very civilised location, making an impact on one of the ushers (!!), sipping Pimm’s while watching some exciting women’s tennis.

We had a really lovely day, enjoying each others’ company, with every single thing going smoothly. I didn’t even get a ‘numb bum’ from the hard seats as I’d had the forethought to take a cushion with me! Whoop! Whoop! More like this, please.

The sun shone today. How good was that? So excited by it that it prompted me to toddle into Kenilworth to do a spot of shopping – an activity that I have been avoiding for months. I came home laden with goodies which sprang a few endorphins into life.

I stayed on in Kenilworth because this afternoon it was Freddie’s Sports Day. Given our knowledge of previous sports days, we said all the right things like, ‘It’s the taking part that counts,’ and ‘It doesn’t matter where he comes, as long as he enjoys himself.’

Imagine our surprise when Freddie, warming up on the start line and missing the required sprint start, managed to overhaul all the others in the race and go on to win it! Gone were all thoughts of ‘just taking part’ as we whooped and hollered with joy at his achievement. Hehe!

He, too was delighted, as he excitedly showed off his ‘I am First’ badge to his class mates, and to us when we got home. Nice one, Fred! Ah… the sweet smell of success!

Quiz Night tonight – and it was lovely to see my friends. I didn’t know any of the answers though and just grinned inanely like a Cheshire Cat all evening.

Nevertheless, I have counted today as a good day. Another stitch to patch up the broken fabric. Fingers crossed for more to come.

Emerging from the gloom of winter (actual winter), winter (supposedly spring) and winter (supposedly summer), I find myself wanting to mend things. Something is broken and immediately I must set about the task of putting it back together again – or ask someone else to do so.

So far, in recent weeks, with a little help from my friends, family and (shock, horror!) a workman, plants have been planted and pruned; electric lighting has been repowered; the water butt has stopped its leak; a little wooden chair has been re-assembled; the reclining chair now reclines; an old eiderdown no longer sheds feathers; and a window can now be opened and closed.

Each act of mending or having someone else mend a broken item, is a stitch, piecing together the jagged tear of my new life. Lots and lots of stitches to make yet, of course, but it’s almost as good as stopping to smell the roses.

Ha! Who knows? The Writer’s Block continues and the Blog is generally dormant. However, George and Sue came to stay this weekend to do some more fiddling with the electrics – thank you very much – and, as we sped towards B&Q for the second time to collect supplies, Sue suggested that I do a paragraph to get me going again. “Just a paragraph,” she said, gently, “no need to go mad.”

So here we are – just a paragraph, as I gaze upon the photo of John which sits in front of the computer. He’s grinning at me – not sure if he’s saying, ‘It won’t last’ or ‘Come on, have another go’. What do you reckon?

In January, in the aftermath of activity following John’s funeral, all the preparations for Christmas and the busyness of Christmas itself, I wondered whether the New Year might be very challenging. Would I be lonely? Would my brain get into gear? Would I be wallowing in self-pity?

I didn’t want any negative stuff, so I told myself that I would plan at least one thing to look forward to every month. Good plan, eh?

Ha! One thing per month? Honestly, I’ve been everywhere and done lots of things each month since I made that promise to myself. So much so, that my feet have hardly hit the ground – and the admin is piling up behind me!! Eeek!

January whizzed by in a flash with friends coming to stay – Fran called in and stayed over on her way to do some work in Birmingham; and George and Sue came a few days later for a couple of days. I had coffee with Chris Hunnisett and then met up with Dave and Chris; then there was a curry night with the old OCR crew and, before the month ended, I went out for another cup of coffee with a former colleague, John Plunkett – and an evening meal at Margaret and Chris’s. I mean, one thing to look forward to would’ve been good, but there was loads. And all marvellous, too.

When George and Sue came, George, of course, made it his mission to sort out the poorly electrics. He made a grand job of it. Whoopee-doop!! The torches could be put away; the lamps unplugged and the candles snuffed out. It was a fabulous job of tracing the power round the wires until he found the breakage: wires that had been nibbled by mice in my bedroom…….ooo-er! George was ably aided and abetted by Michael who came over to be George’s ‘right-hand man’. Equally aided and abetted by Pete, who tidied up some loose ends. Gosh, I am so grateful to have such marvellous friends and family.

Then, no sooner had January whizzed by than February arrived all in a rush. It started with Ragdale and the college crew, of course!! Such fun and so comforting.

The week at Ragdale – sans Anita for the last day or two as she went home early with a cold – was followed by a week in the sun in Tenerife near Costa Adeje with the Kenilworth Originals – more fun and comfort. And, of course, a bit of craziness!!

Lots of playing in the pool; digging to Australia on the beach while the grown-ups enjoyed a bit of jet-skiing; much eating and drinking and a visit to the zoo. Fortunately, the family wasn’t able to leave me there as a prize exhibit, much to my relief.

We came home from our holiday with spoils from the local markets, lots of lovely memories and a bit of a tan. The spoils included a handbag for me; for Freddie, a Liverpool T-shirt and a watch; Harriet and Lily bought necklaces and bracelets, and Paul bought some belts. All amazing value, and we were all thrilled with our purchases.

After flying home, I pushed washing into the washing machine and tumble dryer in readiness for my next adventure, a few days later. A visit down to Nige and Ann in London – who were fabulous company – for a trip to Kew Gardens. It chucked it down with rain on both the days I was there but it didn’t spoil the enjoyment for me at all. I was in my element gazing at all the lovely plants and flowers, and visiting three or four art galleries. Bliss. Lucky me.

The month of February concluded with a lovely walk with Linda Connor and a cuppa at Oakes’ (just what I like to do – smashing!) and birthdays. Graham had his birthday on the 25th and Paul’s was on the 28th. (Not quite a birthday photo of Paul but still, I rather like this one…..)

Talking of plants and flowers……. what an amazing surprise when this cracking camellia arrived on the door step!! ‘A late Christmas present’ said Gail when I asked. Well, thank you very much!!

So…. January and February? Lots and lots of lovely things in my life for which I am very grateful. And then, of course, there’s March and April….. phew! I’ve been gallivanting!

Take care everyone. God bless.

‘I-am-not-deaf-I-can-hear-the-telly-at-the-low-volume-of-15’. Admittedly, having the subtitles on helps, but still….. I am not deaf. Am I?

Erm….. it turns out that I am!!! I toddled off to the audiologist, confident that a bit of a syringing would sort out the sudden onset of, “Eh? What? Pardon?” and ‘I’m sorry, can you repeat that?’ patterns that I’d fallen into in recent months.

The audiologist was lovely. Very helpful. But disappointingly, she wasn’t at all helpful on the idea of syringing to sort the problem out. “You are slightly deaf in your left ear,” she said, politely. Oh. “Your right ear is not so bad but we would recommend having hearing aids in both ears.”

‘Eh? What? Pardon?’ I could hardly believe my ears!

I knew, in the last few weeks, that my hearing was definitely done for. I went on holiday to Tenerife with the Kenilworth Originals at half-term. Had a lovely time, great fun and games, fabulous company and so on, but found myself straining to hear quite a bit of the conversation…..

I then went on holiday with the Kenilworth Newbies and Andrew to Spain at Easter. On repeat: I had a lovely time, great fun and games, fabulous company and so on, but when Oliver knocked his glass onto the floor from the dinner table, I had no clue as to exactly where the sound was coming from. Equally, when any of the children played hide and seek and I could hear giggling, I wasn’t quite able to locate the sound with any accuracy. They definitely won most of those games!

Oh, the march of time!! Who’d a-thought it? Certainly not me!!

Anyway, I have accepted my fate and I’m going to have a go at sporting the new fashion that is consummate with my age and current decrepitude. However, rather than cough up another three grand for a new pair when John had a perfectly functioning three grand pair, the audiologist is going to recycle his.

I’m rather looking forward to it. Firstly, I might soon be able to hear what you are all saying, and secondly, I feel comforted that I’m going to be wearing something meaningful of the ol’ man’s. The idea might not be everyone’s cup of tea and feel weird to you, but gosh, to me the thought of it brings such a sense of closeness to him.

Hearing aids? Here I come!! Wish me luck folks!

Take care everyone. God bless.

I thought I’d have an admin day today – you know, see if I can clear up one or two of the items still hanging around for both my Mum’s and John’s Estates. But crikey! It’s enough to send you round the bend!

The website refers you to make a phone call; the phone call refers you to the website which, in turn, refers you back to the phone call. Or, alternatively, you do get through to someone but they have a multi-million point security system that refuses to let you talk to them because you haven’t got one piece of the jigsaw. And round and round you go on the Loop-the-Loop. As if, at this particular stage of the proceedings you’ve got lots of patience, haven’t you? And your nerves aren’t shredded enough?

My particular gripe today though, was more my own affairs. Andrew phoned me on Friday to tell me he’d skidded on a patch of ice and driven over, and come to rest upon, a very large boulder. The wheels were, it appeared, akimbo. Oh dear. There’ll be no driving that then.

The result was that the car is a write-off. But that wasn’t my gripe. I mean, these things happen, don’t they? And Andrew wasn’t hurt or anything, which was a relief.

No, my gripe is with the insurance company, eSure. Let me tell you, people – don’t do it!! Their telephone message tells me that they are here ‘to make things easy’ for me. Ha! Ha! Ha! Not a bit of it.

I am unable to contact them by phone. I am unable to contact them via the website. I did get in touch with them when the incident happened and they sent me a text message telling me that the car wasn’t valuable enough to repair – which I understood. They then sent me another text message telling me how much they’d offer. I paused before I did anything, thinking I’d chat to the boys about it. Ha! Said text message then disappeared. Eek! What the heck? I’m still battling my way through this one…. wish me luck folks. Anyone got the number for the Ombudsman?

Despite the rough ground I am trying to get over, there are plenty of good things happening which are definitely keeping me sane though. When I spoke to Graham and Gail on Saturday morning, Graham suggested that all these good things are the handrail to helping me out of the doldrums. I rather think he is right.

Saturday finished with a bang, as the Kenilworth Newbies came for tea and we watched Gladiators on the TV. William was particularly excited by the whole thing and I couldn’t resist shouting at the telly trying to help the contestants get up the travelator. I don’t think it did a lot of good….

“Fancy coming with us to the panto on Sunday? Jack and the Beanstalk at the Hippodrome?” asked Paul and Harriet. Ooh, yes please!! And what fun it was – giggled far too much; booed a lot; cheered a lot; and sang along with the songs. Oh, yes I did!! Same again next year? Oh, absolutely!! It was fabulous!

Meanwhile, earlier in the week, we said a sad goodbye to Mark Johnson who passed away while he was on holiday. Some of you may remember that he collapsed at John’s funeral, and it was all systems go among the medics who were attending. Moira, his wife and former GP, took him home and made sure he had the medical attention he needed, and his own GP gave him a clean bill of health to travel. Regrettably, and to everyone’s shock, he collapsed again at his daughter’s in Canada.

The church was even more rammed than it had been for John’s funeral, with half the congregation watching the service in the church hall. A beautiful eulogy was read by his two daughters and several members of the congregation paid homage to his memory by wearing socks and sandals – Mark’s particular trademark. He’ll be much missed by everyone in the village.

Let’s enjoy it all while we can, shall we?

Take care everyone. God bless.

Oliver currently has two favourite words: ‘Grandma’ and ‘Stop’. I am flattered by the first and a bit daunted by the second. Anyone of us can be in full flow – chatting, telling a story, singing – and he’ll decide he wants to draw your attention to something and the words pop out, “Stop! Stop!” And, of course, we do.

At the moment, I feel like I’d like to make my favourite word ‘stop’, too. Years ago, we’d laugh at each other and cry, ‘Stop the world, I want to get off!’. But we didn’t mean it then. At least, I don’t think I did. But I do now.

Life is spinning at such a rate of knots that I can’t keep up. Hibernate? Yes, please!!

I mean, there are plenty of lovely things in the offing; the sun has been shining; I have plenty of friends and family to keep me company; a warm house and warm clothes; good food; and lots of activities to keep me occupied but….. but….. there are some days when you just want to wallow in your own company and feel sorry for yourself.

Today was such a day. Could hardly get out of my PJs!! Couldn’t really see the point of getting dressed.

I gave myself a bit of a talking to: ‘Now then,’ I thought, ‘this won’t do. One step at a time; one minute; one hour; and you’ll manage.’

So I took Snoopy’s advice and dusted myself off a bit this afternoon – enough to go for a walk to the shops and to drop a donation into Deeley’s, the funeral directors – and I managed.

I was delighted to have made the visit to Deeley’s because they were pleased to report that the donations to the charities John chose, now total £3,707.50. Wow! That’s something to be happy about isn’t it? It should make a difference to those charities, shouldn’t it?

Perked up, I toddled up the road this evening to my ‘Exploring Faith’ group, which did me good, I think. I actually felt up to talking about some of the points raised, so that was a bonus. So the day has ended better than it started. Fingers crossed it continues into tomorrow.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Oh, and if you have any healing vibes please send them our way – we are all still struggling with our loss – and half the family have gone down with some dreaded lurgy or other and need prayers or thoughts to help them on the path to recovery. Ta!

Last year, when I was wondering what the heck I was going to do with my life now that the ol’ man is gone, I made a decision to have something to look forward to each month. The month of January, therefore, brought a choral concert at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham.

Before Covid, I used to belong to The Contemporary Choir. The onset of the pandemic put paid to the idea of breathing in others’ germs or breathing my germs over everyone – just in case it happened to be Covid. However, I have been following their progress and the choir has gone from about 30 people when we first started to approximately 300 now. Crikey!! They filled the stage!!

But how wonderful it was. A decent contingent of the College Crew – Linda, Anita, Liz and Sue D – all came with me, and we felt like grown-ups as we joined the ‘It’ people in Piccolino’s for a bite to eat beforehand. Even more grown-up, we had cocktails before the meal – lush, eh?

What was even more lush was the fact that Linda and Liz had booked into the Sleath AirBnB. They arrived mid-afternoon and we had a cuppa before setting off up the M6 for our evening out. Traffic was good there and back, so all well. And, apparently, the bed and breakfast on offer at their hostelry was very acceptable too! Hehe.

We all enjoyed the concert and thought the choir did very well. The Jam Hot Show Band accompanied them which added to the excitement, although my ears don’t like things too loud, so I could have done with a dial-down on the band.

Everyone got home safe and well, but we three travelling by car were anxious for Sue and Anita who were travelling by train. I mean, the last train home? Always scary. But they made it one piece.

I’m looking forward to my February treat(s) now. Lucky me! There seem to be quite a few! Hoping the plan will hold back the melancholy. Fingers crossed!

Take care everyone. God bless.

Even though I know
you are gone,
I fear I still 
have yet to accept
that you will never return.

Edward Lee