Wednesday 28 October 2015

Bad news about my arm!!


My broken arm goes on and on and on, grrrrrrr!! Today I have seen a very nice Consultant whose name was Ravi Ray! (nice name!)My humerus has not healed, here I am week 28 and it still hasn’t healed. But I am having exogen treatment which is ultra sound on my arm where the fracture is, 20 minutes each day. Because it is a very expensive treatment the consultant had to apply for it and it has been approved so I suppose I should be grateful but I have gone a long time with no treatment at all, except for the brace which I hated at first, but I  have got used to it and I feel secure when I am wearing it as it protects my arm. This treatment is for 12 weeks!! Can you believe that, 12 more weeks or maybe more? I don’t understand because I am taking extra calcium and multivitamins and doing the exercises….

 I am fed up and having trouble getting jumper sleeves over the brace.. so this afternoon diet out the window and I have had toasted currant bun with lots of butter… yummy. So I am keeping positive and praying, surely this will work!  So please remember me in your prayers, I need lots.
 
Chris xx


Monday 26 October 2015

Such a busy time..

I saw this on Attic24's blog, a multi coloured poncho, so I decided I'd make one for me.
I am having problems getting jumper sleeves over my brace and in an evening this would ideal. I sometimes wear my shawl but this was a bit of a stash buster too! 
Crocheting is some I can do and it's good for my hand, as sewing is still difficult and still causes tweaks of pain.
 
 
 
And sorry this is the 'C' word!!

 
Christmas!!
 
 I have made the first Christmas cake( I always make some for my grown up sons as well as us.) and a very large pudding as we are joining with DH's daughter and her hubby for Christmas in Yorkshire. DH's  other twin daughter will be joining us as well , so quite a different Christmas for us as we always stay home.
And not to be out done, Dh has made mince meat.. we have already given some away, it will be ready to use in a months time.
I can't wait to make the pies but with my arm still not ok I will need help or I could let DH make them!!
Have you started your Christmas baking yet?
XX
 

Tuesday 20 October 2015

For Downton Abby fans

A treat for Downton fans, I loved it..get your cup of tea or coffee, sit and enjoy

                            https://vimeo.com/115023404

Chris xx


Wednesday 7 October 2015

I don't usually swear... but.......

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in 1988. Since then I have once a year blood test to check my thyroxin dose. I went yesterday. Over the years my veins have become difficult, evidently they collapse when touched? Anyway it doesn't really bother me,  it is an unpleasant prink,  but I no longer look and I take deep breaths to relax. 
 
But this time, the phlebotomist inserted the needle, hissed that the vein was difficult and then started to wiggle the needle in my arm, the pain was horrendous and my reaction was immediate, I yelled 'Ow,' and said, 'Bloody hell that hurt.' I looked at the bruise expanding on my arm, she gave a weak' sorry,' She tried in another place, no joy, stuck two plasters on my puncture wounds and called to the senior phlebotomist to take over. Anyone would have thought it was my fault she failed to get the blood in the tube!! The senior phlebotomist got it straight away from the back of my hand, which is black this morning.  DH said they could hear me in the waiting room!! I am not having that woman again... EVER!!!  Thank goodness it's done for a while. (I  was a nurse when I  young and did loads of injections and no one ever screamed!)
XX

Friday 2 October 2015

Five on Friday.. is about my Greatest Love


When I was a child, we did not have a TV .I was brought up by a Victorian Grand mother and two maiden aunts after my mother died when I was two and my father re-married. I spent a lot of time alone and found through the local library a love of books. I read everything and went along the shelves with no guidance and lived inside which ever book I read. I didn't need to go to ballet lessons I read all about it in ‘Ballet Shoes,’ I didn't need a dog I had Timmy, George's dog in the ‘Famous Five’.. I flew aeroplanes with ‘Biggles’ and lived in the wilds with ‘North American Indians.’ Today as a much older 'child' I read more than anything else in my life, it is my greatest love!!
And having been bought a Kindle by DH, a few years ago  I have been able to supplement my library books with ebooks. And the ease of buying a book instantly has given me more and more books to read.

Some books like this one I loved so much,  that I gave away two  copies and then bought another copy for myself.


It’s the story of two young girls, Bobbie and Cynthia, who are best friends and also of their mothers. It's a book about friendship and tragedy and forgiveness and so much more besides. We live with them all through two decades and through wonderful times and terrible times and when we leave them behind at the end it's with a sigh and a tear. I didn’t want it to end and when it did I felt bereft!

My Favourite author 7 years ago was Emily Barr, ( I change favourite authors as I read more and more) But then,  I read everything she wrote, ‘Cuban Heels,’ ‘The First Wife,’  ‘Stranded,’ Backpack.’ ‘The Sisterhood.’ My love of her books was helped by the librarian of the local library loving her books too, so I was able to read all ten of them. But then in 2014, a new book was published,

 ‘The Sleeper’ A sort of mystery. What a disappointment it was, and I bought it which was another downer too, have you ever found that? You've longed for another book and you feel let down; but is it that you have changed?
I cried through ‘ A Song for Jenny.’

A mother’s story of how she and the family coped or didn’t cope when her daughter Jenny was first missing and then confirmed dead in the London 7/7 bombings (2005).. so sad. It made me feel blessed. My daughter worked in London a few years earlier and used the underground every day on her way to work.



Having thoroughly enjoyed Hosseini's former books – ‘The Kite Runner’ and ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ - I harboured the suspicion that he could not pull it off again. Oh what little faith I had, 'And The Mountains Echoed' is an excellent book and I am confident that anyone reading it will not be disappointed.  Set mainly in Afghanistan, the story starts with a poor farming family, barely able to feed themselves. The father's brother-in-law works for a rich couple who are unable to have children themselves. In exchange for his daughter, they will offer money so that the father is able to feed the rest of his family. He succumbs to this temptation and so starts the interweaving of the different generations and to the finale leading to a family reunion. A beautiful and very moving book that brought me to tears on several occasions, this isn't fundamentally about politics or war; it is about the unforgettable people who populate its pages - about humanity. And though there is sadness and sorrow here, there is also love and joy and a deep sense of hope.

For my 5th book, I chose… well if I just tell you of some of the stories and perhaps you can guess. It has incest, rape, homosexuality, heads cut off, daughters sold to old men, theft and crimes that will make you cringe, brothers killing brothers, sons killing fathers. Hatred and wars, lovers and passion and tender love. ....
And then a friend who betrays his greatest friend who is then killed in the most abominable way.. beaten and crucified. Have you guessed???
The greatest book ever written, the most sold book ever and translated into every language there is….

Yes it is The BIBLE!!! Would you believe it has such stories, well it does!
I am joining again with Amy for Five on Friday...and these five books are just some that I have loved. I read on average  60 to 90 books each year. I live inside which ever book I am reading at that time and when the dark evenings start, I like to retire to bed early just to read; I have even stayed awake till nearly day break, because I have to find out what happens next!



http://lovemademyhome.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Five%20on%20Friday

What are your favourites, have you ever stayed awake till nearly daylight just to read, have you ever cried and cried over a book, have you ever read a book that had such a powerful effect on you, you couldn’t forget it? I can’t imagine life without books, what about you?


XX

Happy reading!!