We went to the Olympics!

Will you be watching the Olympics or perhaps you've planned to go to Paris? We were very fortunate to go to the 2012 Olympics. Where we  lived in Essex, was the rail line that went to Stratford, the Olympic park. So getting to the games was just a 25 min train ride for us and when you booked your tickets through the Olympic web site, it was very reasonable.

When the date was given to apply for tickets I did. I applied for 30, but how we were going to pay for them all I hadn't thought about.

Anyway we got 15 tickets for different Para-Olympic events and the closing ceremony. So we went every day for a whole week!

It was amazing and wonderful, on two days we attended 3 different events. We sat in the wild garden area each day and ate our packed lunches with fresh bought coffee and cakes. We walked miles, it was a very big site and beautifully laid out.

I really value that we went, it was a once in a life time experience and I'll always remember it.

I wrote about it  here

So this year in Paris, Go GB Go!

Chrisxx

A Salesman!

 Because of my mammoth shopping for 1 cushion and 30 rings for the curtain poles, I had to take it easy yesterday. It wasn't IKEA but Dunelm Mill and it's a huge store.. Talking to my eldest son in the evening we had a laugh because, when he had to drop out of Uni, because of his illness, he had a job in a soft furnishing store. He was only working there 18 months when he was made a manager.

It had its stress times, because store sales are judge on the previous years sales.. Summer time is a slow time for soft furnishing, unless its wet weather! And so he was always thinking of ways to improve sales and he did well, so well he was made a 'Trouble Shooter Manager' This meant he was  put in failing stores to improve their sales. He was a perfectionist on how to make the shelves look perfect. Through him I know how to fold a towel to make it look fluffy, full and neat! He even went to look at local estates, which all had uniformed size windows in the new build houses, so he could display curtains on mock windows the same size in the store. 

He has a way about him and good interpersonal skills, so he did well.. he is a sales man! He was moved to different stores.. one store in the west side of Essex, bordering the East End of London wasn't easy, there were too many markets near by. It was a big store and they had displays of a full rooms, beds, furniture and nick knacks.

 The bedroom display spread outside on to the pavement.. It was a busy Saturday and the bedding on the single bed outside sold right away, so my son asked his two Saturday workers to go and put a new duvet and pillows on the outside bed. They did, but failed to connect up the chains that were anchoring it to the shop front when they had finished. And the next thing they saw, was the bed with bedding disappearing down the road, being carried by two young women! My son was not pleased, but was able to laugh about it, but not till months later. He stayed with that firm for a few more years. From that he opened up his own furniture shop and and did really well. But then decided to do what he had always wanted, and after a college course in photography, that's what he does now. 

He photographs car and motorcycle races and travels all over Europe as well as UK. He loves it and spends hours perfecting the photographs so that they sell. When the work slows down in the winter months he has an ebay shop selling cameras and watches. I didn't know that there are auctions that sell old cameras, lenses, and watches etc. He buys job lots, repairs them and insert batteries and sells them. Always the sales man, during lock down when there was no racing to photograph, he started repairing cameras and kept his  head above water as it were. I'm so pleased for him, its not been easy with his illness which altered the course of his life. I'd introduce you to him, but you'd have to be strong because there'd be a good chance he'd sell you something!

Chrisxx

Exercise

 

I'm feeling every day of my life today, not that I did anything fantastically energetic yesterday, just old! Do you get those days when just showering and getting dressed is like you've climbed a mountain?

Yesterday we went to one of those stores that are planned so you have to walk a mile just to find the cash desk... and the very aisle we needed with the cushions had a couple of people debating the colours standing bang in the middle. It meant I had to walk all around the shelves to get to the other end of it.. And then what we wanted was on another floor, the stairs were right there, but the lift was hidden somewhere around the back end of the stairs more walking.

When we eventually came out I thought I'd walked a mile, probably it was half a mile, up and down, up and down, up and down those aisles! I felt shattered by the time we got back to the car.

I need to do some exercises but perhaps not running. Is it an age thing?

Chrisxx

The Saga of Fuzzypeg

 The first time we knew we had a hedgehog in our garden was last year in September. We had popped Nell out for her last wee and we heard her yelp and we saw the little fellow running away. We didn't put out any food then, as with having a dog, she'd have eaten it. But we continued to see the little poos around the garden.

Then a few weeks ago this year, we saw him/her and put out cat food in saucers, they tipped up when he walked over them! We started researching hedgehogs and then bought hedgehog food and two little dishes. When we put it out that first evening, we didn't think he was  coming, but 9:30 he arrived and ate the food. We were like little children smiling and giggling as we watched.

This was a book I had as a child, written by Alison Uttley (1884-1976) She wrote over 100 books, and  in the series of 'Little Grey Rabbit' introduced Fuzzypeg, a little hedgehog. I loved it and had another one too, where he goes to school, so hence the name.

Of course now we have seen another one as well as Fuzzypeg. So last night we put out 2 lots of food, one lot in the usual place on the patio where we can see him easily, and the other half was up the garden. It was gone 9 and no Fuzzypeg on the patio, but then we saw one eating the food in the middle of the garden, was it Fuzzypeg? It was too far away so we couldn't really judge the size, then another one arrived, and he was bigger and they both shared the food! So we're calling the second one Draenog, which is Welsh for hedgehog (pronounced Dray-nog)

Draenog, decided he'd had enough and came down to the patio, but missed the dish of food and went into flower bed and we watched him make his way alongside the fence, to the bit where there is a hole under it and off he went. Fuzzypeg did the same and he too missed the dish of food and went off under the fence.

The dish was licked clean looking the next morning!

So Dh is putting out 2 lots of food, they're a hungry pair, but so lovely to watch and you can hear them munching.

Chrisxx

ps, Blood test was fine.

Vampires?

 

I have the dreaded blood tests today, which in recent years I've come to hate and fear. Some nurses are fine, but I've had few who fail to find a viable vein on the first go and then prod me in others, each time saying just a sharp prick! 

I have been known to let my feelings be known so loudly, they can be heard in the waiting room! The one time, the girl gave up and the head honcho came and blood flowed at her first attempt! 

The very worse one was a junior Dr who left me black and blue with bruises and tears streaming down my face.. So I'm drinking pints of water in readiness before we go.

Wish me luck!

Chrisxx

After the sun came the rain...

 Saturday, our town had a Police day with an exhibition and fun day about the early police force here.

Held in the old police station, which is a museum now. Can't say I've seen these, but evidently there are some on the front prom in an evening, during the summer season.

The rain didn't arrive till lunch time, but this morning stepping outside was like stepping out of a plane in a hot country. The humidity was over whelming, I was off to have my hair cut and styled, so I'm tidy now.

You could practically hear the garden sucking up the rain. With sandy soil, our garden gets very dry, but it was so needed, we watched from inside and cheered!

We had quite a surprise last evening, Fuzzypeg didn't arrived till gone 9, then he dived into the dish of food. He eats with one foot in the dish and as we watched him. another much larger hedgehog arrived|! Fuzzypeg turned to face him and the second hedgehog disappeared back in to the shrubs. 

He was a lot larger than our little Fuzzypeg, so is he a parent one? We're waiting to see what happens next.

Chrisxx

Cat stopped traffic!

 Friday is our SW weighing day (Slimming world.) Both Dh and myself gained half a pound, we think although we kept to plan, we ate too much with our sedentary week. My itchy disturbed nights meant dozy days, so no walking! But hey ho, that's only 8 ounces, and we can cope with that. Dh thinks he might have eaten some extras, when he was alone in the kitchen, or hidden in the pantry! What??

After the meeting we drove into town to buy some more anti-histamine cream and insect repellent. But there was a huge queue going into the town car park and we thought it was a big mistake, especially as the queue didn't seem  to be moving. Eventually we inched into the car park, only to discover why there was a queue, there was a cat stretched out in the sunshine and blocking the entrance! No one had attempted to move it, but were curving round it.. Fortunately as we approached it got up, twirled round and lay down again, but not bang in the middle of the entrance. 

Gosh it was hot, 25.2°C but with windows open there was a slight breeze in the Scout hut. We chatted to Fran who has the coffee unit on West End Ave, which is the promenade. She comes to SW, so knows those of us who buy a coffee from her and maybe a biscuit or even an ice cream, but she never tells! She was saying with this hot spell of weather, she was still serving coffee and cakes Thursday evening, as late as 9 pm as there were so many people still walking around in the late sunshine.

Town was buzzing, the sunshine had brought out the people, the veg shops had their stalls out on the pavements and the lovely flower shop too. There was a singer serenading and he was good, a real holiday atmosphere. 

So we start the food plan again in this new week, but with the sunshine we sort of feel we're on holiday, and that's dangerous for dieters, because being in the holiday mode means fish n chips and ice cream! I will be saying every morning, ' Today I'm on plan!' Do you have treats on holidays?

Chrisxx

A Debut Novel.

Celeste Ng's impressive debut novel is an absorbing and emotionally  resonant study of the fragility of family life, the burden of expectation and the suffocating pressures when a child is forced to inherit their parents dreams.

The story is as much one of the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of a favourite child age 16, Lydia, as it is about the meeting and marriage of Marilyn Walker, a studious white Virginian with ambitions of becoming a Doctor and James Lee, a first generation Chinese American graduate hoping to secure a teaching position at his alma marter, Harvard.

It goes back and fro in time and as we learn more about each member of the family, the unhappiness of the family members become apparent. With the death of Lydia, more of the story unravels, James is consumed with guilt and sets out on a path that will destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful sets out to make someone accountable, no matter what the cost. Nath, Lydia's  brother is convinced that local bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it's Hannah, the youngest of the family who observes far more than the rest of the family realises and may know more of what really happened.

This was our July book group read and although I did enjoy it I was glad to get it finished!

Chrisxx

Will they be an asset?

It seems that there have been 1428 people crossing the 21 mile channel since the Labour Government took power. What is so appealing to people to come here? If you think its the benefits they'll get, you're wrong. They get very little, around about £300 a month and often housed in old army huts or blocks of flats. They may also get child benefits and free school dinners, but not a fortune, not luxury by any means.. to the argument they are fearing the regime of their 'home' country, if that's the case why not choose one of the other countries in Europe? No, they want to come here to UK, why?

When I was teaching, one year, we had an all counties conference about Travelers, who were flooding the area of Essex where I taught. One school was having very big problems keeping regular staff, because of the problems caused by traveler children, 80% of the children were travelers. I've taught traveler children age 7,  they were well below the levels in English and Maths.

And yet later on in my teaching, I worked in a school where there was a large number of Fair Ground owner's children. They weren't easy, nor were their parents!

But going back to immigrants, I'd teach those any day over, traveler or fair ground children. Immigrant children want to learn, they want to succeed and so do their parents want that, for them. 

Having spent a lot of time in hospital (4 different ones )with my broken arm, the ward staff were mostly immigrants, the assistant nurses were mostly Eastern European, ok not illegal, but they wanted to come here to work. They were amazing, working hard and nothing was too much trouble. Although, the young lady serving the breakfasts just didn't understand de-caff tea and I had coffee, but Dh saved the day, bringing me one from the Costa stall! But they worked hard and were happy in their work.

So what to do? The present Government has scrapped the Rwanda plan and say they will divert the £75 million from this, to enhance the Border Security Command to put in place the immigration plan. What is it? I haven't read anything they want to do .... yet! 

 It's a problem, are they over burdening our all ready struggling NHS, housing, schools, etc?  But its so sad that people are willing to pay thousands and face an unsafe crossing to come here.. should we be worried about these people, are they taking benefits or jobs from UK residents, or are they an asset? 

Chrisxx

Itching!

 I itched off and on for part of yesterday, although I did have some respite for a couple of hours. Dh streamed cold water down my back, which is the worst area with 5 bites! Why didn't I feel getting bitten?

Anyway cooling my back worked and then with anti-histamine cream I had total relief all afternoon.

I was then able to clean the bathroom, and tidy the bedroom. I don't have a 'chair-robe' any more. All clothes sorted either, hung up, in the washing basket and some... drum roll please.....in a bag for a charity shop! 

Later in the garden we cut out the wild rose sent to me instead of  the climbing rose Starlight Symphony I sent for.... its a year since I ordered it and its taken several months to convince them the rose wasn't right, even with photographs. Then we dead headed the roses, I cut back the spent lupins, the aquilegia and took out the tomato side shoots. And that was that, one of the benefits of having gardener, we just did the easy jobs. I did hoe the top of the fence garden, where some small weeds were showing growth, I do love hoeing weeds to death!

I slept quite well in spite of the bites, so I hope I will to tonight. Dh is going to cool my back down again and then the put on the cream, so I hope for a good sleep tonight too, I really do! Who'd believe itching could be so awful.

Dh has been on line buying dishes for the hedgehog food! Because we only had a plastic tub and as you can see he tips it up!

Chrisxx

Isn't he a cutie?

Was it good or bad??

 Yes this is our Fuzzypeg, at about 8:15 pm in the rain rooting around in the split bird seed, not where he usually mooches!  We hadn't put out the food, because he doesn't usually arrive till 9.. so such a surprise to see him. And he then disappeared under the fence, a hole left for a hedgehog pathway, long before we knew we had a visiting hedgehog. So Dh nipped out and put out his food, then when we looked 15mins later, the food had gone!

But my post isn't about him but this little b*****r who went down inside my loose cotton dress yesterday and decided my plump body was tasty!

I have bites on my back, belly, bum and top of my left leg! I didn't feel the  bites when they happened,  but ouch are they itching! We were awake at 5 and Dh was putting the cream on my back!

We had the gardener coming again at 9, so although we went back to bed, I slept fitfully.

Then I sat all day with bags of ice in various places on my body keeping the bites cool so I'm not tempted to scratch.. but I want to!

Gosh the bites do itch something awful.

So a bad day, but the gardener made a very good job of the weeding and the garden is looking good. And Fuzzypeg is lovely, he looked right up at us, you could see his little black nose and eyes!

Chrisxx

A family tradition.

 We are Sunday dinner people, regardless of the summer weather , we have to have our Sunday dinner.

Yesterday we had Welsh shoulder of lamb with cabbage, sprouting broccoli, carrots, new potatoes and mint sauce and all that veg was from our own little veg patch. (Sorry no pics of the dinner) It was absolutely delicious, we ate silently savouring every bite.

One of the first photos of Dh digging that patch in March 2022, it's grown a bit bigger since then.

At the moment we have the runner beans starting to grow on the new bamboo canes, especially bought this year, extra long so there was a problem getting them delivered, as the vans weren't long enough for the sticks! Along side the beans, we have cabbage, sprouting broccoli, carrots, lettuce, radish and shallots, the garlic did well this year too. The potatoes are grown in bags and I grow tomatoes in pots. All are looking very healthy at the moment, watered and fed regularly. We have an abundance of herbs all grown in a large pot and large clumps of parsley dotted around the garden.

We have tried not having a dinner in very hot weather, but missed it so badly we had one on the Monday, but it wasn't the same. Before I met Dh, my Sunday routine never altered, as soon as I arrived home from church, the oven went on and I cooked myself a dinner. 

My daughter and family often came, it was traditional. My granddaughter as small child would often come in through the front door, saying, 'Oooo Sunday dinner smells' she loved gravy!

Once when I drove to them for Sunday dinner, when she was a lot older and was the cook that day, she greeted me with, 'Good you're here, can you make the gravy please Grandma?'

It was always a family tradition, while other houses around us were BBQ-ing, we had our Sunday dinner, meat and vegetables and thick gravy!

What about you, do you have a Sunday dinner?

Chrisxx

Thinking!

      There are stars you haven't seen, 

Loves you haven't loved,

There's light you haven't felt,

And sunrises yet to down,

There are dreams you haven't dreamt,

And days you haven't lived, 

And nights you won't forget, 

And flowers yet to grow,

And there's more to you that you have yet to know!

Chrisxx

(anon)

We love our garden

 We have had an afternoon in the garden, bulking up the flower beds. I hoed a few weeds to death and Dh over turned the soil, which is growing bird seed underneath the bird feeders.

We have very sandy soil which dries out very quickly, so we've added some home grown compost and some bought top soil. This is my favourite flower bed, which is west facing and is in front of the side wall of our bungalow, so gets very hot. The antirrhinums are lovely and grown from seed. 

The honeysuckle we can smell in the evening when we're watcing out for our visitor, who cheekily has taken to walking over the top flower bed, rather than walk round it!

The climbing roses are coming into their own now and the scent is heavenly.

And I planted a clematis with this one,( Eat your heart out Monty, we too are gardeners!)

And although this Johnson Blue geranium looks glorious, it was to have the vivid splash of orange crocosmia, but some little creepy crawly had eaten the buds before they fully opened!

But it has flourished and is spilling nicely over the patio, perhaps next year!

We did sit for a while and admire our handy work.  Not bad for two oldies, a garden from scratch in three years.

Chrisxx

TV

 End of Summer is a Swedish drama (BBC 4) and if you can cope with subtitles is an excellent watch, to be honest you don't really notice them after a while.

Its a griping story of a young woman, Vera who is a therapist in a group of people who are trying to cope with the loss of someone.

20 years previously her 5 year old brother, Billy disappears.  A  hauntingly familiar young man joins her group, which forces her to unravel the truth about her brothers disappearance.

It is such a good story and I defy anyone to guess the ending.

Well worth the watch.

Chrisxx

10K Race

 This was the scene on Sunday, the annual 10k race, this was the end when people are milling around talking about their efforts.

No need to peer to see where I am, because I'm not there! Racing or even walking at speed is not my thing!

It might do me good, but I know someone who enters a lot of races and she doesn't lose any more weight than I do.. Last night I dreamt I was pulling on a pair of knickers, that I know I threw out years ago. White cotton with little red flowers and a waist band that was always a bit tight to pull up. Probably that's why I threw them out. But in my dream they slipped on easily, perhaps it was in the days when I was under 10 stone! So I dream I'm slim! Ha ha.

Fuzzypeg can run, we saw him last night, he'd followed the trail of food (Thank you for the suggestions) on to the patio, where there was a dish of food, then mooched a bit, then he legged up to the top of the garden, really running, went across a flowerbed under the hedge and was gone! It's so entertaining to watch him.

Chrisxx

Why?

 July 8th, there were missile strikes on Kiev which hit a children's hospital, why?

The news reporting it, was awful, a woman looking for her daughter who was having dialyses, running through the wreckage shouted 'I don't know whose hand that is'  How are people living through this..what is it all about?

I can't imagine how it must feel to have a child in a hospital that's bombed, what anguish. It made me think of when my son was in hospital, I was there every afternoon as soon as school had finished, making sure he was comfortable, straightening his sheets, making sure his drip hadn't run out, getting anything he needed. 

And these poor children are in rubble, dust, bedlam! 41 killed, 120 injured.

Karl Marx said 'the root of everything is money' ...

 his own words......

“Money is the universal, self-constituted value of all things. Hence it has robbed the whole world... of its proper value. Money is the alienated essence of man's labour and life, and this alien essence dominates him as he worships it.”

Ukraine is a country rich in many things, so a target for Russia.

But the people are the ones who are suffering. 

We, Great Britain give aid,  so those who moan about money going out of our country to help foreign ones, thank the Lord its not us being bombed.

Chrisxx

A Senior Moment or a Biden?

 Yesterday I sat outside in the garden just 'wool gathering.' I needed the quiet, the sunshine and the flowers. So many blessings but sometimes I allow memories to cloud my thoughts. And then I gaze out at our garden and my mind is quietened. 

Often when Dh and I are chatting, if we forget the word we want, we used to say a 'Senior moment.' A 'saying' first said by lovely Terry Wogan, when you forget a word. I used to listen to his morning programme driving to work each morning. He was such a lovely man and I loved to listen his chat and got used to his sayings. And he introduced me to Alison Krauss and I loved her song, 'Now that I've found you.' My daughter played this so often, that my Grand daughter at age 3 could sing this all the way through!

And of course Eva Cassidy's 'Over the Rainbow,' But I digress, is forgetting a word, just a Senior moment? I hope so, although its said if you know you've forgotten a word, you haven't got Alzheimer's.

But having seen Biden's disastrous speech, when he seemed to forget the whole sentence and talked, 'salad.' That was awful. I hadn't heard of this saying so looked it up. 

'Word Salad,' ....When a person is unable to organize their thoughts into coherent sentences or phrases. And that was certainly true of Biden. It was agonizing to watch as his mouth moved, but nothing of any sense came out! If only he covered up his confusion by saying something like, 'too tired to think straight at the moment, give me a second, while I gather my thoughts'  it wouldn't have been so bad.

So now Dh and I say 'Senior moment' or is it a 'Biden'? When we can't think of the word.

I once forgot the word, 'sun dial.' looked it up on the internet and haven't forgotten it since. I searched for.... garden ornament that can tell the time by a shadow!!

Do you have those 'senior moments?'

Chrisxx

What happened next...

 .... the Dr I saw lovely, very understanding she has given me different tabs to see how that goes. She listened without saying anything. I had said I was desperate to have a full nights sleep instead of this having to get up every 2 hours for the loo. I explained I am so desperate, I'm happy to pay to have my bladder removed and a bag. She thought that was a bit extreme and there could be too many complications. But I came away feeling I had been listened to and a date booked for a further appointment. And I had a carrier bag of stuff, tabs, creams, and wash solution.. And she queried my age! I did say I may not look it, but I certainly feel it!

The young gardener girl did a super job, and well worth the money. We have 2 flower beds weed free and the soil looks nicely turned over. We've been out to buy some compost to top dress the one bed, which is like sand. So I'm very happy and will have her again.

The Chair.

Dh and I talked and talked about it.. I had been to other show rooms, I had 3 other catalogues and talked with sales people on the phone. This has been onward going since last summer. So I tried a cushion on the seat and  then all the controls in different positions to find the most comfortable position for me. The thought of going to yet more showrooms  etc is just toooo much.. So with careful consideration I decided I'd keep it, but have the controls on the other side. Ha ha ......£60 for an engineer to come and change it, even though I argued that it should have been changed over for me, as I had said in the show room I had a duff right arm.. So Dh has stretched the curly cable and we (probably me ) will sew a ring or something to stop the controls falling down where I can't reach it. And it's been fine, I'm using my old stool and its working ok for me, with my feet on it. It wasn't easy to decide this, but I do have to have a chair, although the new M&S arm chair is comfy too, my head isn't supported like The Chair!

But I needed to air my misgivings and talk it through, as we all do at times! What do you think?

Chrisxx

Fuzzypeg!

 We see the hedgehog in our garden every night now, usually around about 9 o'clock, so light enough to see him really well.  He arrives at one end of our garden from under the fence and then trundles across the patio, up one side of our garden, stops off at the bird feeder in the middle., where Dh has scattered meal worms there, just for him and then comes back down half way of the garden and climbs up a step to proceed up the side path, past all my pots of tomatoes and then to the very top end of the garden and off out through the bottom of the copper beech hedge!

He's a good size and can walk quite fast. I love the way he walks up the edge of the actual flower beds, mooching around. The other night we went outside to watch him by the bird feeder and you could hear picking at the grass.

(Stock pic)
So what do hedgehogs do all night? Evidently just walk around looking for food and looking for a mate. He does a lot of poos!

We are fascinated by him and have to watch him each night.

The Alison Uttley books were favourites of mine when I was little and I loved the stories of Fuzzypeg, whose mum was always mending the holes in his clothes from his prickles, so he looked tidy for school!

We feel so proud that we have a hedgehog, who loves our garden and comes each evening to trundle around it snuffling and mooching and eating! Who knows we might get a family here with babies. Wouldn't that be exciting.

Chrisxx

When in doubt both feet out!

 That was what my driving instructor said to me many many years ago.... brake!! Now I apply that to all life situations.

So...yesterday after another night awake worrying, I spent the morning on the phone.

First to a gardener, a young woman who we had agreed to come and help us in the garden to do some weeding.  I tried to look her up on FB but she wasn't there, no web page either,  so no portfolio to look at.. Was she qualified, was she experienced, was she ok? Anyway she assured me she knew what she was doing.. and as Dh said, what's the worst she could do? If she digs up a plant, we'll buy another one.

Then the Drs,, I had an appointment on 18th July with a Dr who's name I didn't recognize.. so phoned to ask who was she, how long had she been at the surgery. It seems she's been there a year, but her name was not on the list on the surgery web site. She is a Registrar getting in some practice to be a GP.. I stated I wasn't happy and would rather have a regular Dr. At 81 with a chronic urinary condition I want someone, who actually knows about me. So now have an appointment today with a Dr I've spoken to on the phone.

Then the most difficult phone call. I'm not that happy with this electric chair..the seat is too hard, if I lift up my legs with the lift up bit, my carves are resting flat on it, so could I get a DVT? And the controls are on the right side where my duff arm is, so proving difficult, but evidently I could have had them on the left, if an engineer came out to see it. I listened quietly while she went through her sales talk, but I held fast to, I would like my money back £1608.15.Yes I can, minus £60 collection charge.. 

After all that I was exhausted, I'd only had 5 hours sleep, and broken at that so not a proper sleep.

We wait and see what happens with the chair, but a weight has been lifted off my mind.

Chrisxx

What will happen after Friday?

 I see all the regular TV Friday shows are being dropped on Friday for continuous coverage of the post election news. If the polls and surveys are correct it looks like the Labour party will have something like 400 MPs. 

Chatting to my son we both aired views as to what we think might happen with the labour party in power. One thing we both thought was Council Tax will rise, a tax that everyone in a house owned or rented has to pay for local services. 

But what does it actually pay for? It is to support local services, rubbish collection, fire service, police, street lighting, libraries, public toilets, parks, street repairs and so on. But if the money is not spent wisely your town could end up bankrupt, like Birmingham last year.

Here where we live, street lights are left on all night, the new refurbished Eastern Prom had gardened areas, where trees were planted, however they weren't suitable for the salt air and died. They have all been replaced with the same trees at the cost of £1000 each!

New public toilets built by Cosy Corner, are often not working and the main town toilets don't open till 10 and close at 4! The block paved pedestrianised main street is a night mare, with many broken or slipped and stick up ready to trip someone, like many towns our pavements are broken and uneven. 

If our council tax is increased, I for one will be busy writing to complain at every opportunity.

And don't get me talking about our £8mill Medical centre.

Like a lot of places its not easy to get an appointment, and the number of Drs has dropped.. we've lived here 3 years and although I've had telephone appointments, as yet I've only spoken to the same Dr twice. I've recently learnt some GP practices are offering evening appointments and Saturday appointments. Ours doesn't, so by my reckoning it's closed for 104 days a year, that's nearly a third of the year.. what a waste of money.. No wonder our NHS is failing.

And Starmer says they will fix things, I'm not holding my breath, what about you?

Chrisxx

A very busy day, but exciting too!

 We've had such a busy day.. our new furniture was scheduled to arrive between 2:15 pm and 4:15 pm, so we were all vac-ed and clear for them. Our lounge looked really big, it is actually bigger than the average living room. 

But last evening I had a text message from the hedge cutting firm, who said he could come in the afternoon. I was not going to put him off we've had him booked for when he had time, for 2 weeks and it shouldn't affect the furniture delivery. 

At 10:20 am we had some one knocking on our front door, we both thought it was the furniture early, but no. It was the handrail for the new steps, which had been ordered 4 weeks ago! It was all happening together!

We had only just had a coffee, when a short while later the furniture did arrive and early and it looks amazing, Perfectly matches the silver green carpet and the teal colour we had the alcoves painted. We are now looking forward to our new curtains, which should be ready the week after next.

We do love them and are so pleased with our choice. And more importantly they are very comfortable. 

Then Dh said he would fix up the new hand rail! Well, that was a first for him. He usually takes a few days weeks or longer to get round to fix something.  So off he went and got all the gear to do it, yes we have the drill and bits and electric screwdriver all tidy in zippy up containers, looking very new.  He wasn't any time getting it done and I've been up and down them several times. It is perfect and I feel safe using the steps!

Then he fixed up another grab bar round the side of our bungalow pathway, where there is a steep step. All on the same afternoon!

And the hedge cutting firm came about 2 so that's all done..I went round with the weed spray for the edges of the drive and outside on the road, where new weeds had sprung up. I'm afraid my days of digging out those between the paver weeds are over, at 81 I need all the help I can get!

Today we plan to do the grass, I'll do the edges and a bit of transplanting more carrots into pots. We are trialing a new garden firm on Friday to do some weeding,  hope it proves to be ok. 

And we saw the hedgehog eating the meal worms Dh had scattered on the ground.

A very satisfying day and there is still the rest of the week to come.

Chrisxx

And then his brother came....

 In our bathroom we have a free standing towel rail which stands in front of the radiator. There's a small space between it and the side wall, about 4 inches,

It seems its the ideal space for cobwebs and when using the loo, it's possible to see a resident of that cobweb, it's one of the spindly legs' one, creepy!  

The other night I asked Dh to remove it, it seemed to be looking right at me, although you can't see any eyes. He's very kind and lifts it gently and pops it out of the window. So I can relax on the loo! I feather dusted the web in the morning, such a relief to know the bathroom was safe.

Then the next day, there in the corner was a web again and it looked like the same spider, was it his brother? Doesn't he look creepy??

So he had to go too. I'm not that frightened of them, they just make me feel that they are creepy and I can imagine them crawling on me, ugh!

How do you feel about them?

Chrisxx

Its a comfort.

 Every now and then I choose an easy read book, nothing too taxing but an author that I like, what I call a comfort read.  So I'm the same about TV programmes and Christine Walkden's TV show about her and her garden is quite lovely and very pleasant to watch.

A qualified horticulturist she travels all over the world giving talks and lectures. She's very down to earth, knowledgeable but also entertaining.

She gets on well with her neighbours especially Reg, who was 72 when this series were filmed (2005)

In the 6th episode, she is off to China to be a guide in some famous gardens for a Holiday Company and Reg and her other neighbour, Louise , have volunteered to look after her garden and her hundreds of house plants.

Before she leaves she gives them strict instructions on the watering of her precious garden. Personally I'd be really nervous to be left in charge of her garden, but Reg, just laughs and is his usual jovial self. And we see him with the hose spraying all round on the foliage, not as Christine had instructed, but he was smiling and happy doing it.

Dh and I once volunteered to water some friend's garden. It was a 15 min drive away and their instructions were for watering every other day. We used to go early-ish and have a cuppa and sandwich after the watering, as it was very pleasant in their garden, so no hardship.

When Christine arrived back there were a few plants a bit dry but on the whole all was ok.

To thank Reg and Louise and their other halves, she invited them for a Chinese Take Away and then after, she showed them some of her slides she had taken while away. There were a few yawns and Louise went to sleep!  There were a lot of slides!!

It's a lovely programme and she is easy to listen to. When talking about how she liked to eat her carrots, with new potatoes, courgettes and maybe some meat or not, she likes them with lashings of butter! She said, 'You don't get to be my size if you don't like butter!'

A very enjoyable programme, if like me you love gardening.

Chrisxx

My Left Little Toe is ok

 When Dh asked how I was feeling Thursday morning, I gave him the the reply, ' My left little toe is ok!

In fact I'd had a horrible urinary infection, where did it come from? I take the supplements suggested to take for recurrent infection, plus Vit C which is supposed to be good for good bladder health, I drink extra water and wear loose underwear, I avoid strong coffee and make sure I drink water before my one coffee of my mornings and all tea is de-caff. I don't use soap or scented shower jells.

I've had all the usual tests, the awful full bladder scans several times. The one I had, travelling to the hospital over bumpy roads with a full bladder was awful. Usually I walk upright striding ahead, with my stick or my wheels, not to look old!(vanity?) But on this occasion I shuffled into the hospital scanning dept. bent over my wheels, mumbling 'Oh dear, oh dear!' It's sometimes ok to play the little old woman card!! 

She was very nice and said to go to use the loo and come back, as it was my kidneys they wanted to scan.

So anyone who thinks a urinary infection, UTI, is just going to the loo a lot with some discomfort, you've never had a full blown infection. The pain is excruciating and you pee a lot because it relieves some of it, but only if you drink at least 2 litres of water and keep drinking water while you have the 'flare up.'

This time I had anti-biotics, because I had some from a private Dr. My own surgery would have had me wait to have my sample tested, may be a full day. So I was able to take them as soon as my symptoms started, but even then, I still had a couple of hours of very unpleasant acute pain and the not being able to pass urine is excruciating. 

Anyway, its all under control and although I got up several times that night, I had a sleep on the bed Friday afternoon.

So hence the reply, my left little toe is ok. The rest of me is shattered and I'm very wary of doing anything to aggravate it again, so lots of water and lots of loo visits. But its ok because my left  little toe is ok!!

Hope none of you ever have this, believe you me until you've experienced the pain, you wouldn't believe there was such pain.

Chrisxx

Did you see the hedgehog?

 I did my usual 2 o'clock in the morning loo break, but saw all the hall, passage way and lounge lights on.. Dh was up, not at all usual.  I thought he was outside in the back garden looking to see if he could see the hedgehog, that is visiting our garden. Then he came in through the front door!

When I asked him if he had seen ir, I realised there was a lot of noise from next door, which is extraordinary as we're all detached and they're quite a distance from us.

'No, I did not see the hedgehog, I've been round to next door, to ask are they mad its 2 o'clock in the morning and they're playing Abba, at top volume, not even decent music!' The parents weren't there but the daughter and 3 friends had the large sliding doors open and were dancing outside, music blaring!

He didn't say anything else he said, because his throat was dry.. his tablets side effect!  

So we're up drinking tea and eating toast and I've an early hair appointment! Hope I'll wake..I expect I will, my bladder doesn't let me sleep late!

Chrisxx

I needed a laugh!! An old one!

Hope you find this funny too! 

A farmer stopped by the local mechanic's shop to have his truck fixed.

They couldn't do it while he waited, so he said he didn't live far and would just walk home.

On the way home he stopped at the hardware store and bought a bucket, and a gallon of paint.

He then stopped by the feed store and picked up a couple of chickens and a goose. However, struggling outside the store he now had a problem - how to carry his entire purchases home.

While he was scratching his head he was approached by a little old lady who told him she was lost.

She asked, 'Can you tell me how to get to 1603 Mockingbird Lane ?'

The farmer said, 'Well, as a matter of fact, my farm is very close to that house. I would walk you there but I can't carry this lot.'

The old lady suggested, 'Why don't you put the can of paint in the bucket. Carry the bucket in one hand, put a chicken under each arm and carry the goose in your other hand?'

'Why thank you very much,' he said and proceeded to walk the old girl home.

On the way, he says 'Let's take my short cut and go down this alley. We'll be there in no time.'

The little old lady looked him over cautiously, then said, 'I am a lonely widow without a husband to defend me. How do I know that when we get in the alley you won't hold me up against the wall, pull up my skirt, and have your way with me?'

The farmer said, 'Holy Smokes lady! I'm carrying a bucket, a gallon of paint, two chickens, and a goose. How in the world could I possibly hold you up against the wall and do that?'

The old lady replied, 'Set the goose down, cover him with the bucket, put the paint on top of the bucket, and I'll hold the chickens.'

Snagged from the Born in the 1940's group..

Chrisxx

Cheesy mashed potato puffs cooked in an airfryer

3  cups cold mashed potato 

1 Egg

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 Cup chopped chives

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese for rolling

Method.

Pre-heat airfryer  200C for 3 to 4 minutes

Grease your baskets.

Mix all the ingredients.

Roll into 1 inch balls and then roll in the Parmesan cheese.

Place in your baskets leaving space between each one to ensure even cooking

Cook in airfyer for 15 mins or until crispy looking, check they're not over cooking.

Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Photo is some cooked in an oven.

Enjoy!

Chrisxx

A different book.

This is a very different book compared to my usual reads, I chose to read it because a FB book group said, it was like the book 'Eleonora Elephant is Completely Fine.' And I loved that book.

Clover is a Death Doula, an occupation, which I didn't even know existed.. like birth doulas help mothers through their pregnancy and birth, a death doula helps people in their final weeks of life and then death.

She hasn't had the best of lives; her parents left her alone a lot when she was a child. Then they were killed while away and Clover went to live with her grandfather. She has good memories of her life with him, reading books and Sunday breakfasts out with him. But in my view it didn't really help her with living life.

As a death doula she makes written collections of her 'clients' thoughts, regrets and advice shared with her in their last few moments.

The only thing is, she isn't really living her own life. At first her emotional amour prevents her from moving forward, eventually when she lets her guard down, a transition takes place and she opens up to her neighbour and a feisty client who helps her to start to value her own life.

Slowly we see her start to live, experiencing love, friendship and the rich rewards of relationships.

It wasn't a book I would have chosen if it hadn't been recommended to me, but I'm glad I've read it and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Try it and make up your own minds?

Chrisxx

PS, I getting used to my new chair, which arrived this morning, it's comfy but a bit low, altho I sat in it this afternoon and slept for 2 hours!

A new chair and........

Yesterday we decided to get out and drive to a well known chair firm..and I bought one! Although we have a new sofa and arm chair coming next week, I wanted a chair where I could have my legs up. These recliners do all sorts of things, but I wanted one where I could still stand unassisted at this moment in time, maybe chuck me out of it, in some years in the future! It also has a back section to support your lumber region, which I found very comfortable when I tried it. I suppose I could lie back in it if I wanted. It was quite pricy, but recently my cousin Vera's words have echoed in my mind, 'No pockets in a shroud!' And having spoken to the lady in the Banking Hub last week, I thought yes, I'm going to spend my money! At the moment I prop my feet up on a stool, that was my Grand mother's, which must be at least 100 years old if not more and it's falling apart, altho' I have repaired it several times. 

When I spoke to friend about spending my money rather than opening yet another savings account, she laughed and ask was I thinking of buying a yacht, but there weren't any around that I fancied, so I bought the chair!  This was the third showroom selling these chairs I had visited, so I had thought about it over a period of months.

We were quite a while there in the show room, so stopping for a coffee and a snack seemed the right thing to do, it was lunch time.. The Costa we go to is near to Dunelm Mill, so we went in there to sort out curtains to go with the new furniture. I love them, big ferns pattern, with a mixture of our lounge colours, that will go with the new furniture, the carpet and the teal painted alcoves.. The wall where the window and French doors are is painted a straw colour, so these will suit perfectly. All ordered and they will be ready in about 7 to 10 days.. so quite a big spending day. 

Fortunately a new Food Warehouse has opened next to Dunelm Mill and several members of our slimming group have bought some different flavoured chicken in there, so we thought we'd have a look.. Well we didn't see the chicken pieces, but we did find some pkts of KFC and French Fries and some times you just have to have a day off dieting and we were tired and so we bought it and then some Magnums slipped into our basket!  We argued we needed the extra calories to compensate for all that money we spent!

Sometimes you've just got to do what you're body wants, never mind second thinking about if its good for you. 

What do you think, go outside of your planned life, which is good for you, and do something contrary now and then?

Chrisxx