Friday 17 October 2014

Obviously October

we've had some rain

Front pots ready for winter

I forgot to mention that on the Monday of the previous week, we were due at the dentist  for our 6 monthly check up. I was supposed to be going to the osteopath on the Tuesday, but he had to cancel, so I ended up changing my appointment to Monday as well. Our dentist has left the practice, so we now have a new one. We both have a couple of fillings to get sorted, and husband has to have a new crown.
Home for lunch and then later to the osteopath, who was full of his usual jokes. he was quite pleased with me and doesn't need to see me for 6 months. I was pleased about that.
On the Monday of the next week, I had had a bad night, and woke quite late, too late in fact to go and help with the distribution of the harvest which had been on the Sunday. I had a couple of bad nights, coughing, and we hadn't even put the heating on.  Later in the week I found that a teaspoon of Covonia cattarh mixture helped no end, so I felt less zombie like the next day.
On the Tuesday, I had quite a long walk in the morning, down to the hospital to get my blood tests done. It was a fasting test, there were about 30 people ahead of me even though the clinic had only been open for 10 minutes when I arrived. Within half an hour, I was on my way, and I managed to find a cafe serving tea and toast. Fortified, I then walked through town and got the bus up the hill. In the afternoon,I rang our friend to see if I could visit, but they had a visitor, so she moved into the kitchen and chatted to me there. She sounds so bright it is amazing. During our chat, she told me that the Dr had said that when he sent her in hospital he did not expect her to come out, but she told him that a lot of prayers had gone up for her.
Sadly, later in the week, we heard news of a young man, son of old friends, in his twenties, with a wife and baby, had lost his 9 month fight with cancer. Many people had been praying for him too, but the treatments had failed. It is hard at times to accept God's will and plans for people, but He knows everything from the beginning. It's so very difficult for his family too although they are believers, what does one say to comfort someone? Only the promises of God can help at such a time.
Someone recently shared something on facebook about what not to say to the bereaved,and I think that I have been guilty of saying many of then at some time.
 I was very struck once, at a funeral of an elderly chap, when I spoke to his wife and said how sorry I was for her loss,and how she must miss him, she replied, 'Yes but we wouldn't want to bring him back from Glory would we'. I'm not sure that I could respond so well if I lost my other half. Sadly as Gandalf said to Pippin in Lord of the rings, 'Death is not the end, it is just another path that we all must take.' How important it is then to make the choice now to be right with God whilst we can still do it. Anyone can be transported into Eternity in the blink of an eye, and it is a horrible thought to think that many who have never bothered with God in this life will spend eternity separate from Him.
Actually it would be far more embarrassing for them to be forced to spend an eternity in the presence of One whom they had despised and rejected.
Doing good cannot earn us a place in heaven, although the life of a believer should be characterised by good works. Many of them though are done in secret, such as giving of money, so that we do not boast.
If you are a believer please remember that bereaved family in your prayers. Many people will doubtless say, 'what a waste of a life', that one so young should die, but in God's economy a life lived for Him is not wasted. That young man has run his race, he had finished his fight and he has kept his faith in the face of difficulty and illness, there is therefore a crown of righteousness laid up for him, 2 Timothy chapter 4 verses 7 and 8.
I hope that what I have written here will not deter you from reading my blog in future, but I feel that it is important to address these matters.
When we called to collect Lydia on Wednesday, she was asleep. That showed us that she can still be unpredictable in her nap times, the previous week she had nodded off during lunch.  She played quite happily after we had taken her to our home and given her lunch. She is getting quite adept at doing little puzzles,
Little miss mischief

On Thursday we arrived at their home to discover that Nat had refused his breakfast becuase it was served in the 'wrong' bowl, he had even thrown it away, Daughter was needing to get off to work,so I supervised his brekky,and then Grandad walked him to school. I took Lydia home, she insisted on bringing Macca Pacca, then later kept going into the hall and saying 'Buggy',  so I got ready to take her out. Macca Pacca came too, till she dropped him, so I popped him into my shopping bag for safety. I had to take my prescription in, I was almost out of thyroxine, when I spoke nicely to the receptionist, she managed to get one printed for me, I was so grateful. When I eventually got home with Lydia,she was almost asleep, so Grandad carefully lifted her out of the buggy, and carried her up to the travel cot for her nap.
She was late waking for her lunch, but ate reasonably well. I think it was that day, when I discovered she can now reach the front door handle, and pull it open, so we now need to keep the handle locked and the key out of her reach. The time seemed to pass relatively quickly, and soon it was time  for Grandad to collect Nathaniel. He and Lydia didn't play quite so well together, Nathaniel wanted the trains out at first, but then played with other things that Lydia decided she wanted, so it got a bit fraught.
However it was soon time for home, and I commented we hadn't watched Thomas for a while. Nathaniel decided to complain about not having watched Thomas, so I reminded him he needed to ask, and ask nicely to be able to watch Thomas. It's not long since he would hear the clock strike and declare, 'Time for Thomas'. I wonder what boys become interested in when the are too big for tank engines? With my son it was Lego and building fantastic models.
On the Friday, I had to go for my asthma check. The nurse said she had to weigh me and measure my height. Having grown last year I now appear to have shrunk again! When she announced my weight it was nearly 2kg lower than when the Dr weighed me last week. I pointed this out and she said, 'Oh one of the scales must be wrong.' So I said, 'or perhaps I could have lost a bit, I need some encouragement', she laughed and said 'of course!'.
I needed a new peak flow meter, and a new aerochamber, then we got so involved in discussing how to treat cattarrh, that she quite forgot to do the prescription. I was back in reception booking our flu jabs, and getting my blood test results, all normal, and cholesterol acceptable, when my phone rang.
I couldn't answer it, but when I was about to cross the road, I found a voicemail, from the nurse,so had to to a smart about turn, and up the stairs to collect it.
 I caught up on some housework, mainly ironing and tidying, for the rest of the day, it was showery, so I was in and out like a fiddler's elbow, with the washing, happy days!

Saturday 11 October 2014

Market, Morris men, minding kids, medical and misunderstanding

I may have forgotten to mention that the day before we had Sunday lunch in the garden, we went into town. I had a few bad nights, so overslept on that Saturday morning, and we ran late all day. As we were so late that we drove into town, plus the fact that I wanted to go up into the old High Street later. We parked at the shopping centre, and as we came out through the doors into what is now the market area, there were emergency vehicles in the pedestrianised area, about four people dressed in red jumpsuits, helmets and carrying various bags came striding through. I heard someone say, 'Oh here come the air ambulance crew.' Thinking back I had seen what looked like an air ambulance flying over as we drove down. Being the nosey person that I am, I asked someone at a stall what was going on, and he said he had heard that someone had had a heart attack.  Oh dear, poor person, but at least everything possible was being done.
I carried on to where I was going, at the same time wondering where the air ambulance could have landed. As I walked along,  could hear what sounded like Morris dancing, and sure enough, as I peeked into the old market square, there was a side performing. A few minutes later, a few more Morris dancers were mingling with the crowd, publicising what they were doing. I felt a bit  sad that there were so few people watching them, but there didn't seem to have been much advance publicity about the event. As I walked back to the market, there seemed to be more interest in what was going on behind a tarpaulin  pulled over one of the market stalls. One of the stallholders was trying to clear everyone away, so that they could take someone into a waiting ambulance. I steered well clear, and met up with husband to finish our shopping.
We drove up to the Old High Street, and as we passed the place where the events venue used to be, I saw the air ambulance on the patch of grass there. The old High Street has been revamped,and made one way, and we had difficulty at first knowing where to park.  Having parked we headed for the cycle shop, We saw there were more Morris dancers in the square there, and as we walked along saw the air ambulance taking off.
The bike shop seemed to be full of racing bikes. I suppose that since the Olympics there has been renewed interest in racing. Downstairs, there were 2 old fashioned ladies' bikes, but on enquiring the price, was told one was £450, the other £550! We left the shop, and headed for the square, where another Morris side were performing. I spotted a former neighbour of ours, who used to do a lot of Morris, but he has put on weight, and age hasn't been kind to his knees, so he now plays the squeezebox.
During a lull, I went over and renewed our acquaintance. He just about remembered us, he now lives in Snowdonia, and was just down for the festival. I seem to remember that about 10 years ago he was the Town crier in a nearby City, He has a very strong Yorkshire voice, and announced in town crier tones that there would be a final session, back in the town centre market square, with all 8 Morris sides dancing.







Whilst in the old town we went into one of the antique shops for a browse, but didn't buy. Just as well as I'm still trying to declutter. We looked at some other shops, but it some were closed, so we got in the car and drove home.
We had a visiting preacher on the Sunday. We were talking about a member of the congregation, after the service, who unbeknown to us had been in hospital during that week. That reminded me of the previous day's incident in town. I asked someone if they knew about it and was told she had heard it was a stallholder who had collapsed, but despite everything, had not survived, very sad.
The weather was still extremely warm, so husband uncovered the garden table, and we ate our roast on the patio.
The following Tuesday, I tried ringing my old friend who had been in hospital, but got no reply. after lunch we went to our local garden centre, which now has a coffee shop. My pots on the outside wall were looking straggly, so I bought 50 small daffs, as the tall ones just don't stand up, I also bought cyclamen and Winter flowering pansies, to plant on top of the bulbs. I replace a wooden trough which is falling apart, and probably wouldn't last the winter. Thankfully I had gardening club vouchers to spend, so that reduced the bill. Husband bought some other stuff, he seems to begetting into pot growing as well, ( as in terracotta pots, not 'weed'). I must see that he doesn't encroach my space. We also tried their new coffee shop. The decaff was very flavoursome, sometimes it's like stewed cardboard. we also tried their cookies, mmmmm!
We had the children again on the  Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday. It is still difficult to know how Nathaniel is settling at school, he does regress at times in his behaviour, and seems to need lots of cuddles. Mostly he is his own sweet self, amazing us with what he talks about. I feel I'm getting to know Lydia better as I now have more one to one. She did change her nap times to afternoon, but even that varies. she still charms everyone she meets with her sweet little smile, but is still every bit as determined as her brother, and definitely has selective hearing.
My friend eventually rang me, sounding much better than she has for months, it was their wedding anniversary when I tried to ring, and they had been out for lunch, then for a drive, her first outing in a while.
I had tried to make an appointment for my annual meds review, but the 'in advance' appointments were booked up. The receptionist told me how I could book an appointment, online, the evening prior to when I wanted, and I managed to get an early afternoon slot. The Doctor accepted my early morning and late evening B P readings, weighed me, slightly up, then discussed exercise and whether it would be good for me to take up cycling again. Prescription unchanged, I left clutching my blood test forms. She wasn't going to have the thyroid checked as it was done in June, as part of the investigation into my occasional double vision. The prism in the driving glasses does help, but I'm still tempted to shut one eye, as I've been doing it so long.
I thought I had found the bike I wanted in St Albans, but when we drove over there, was told I had misread the site and the stock is only sold online. I'd rather not buy without seeing it and trying it out for leg length etc. Disgruntled, I couldn't be bothered to try any other cycle shops and we drove home, and I made fish pie, lovely comfort food, we had peas, and I had ketchup on the side, much to husband's disgust. But as I explained, it is good for you as it contains cooked tomatoes, and lycopene. Sadly, readers, he remains unconvinced. The weather took a turn for the worst that week, with the temperatures plunging, sadly no more al fresco eating