March meetings

I was going to include some more zoo pics, but am so behind I decide against it.
We drove into the town centre, and found somewhere for lunch, then afterwards booked in at the hotel where we were to spend the night. It was cheaper than the place in Chester, smaller, and nicer, and quieter, despite the proximity to the M6. Then we drove on to a  nearby town, where were going to meet up with a friend whom I hadn't seen for about 40 years, we lost touch about 32 years ago,and I had always wondered why she stopped writing. I managed to track her down on the internet about 4 years ago.
When we arrived, her husband was about to go out, to a prior engagement. She greeted me with a hug, which was nice, we went indoors, and sat chatting. we reminisced about the old days, she produced some old pictures,and we marvelled how young and slim we were. I had always regarded her as my first Christian friend, but as we talked she revealed why she no longer went to church, quite a heartbreaking tale really. However she has remained in touch with other folk we knew in those days, who are believers, so she is not totally anti.
We had arranged to meet our Son and family back at our hotel, for a meal, as they had some vouchers to use. We were running late and the traffic was bad, so our Son helpfully devised us a different route. We had eaten there after Son's graduation, but it has changed hands and the menu is totally different. I ended up having lamb again, we took it in turns to hold Elise during the meal, then the family had to leave as it was past Ethan's bedtime.The bed was a tad more comfortable than the previous hotel,and I managed to sleep even if it wasn't all night.
After breakfast, we drove to our Son's home and had more cuddles with the baby. Husband fixed the bike carrier to the car, and loaded his new bike back up. Son helped, as he was still on paternity leave.
Later we set off for home, and had a reasonable journey.
The next week I had a mix up over a prescription which the Dr forgot to sign,so had 2 trips to pharmacies. Then the tooth with the crown, which could not be saved, was giving me problems, so I visited the dentist and had it removed, which left me feeling sorry for myself. We had trouble with our credit card provider, when they inexplicably sent our payment back to us, claimed we were late paying and added interest and  a late payment charge. I eventually sorted it out and got the charge removed, but they had blamed our bank. I closed that credit card, they had stopped the cash back, and had transferred it to an american express card, which they had sent us, unasked, and which we never used. I opened  a card with our bank, which does give cash back, and is easier to pay online.
I had my first bike rode for about 4 months, about 3 miles, and immediately felt better.
This year my birthday was on Good Friday, so it was church in the morning, a walk after lunch. the family came round for cake and candles, and we later went for a meal in a nearby village. It was all very nice with prompt service. Scallops, sea bass, then creme brulee for me, sticky toffee pudding for him. Sadly I had to put my pjs on when I got home as my skirt became too tight.
Our car insurance quote was way too high, so I went online again, got a much better deal, and another meerkat to boot. Simples

More Chester pics

More Chester pics:

sign from a clock in the cathedral

Baby elephant

camels

Monorail

Part of the Islands project

Lioness

Penguin seen in observation pool

March musings

On the Sunday evening at the hotel,we had sandwiches via room service. They were quite substantial and filling, but there was a hefty charge to deliver them. I asked husband if he minded watching 'Call the Midwife' live, so we did that, then left the room TV on. Something followed that had Tom Hollander and Hugh Laurie in it, but we couldn't make head or tail of it so switched it off. I later heard it was hugely popular. Something about a Manager, I think.
We went to bed, but there still seemed to be a lot of noise, and all of the doors seemed to close with a bang. Not the best night's sleep we've ever had. Next morning we found breakfast was in the Conservatory, which seemed to have a plastic outer wall, and there was quite draught round the ankles. I was disappointed to see that it was all self service. The decaff was in sachets, and I had to just add hot water. For the price we were paying I had expected table service at least for the cooked part.
Breakfast over, we headed off to the City Centre,and parked on a car park our Son had shown us last summer. It is however now more expensive to park there. Husband wanted to visit the bike shop, where our Son had bought a bike whilst at uni. Husband had been saving up for a while. I headed for M&S. I was so cold that I bought a scarf,and 2 pairs of thick tights! During those 2 days in Chester, we had the works. Sun, rain, hail, wind sleet and snow, but not all at once I hasten to add.
I met up with husband again, and we set off, up the steps by the Eastgate, and on to the walls starting off going towards the Northgate.  It was interesting to see how much has changed since I lived there. Husband isn't keen on steps,and by the time we got round to the river, he decided it was lunchtime.
We couldn't find anywhere in the Groves,so went back to a small place at the bottom of Bridge Street.
Replete, husband headed off to try the bike they had been assembling for him, and I wandered around before meeting him. We had decided to go to the Cathedral, I hadn't been there for years, I had forgotten how massive it was inside, of course it was originally part monastery, there were a lot of monks in old Chester, and some of the streets echo this, such as White Friars, and Black Friars. We didn't see it all, were feeling somewhat footsore, my back ached from the hotel bed, so we in the made our way to the small cafe, and had a drink before leaving. I walked slowly back to the car, and husband headed to the bike shop to pay, with a promise to collect the bike on the Wednesday.

King Charles' tower

Race course or Roodee

Dee Bridge, the hand bridge

 Dinner that evening was in the Conservatory part of the Restaurant. It was quite chilly in there, rain slid relentlessly down the plastic wall, The meal was reasonable, but I forgot to take notes of what we ate.
The next day we were off to Chester Zoo. I had donned thick tights under trousers,and wore the new scarf and gloves, which I had remembered to pack. The entrance is not in the same place as I remember it from years ago, but we found our way around using the map provided. there were a couple of parties of school children, and quite a few other visitors, despite the cold. We used the monorail, and some self steering boats, round the new 'Islands' project, However there were bits that we couldn't find our way to, and I was left wondering if they still had any tigers. Later I discovered they were in a bit we couldn't fathom out how to reach. We had lunch in one of the small cafes, and resumed our wanderings, then decide we could walk no further, and headed back to the car. My fitbug recorded over 13,000 steps that day.
For dinner we had booked the Marco Pierre White restaurant, in the main building, which was once taken over by Western Command, after being a private residence.
There was only salmon as a choice for fish, so I ended up having lamb for my mains. The food was quite good, well presented, but the waitress could have done with a bit more training. 'You're' welcome' sounds much better than 'No problem' in response to thanks!
Next morning we checked out soon after breakfast, more sleet and snow,and drove into the City, where husband fixed the bike rack on the car, and collected his shiny new bike. Then we drove to Sandbach, let ourselves in Son's house, as they had an appointment. Had a quick drink, petted Tom for a while, and unloaded the bike and left it at Son's house.
Will post some zoo pictures separately. I will also catch up on the rest of March.

Frustrating February

Wow, 2 posts on 2 days, but I have a lot to catch up on. In some ways February continued much as January was, we coughed and coughed, we felt exhausted. There were some sunny days but as far as I can remember more rain than sun.
On one of our trips to Sainsbury's husband had found a cheap Fitbug, and spent so much time talking about it, and upping his exercise, that I decided I might quite like one. Sainsbury's had sold out,but he found me one online, so I started recording my activity too, Unfortunately the wrist straps were not very stable, so I started clipping mine on my waistband. Husband didn't and lost his, but eventually replaced it with a Garmin.
I still didn't cycle, really not up to it, too wheezy, but I did walk a lot, and to relax I used some of the colouring books I had bought. I also continued with the knitting of the baby jackets as the due date was about the middle of Feb. Suddenly the knitting was finished, but no sign of the baby.
On Shrove Tuesday we both managed to eat 3 pancakes, although the first 2 were quite thin.
One day, I was cleaning some condensation off the bedroom window, and wiped away a bit of mould. Then I remembered that when we decorated last year I hadn't had time to paint the windowsill, so made that my priority.

one of the colouring book pictures

Our neighbour informed us that some of the wooden fascia under the gutters was coming away. So I got someone out to look at it and asked for a quote to have it replaced with coated UPVC. We decided to have the gutters replaced too.  I forgot to mention, that just before we became ill with the virus, at New Year we went over to Furniture Village in Watford, to look for some new dining chairs. we found some really solid well made Nathan chairs, and whilst we were there, husband decided we may as well have a matching dining table, These arrived in the middle of February, but the new table isn't drop leaf, so takes up more room than the old. The old stuff was moved up to the spare garage which we rent, with the view to taking the chairs to the dump. The table we had no problems with, so we offered it to family, but no one has said that they want it yet.
There was still no sign of the baby, but I had requested that I be told, day or night, when anything happened. I got a text late on the 22nd to say things may be getting underway. I went to bed expecting to hear in the morning, but was awoken by a text at 3.24 am,announcing the arrival of Elise Naomi born at 12.56 am weighing 7lb 11 oz. so it was quite a quick delivery,and I discovered later that Daughter in Law had decided on a home birth, Obviously she was quite relaxed.
I had been filling in a Lasting Power of Attorney, online, and got that completed. It's a thing which I have been meaning to do for a while. If I were incapacitated by an illness, and couldn't make my wishes known, my husband would be unable to sell the house if he needed to. So it's a good thing to have as others can make decisions for me if necessary. Mum in law was doing one, but she changed her mind about the service provider and went to a local solicitor, but I don't think she has finished it yet.
We had decided to visit Chester for our anniversary this year, and do touristy things. Little did I know husband had additional plans! We booked a hotel, I don't know much about Chester hotels these days. We wouldn't normally travel on a Sunday, but we decided to. We had stuff for the family, gifts and a couple of meals, for when they didn't feel like cooking form scratch, so we met baby Elise when she was about 5 days old. Ethan was full of energy, stopping now and then to have a mini assisted cuddle with 'a leaf' as he called her. We spent a couple of hours with them, then made arrangements to call on the way back, as we had someone else to visit nearby.
We checked in at the hotel on the outskirts of Chester later. It seemed very busy, but our room was on the ground floor, Disappointingly, despite the high price, the room was no bigger than a premier inn room, although vastly more expensive.

Chester town hall

Joyless January

All my Phaeleonopsis  orchids were in flower, which brightened up the kitchen

Hmm, it's getting a bit hard to remember much of what happened, but here goes. The unexpected Christmas visitors departed on 27th Dec, and Grandma was taken home a couple of days later. She didn't seem to know when she wanted to go home, but as husband had no desire to travel at the busiest time, in the end he had the final say. He returned home the same day.
It's just as well that Mum in law went home, as a couple of days later husband had the sniffles, and developed a dry hacking cough. A few days later I also developed this dry hacking cough. we were both quite wheezy, and I had to up my inhaler use, which of course made my heart pound.
The weather remained mild and wet, and the radiators eventually came on and stayed on at the beginning of January. We managed to get out for a walk most days, but were exhausted when we got back, it was so mild that our first snowdrop appeared in the garden on Jan 4th, everything else looked as if it would flower early.

a walk along the canal

Husband slept downstairs in the armchair for several days, with  a blanket,and I had to find the right position to sleep so that I didn't cough all night. I went to my CBT session, I had been told we would look at how to apply the techniques I had learned, but when she saw from the weekly questionaire that I hadn't been anxious for a while, she decided to discharge me.
To cheer us up, I booked us a Summer holiday. The weather did go colder, and we actually had one frost, and on our Sons birthday, 17th Jan it actually snowed.
We also had a dental check up that month,and the dentist broke the news that he could not put a new crown on one of my upper molars, as the root of the tooth was split.
Husband carried on with his cooking experiments, filling my freezer with pies and meat puddings, and I ate the usual soups, but didn't have the energy to make my own.
I decided it was about time I went for my asthma check, and the nurse expressed concern at how low my peak flow had dropped. I explained about the Beta Blockers and she suggested seeing the GP and asking to come off them. I said it wasn't as simple as that,as I'd tried most remedies and had bad side effects. She also told me that the hacking cough was a virus, which could last up to 10 weeks, loads of people had it, including one of the other nurses, and in some cases it would subside then come back. Oh joy, as if January wasn't a bad enough month already!
I went to Watford, looking for a new handbag to spend some Christmas money on. No joy there. Most of the bag shops have disappeared, and the lady who had a stall in our shopping centre retired. So again I had to resort to shopping online, but I found a lovely bag, very roomy, loads of pockets for glasses, purse mobile etc. the only snag is I often struggle to find something that I know is in there!
We also went to two funerals in the latter half of January, both men from our old church in St Albans, both named John, but two very different characters. The first one was a larger than life character, full of fun and energy, quite outspoken, but lovely. His wife had died a few years ago, so I don't suppose he would be too unhappy at being reunited with her. The second John was a university professor before retiring, very intelligent, with a lovely nature, so it had been quite distressing for his wife and family when he descended into the fog of Alzheimer's. His wife and family were very welcoming at the reception after the service, and the radiance of their faith shone through. We were both just about recovered enough to sing the lovely rousing hymns at the services. It was good to have fellowship with old friends too and catch up with their news.
There were no bike rides in January, the towpath was full of muddy puddles, and we simply were not up to it, I was so glad to see January go.

Delayed December post

We started December by paying a visit to the big family run garden centre on the St Albans bypass. I had suggested we went out for lunch. However we hadn't had the radio on, and as we approached the old M10, realised that there was a huge traffic jam. We discovered via 3 counties radio, that a rubbish lorry had overturned on the M25, shedding its load. As we sat waiting for the traffic to move, I began to practice some of the things I had learned on how to deal with anxiety. We were in a situation that I could not have foreseen, or avoided, so I had to breathe deeply, and think. We were not alone in being inconvenienced, the cafe would not have run out of food, and we would appreciate it more for being that bit hungrier. Then my phone rang. It was my CBT counsellor, who was very apologetic about the no show, but her explanation didn't exactly fill me with confidence. She proceeded to book me another appointment. The garden centre had their usual Children's Christmas display.

Most of December was taken up with card writing, letter writing, printing and posting. I also did some knitting for the expected new arrival. I went Christmas shopping only once. I went to Watford for 3 items, and came home with 1. Within an hour of getting home, I had been online and ordered the other 2 items. The high Street retailers cannot complain if they lose business, when they do not stock what people want to buy.
I also continued with the CBT, although the Counsellor informed me she would not be working over Christmas, so that was one less thing to take up time. I attended Lydia's nursery concert with her mum, and we both went to Nathaniel's nativity play. He was a narrator this time, but was daydreaming and needed to be prompted.
We went to the other garden centre to find a Christmas tree as our 4 year old tree had shed its needles after a particularly dry Spring. Hard to believe when in December it rained and rained, but was so mild that the heating didn't come on. Nothing like the 'long range forecast of snow and ice', why do they bother?
The family had their usual trip to London, which meant a visit from Son, Daughter in law and toddler Ethan, not forgetting Tom who was as affectionate as ever. He does have sharp elbows when he sneaks up for a cuddle. We sorted out Son's old room for Ethan to sleep in, but in the end Son slept in there. They took their Christmas presents home with them, as they had already said they were not coming for Christmas.
Husband duly collected his Mum, we'd done a quick change from 5 ft bed to 2ft 6, by unzipping the mattress, collapsing one base and sliding those into the space underneath.   We had our church carol service on the Sunday before Christmas, but Mum in Law decided against coming. She doesn't often go to an evening service these days, but at her age she can be forgiven. The carol service is for me one of the highlights of Christmas.
 Eventually everything was ready, gifts wrapped, stockings sorted. We were going to our Daughter's on Christmas Day. They came to our service, as there was no service at their church plant, and the main church is always packed on Christmas morning, as families come home, and grown up offspring go with their parents, and grandchildren.
We went to church first then came home,and gathered gifts etc. and husband changed out of his suit. Gift opening took place after lunch, and everyone seemed pleased with their gifts. The children were playing, when at about 5pm, there came a knock at the door, Daughter was behaving strangely. I wondered who could be calling on Christmas Day? Daughter opened the door and in came Son, Daughter in law, Ethan and Tom! They had discovered that neither of them had to work on Boxing Day, so had booked a local travel inn. Daughter was in on the secret. Well it just made my Christmas complete. Later there was much hilarity as the children helped put up a toy tent that Lydia had received, and they all crowded in, when Tom got in as well, the whole structure was leaning to one side.

Tom joins the fun

Tom stayed with us, their visit meant a bit of shopping to top up food supplies, but that was no problem.  Grandma enjoyed seeing the family too.

Notes on November

A few days ago, I had someone enquire about my blog. I haven't felt very motivated at all since being on beta blockers, they really slow me down, however I decided it's time to shake off dull sloth and joyful rise, to quote from a well known hymn, and deliver the goods.
We started November with  a visit to Coombe Hill. This has become a bit of an annual trip for us. Although we have previously been on Oct 31st. The day started misty, and we drove over to the garden centre at World's End and had lunch, and had a good look around, not buying much. They had their potted Christmas trees in, but I decided it was a bit too early to buy one.

The mist had lifted whilst we were in the garden centre, so we drove up to Coombe Hill, parked and began our walk. It was quite a contrast from the previous year, and we found that nature had been decorating for us. However when we reached the monument, we looked around; Aylesbury could not be seen, nor the clump of trees, which I nicknamed an Entmoot, and Chequers was completely cloaked.

long shadows and rolling mist

No view here

Even as we stood there trying to spot familiar landmarks, we could see the strange, smoke like wisps beginning to curl and coil around the hillside. It was coming back. We decided to go back to the car, but husband took a different route, it was a bit eerie, wondering how soon we would be engulfed, but all was well, we reunited at the car, and by the time we drove into the valley, we needed lights on the car.
At the beginning of the month, I had my first CBT session, I had received a reading list and bought a couple of books on anxiety, so was beginning to get clued up. The appointment was in St Albans, and I drove there somewhat apprehensively. I managed to miss the turning for our usual car park, and so decided to head for the one near where our Daughter works. I suddenly spotted one at the side of the road, and being too late to use auto park, I began manouevering into the space, only to have a woman banging on my window yelling at me. She said I was touching her car. I backed up, and got out, and she was gesticulating, shouting and attempting to photograph my number plate. I calmly pointed out that there was no damage to her car, and she said 'We'll see what the garage has to say about that' I also said that there was no damage to my car, and she pointed out the tiniest speck of white that was nowhere near the point of impact. That speck brushed off later. I explained that I was in  a hurry but gave her my name address and telephone number, and she left me alone. I realised I needed to pay, and dashed back to the machine. Then I hurried off to find the building with the blue door off the main street. A helpful young man accompanied me, when I asked him whether I was heading the right way through a short cut.
I made it on time, but because of that incident, felt very close to tears. The counsellor came in, introduced herself, then I had to tell my story of the incidents with the hospital last summer, which had left me so anxious. I had to answer a lot of questions on a sheet to give an idea how anxious I was, then she said she wasn't sure whether she could treat me as I was a 'medical anxiety case'. She was going on holiday,and would consult her boss and let me know.
I left, and wandered over to Smiths, the newsagents. I had bought a colouring book and some coloured pencils, and I wanted a new pencil sharpener, I needed a new calculator, and some Pritt sticks, so I spent some time browsing, so much so that when a lady came up the stairs and bemoaned the lack of staff up there, I was able to direct her to the stuff on making a lasting power of attorney, which is something I have been meaning to do, especially since the young medics had been terrifying me with threats of strokes at the hospital, my own GP was more circumspect. Thankfully I never did hear from the woman whose car I nudged, so whether she ever consulted the garage I will never know.
Women's hour had their usual Christian bookstall. I arrived at about lunchtime, found some books for the children as Christmas gifts, more Christmas cards, a couple of odds and ends for Mum in Law's stocking, and a Christian adult colouring book for me. They managed to find me some decaff coffee, I had taken a jar of Nestle's Alta Rica, but it has been discontinued.  I did consider staling it back. At one point we had about 4 different jars of decaff in our kitchen as I tried to find a decent replacement, most decaff tastes like stewed cardboard.

Colouring book

In the second week of November, we visited Mum in law. We had our usual trip into Eastbourne, but she gets tired quickly, lunch was in C&H, and I bought wool and a pattern for baby jackets. The next day we went int Bexhill, had lunch there and Mum in law astounded us by asking for a sausage panini, She ate half, and they gave her a doggy bag for the rest. I picked up more cards at the Christian bookstall.
The next day, whilst wandering round some shops in the village, I discovered a little wool shop,and bought wool for a second jacket.
That month we managed one bike ride I think, but it began to rain so we had to head back. The weather was so mild that our heating didn't properly come on for ages. One day, we looked after Lydia as her Mum had to go in early for a meeting, and Lydia was too poorly for nursery, however it was just a few hours. I had notification of a meeting with a new counsellor, which fortunately was in our town. It was short notice, but I went, and wondered why they are renting rooms for counselling in huge building, when there are lots of rooms available in our boarded up hospital. Nature is beginning to take over in parts, no wonder the NHS is practically bankrupt when they expand hospitals then close them. I went through all the same procedure, she talked about various things then said 'Same tine next week?' Only the next week I was there and she wasn't, and no one had a clue where she was, very strange. We also fitted in a visit to our local garden centre that month, though I can't remember why.

November sunset