Keeping it real

Whenever we are heading to middle England we go the pretty way and head up to Ross on Wye and then strike out across country. If we plan it right we get to stop at Jo's in Whitchurch, just by the turnoff that can take you to the Hedge Puzzle and Butterfly farm. Every table has a different cruet and as I was looking for a picture for this week and needed something to smile at I thought I would share what was on our table the last time we went.

Mr M frightened me on Friday by falling out of bed - again. He hit his face and arm on the bedside cabinet - again - and grazed his knee on the carpet. We don't know why he did this because we were both sound asleep until he hit the floor. Going from deep sleep to wide awake and struggling to get out to rush and help is quite an experience, but not one I would wish upon anyone. He had arthritis in both knees and his right shoulder so falling out of bed was the easy part. He can't kneel because it is so painful and he couldn't use his right arm to lever himself up. What followed was the most awful five minutes of our joint lives and we were both sobbing by the time he was sitting on the bed again. We have now acquired a side bar thing for the bed that should at least wake him and give him chance to stop himself falling.

When he took himself downstairs to make a cuppa he discovered that he had ripped his toenail off his little toe, just to add to the misery. I was useless at dealing with it and it was fortunate that his chiropody appointment was for Saturday so the lovely lady cleaned and dressed it for him.

We had a long talk about our general health and fitness and decided that we both need to lose weight urgently if only so we can pick each other up when we fall.

What surprised me most was how shaken I was. I could feel myself actually shaking the next morning and the tremors were still there on Sunday. Did we feel like going out as usual? No we didn't and when it was bed time I was reluctant to go and when I asked Mr M if he was afraid to go to bed he said "A bit".

Tonight we use the side bar and see if this gives us more confidence. Do you know I think this is what aging (rather than getting old) does to you. It saps your confidence. I know I am more careful when I am walking about because I know my reflexes are so much slower and if I lose my balance it takes just that fraction longer for my body to react. That fraction is the difference between wobbling a bit and ending up on the floor.

"Every decade brings its own reward" is something my granny used to say and I am beginning to hate that she kept harping on about it! Tomorrow I will be in a new decade I just hope things don't get to rewarding

Just keeping it real

Lovely colour!

 This is the old kitchen and the colour of the walls stayed the same after the new one was put in. Why? because we were both sick of other people in the house so we put off changing it

Now we have had the ceiling done white and the little bit of walls that can be seen is something called Tropical Lemon. We think it is lovely. so light, and it kind of glows and makes the kitchen look great. Now we have to think about moving the three tons of "stuff" in the breakfast room bit so we can get that done too - sigh.

Another week of hurry-up and wait

Sometimes you get as few days when lots of things could happen ... but they don't. That's how last week seemed to be.
Youngest Son has a new job because his old one disappeared. He now works delivering stuff for Currys/Dixons/PCWorld. He has been strained in the art of installation and given the uniform - the polo shirts are a dirty pinky colour and the hooded top is a dirty grey - lovely!

Mr M has seen the sleep clinic advisor and will be collecting some form of machinery next week to help him sleep better. One thing that was confirmed is that he doesn't - DOES NOT - have sleep apnea so that means I can sleep without worry.

The really nice decorators have been and estimated and they will be painting the visible bits of wall and ceiling in the kitchen and the skirtings and door in the bathroom - so it will only have taken a year to complete them! Woooooo!

We went to Costco on Saturday. This is not something anyone should do by choice. The world and his wife were there with their children, and they were all in front of us in every aisle. We bought a few Christmas presents and lots of things we found we desperately needed - that always happens in Costco. I will be making Lemon Curd tomorrow and we now have bacon for special breakfasts at the weekend.

DD arrived on Saturday to cut Mr M's hair. He claimed he had to keep blowing it out of his eyes it was so long. He might have been exaggerating a little as his hair never gets to more than half an inch long EVER. She brought with her a little gift for us. Pictures! A fabulous picture of Miss Boo and her big brother. He came down to see us and to go to London with his Dad to get his Visa for Japan. He is going there to study for a year as part of his degree!

Two lovely pictures from the birthday one of Miss Boo with her cousins and then one with Eldest son surrounded by his children - and Miss Boo because Little M refused to have his picture taken without her. Big M looked rather splendid with his beard and Miss K looked happy and as though life is treating her well.

When I have scanned the pictures I will share them.

What Have I watched on TV? Long Lost Family, Who Do You Think You Are? and Victoria. Oh and a strange programme on catch-up called "Out of Thin Air" about some murders in Iceland. I tried to watch a programme called American Ripper about a man who was America's first serial killer and his great grandson thinks he was also Jack the Ripper. I say tried because three times I put the first episode on and three times I woke up as the credits rolled.

That's it for this week - more family history stuff has been done and the newsletter has gone out. If any family member hasn't received it then send me your email address and I will send it.

"Let me explain..."

"No it will take too long, let me sum up ..." Inego Montoya. The Princess Bride

I deliberately decided that I would take a break from blogging. I was struggling to write happy and life was swirling around me and I didn't want to miss a single second. The break was great for a few weeks and then the itch to write started again. I had secretly promised myself to start again with the new school term so the itch was so great I wrote other stuff instead. I'll tell more in my next blog. For now let me just sum up my summer.

 We took Wicked Uncle Cliff up to the top of the hill for dinner with Lady Bluefunnel. She texted and said "Dinner here, Sunday?" I replied that Cliff was staying and she said "Bring him" so we did. I don't know what he expected but what he got was a full Sunday dinner with trimmings AND the sight of Mr M in his own personal bib. You see Mr M likes his gravy but he always get Dinner Medals down his chest when he eats it so Lady B has a bib especially for him. And talking of Mr M

 He cut his face on the bedside cabinet when he fell out of bed! I won't draw too graphic a picture but let me try to give you some idea of how difficult if was for him to hurt his left cheek when he sleeps on the side of the bed where the cabinet is on his right side - when he lies on his back. There was an almighty thump (this woke YS who sleeps at the back of the house) and then the sound of groaning and the occasional sob. I peered through the darkness to see a forlorn white face peeking over the side of the bed, tears running down and mingling with the blood from his wound. Getting someone with arthritis in his knees off the floor and back into bed is a bit difficult. He also bruised both arms so I think he was trying to Riverdance in bed.

 We got YS to take this picture because my Grandson Raeffe was visiting before he goes off to Japan for a year to study. We are so proud of him. He has worked hard for the last two years in Uni to get the marks in the exams so he could do this year in Japan. He has wanted this since he was quite young, so seeing someone so determined get to achieve a goal is really very special - just like him. I have to smile at the faces. I seem to be most disapproving but YS is using my camera and I am concentrating on keeping my mouth shut and not trying to explain because I know that as soon as I speak he will click and I will be in the picture with my mouth open like a fish

 We went out shopping and because of a ditherer in front of us we turned off and ended up going through the Elan Valley. It is quite lovely but I seemed to be on the side of the car with the long drop. I don't do heights very well so when we came out the other side I was very glad to hear Mr M say "We've done that now, never have to do that again"

 We ended up in Devil's Bridge. Not bad when we were going five miles up the road to buy groceries. We had a cuppa, Mr M got stung by a wasp. He always takes the hit for me. I am deadly allergic to wasp stings, last time I had to have injections to stop the reaction so I am always careful. He wasn't even anywhere close because I had gone to get pictures of the engine. The nasty, evil little stinger just stung him on his elbow.

 There was a birthday. One with a zero so a bit special. Eldest Son came down from North Wales with Jane, his lovely wife and their three children and we all - Darling Daughter, Favourite Son-in-Law, Miss Boo, Youngest Son and his lovely lady Helen and her two children, Young M and Miss Kezzy, who are Eldest Son's children from his first marriage and Mr M and me - so 16 of us went out for a meal. I was overcome by the heat and Mr M had to bring me home. This meant that NOT ONE person took a picture of the cake. DD had made it in the shape of Francis Rossi's guitar (if you're not a Status Quo fan this will mean nothing) They all came back to our house and the birthday boy opened his presents

Mr M and I had been collecting small daft things for about a year. Every one was individually wrapped and put into one of those plastic storage boxes. Our aim is that in 20 years time everyone will remember the fun of watching him open all the gifts even if we can't remember what they were. We did it for his sister when she reached the same milestone and she said it was the most memorable thing. He thoroughly enjoyed it and so did the youngest of his children who at 18 months thought it was HUGE fun to keep dipping into the box and bringing out another parcel for Daddy to open. She did help him get started on a couple. I intend making an album of all the pictures and giving it to
So, that's my summer, well some of it. I'll skip over the tomato blight on the biggest crop of tomatoes EVER, and the failure of the bean crop and my inability to do what I want to in my garden because I no longer have the strength. I will talk more next time.