General Chat

Good morning. A sobering thought just crossed my mind.

You've me winge about my problems since contacting a

Healthcare Acquired Infection following surgery to my

left leg. It's nearly eight years since the injury, so Iv'e

survived, A friend off mine's Mother fell and broke her hip.

Following surgery in same Hospital she too was infected,

she died in the Hospital.

Morning!!!
I am wide awake.The rain is pelting down and Thomas was on the range wanting out and being a pain.So I got up showed him the open back door.One look had him back in with a very miffed look.So I am now having a cuppa with Thomas curled up beside me.Just hope he stays there now.
I hope everyone is fast asleep still.
I was so tired when I got back from the hospital yesterday I had to have a snooze.I think it was just that it had been 3 long trips there for everything that did it. It now I shall see if I can get a few more zzzzz in .3

Vera the op on my wrist will be actually be six inches above my wrist bone. I don’t think it will affect the use of my arm much, it is my left arm and I am right handed. When it comes to the cream on my back that will be uncomfortable as there are five places to be treated and the cream can make the
Laces react so they are like cold sores

I had a chuckle about the book and the bath. I trust it has dried out ok.

Annx I hope you have a good nights sleep tonight. We have to be up early tomorrow as the barge boards are being done at 0900. We have already used him again and I will certainly keep his number.

It’s always sad to hear of the death in action of men like your Uncle Ralph, David. The older I get the more I realise how very young many of them were. I have grandchildren in that age group now and can just imagine how I would feel if it were my grandson going off to war and not returning.

His brother, my uncle George also was in the RN WWII

He survived the war and went on tp become a brick layer.

Om this day in 1923 my maternal uncle Ralph Atkinson was born.

On 17/2/1945 he was killed in action WWII

He was stoker first class on Flower class Corvette Bluebell (K80)

His ship was escorting Russian Convoys. Torpedoed by U-117

He perished along with his ship mates.

That's good you are all labelled and stacked Mel. Your Victorian couple sounded good so It's a shame the moths got to them. We seem to have escaped the rain today, just quite chilly.

Vera I told OH about your bath and the book episode. He is very 'precious' about his books and grinned and pointed to the front door saying my bags would be packed and I would be 'out' if it ever happened to his books!! lol I don't think I can have read as far as the 'aged skin' instruction on the Deep Heat. I was only asking the ladies this morning 'at what age do we become elderly?' No-one was any wiser than me. Another thing that puzzles me is the '8 glasses of water a day' they talk about. Means absolutely nothing if you don't know what size glasses does it?

I'm off to bed now as I'm too shattered to do anything. OH will be away early in the morning to Lincoln so I shall have a day where I will hopefully get twice as much done. There's certainly plenty needing doing. :-S I hope everyone gets plenty of ZZZZZZZ tonight!

Bookcase is in place and I have labaled all my boxes and they are on the top shelf for easy access.

Laughed Vera about the book. That soon took the smile of his face.

Shame your weather has turned horrid Mel. It’s still bright sunshine and blue skies here, though the wind is cold. The duvet cover dried quickly and smells very “fresh”. I hope you haven’t got a cold coming and feel better again soon.

It sounds as though you have struck gold with your workman AnninG. You must be pleased. Will your op and stitches be on your right or left wrist? I hope it doesn’t prove to be much of a problem for you. We both have our 6 months check up at the dentist on 26th so I’ll be thinking of you while I’m lying back in the dentist’s chair.

If your doctor knew 3 weeks ago that you were low on vit D, Frank, I wonder why she didn’t give you a prescription there and then. I had a similar thing some months ago. Blood tests showed I was very low on vit D, so my doctor called me in and prescribed 40,000 units a day for 2 weeks. When I got the tabs each one was 20,000 units and I had 2 a day. The leaflet with them said the normal dose was 1 tablet a week!! I should have been swinging from the chandeliers :-D. I now have a maintenance dose of 2000 units a day. Our docs try to save the NHS money where they can so I was asked if I would be able to buy these myself. I agreed to do this but they would have prescribed them if I said I couldn’t afford it. If you need to buy any Frank go online to Healthspan. I find them very efficient and reliable and usually a bit cheaper as they are based in Guernsey. If you take any of their supplements regularly they have a subscription service which saves another pound or two. I get Omega 3 oil capsules for both of us and Selenium and Vitamin D tablets for me from them.

That’s a lovely little picture Ann. Is that really your first attempt at appliqué? If so, your 21st attempt will be out of this world :-). The Deep Heat patches do say something like “apply to clean, dry skin” but they also say “on delicate or ageing skin apply over clothing”. I think I definitely count as ageing, if not positively aged lol

When I had a bath yesterday I took a book with me. I didn’t have my glasses on in the bath so I tilted the book a bit to read it more easily and managed to dip the two bottom corners in the water. When I came downstairs I put it to dry off in a hall cupboard that has pipes and valves for the underfloor heating, so gets warm. OH saw it this morning and asked me what a book was doing in the cupboard so I explained. He thought it very funny but I soon wiped the smile off his face. It was one of his books lol

OH is supposed to be reading now but I’ve just glanced across at him and he appears to be reading the back of his eyelids. The book’s on his lap and his chin’s on his chest. Time to wake him with a cup of tea I think.

We had an enomous pasty for lunch between us.

The weather has turned really nasty now with grey sky and it been raining for about an hour. I washed to knee blankets this morning hoping they would dry but they hav'nt.

Nice work on the picture Ann. You will have to find somewhere to hang that as its so good. I did mine on a light peach felt background. It was a victorian gentleman with his top hat held in one hand by his waist and his cane in the other hand. He was wearing a brown felt long tailed coat and grey felt trousers with black felt shoes. She was wearing a shot silk dress with a bustle in burnt orange and green with green lace around the hem. Big leg of mutton sleeves with lace cuffs and holding a furled umbrella also matching the gown with lace trim. and bonnet of the same fabric. They were sort of back views so no faces to do. The blimmin moths got in it though and ate great holes in it so I threw it away. None of it was stitched it was all glued. Then I started a mushroom house picture but did'nt finish that. I think some of it is still in the old felt box. I had cut out the red roof and the white house bit and made the round windows with latice work across them. It was backed on scrim and had ivy leaves above it. It was in an old bok I have somewhere. If I find it I will send a pic of it.

Sorry you did'nt get much sleep Frank and Vera o and Ann. Perhaps tonight will be better I hope.

I think I may have caught another cold. I keep sneezing and bowing my nose and I am having coughing fits. I feel very cold too.

Love to Gill if she looks in and hope she has heard fro Sandra if Michelle has bought her a phone.

sorry Frank, I missed you there. oh dear another sleepless night. Hope you have a better night tonight. Your brain is obviously over active as soon as you get into bed.
That was not very thoughtful of your doctor to wake you by ringing at that time. a lot of older people wake up later than that.

Annx loved the picture, so neat and pretty.

You may have missed seeing that I have an appointment to remove the BCC on my wrist on 26 February. That one will need stitches apparently.

The ones being treated with Aldara cream will be done after I have had that op and will take 6 weeks. sometimes the cream works, sometimes not. Apparently it can make you feel fluey. I don't remember it doing so before.

Well he was 15 minutes early, flashing replaced, leaks fixed and outside roof glass cleaned. He is very pleasant, very accommodating and appears to be hungry for work. tomorrow morning he is coming to replace the front barge boards (we have had two people say they will do them and then not even given an estimate and never came back.) Barge boards including the materials will be £200 which as that involves two men and tall ladders we are happy to pay.

He is booked up the next two weeks but will then hopefully be able to replace the glass in the patio door. He says he can't understand people turning down work. He used to live in Exeter and his mate lives there, he used to run a business with him so he is going back down there to do a job with him. It is payment by cash or bank transfer but he does give a receipt so I don't think it is tax avoiding. So we are pleased with that

Afternoon to all you lovely people.

I see you have all been busy in your own ways, shopping, washing, cleaning etc.

I stayed up until 10.30 last night, was out to the lounge at 11.45 I just couldn't drop off. Ros was just going to bed, so she turned off all the side lights, and just left one by the lounge door for me to turn off. I sat and watched some RUBBISH on the tele till 2.30 and crept back to bed, without disturbing madam.

We were woken up by a Telephone Call from the Doctor at 8.15. regarding my blood tests.I am short on vitamin "D" which she told me about 3 weeks ago, Ros bought some tablets, which I have been taking. The doctor is prescribing a much stronger dose, so as to give me a boost.

Ros has been ironing all morning, from the washes she did yesterday. I have prepared a chicken casserole, that is sitting on the side, ready to go in later. I have also done the potatoes, and made a Rice pudding. So I have nothing more to do till later this afternoon.

I also wonder how Gill's OH got on with his interview. I hope he got the position he wanted, also I am also thinking of Sandra, and hope things are going in the right direction.

I see Jane has tea and biscuits, and a Tele, to keep her company. She should be finished by now, and be on her way home. Thinking of you my love.

We have a clothes line that goes from the Garage to the LAMP POST (old victorian one at the bottom of the garden) We also have a whirley one, that only gets used on rare occasions.

Well I think I have bored you all long enough today, so signing off. See you soon. xxxx

Afternoon All,

Nice and sunny here now but still quite chilly. I didn't have a good night, was awake right until 5.30am so only had 3 hours sleep. Then when I woke up at 8.30am I had to rush round to shower, wash my hair etc to be at class for 9.30am. Just what you don't need when you are stumbling around half asleep. :-S

Mel, the Deep Heat patches I use say to apply to clean, dry skin, but maybe yours are different. though. Have you got the furniture just where you want it in the lounge now? Today we made fabric flowers at class, although I only completed one, a suffolk puff I think the teacher called it. Some made a rose and others did tulips and chrysanthemums. A friend did tiny suffolk puffs she was going to stick on hair slides for a little girl. I wondered whether whether I should make a second one to match mine and maybe stick a tassel on each? :-D lol. Wouldn't that be a Valentine surprise for OH, but it would only send him into a bad coughing fit !!

Vera my OH hangs washing any old how, despite me explaining the drawbacks with his methods. The only thing that he took notice of was me telling him to put tops, shirts and t shirts on hangers and double peg those on the line and they may not need ironing, which he usually does so he saw the advantage in that!

It's good having a telly in your room Jane. I know when I was in hospital you could lose yourself in progs for a while and it helped the time pass.

I couldn't see anything on Frank's email and clicking on the attachment just showed a tiny pic of a logo. :-S

AnnG that was good to gain some shelf space and I'm not surprised you soon filled it!. I hope they soon get you an appointment to remove your BCC so it's healed up before your hols.

I will send the pic of my applique now.

Good afternoon Vera and Mel. Man is not due until 1.30 but it is dry and the sun is shining.

Sorry you didn't get a good sleep Vera, maybe you are tense in case you make your back hurt when in bed.

I am certainly not tall, 5 foot 2.5 inches. So it is the opposite problem for me. M&S short trousers are too short for me as I have long legs and short trunk. Waist is always in the wrong place. M&S regular or medium trousers usually fit although a bit long sometimes. I can usually get tops that fit although do tend to vary between 16 and 18 if it is a tight fitting top (40C bra fitting)

Just back from the doctors to have the BCC on my wrist looked at. Very nice female doctor who will remove the BCC on 26 February! This is one that needs quite a large cut so stitches. (And probably a keloid scar.)

Not only that she made me strip off so she could look at my back and check for potential BCCs and found another 5!!!!! But I am very surprised as she wants to try Aldara cream on those so I will be doing that after she has done the wrist one. Aldara cream takes 6 weeks and I was told at the hospital that they wouldn't prescribe that any more about 5 years ago because it was too expensive. Chemist only had one pack but more coming tomorrow so can pick that up on Friday so have an IOU. The trouble with the back is you don't know they are there. And the other problem is that I can't do it myself so OH will have to do it for me. She drew round them all and he has photographed them. (not a pretty sight).

Oh well these things are sent to try us. She says they will just keep coming so have that to look forward to!

Morning Jane, morning all

It’s nice to have a room to yourself Jane, especially as you have a TV, otherwise it might seem a long day with no other patients to talk to.

It’s lovely that you got four tops that fit Ann. I wish I could enjoy a bit of retail therapy but I really hate shopping. I used to enjoy looking for bits for the grandchildren when they were little but I really detest shopping for me. I always get depressed as I can never find anything that I like and is a good fit. I do need to go out and try and get some new trousers, shirts and jumpers but I keep putting it off. One good thing these days is that they are making trouser legs and shirt sleeves longer. Am I the only tall lady on the thread?

I hope your man has turned up to fix your flashing AnninG. I think you said he was coming on Wednesday. I hope it’s dry down your way so he can get on with it.

It’s supposed to be dry here all day and at the moment it’s sunny and windy. I’ve had a king size duvet cover waiting to be washed for a couple of weeks so threw it in the machine this morning and OH hung it out for me. We have a rotary line that lives in the garage when not in use and slots into a hole in some paving outside the kitchen when we need it put up. I instructed OH to use plenty of pegs and to fold it in such a way that it wasn’t hanging too low and trailing on the small shrubs that are in pots round the area. Well, you should just see it. It’s pegged with one side of the duvet on the lowest bit of line and another side on the highest bit so it’s hanging like a sort of giant hammock. Every time a gust of wind catches it, it billows up into the air like a great galleon sail. I can see the whole thing taking off and sailing away soon :-). Why can’t men seem to see the simplest way of doing a job like hanging a duvet :-S? (I am sure that you are an exception Frank).

I hope you are feeling a bit brighter this morning Frank and had a good night. I didn’t sleep as well as I expected last night, I was reading from about 2 am till 4, then dozed off till 6 and lay there till I heard the paper girl come around 7, then I got up. I’m going to put a heat pad on now in the hope that by mid afternoon it will be having a good effect. I want to be able to stand at the work surface and make a cake. I’ve got some over ripe bananas so I thought I would make a banana loaf.

I hope you are OK Gill and things are getting a little easier for you.

Morning all,

We have a bright sunny morning with lots of blue sky with occasional wispy clouds.

Jane its nice to have a telly to watch to pass the time. It must be so boring just in a room on your own. What did you bring to eat today?

We had very heavy hail showers last night which covered all our road so when I went to shut the big girls in it was like walking on gravel. It all lay on the gazebo roof and is still there this morning in piles on the floor.

Ann you should'nt put those patches on your skin you naughty girl.

Hope Vera's back is a bit better this morning and that she got a good amount of sleep last night.

Frank funny things you sent and like AnnG said some made me laugh out loud.

Good morning bright and cold here, early frost but gone now. Lovely moon last night...... snow moon apparently.
I have an appointment at 11.30 for a doc to look at the BCC on my wrist. She is the one at our surgery who does minor ops. As far as I know this is just to look at it :-S It usually takes a while before an op can be fitted in.

Mel, have you got all your stuff sorted.

As I share my 'craft room' with OH's TV room I have had to put up with him moving the TV and box etc around lately, yesterday was yet another altration. However although annoying because I have to vacate the room while he does it, I have gained shelf space as he needed to put in an extra shelf. Strangely it didn't take me long to fill the space:-D :-D

Annx Look forward to seeing the new picture, OK may be a first for you but I am pretty sure it is a lot better than I could do. When in my 20s/early 30s I belonged to a very young WI (I was treasurer actually), We used to have a table to sell stuff and I used to make wall hangings made of hessian hung on a stick like a parchment. The pictures were in felt and all of Magic Roundabout characters. Very basic and stuck on but they sold well, children loved them (easy tp please children then). I actually also use to make ponchos (children's) and other clothes on my knitting machine to sell.
The leaks will be fixed this afternoon. The weather is dry at the moment so hope it stays that way.

Jane you sound comfy so just relax in that chair and you will soon be home. Good to have a TV if you are on your own.

Morning All
The sun is shining and I hooked up once again.Yhis drip will run over 4 hours so I should be ready for home about 2.30
Am in a little room on my own at the moment and there is a tv which is nice.There is one more chair in here for another patient.

Ann that was a good idea yesterday to go and do some retail therapy like you used to do with your Sister.I was so surprised when you said it was a year since she passed away so suddenly.
I hope Vera that you managed to gat a decent night last night and that your back is less painful this morning.
Frank I hope you are feeling ok today .Fingers crossed Ros ‘s plants are safe after the fence panel landed on them.Hope Dennis will sort it out.You really shouldn’t be doing it.
A cup of tea and Bourbon biscuits has just arrived so I am going to enjoy that and watch This Morning
Hope Gill is ok <3

Just about to go to bed after finishing the craft applique and framing it! I would do a few things differently another time but it's how you learn isn't it. I See you have been setting out your new tables Mel. Best to get things in the best position before you add your craft stuff. Like you I keep most things in clear plastic boxes with labels on. It saves a lot of hunting doesn't it. I have 2 wooden billy bookcase type of CD storage size shelving that go floor to ceiling and have most of my beads stacked up on the shelves in those and also have baskets full of labelled smaller boxes on 3 shelves of a bigger bookcase. Doing other crafts means I need more storage really, but maybe with a clearout there will be room for what I need and you can't have everything for every craft or have time to do every craft, so I think I will stick mainly to 3.

Vera that was a lovely quote and summed up what I felt very well so thank you for putting it on the thread. I hope your back soon eases. I have always put the patches on my skin but they can get quite hot, so putting them over a long vest was a good idea. I find I get the best benefit after a few hours when they seem to help me move about better. A hot water bottle can help too, but you can't go out wearing that like you can a patch! :-D Enjoy being waited on!

We had a good day and OH is improving now with less coughing. It was bitterly cold in Nuneaton so we didn't hang around too long and OH had his scarf over his nose and mouth. It was a bit sobering to see even more homeless people than usual huddled under dirty duvets with cans and bottles of beer. It seems the more shops that close, the more people are on the streets. I did buy 4 tops though and they all fit and OH found himself a book in Waterstones to get for his birthday next month. We then got our free drinks in Debenhams with our Telegraph cards and, as he was feeling ok' we called at the Citroen Garage on the way back as he is interested in having another as a possibility.

Sorry you are so down Frank. Maybe a bit of sunshine is what's needed or longer on the new meds. I too hope Ros's plants were ok after that fence came down. Our neighbour's old fence was always falling our way and we ended up wedging a post against when it was windy to stop it wrecking our young shrubs.

Glad you had a nice birthday Mandy........did you have candles on your cake?? :-D :-D. It's not often there isn't room for puds so you must have had generous helpings and I could just fancy a chip or two now.

I hope your leaks have gone now AnnG. You'll be watching for them next time it rains. It's good when people turn up on time isn't it and do a good job at a reasonable price. I will send a pic of the framed applique tomorrow......don't expect too much as it's a first attempt. lol.

I wonder how Gill's OH got on today and hope Jane's appointment isn't too early in the morning.

Better go now as it's a 9.30am start for the craft course.