General Chat

Hi Mo, and everyone


Mo and Jean ....... it sounds as if both your friends had "happy" send-offs :-)


we got back late Saturday afternoon ............

....... it's amazing how tiring a 2 hour ferry ride, with a 20-30 minute drive on each side, can seem :-D

We did nothing but eat lunch, move to the deluxe comfortable coffee "shop" at the stern of the boat, go to the on-board shop (and spend money :-D ), knit and read! But we were both very tired when we got home!


We had a good time ........... we stayed with the friend whose husband died in May, but she invited the other friends for lunch or dinner, so we saw them all..

The weather was OK to good.

OH accompanied our friend on her morning walk each day, which made a change for her.


She really has adapted very well ........... misses her husband terribly of course, but is making determined efforts to get out and DO things. Not only has she continued to go to events, but she has even joined another committee of an organisation that interests her (music for children).



take care everyone




s
xx

Hi everyone, not been on for a while, what with having ' a few not so good days '
and trying to get the Christmas cards finished and birthday cards made I just don't know where the time has gone. I still have six more birthday cards left to make....I'll get there one day I'm sure.lol!!!


Jean, sorry to hear about the death of your friend Annie, I'm sure that you and J miss her very much. But glad to know that the celebration of her life went well. It certainly sounds as though she was a lovely lady. It's a shame that she hadn't lived longer in her new home.


Not yet sure what we are doing for Christmas, I know that Jennie and Michael will be here for Christmas lunch, but after that it's anyone's guess. I expect you are all looking forward to seeing C on his first Christmas. Bless him.!!



Mo, sounds as though you and Roly have been busy with the paint brushes and pads. I'm still waiting for Alun to paint our bedroom, goodness knows when that will be done...at the moment he only seems interested in working on his model railway layout.lol!!


Well done on making a start on writing your Christmas cards, that's something I need to make a start on. It's amazing how quick this year so far, has gone by, as you say it isn't long now until Christmas.


How is your friend Florence getting along? Has she started her treatment yet? Thinking about her and sending her lots of positive thoughts....I hope all will go well for her and the treatment will be a success.


Sylvia, I read on one of the threads that you were going away for a few days. Not sure if you are home yet, so if you are, hope that you had a great time.


Hope that you and your family are all alright. Are you and OH spending Christmas with your daughter and her family this year?



Ann, I see that both you and T have been painting your hall, stairs and landing. It will all look nice when they have fitted your new carpet tomorrow.

Have you managed to pack any pesents and write any Christmas cards yet.

I have packed some presents but still got quite a lot left to pack, hoping to do some tomorrow.



I hope that all is well with Huia and Marie and their families. It seems a long while since either of them have posted on here.



Well, I must go to bed now, so will look in again soon.



Take care everyone.


Love, Sallie.xxx

Sylvia, it's good to hear that your friend is managing to adjust to her loss. It's never easy is it, to be with someone for so long, and then lose them, is like having a limb amputated, please god, let her continue in this vein.
Your Ferry journey sounded good, just relaxing and chilling, and best of all, spending money.....lovely jubbly.
Will you be seeing little man over the xmas period?. You will have to forgive me, if you have already said, but the memory is not what it was.

Hello Sallie, good to hear from you my love.
Having Jennie and Micheal for christmas lunch will be nice, I do like it when families gather together at times like xmas.
Fortunately I have less presents to wrap this year. It's only the real young ones that are receiving gifts, the older ones are having money, wether they like it or not.
There is no way I can decide what to buy them, and whatever I got, would no doubt be wrong, so money is my last resort.
My friend Florence starts her radiotherapy this coming Friday. The painkillers they gave her, are no longer working, so bless her she is suffering.

Well my lovely friends, I will say cheerio for now, please take care, stay safe and warm. Hugs to you all, Mo xxx

Hello everybody. Just to say I am still looking in but don't often post. I have been very busy.

Phil had a broken toe which had become infected so a couple of weeks ago he went into hospital to have it repaired, but a few days later it had become black, so he went back last week and had it removed.

On Sunday I went down to Hamilton, taking the other gt grandmother, to visit our granddaughter and gt grandsons. I have put photos on FB.

Yesterday (Monday) I was working in our Hospice shop in the afternoon and in the evening I went to Pukekohe for a meeting of the local Historic Society, which I joined recently.

After lunch today I am going down to Rotorua to visit my son and get some things he keeps forgetting to bring up here. Also taking down some golden jonquil bulbs, and seeing his alpacas. I will come home tomorrow.

I think that is all my current news.

Huia, glad to know that you are alright, but very busy. It's good that you have lots of things to do and places to visit......so much better than being at home on your own.

Sorry to hear about Phil having to have his toe removed, hopefully now the wound will heal well.

Hope you have a good journey to your son's and enjoy some time with him. Take care of yourself.



Mo, sorry to hear that the painkillers off her doctor no longer work for your friend Florence.Please give her my get well wishes when you see her next and hope that all goes well for her.

Yes, Jennie and Michael come for their Christmas dinner every year so that we can all open our presents from each other, together. Afterwards they go to Michael's mum and dad's so that they can open all their presents together. Alun and I usually get invited there for Christmas evening, which is nice.....didn't go last year as Richard was here for Christmas, but he's back with Christie now, thank goodness, so they will stay in their own place this year.

I've been trying to finish off the birthday cards this evening, but have run out of a couple of things, so will have to go to Derby tomorrow morning to get what I need.



Jean, hope that you and your family are all alright today. I expect you are getting the rest of your Christmas cards finished.



Sylvia, just missed your post last night. Glad to know that you and OH are home safely and that you had a lovely few days staying with your friend.



Ann, hope they came and fitted your carpet today and that you and T are pleased with it.



Well, speak to you all later.



Take care everyone.



Love, Sallie.xxx

Sylvia I am pleased that you enjoyed your time with your friend and that she is making a life for herself. As our widowed friend says, it is the only thing you can do.

Sallie good to see you posting, it is a busy time for card makers. I am up to date with Christmas and birthdays now.
We are very pleased with the new carpets, he was here five and a half hours and he has done an excellent job. He even helped T put the bed back together and put the bed drawers in which was a great help. He was a nice chap.

Huia I am sorry about Phil's toe, I hope he is physically ok otherwise.
You are such a busy person, do you ever take any time to stop and smell the roses? :-)

Mo I am sorry that Florence's pain killers no longer work. Maybe they will have a solution for her when she goes for RT. I hope so.

Hello my dear friends, it's good to hear from you all.
Huia, sorry to hear of poor Phil's toe, bless him it must have been so painful for him.
How long has your son had Alpaca's? They are lovely to look at, are they as friendly as they look, or do they hiss and spit at you.
I must take a look at your new photo's on FB. I bet the great grandchild of yours has really grown by now.
Is the hospice shop just as busy as it normally is ?

Sallie, thank goodness Richard and Christie are back together again, it makes for a much happier christmas knowing that all is well in their household.
Did you buy up the shop in Derby, when looking for the crafting stuff that you needed ?
I will pass on your good wishes to Florence.

Ann, how nice to get the carpet fitted before christmas arrives. It sounds like you had a very kind hearted fitter. There is nothing worse after having removed all the furniture, than to have to lug it all back in again, and normally, the bed is the biggest and heaviest thing to move, apart from wardrobes that is.
I dread painting our bedrooms for that reason. Roly has got an adjustamatic bed, and that is so so heavy, I can't even move it to hoover underneath, so it takes the two of us, just to move it a little bit so that I can get the hoover nozzle under it.

Today, our Lilly was taken up to London, by her aunt and uncle, to visit father christmas in Harrods. Isn't she a lucky little girl, if we took her it would be to somewhere local, and not nearly as exciting for her. I can't wait to see the photo's.

Take care everyone, speak to you soon. Hugs Mo xxx

Jean and Sallie, could you look on the craft thread please as somebody wants advice on the e bosser. :-)

Ann I have just put some ideas on the card thread, hope it helps...

just about to send my cards off, not as many this year just some special ones ....

hope you are enjoying you new look house :-D :-D

love Jean xx <3

Hello girls. I am back from my short trip to Rotorua. Strictly speaking Peter and Linzi don't live in Rotorua. They are on the north side of the lake, near the town of Hamurana. I arrived after a drive of almost 3 hours, with just one stop to fill up with diesel (the ute, not me). P & L arrived home from work about half an hour later, after I had taken all my gear inside and died the death of 1000 licks from their 2 small dogs.

I have put some photos on FB of the dogs, and the alpacas being fed. They have 3 alpacas but they are so slow to eat all the grass in their field that somebody has lent them another 4, but the grass is still growing rapidly. Had a nice evening chatting and having the dogs asking for pats and tummy rubs, and trying to lick my face.

Peter leaves for work just after 7.00 in the morning so I woke up at 6 and as they were not up I took my camera outside to get some more photos. After breakfast he left for work but phoned soon after to tell Linzi that there was an accident blocking the road to Rotorua and he had had to go all the way round the other side of the lake. She doesn't leave for work until 9.00.

I left at about 8.30 but as the accident was not too far from where their road turns into the main road I had to go the other way, but just went to Hamurana and parked by the lake. There would have been hundreds, if not thousands, of black swans on the lake. I took a lot of photos of them with their cygnets (ugly ducklings? no).

The road was opened about 10.15, 3 hours after the accident had happened. I took my time travelling home. I stopped in Tirau (old name was Oxford) to look at some of the shops and then went on. I was feeling a bit sleepy so pulled into a rest area, under some trees, and managed to squeeze up on the seat for a snooze. I finally arrived home at 3.30.

I have put some photos on FB, including variations of some which I might use for the camera club's set subject next month (Black and White, Sepia, or 50 shades of Grey).

I slept in this morning until just after 9.00 so my long day yesterday definitely tired me out. I might visit Phil tomorrow if I can find out if he is still in hospital or back in his home.

Hi girls, how are we all keeping.

Huia, I had a look at your super photo's on FB, they are great. How did you find Phil on your visit to see him.

Well it's the weekend again, crumbs where does the time go. We have got little Lilly tomorrow, so I am interested to see if she remembers seeing father christmas in Harrods on Tuesday. You know what youngsters memories are like, they can be very fleeting at that age.

Bye for now girls, take care, hugs to all, Mo xxx

Hello Mo and all.

I arrived at Phil's home at 12.45pm, and they brought his dinner just afterwards, so I fed him the first course. Even though the food is pureed he spends an age munching on each mouthful, so it took about 45 mins to finish the first course. Then a carer arrived to see how we were getting on, so I suggested she finish feeding him the sweet course, and the drink, and I left to come home. When I had arrived I thought Phil looked ghastly, in fact at first I wasn't sure it was him, but then he had been in hospital for the operation, and at almost 84 yrs old it is not surprising.

On the way home I stopped in to visit the woman who usually works with me at the hospice shop, as she has not been well. I think she is getting stir crazy from staying at home, but she should slowly recover, and is talking of coming in to the shop next Monday. Tomorrow (Sunday) I am going over to North Shore to visit my sister and take some things to her.

Huia.

Oh Huia, I am so sorry that Phil looked so poorly. It is probably the after affects of the operation.
Lets be honest, the older we become, the longer the recovery period is. Bless him, he probably doesn't realise what has happened to him.
It's very hard on you love, isn't it. Remembering all the good times you had together, and to see hime how he is now, must really hurt you. Life can be so cruel, but he is happy in his own little world.
How long has Phil been in the home now Huia, it must be a good two years surely by now.
How was your co worker when you visited.
I hope you had a lovely time with your sister. How is she doing?

Well our day with Lilly went well. I asked her about her having seen Santa, and she was full of it. I was surprised that she only received an umbrella as her girt.
Admittedly it was one from the disney shop, so was obviously wasn't that cheap, but they charge enough for entry.

Jean my love, thank you for the lovely christmas card. It arrived in the post yesterday

Our car went in for repair yesterday, but has to go back for more work to be done tomorrow. Oh boy, all this expense just before christmas, is something we could have done without. But the car is an essential for us, poor Roly cant walk very far before he is in agony with his hips and knees.
And as for getting the shopping in, it's a nightmare. It's surprising how we take the car for granted, and just load the goods in without thinking. But having to carry it home, is a blessed nuisance.

I will say cheerio for now girls. Sending you all my very best wishes, mo xxx

Yes, Mo, I realised it was possibly the after effects of the op. I certainly don't get upset about him. At his age I feel that there is really nothing I can do, and he is in good care. He has been there for a bit over 4 years now, so I get on with my own life in between visiting him to show I still care for him, even if he doesn't know me. (Or does he?).

My co-worker might come in to the shop today, if she is feeling up to it. She has been told she will slowly come right.

I want to get the large copies of my photos for the camera club printed this morning, before I go in to the shop at lunch time, so I had better get a wriggle on.

Good lord Huia, is it really four years that Phil's been in the home, how time flies by.
Dont work to hard my love, just enjoy your day. Hugs to you, Mo

Hi Mo, and everyone


we've had a few days of really lovely weather ................ sunny and blue skies

BUT the temperatures have been low, with frost overnight!

the long johns came out of storage :-)

Mo ............ it's amazing what little ones can remember!



Huia ............... it doesn't seem that long to me either!





take care everyone




s
xx

can I swear??????????????


we've just heard that my sis-in-law's cancer has been found to have metastasized into her brain.

She has been given 3 months.

They are going to give her 5 days of radiation in an attempt to reduce the size of the brain tumour. Then she will go home and will start a course of chemo. There will be another scan after that to see if there has been any effect.



:-( :-( :-( :-( :-(

For crying out loud Sylvia, why the bleddy heck was your SIL tumour not spotted before. (Sorry I tried not to swear out loud)
If they are giving her chemo, how can the three months prognosis be right.
My nephew who is still in his 30's, has had an operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his brain a couple of years ago.
Agreed he is still under the hospital for check ups, but he is getting on with his life as best as he can.

How sad for you and your OH, it's been a terrible year all round hasn't it.

My friend started her chemo last monday, and we popped in to see her today. She seems bright enough, and the tumour does appear to be shrinking. But she has lost the ceptum (sp) from her nose, so we are not sure if they will operate to give her a new one after her treatment is over.
The scan they did to check her throat was thank the lord clear, so at least it has not spread down there.

Well my lovelies, I hope that as we have not heard much from you, that you are all well.
Sending loving thoughts to, Jean, Sallie, Ann, Huia, Marie, Joyce and all our friends.
Best wishes, Mo xxx

Hi Mo, and everyone

All the scans she has had, and she has had a lot, concentrated on her torso.

It's not supposed to go to the brain, at least not so fast.

It was only when her right arm and side went "strange" last Thursday that there was any sign ................ and event then the docs were thinking heart attack.

They have moved fast .................. she was only at the docs on Monday, and in the town 400 km away on Tuesday morning having the brain and spine scan.


My daughter phoned this morning ......... she wants to see if she can arrange a "long weekend" trip over to see her aunt. That depends more on sis-i-l than on getting plane tickets.

This time, she'll leave the kidwink with his father.



A VERY rude awakening this morning

The motion sensor went off ay 4:30am

I was at the bedroom door before I even opened my eyes :-D

Turned out that OH had heard the smoke alarm go off in the basement .............. through 2 closed doors, 1 room and the enclosed stair well. So he had got up without waking me, and gone to investigate.

However, he had forgotten to turn off the motion sensor, so he put one foot on the little landing at the turn of the stairs and .......................


Neither of us went back to sleep after that ................. he had set his alarm for 6 am 'cos he had to be out of the house by 7 am, and we were so worried that we wouldn't hear the alarm!



Take care everyone




s
xx

Hi girls, hope you are all alright. I have been busy trying to get all the presents and cards ready for Christmas, time seems to be flying by, just wish I could stop it for a while so that I can catch up on all the jobs I need to do. I think the older I'm getting, the slower I am doing things.lol!!!



Sylvia, so very sorry to hear about your SiL.....just can't understand why the hospital didn't pick it up before now. I hope that she won't suffer too much having her next lot of treatment. Sending her lots of positive thoughts. <3

Also hope that she will be well enough, so that your daughter can visit her.


It's very good that your friend is going out and getting on with her life. At least she is taking an interest in different things, and of course it's good that she is making new friends so that she has more company. Well done to her!




Mo, glad that you and Roly were able to visit Florence, and that she seemed bright enough. Please give her my best wishes.....thinking of her. <3

I'm pleased to know that your nephew is able to get on with his life, a few years down the line. <3

So Lilly did remember seeing Santa in Harrods....I thought that she would, bless her. She is at the interesting age now isn't she? Alun was saying that when they have a layout at a M.R. show, the little ones love watching the trains, he says their little faces are full of wonder watching them.




Huia, so glad that you enjoyed your visit to see your son and daughter-in-law. It's nice to sit and catch up with all the news, isn't it?


I hope that Phil is improving from his operation . Such a shame that he had to have his toe removed, but I'm sure that it was for the best.

Alun's sister rang two nights ago, and she was saying that her husband is now starting to have trouble walking.....he always liked to go for a walk with Lynda, in the grounds of the home he is in.....but now has to go in the wheelchair more often than not. If you can remember, he is the one that was diagnosed with Alzheimers
when he was 58,he is now 67, not old really.




Jean, where are you? I hope that you are alright. Thank you for your lovely Chtistmas card, it arrived on Monday. I love the die cut out on the front of the card ....which die did you use? Also hope that J, D and the rest of the family are all alright.



Marie, if you are looking in, hope that all is well with you and your family. I seems a long time since I have ' spoken ' to you.



Ann, hope everything is alright with you and T. Glad to read that you enjoyed a couple of days away visiting your family.



Jennie went for her usual check up at the hospital today, everything is fine, thank goodness.

Michael goes to see the Specialist about his elbow tomorrow, so hope that they will sort it out for him, as it's 11months since fell and hurt it and he's still having problems with it.



Anyway girls I'm off to bed now, so I hope that I can get to sleep.


Take care everyone.


Speak to you all soon.


Love, Sallie.xxx