As promised..

.....one very scary Niece!!!


Click Here!


Im very sorry you acutally have to click on this link to view the photo.. my normal method is not working at present.

I assure you, shes worth a click :-)

Sunday Lunch

We had a gentle start to the morning - I made a nut loaf and D kept warm in bed.

After a small shopping trip (bread, milk etc..) we went to my parents for lunch. I had suggested that we could have lunch with them, my younger brother Thos and his 3 kids. Katy (Sis in law) was away at a course, so wasnt around.

My mum did a stirling job (thanks Mumo!) she did Roast Beef, Roast potatoes and Parsnips, Broccoli, Yorkishire puddings and gravy. My nut roast got devoured by me instead of the meat, and a few others had some too (mabye you could count it as stuffing?)

The kids were all psyched up for "Fright Night" in town - a public Halloween party. Little Carlo was going as a ghost (he just had a black cloth with golden skellie bones on it lol) Leo was going as a werewolf, having printed off a picture of a werewolf mask and stuck it onto a cornflake packet. He had white gloves on with blood red claws held on with safety pins.. he looked great!! Martha went as a headless person. She had made the stump of a neck and painted lots of lovely blood on it... this was suspended in one of her Dads shirts above her head, which then stuck out the middle of the shirt with the arms of the garment (stuffed, and gloves attached) holding her real head looking as though it had come off!

I will post a picture when mum sends me one :-) (Dearest Mamar, Send me a photo please!!!)

We would have loved to go to Fright Night, but D is still pretty fragile and definatley would not have coped.

Douglas and I stayed on a bit after the kids and Thos had left, then went home to put D on the sofa to rest and keep warm.

We are not where we should be...

We should be living it up at a wonderful party to celebrate Ds fathers 70th birthday.. but instead we are tucked up at home, feeling a bit sad about missing out, but knowing its the best course of action.

I do hope everyone has a good time.. will expect reports and gossip soon!

PS we went shopping at Meadowhell, and D survived thanks to next door neighbours wheelchair, which we have on loan at present.

Might write more later xxx

Escape!!!

The Prisoner has just sent me a text... he has been given the keys to his cell, and will escape when I go pick him up after work.


HOOORAY!!!

Sadly, we will still be staying home this weekend, but I will be so happy to have him home and well :-)

Today (I will update this post during the day)

Just sneaked in to see D, gave him his toiletries, phone charger and some kisses :-)

The Drs will see him today (probably about 11 ish) and hopefully make a decision on what to do.

He was very pleased to see me, but I think equally pleased to see his toothbrush!!

***** much later ****

Been to see D.. hes much brighter this evening and feeling good!

He hopes to escape tomorrow afternoon :-)

Very reluctantly we have decided not to go up to Scotland for his dads birthday party.. D really needs to relax, rest and recover from being poorly for most of 3 weeks. We decided after both my parents, and his mum expressed their concerns over such a long journey after he had been so ill.

Our hearts were ruling our heads, but once my head had been prodded by Ma, Pa and DMIL I had a chat to Douglas and we decided that much as though we want to join in the fun, we really should stay at home and let him recover.

We expect loads of pictures and news to be sent to us after the parties. :-)

PS I think the cats are missing Douglas. but Im missing him more, cause there is no one to warm up on in bed.. tee hee!

Im shrammed. nite nite.

The Prisoner...

....Is doing ok.. is keeping cheeful and is being visited by his younger brother Simon this evening (Simon the Elusive, as we like to call him)

The Drs think hes a bit dehydrated (I'm not surprised if he was) so they have got some intravenous water going into him to top him up. It will also make up for the 3 armfulls of blood that Dr Vampire drained out of him earlier! :-)

The blood, you may be dissapointed to know, will not be drunk,but will be analysed to within half of inch of its life to find out what is making our brave, bearded hero so poorly.

Those of you lucky enough to a) be in this country and b) have his mobile phone number are very welcome to text him, and you may be even luckier and get a reply or a phone call. The rest of you, leave messages on here and I will pass them on.

I'm glad I have two cats for company - even if it is just cupboard love :-)

More news tomorrow if there is any.. and look! the red dots are taking over the world!!! (see map)

Captured :-(

Douglas went for us regular appointment to the hospital this morning with a list from me of the things he had to ask and tell them. He is too soft and says "Well, I dont want to bother them" so after some threats and a texted list of what to ask he told them of the pain (gout pain) sickness and how rotten he had been feeling.

After that, and presumably blood results, he texted me to say they were keeping him in to sort him out.

So.. Im at work, unable to see him until this evening and its not fair.

I hate him being in hospital and as much as I know its a good thing, and its where he should be, I still get very miserable and stressed out about the whole thing.

To compound matters, we are supposed to be going up to Scotland for his Dads 70th birthday on Friday!! I really dont know if we will manage to get away now :-(

Sigh.. back to the "head cuffs" of the telephones at work now.. will of course write more when I know it.

Happy birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR BLOG!!

A year ago today I started blogging :-)

I will be getting out the balloons and champagne when I get home!

Sunny Saturday

At last! A Saturday when its not raining!

I went shopping first thing, then made some mini cottage pies for our friend Dangerous, who had had his gall bladder out and is still not very well. His partner has been down South, and is coming home tomorrow, so we will pick her up from near Meadowhell and then drive her back home as Dangerous cant. She is pregnant, and bump does not like travelling one little bit. Poor Liz, and poor bump.

Having made what I hope will be tasty cottage pies (real cottages) I headed out into the garden to attack the weeds.

Meanwhile, still in bed due to a bad night and the pain back again, poor Douglas tried to sleep and tried his best to feel better. Sadly neither really worked very well :-(

I ended the life of some of the weeds in our veg patch, came in for a rest and some lunch, and found a text from my parents saying they were on their way over to help ( yay ! ) After feeding and watering said parents, the garden was attacked three fold, and by about 4pm, all of us were rather tired, but the garden looked much better!

In the garden I have some leeks growing.. until a few days ago I thought they were onions, but on pulling one up I discovered that what my mum suspected was the truth.. they were NOT onions!!

I also have some purple sprouting broccoli. I'm waiting for it to do the sprouting (flowers) bit then we can chop some off and enjoy it. I hope it manages to do this before the winter comes, otherwise the plants will just have to be added to the compost heaps. :-(

On the subject of compost heaps, my parents suggested I move one of the black compost bins (think bottom of darlek) that had been sitting a while. As I moved the bin, a huuuuuuuuge rat shot out and ran away!! It was quite a surprise as you can imagine!

I have no problem with the rat existing and will not be calling out the exterminators - the rat dosnt bother me, so why should I bother the rat? There are plenty more out there, and as long as they don't decide to hold a rave in my veg patch I really don't care :-)

Douglas took a stronger pain killer about 4pm, and is now downstairs having consumed a bowl of rather fine chicken soup I made the other day. He has a Drs appointment on Wendesday at the hospital - I do hope they will find out whats going wrong with his blood "marmelade" and sort it out so he can get back to his normal cheerful self.

I will, of course, keep you updated.

Visitor Locations

Ok guys... own up.. this is driving me balmy to the point I almost wish I hadnt put the map on my blog :-(

WHO ARE YOU??????

Please, I beg you.. just post an anonymous comment letting me know who and where you are, and if you don't know me, how did you find my blog?

I hope to get some responses before I go crazy (or crazier than I am at present)

Many thanks

Anna xxxxx

Quick update

Im at work, D is at home feeling much better - he hopes he will be able to eat an apple that will actually stay down today.

DMIL you are right.. it IS related to his kidney problems - poor Rabbie is not very good at getting rid of ? purine ? or the nasty that causes the gout.

Will have to steer D away from beer.

A xx

CLUSTER MAPS..

Friends..family.. strangers mabye... can you please leave me some messages to say who you are, and which country you are from?

I can guess a few but I really badly want you to identify yourselves!!

I can guess DMIL in Scotland, along with a few other Scottish relations.. I can guess my mum in Yorkshire.. really not sure who is reading from Aus.. I thought I only had cousins in NZ!! As for other bits of the world.. hopefully you will enlighten me :-)

If you dont want me to publish who and where you are, just say so and I promise not to. The other way round that problem is just to give me your first name (or a nomme de plume that I will recognise , such as DMIL, Jak or Mrshappyanna ...) but please still tell me the country you live in :-)

Many thanks,

Anna

Oh no not again.........

I'm sure more than one heart will sink on reading those words..

Yes..... Its Douglas again. Hes got yet another nasty attack of Gout in his left ankle knee and foot. It started yesterday afternoon, and was pretty bad this morning despite 10mg morphine and other pain killers etc.

He called the Drs who prescribed some more morphine.. 30mg dose this time :-( I called D at lunch time from work to find he was in a pretty bad state, so I zoomed past the chemist, collected the tablets (they were going to deliver, but I got there first) and then zoomed home to post one said tablet into sore and miserable husband.

I did various things for him, such as fill his bottle of water (to save him having to move) gave him some love, collected some bread cheese and tomatoes from the fridge at fairly high speed for my lunch, and zoomed reluctantly back to work. I was one minute over my allotted 50 mins lunch. Not bad!!

4pm, zoomed home to find that D had crawled, painfully up to the spare bed. Spent quite a while massaging the muscles in his sore leg, because along with the gout he was having almost constant cramp in his thigh. I manage to make that go, and also to make D more comfy with the V shaped pillow. The bed is fine as a spare, but is no where as good as our lovely high quality mattress upstairs. Poor boy...

7 pm. The morphine is working a bit.. its making him very sleepy, so sitting here typing I hear the occasional snore.

On my way back to work (mobile on hands free of course) I called the Renal Hospital who called D back but according to him offered no suggestion other than "keep taking the tablets" Depending on how things go tomorrow, I might call them again and arrange to take him in to be seen.

More updates as and when.. I will pass on all messages to the poor boy who Im sure will appreciate them.

9pm. At last.. Hes feeling better than he was. Lets hope it continues. Im off to give him some tlc before I go off up to bed (he is staying in spare room as climb to attic not a good idea when sore)

nite all xoxo

Another weekend starts

Greetings dear blog readers!

I'm sure you will be pleased to know that Douglas went back to work on Wednesday, and despite various annoying gouty type pains in various joints, he survived his half week :-)

On Saturday we will be visiting our dear friend Dangerous Dave who has just had his gall bladder out, and is feeling distinctly rotten. Douglas has made him a really marvelous beef madrass (If I ate meat, a bowl full of it might have been tested) hes also got him some bread, some bacon and some beer - all the good "B" things that Dangerous likes!!

I'm sure once we have visited him, fed him, and soothed his furrowed brow for a bit, he will feel a little better.

Also.. if by any good chance it stops flipping well raining for long enough.. I will put on some scruffies and head out into the jungle (oh sorry I mean garden) and hunt monsters (I mean kill some weeds) as they are looking far too healthy and plentiful in our tiny patch.

Other plans... go visit parents.. scare the living daylights out of them by giving them a small rectangular pink (yes sorry Mum, its pink) piece of technology commonly known as an Ipod. They are off half way round the world soon to New Zealand, and I thought a small music player would be just the ticket.

I will load as many CDs as I can onto mums computer, then write some very simple but probably lengthy destructions (instructions) our for both of them to help them to work it. (Uphill battle forseen...)

Just to finish this post, I will tell you that the footwarmer has now taken possession of the whole of the floor cushion, and being a softy Im putting up with slightly cool laminate flooring rather than disturbing her Royal Catness :-)

After all.. Billy and Lilly own and rule the house.. we simply exist to make their lives comfortable!!

Foot Warmer

Now how is that for a strange title for todays blog?

My right foot is delightfully trapped under our scardey cat Lilly at the moment, who has taken up residence on my foot cushion and indeed my right foot as well.

Its amazing to think that just under a year ago she wouldnt come anywhere near us, and now she is quite happily snuggled up round my foot. Im allowed to wiggle it gently just now and then without her moving - she feels so soft and warm.. its wonderful!!

This morning Douglas and I went swimming. We wanted to be early to avoid the possiblity of kids slamming into stiff and sore bits of D whilst he gently exercised his feet and knee back into better working order.

I thought that the pool opened at 8, so we got down there to be told it opened at 9 :-( The lady on reception said if we were gym members at £22 a month each, we could go sauna and steam. We thought about it and made positive noises about joining, but the people who could sign us up were not there.

Kindly the lady gave us access to the steam room and sauna (and pool) and told us to come back and sign up later. We would love to sign up, but at £44 a month we really cant afford it at present - particulary with D being off work for nearly 2 weeks, and due to so much sick time not getting paid for it.

We had a lovely steam and sauna, then a good 20 mins of swimming and exercising before Douglas was exhausted, so we showered, and went home.. after a very nice free session!!!! Its nice to get something for nothing now and again - I just wish it was cheaper to join, or free to those who could benefit from it :-)

D will probably take himself swimming on Monday and Tuesday to help increase his mobility further.

Hes walking with a limp, feeling ok most of the time, but he does have to take it easy and rest frequently.

Well, Im off downstairs (sorry foot warmer Lilly) to spend some time with my beloved.

Going to see The Dutchess with mum tomorrow lunch time.. a chick flick with no men invited! yay!

Im looking forward to going home..

Douglas has been busy today from his wheelchair!

He has washed the dishes, chopped up veg for a lasagne for me, and brushed the floor!!

Hes very happy that he can be easily mobile, and between trundling round, he can stand up for short periods and walk a bit too.

Things are on the up again!

Mmmm lasagne.. garlic bread.. salad.. mmmm but even better than that.. a healing Douglas :-)

RuneScape Update (for those who are interested)

I have been training my Slayer and Defence recently, and yesterday I got an assignment to kill Basilisks again. I took a couple of shark just for top up purposes, as they don’t cause much damage.

On the way out, I collected my Sara Sword which I had loaned to my friend Nathan. I don’t use it very much, so decided to take it with me, and give it a go.

I equipped the sword, forgetting that it is a 2 handed device, my whip and mirror shield went into my pack. I attacked my first Basilisk and was totally shocked to see my HP go down rapidly, and red laser beams come out of the monster!!! I downed my two sharks and ran away from the Basilisk, which fortunately didn’t follow me. I was still very badly damaged!

It was only when I stood there, recovering, that I realised I had attacked my monster without my mirror shield on. The mirror shield protects against the glare of the monster, which causes (in most cases) instant death!

Having teleported out, I realised that my Attack, Defence and Strength had all gone down from healthy scores in the 80s, to feeble 3s and 4s. My Prayer, Summoning and Mage also got badly dented!! I ate a few more shark to restore my health, then slugged down a couple of doses of super restore potion, which sorted out all of my badly dented stats.

Note to self and other Runescape players. Never attack a Basilisk without your mirror shield firmly on your arm – you will suddenly find yourself resurrected in Lumbridge or Falador stripped of all but your 3 most expensive items!

A happier Anna

I slept much better last night - probably due to exaustion :-)

Woke up at 5.30am and so did D - once he had woken up properly he sounded chirpy and bright, and informed me he did not need his morphine tablet this morning!

Keep everything crossed - he might just be turning that corner.

He had a lovely chat with his mum yesterday (Hello DMIL!) which he was clearly delighted with, and my parents are keeping tabs on him too.

Little Sis.. thanks for your message - please send our love to both the boys - and also the well loved man! Funny to hear young Sir wants to start his new school already - he is a bundle of enthusiasm at times!

Well off to make a cuppa for the limping one - although with the loan of the wheelchair he can do it himself now.

Douglas update

Hes still off work.. still in a fair bit of pain in his foot.. I hope its getting better now!

12.55pm :-( Update.. hes not better - he cant walk, and is now having to shuffle back and to the loo on his bum.

What am I going to do??? I cant take more time off work, but hes barely coping on his own :-( its awful.

Hope I have better news for you soon.

7 pm

Hes no better, but my lovely next door neighbour has lent me her late husbands wheelchair :-) Douglas can now scoot round the lounge, kitchen and to the loo in it with ease.

I will bully him till he calls the Renal Unit tomorrow and arranges an appointment to go see them asap. It just cant go on like this. Update as and when.