Santa's Week......

 
It will probably be the spring before we catch up on all the recorded Christmas TV specials hahaha. We did enjoy the Strictly final, mainly because they were all so good and we didn't mind who won. Much the same for the Celebrity Masterchef winner too. I'll not name names in case you haven't caught up yet and want to.

Son and fiancé recovered enough to make their rescheduled flight on Monday. So relieved for them but still worried, well that's a mum's job to worry isn't it. 

Daughter drove them to Heathrow, after she had taken me and O to our dental appointment, just a checkup for all three of us. O got a clear result, Daughter has another appointment for a filling and a hospital referral for a root removal this dentist can't do and I survived the trauma of someone poking in my mouth and pleased she found nothing that needed treatment. She could tell it was a trauma and became extra gentle. 

Tuesday morning was another blood test, yes life gets that exciting! 

By Tuesday evening our travelers had arrived in Brisbane, which was Wednesday morning for them. Hubby of course had tracked their flights including the nearly three hour stop in Singapore. That leg stretch is so appreciated after such a long first flight and I've been told Changi Airport is amazing in places and worth seeing. Sadly I never saw it like that when we were there in 2006 as it hadn't progressed beyond a large and very efficient airport then. 

Christmas Eve Daughter and O came over and helped with the veg prep, so helpful. At 2pm our time we wished Son and fiancé a very merry Christmas as they are 10 hours ahead and got some lovely photos back on the group chat. 

We set the table just before we went to bed. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS DAY EVERYONE! 

Daughter brought the rest of the food here and along with the eating crackers were the pulling crackers for the table. No tacky useless plastic toy, these ones had a pair of Christmas socks inside each one. Brilliant aren't they! 

We have never had as few as six round this very large table for Christmas Dinner before, so pulling the crackers was a fun arm stretch (especially for me) but it did mean there was room to put all the food on the table rather than me dishing up and everyone who wanted seconds (or thirds) having to go to the kitchen worktop and get it.  

I enjoyed all three courses (a little of each) and everyone else tucked into a lot of each and as always so much left over. It would have been mean not to share. 

It was definitely time to do nothing in the lounge for a while and let it all digest. 

No board games this year as that's E's thing and she wasn't here, so tea, chocolates and chat then when it was time we watched the Gladiators Celebrity Christmas Special. After that O and M were ready to go home. Not much later there was the Strictly Come Dancing Celebrity Christmas Special that Daughter and R wanted to stay and watch with us. That seemed a really good time for Daughter to bring out her cheese and crackers buffet. None of us needed much but it's amazing how extra room is found for tasty nibbling hahaha. 

When we waved our last guests off home Hubby and I dealt with all the leftover food, he carved all the turkey while I was boxing and wrapping then trying to decide what's best used very soon so fridge and what's good for freezing. After that it was a cuppa and more tele and the rest could wait. A lovely day all round. 

Friday morning Hubby ran the dishwasher again and tackled all the roasting tins by hand (quicker when there's lots). Cutlery was put back into canteens, posh crockery back into it's dining room cupboard, extra chairs back round the table, table mats back in the drawer and the hot dish trivets too, then the  table cloth went back on and our lovely table can go into hiding for another year. 

We did smile when congratulating ourselves that we don't have to do it all again on Saturday on the grand scale as this year my nephew E and his wife N are hosting family day that we have held here for many many years and definitely all of the last 14 apart from when we were covid restricted. All family of varying ages and has been as many as 34 people some years.  This year Hubby and I are taking Daughter and O as the rest of our immediate family can't make it which is a shame. 

For the rest of Friday Hubby had a couple of jobs to do.  One of the garden wall lights wasn't working but he couldn't get the cover off to see what size bulb, hopefully just too cold so he'll try again another time. There was also a big problem with a fuse and routers and hubs up in the loft and buying a new 18 port something to replace the 24 port something......... and that's about all the explanation you'll get from me as I didn't understand the rest. 

Saturday and the 27th which had been my dad's birthday, which is why our family day was usually held on the 27th when Christmas Bank holiday and work structure allowed. So the four of us are driving off soon to Canvey Island which should be about 1hr10 ish from here. You'll hear about that next time. So have a good weekend and keep celebrating through to the new year. 

Tinsel Time......

 
Another festive dinner, this time with my Wednesday gang although we had to do it on Tuesday. We were at The Orwell Hotel in Felixstowe on friendM's highest recommendation but I thought both the service and the food were not as good as we'd had elsewhere. 

The hotel has recently been taken over by a new company and the renovations inside look lovely. They are a Dubai based investment company and for some reason they have installed a mechanical elephant in front of the building. 

Apparently rubbing his trunk brings good luck, so friendM did, it also made him pee hahaha. 

On a not good subject Son didn't pop over to see us last weekend as he is full of head cold, this got worse and turned into a chest infected and he is now on antibiotics and steroids. Fiancé is unfortunately suffering the same developing a few days behind. The most disappointing thing is for a whole year they have planned and booked a four week tour of Australia and New Zealand and they should have flown out yesterday, Friday 19th! Disappointments, logistics and huge costs involved and their travel agent has moved their first flight to Monday 22nd missing out Sydney and flying direct to Brisbane. Daughter has managed to rearrange Monday so she can still take them to Heathrow. Now I'm keeping everything crossed they are both well enough for Monday and survive long haul which is exhausting anyway. 

Then, as Daughter wasn't driving to Heathrow on Friday Hubby offered to wash her car so she came over with R and it gave us our only opportunity to discuss our Christmas day menu. Daughter has a Tesco delivery slot booked for Monday so we added stuff to that after what we already had between us. 

So this time next week I can tell you all about our Christmas day and boxing day and all that's left for me to say is

Quite Calm.....

 
Two festive lunches this week, Monday was with the coffee morning neighbours

And Tuesday was with my xBT work team. 

I actually enjoyed them both, managing to eat a small turkey meal each time. I'm being a rebel and not taking the evil pills at the moment, sometimes I need a break. 

E is spending a few days at her mums so Hubby and I popped over for tea and chat Wednesday afternoon. 

I've got the gifts wrapped and under the tree, I've also done all the money gift transfers scheduled to move on the 24th so I'm feeling a lot more organised. Need to think about food next. 

Hubby got totally engrossed in the latest jigsaw a neighbour brought up. This one has very irregular shaped pieces so more of a challenge and it helped that snooker was on the TV at the same time. 

Friday morning we had a meeting with the agent from the will shop to finalise the paperwork for the updated legal stuff which of course includes handing over lots of money. Shouldn't have to give that a thought again. 

And today is a full day Doggy Day Care day so the best reason to relax. 

Enjoy your weekend.

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Going Nowhere.......

 
We all expect subscriptions to cost more each renewal and around inflation level is acceptable, however Flickr Pro has definitely out-priced itself this year. Daughter mentioned it a couple of weeks ago and when my email hit the inbox I totally agreed.  

Hubby has done a great job of transferring the hundreds of folders containing the thousands of photos collected over so many years and downloading them onto the home computer. Not as convenient, not auto saved, but so much cheaper! 

And now it's December! 

Cards all done and a pack ready for the scouts to deliver locally for us, which is a great fund raiser for them. One air mail stamp for the US. Second class stamps for the largest heap, two of which are birthday cards and a few left for hand delivery.

R and O were here Sunday and this

became this

although Hubby and I had to finish it as a lot of the time they were like this

A lot of the time before that had been a busy full house. Son arrived first, later Daughter messaged us she was arriving a bit later than planned as R had a hangover. O arrived straight to ours with his girlfriend and her parent who had driven from Norwich to save him getting the train, they all stayed for tea (by which time Son was on his third). Daughter and M arrived bringing R and the dog, Daughter and M stayed long enough to make polite conversation with everyone. O's girlfriend and parent went home then Daughter and M left as they had planned a trip into Woodbridge. Son and Hubby had to take the dog out for a walk to calm her down a bit, then Son went home. Eventually just the four of us here for lunch followed by quite a lethargic pace for the remainder of the day. Daughter came back later, had tea and took them home eventually. 

Friends LA and SG finally managed to meet up for tea and cake, however friendLA works at The Academy and said because there was a lot of covid and flu viruses there she suggested we meet up here at my house and they brought the cakes. A lovely long chatty afternoon. 

Everything else has been delayed as I've had a migraine which is hopefully going away now. 

See you next week.

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Everyone Wants To Eat.......

 
....... except me! 

I started this week collecting in the menu choices for the Christmas meal of my ex-work team, I'm gathering them together on the 9th.  The Maybush Inn has a really good two or three course festive menu. The medication I'm on has severely disrupted my appetite and thankfully when I sent in the list I asked if I could have just one course and to make it a small portion and they were happy to do that. 

Monday we had our usual coffee morning and this week NeighbourA has a birthday so he brought in a large birthday cake and asked me to cut it and share it out. I cut myself a really thin slice and ate a small nibble to join the celebration but then removed the rest for later, which actually Hubby got to eat. After all the neighbours left my friendM picked me up and we drove round to The Belstead Brook Hotel for us to finally have our lunch together as my treat left from her late September birthday promise (better late than never eh?). I just had a small smoked salmon salad starter and left a lot of the greenery. I enjoyed it but then couldn't eat anything else for the rest of the day. 

This restaurant is also where we are having a Christmas lunch for the coffee morning neighbours on the 8th and neighboursT&S are organising it and they have been to great lengths to meet staff and ensure I can have a suitable menu choice even if it's not on the two or three course options. I really appreciate the effort they are making for my benefit but I don't enjoy the public fuss.

Wednesday night our usual group of six and this week we ate at The Dooley Inn, Felixstowe. Really good pub grub and they actually do a small plate menu as well as saying anything on their specials board can be a small plate portion too. I had lasagne and their small plate was still twice the size of what I could eat and Hubby helped with some of what I left. 

You may remember a couple of weeks ago we cancelled a meal with friends at the last minute because I was having a migraine well they have sent a few dates to try again and the only one we could do was this Friday. The Fox and Raven one of the Vintage Inns. Always lovely to catch up with friendsL&K. 

And I'm sure you'll be pleased to see something not food related at all. 

Our first Christmas card arrived, from my lovely friendAC. She always sends her own hand made cards and this year it's lino print.

I'll say cheerio for now as Hubby needs me to finish the list of food needed for the weekend so he can nip to the shop! 

Oh and happy thanksgiving to anyone that celebrated.

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Domestic Stuff.......

 
Hubby took this woodpecker photo from the kitchen window, amazed it didn't blurr more being so far away! 

This is also feeding time. We finally found a date most of us could do to celebrate Son's early October birthday. The Chinese takeaway had just arrived hence the concentration on their faces. 

Sunday morning the washing machine decided to have a little problem and refused to finish the cycle. Hubby forced it to spin out and all looked clean enough to hang upstairs. Monday afternoon he ran it again and it did the same again!

It's often much cheaper to buy a new machine than to have them repaired and this one was about 15 years old. Not our preferred ethics but being sensible. Hubby went onto the Curry's Website and ordered one. 

Wednesday we nipped out for a quick gift shop mooch, just popping into Halfords and The Range briefly. We came home with a Faraday box for our keys and Hubby bought me an electric overblanket/throw as I'm always cold sitting in the lounge. 

I decided the creamy white one looked so luxurious. WHAT WAS I THINKING? It felt cosy and so soft but as I'm sitting there I'm thinking how I  eat off my lap and wondering what it will look like after Doggy Day Care days! 

So we very carefully folded it back into it's original packaging and Hubby returned it, swapping it for a far more suitable sage green. 

Well done hubby. 

We are not making much progress with the Christmas gift shopping list though! 

Friday afternoon the new washing machine was delivered and they removed the old one for us (for a fee). Hubby did the installation and put it on for its first test wash. 

Predictably it had some noisy balance issues which he'll no doubt sort easily (cos he always does).

Have a good weekend and stay warm.

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Saving My Energy........

 
Thankfully when the sparrowhawk arrived all the little finches flew off in time. 

We also had a woodpecker visit twice this week, but it flew off before either of us could get a photo. 

O has planned to host friends for a dinner party later today which has clashed with other members of their household so Daughter has arranged for us to have the dog all day Saturday. She also came over Thursday to borrow a fold up table and a couple more chairs plus a ceramic dish for O to make his dessert in. They popped in Friday evening too for some extra cutlery. Love how he takes on these challenges. 

Another phone call from the GP this week who still needs me to monitor my BP for another week. I also asked for help with feeling sick/acid reflux a lot of the time which is making eating so difficult. She has made some more adjustments. These cancer pills have so many side effects that are random and totally unpredictable, it's a constant balancing act. 

Hard to make anything else sound interesting or fun as I'm doing hardly anything. It's turning so much colder this weekend and wetter. Seems more sensible to stay inside and get the Christmas cards written. Sorry if it's boring but I quite like it quiet. 

Enjoy your weekend.

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Stay Cosy........

 
A photograph is never as golden as the tree looks in real life and yes it's been windy so these leaves may not stay on the tree for much longer. 

Two visitors on Tuesday, first was a pheasant early morning just came for a stroll up the drive and stood on next door's fence enjoying the view for ages. We don't remember ever seeing a pheasant up here before. 

Daughter and dog came after lunch. There had been a very brief request the day before for dog sitting then almost straight after making the arrangement another message to say her rehearsal had been cancelled, so she stayed home in the morning doing her own music practice (not enough apparently) and we put the kettle on afterwards.

Only just into November and I've managed to make a a start with the Christmas cards, then hopefully I can go as slow as I like. I'm sending less this year, although probably not too many less but definitely leaving out the annual report from now on, not really my place to report on my adult family any more is it?

What I will very gladly report on is the call I got from Oncology  to tell me last week's CT Scan was really good with no new disease or growth yaaaaaay!!! Such a relief. 

And the rest of the time is mostly staying in and under a blanket and enjoying the final episodes of Bake Off and Traitors and Strictly etc. Easy life eh? 

Enjoy your week whatever you do.

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Sorry........

 
Apologies this is not a fun read as I've had a week of feeling unwell or involved in medical stuff but that's how things go sometimes. Last weekend was almost constant migraine headaches which I blamed on the GP adjusting my blood pressure pills, unfortunately Son and fiancé called in on Saturday and left here quite worried about me, which I hated.  thankfully the migraines eased up and the flashing lights stopped but there was still a horrid pain in my head that's when I wondered if it could be toothache. I have an unreasonable dread of the dentist so it took everything I had to make that call on Tuesday but they didn't have any emergency appointments free so I'll try again Wednesday morning at 8:30am with no hesitation. 

Monday morning I had an appointment with the Oncology consultant for 9:45am telephone call,  however he didn't ring until midafternoon, annoying just waiting! 

I know it sounds crazy but Wednesday morning I didn't ring the dentist as I'd had no headaches migraines toothache or whatever the pain was, it had completely vanished, not a twinge since early afternoon Tuesday! 

Tuesday morning was my monthly blood test, thankfully they managed to get the blood out successfully even though the new online system proved tricky. 

Hubby was also dealing with a mouth problem, the dentist told him it was a nasty infection and he is now using a strong mouthwash every couple of hours which seems to be working. Neither of us have any enthusiasm for meals at the moment. Hubby did make a yummy rice pudding though. 

Wednesday I had a CT Scan, the appointment starts with a clinician inserting a cannula as they need to use a contrast dye, however after three members of staff didn't manage it I then told them to stop trying and asked the radiographer to scan without the dye. Keeping everything crossed they got a clear enough image. 

Nothing medical on Thursday yaay, it was a dog sitting day. A very calming dog. 

A really nice thing to report on is the fact that last week I told you we cancelled a dinner date because I wasn't well enough, well friendLW has checked on me every day since and she also told friendLL who has also been checking on me, so caring.

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Pictured......

 
One of my biggest pleasures this time of year is to open the curtains each morning and watch our beautiful tulip tree gradually changing to autumn gold. This photo is just the start. 

Monday was our 52nd wedding anniversary. Not a public event but we had decided on Chinese takeaway. Unfortunately my stomach had other plans so almost all of my order ended up in the freezer so not eaten but not wasted and Hubby enjoyed his. 

This beautiful decanter was my Mother-of-the-bride gift and I'd filled it with water and some blue food colour. Having sat on the windowsill for 25 years the blue had almost faded completely. No longer having any food coloring here I tested the paints I had and they would have given me an opaque blue which wasn't good, so I messaged Daughter. She remembered R had some water based inks and brought them over straight away and swapped a few drops for a cuppa and chat. 

Looks good again doesn't it. 

Two long video catchup chats this week. One was with my very old friendHG, not that's she's very old but we've been old friends since school days. We play online scrabble (WWF) with each other all the time but only manage a proper chat a couple of times a year. 

I also called Granddaughter E as Daughter had told me E had been quite unwell for a while. We did find a few things to make us laugh.

My lovely friendM has just had a holiday in Thailand and brought me these coconut bowls as my holiday gift, two hand painted and the small one is soap. Beautiful. 

We should have gone out for a meal with friendsL&K Friday evening, meeting an hour away but as the day progressed so did a migraine headache and a very unhappy stomach so very sadly we cancelled. I hope we can rearrange another date soon. Meanwhile the GP is still adjusting my BP prescriptions so that my be the cause of feeling unwell. 

Don't forget the clocks go back an hour this weekend, so enjoy a little extra lie in on Sunday morning. 

And I'm keeping everything crossed for an uneventful health week ahead eh?

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