Silence Is A Luxury......

Sunday Son came over to admire the new car and go for a little ride in it. He came alone as fiancé hadn't been too well. The plan was for us to go over to see them, giving Hubby the drive and for me to have a ride too, but that was changed in the morning although we were still so pleased to see Son.

Inside for coffee morning this week so it seemed really noisy but think I'm so aware of E being asleep upstairs that I worry we've woken her. 

For my regular blood test we park in a small shopping centre and a very short walk to the clinic. This week the car park was really busy so we circled it twice and waited for someone to leave. Once inside I was seen quickly which was good but the fact it stung when he took the blood and bled a little and bruised afterwards wasn't so good. 

Blood test results come through quickly and I always phone Oncology to ask for my next prescription and for them to put another request on the system for my next test. This time I also asked if anyone had looked at my Scan results which I had received over a week before and nobody has told me if that changes anything for me. The nurse rang me, said she will speak to the consultant and call me back..... that was Tuesday late afternoon and so far she hasn't called back. 

FriendM and I met up again with friendJ for lunch at The Belstead Brook Hotel. Sadly friendJ had recently been told there is no more the hospital can do for her cancer and withdrawn treatment. Very sad but she's staying positive and trying alternatives that have been recommended to her, I wasn't convinced but as she said "I've nothing to lose".

We can always borrow a carpet shampooer from M but that turns it into a big job, doing large areas each time to make it worth the borrow so I bought the Deawoo Stairmaster which is the handheld cordless spot and stairs cleaner. When I discovered after spraying solution the attached brush is used with your own arm power and it's only switched on to suck up the liquid I was disappointed as it seemed no better than a manual scrub! Then when Hubby emptied it and the water was filthy I thought maybe it will have been worth the spend. Later when E told us she had been woken up when someone nearby was using what she thought was a strimmer I had to confess that it was possibly us on the sucking up bit. 

Wednesday was the booking for groundwork for the electric car charger, however Hubby didn't have contact details and no idea what time they were coming. Eventually he arrived and we discovered for here in Suffolk the company had booked their chap who lives in Monmouth about four hours drive each way!

It took him about 90 minutes of very noisy concrete drilling then he drove home, knowing he had to come back to Lowestoft in two days time. No wonder the company charge us customers so much. 

Nice neat job though. 

Us six were out together as usual Wednesday evening, it was open mic night at the pub and the room was full with standing room only. Thankfully friendM had pre-booked our table and we managed to squeeze in another chair when another friend turned up. It was so noisy that conversation was almost impossible so no choice but to listen to the performers (some good and some really not good).

Thursday it was 8am when the guy arrived to install the charger. This involved lots of drilling on and off for four hours! Poor E was my constant thought. 

Outside, around the house and inside the garage all looks very neat. 

Glad it's all over and hoping for some quiet time, and so is E who complained the constant vibrations of the drilling really went through her as she was lying in bed. 

Hubby had to visit the dentist and have a cap fitted to a back tooth (thankfully no drilling) all went well. When he got back and the installation guy had finished and done his paperwork and left we both sat down and heard a crash, Hubby had a look round but couldn't see anything. 

When E came down she noticed our ceramic wall clock had fallen and completely broken into pieces. I managed to find a photo of what it had looked like. 

E thinks it must have been the recent drilling vibrations that caused it to fall. I was quite upset as it had been a gift from Daughter when as a teenager she had toured Hungary with the Suffolk Youth Wind Band and it had been on my wall ever since, about 30 years. 

Lovely visit from Daughter and the dog Thursday afternoon when they walked over. 

It turned out really warm and sunny when friendKK and I had our day out, it was also quite a while in the car which is good catchup chat time. 

We decided to go into Bury St Edmunds. 

Parked and walked to KK's first choice stop The Nutshell which is the smallest public house in the UK.

This photo is the entire pub and if you can zoom lots to see what's written in the frame just above KK's head it says so. 

We did have some car park issues, where to eat lunch issues, getting lost because of diversions issues and not finding a tea and cake venue open issue but we had a really good day and have already reserved another date together before we both get too busy. 

At the moment no weekend plans but you never know!

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All About The Changes......

 It's taken five weeks and finally got my last CT Scan result which shows small shrinkage in two places and also small growth in two places, everywhere else clear, report ends "No Alert Required". Haven't spoken to Oncology team yet to understand if that changes any medication dosage.

As you know the Wednesday gang have a meal together most weeks on a Wednesday, however this week it changed to Tuesday as that was friendF's birthday, so friendM cooked for us all (not an easy task in her little cottage) Meal was great and the company fun as always. 

Only upset was her little dog when he was told he wasn't invited. 

She even got friendF a cake and candles. 

Hubby told friendP that our pond was ready for fish again. We've both missed having fish since the otters stole them all and that was a year ago almost to the day. FriendP managed to catch three from his pond and brought them to the dinner party (we had to keep the dog away from them). 

Now to see if the new grating keeps preditors out while we can still see in and doesn't keep Hubby out when he needs to get in! 

A quick slide down the black bag

And they seem quite happy in their new home. 

Hubby's new car was ready so Wednesday he left home in the blue Audi Q3.

And returned home in the pebble grey Audi Q4 e tron!

We went out for a ride together after lunch and it was very quiet as all electric cars are, interior very comfortable and the drive very smooth. Hubby is very pleased. 

FriendM took me out to lunch Thursday as a late birthday treat and she chose to take me to Kervan Kitchen a new-ish Turkish Restaurant in Ipswich.

A very pretty restaurant and a lot bigger inside than I thought it was. Food was delicious and although I can't eat big dinners I managed enough to not need an evening meal at all. 

Friday, after three days of only eating bland carbs and 24 hours of only clear liquids and evil tasting solution in two doses E had a medical procedure that she said went well. Now the wait for her of 3-4 weeks for results and the what's next. 

Nasty shock to end my week..... I've just received a tax bill and it's a big one aarrgghhh. I received a small assessment a few years ago and it said I owed money because of savings interest that went over my allowance. When I checked it all on the government website it said this amount will be recovered through my income tax. Now looks like it wasn't recovered and I need to pay it ASAP! Makes me feel like a criminal tax dodger. 

Paid now so I'll hopefully not get arrested and be back next Saturday, fingers crossed.

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Save The Date......

 
When did I get so busy? I seem to be spending so much time arranging when I can do things rather than the actual doing of things! 

FriendKK keeps reminding me that we must arrange another day out together and I kept delaying while we were having heatwaves. Towards the end of August when it seemed to be cooling down I messaged her to say I was ready and apart from avoiding Mondays and Wednesdays as usual I'm pretty much free in September. 

Tuesday suddenly got busy, I usually have my nails done on the first Monday of every month, however my lady knew she would be away so booked me in for Tuesday at my usual 1:30pm

E was given a blood test time of 1:20pm and Hubby can't drive us in two different directions at the same time. 

I changed my time for nails to 2pm

Then Hubby was given a dentist appointment on same day, but thankfully that was in the morning.

All appointments met on time! 

FriendM suddenly remembered we hadn't had our usual lunch out together for my last birthday and insisted we sort that, we managed to both be available on the 17th.

It was made more difficult as we were also trying to sort a lunch date for me, friendM and friendJ. After lots of back and forth we agreed on 25th until her husband reminded her he was out all day and she was going to her Son's, so back to the calenders and three way conversations and finally agreed on 22nd.

That led to another conversation between me and friendM about venue as she didn't want to eat twice in the same place and friendJ had wanted to go to the place M&I normally go! 

If you're still reading this you've more stamina than I have, but I didn't have the option to stop. 

Having had no reply I'd messaged friendKK again, this time saying I was now only free a few days let's book in quick, so we now have 25th on the calender for each other but no plan for what we'll do yet. 

Ironically x-work friendR (who had offered to organise our next get together) chose this week to message me and say they were back from their summer travels and was organising as promised, so when was I free!!! 

Add amongst that lot blood tests and other medical appointments and it's a very busy September. 

Changing the subject, which I'm sure you'll be pleased about hahaha

Hubby has been making a preditor-proof grid for the pond and hopefully when we have enough water to fill it and the pump is back on we can have fish again. We've both missed having fish. 

Wednesday was our usual six friends having dinner in our usual pub (creatures of habit) when an old friend turned up at the pub, with his wife who we've never met. FriendV had been a lorry driver working out of Felixstowe Dock and we'd often meet up with him on a Wednesday. He finally retired over two years ago. This week he was having a holiday with his wife in a caravan at Felixstowe and guessed we'd all be here as it's Wednesday. Lovely to see him. 

Wednesday lunchtime(ish) I decided to message nieceL as her first grandchild must be due any day now. She replied amazed at my timing as my great-nieceB was actually in labour and in hospital since Tuesday evening with her mum and B's-partnerN with her. I'm psychic! We kept in touch and I got all the updates but it wasn't till Thursday morning before B&N's baby girl arrived. Mother and baby both tired but fine. No name yet though. And now I'm a great-great aunt :-)

And finally something to make you smile, it made me smile. 

Friday is our bin day and it's usually early morning. When they hear the lorry Hubby and neighbourA both change into daft little boys and they race each other to get the bins back. This week I also jumped up to hopefully get a photo of them and saw neighbourA coming out from another neighbour's drive having put her bin back for her and Hubby grabbing A's bin along with ours and doing a cheeky pretend run up the drive as if to steal them. I laughed and took a quick pic through the window but mainly succeeded in getting my own reflection doh!

It's now the Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashanah 5787

L'shanah Tovah!

Wishing everyone a sweet new year with happiness and good health!

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Keeping Up The Fight........

 Saturday Hubby came in from the shed and showed me this picture. He said "There are a lot of things inside the humane mouse trap, the door is still open and I didn't put them there. I think a mouse is playing games."

Quite a few months ago Hubby had caught two about a week apart and released them into some woodland a reasonable distance away. After this long silence and a good clear up of the shed and most importantly reboxing securely the stored bird feeder supplies we thought we were clear. Now a cheeky lodger was setting up home and building a nest inside the trap hahaha. Of course Hubby cleared the trap and reset it, caught the mouse and set it free where others might be to make friends with. 

Hmmmm was it a third or was it in fact just the one that keeps managing the long walk back home? 

When we get the early morning sunshine our front door's patterned glass sends designs up the walls or across the carpet and ceiling. One morning the refraction sent a beam from the hall and through the lounge and right into the mouth of this ceramic fish. It glowed so brightly! 

I was thrilled to get a good photo as I've never seen it do that before even though it has sat there since E made it for me about 14 years ago! 

Hubby's sister-in-law phoned, they don't chat often so they had a little catchup. Her main reason to call was to let us know that she had been diagnosed with dementia. She said she gets lots of local support which is good to know. 

Gosh it's September! Well that's officially the end of summer and it's now autumn! 

It was sunny and still warm when friendL and friendS came here for afternoon tea/coffee and they brought cheese scones and cakes. Hubby helped me carry the garden table and chairs to a sunny spot, he pinched a cake then left us girls to it. Too many health issues between us and our families. All still here though! 

I've been a background support for FriendJ who has been fighting cancers for the last four years and this week her oncology consultant has told her they can't do anymore and are stopping the chemo. She is planning on making memories while also looking for alternative treatments including trials. FriendM and I are hoping to meet with her soon for a lunch. 

Hubby is still in debate with the company that needs to put the car charger in. They quoted for doing the groundwork and it was a silly amount which Hubby has asked them to justify. 

Daughter came over with O and D and the dog. Lovely to see them all. R is on holiday with a friend in Slovenia and when I asked for a photo she sent one of them in front of a waterfall saying "this is where we are right now". R never takes many photos and rarely replies to messages that quick so I felt very honoured. 

Some weeks we have to count our blessings a bit more and acknowledge our supporters.

Thank you for dropping in.

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