Don't Scratch........

 
A quick trip to the garden centre last week and a short wander round our garden just to decide with Hubby where to plant each new shrub and I've an arm full of insect bites! They itch soooooo much!

A lovely family evening for Mother's Day on Sunday.

Frustrating bit was Daughter ordering Chinese takeaway online and it took almost three hours to get here! So the grandchildren resorted to playing Trivial Pursuit. 

R, E and O also collaborated in making us mums personalised cards. 

Son brought flowers and chocolates and cake and he paid halves with Daughter for the Chinese, although as it arrived so late (9pm ish) he boxed up for him and fiancé (who had felt a little unwell and hadn't come) and took it home. 

SisterS caught me out with her April Fool joke, together with bilK they are on a two month grand tour of New Zealand and Australia packed with tours, events and a couple of visits to relatives slotted in. Her message read "We had a boring day today, nothing much to see" I reassured her that a rest day will do them both good! Then she sent the photos of all they had really done. Hahaha

Hope I'm not speaking too soon but now in my second week of taking these evil pills at the 20mg dose and some side effects but so far much more tolerable than before. Fingers crossed eh? 

Hubby actually came with me to see one of the final preview performances of the play R and cast are taking to New York. 

It was the same powerful performance I remember seeing the first time in 2023. Afterwards, when we gave R a lift home, she told us so much of it went wrong but honestly in the audience we didn't notice one hiccup. 

Supermarket daffs are so worth the £1 per bunch for the smile they bring. 

So a good week all round really (apart from the itch).

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We've Marched On........

 
Started the week with a Doggy Day Care day. 

Sunday I went with Daughter and O and met friendKK there to see this play. It was written and directed by R. 

The Chainers youth group did her proud. This was Daughter's review on X and as I couldn't have said it better I stole her's. 

Another proud Grandma event to brag about.

 Hubby has been in full on garden weeding and clearing mode, which has left large empty areas. 

So off to the garden centre and we concentrated on buying hardy shrubs that will hopefully fill up those spaces in just a few years. 

Unfortunately just two days after planting a few of them seemed to have been picked at and eaten! 

We will have to keep these ones netted for a while. 

Hubby and I had a lunch out with friendLA and her husbandR this week. I have been friends with her for 30 years, we met at our evening college course and been friends ever since. We didn't catch up with each other at all last year as sadly we both have health issues, her's more serious than mine, so that did dominate this conversation quite a bit. 

Hubby was needed to trouble shoot scams twice in the same day. NeighbourA asked for help when he got an email saying there was activity on his ebay account that wasn't his doing. That took a lot longer than expected. Then the lunchtime post brought me three letters from O² confirming three new SIM only contracts on three separate monthly charges! I don't use O² and never have, so Hubby had to sort that too. 

Also had a lovely afternoon with Daughter, R and E on Friday. Tea and sharing my recently made bread pudding over all the chat.

Hope you've had a good week too, see you next week.

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Life is a Gift.........

 
When we met our friends last Thursday, friendVS gave me a gift of her home made lemon curd mmmmmm. I've made a batch of cup cakes, half with the lemon curd and half with rhubarb from the freezer. 

Shared a lovely lunch here with Daughter, E and O.

O brought me a gift of his first album on CD. I'd asked for a signed copy but he didn't want to break the wrapping so he signed a note which I've slipped inside. 

He's planning on writing and releasing two more albums this year. 

I've also had to choose a special gift to send through the post, which took me ages to decide on. 

And my gift to you is keeping this short- hahaha!

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Reasons To Be Cheerful......

 
Yaay the first Camellia bloom is out.

Saturday Hubby and I met up with friendsL&K for lunch, finally after our two previously booked and cancelled dates. Always lovely to catch up with them. 

Hubby fixed my sewing machine and it's already back to good use. 

Don't think you can actually see all the frogs in our pond from my photo. If I get any closer they all hide anyway. There's still a lot more frog spawn there which is why the net is weighed down under the water. 

Hubby has a newer phone than I do with a super clear zoom and he took this next great pic. Reminds me of the Paul McCartney song Frog Chorus. 

Mmmmmmm lemon curd from a jar in ready rolled puff pastry and looks like I slaved away in the kitchen. Our secret eh? 

Monday I enjoyed a long overdue catchup meal with friendM and friendHM 

Wednesday evening our usual gang ate out together in our usual pub. 

Thursday four couples, all still good friends since we lived as neighbours in Silver End more than 45 years ago, had a very long pub lunch together. Then still needing more chat we all went back to friendsN&T's for tea/ coffee and lots more chat. 

I have to confess to making a daft (but amusing) classic mistake when ordering online too quickly! I forgot to take note of the size!!!

I ordered the three manicure items on the right. The apple is just to give you scale as are the items on the left of the apple which are the normal size I'd assumed I'd ordered. Hahaha

Keep smiling.

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Sew Busy......

 
R had asked for help as she wanted to venture into making clothes, so at the weekend when Hubby went out for a morning walk with Son, Daughter and her dog, R and I had a bit of a sewing workshop. We had about two hours to ourselves then they all came home and the kettle went on. Son went home after his cuppa but Daughter and R stayed for lunch and more sewing. 

R can sew and is very confident on the sewing machine just wanted guidance on the process of making trousers. 

There were various problems throughout the day. 

* I wasn't feeling 100% so had to keep leaving her to get on with that stage and come back to explain the next. 

* R is left handed and couldn't cut out with my fabrics scissors. We have left-handed scissors here for her but they had been used for all her childhood crafts so wouldn't do fabric. I remembered I had a rotary cutter and thankfully that worked for her. 

* Daughter went in to help her with pocket placement but they both got confused and they ended up machined in wrong, I was called and had to break the bad news that she had to unpick four pieces before I could show her how to attach them into the side seams. 

With just the waistband and length hems to go my machine kept clunking and jamming the thread. I cleared it a couple of times but it wasn't happy. I would have hated if my machine had spoilt what she'd already done. 

So we called in Hubby and his screwdriver.

 Unfortunately not an obvious fix, so out came the manual. 

  Meanwhile R did some hand sewing. 

By this time it was late afternoon and Daughter needed to go home to cook the dinner. We gathered up everything R had been using including the thread and bobbin from my machine so she could continue at home. 

Daughter was worried as her machine hadn't been used for a very long time, but after a quick clean and test run they reported it was fine. 

I was thrilled to get this photo later the same day she started. R looks very pleased with her achievement too. 

I went to my lovely nail technician lady on Monday. We both have health issues and as good friends now we discuss everything, then we desperately make ourselves talk about the pleasant things in our lives. During all this chat she is creating and painting my acrylic nails beautifully. This time long after I'd got home my nails still hadn't dried hard. Seems she had used the top coat for gels which isn't compatible with basic nail varnish (to much chatting). I told her and she was mortified and wanted to correct it all but I repainted them myself to save further hassle. 

We've had two "help" requests from different friends but both for Hubby to sort out their printers. Coincidence hahaha 

SisterS and bilK flew off this week on their big adventure holiday, two months touring New Zealand then Australia. She sent me their itinerary so it will be fun following where they are when. 

I've had another Cystoscopy. Not a pleasant procedure but I am glad they keep checking on me. Very pleased to report all clear! 

Hubby thinks he may have fixed my sewing machine now, so I'm off to re-thread it and give it a test run..... fingers crossed eh? 

Enjoy the lovely sunshine we are having, which actually is quite warm. Hope it's good where you are.

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Chilly Spring......

 
There seems to be a sudden revival of these little knitted dolls which keep coming up on my Facebook. I made so many of them more than 40 years ago, for my children and for gifts. Now I have a lot of wool oddments so thought I'd have another fiddle. 

If you fancy making one here's the pattern. 

You knit it flat, sew into a tube and stuff, then stitch through to define legs and arms and finally draw in for a neck. For character ideas Google "Izzy Dolls".

Hubby is happy now we are getting better gardening weather. Sunny but still very cold though. 

FriendsL&K and friendsL&M had arranged with us a lunch date quite a while ago which had to be rearranged when one of them was unwell. This Tuesday was the rearrange but just the day before friendsL&K cancelled again because of L's back which is still painful and now they both have colds and coughs. We still went ahead and lunched with friendsL&M. They were running a little late as had a hospital appointment first (old age is exhausting). It was a lovely lunch and catchup for the four of us and we will do it again as soon as the others are well enough. 

Thankfully my ankle is improving enough to walk unaided, although still very sore. I've spoken to both the nurse and the consultant on my care team this week and because I'm due another procedure I need to take a break from the evil pills a week before and two weeks after, then I'll start back on them but at the lower dose. Fingers crossed I'll be more comfortable and the dose is still effective. 

And that's another month gone and another season ended as 1st March is officially spring! Doesn't time fly? 

Have a good week.

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Limping......

 
Doggy Day Care all of Saturday and Sunday, but she's no bother. Even the dog finds it too cold outside to play or investigate just pops out quickly when necessary. Thankfully we had noticed a couple of escape routes the fox had made in the fence line and Hubby found enough rocks to fill them. 

Our usual Wednesday night gang met and it has now become our usual pub to eat in and stay. I was relieved that it was one venue for the whole evening rather than eat elsewhere first then onto the pub, as my very painful left foot/ankle occurred again as a medication side effect.

My foot was making it so hard to walk so I hung on to Hubby again Thursday night when we were invited to eat at friendM's who loves to cook and have guests round. Four of us had a lovely evening. 

Hung on to Hubby on Friday for my regular blood test too. I'm leaving the offending pills off for a few days to see if that helps and I'll speak to my care team next week. 

So apart from that and to say I really enjoyed the Eastenders 40th anniversary week that's about all. 

Take care of yourselves.

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My Valentines......

 
Winter hibernation has been enjoyed for most of this week. So very little to report on. 

Friday was our special day. Not only Valentine's Day but Hubby's birthday too. 

We didn't plan to do anything in case we were needed for dog sitting (we weren't) so enjoyed a relaxing(lazy) day at home. Hubby even got to watch snooker, an old war film and a program he'd recorded about the history of Concord without any complaints from me! Son and fiancé joined us in the evening to share a Chinese takeaway mmmmmm.

Another very special event that day was O released his debut album under his music persona Charlie Blackwood. 

Obviously that's just a screenshot so no link but to search for him use @blackwoodsocial (check you've found the right CB as there's more than one). I'm a very proud Grandma. 

Have a good weekend and wrap up warm.

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Receive, Replace, Repair........

 
E was visiting her mum for the weekend so Saturday they came to visit me. Daughter with E and R walked over with the dog and stayed for lunch then Hubby drove them home. 

So lovely to see them and also to finally receive our Christmas present from E. These will take pride of place on our Christmas tree at the end of the year. 

On Sunday Son had booked two tip slots here and brought the van to help Hubby get the fridge and freezer there. He had rubbish of his own to take including two cracked stone sinks so that's why it needed two trips. 

Hubby brought ours to the front of the house ready. 

Then the two of them loaded and unloaded at the tip together. Apologies for the bad photo taken through the window. 

They both worked so hard and then Son tells us he'd already done a long dawn walk with Daughter and the dog. 

And like any obsessed Eastenders fan I've made one simple event last for many episodes in the telling! 

Finally decided I'd done all I could for my niece's treasured panda. When I sent her a photo she said she was emotional like they are on The Repair Shop. 

Both out Wednesday evening as usual and Hubby out Friday evening for pool practice (that's the game with balls not the splashing around in the water sort of pool. 

We'd had a nice surprise visit from friendKK in the afternoon. I haven't seen her for quite a few months so it was good she wasn't in her usual rush and stayed chatting for more than three hours. 

Enjoy your weekend, we've nothing planned, and I'll see you next week.

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Chilled.........

 
We started this week moving the fridge and freezer out of the kitchen.

Fortunately Daughter and Son had planned one of their big walks together on Saturday. They always start early so by midday they both arrived here.  

Hubby had already prepared for the move by covering the worktops as they had to lift each one over the top. 

He made the space for them outside 

And cleared a nice wide route through. 

I had already sorted their contents into the drawers or onto trays to make it easier for them to be emptied. 

Daughter and I stayed chatting in the lounge and out of their way so Hubby and Son could move them then plug them back in in the garden. 

Yes the space needs a good clean but not as bad as I had expected. 

Then with our ingredients Daughter cooked us eggs on toast and Son made the tea. 

Only a few days of remembering to bring inside what's needed without multiple trips out in the cold (glad that area has a roof at least). We kept a cool bag on the worktop so some bits could stay short term. 

Tuesday the new ones arrived 

Hubby did the leveling and install

Aarrrrggghhh they look so much smaller and out of place and I need a solution. 

With very limiting measurements I managed to find this incredibly narrow shelf unit, on wheels and cheap enough to try in case it didn't fit. 

It did fit, snugly, and now the gap has a purpose. 

Thought it time for a health update. It was a bit daunting starting the cancer pills again on the 1st January having felt so much better with the three week break. Now it's been a whole month there are side effects but thankfully all manageable. I have agreed with my specialist nurse to lower the dose slightly by only taking it on Monday to Friday. I'm feeling more in control and positive which is far more me (I've never been a pessimist). 

Thursday's quiz asked "what is this?" which reminded me of an old favourite rhyme

I wish I was a glow worm

A glow worm's never glum

How can anyone be sad

When the sun shines out your bum! 

Friday was a lovely lunch with friendM in our local hotel, a very nice setting, and they do a good value two course pensioner's lunch. This trip was actually my treat as I'd promised friendM a birthday lunch. Would you believe this was our first opportunity even though her birthday was last October hahaha! 

Hope you've had a good week too.

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