PuzzlesTo Solve........

With the heating out of action Hubby lit the lounge gas fire. This is used so rarely and often just switched on for its annual test. So cosy looking and warmed the room very quickly, although we had to put up with the smell of burning dust at first.

Son arrived early Saturday morning to help fix the cooker hood. With his first cuppa they discussed the heating problem, with Hubby explaining it's the Hive receiver that's the problem. Son then remembered he had given Daughter his unused Hive which also contains a receiver in the box. She can't use it so brought it over. Daughter did stay for a cuppa but wouldn't come in any further than the back door as living with R and O who have horrid colds at the moment she didn't want to pass on any germs. After swapping our old receiver with the new one it all worked again. Hubby then cancelled the Monday repair saving the call out charge at least. 

Son and Hubby also fixed the cooker hood, needing Son lying on the bedroom floor with his head under the floorboards reaching down, while Hubby lay along the kitchen island reaching up. Fixed and two very happy chappies! 

Son had planned Chinese takeaway here with us all Saturday evening to celebrate his midweek birthday, however we postponed it a week hoping they will all be over their colds. 

Apologies I need a little medical rant. When I've had side effects to the cancer meds the specialist Oncology Nurse always suggests having a break or halving the dose by taking them on alternate days. These pills increase my risk of picking up an infection and I now have a skin infection that needs antibiotics. As the cancer pills inhibit healing I was told by the nurse I must stop them until the antibiotics course has finished. However, when the consultant rang he kept repeating that this treatment will only be effective if there are no breaks! I had to promise that as soon as the antibiotics finish I will go straight back to taking the cancer pill every day. Conflicting advice and attitude from the only two people in my care team!!!

Definitely less gardening weather now so the jigsaws have started. We've discovered a few of our neighbours have jigsaw collections so we are passing them around. This one is from neighbourT.

I wish you warmth, good health and may all your puzzles be solvable.

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No Heating Brrrr.......

Definitely feeling autumnal now and of course this week introduced October. NeighbourA has organised our December Christmas lunch for the coffee morning attendees. Isn't it good we have a strong community with our neighbours. I've also rounded up the xBT team and booked our December festive lunch. 

I've had another blood test and call from the Oncology Nurse so hopefully I'll get my next lot of pills delivered soon. 

There has been progress on the box painting but still a long way to go before they are finished. 

I'm a very proud Grandma as not only did Red Rose Theatre bring back their very successful play Ungodly

but after two weeks in Ipswich they are taking it to London's Southwark Theatre plus early next year it's going to New York! R's first time performing away from home. 

R has a really bad head cold this week and when I messaged her to say someone in the first night audience told me she was amazing she replied "I'll be honest, I can't really remember it but I'm told it went well".

Back to the fixing subject, and hopefully the cooker hood will be repaired this weekend now Hubby has received the replacement parts and Son is coming to help. However..... Friday morning our heating and water packed up! British Gas will send someone Monday, which would have taken a lot longer until Hubby told them I was vulnerable health wise. We do have a couple of portable heaters and an emersion switch for hot water so will be fine. 

Enjoy your weekend if you have plans, or stay home and cosy if you don't. See you next week.

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More Needs Fixing........

 
It was a busy weekend which seemed busier as I think I was in slow motion, feeling quite tired and my back kept hurting. However I managed some big-box painting, some chatting with Daughter when she popped round, some cooking, some laundry (mostly line dried but the last few bits had to come inside on the clothes horse) and sorting out the vase in the front window which needed washing and the artificial flowers having the dust blown off them then rearranging as they'd moved around and looked scruffy.... they look lovely again now (all the way round as they are in the window). 

Coffee morning as usual and I don't remember much else in the afternoon so probably nothing interesting. 

Tuesday woke with left foot pain again, this time across the top of my foot. So a day off resting it raised with the hot wrap round it and paracetamol plus I skipped the culprit pill that day and Wednesday morning it was greatly improved. 

Wednesday evening the usual group went to the fish and chip restaurant in Felixstowe (always praised as the best) for a change. My appetite isn't very good at the moment and I barely managed half my small rock and chips, so they wrapped the other half for me to bring home. 

Thursday Hubby said the forecast was heavy storms from midday onwards so he did all the bins first thing rather than in the evening. He'd been researching a new phone and who was selling it the cheapest. He decided on John Lewis and apparently they only had one left in stock, so we shot over there and he came home with his new toy. Lunch was the fish and chips leftovers shared between us. Then Hubby spent hours phone transferring everything and trying to remember all the passwords needed. Thank goodness I had refused changing mine as I hate all that hassle especially as mine is working fine. 

Cooking our burgers Hubby discovered the cooker hood had died. After a lot more investigation he thinks the motor is the cause, so Hubby has ordered a new one which will hopefully arrive next week. Meanwhile some of the hood is taken apart and furniture in the bedroom above was moved and the doors taken off the fitted wardrobe so carpet and floorboards could be lifted. That turned out to be unhelpful so it all had to go back again. 

Friday it rained nearly all day. In a brief gap Hubby went over to feed the fish and discovered the pond pump needed a blockage cleared. Of course it was raining again before he'd finished. 

Our week ended with a yummy rhubarb crumble mmmmmmm.

Hope you are not somewhere that's getting flooded and you've heating if you need it.

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Absent Friends.......

 
We have two large open-top storage bins that were part of our previous bedroom suite and are now in my craft room sitting side by side. One is used as our laundry box, very convenient as it's directly opposite the bathroom. The other is more a storage of "keep it for just in case" stuff (motto of my life really). 

A long time ago I decided I was going to paint them and they were undercoated in readiness..... then forgotten about. 

All of a sudden I felt like doing it and got my acrylics and brushes ready. 

I spent quite a bit of time deciding the best position for the box for access and light and not chancing paint on the carpet. I really enjoyed getting all the areas underpainted ready to add detail to. 

Of course I can only do one panel at a time in this leaning on the sofa position so decided to stop for now. 

When it was totally dry I stood it back up and wheeled it back into place...... and that's when I realised I'd been painting the side that sits against the wall so nobody will ever see it! Doh! You'll have to wait for the right three sides to be finished and I'll let you see them. 

Monday evening was our girls night. There were always five of us who met for a meal and catchup six times a year, once to celebrate each birthday plus a pre-Christmas sparkly one. This time was for friendJB's birthday. Unfortunately friendTF can no longer join us and friendM was involved in an accident on her Greek holiday and is stuck there not well enough to fly home yet. So just three of us went to dinner. Hoping friendM will be OK when it's her birthday at the end of next month. 

I finally decided I wasn't wearing the hearing aids enough to warrant their cost. I was told they would reduce the interference of background noise, unfortunately they didn't and times like coffee morning I find it so hard to hear each conversation as the general noise of up to 15 people in our dining room gets quite loud. I was also told I'd have more control using the app on my phone, turned out I could change the volume and nothing else as they'd sold me the model that wasn't compatible with the version of Bluetooth on my phone. The final straw was they had become irritating to wear which I think is a side effect of my latest pills as my eye lids twitch and my lips are a little sore so it feels like it's nerves sensitivity. So before the 90 day full money back terms ran out they went back. I also left with a printout of my hearing test result which might be helpful if I try again elsewhere. 

Hubby and Daughter are making the most of this dry sunny week by doing lots of garden clearing and tip runs. They've synchronised as we have the big garden bags so Hubby has been emptying at the tip then helping to fill them with Daughter who had booked a later time at the tip. This happened three days running. 

FriendsL&K were supposed to sleepover on Thursday after seeing Sarah Milican in Ipswich. However they had both been a little unwell during the week and decided they wouldn't bring any possible germs near me. They did book the four of us to have a catchup lunch in a couple of weeks time. 

So yet another week passes and although we are still in September there is a lot of talk about Christmas but I'm definitely not ready to even think about that yet and not even going to ask if you are.

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Life's Ups and Downs........

 
This is our staircase. Some time ago Son suggested(firmly) we get a second handrail. 

It took a while for Hubby to find the style that would match our existing banister and of course it had to be ordered specially as it's a different size to those in stock and he wanted the finished ends. It arrived last Friday and it took Hubby a couple of attempts to find the right stain to go on an almost white pine as the colour also needs to match. 

Son came Saturday morning and together they fitted it. Not as straightforward as they'd hoped. Apparently they started by measuring up from the stairs in a few places but that didn't exactly agree when they put the spirit level across from the banister. The bottom screws were going into brick wall but the wall at the top is a straw partition wall, which took drilling and filling with resin as well as the rawplug.

And Sunday Hubby sanded and varnished twice more so it's nicely smooth. 

Son is happy he's looking after the oldies hahaha

Sunday my foot was still really painful and as it had been four days I thought it time to ring the Oncology 24 hour help line. They were really helpful, said yes it was definitely a side effect of the drug. Rest with it raised,  use a warm compress like hot water bottle or wheat bag and increase the paracetamol to all four doses a day or even add codeine. I queried the increase in pain relief as I have chronic kidney disease and can't check my latest blood test results. They checked and said kidney function result was good. We don't have a wheat bag and couldn't see how a hot water bottle would stay against my foot so we tried ('we' means my idea but Hubby had to do it) a wet tea towel rung out and microwaved for one minute placed inside a plastic bag and then inside a long very thin fleece to wrap around my foot. It worked and by Monday morning it had eased a lot. I had a follow up call on Monday from the help line and they said it will be reported to my Oncology team who may want to lower my dose. I spoke to the Oncology Nurse on Tuesday after I phoned her. She hadn't read her emails (and this was already 3pm) so I told her what had been happening. I told her I was about to run out of pills so she said she'd put a request into pharmacy (she'd said that last Tuesday and obviously hadn't). However she did prove helpful when I said I needed my blood test results and she scanned them and emailed them to me. Better than the reply I received from the consultant when I'd emailed asking for a copy of my blood test results and he said he didn't know how and it was probably something for the IT department, unfortunately he didn't say he would forward my email or give me any information on how I contact them! 

We hoped to go out for a walk somewhere on Wednesday but then they forecast rain around lunchtime so we changed that to some necessary shopping as Hubby needed shoes and slippers. I took advantage and added slippers for me to his purchases. 

As a treat we tried a cafe we saw built some time ago but had never tried. We both had a really nice lunch and bought cake to bring home for later. 

The weather has certainly got a lot colder and Thursday morning we got up with our heating on, which comes on automatically if the house drops below 19°C. It did the same Friday morning. 

There were two apples left in the fruit dish going a little rubbery so I thawed some pastry and made an apple and cinnamon thing to have with our afternoon tea. 

Hubby got a message from Daughter asking to borrow the hedge trimmer along with the ladder and Hubby of course. As he had already booked an afternoon slot at the tip and needed to fill more bags at home to make it worth going, he helped Daughter first then Daughter and R came back with him and helped him here. They stayed for lunch too. 

Definitely feels autumnal now and I'm so looking forward to the yellows, reds and golds of nature. 

Have a good weekend.

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Suddenly September........

 
Saturday night I agreed to go with Hubby to join our friends and see Scarecrow play. Our friend Paul is the drummer for this very popular local rock band. 

It was a very well attended gig and the music is good, Hubby enjoyed it,  but unfortunately for me far too loud, hurting my ears and too hot in there.

Sitting in one place for so long also gave me backache, I had to turn my chair 180° to watch the band and turned back in their break. Gosh I'm getting old and grumpy. Glad to get home but my back hurt enough for me to go to bed then get up shortly after and take paracetamol before I could sleep. I used to go to lots of these with friends years ago but never because I was a big fan, always to please other people and it was the same this time.  Hubby can go without me another time. 

Had a lovely long phone call from CousinS on Monday. An hour long catchup with family news and a lot of laughter. 

As I'm quite short car head rests are not always the support for me they should be. Our new car is particularly bad as it doesn't go right down and my neck is over that gap. 

So my first prototype cushion. Elastic to slip over the head rest, larger roll of stuffing at the top to fill the gap and tapered down for lower neck comfort. 

That was the theory and it was sort of right but needs to be thicker. I really thought the upholstery was black (must have been our previous car) so I'll make the next one grey if I can find suitable fabric in my stash. 

Daughter and R popped over on Wednesday and it just so happened we had taken a cake out of the freezer the night before so it was nice to all share it. 

Blood test on Tuesday and she found a vein without too much trouble, thanks to my drinking non stop for about 30 hours before and making four bathroom trips during the night. When they are GP requested blood tests I get to see all the results online but unfortunately these are requested by the hospital Oncology unit so nothing goes online. My specialist nurse works part time so I'll have to wait until next Tuesday and phone her. 

Friday was my annual Cystoscopy. Not a nice procedure but I'm grateful they still check. Thankfully it was totally clear. When I mentioned about needing my blood test results to one of the nurses there she tried to look them up but hinted that it really wasn't her place to pass them to me, so I stopped her as I don't want to get anyone into trouble trying to help me. 

Now into my fourth week of these cancer meds I'm noticing some side effects. Nothing major just a general yucky feeling and more tired. I also think my usual aches and pains are worse as I've got plantar fasciitis (under the foot pain) again in my left foot which isn't easing with the usual exercises. However the twitchy eye thing is easing off now so that helps to remind me that all these things are temporary. 

Hope you are enjoying the last of the summer warm days. 

See you next week when hopefully I'll not be grumpy.

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Mixed Wardrobe........

 
Wet and windy Saturday, so Daughter and Son cancelled their planned walk and came here instead, R came too and Son brought cake. This was the last night for R's month long Theatre in the Forest run so she spent her time creating cards for the cast and crew etc. Hubby helped Son replace the cigarette lighter in his van and Daughter spent a little time in her car trying to get the software to recognise her phone but had to give up. The dog was in and out of the garden, she usually hates going out if it's raining but there were squirrels to chase so she put up with getting wet. We all came together each time the kettle went on and to have lunch. 

Was a bit windy Monday morning but we managed coffee morning outside and it was quite warm each time the sun broke through the clouds. No extra neighbours this week even though it was a bank holiday. Hope they've all found places to have fun. 

Tuesday friendM treated me to lunch as a late birthday present even though she'd given me wrapped gifts already. Always good to have time just the two of us as normally we go out with others. 

Wednesday evening was out usual gang meal in Prezzo first. We had gone early as wanted to get to the pub a bit earlier because Open Mike Night is always busy and often we can't get a seat. Prezzo of course was the busiest we've seen it and our poor waitress was desperately keeping up but it did all take a lot longer than we'd hoped. 

As you can see we did get a table in the pub and this pic was taken late and the girls had already finished their drinks and moved on to coffees (I'm still on water) when two of our guys had just finished at the pool table and we were waiting for our third friendF to take his turn at the mike.

Good weather later this week for Hubby in the garden and for watching all the gold finches on the bird feeder. 

A phone call from the Oncology Consultant to see how I'm doing and he said he'll check again in a months time. 

And that's about it for another week. 

Till next week I'll say TTFN.

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I'm Not Winking At You........

 
After 10 days of being a Tudor and practicing new skills as a glass bead maker, Daughter time travelled straight here to unload her car into our garage and shed.

Eight of us met for a late lunch, four couples, old friends having a good catchup. Hubby and I were the last to arrive so sat the furthest apart, as they prefer to have a boys end and a girls end as often very different conversations. Every one enjoyed a full mains and dessert but I chose a lunch wrap leaving most of the salad and fries that came with it (new meds make me feel a little sick if I eat a lot). At dessert time I did have to nip down to the other end of the table to taste Hubby's biscoff cheesecake. 

Afterwards back to friendsN&T for coffee/tea sitting out on the patio in lovely weather. Only downside was I managed to trip and bash my knee! Maybe I'm an attention seeking drama queen.... or just plain clumsy! 

Second week of these little triangle pills and seem to have my first obvious and consistent side effect, which isn't one I was warned about or expected. 

The lower lid of my right eye twitches, not all the time, but always when I lift a mug to my mouth! I lift a mug lots during a whole day. So obvious Daughter saw it twitch from across the room! Daughter and I tried all sorts of movement combinations and no wiser but very amused. 

Pleased to report my birthday orchid is still alive and looks quite happy on this window sill, which only gets direct sunlight from late afternoon. 

So a short one this week as all the other stuff is normal day to day stuff. 

Enjoy your long Bank Holiday weekend (unless you're retired like us when it makes no difference).

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Feeling Hot Hot Hot........

 
Saturday afternoon our friends arrived. They brought balloons and a beautiful orchid.

 There should have been four of them (people not balloons) but unfortunately friendM got double booked and although he would have preferred being with us, the other event took priority. 

Tea and cake then all in one car to The Wilford Bridge pub and all enjoyed a lovely meal. Then just five minutes down the road to Sutton Hoo to see A Midsummer Night's Dream performed by Red Rose Chain actors. My second time of course but for Hubby, friendsL&K and friendL not only their first time for this but their first time coming to Theatre in the Forest. 

They loved it and praised the energy and enthusiasm of the whole cast. They told me to pass on their praise for R's talent and characterisations especially her facial expressions which made them laugh. And we were included on Bottom's selfie

Back home and as they were sleeping over we stayed up late chatting with the girls on tea and the boys on beer. Eventually all up to bed. 

Sunday was my actual birthday (yes I know I seem to have been celebrating for a while). Opened all my cards and some extra presents friends had given me last week. 

Also answered all the pings on my phone from relatives and friends sending birthday wishes. Eventually everyone was up and ready for breakfast. 

Son arrived bringing more gifts, Mum's Spec Stand amused us all. 

I'm very lucky and loved.

The guys left about 1pm and we later heard it wasn't the easiest journey home with road closures etc. Usually about an hour and a quarter, this time almost two hours. 

 Monday morning we actually enjoyed coffee morning in the heat as there was a good breeze

Monday afternoon my new pills arrived by a special medic delivery van and Tuesday morning I took the first one. 

Every few years the pond gets too much sludge in the bottom and it keeps blocking the filter and the pump. It's a major physical job so I'm not too sure why Hubby chose the hottest days of the year to start it. 

Firstly he created a temporary pond to hold plants and fish he may need to evacuate. Unfortunately the old black liner seems to have a hole as the patio is getting wet. Abandon plan A.

Then the net came off the pond and he pulled out the lily pads and oxygenating plants that had taken over the whole surface. 

Now he's hoping he can keep running the little fishing net along the bottom and get a lot of the muddy stuff out.

Also in the garden we have the apple tree. We had a good and healthy crop last year so I thought we'd solved the problems of disease in every core of previous years. This year they are not ripe yet but going rotten on the tree or falling off. So no edible fruit and no decision yet as to the tree's future. 

We regularly get squirrels in the garden, probably due to having four birdfeeders. Recently we have this regular visitor who is almost tail-less. We will never know how this happened but watch in amazement as it looks fully active and healthy, hangs upside down to steal from the feeders without a tail to hang on with. Although very funny when hopping on the grass it looks like a little bunny. 

Been a little cooler now at the end of this week which suits me. Hope you've enjoyed the heat or managed to stay cool depending on your preference. 

Wonder what next week will be like?

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Mostly Smiling.........

 
We had a lovely Sunday. Daughter and Son did my pre-birthday bbq. I was told not to do a thing, so I didn't willingly. Hubby helped of course but they provided everything. The weather was very kind, overcast but still very warm and occasional spots of rain that never came to anything. Conversation was lively as D had brought friend and so had R and together with O there was banter and nonsense and laughing. 

I was bought lots of flowers and a pretty new jug. M told me he now has a "jug dealer" which amused me. 

Not sure when or how, but Tuesday I suddenly noticed that a small broken remains of a tooth that had been like it for a few years had disappeared??? It was definitely there on Monday as anything odd in your mouth attracts your tongue doesn't it. It did wobble but never hurt. I felt sure it was big enough I'd have noticed if it fell out while eating or brushing my teeth but it didn't. I'm totally perplexed, where did it go? 

Tuesday was a meet up lunch with my old work team, four of us plus three spouses. We nearly forgot the group photo and remembered when we were already back at the carpark. Love that we still meet after 15 years, so long as I organise them all. 

Wednesday afternoon and still no contact from the hospital, I rang again. I spoke to the Specialist Oncology Nurse who told me she had never had me added to her list. I told her I had seen the consultant three weeks ago who said she would phone me, I also left a message for her last Wednesday, finding out she was on leave, but she never got that either. We made arrangements to meet the next day. 

I now know this department will need me to chase them every time things don't happen when I'm told they will. 

Meeting went well and the medication will be delivered early next week. For now my head is a little all over the place. 

Wednesday evening was out with our usual friends. As it's nearly my birthday we always try to go somewhere a bit different. Unfortunately friendM tried my choices but took my fourth choice before there was a table free for six. That's a problem at the height of the holiday season at a seaside resort. We were lucky and had a good meal in our favourite Mediterranean restaurant. 

Thursday evening yet another meal out with three friends, two of which we only catch up with on birthday celebrations. FriendH drove me and friendJ and we met friendM there. I have parcels from M and H to open next Sunday and J insisted on paying for my meal. 

Not the best photo of any of us but a lovely evening. 

Friday there was some confusion with Doggy Day Care arrangements. Son had booked extra tickets for Midsummer Night's Dream as fiancé didn't make it last time, so I booked in their dog, but apparently it was mentioned a long while ago that we might need to have Daughter's dog. They don't always get on well together so it's avoided. Daughter sorted it with M so we will only have Son's dog here. 

Hubby went out for pool practice and probably because she prefers him to me the dog was quite restles, don't let this calm pose fool you, it didn't last long.

Meanwhile pre-show at the Theatre in the Forest Son met with our star of the show R.

By the time they got back, stayed for a cuppa and finally took the dog home it was really late, together with the fact I'd not slept the night before, I waved them off and went straight up to bed. 

As often happens, I've a busy weekend so wanted to get this post done early, but tech had other ideas! My tablet was acting like it had been taken over by aliens doing very weird things then suddenly lost all charge. So I'm finishing this on my phone with apologies if I've missed any glaring typos. Think I'll hit publish while I'm winning. Hopefully see you here next week.

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