Under the weather.....

.....understatement! In fact under-a-blanket for nearly two weeks!

So many people around me are dropping like flies, all symptoms sounding similar, some mild and others more severe.

I'd been coughing for a few days, just a dry irritation, nothing more than annoying. We managed a lovely family meal out lunchtime for Hubby's birthday on the 14th, sadly O was ill that day so he and M stayed home, he was ill the next day too then better. Son also told us he had been ill all the week before, which started just as his fiancé and her mother were recovering. That Tuesday Daughter and O were off to Baylham Rare Breeds Farm to cuddle the new lambs and I went with. O was thrilled when we arrived as his best friend was there, so they had a quick play together before they had to leave.

It was so bitterly cold that day! So a lovely cuddle then a quick walk round half of the farm and headed to the tea rooms which were packed so we came straight home stopping to buy cake!

Tea, cake and chatting in my toasty warm house, then after they went home the shivers started! For the next week I've had sweats, shivers, coughing non stop, loss of appetite (actually lost 7lb in 7 days!), going to bed at 8pm some days but coming downstairs onto the sofa at 3-4am most mornings so my coughing didn't keep hubby awake. I've had a splitting headache that has made wearing my specs painful so couldn't even amuse myself online. Plus at the same time I'd managed to culture a nasty fungal rash which was very sore.

All this time Hubby seemed to be developing a sore throat and cough but ignored it mostly as he had some important charity events he needed to get through and look after me of course.

I'd had to miss a theatre matinee, an art night, a meal out with friends and my first physio appointment  :-(

Eventually got an appointment with my doctor who confirmed I had a chest infection and started me on antibiotics, also prescribed a strong cream for the rash and assured me I wasn't contagious so I braved out Wednesday evening as my friendM was having one of her famous music nights. The buffet was amazing and I managed to eat a little.

Thursday three of us were meeting up with a fourth friend we haven't seen for ages and we'd booked the restaurant months ago, but on the day she phoned to cancel as she'd been struck down with this dreaded lurgy too!
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Theatre: End of the Rainbow.....

AHEAD OF UK TOUR!
London 1968 – and Judy Garland is about to make her comeback… again. Battling a tornado of drugs and alcohol, she undertakes an exhausting series of concerts at the Talk of the Town in order to re-claim her crown as the greatest talent of her generation.

Some famous tv names in it that I immediately recognised are Lisa Maxwell, Gary Wilmot and Sam Attwater.
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This was absolutely brilliant, tragic, hilarious and very sad.
Lisa Maxwell brought Judy Garland back to that stage and has the most amazing voice I never knew she had. She'd captured so many of her mannerisms too. Gary and Sam are both exceptional actors and the three together bounced off and supported each other wonderfully.

I highly recommend it if you're near Colchester, Essex before 20th February or if it tours anywhere near you.
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Small, medium, large.......

......or one size fits all :-)

Last night along with four female friends we joined a very packed hall for an evening with Ryan Gooding, physic medium. I've been to a few of these before, first time with this guy, and I always come away not knowing if I believe or not.

I think deep down we all want to believe and would get great comfort from a direct connection with lost love-ones, in fact then they wouldn't be lost at all. However last night even though Ryan definitely made an impact on some of the audience, giving them what sounded like specific details of people, past or future, most of it could relate to many of us. Like asking older people if they had a parent in spirit, most said yes but when someone said no he said oh it must be your grandfather not your father then that's here with me now.

A couple of funny moments came, one when he told a lady that one of her close friends is having an affair that nobody knows about yet and Ryan said she would meet the secret boyfriend and even gave her the boyfriend's name and said she must warn her friend to be honest with husband and secret boyfriend as she will be found out! Made us all wonder if her naughty friend was in the audience, that would have been awkward!

The other time we all laughed was when he spoke to a lady about her being pregnant and she said it was all his fault as she'd seen him some months ago and he'd told her she was pregnant two weeks before she found out herself. Ryan is so obviously gay and saying it was his fault was even funnier :-D

He actually picked me out to speak to but said nothing specific. When I said "yes I suppose so" to something vague he said maybe it's more for the lady next to you! He then said he'd tell her something privately at the end. He came back to me to give me good news about a future for someone close to me (think he needed to end on a positive) but then said "...this will finally restore her confidence as she'd lost her way for some time", to this I shook my head as the person in question has always been the most confident person ever......he quickly moved on!

At the end, quietly at the front of the room, he told my friend that sometime in the future she will suffer with "women's problems". She came away quite worried, although what percentage of us older women will suffer the same?

Meanwhile, three of our men had spent their evening at the snooker hall, said they'd had a good time and joined us afterwards so we could all have a drink together. We had plenty to talk about lol.
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Coming together to say goodbye.......

As I've mentioned many times, we live in a great Close of just 27 houses and between us we all know each other with most of us knowing most residents because they've/we've lived here a very long time. Hubby and I moved in when the house was just 4 years old and that was 33 years ago! We have a strong sense of community.

A neighbour sadly died on new year's day and today was his funeral. 15 neighbours attended which made up nearly half the congregation! Giving love, support and offers of help to his widow........I always feel grateful for living here!
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Happy Anniversary.......

Hard to believe the first month of this year has finished already, however the first Monday of February is when we started holding a monthly coffee morning for our neighbours, four years ago now! So today was a happy fourth anniversary.

Eleven of us today and conversations round the table were varied as always.....
- Who was going to the funeral this Friday of another neighbour and car sharing.
- The sad news of Sir Terry Wogan's death and remembering so many celebrities that have died already in just 31 days of 2016.
- The new baby born to a lovely young couple who have lived in our Close for about two years now.
- The sighting of an Estate Agent at a house which is currently a rental now being sold.
- First discussions of a street party we want to arrange to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday.
- Holidays booked or planned.
- A future arts and crafts sale being held locally in April and did I want to book my own table.
- Solicitor's meetings to finalise a divorce settlement.
- And Hubby passing on to other aircraft enthusiasts how he spotted a Russian plane over our house being escorted by a British plane and how he tracked its journey online to eventually being escorted off of British air space. Don't think it was anything more than a training exercise.

I love our coffee mornings!
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