Scary October........

 
Definitely autumn as we sit here eating stew and dumplings 

while watching this new series of Strictly Come Dancing

Our friendHB is going to her other house in the US very soon and will spend thanksgiving with her daughter over there and come back here next spring, so as a farewell she treated eight of us to our local carvery for Sunday lunch. Six of them are all related but I've been a very close friend for so many years Hubby and I are treated as family too. Really lovely all getting together, and would have been better if the beef hadn't been tough and chewy! 

***Warning rant coming....

You know how I've been complaining about my hospital info not being shared to the NHS app so the GP can't see it and neither can I without hassle, well 10:35am Tuesday we drove across town to Ravenswood for my monthly blood test, requested by the hospital. At 11:40am my appointment at the GP surgery was with a HCA for the Chronic Conditions checkup and she insisted on taking another blood test because she'd been told to and they can't see the results of any hospital ones! I was also asking about my blood pressure which I think is on the low side and I'd taken three days readings at home and printed out. She took my bp and it was perfect. I explained that I get "white coat syndrome" and the stress of two lots of bloods when I've reluctant veins would surely make it high not perfect, but there was nothing she could do and said I need to make a GP appointment as soon as it drops on my home monitor. That's never going to get an instant response is it! 

Sorry if I'm getting grumpier.

October is my scary month because it sneaks up all of a sudden, there's so much talk of Halloween and of course thoughts go to not leaving Christmas prep to the last minute as usual. As well as that my immediate concern is October is my heaviest month for birthdays and anniversaries, needing cards and gifts, to choose and buy, post in time or deliver! 

Today the plan is to clear the ironing heap....... maybe I'll make a start after another cuppa.

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Shalom.........

 
Early start Saturday as we were on Doggy Day Care and Hubby needed to take R to work first when he picked up the dog and was going to take O to R's work too so he could walk to the station very soon after, however it was raining quite hard and he was doing an overnight trip so carrying his bag and tent and his guitar. His train wasn't for another hour so Hubby brought him back here and then back to the station at a better time. Bonus for me as I got a good catchup chat and a bonus for him as he helped himself to breakfast. 

Tuesday was the first day of the Jewish New Year. With all the conflicts around the world at the moment we ALL need to wish each other good health, peace and 'a life as sweet as honey'.

I didn't use apples or honey but I did make a rhubarb cake. 

Yes we had eaten half before I took this pic hahaha. 

This little diamond ring was my mum's and I've been wearing it since she died 16 years ago. It's a bit big for my little finger but not big enough to be promoted so I wear it behind my puzzle ring to stop it falling off, but it annoyingly spins round and round. 

Over the years I've tried various things to tighten it that haven't worked and knew that one day I'd have to get round to walking into a jewelers. 

Meanwhile I had another idea when I remembered I had clear nylon stretchy bead threading cord so I did a bit of boy-scout lashing.

This close up photo shows I wasn't particularly neat, even though I was wearing two pairs of specs it wasn't easy to see where it was as it's clear. So far it's not uncomfortable and has reduced the spinning a lot. Hope it lasts a while. 

Daughter and Son have both needed their dad this week. Daughter asked to borrow the big hedge trimmer and really appreciated when Hubby arrived and stayed with it so it was done in half the time. Son's problem was his fish pond suddenly losing a lot of water quickly. He felt like he needed to top it up twice a day and all that tap water wouldn't be good for the fish. Adding to the problem is Son is part of an annual fundraiser and this year they have been walking individually all September and coming together on Saturday(today) to climb Snowden, so he will be away Friday morning to Sunday evening with nobody at home to watch the pond. Between Son and Hubby the plan was to transfer the fish, plants and pond water to a temporary paddling pool on Thursday afternoon and re-line the pond properly after this weekend. He definitely needed his dad to help as he was still working and had conference calls booked. As it happened when Hubby and the ordered paddling pool plus nets turned up it seemed to have stopped draining itself (like getting a doctors appointment and the pain has gone). They cleared a lot of the plants and watched for quite a while and decided to leave it as it is. 

The charity Son supports is called Elgon Empowerment, which is quite a small charity that really helps women and girls with a basic need they are deprived of that most of us take for granted. They need to fundraise to provide help and also to provide education and the means for the females to help themselves in the future. Please click on the link and read what it's all about and if you can add a little to the pot it will be put to very good use. 

A Very Worthy Cause!

Thanks for popping by this week and I'm looking forward to seeing you again next week.

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Nothing Unusual........

 
We had a quiet weekend, my foot was still healing and the weather was absolutely dreadful. What was beautiful sunshine was suddenly turning to a thunder and lightning storm, with rain coming down like "stair rods" as my mum would say. 

To brighten our lives, give us something to do and make the house smell yummy we made a cake together. Basic Victoria sponge sandwiched with the quince jelly mmmmmmm

Mid-September and the heating has been on a couple of times. Two days this week I've worn a roll neck. But by the end of the week it was warm again, Friday afternoon back up to 24°C.

As we were washing the covers for these two chairs (a rare event) Hubby wondered if we could improve the padding in the seats. 

Easiest solution was I cut some layers from a redundant thin duvet that we'd replaced and Hubby then had the really difficult job of forcing the really tight covers back on and ensuring it still attached to the velcro fixtures. 

So pleased it was him not me. 

Two bread puddings came out well. One for our cake tin and one in the freezer. 

You may remember July last year (2024) I went through Specsavers and got hearing-aids but then couldn't wear them once I'd started with these cancer drugs mid-August so took them back. Well I've decided to try the NHS Audiology route and a GP this week has put in the required referral. I've heard lots about their incredibly long waiting list so let's see how long it takes. 

I'm going to post this and dash now as we are booked for Doggy Day Care with an early start to get R to work and O to the station too. So while Hubby is chauffeur I need to dog proof the lounge with matting on the windowsill (her favourite viewing point) and blankets on the leather suite. 

TTFN

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Hugging My Cousins........

 
A few years ago, when I discovered we had quince growing in our garden, I found a recipe for quince jelly and loved it. Since then the quince hasn't grown big enough to do anything with, until this year. 

This bucket full was only about half the gathering. 

Looking up on the Internet I found a very easy recipe that said the quince roasted well, so I tried it in the airfryer but it refused to absorb any of the sugar syrup which left it far too sour. Hubby's face was very amusing when he tried a tiny taste hahaha

Changing the subject, on Tuesday we arranged to meet up with some of my cousins from my mum's side, which we try to do once a year. We didn't manage it last year so this year seemed even more important. 

Hubby and I drove nearly 80 miles and cousinJ drove from Nottingham so over 100 miles, but we were all so pleasantly surprised when we were joined by a cousin and her husband from Australia who just happened to be in the UK this week. SisterS told them of our plans then kept it as a surprise from the rest of us. 

We all met at a favourite fish and chip shop then all back to cousinsB&A's for plenty more hugs, chatting and cake. 

The older we all get the more precious our meetups are becoming. 

Wednesday it was back to the quince and I was joined by Daughter and R for another preserve session. 

A very easy recipe that just needs chopping with skins and cores thrown in the pan too. Both girls chopped, then Daughter did the hob cooking. 

She did a great job. 

I did lots of the sticky jar cleaning and R always does all the lables.

On Thursday friendM and I went out for lunch and a proper catch up. I took her a jar of plum chutney and a jar of quince jelly as a gift, only fair as she paid for my lunch, still calling it my birthday lunch even though that was a month ago!  

So quite a busy week but I'm resting up today as I've a painful foot again, which is a side effect of this medication. Keeping everything crossed it will disappear as suddenly as it came last night. No plans to spoil so that's good. 

Let's see what next week brings.

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Popping......

 

There was a reasonably loud clunk under my chair and when Hubby checked he said one of the seat springs had broken away from the frame. He definitely assured me, more than once, that it's still safe to sit on and I'll come to no harm. If you don't hear from me for a while please investigate.

Son popped in Saturday morning for a cuppa and to collect something we had printed for him. He prints so rarely that it's cheaper for him to drive the 45 mins here than it is to get his clogged up ink cartridge sorted out hahaha. He had tea, chopped some more logs to take and we had a good chat. 

Yaay we (mostly me but very grateful when Hubby helped) finished prepping all the apples and have two very full bags in the freezer. 

A good amount was coated in cinnamon and made into this strudel (we had eaten half already).

Daughter popped in Monday afternoon as E wanted some craft things from her storage stuff she has here, so Daughter came to get it, so O could take it on the train Tuesday and E will meet him at Norwich Station. Like Pony Express! O is going for his college induction day. Bonus for me was Daughter had E on a video call so she could help sorting through the boxes, so I got to chat with E too. 

 Should have been a quick pop across town for my regular blood test, however, as too often happens, an accident by the Orwell Bridge brought almost all the Ipswich traffic to a standstill. 

We have no other choice but to crawl along with it and get there when we can. 

Hubby had been helping neighbour-friendA repair his wife's memorial bench and Friday they drove together to put it back in her favourite place in Derbyshire, so should have been three hour drive each way but actually took them seven hours to get there.  

With all this talk of popping I couldn't resist....

Have a fun weekend.

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Fruity........

The jigsaw is finished. 95% done by Hubby with a little help from me. A fun one isn't it? 

 
We had the first machine load of laundry out on the line and Hubby was about to add the second load to it when he closed the patio door and called me to look. Our garden was filled with a large and very active swarm of bees! A little too far away to get a photo and we were not even tempted to open the door and step closer. We watched them for a while and Google helped me find two very local swarm collectors, but I didn't need to call them as the bees had all flown off by about 20 minutes. I hope they found a suitable place to settle. And our washing went out and dried well. 

I'm still peeling and chopping apples for the freezer but took a break to make this cake. Apples of course but with brown sugar and some black treacle it tastes like toffee apples mmmm

I was invited to attend an assessment meeting with a nurse within the Ipswich Community Care team. They can potentially offer medical or practical help if and when any of the side effects from my cancer medication becomes unmanageable. They can also offer emotional wellbeing help to me or any of my family. Thankfully I don't need any help at the moment but it's good to know it's available. 

Poor Hubby went through three courses of antibiotics trying to rid a gum of a recurring infection and save a tooth, unfortunately the tooth was eventually extracted. Let's hope that has cured it now. 

Daughter and R came over to make chutney with lots of the plums from my tree. She had de-stoned them before I froze them which made it a little less effort on the day. It still takes lots of boiling and stirring though. 

All the jars were boiling water sterilised and then stored hot in the oven and I was impressed that Daughter managed to fill the hot jars plus the tricky task of matching what lid fits each jar. 

R did a lovely job of writing the labels which went on once the jars were cleaned and cooled. 

And now I've more freezer space again I need to finish the rest of the apples sitting on the garden table. More in the freezer and more baking needed too. I know the fig tree is empty now but haven't checked the rhubarb for a while. Cakes and desserts to look forward to all winter mmmmm

Enjoy your weekend.

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Alas Poor Yorick (again).......

 
The apples on our tree are definitely ready to pick now. Unfortunately like previous years some of them have a rotten core, although the majority of each piece is delicious. So these apples never go into the fruit bowl they have to be chopped and frozen and cooked with.

You may also remember that apart from having a slightly smaller freezer than I used to have, I've also just filled a whole drawer with prepped plums!

One little idea I had was an experiment and only used up one apple which was added to with four slices of bread (rolled flat, buttered and sprinkled with cinnamon) and another sprinkle of sugar on top of the buttered outside. 

So easy just 15 minutes in the air-fryer at 180° and they were crispy and yummy. 

I didn't mention it last week as it was my happy week, but sadly our pond has been completely cleared of every fish! There seemed to be about 30/40 or more little ones from gold through yellow and grey to black and we've had them for years and protected them from the heron with a full edge to edge net! There isn't one left now! One of our neighbours has also lost his, just a few but expensive large carp. He told Hubby it was a fox!!!

I've eaten the first two cob nuts from our gifted cob tree that the squirrels or birds must have planted for us. I only thought of taking a photo when I went to throw the shells away. 

Sunday we had a family gathering for my birthday as this was the first chance of everyone being available. R is performing in Hamlet five nights a week of course plus Daughter and O have been at Kentwell for nearly two weeks and E had left there just a couple of days ago. Because Daughter and O wouldn't arrive till late we ruled out a BBQ and decided on Chinese take away.  The last time we did that Daughter did the whole order on Just Eat and it took more than two hours to arrive with no means of checking on them and when it arrived two items were missing. So this time Hubby said he'd use our reliable method of phoning the restaurant direct. 

I sent a link to the menu on Friday as I knew our Tudors would have limited time to choose. M, R, Son and fiancé all arrived with plenty of time and we all chose lots and listed it all out and Hubby was ready with our favourite Happy Star menu and gave them a ring......

Their recorded message stated they were closed for six weeks due to a new baby arrival ahhhh.

Two other leaflets in our drawer were for places that no longer exist. Then hearing from Daughter that they were now leaving Kentwell we needed to make a decision and get our food ordered, so we chose our nearest Chinese takeaway where we had no menu so Hubby and Son drove round so on the spot changes could be made to the list of choices if that takeaway didn't do them. This one doesn't deliver so an hour later as arranged they went back to collect arriving home at the same time as Daughter and O arrived! Phew!

Daughter had been working with the glass blowers for the week so my late birthday gift was this beautiful jug, blown by Tim and assisted by Daughter who also made and applied the handle. How lucky am I. 

Monday after coffee morning Daughter arrived, looking a lot less tired, to unload her car into our garage roof space and remove the top box. 

Late afternoon Hubby and I had been invited to friendM's for a BBQ

I wanted a photo of us all which friendM(our hostess took) so I took a photo of her. 

We were lucky with the weather not getting too chilly till after we'd eaten. 

Hubby had been concerned over recent years that our main guest bedroom had the double against the wall which must prove awkward now we are all getting older and often need the bathroom in the night, when one partner has to climb over the other and then climb back again. 

We had guests coming Wednesday, so Tuesday I cleared all the stuff that's been on the desk and under the desk for years. 

Hubby had been out for lunch with past work friends and when he was home again (and had a little nap in the chair) we went up and he dismantled the whole workstation which really wasn't easy. Then we rearranged furniture to give access both sides of the bed. 

Our guests this time was my sisterS and bilK. We had invited them to see Hamlet and sleepover as one of the lead actors happened to be the grown up that sisterS had taught in reception class of primary school, she had taught his two siblings as well. They live and the school are all in Twickenham and the reunion was happening in Suffolk! R had said we were coming and the other actor was excited to meet his old teacher again. 

We enjoyed a really good pub meal first, then for my third visit and Hubby's second we took them to Sutton Hoo. R and Hamlet himself were on front desk and happily obliged when sisterS wanted a photo with them. As we approached the actual theatre area the actor was waiting outside and gave her a very warm welcome and they had enough time for a good catchup chat. S&K both really enjoyed the play (K didn't think he would) and R popped out afterwards to say goodnight to us. 

Up Thursday after our very late night, cos we kept chatting. Leisurely breakfast and they headed for home by 11am.

Good news later that day from Daughter that O got good grades for his GCSEs and had completed his enrolment in college. 

So it's been a busy couple of weeks and all these visitors mean more housework too (I need that incentive). No hectic plans for this weekend though.

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Another Spin Around the Sun.........

 
I hope you read my last post as then all I need to say is Saturday morning breakfast for six of us lasted till noon, then they all moved around the house gathering all their stuff together. Lots more hugs and we waved them off. Very special friends that had bought me a very special and thoughtful birthday present (related to my health issues).

Not much later on Saturday another early birthday present was delivered. 

These had been sent by our friendGC, an old school friend of Hubby's so my friend too for all the time Hubby and I have been together. He's never done birthday presents before so this feels very special too. 

Sunday my favourite visit from Son and fiancé. They bought me this beautiful Celosia plant, also known as cock's comb. What a stunning colour!  

This is a multi purpose scarf/shawl/blanket and is part of the same design set as the jewelry box they bought me for Mother's day. So soft. 

And I was presented with an illuminated cake.

Monday was my actual birthday and of course we started with coffee morning. Hubby bought these for us to share with our lovely neighbour-friends

I'm amazed at this large collection of cards and enough gifts of flowers that needed six vases! 

I spent a lot of the day replying to all the wonderful online messages. 

Five different pubs that want to treat me to birthday food or drink (along with buying of course).

And even a message from my Google account. 

Tuesday was much calmer as we had Daughter's dog here..... After Hubby had picked her up from home and also taken R to work. 

We had our usual Wednesday group gathering at the pub that evening, although we have missed three Wednesdays while friendM had been in Spain so plenty to catch up with and this time friendHM joined us. 

Thursday and Friday were both Doggy Day Care days and she really is no bother. 

My birthday celebrations are going into the coming Sunday and Monday but I'll write about them in next week's.

Enjoy your weekend too.

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Tragedy and Comedy.......

 
O aka Charlie Blackwood has released his third album of all original tracks. Always available on all the places that stream music. So very proud he's achieving what he's passionate about and loving it. 

A quick medical update on us both (never my favourite stuff to report on as it's rarely fun) however, Hubby's back is improving and he's managing to stay sensible and not do too much. Hubby also had a dental appointment where he was told it would need an extraction but a more senior dentist saw him and offered another solution as the tooth looked healthy to him and it was the receding gum that was exposing the nerve so he used a resin to fill the gap and they will monitor in a couple of months. Fingers crossed. 

For me it's been an uncomfortable week with the medication side effects. Up to now they've recommended stopping for a few days when needed to let things recover but as the consultant has just increased my dose that seemed like undoing any good so I rang the care team for advice. They confirmed I should briefly stop and also referred me to the Palliative Care Team (surprised I'd never been told about them before) as they can offer expert medical help for my whole wellbeing and not just my cancer care. Happy to accept all the support available. 

Friday evening Hubby and I together with friendsL&K and friendsL&M were out for an early dinner at as pub near Sutton Hoo. Then we all went to see Hamlet at the Theatre in the Forest. My second time of course! 

It was brilliant as I knew it would be and my whole group thoroughly enjoyed it with one saying it was better than when they'd seen it in the West End.  

Then all back here for a sleepover (there's been quite a bit of housework done in preparation so friends don't see how we normally live like slobs).

Now our friends are all getting up so I'm off to make them breakfast. 

I'll leave you with a thoughtful Hamlet quote "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so".

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End of July.......

 
With the garden looking almost all green at the moment Hubby couldn't bear to pull up the big weed by the wall because it has bright yellow flowers! 

R gets Sundays and Mondays as free days during the Hamlet run and Monday afternoon she came over with Daughter to get this huge crop of plums picked and prepped. 

I open freeze on trays

Then bag up. Now there's a drawer full which I need to weigh as Daughter wants to make chutney so we will need to do the maths and buy the ingredients for my favourite recipe.

Shame this freezer is quite a bit smaller than my old one as now it's quite a squeeze.

One of our neighbours brought Hubby up a jigsaw she'd done because she knows he loves them and humorous snooker which is the subject of this one. 

He has started it but while the weather is good it could take a very long time as he prefers to be outside. 

As I've said many times Hubby is a very active person and gets frustrated when he can't do stuff, especially while having a painful back. 

As I've also said before we have very low water pressure which has annoyed Hubby for years and he's desperate to find a way to improve it even though many plumbers, British Gas and Anglian Water people have looked at it and failed to come up with ideas. 

Another idea came to Hubby about the pipework he had changed around when he rebuilt the bathroom twice. So still recovering but declaring his back is worse when he's resting, he had to lift carpet, underlay and floorboards in the bathroom. 

He checked it all and explained to me what pipe did what job and decided there really was nothing wrong with what he'd done. So floorboards and carpet went back. 

I'm so hoping now he can manage to live with what we have. 

Had a call from the oncology consultant with the scan results. There has been some growth that he said was not enough for me to worry about but enough for him to suggest I increase the dose again or try a different drug that does the same job but my body 'may' tolerate it better. For now I've agreed to stay on this drug and the side effects I'm learning how to deal with, I'll take 1x40mg and 6x20mg each week so a minor increase, and hope it doesn't change how I feel too much. He will review again after the next scan in about four months time. 

Another week gone and also another month! Time just whizzes by! 

See you again in no time at all.

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