Ends and beginnings......

Although there was the tricky (medical) start to December and I had to cancel some social events the rest of the month saw plenty of friends, family and celebrations.

Two lots of meeting friends for lunches. Our Wednesday group of friends celebrated twice, we had our posh hotel dinner as an annual usual but this year we ended the night back in the pub to see a friend who couldn't make it to the meal and of course so the men could play pool. Us ladies felt a little overdressed for the pub hahaha. The following Wednesday friendM cooked at home for us, we were told to dress in a suitable fashion hahaha, it was a delicious three course roast. Yummy!

I went with neighbours to our annual Eastern Angles Christmas performance, Fenland Screamers, and I've been with Daughter and O to see Alice in Wonderland. Both brilliant.

Hubby and I had a last minute trip into town as he had fundraising money to pay in, and the bank teller kept a cheery smile on her face as we held up the queue and she dealt with a mountain of coins. Then we had a mad dash throughout town looking for vegan jelly crystals and with so many shops telling us they sell it but we're sold out we eventually got what I believe were the last four packets in the whole of Ipswich!

Christmas day was at our house with Daughter, M, R, E and O. And if I say so myself dinner came out really well 😆 even the vegan trifle. It was of course a day of eating, unwrapping, board games, more eating, tv etc.

Boxing day was just as good with Daughter&co plus Son&fiancé here too! Yep lots more eating 😅

Sadly early in December one of our neighbours died. She was in her 80s and mostly stayed at home but she was always the first to arrive at coffee morning, sitting at the head of the table and enjoying all the conversations. I hadn't heard from her after I'd been in hospital and alerted another neighbour who holds a spare key and he went in and found her. 😔

New Year's Eve was also the morning when another good friend lost her battle. She had been in hospital for just a couple of weeks but had deteriorated quite rapidity. Sad times! 😔

The year ended on a very big high. Our house was open for....
Family day/NYE party/Daughter's 40th!
Starting about noon family arrived, think the total count was 25 including 3 teens, 3 children, 1 toddler, 1 baby and a dog! Have to say Daughter's dog Tilly was so well behaved considering how different it must have all been for her.
Most of the family had to leave early evening although Son&fiancé and sisterS&bilK stayed to soon be joined by 60+ of Daughter's friends to see in the new year and celebrate her big birthday. We were even joined by dinosaurs!

A fantastic party and lots of help with the clearing up which was fantastic. We played host to some sleeping over guests and Daughter did the same so breakfasts and brunch with extra company to start the year off.
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Medical avalanche........

Been a very busy time of late and calander booked to stay that way till just passed the new year.

R and O performed for the last time with their Saturday drama group, a fun performance as always. Unfortunately this drama group has been ended by the County Council as they only want to run Saturday school for music in future so this was an emotional end of term and end of an era for the children and also for Daughter who started coming here for her own music as a child and now as a parent has helped with registration and tuck shop for years. Sad farewells all round.

Last week seemed to be dominated by medical things too, and none of them involved my health for a change.
     We are both fine, which has been no easy task in fact, as Daughter then O and now M have all been ill with a sickness bug and we haven't been able to avoid seeing them.
      Our next door neighbour has a very serious medical condition diagnosed 40 years ago (told back then she only had six weeks to live) and she now needs stronger magic so has been in and out of Papworth Hospital and sometimes Addenbrooks over the last few weeks. Her husband has been asked to take in various bits of her medical supplies when he visits every day but midweek he phoned Hubby urgently asking him to go into their house and find some tubes in her medical supplies and get them to Papworth as he was there already (as the hospital had the wrong ones) so on his bike more than an hour's ride away! The staff were so grateful.
     Wednesday night I was out with my friends and before dinner had arrived friendM had a really funny turn, acting so weird that we were all concerned and I thought she should get checked out so took her and her partner to the local A&E. They decided she needed an ambulance to the main hospital about 11 miles away. FriendsT&F met us at the local hospital then went to the pub to tell another friend we should have met what was going on, then met us at the main hospital. Meanwhile I took her partner home and we gathered up what she might need if they kept her in overnight, then as he hadn't even had time to finish his first pint we could take two cars and ended up following the blue lights into town. It was nearly 1am when I left them there as having checked her thoroughly they suggested maybe a CT scan, but by the time I got home they had text me to say "no scan needed on our way home" so I was relieved and slept well. The think she'd had a TIA or mini-stroke! Very scary at the time and there will be follow ups but thankfully she's feeling fine now.
     While we were in the hospital friendM got to see her daughter as she was there with a sick baby, thankfully they'd just been discharged and I caught her just in time before they left for home.
     Heard from friendLW too who is totally drugged up as she has horrid sinus problems so she can't breathe and makes her sick and made her eyes really swollen.
     Also I went to visit friendHM to tell her about friendM and she is still unwell having one infection after another and now has a nasty rash on her face and in her eye.

My mum always said that winter needed a really cold snap to kill off the germs but even that wouldn't help for most of this!
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