And out the other side (almost)..........

Whatever that bug/virus/lurgy was it certainly took its toll, but it's almost gone yaay!

Recently I've been getting back to normal and I've managed lunch out with x-work friends, although I had to choose a starter to have when they all had main courses as my appetite was still poor.

Last Thursday I went to art group having missed the one two weeks before so that was good.

Saturday a friend of more than 40 years celebrated a big birthday with a tea party at her house and we felt really honored to have been invited, so I was thrilled that we made it and thoroughly enjoyed it. They were also very pleased that we'd thought to take our big urn which saved them lots of kettle boiling.

Sunday was mother's day of course and Daughter came over with O and E and she cooked dinner for us all, which was yummy and a real treat. Son not only sent my card in time (very unusual) but phoned me that evening for a long chat which was lovely.

And yesterday was the monthly coffee morning. A small one this time with just seven of us.

Today I'm pottering around the house, waiting for my GP to ring (can't book appointments in advance but we can book a phone call, odd eh) as after the bug thing I've still got this persistent headache :-(
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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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Muddy mild meander........

Daughter messaged yesterday morning asking if we wanted to join them for a walk somewhere but unfortunately I'd just started defrosting the freezer and had all the food packed in a pile on the worktop so had to move fast to melt and scrape the severely built up ice and get the food back....so reluctantly I declined.

Today Daughter messaged again and we arranged to meet her and O in the car park by Spring Wood (it's local). Such a lovely warm day, can't believe it's January! It has been wet recently and the paths through the woods were very muddy

It was a lovely walk with so much worth photographing

Another quick catchup......

We had our usual coffee morning and the Christmas decorations disappeared (with a fair bit of effort) back up into the loft and life slipped back into normal, deliciously punctuated by eating up leftover goodies.

So as you see nothing much to write about apart from a major altercation in our usual Wednesday night pub so we'll be eating elsewhere on a Wednesday in future.

I've two early summer mums-to-be I need to be crafting/knitting for.
The low winter sun is showing up all the housework I need to be doing.
And I've a pile of books I want to read, so hopefully there'll be something more interesting to write about soon.
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2015 reading....

LEAVING TIME by Jodie Picoult
eBook. Paid for download to Kindle reader, recommended by Lesley.
Started 13/02/2015 - finished 21/03/2015
Shouldn't have taken me so long as it was a really good read. The story unfolds from the different perspectives of four characters. Based around elephant sanctuaries and their researchers, we are given lots of interesting information about elephant relationships and feelings which seem very relevant to human behaviour too. I won't give anything away about this story of a teenage girl looking for her mother and trying to find the answers to a tragic night ten years before. The ending had me quite choked.

OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY by Candida Lycett Green
Paperback. From my pile of donated "waiting to read" books.
Started 27/04/2015  - finished 5/5/2015
True story or more of a diary than a story of the author getting back her life after cancer. Candida is the daughter of the late Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman so grew up in upper class England in a world full of horses and famous people although that doesn't detract from her telling of struggles and victories. Written to paint beautiful images of where she had been.

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT by Mark Haddon
Paperback. Second hand from our Isle of Wight holiday
Started 22/07/2015 - finished 09/08/2015
A very moving insight into the mind of a 15 year old boy with Aspergers Syndrome. It started with the murder of a neighbour's dog which Christopher has to investigate but the story moves a long way from that. Excellent descriptions of what he does and how he feels.

DURING THE DANCE by Mark Lawrence
eBook. Free download to my new Kindle Paperwhite.
A short story of 2,000 words
Started 19/09/2015 - finished 25 minutes later
An unusual fantasy fairytale that has quite sad undertones. Excellent as a short story.

PAYBACK AND A BOTTLE OF MERLOT by Bria Marche
eBook. Free download to Kindle.
Started  27/9/2015 - finished 3/10/2015
It's a chic romance comedy ish, about a group of wine drinking young women who band together to give out some justified revenge, but you must have guessed that from the title! A good light holiday read.

SKINNY ME by Charlene Carr
eBook. Free download to Kindle.
Started  24/10/2015 - finished 6/11/2015
As a reader who has experienced a lot of what this is about (fat girl becoming skinny girl but it's not the answer to happiness) I think it's quite well written, highlighting the struggles with relationships because she struggles with liking herself. Also brings home the message that health is more important than image.

ROSE OF THORNE by Mia Michelle
eBook. Free download to Kindle.
Started 8/11/2015 - finished 29/11/2015
A good holiday read although very repetitive to drag it out to be a whole book. Lots of secrets, lots of sex, lots of caught just in time before the worst happens and an inconclusive end so you buy the next book. ....I'll not bother.

CLOSE YOUR EYES AND COUNT TO THREE by Mark Haysom
eBook. Free download to Kindle (advertised on facebook).
Started  11/11/2015 - finished in about an hour.
An excellent short story written from a seven year old's view, about a camping adventure and relationships. Made me cry!

THE GIFT by Mark Haysom
eBook. Free download to Kindle.
Started 1/12/2015 - finished in about an hour on flight home.
Another deeply moving short story about a grandmothers desperate need to do well for her family.
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Happy New Year.......

2016, doesn't time just fly by?
I've read good wishes and passed on good wishes all yesterday on all forms of social media and even to real people in person, and now my wishes are for you all.

The traditional toast here is for "Health, Wealth and Happiness" and for me that means taking responsibility for my own health as much as I can, eating sensibly most of the time but no fad diets or depriving myself of treats that give me pleasure, everything in moderation as they say! My exercise will come from housework and gardening, dancing when the mood takes me and getting out in the fresh air so I also get that buzz of achievements. Wealth should be measured in love, closeness of family and strong friendships and richness of life experiencing new places and hobbies and being open minded to others opinions. Happiness is laughing out loud or quiet contentment and taking the time to count my blessings and share it with others.

So yes I wholeheartedly wish you all Health, Wealth and Happiness for 2016 xx
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