General Chat

Sorry AnnG I missed your post. Thank you for your get well wishes and you Ann.

The Cancer was caught early, he's been on tablets which is helping but they said it would be better to have the operation when he was a bit older as the recovery would be better, not sure why though. It takes a year to recover from the operation so he won't be able to work. Hopefully he'll know when the operation is going to be once this next MRI is done as it's been over a year now. He's had to have blood tests every three months since the start which seem to be improving each time, he thinks it's down to the drugs he's on, but at least that's a positive.

How lovely to have a Robin nesting in your garden. We've noticed a Starling going in and out of the corner of our roof. Last year a blue tit was there so I was surprised to see a different bird this year.

I'll try and post more often and not leave it so long this time. I didn't realise how long it had been since I was last on here there's been so much going on, the time has passed so quickly.

Welcome back Gill. It’s good to see you posting. I’m sorry to hear your OH has problems with his health and hope he gets the MRI scan soon and you don’t have to wait long for the results. It must have been difficult coping with all that while you were still trying to renovate your bungalow and garden. I hope you have kept well and not had too many migraines.

Poor OH, Annx. A bad night like that wasn’t a good start to his birthday but I hope he’s managed to enjoy his day. Please give G my best wishes. I hope you are both able to catch up with some sleep tonight.

I agree with you Gwyn. It is lovely when the garden wakes up from winter and puts on some colour. We have a bed full of an early daffodil called February Gold with lots of Tete A Tete mini daffs in front of them and looking at them always makes me smile.

Nothing in today’s weather to make me smile. The forecast first thing said it would get to 14 degrees with sunny periods. I’ve been up since 7.30 am and haven’t seen even a glimmer of sun and if it got to 14 degrees I’m the Queen of Sheba. Now the weather app is telling me it’s raining - no, it isn’t. I think we’ve skipped a day and got tomorrow’s weather.

I got 3 loads of washing on the line fairly early today and when I brought it in a short while ago it was still quite damp so It’s now hanging all round the house. I’ve also made a start on giving the conservatory a really good spring clean. I’ve been putting it off and saying it will take too long and I haven’t got time but today I decided I’ll do it a little bit at a time and eventually I will have cleaned it all. The higher parts of the roof will have to wait until son or grandson are here as I am not climbing up to the top of the big steps and I’m not keen on OH doing that either. I have some very sturdy kitchen steps and from those I can reach a little way along the roof struts and can reach the top of the windows

I’ve got a couple of phone calls to make so that’s my next job and then I am going to relax with my book for a while.

Sorry to hear about your OH Ann, at least going private is quicker which is good and the insurance will cover the cost. I hope things move along quickly and he's soon feeling much better. I think worrying about what might happen and not having the answers is the worse. I hope he's not to worried, or you either. How are you coping? Good luck with his MRI on Friday.

OH has his MRI this coming Sunday, he should of had it last month and after a lot of phone calls he finally got in touch with them and they sent a text with the date this month. Better late than never, although he should never have had to chase it up himself in the first place. He's not been able to have his blood test before the MRI as the next available blood appointment was the middle of next month which would of been to late. He's going to ask about it when he goes to the hospital on Sunday, hopefully he'll get an appointment in time for his consultation about the MRI results which is normally a few weeks later.

We've been busy trying to get our kitchen done the units are in but it still needs tiling. I'm trying to sort the walls out as there is something on them which prevents anything sticking to it and we don't know what it is. We had the same problem in the bathroom and ended up chiseling it all off. What a mess that was so if we can avoid doing that again we will. At the moment I'm sanding the walls in the hope that works. The problem is it's a very long job so I still haven't finished it yet. Never mind I'm sure it'll look lovely when it's finished.

We have had the lower bricks of the property sorted at they were all falling apart, we also had the path taken away at the same time, although we wished we hadn't of had the pathway done as we can't find anyone to put in a new grid so we can put the pathway back. We did have someone around last week to take a look, he said he'd be in touch with a quote but we haven't heard anything back. I rang him the other day and a woman answered his phone as he was in the shower, she said he'd ring me back but he hasn't, so we assume he doesn't want the job and now we're back to square one.

We have had the large tree taken down at the bottom of the garden which looks so much better and a stump grinded away on the other side of the garden, so apart from three small plants to take out the garden is cleared....finally :-) The big trees we left have lovely white blossom on them which the birds love eating. I hope they leave us some flowers to look at. lol

We're decorating the living room at the moment so we can finally use it. It's been used as a storage room since we moved in, so now it's cleared it looks much better. I bought some net curtains as the blinds were to expensive and I needed something at the windows. I need to shorten them slightly and then we can use the room without us feeling like we're in a gold fish bowl. OH has just finished painting the living room walls and I'm going to paper the chimney breast, then it's just the glossing to do and a carpet to buy, some furniture, plus a fire then it'll be done. So a little way to go yet.

So as you can see we're still very busy.

Going to add some people to my tree now, I've just made contact with a cousin I didn't know I had and she gave me some information.

Well, that is a nice surprise to see gill. I thought we had lost you for good.
I am sorry to hear that your OH has prostate cancer and hope he can soon get sorted with the MRI and chemo. Hopefully it has been caught early.
Gosh that is a big garden, best to work on a small area at a time. a pity that the fence became unstable in the storms, Maybe it need to be one with concrete posts to stay firm. It is good though to have a fence to keep your privacy.
I hope it won't be too long before you post again. I hope all goes well for your OH, Keep us in touch.

Ann Ah, yes the consultancy obviously was better than the NHS, especially comparing it with my experience. I hope he hears soon of a date for the MRI anyway.
I walked down to Irene's with two bags of clothes for charity but I really need to have another go at the wardrobe as I am sure there must be more stuff.
Cheeky robin is still using that nest despite me going round there I suddenly saw a little head peeking out. The nest is level with my eyes so is quite low down. Cats couldn't get up there and magpies don't tend to fly in there. It is just humans. I am hoping they will become accustomed to me moving around. As long as I don't go to take anything from the shelves which is not likely.

Hi Gill,

It's lovely to see you posting as I was thinking of you at Christmas. I'm sorry to hear your OH has Prostate Cancer and can imagine that it has been a difficult time for you both and waiting for results is horrid. Hopefully his treatment will be started soon and fingers crossed he won't have to wait for long for the MRI. It sounds like he is getting pain with the rheumatism/arthritis in his spine too which can't be good when you have had such a big job renovating your bungalow and re-doing your garden.

My OH is waiting for an MRI scan too following back and neck pain that started last summer, but he also had a cardiac arrest at home 6 weeks ago. He's doing ok though and has a heart checkup on Friday.

I've passed on your kind birthday wishes to OH and he says to thank you all. :-)

No, private is being much quicker than the NHS in this case AnnG. The NHS waiting time just to see a consultant was 18 weeks and he saw someone privately in less than 2 weeks. He spoke to them at the private hospital earlier today and they needed to ask a lot of questions due to the cardiac arrest eg you can't have an MRI scan if you have a pacemaker as the scanner uses magnets. The lady he spoke to expects to ring him this afternoon or tomorrow with a date for his MRI scan. The scan for his spine, which will take 90 minutes, will cost £1,500!! With the cost of the consultations it will be just within what the small private insurance will cover, so that is good to know, It's 10 degrees here now and was really chilly earlier, but no rain so we stayed dry doing our errand. I have sorted a box in one of the top cupboards in here, some glass paints had solidified so can go and there was a box full of blank DVDs to record what you want on, some unopened. I'd forgotten I had them and don't seem to be able to play the few ones I had recorded on on W11. I was going to bin them but will check if they are in demand on Ebay first.

I'd better get a wash on now and help OH get the bins down our steepish drive as the recycling is full and heavy this time.

Hi All

Happy Birthday G, hope you have a lovely day

Sorry it's been so long since I was last on here, my OH has got Prostate Cancer so as you can imagine this past year or so has been really hard. He has another MRI at the end of this week so it's a bit of a worry until he gets the results.

He will have to have an operation at some point and chemo but he's not sure when yet. Hopefully they'll tell him on his next consultation after the MRI.

He started with a pain in his back on Christmas Day and thought the Cancer had spread. It hasn't and turned out to be two compressed vertebrae plus he has arthritis and rheumatism in his spine too.

We're still trying to sort this place out and have almost finished getting all the garden cleared, it's taken over 4 years but is looking much better even if it is full of building materials we've found in the garden which we're hoping to use. It's such a big garden 90 foot long and over 80 foot wide. We put a fence along the back where the fields are but it became wobbly with all the storms we had, so we might have to take it down and have another stronger one put up instead. We'll probably pay someone to do that though as it's to much for OH and I to do ourselves.

Sorry to be all doom and gloom. I haven't read any of the posts so I hope everyone is okay.

Happy birthday G.
Sorry you both had a bad night Ann. any idea when the MRI will materialise? Seems private is not a great deal better than NHS. Hope you both have a nice day for his birthday anyway.
we have had some very light rain, almost not worth mentioning except it is the first for a while. Temp is 8 with a high of 14 degrees expected.

I have showered and washed my hair and stripped the bed (not re-made yet though) and the bedding is in the drier. I have also done a bit of paperwork/admin and am now going to get a coffee.
Yes Gwyn the spring flowers are a welcome site and do re-pay the hard work. :-)

Morning all I overslept this morning.

Grey skies I'm afraid at the mo but it was brighter when I got up. Pc is teling me rain to stop but Iv'e not seen any this morning and its 12 degrees. Positively sweltering!!!

Sorry to hear you had a bad night Annx please give him my love for a lovely day.

Iv'e amended my asda order and had a wash and thats about it so far today. I want to get my hair washed today and thats always an ordeal.

The deer have eaten a lot of my crocus in the orchard but seem to have missed the ones further up the snowdrop patch, the original patches leaves have all got straiaght across ends to their leaves its either them or rabbits.

Morning All,

Misty here too AnnG and 6 degrees. A bad night's sleep with OH so I sat up with him for a few hours. He's better this morning again, poor chap and it's his birthday today as well.

I've just done some more clearing of paper in here and will set to on the final decisions for the en suite later, unless OH fancies going to the garden centre that has a big section on The Works. He might find himself a cheap book or two. :-)

Thank you Mandy for forwarding the photos.

What lovely spring flowers adding their colour there Ann.
It's always heartening to see a garden 'come alive' again after the dreary winter months and I know it gives you a lot of pleasure even though it is sometimes hard work maintaining it.
Thank goodness for Jake and co. who have made it easier for you to manage things.

Another lovely morning here, although it was a little misty earlier. So far laptop is telling me it's 8 degrees, but I'm not looking forward to the weather cooling later in the week.

Good morning all, overcast and a bit misty this morning and 7 degrees now. I slept ok and finally woke at 0715 plan so far today is to have a shower then change the bed and then wash the bedding. (exciting things! Life doesn;t get much more exciting than that!)

I am not sure I took very good photos with my phone or maybe it was the light. I was amazed when I looked at the patch of Helebores etc to see how many spring flowers there are in there. Helebores tete a tete, snowdrop remains and several primulas.

Thank you Mandy. I can never get the iPad to do a group email but thought I would try again. Thanks for saving me the job.

Thanks for forwarding the photos Mandy. Your garden is starting to look colourful AnnG. The Hellebores are nice and those crocus are such a vibrant colour and everything is waking up with the sunshine we've had.

OH has the same performance at the Opticians Vera. He often needs two lots of the eyedrops to get his pupils wide enough for the Optician. Once he was given the eyedops to put in at home before we set off, so it would save some time. Don't forget his sunglasses when you go again. OH reckons it is always sunny when he has an eye test and those drops.

Thanks Mandy.

Ann, the garden is looking good, tidy, colourful and spring like.

Thanks Mandy got them now. The garden is looking good and tidy Anng.

I've sent them on Anng to Mel,Ann Vera and Gwyn.

Sorry about the photos I may leave it until tomorrow to try again. I sent Mandy’s separately and she got hers :-D

I haven't received anything AnnG.

OH saw the optician and had various tests and scans but he's got to go back on Monday week to have drops put in and another examination. It's annoying as it means I will have to go with him again to drive home. Apparently they couldn't do them today as he has to wait for half an hour after the drops go in before the optician can examine him. If they knew that, why on earth didn't they ask him to come half an hour before his appointment time today for the drops?

I don't seem to have achieved anything much today. I wandered round Waterstones which is right next to the optician and bought a book and this afternoon I've responded to some emails and done a bit of banking and a bit of filing. Now I'm sorting out our dinner which I'm planning for 6 pm.

The two Anns are making me feel guilty as I know my wardrobes need sorting out and there will be stuff for the charity shop. I won't find anything with labels still on. I hate shopping so much that I only buy clothes for me when I really need something. I do have a wardrobe full of clothes but most of them date from the year dot. I may have to try and get out in the next week or so and try and buy a really nice blouse or top. We've got a diamond wedding 'do' to go to on 22nd and I don't know how formal it is going to be. It's a dinner for 65 people in a hotel with some entertainment after. I've got to find something to wear between too casual and too overdressed. I've got 2 possible skirts with jackets if I can find the right top to go with either of them

If we are going to eat at 6 pm I had better go and get some veg on to cook. I think a glass of rose wine might go down nicely while I'm cooking ;-)

No photos here yet either AnnG.

Jake is going to drop the boiler panel in on Wednesday evening, so I just hope my measurements were right and it fits!

Your garden bin day is the same as ours Gwyn. I'm going to do some cutting back in the morning to top ours up.

I ended up doing more admin and tidying my desk today. That was lucky finding the orchid had survived Mel. I must dig up some of the self set Cyclamen under the arbour. I thought they were petals that were falling from the main clump at first.