General Chat

Joan glad you enjoyed your meal. I use a peeler but one with a thicker handle for arthritic hands.

Florence, I am so sorry about your Dad it is. Dry hard when you live away. I hope you can get down to see him after Christmas.

Linda enjoy your curry sounds nice. I think a lot if on line orders will be short of a few things.

Well call me old fashioned but I have a sharp small veg knife and can peel very quickly with it lol

Sorry to hear about your Dad, Florence and do hope you can both get down there in the New Year.
Hope Joan’s hubby gets up the list and into the Cottage Hospital soon.

Re peelers. I hate those Y shaped ones, either loose a finger nail or a chunk of skin. Much prefer the knife shaped ones with a slit in them Not so easy to find.

Oh Florence, that is very sad news. I hope that you will be able to travel in the New Year. Sadly as our parents age, we know that one day we will lose them, but it is still very hard accepting that.

I am pleased that your husband was able to have a chat this morning Joan. I can’t remember the last time I used a knife to peel veg. Why don’t you buy a peeler? That would make it easier for you.

I ended up going to Tesco this afternoon because when my daughter got her Morrisons order it was missing some vital things. Also I didn’t realise that she was expecting us to go for dinner tomorrow night, I thought we were going over in the evening, but apparently not. Esme has declared that we are all having popadoms for dinner. So a full on curry meal with all the side dishes has to be made. It was easier if I just went and bought all the ingredients. Tesco was actually quite quiet and I managed to get the things Morrisons didn’t have

Afternoon all

Gosh Joan! Snow eeeek We don't have any snow but rain, rain & more rain plus gales so ferries have been cancelled and some planes earlier in the week. Tomorrow the gales are getting worse and through to xmas day.

I have been busy making my xmas cake. It's now on the board cooling down and then later on I shall marzipan and ice it. I love decorating it as I love the scraps of marzipan lol.

Turkey was taken out this morning and is defrosting ready for cooking tomorrow. I always cook it on xmas eve so it frees up the oven for everything else on xmas day.

Linda, hope you travel safely and have a lovely time at your daughters. Hope Eve will be much better for xmas day too.

Joan, sorry to hear hubby wasnt well earlier but glad hes ok. I hope it wont be too long before he can be transferred to the cottage hospital. How far is that from you?

My dads speech is becoming clearer and he is at home but its not good news! His left side of the heart is only 15 % working and not repairable. He is at a high risk of another stroke and heart failure. So he had meds to keep him stable but sadly its just a matter of time before his heart gives out.

I just hope he can" hang on" for a bit longer until ,myself and daughter can get down to see him but right now, its just not possible. He has been phoning in short bursts everyday so that's great we can still chat.

Well I have a wash on that's nearly finished and then in the dryer. last wash I'm doing this side of xmas.

Joan hope you managed to make the chips. Lovely you got flowers, lovely surprise.

I shall look in later on but things to do right now.

Take care all

Florence in the hebrides

I am so sorry that you won’t be able to see your husband on Christmas Day Joan. I hope that you will be able to talk to him at least. It is a shame that you both don’t have iPads or Android tablets because that way you could do video calls and see each other which is nicer than just a phone call.

It is very quiet here, OH is bored, so has gone out for a walk. I sat down and filled up my pill box. I have a monthly one with sections for morning and evening. It doesn’t take that long to fill up and is much easier for me than trying to get the tablets out of the boxes. The levothyroxine ones I have to take first thing are such stupid fiddly little things. I would probably drop them on the floor if I was trying to get them out when I first wake up. They are much easier to handle when I have decanted them into my pill box. The only annoying thing is that the pills come in a pack of 28, but there are more days in the month.

My son is due to arrive late afternoon, he hasn’t actually said if he is staying right through to New Year, I hope so. All three of us will go to my daughters on Christmas Eve and stay until Boxing Day. We will go back again for New Year.

It is good they discovered the clot Florence, hopefully he will be safe now.

Yesterday afternoon, I realised that the side of my nose was very sore. I had a look at my glasses and saw that half of one of the nose pads had fallen off leaving a sharp metal wire. I had to drive to the next town this morning to get a new one at the opticians. I park in Tescos, but it was heaving this morning. I was incredibly lucky to get a space. I decided to do my shopping there instead of driving back to my usual Tesco. That was a mistake because they don’t have the brilliant scan and shop, so I had to do it the old fashioned way, putting the stuff in the trolley, then onto the conveyor belt and back into the trolley again. It took ages and I was losing the will to live by the time I got out. It is so much easier when I scan it myself straight into my shopping bags and as technology doesn’t scare me, I am much more relaxed doing it that way

Hello all,

Sorry to hear about your dad Florence , it is good they found the clot and it has been dealt with. I hope the sale of the flat goes through quickly for you.

Things seem to be going ok with OH and his new knee at the moment just has to do the exercises . He has his follow up app. the first week in the new year .

The wind was really bad last night but fortunately no fence panels down but we could hear the gate rattling last night and 2 of the wooden planters were blown over and are now broken but on the whole we seem to have got off lightly compared to other places.

I hope you all have the best Christmas you can and have a very happy and healthy 2024.

Ginnie

Good afternoon all

Well dad has just phoned and he told me they found a small clot in his heart so gave him an injection to disperse it. Quite glad they found it as at least we now now the cause of the mild stroke. His speech is a bit better but he's finding it hard to say more than 3 words at once but small steps.
He is getting home tonight when his carer will pick him up after 6pm and will be glad for his own bed and surroundings.

I got a shock this morning. Having slept right through the night as i was very tired, I suddenly woke just before 8am. I went to the bathroom and then back to my bedroom when suddenly the doorbell rang!! It was still quite dark. I hastily threw on my dressing gown and switched on lights working my way towards the porch and front door. I opened the door very slowly as was a bit nervous but there was noone there??? I looked all around and noone about but suddenly looked down to see 3 parcels on my doorstep!

It was the postman who obviously had had these in his van overnight and thought he would deliver them on his way to the main sorting office in town. But yesterday he was finished early as there were no planes so how come he kept these?

Anyway, it was the shock of being woken by a doorbell so early in the morning and he drove off before I could get to the door.

Its still windy here and was the glass bin day today(only every 3 months) so daughter managed to get it out and back in quickly as they came quite early.

Poor Eve Linda, hope the meds kick in before xmas day and she feels better poor lassie.

Hope everyone else is well and ok today

Florence in the hebrides

I am relieved to hear that your dad only had a mini stroke Florence. Hopefully his speech will come back quickly

We used to have a Sky dish Joan, but we had it removed because the huge trees nearby broke the signal up every time the wind blew.

The church service this afternoon went well, it is not a type of service which could be described in any way as normal :-D The children enjoyed it. Esme’s class were singing and signing “ Last Christmas” All the kids were up singing and dancing in the isles.

Poor Eve isn’t any better, but thankfully they rang for an appointment this morning and she was seen straightaway. She does have a chest infection, so has been given antibiotics.

Evening everyone.
Thankyou for all you kind words and good wishes for my dad.

Well he tel me awhile ago and there is some improvement in his speech. The Speech & language came to see him this afternoon and have said he should use 2-3 words at a time not long sentences to start with. She did some cognitive tests too with shapes etc and he managed fine.

He is having lots of tests and ECG's so being kept an eye on which is reassuring. all being well he will be discharged tomorrow afternoon. They have said it was a mild stroke which has only affected his speech and not his ability to eat, drink etc which is a godsend!

So thankful it wasnt a major stroke like my mum had . Even so, my nerves are pretty shattered right now and of course i will be worrying that another might happen.
So glad his friend/carer lives with him, that is so reassuring for me.

Anyway, hopefully i will sleep tonight although the wind is still at storm force and is howling.

Joan , hope your tv has settled down. Can your daughter or SIl take a look at the Ariel/dish to see if the wind has moved it maybe?

Linda, hope the viewing went well.

Right coffee time just now so take care all & stay safe.

Florence in the hebrides

Sorry to read about another setback for your Dad, Florence, and also sorry to hear Joan’s hubby is in hospital. I hope they both improve and get back home quickly.

Joan let us hope the wind dies down for you and normal TV is resumed.

Florence so sorry to hear about your Dad, such a worry for you. I hope he is improving and continues to do so.

Linda more back and fro then for you. You will be glad when all school finishes.

It is good news about the flat. Florence, I hope it all goes through.

Oh dear, your poor dad. I hope he can get home soon, but with the junior doctors strike on at the moment, people are getting stuck in hospital as there are no doctors to discharge them .

That often seems to be the way it goes - nothing much happens for ages, and then it all happens at once.

Thank goodness your dad's reasonably OK.
And good news about the flat!

I hope it all works out well for you.

Oh goodness Florence :-0
So much happening with your Dad lately. I hope that he progresses well and can soon return home and be helped to regain his speech.

Thinking of you as you wait for news..... <3

Morning all

Yes the storm was and still is awful! We did lose power around 2-3am. I know this as I was still awake!

I received a tel call at 8pm last night from dads carer. My dad has taken a stroke and was taken to hospital last night. His speech is very difficult to understand as he tried to speak with me. I left my phone on all night incase anyone phoned but then the mobile signal went down.

So I have just tel the hospital and got through to the ward. His CT was clear, no clots. Echo will be done soon. It is only his speech thats affected and can eat and swallow which is a relief.

Memories of my mum came flooding back last night and i have to wonder how much more will happen? As you can imagine, I lay awake all night expecting the worst.

If he is discharged, he will get Speech & language but not in the hospital so he will be at home.

I am an emotional wreck today even though am normally the one that holds it all together. i'm just on edge wondering what next!

But..... on the bright side we have had an offer on the flat and the paper work is in the post :-D :-D It was several thousand less than we wanted but accepted it as just want it sold. No chain so could be all sorted before Spring, 2 months they said as straightforward.

Oh my it's all happening at once.

Well Im off to shower and get dressed now and hope dads speech improves as the day goes on.

Hope everyone else who had the storm is safe and ok

Florence in the hebrides

I hope you are all battened down Florence, the storm sounds as if it going to be bad.

Yesterday went well, Eve bought lots of nice presents, which are all now wrapped and hidden in her bedroom. She is not at all well, I think that she could have a chest infection, but getting a doctors appointment would be impossible, so hopefully she will get through it.
It is Esme’s carol service in the church next to her school this afternoon, so that is another trip for us. It would have been so much easier if we had moved.

The house viewing went well yesterday, it was a mother doing preliminary viewings for her son who lives in Gloucester. He is coming up for Xmas and has made an appointment to come on the 28th. So fingers crossed, although he wanted her to check if the kitchen could be extended to make a big kitchen diner. The answer is not easily, so I am not holding my breath

Afternoon from a watterlogged and very wet & windy village! Its just dreadful. So much rain today and now the wind is picking up to bring us storm PIA I think its called later on.

Waiting on Tesco, time given 5-6pm, 5 stops away so may be sooner.

I asked daughter to get me an orange and bless her she got everything else except the orange is a grapefruit!! Haven't the heart to tell her yet as she has been doing all the extras that were out of stock with Tesco in the coop. It just came with 3 bags.

She is now on the bus coming home, so no more going to town now, that's the food all sorted thank goodness.

No ferries, no post but we are safe and well stocked and the house is warm and cosy.

Always feel a bit guilty at this time of year seeing people begging on the streets sleeping rough. But i do give to various charities throughout the year not just at xmas so I do my little bit for those less fortunate.

Hope your day out is going fine Linda with all the mileage etc and hope your hair looks nice too.

Hope you are ok Joan and cosy inside today.

Anyone else looking in, take care in the awful weather.

better keep a look out just now for me delivery.

Back later on

I am glad that your children have managed to see their dad Florence.

I went to Esme’s Christmas concert today. It was a real shambles, but the children enjoyed it <3. Seeing them performing brings it home just how severely disabled the majority of the children in the school are. I will go to the croak concert in the church on Thursday afternoon as well.
Tomorrow via m taking Eve out for the day. It would be so much easier if we lived near them, but I have a half hour drive down the motorway to pick her up. Then we will drive the half hour almost back here and continue north for another half hour. She will come with me hike I get my hair cut, but that doesn’t take long. Then we will take the holly wreath to my parents grave. We take water and a cloth, so she gives it a clean. After that we will go to the retail park for lunch and to that she can buy presents for the family courtesy of my credit card. Then it is an hour to get her back home and half an hour back for me. I will be up and gown the motorway like a yo yo, you wouldn’t like that at all Joan.