The Lockdown GangSTARS still going

Kaimoana Karen is indeed a kind person. Glad you are going to get your groceries,. Love the sunflowers.
Boadicea those girls are really beautiful. I think Flo is very sweet.
Jan hope you’ve had a better day today and that Bp is coming down.
Grammaretto hope the film was good. Was it something new?

Hello Gang,

I also hope that the poorly ones are feeling better today.
How are you Jan?
Thanks for the photos BJ and Kaimoana

Doodle the film was Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Very scary 😂
The 1941 version. Ingrid Bergman as a cockney barmaid is hilarious.

I had another Barista lesson today at the café. I was let loose on the hot chocolates. One was for me I made it with coconut milk and it tasted like a bounty bar.
Watch out Jeeves. I may be after your job.

Grammaretto you are brave. That’s a very old film. Bet you enjoyed it though.
Don’t tell my DH about your barista skills he loves Bounty bars. Coconut flavour chocolate sounds just the thing he’d enjoy.
Are you getting the knack of it now?
Jeeves is sulking in the corner. He thinks we won’t need him anymore ☹️

Oh Jeeves, don't despair. I have lots for you to do.
I should have had 7 hours homecare and they sent someone for only one.

Are you good at cleaning kitchen & bathroom, fetching library books, onions and Oxo cubes? If so, please be here at 10am tomorrow - lunch, snacks and drinks provided.

I had a lovely time at the support group BBQ yesterday. The temperature was a brow-wiping 24 degrees but we sat at a picnic table under a Pohutukawa tree and chatted.
Later, the men cooked sausages on the barbie and we had salads, juice, tea or coffee.

The sighted people went for a walk on the adjacent beach; everyone else stayed put.
All together a splendid morning made all the better by the presence of King and Otis, 2 guide dogs.

Otis is something of a star. You can read about him here:
blindlowvision.org.nz/guide-dogs/gorgeous-otis

AND

blindlowvision.org.nz/guide-dogs/our-puppies/letter-from-otis

Forgot!

Went for a walk today. I didn’t realise it was so cold and didn’t wear a hat. My ears really hurt by the time we got back.
Kaimoana that’s not good. Why did you only get one hour?
That’s not enough time to get much done at all.
What a lovely day you had yesterday. I bet you had fun with the dogs. I will read up on Otis.
Grammaretto do I remember you saying on the GM thread that you have a show or open day at the weekend that you are preparing for? How’s it going?
Have any of your visitors arrived yet?

My Mum used to pour a few drops of warmed olive oil into my ears when I was young. It worked like a dream.
I had a lot of problems so Mum would plug me lugs with cotton wool.
I think she kept it in her handbag!
Mind you, Yorkshire winter were deadly, so she was wise.

The answer to your question Doodle is 'sheer inefficiency.'
I think they share a brain cell and Monday wasn't the dispatchers day to use it.

Artoa came today and took me shopping.
Tomorrow she flies to Samoa for 3 weeks, I shall miss her.
I do get some lovely workers and that makes up for a lot.

Oooh, how exciting Grammaretto is this a pottery show or a mixed art show?

How's are you doing Jan? Hope you're feeling more hopeful.
Nfk What progress in your nest?
And Missedout I keep thinking of you too, in fact I think of all our lovely gang and just hope they are thriving.

We started off with so many, the idea being to give and have mutual support. Now it's not needed so much
So we did our job, that's a good thing.

Your beach BBQ and dog walk sounds like sheer joy Kaimoana .

I hope Jeeves hasn't taken offence, I could definitely do with tea in bed this morning.
it will have to be me

Yes a mixed art show on Sunday and I still have pots to fire.
The Americans arrived last night. They were very tired but while he crashed, she chatted to me till at least 9 pm! They said they were too tired to eat but then tucked in when they saw I had cooked.
They're an older couple, They travel a lot and would like to leave the USA.
I shall need to find suitable work for them to do.
She was last here in 2014 . It seems like yesterday.
I have the dentist today. No toothache but all the other things like a broken crown and a hole to be filled. Expensive

My own Kiwi travellers send regular updates. They are still in Mexico having an amazing time.
I wonder how our Lobstars are.
Jan how are you faring?
Doodle how is Mark?

Thought I'd drop by to see how Jan is doing. Jan, I hope that your BP is under control now, if not that it's improving. We're all still thinking about you.

Likewise, I hope that things in the Nfk household are settling down and all is as well as can be, and you *Boudicca are settled at h with no more unplanned trips to the hospital.

I'm pleased that you had a lovely time at the picnic Kaimoana but disappointed tamping that your home care is letting you down again 😕. Great that you, courtesy of Artoa, managed to get your shopping in 👍

An older couple sounds nice to have around for a change Grammaretto, hope they're not suffering from jetlag and letting you down.

The weather has been 'orrible here Doodle, far too squally with torrential rain to go for walks 😬. Yesterday we had to take our car in for its MOT and service, the weather was lousy! Fortunately, we were given a courtesy car so we could take ourselves off somewhere. We went and had some cake and free coffees in the garden centre 😁.

I too have been thinking of Missedout and Muse too and hope the two of you are okay.

Hello All.so kind of you to ask how I am. BP is down due to a change of pills. Started physio but not going very well.I am very down as hand and arm and leg are completely numb. Although I keep being told things will improve I am panicking. Not doing well in here. The days are long and very quiet, food is not good and out of a 6 bedded bay 2 people never wake up and the other 3 don’t speak. Sorry to moan

Jan, so good to hear your BP is down 😀. Please don't apologise for moaning - hospitals are notoriously not nice places to be. I'm thrilled that you've started your physio 👍. It's understandable to panic but I echo what you've been told - things will improve. As for the hospital food, it doesn't improve it seems. When I was last in hospital (admitted several times re. Kidney stones) I kept being admitted on a Friday, every Friday the same insipid chicken, rubber beans and poorly potatoes 🙄. Wish I could bring you a hamper! Sending cwtches x

Grammaretto Jeeves will be delighted you still need him. He will be at your bedroom door with a silver tea tray ready and waiting in the morning.
Glad your folks from America have arrived. I hope they make themselves useful while they’re here. Sounds like you et on well together.
Hope all your pots cook in time for the show at the weekend. Are there many contributors? Your Kiwi lot are certainly getting around. Never been to Mexico but I bet it’s an interesting place to visit.
Mark is on the back burner as I have to knit another sheep. Apparently the flock is not big enough for the nativity scene and we need more. I will have to get going with Mark though. Christmas is getting closer.
Kaimoana I went out again today but with a hat this time. Very cold but ears were ok. Glad Artoa came to sort you out today. Is she from Samoa?
Like you I miss all our posters but glad we were here at the beginning of lockdown to support each other.
Ooh lovely Cherry how nice to see you. Hope your car passed its MOT. Lots of garden centres do cake and drinks now. Hope you had something tasty. Yes weather awful but probably worse where you are.
Jan glad your Bp is lower and you have now started physio. Many people feel low in hospital. Doesn’t sound as though your ward is a great place to be. Are you allowed visitors or is it still Covid rules. Must be hard managing without the use of your arm and leg. Hopefully the numbness will improve and things will get better. You’ve been through a frightening experience so not surprising you are not feeling in top of the world. Can you DH bring you in some food from outside. Hôpital food is almost always awful. You are not moaning at all.
If you feel like a chat pop in here to visit us. Always a pleasure to hear from you. We are all thinking of you and wishing you well.
Thinking of you too Nfk and all the lobstars. Take care all

Good that your BP is down Jan but it must be boring with nobody to talk to!
I hope the numbness goes soon.

We have had the most atrocious weather today.
Perhaps it's just as well my US couple didn't emerge from their room until 3 pm when it's almost dark
I'm sure tomorrow will be more productive.
They have braved going out to explore the town tonight
I've been either at the dentist or glazing pots today. He, the dentist, wanted to extract a tooth but I wasn't ready for that so it will be next week.
I am not my happiest!

How are you Cherry ?

Grammaretto Jeeves says he will give you a nice calming drink to relieve your pain. He will also set an alarm clock for the morning in you visitors room 😊

You are all so lovely - thank you. And yes I’m often thinking of Nfk. Hope you and DH are ok

Poor Grammaretto, you've been at sixes and sevens for a while now. I think you need a bit of retreat time to renew body, mind and spirit. Is that possible this winter?

It IS lovely to see Cherry posting isn't it?
Free coffee and cake? You lucky duck.

Garden centre cafes are popular here too but so busy and crowded mostly.

Yes, hope muse is okay. Anyone heard? And whatever happened to dragonfly?

Keep going Jan, it's understandable to feel down sometime and often the side effects of the stroke itself.
Get someone to bring you nutritious food; you need all the vitamins you can get when you are trying to heal yourself.
You'll beat it, I know you will.

Yes Doodle Artoa has gone home to see family.
Sadly her only brother died. She has seven sisters.
But she's also there for a holiday.

Mepa is from Tuvalu. Karen is Kiwi with Indian heritage; I'm a Yorkshire Kiwi

My DS is a Yorkshire Kiwi with Irish heritage.
My DGS is Kiwi with Croatian heritage.
My DGD is Kiwi with Croatian, Yorkshire & Irish heritage.

What a mixed bag.
And I'm not talking about myself when I say that.
Oh, maybe I am? A mixed up old bag

Hello Gangstars,

It's been a long day and it's not over.
My guests managed to lock themselves out last night and had to force a door to get in.
There have been a few misunderstandings but I think we'll survive.
I miss DH at times like this more than ever
Someone else's DH telling me what I'm doing wrong, is no fun.

Maybe you're right Kaimoana I need a retreat. I shall make plans.

I once spent a weekend at a hotel run by the Fellowship of Healing.
It was in Cumbria, near Greystoke.
I arrived with a filthy cold, and went to bed feeling rotten. In the morning I woke up healed!
It was so nice that I told the people that it must be a kind of magic. Oh no was the reply. It's not magic you will just be relaxed and rested.

How are you Jan?
Dragonfly writes on the good morning thread and is ok I think.

Just tea for me please Jeeves while I wait for the kiln to reach temperature. it could be a few hours yet

Been busy day for me. Helping out at church this morning. Massive Waitrose delivery this afternoon so had to cook some of the food to get it in the freezer. Did some accounts on the computer and washed my hair which is always a lengthy process. Had nice roast chicken dinner tonight and a treat of some Hagen Das chocolate ice cream after. Lovely.
I have read in Soop’s kitchen that Muse is moving into her home soon. I have mentioned we all want an invitation to the house warming,
Kaimoana it’s funny isn’t it what a lot of mixed bags we are 🤣. I’m Welsh, English and French. I think I detect more than a hint of Yorkshire in Gubbins. A girl who knows her own mind I think.
Sorry Artoa has lost her only brother. Fancy having seven sisters. I wonder how they all get on.
Grammaretto hmmm I’m wondering if us lot should come up there to keep an eye on you and your visitors. I hope they are not upsetting you. They should be on their best behaviour, being your guests. I hope they didn’t damage the door trying to get in. I think Kaimoan’s idea for a bit of rest and relaxation is a good one. You’ve been on the go with visitors, and work on the house for such a long time.
Is the kiln full of items for your show? Hope it goes well.

Jan hope someone is managing to smuggle in some tasty treats for you,

Can Jeeves get me a very large gin and tonic please?!

I'm sure Jeeves would do that for you Jan
Any particular gin or tonic? I'm partial to Fentimans tonic
With lemon and ice?

I'd love you to visit Doodle and the gang
That's excellent news that Muse is about to move in. In time for Christmas too.

How's Mamissimo? . Does anyone know?

My Americans are out again but I'm assured they have a key.
It's freezing here. There'll be a frost tonight. I wish the kiln would reach it's temperature.
I woul love to go to bed

Night night 🌃

I had a phone call from the police just now to say there had been a theft reported by an American woman whose coat disappeared at the pub. She'd given my number to the publican because she has no UK number.
It was to give me the incident number.
Now I can't get back to sleep.
I shall see her in the morning no doubt. They haven't had much luck have they but neither have I

Gramaretto

It's only things, not health or happiness.
They joined in a pub quiz and took off both their (expensive German) coats, and a leather "vest" and left them nearby. They lost the lot.
When I said I would never separate myself from my coat in a public place, she, what is her name? Kentucky lass? looked astonished and said there would never be a theft like that in the States!
I'm getting too old for all this.

Thanks for your sympathy Kaimoana.
At least my kiln reached temperature and apart from a class this afternoon, I haven't much on today.

Panic over. He found their coats on a skip this morning. Even the torch was in his pocket.