The Lockdown Gang still chatting

Hello lovely Lobstar friends,
autocorrect was busy writing he'll and hell

I wish they would just reduce the prices Doodle rather than all these loyalty cards. DH refused them all as he believed our details were being harvested and sold. He may have been right.
I bus to the hospital as it's door to door but DDiL tried to park, failed and went home again so I think the answer is the parking is not good
Doodle yours sounds better.
Cherry well done your team and when you've successfully done your declutter can you please give me a lesson.
How was the doctorKaimoana?

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Grammaretto parking at hospitals is always difficult. You would think someone would realise that patients have visitors and outpatients have appointments and they all need to park somewhere.
Had a nice day today. Went shopping with a friend this morning and had a lovely unexpected visit from DS 2 this afternoon. So nice to have a catch up with all the family news.
Plumber turned up to fix our shower. Hot water again at last. Bliss.
I think your husband may be right you know. There have been occasions when DH and I have been in John Lewis looking at something and when we’ve got home we’ve had an email about it. Coincidence or spooky 😊
Hope all the gang ok and having a good weekend.

That's confirmed then - hat trick! In all three nations of GB parking at hospital is a 'mare. In the larger of the two nearest hospitals you're very lucky if you can get a space in the multi-storey. It's a single lane carpark so if you miss a space you can't go up a level and back down again to 🤞take the space and the exit leads back out onto the main road (and out of the hospital grounds). The smaller hospital has got rid of their main carpark, which was always packed, there are very few parking spaces now.
I don't mind supermarket loyalty cards but then the only one we have is Sainsbugs because we can't be bothered with having any more I'm not keen on the vouchers very much though because most of the time we can't make use of them before their expiry dates I think they bank on that being the case. Your DH was probably right Grammaretto, data is big business.

Sorry Grammaretto but I'm not sure we'll ever get to the end of this decluttering it'll still be here when the daisies are growing above us to be able to give lessons to anyone. If we do end up moving we'll probably have to pay someone to deal with the debris in this house so it's fit for habitation to clear what we leave behind 🤭

I have to ask then Doodle, did your front teeth originally stick out at all? A friend of mine hates her front teeth, not because they stick out but because they are large and in her words rabbity. She's say she used to think having work done on her front teeth but now she's happy she's still got them 😁. Me? 🤔 I've always had one canine that's a bit, well, caniney 😂

Hello again Gang,

I'm very disappointed. Cherry not to be getting a decluttering lesson. What's a Swedish death clean? you didn't mention it but I thought you might know

I hope it's not what I'm imagining.

I made a silly mistake and have accidentally booked myself on a herbal walk today when my df told me it was yesterday, I thought she had made a mistake ofcourse she hadn't .
So she went on another one yesterday free and I'm on an expensive one today. Perhaps I'll find St George's mushrooms.

It's with a medicinal herbalist so maybe I'll find cures for all Lobstar ails!

Comfrey oil or cream known colloquially as knitbone really can mend bones.

Whenever DH was in the other hospital, not on direct bus route, I used to devise ways to avoid the expensive carpark by using a supermarket as park and ride or taking 3 buses.

So glad you had a lovely day Doodle -
a visit from DS and a hot shower must have been a tonic!


I bought a lilac tree at the street fair yesterday so I must now find a place to plant it. We had one but had to pull it out when we redesigned a corner of our garden. I love the scent of a lilac.

Anzac Day tomorrow. I hope your occasions are happy ones.

Good morning 🙂

It's been a relatively gentle week here - I've sown the first lettuce crop, the beetroot, carrots, peppers and a second load of bored beans after Fergal some wild beast dug the first lot up while we were on holiday.

DD1 has decided that she needs to amend her diet.......so yesterday she arranged to meet DS in a local cafe to watch him eat brunch! Whilst enjoying the catch up, and rare 1-1 time for them, it made her a bit peckish as she hadn't eaten since 8 the night before.....

....so she suggested to him that they went to the Saturday market to get some healthy produce. She bought a sourdough loaf, a bargain bag of hard rocks avocados, some rocket and some duck eggs. By the time she got home she was so hungry that she had 2 slices from the cartwheel loaf, 2 chopped avocados, and 2 poached duck eggs! Healthy yes.....but I don't think fasting diets will work for her!

Mr M has a swanky new coffee machine and is very happily inviting the world and his wife around for coffee. It's a full on Italian bean to espresso machine with a milk thingy and lots of manly accessories like tampers and stuff. The coffee he's making is lovely....but he leaves all the gubbins for me to clean up.......think it's time for a frozen lamb dinner 🧐

DD2 is still well and blooming at 23 weeks, all children are gainfully employed and well, DGDs are thriving, H Beagle gently being spoilt....how I wish oofle dust could make it thus for all of you.....

Cherry you’re right. Hospital parking is a nightmare. The stupid thing is that there’s a lot of sick frightened people at hospitals and the last thing they and their family’s need is all the hassle of trying to park.
I would rather they took some money off everyday purchases at supermarkets than did all these offers.
No my front teeth were fine before they were crowned .When I spoke to the dentist about it after she said it’s because the crowns have to fit over the remaining teeth so they are a bit thicker. It only needs to be a slight amount for them to stick out. Don’t notice it with my other crowns but my two front teeth annoy me. There seems a huge gap between the bottom teeth and top teeth when I shut my mouth. Just call me bunny 🐰 😊
Grammaretto a Swedish death clean is not quite as bad as it sounds. It is people who de clutter and sort out their lives so their family’s won’t have to do it. Getting rid of all the things you don’t really need but think “ it might come in useful one day” also cutting back on all the clothes you keep.
I have amassed a number of coats and jackets for some reason. Given that you can only wear one at a time I can’t think why I need so many……..but I’m still loathe to get rid of any.
I’ve never heard of a herbal walk but it sounds nice. Somehow I imagine you stopping for a cup of herbal tea somewhere.
I love lilac too. Such a beautiful scent. Is it a white one or a lilac one?
Mamissimo is your Dd doing the fasting diet. The one where you don’t eat for 14 hours or 16 hours. I think it’s fatal going food shopping when your hungry. I always buy a load of things I shouldn’t have.
Ah yes that’s the trouble with machines, the cleaning.
I once had a very snazzy gadget that would turn anything into juice. Carrots, potatoes, you name it. Made juice in about 20 seconds and took hours and hours to clean after……I gave it away.
Honey beagle deserves spoiling 😊

Well what a morning I had today. Everything was fine last night. We went to bed and had a good night’s sleep. I woke up at 7 and DH was sitting on the side of the bed with the intention of going to the bathroom only instead of going to the bathroom he stood up and then sat down again suddenly and slipped off the bed onto the floor. No matter how he tried he couldn’t get up again. His legs just wouldn’t hold him. Needless to say I thought he’d had a stroke and I wanted to call an ambulance but he wouldn’t let me. He insisted he’d get up in a minute. 2 hours and many attempts later I finally managed to get him back onto the bed. Him pulling, me pushing and shoving we made it.
He seemed be able to move his legs but just couldn’t weight bear on them. He was able to talk sensibly (although he can’t really remember much about it) . He then went to sleep for a couple of hours and was absolutely fine when he woke up.
He then fell asleep after lunch for a few hours too.
Yesterday was the first day he took his new painkillers for his legs. Then we discovered that his BP medication (which he was told to double) and the new painkillers both had side effects of fatigue, dizziness, body and limb weakness, severe muscle cramps and low BP and confusion. He will not be taking them tonight so will see if that makes a difference. I don’t really want to go through that again.

Oh Doodle that' must have been utterly frightening and exhausting for you both. If they 'tweak' his meds at the hospital it may be worth going straight to your normal pharmacy and getting a second opinion about possible side effects conflicts?

A few years ago I was a victim of lovely caring doctors in hospital who were trying to save my bowel. Every day they tested me, found more bugs and tweaked.....and introduced more......and everyday I got weaker. After a month in bed I decided to take back control and told them in no uncertain terms to stop.

I insisted that they monitored my bloods but absolutely no drugs for five days....they didn't like it one little bit but I felt that with all the testing every day they were seeking....and finding!

By day 4 of my experiment my bloods showed that I was fighting back successfully on my own and I was well enough to go home three weeks later.

I'm not advocating stopping for the Dude but getting a non hospital pharmacist to check the combo and advise may possibly save you from such scary stuff. Doctors are very clever people but in trying to make us better they sometimes loose sight of the human they are treating.

Dentist for me tomorrow......I lost my two front teeth some years ago and have a bridge with two teeth that bear no likeness to my old tombstones. They're far too elegant and small so I've now got a lovely straight set of teeth with no character. Mr M wants me to get a new set with some wonky ones!

Thinking of you all.....

Doodle I was so happy to read that you had such a lovely day on Saturday, shopping with a friend, a lovely unexpected visit from your DS2 and your shower fixed but what you went through this morning sounds horrific. I'm not surprised you wanted to ring for an ambulance. I'm glad your DH recovered after having a bit more sleep but you dear Doodle must be worn out. I hope your DH doesn't experience that again and you both have a good night tonight x

I hope you enjoyed your herbal walk Grammaretto It does sound interesting, I bet the herbalist pointed out some very interesting plants. Did you find any St George's mushrooms along the way?

We had a lovely St George's day yes I know I'm Welsh I slow cooked beef for my WP, which he demolished 😁. My team played again today and we beat our opponents hollow.

Hope all the lobStars had a decent weekend.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202304/medium-590202-img-20230423-180418104.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202304/medium-363676-img-20230423-175514827.jpg

Hello Lobstars,

I was horrified to read your post yesterday Doodle. It must have been awful for both of you. How is he today?
Hush he's probably still sleeping.

Ah yes Swedish death clean. I had heard of it. Not sure what to think of it though.
It could save the DC time after I've gone but I think I should discuss it with them.

I enjoyed my foraging herbal walk. The herbalist lives in a beautiful setting with banks of cowslips and violets.
She explained what the weeds wild plants were good for and how to identify some and avoid others. Dog's mercury was one to avoid.
She had same great stories of herbs helping healing. Comfrey got a good press! There was a feast for when we got back to her cottage which was mainly whizzed up on the spot!
She herself is a fine advertisement for a healthful diet.
DMiL is still in hospital where the food is not conducive to speedy healing.

Mamissimo you are quite right. We often need drugs to help but sometimes they cause more problems than they’re worth.
Also when people, like DH, are on 20 plus different meds a day it’s not surprising they may interact with each other.
You keep your lovely teeth. Let MrM have the wonky ones 🤣. Little stroke for Honey beagle.
Grammaretto DH is better today thanks. He is looking forward to tomorrow. Barium swallow in the morning, then blood test then CT scan of heart in the afternoon. Nothing to eat from midnight tonight till after the CT scan……..yes really looking forward to all that 🤣
We were quite surprised at the quality of food when DH was in hospital but I suppose each one is different. Must be difficult for your dear MIl if she’s not being offered things she would like. Can you take some things in for her?
That’s a lovely looking cake. I like the topping.
Cherry DH is feeling better now thank you. It was scary but when I found out what combination of meds he’d taken I was slightly reassured that it fitted in well with the side effects.
He won’t take that combination again (or someone will be on the warpath 🥖. ….I was looking for a rolling pin icon but couldn’t find one. The baguette is a slightly softer option but I may freeze it first 🤣)
I love slow cooked beef. Not surprised WP enjoyed it.
Our team are doing well. Fingers crossed it continues.
Kaimoanna I hope you are ok.

Hello everyone. Sorry I haven't been able to post (or even read) here for a few days. I’ve been overwhelmed by…well, Life I suppose

ANZAC Day today and despite being just a bit sad, it was absolutely wonderful; several hundreds gathered at Te Mahurehure Marae to remember the war dead, particularly the 28th Maori Battalion, legendary fierce fighters.

A service, march past with dozens of children as well as all branches of the military and other forces.

Particularly moving for me were the Warbirds, military aircraft flying past, closely followed by modern fighters.

If you can access this video (it’s in Maori but self-explanatory) you may see me sitting with my friends I’m the one with the walking stick .

www.facebook.com/watch/?v=459466598129342

I spotted you on the video Kaimoana
A powerful occasion.

My long, brilliant and witty epistle was swallowed before posting so I will keep this brief.

Sending best wishes to you all and especially for the dude today.
I was going to suggest that 20 medications a day sound too potent a cocktail 🍸 for the toughest of folk.
Take care 💗

I fell asleep before I had the chance to post yesterday 🤭. To be fair my neighbour had kept me awake the night before ☹️. Fine today after 7 hours sleep last night. My walkie talkie got postponed until Thursday I think I'd have fallen asleep this evening if it hadn't leaving me plenty of time to avoid the decluttering do other things today so we had a leisurely meander around the village and had lunch in a nice little restaurant. On our way out we saw a neighbour and his son struggling to bump start a beat up old banger car so offered to help. It turned out this his son had just passed his test so it's his first car and they were trying to take it for an mot. We managed to get it going 👍 I wonder if it passed the mot 🤔 Oh, and load of washing we did overnight dried on the line, so the housework wasn't entirely neglected 😉

I hope your DH's hospital appointments went well today*Doodle*. Twenty different medications is, as Grammaretto has said, quite some cocktail. So many medications can contraindicate with others it's not surprising, but highly frustrating, some of those 20 don't mix well with others. How's your DH now he's not taking the BP meds & new painkiller combo?

Your herbal walk sounded lovely Grammaretto and that cake looks scrumptious. Was it as scrumptious as it looks?
What is it about hospital food - seems to me that it's never really conducive to health. Is your DMiL looking like she'll be in there much longer?

I haven't had the chance to watch the Facebook video yet Kaimoana but I will (if my tablet allows me to, it can be hit and miss for me with Facebook).
Sounds trite to say that life can be overwhelming sometimes but it is true for us all sometimes. Sending you a buoying cwtch.

Flying visit all sorry.
DH had two hospital visits today. Barium swallow and CT scan
He has just developed high temp and cough so I’m taking care of him and trying to sort him out.
Hope you’re all ok. Back tomorrow x

Oh dear Doodle. Its never ending for you both. Fingers crossed he’s feeling better soon and that you have a good night. You must both be exhausted l

Your poor DH Doodle and you having to watch him suffer for so long now. I hope they review the whole medication thing.

Good though our doctors are they have very little training about what should not go with what (my doctor told me this) apart from the very dangerous stuff.

Ours have a big bible of drugs which give side effects but I've had many, some of them quite debilitating, which are not listed!

A productive day for me: phlebotomist called to take another sample. Remember Tony Hancock calling them Legalised Vampires?
Two lots of laundry done, out and dried, despite a few rain flurries, lots of sunshine too though.
I’ve got a nice wee raise to my pension and next month the winter heating supplement begins so I think I'll take Artoa out for coffee on Friday.

A lot of research for the next chapter (seven) of the book but more importantly, I’m now clued up on Enduring Power of Attorney, something which MUST be set up whilst you are still of sound mind.
debatable in my case

It doesn't need to be activated; you still control everything yourself but as I know only too well, things can go pear-shaped instantly. The expense of my son going to court to be allowed to administer on my behalf is HUGE.

Salvation Army lunch tomorrow, yummy.

mid-May I'm having the dogs again two separate days.

Wishing all of you better health and always happiness.

Today in Naas, County Kildare, it's the Annual Pork Stakes Pig Race.

Watched by thousands, some hoping to have a crackling big win.

Favourite is Porky’s Revenge.

We are a bit short on good news aren't we.
Poor Doodle . The gang are all thinking of you as you battle on.
You must be totally exhausted.

Far too many health worries on here.

Kaimoana is quite chipper though with the prospect of those lovely 🐶 dogs. Getting some writing done will be satisfying.
DMIL is to be discharged home tomorrow.
I'm just fed up with it being so cold here.
It's April nearly May and icy

All those 78s which DS took down from the attic have turned out to be worthless.
He had hoped his dad's monster collection might be of interest to someone. He and DGD have painstakingly catalogued all 1200 but not a gem amongst them.😢

That brought back very early memories Grammaretto 😍

I was born in Grandmother's large house and we lived with her until her death when I was three. Born in the 1870's she and my Grandfather had a love of music and the overstuffed house had two pianos, fiddles long abandoned by departed children - and in her drawing room a gramophone with a huge trumpet and hundreds of 78s.

in the late 50's these had no value but DF decided that he could make money from them if he turned them into chic black flower pot holders.

To do this you needed a source of heat and asbestos gloves. DM must have said no to the gas cooker because he made a fire in the garden and DM and I watched as he took a 78, held it over the fire and then as it melted he moulded it into a fluted shape with the label and hole as the base.

The process went on for hours and as it was chilly DM kept giving him nips of whiskey. Suddenly he yelled 'this one's mine' and ran to the parlour. We followed fast and he was cranking the old gramophone.....out came The Hokey Cokey.....my first and only experience of slightly sozzled parents dancing in broad daylight.

The flower pot covers were never sold but everyone in the family had a few. They were kept in the old stable and must have been disposed of when my parents sold the house a few years later.

As a side note.....the big old house was in a city and had many bedrooms, but no bathroom. It had a discrete rear entrance. I was later told that within weeks of us moving out it was in the local paper that it was a house of ill repute run by an oriental lady. Irish Grandmother must have been spinning in her grave!

😳

Not sure what to say to you Doodle, your DH's difficulties are neverending at the moment. There's no break or let up for either of you. Know that we're all thinking of you both.

Hello all. Thanks for all your kind thoughts. A better day today. Think DHs problems last night were due to the iodine contrast affecting his breathing.
Kaimoana I saw you sitting there with your friends. looked like a special day. I remember Tony Hancock in the blood donor sketch. 😊. Good to hear about your pension rise.
Yes these Power of Attorney things need to be set up in good time. We have had ours done a few years ago now and stored with our solicitor. We have arranged for both our sons to have Power of Attorney both over health and wealth as they say. In conjunction with DH or myself or on their own.
Looks like you’re in for a nice lunch tomorrow and some fun with the dogs soon.
Had to laugh at the photo of the pig race and did a double take over the one second from left who appeared to have someone with a bare bottom facing backwards riding him 😱
Grammaretto DH has a large plastic tub of pills and two drawers in the chest of drawers where he keeps all his meds. He is meticulous about taking them and can recognise them by shape and colour. It always annoys him that when he’s in hospital they won’t let him be in charge of his meds and take them off him to dispense them at times when they see fit (usually am and late pm) rather than when he needs them.
It is a potent cocktail although he has been on many of them for years without problem. It’s only when they introduce something new it can go wrong.
Good to hear your MiL is well enough to go home. Will that be back to the flat with your DBIl? Hope she’s feeling better,
It’s not so cold here. We are having a fair bit of sun but the wind is a bit chilly. I will waft some of the warmth in your direction………it might take a while to get there.
Sorry about all those records. Could you/they not turn them into some profitable art work? Our DGD took several of our Lp covers as wall decorations for her flat.
Cherry sorry your neighbour has been kicking off again.
You had a nice lunch out and your walkie talkie to look forward to tomorrow. Nice of you to help out with your neighbours car problems. Our sons second car just failed it’s MOT but it’s quite old so I think they might look for a replacement.
I have made the management decision that I am going to ignore the dust, cobwebs, ironing, hoovering housework until I get more than one consecutive day without a hospital visit. I give you permission to join me in my strike so you don’t need to do any either.
DH is better today thank you. He has had so many different tortures examinations. Nothing untoward so far but the results of the latest two still not known but thank you for thinking of him/us
Jan thank you for your kind thoughts. Hope you are making progress.
Mamissimo what a lovely and fascinating tale of your grandparents house.
I must admit I was thinking of flower pot holders earlier when Grammaretto mentioned her 78s.
I would imagine grandma would have something to say about her house being one of ill repute. 😊

Stop press* DS has managed to give all the records away on Freecycle. They left today in a car which may never be the same again

It must have been fun Mamissimo at your DGP house. Lovely memories.

A week of meetings and AGMs. I have just come home still freezing. Maybe I'm ill!

I am relieved to hear the dude is feeling better.
Thanks for the update Doodle. I give you my permission to leave the housework.

it will still be here in 100 years

Grammaretto I have a friend who is an LP collector (cut throat business some of it) and something of an expert. If you send the list, I can ask him how genuine the info 'useless' is.

Ha Ha! Kaimoana It's a bit late now. As long as he doesn't bring them back here, I am happy.
Now for the vinyls, cassettes, DVDs, CDs books...

Grammaretto Do you want an assessment on the vinyls?

Why does that sound ever so slightly rude?