The Lockdown Gang - 🦞 Lobstars Unlocked 🦞

Kaimoana ah, now I remember you were going away. I had forgotten.
What a shame your weekend turned into disaster at the end by someone rushing you along. I do hope you’re not badly injured but that bruise sounds somewhat large.
Thank goodness it was grass and not concrete where you landed.
Gramaretto, glad you’re having a good trip despite the opine disasters. You will be sad to leave them I’m sure. The time has gone so quickly.

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Trevor in the bookstore and DGS playing water polo.

Oh dear Kaimoana, what a disappointment and you're injured too! As for the barking dogs....😠

I found Trevor in Unity Books in Wellington and moved him to the front.

*I have had another phone disaster. I dropped DiL phone on the floor of a public toilet and smashed the screen.
😔*

I met my old pal from Edinburgh at the National library today and we chatted for hours. I'm going to miss this country. I'll be back in Scotland on Saturday.
Is it still raining Nfk?

Two things Is forgot to mention: the Facilitator of the Writers Weekend ha never written anything. Not an article, not a story, not a book.
She edits manuscripts.

I thought, as I was driven to Piha, how nice it would be to get away from the constantly barking dog.

I arrived Friday at 5:30 and the dog next-door-but-one was yapping and did so without a break until 9:30 at night.
And each day I was there; two yaps per second until it got dark.

They took it inside but it continued - how they stand it I really don't know. Perhpas they are profoundly deaf? I wish I were.

Back from my weekend away and I find the Gang infected with ladybirds; being pummelled by fierce physios and forced into footie by family but also another picture of sweet spud which is alway a great welcome home. Perhaps we should rename him Kumara = sweet potato?

We were discussion 'uncertainty' over the weekend and how knowledge (if you have the confidence to acquire it) can turn it into certainty = less anxiety. But as I read Doodle story, I see uncertainty over deciding on the op has turned into uncertainty about the outcome. Perfectly natual of course but it shows there are some 'uncertaintied you just cannot change, eh?

It was an odd weekend, not really a Writers Weekend at all.
Two ladies - one from Napier Grammaretto - and a very young and tanned Public Prosecutor from The Netherlands. They'd come for just a normal weekend in a lovely place but agreed to participate. And me.
The facilitator had been doing this twicw a year for 13 years and was very much In Charge.

Sunday afternoon was supposed to wind down to a peaceful end at 2pm but at 12:30 The Facilitator who'd agreed to drive me home, whipped my luncheon plate from the table and having grabbed my packed bags, urged me out to her car.

As a result and because I couldn't see the unfamilar steps down from the deck, I fell off it.

Do you remember, my friend Maggie fell when with the Blind Low Vision Group? I learned then, by watching paramedics, how to get someone up from the ground safely. Lucky indeed.

Today I'll just check with the doctor and see if I am eligible for the state Health Insurance scheme (ACC) which may provide free therapy and/or Xrays on my hip, wrist and knee should I need it.
I have a bruise the size of Australia all down my arm but otherwise I'm relatively unhurt because I fell onto grass.

Jan thanks for letting us know about Kaimoana. I had a message from her too. Just good to know she’s ok.
Yes you’re right, always ready to help with good advice and research on our behalf. (Hence my use of the Manuka honey)
Oh yes, I see, a new physio is required and one who just happens to be good looking, 😊. Actually I might need some advice about my knee, I’ll just pop round sometime…..when did you say he was coming.
Hoping it will be dry tomorrow and DH can try out his scooter.
Gramaretto, my SIL and I decided to take my mum in a wheelchair to her local rose garden cafe for a treat. What seemed a flat walk normally we discovered had hidden ruts, hills slopes and kerbs and for some bizarre reason a herd of cows in the little bit of field we had to cross. It was a nightmare. We were both exhausted when we got back
Nfk stick holder is a good idea although for us at the moment DH needs his walking frame to mount and dismount his vehicle.
Ah yes, we have boxes of photographs too. DH used to take thousands of them and before the digital age we would have them printed out. Some sorting out needed here too.
Glad your DD came round to sort out your wifi. Great when it’s working but a pain when it goes wrong.
We had a lazy Sunday today. I did cut DHs hair……..well it looks ok from the front (where he hasn’t got any). My haircut Tuesday and I can wait. It’s been 16 plus weeks since I’ve had mine done and it’s so long I can’t see where I’m going half the time.

Evening All

I hope your dishy physio inspires you to fitness Jan. It's so hard to push yourself in the dark, dampness of winter. A good time to be enthused in time for summer?

I don't understand why so many designs of wheelchair and buggy have such hard tyres when the necessity of being in a wheelchair or riding a buggy usually means lots of your body hurts when stationary, let alone in motion. Can I add a stick holder to the list of buggy accessories?

DD2 and family came round today to help sort out my wi-fi which keeps dropping out. I think it's all working now. Conversation was skilfully brought around to the rather large number of pictures I have. Quite a few are in the loft as we couldn't bring ourselves to part with them when we downsized. There's rather a lot of "stuff" up there. It seems the Offspring have been talking. I'm being softened up for them descending to sort me out. The mention of chest high sailing trousers reminds me that there's a couple of pairs up there. And rather too many buoyancy aids in assorted sizes as the DC grew. I might keep one of the big ones for me. Just in case.

I pushed my DM around IKEA in a wheelchair. It's as flat as a pancake but much to my embarrassment she squealed loudly each time we went over a joint in the floorboards.
Heads turned to stare at the elder abuse

Hi. I had a message from Kiamoana yesterday - think it was yesterday! - offering advice bless her. Such a helpful lady.
CherryCezzy The NHS physio stopped in September last year but I can’t grumble as she had been coming for 8 months! I just did the exercises I had been given - well I did them sometimes! - but realised I needed someone to push me further. Hence I know have an eye wateringly expensive physio coming once a week. He’s very nice - quite dishy actually!- and he is certainly waving the big stick!
Hope DH gets on with the scooter Doodle. I’m hoping my walking will improve so I can manage with my car and hobbling with my stick!
We have get more heavy rain tonight. Where on earth is it all coming from? Might have to get DH to build an Ark or at least a rowing boat soon! Could be worse it could be snow!

Hemp gin Gramaretto 😮 that’s nothing to do with cannabis is it 😱. Jeeves would never allow it.
Glad you and your DGs are taking care of each other.
My goodness that’s a scary bird.
Mamissimo, actually it’s more of a stylish petrol blue with a top speed of …….4 mph. But it does have a headlight and horn.
Yes we are thinking of a cushion. Ours isn’t new either. It’s reconditioned from a manufacturer but with a 12 month I guarantee and half of the original astronomical price.
Oh those bumpy pavement bits you mention nearly caused us both an accident when I was pushing DH in a wheelchair at the hospital. So hard to push up a slope and so easy to run a way with you going down and as you say so bumpy.
Pleased Spud is enjoying the finer things of life, nothing wrong with a good prune to sort out one’s inner workings.
love the photo. Spud is certainly doing well in the hair department
Yes you’re quite right our Kaimoana has been AWOl recently. Hope all is well
Chest high sailing trousers…..he’s not planning on fallin in is he.
Cherry 😊 oh it’s an eagle is it. I thought some kind of prehistoric creature for sure. Very scary.
Scooter trial mainly consists of testing how long ones nether regions can tolerate being sat on without too much discomfort. 40 minutes so far. DH being a very slight man is a little short of bottom padding unlike his more rotund wife.
Any footie news this weekend. Not heard much cheering

I lost my post again 😠

It sounds like you had a wonderful time with your cousins in Napier Grammaretto 😊. What a sight to be greeted with at the airport in Wellington, how on earth did you find your way out through that crowd of footie fans 🤣. The eagle sculpture is fabulous, there are two so I'm told 🤔. I hope your DGS has looked after you well after that bumpy flight 😁

How's the scooter trialing doing Doodle? It can't be easy to judge whether it's entirely suitable when it can only be used indoors.
You're not the only one who hasn't ventured to NZ or Oz, I haven't either. Many years ago the company my brother was working for had him working in Oz for a few months. At the time there was talk of that being extended and if that had happened me and my mother were going to go and stay with him for a few weeks but it didn't happen so we didn't go. Funny, but since, I've never really fancied going to Oz for a holiday 🤫

Sorry to hear that you feel permanently tired since having your stroke Jan. Are you still receiving after support? Is there anyone you can speak to to get advice and strategies to deal with this? It can't be easy for you 💐

What interesting occupants you have had in your bathroom ixion 🙃, we usually just get spiders, mostly

How are you Kaimoana and you Nfk? I hope everything is okay with you both.

Love it Grammaretto! 😂

Here's a treat for darling spud!

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Good morning! 🙂

So The Dude has new wheels eh? Hope it's go faster red? Air horns? Large boot basket, essential for camera, rain cover, snacks, Doodle's handbag, plastic mac, gin. Can I recommend a gel cushion for the posterior?

I had to spend sometime in a wheelchair a few years ago and Mr M obtained one in a rush from the local Freecycle site. Yes, it was go faster red rust and no - it wasn't bandbox new. There was nowhere to put my bag, no boot, basket or horn.....or cushioning in the tyres or battery. I yearned for a sporty buddy but was instead wheeled around by Mr M or DS and had to go where they wanted. Shopping for clothes to make me feel better was horrendous because men don't browse properly in John Lewis/M&S or anywhere other than Halfords or B&Q! 🙂

When you go out Doodle do take care when crossing the road - those bumpy bits of pavement that many local authorities put in to help the partially sighted know that it's a crossing are the very antithesis of helpful to wheeled transport and you don't want a spillage!

Spud is romping away at the veg and is now tackling fruit - current favourites are pears and prunes. DD2 is having to be so careful because of his severe cows Milk allergy - many commercially prepared baby foods are not suitable for him - even the organic ones. A side effect of the 'milk' he has is er, constipation, so the prunes are jolly beneficial!

Aoife loves carrots and has been caught pulling them up from their winter store! I think she and Spud have bonded!

Is Kaimoana about? Reading back this week she is a bit too absent for my full enjoyment of life 🧐

I'm back in the East End again with genealogy for a client - couldn't believe it when her ancestors appeared in the same area as Ixion's - and living amongst the coal whippers and sharing their churches and lives. It's a very small world!

Today we are venturing out to buy Mr M some new chest high sailing trousers.....should be boring a long afternoon!

The football photo just appeared, sorry.

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Jeeves' double was in Napier so we ordered gin. I had Hemp gin. That was a first. I forgot his name but it may have been Henry.

I found more copies of Trevor in the independent book shop there. The owner was singing his praises.

It's a shame you can't test drive the scooter outdoors Doodle. I guess there are more bumps and obstacles out there.

I'm back in Wellington after a rather bumpy flight and am being looked after by DGS while his parents are out. --or maybe it's the other was around--

Here is what greets you at the airport.

Ooh Jan now you’re talking. Savoury sausage rolls for me too. I don’t eat the brownies either but my DGS loves them.
Like you I find a couple of weeks is long enough for a holiday. I like my own bed and my own comfy chair with footstool, I find it hard to sit with my feet down for any length of time.
Have you done any more driving? Hope it’s coming along ok.
ixion we have made the decision to go ahead with the op so trying not to think about it too much now.
I’m beginning to wonder if I’m the only one who hasn’t ventured to NZ or Oz. How lovely to meet up with your cousins.
I looked at your picture before I enlarged it and before I read your post. I was trying to decide what it was I was looking at. *For some reason to me it looked like a floating bannister rail up at ceiling level.
Alas poor little Kevin set off to explore but sadly didn’t heed the grown ups warnings and got caught up in the whirlpool of life. 🥲 Still I’m sure he’s got about 50 or more cousins who will happily come and share the bathroom with Mr I. And help him with his ablutions 🤣
Gramaretto, dH has tried the scooter but not outside. We have to decide if we’re going to keep it before we can use it outside. It’s a matter of how comfy it is for DH to sit on.
lovely you get on with the family and with each of you having a son in another country give you a lot in common
Glad you’re enjoying the warmth and swimming too
Jeeves has gone off in a huff. Don’t fancy your chances of a hot chocolate when you get back…….unless you bring him a present 🎁 🤣

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I am glad you have faith in the anaesthetist and the surgical team. I'm sure they will want the best outcome for Mr Doodle as we all do.

I hope you can rest reassured now Doodle. Have you tried the scooter yet? Were the brownies delicious?

Ixion that's a great story of meeting your rellies for the first time. It's rather like me and this lot I'm staying with now. I met them in 2012 when we came here to a family reunion and to see our DGS. We clicked right away and found they have a son in Scotland while we have ours in NZ so over the years we've kept in touch and they've stayed with us and us with them.
Today I was taken to swim in an open air heated pool and then to another posh lunch at a winery.
Then a tour around art deco Napier. I feel very spoiled.

Ladybirds who like your bathroom. I've never heard of such a thing! Spiders only in my world.

Jan I sometimes feel fed up with being away from home but I'm not missing the cold one bit! Apparently it's been snowing. I'll be there soon enough. I've only another week or so and I leave Napier tomorrow.

I've eaten so much today I don't even want a cup of hot chocolate. You can keep Jeeves for yourselves ☺️

You sound more settled today, Doodle. Hopefully, the wafts of brownie will lure Jeeves to your threshold tonight for a swift nightcap.

I am captivated by tales from our NZ Lobstars and accompanying photos. When we first went to Oz for DS1's graduation, we met up with my cousin, who I had never met. I knew his elder sisters, then sole siblings, when they emigrated in the late 50s. It was strange, there was an instant affection and affinity which I am sure wouldn't have happened in any other circumstances. In fact, he was waiting on the step for us, we both hugged long and hard. He then said - 'I presume you're my cousin - or have I just made a terrible faux pas?' 😆.

Our regular band of ladybirds, having returned to hibernate in a tight little cluster at the top of the bathroom sash window, decided (unwisely as it happened) to take advantage of the warmer weather, wake up and have a little wander around.

*To encourage them, I threw open the small window (no idea how they get in every year), but Mr.I became amazingly coy and refused to use the bathroom for its usual function and insisted on shutting it tight again. He says they're not stupid
and know full well where to find a permanently tropical abode for the winter*.
How rude🤷‍♀️

We were down to two last night when I ran a bath.
Perhaps, dear reader, you can guess the outcome. As I pulled the plug, I was mortified to find one floating away on a cloud of spent bubbles😢.

I think he must have been the teenager of the group, more often than not wandering off and doing his own thing.
Here he is, in happier times.

*"Last seen wandering aimlessly, quite of her own accord"*^
How much reward? 😉

So sorry to hear your worrying news about DH Doodle but sometimes it’s better to hear the worst scenario than sit and worry about the “what ifs”.
Can just smell those Brownies which is very strange as I don’t actually like them! I’m more a savoury sausage roll type of person!
Grammaretto you certainly seem to be having an amazing time.How long are you away for? I’m not good at long holidays. We did a 3 week cruise round Australia and New Zealand for DH 70th and I was desperate to get home after 2 weeks!
CherryCezzy Hope you are keeping well. Must admit I’m a bit behind with everyone’s posts. This stroke just makes me so tired it’s ridiculous. I’m shattered just existing!
Won’t it be great when Spring gets here? It’s just rain rain and more rain and it’s been so windy as well but no snow yet!

Doodle Thu 08-Feb-24 17:10:30
Thanks all for you kind thoughts. The anaesthetist was actually a very pleasant man. He is part of a specialist team going under the title of high risk anaesthesia.
All went quite well till he came to the risk factors which came with percentages. The figures weren’t good (too say the least!)
Never had anything spelt out so clearly before and to be honest we both wish he hadn’t bothered. 🤣
However, we did sleep well last night and I think things are a bit clearer today.
I have just made my DGS a brownie. The smell has permeated the whole apartment. DH is jealous so I’m making him one tomorrow too.
Cherry thank you for your positive post. It does help to put things into perspective. Glad you had your surgery and it was ok.
Ixion oh dear our team aren’t doing so well. Perhaps I’d better get Jeeves to mix up a potion of magic elixir (jumping beans and laxative) to see if that helps.
Grammaretto is that what they call a busman’s holiday, visiting a pottery ?🤣
Nice you have met up with cousins and are having a good time
Enjoy the weather. There is snow here in places. .
As you know I have no artistic talent at all which is probably why the sculpture in your picture reminds me of a cockerel mated with a fish, 😱

Sorry I forgot to boldly go as they say in Star Trek

*Thanks all for you kind thoughts. The anaesthetist was actually a very pleasant man. He is part of a specialist team going under the title of high risk anaesthesia.
All went quite well till he came to the risk factors which came with percentages. The figures weren’t good (too say the least!)
Never had anything spelt out so clearly before and to be honest we both wish he hadn’t bothered. 🤣*
However, we did sleep well last night and I think things are a bit clearer today.*
*I have just made my DGS a brownie. The smell has permeated the whole apartment. DH is jealous so I’m making him one tomorrow too.
Cherry thank you for your positive post. It does help to put things into perspective. Glad you had your surgery and it was ok.
*Ixion oh dear our team aren’t doing so well. Perhaps I’d better get Jeeves to mix up a potion of magic elixir (jumping beans and laxative) to see if that helps.
*Grammaretto is that what they call a busman’s holiday, visiting a pottery ?🤣
Nice you have met up with cousins and are having a good time
Enjoy the weather. There is snow here in places. .
As you know I have no artistic talent at all which is probably why the sculpture in your picture reminds me of a cockerel mated with a fish, 😱

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I too hope that the anaesthetist was being unnecessarily pessimistic Doodle.
How depressing for you both to hear. The devil and the deep blue sea comes to mind or frying pan and fire.
😔

I'm with my cousins in Napier who've been taking me to some great places including a visit to a pottery and lunch at a very nice restaurant/sculpture garden.

Dear Doodle, I am so sorry that you have received news that you did not wish to hear, but hope that Cherry's past experience and her ray of positivity will find their way to you as you discuss future plans.

As for football, supporting Our Team means that, these days, a goalless draw is a welcome result. We Hammerites are grateful for small mercies these days☹️.

C'mon Jeeves, where's a good chap when you need one?

I'm so sorry to hear that you've both had such a difficult day Doodle. Of course I'm not privy to the conversation you had with the specialist anaesthetist but when I met with a specialist anaesthetist prior to having an operation to remove kidney stones I remember being quite shocked by what he had to say and the strong emphasis he placed on the risks of surgery for me, largely because of co-morbidities and unviable options available to the team. He was talking about not operating at all, even though other methods had failed, and the prospect of removing me from the list for surgery. I stayed on the list, my surgery was due three weeks later with a pre-op assessment a few days before. At the pre-op I saw a different specialist anaesthetist who said they'd worked a solution (on anaesthetic) to mitigate the extent of the risks. I'm not saying that scenario will be the case for Mr D but it might be. Sending you a warm gentle cwtch 💐.

I'm glad you were able to avoid being completely cooked when you were sat in the cake tin Grammaretto 😁. Shame you ended up watching a goalless draw.