The Lockdown Gang - 🦞 Lobstars Unlocked 🦞

Aoife looks very nice and intelligent. Let's hope she is.
I used to have a dentist called Aoife. She was nice and would welcome me with a hug! Unfortunately she was snapped up by a man who whisked her away.
I hope Beagle Aoife remains steadfast.😁

Poor Keira having 8 teeth out but I can imagine life without toothache will be an enormous relief.

I am still coughing but not as much or as often.
I do hope the Doodles recover their health soon. Sending more hugs.

Df made it home just after dark tonight.

Meanwhile I decided to try to sell some unworn clothes on-line and was almost defrauded by a fraudster.
I cancelled my card after advice on GN.

Your yurt looks very posh Kaimoana. We had a loan of a yurt in the garden for a summer. It was for storytelling during the arts festival but ours had no windows let alone a loo!

I may go ceilidh dancing tonight if only to warm up. It's perishing cold.

Tomorrow evening my potters and I are having a stall at a Christmas fair in Edinburgh.

I'd better make myself something to eat!

Sorry, I forgot the **s!

I just had a look at those posh yurts Kaimoana, they are rather up market! The ones I've seen on camp sites look lovely - but are quite pricey considering they rarely have loos let alone bathrooms. For the price they are I don't fancy having to trot to the communal facilities in the middle of the night. The ones you've found though are in a different league entirely! (especially the witchy one!)

Wow, Mamissimo, she's beautiful. I do love the look of beagles, they're such smart, dapper looking dogs, unlike the messy hairy spaniels I've always seemed to have ended up with. How old is she?

I hope your 'orrible coughs soon clear up Doodle and Grammaretto, mine has just given in and departed after two months! It started at the end of September and yesterday I had a call from the doctor to say my chest x-ray had come back clear. Even though it was clearing up, its still good to know! Weirdly I was fine at night which was a blessing. There seems to be lots of different coughs doing the rounds this year.

Poor Keira went to the vet dentist yesterday to have her rotten teeth out. The puppies took all the calcium they needed so her poor teeth went bad. Eight had to come out. She was very sorry for herself when she came home, but then, at bedtime the pain obviously decreased lower than the pain she'd been living with and she had a wonderful mad time being silly. It was great to see. I had to persuade her this morning that she really didn't want to go for a walk as the vet said she should have a quiet couple of days. Then the remains of the anaesthetic took over and she's slept on and off all day!

We're both having scrambled egg tonight!

Good evening!

May I introduce you to Aoife? 🙂 🐶 - our new rescue beagle! We are gluttons for punishment but very happy with her. She's currently snoring her socks off in Fergal's bed.....

Morning all. DH and I both slept in our chairs last night. Me because of cough and him because of the pain in his heels (he has to dangle them in mid air to get any relief). But we did have a good sleep.
Whilst all other aspects of his hospital care were excellent, this is one where they failed to take appropriate action.
ixion, it’s hard to say. I think the antibiotics are helping but I still feel breathless and the cough is now deeper and chest but bizarrely not such a problem as the dry cough yesterday.
Ooh Mr I, whatever have you been up to 🤣
I love the sound of your Tudor dolls house. How wonderful to have that connection with your father.
My father and brother made my dolls house (no idea what happened to it). Just a little two up two down but with wallpaper, a lovely staircase and little lights in every room.
Hope our team win😊 Make sure you and Cherry have your thermals on and your PomPoms aren’t frozen 🥶
oh Kaimoana, that really made me laugh 🤣
Cherry, yes I felt bad about the DN but I was just too exhausted to talk.
How wonderful that you have such a great group to talk to and meet with. No one quite understands other than those who have the same trials and tribulations.
Grammaretto, so pleased your cough is abating a bit and you can get some sleep. Your cough was much worse than mine
I wonder if the cold air outside brought on your coughing fit,
I’m being very careful not to do too much but I have to keep an eye on what DH is up to.
How wonderful your df is so tiny your sweater fits 🤣 Hope she makes it home safely.
Kaimoana, you don’t look gormless at all. Just perhaps slightly startled at someone taking your picture. Love your jacket.
i can imagine you and your son arriving at a private house for a weekend break. You could always tell them you booked it some time ago 😊

Years ago I stayed in a lovely B&B where they had plans for a Yurt in the garden (extension to house being too pricey). I was reminded today** and thought of Grammaretto (seriously).
They are now semi-permanent and rented out all year round.
www.airbnb.co.uk/united-kingdom/stays/yurts

If you do decide to move, you can at least fold it up and bring it to Aotearoa.

** I was hoping to book again for later in 2024 in hopes my son and I could get away for a more successful weekend this time.

The lovely place and extensive wooded gardens are now a private home, so I don't suppose they'd appreciate my son turning up with an overnight bag.

Make of that what you will Doodle (sorry if I made you cough. Manuka honey works well. )


Someone has just posted this photo of me online for goodness sake! I look gormless and blind and, as usual, flapping me gums. they'll get what for next time I see them - so perhaps it's as well I can't

Hello, good evening and G'day folks

I am also delighted that the Kaimoana boat trip was such a success despite the coleslaw incident.

Sorry your cough is still bad Doodle. I hope you are tucked up and dosed up in bed.

My cough is quite a bit better and I have slept through the night twice.
I had to rush out of the Gaelic class last night though with an uncontrollable bout.

Df's last evening. It's been snowing today but the gritters are out so her bus and train will probably run and I can't keep her here forever. I have been able to give her the sweater which shrunk when Brazilian man helper put it in the washing machine. My df is slim and tall so it fits her perfectly.😊

Good luck with the footie. Ixion and Cherry

Night night all.

I'm pleased you enjoyed your boat trip so much Kaimoana, from your description I can almost taste that sea spray 😁. Thanks for evoking a long hidden memory that are the tales written by Neil Munroe, I had a teacher who loved them. I've seen in cartoons people knitting with spaghetti but never coleslaw 😉. I hope your knitting wasn't completely ruined, mayonnaise is such an oily nightmare.
Thank you for sharing the gorgeous smiley and engaged picture of Gubbins 😊

You poor thing Doodle, your cough sounds truly horrendous. You're such a tolerant and welcoming person you must be feeling really rough to be willing the DN to hurry up and leave! I hope the fact that you are coughing so much means that the antibiotics are doing the job and carrying out a rapid exorcism on the infection you have 🤞🤞.
It was good to catch up with people I hadn't seen all year at the Xmas meal yesterday. Even though in the last few years that's the way it's worked out with some, though I see others quite regularly, most of us have known each other for over 20 years and used to meet regularly before funding was cut. When we do see one another the gap of a year is insignificant, we are all comfortable with one another as we know each other's character so well.

Your mind is more focused on decorating the Tudor dolls house than one of your spare rooms then ixion 😉. Oh gosh, I actually remember those plastic lumps of dog 💩! I was given a pack of accessories for my dolls house as a Xmas gift (from I can't remember who) and it contained one 🥴, yuk!
I hope I don't miss the ✈️ tomorrow, such an awkward time to get to the stadium isn't it. Mustn't let the side down though they'd better not let us down., pom poms will be shaken 😁

Well that's brightened my day ixion - the vision of your DH stripping in the spare room.

Are those antibiotics working yet, Doodle? 🤞Have you had your CXR? Stay in, stay warm, don't do too much. I bet the slightest movement whacks you☹️.

Ah, but Kaimona has had a lovely day, apart from having to hunt for dinner through the handiwork. Your delight positively shone through your post!

Are your putative house plans very similar, Grammaretto, or are they wildly different? I sometimes wonder whether architects try to be on their client's wavelength or how much is their own flight of fancy ... Such a project would be a true leg of lamb job disaster here, as we have wildly differing visions. I am modernist and minimalist. That comes of living with a hoarder in a 150 year old draughty pile☹️.

Did you feel sufficiently festive 🤶, Cherry? Ho ho😉
Hopefully you will keep that spirit up tomorrow for Our Team as we shake our stuff as the warm up act.

Mr I has finished his stripping in the bedroom - not ours, a spare. I feel obliged to restrain him from heights these days and some other activities which I feel are undesirable in a man of his years and physical condition.

As if I have nothing else to do, I have picked up again on my project of restoring and renovating my 'half timbered Tudor' dolls house. I recall sitting with my father in the cellar of our first house, watching him make it in the mid 50s. It brings back lovely memories as I work on it.
As delightful is the opportunity to browse sites for accessories and additional furniture, drawing up room plans and colour schemes.

And deciding that I most definitely would NOT be shelling out £3.95 on a plastic lump of dog poo🤷‍♀️

Kaimoana, so pleased you had such a good trip. You sound as though you really enjoyed it.
Oops shame about your lunch. Coleslaw and knitting not a good mix.
What a lovely photo. Such a smiley face 😊
Cherry, I’m coughing for England. One of those that builds up every few seconds.
Don’t feel good today. DN (an extremely nice man ) came to install some equipment for DH.
He was very pleasant and chatting away and all I could think was please go ! I just wanted to sit down and rest.
So pleased you went for your lunch
I found before that if you’re not really looking forward to something, it can turn out quite well.
nice to catch up with some acquaintances

Our trip to Waiheke was absolutely marvellous. Weather behaved by being overcast and warm.
I spent both trips on deck salting my face with sea spray.

As usual my previous misgivings about getting across unfamiliar ground in town between main railway station and ferry were misplaced as everyone was so helpful and I had an arm to hold all the way.

The kaimahi made a special, gluten free lunch for me coleslaw, chicken and cheese slices, which unfortunately I could only pick at as we sat on the beach. No particular reason why.
I brought it home.
It spilled into my bag en route so I ended the day picking cabbage and mayo out of my knitting

A happy day from start to finish with lots of interest and cheeky laughter.

Can it really be 3 years Grammaretto? I remember the virtual service so well. Good that you had a df to support you.

I forwarded the quote about codeine calming coughs prior to cataract surgery to a friend having the same fears. Timely info, thank you.

Although it was written between 1905-23, I have only just discovered Tales of Para Handy an hilarious account of a sailor and his crew and their "high jinks".
It was hard to get to sleep last night for laughing.

I'm still churning out buttonholes and table deco for the Ball on 8th. Once that's over there is a fairly bleak dearth of socialising for our lovely group.

I'm thinking of having Open House each Tuesday between now and mid-January when we resume.

As Gubbins no longer resembles the wee bookworm here, I think it's safe to post. She is still crazy about reading though.

I'm glad your df was there for you yesterday Grammaretto and that the day passed without you being too sad 🌷🌷🌷
It seems intuitively odd (to me) that you can be coughing but your chest sounds clear. I'm happy that it sounds clear and I hope the cough clears soon too and you're not going to need that x-ray.
I'm not surprised you've been struggling with your Gaelic homework, with one thing and another, I admire the fact that you are doing it at all even English is double Dutch to me but then I'm Wenglish. Your class was today wasn't it, how did it go?

Wow, that was quick treatment for your cataract Nfk, brilliant. Poor Keira, Nfk. She obviously doesn't like rain ☔. I'm with Doodle, perhaps she needs wellies as well as a coat

You and Mr I have been busy stripping then ixion 😉. Is it your main bedroom you're decorating?

I hope you enjoyed your ferry trip Kaimoana

I went to a Xmas dinner today yes I know it's only November with my epilepsy support group. It's the only time of year I see some people in the group so it's like an AGM. I didn't feel like going because I only slept two hours last night but I went and in the end had a lovely day. Thoroughly shattered now 😴, night night lobStars

The cough is coming! I can feel the tickle in my throat and a slight breathlessness. I’ve taken a cocodamol. Codeine for the cough and paracetamol for the slight headache. Fingers crossed it works.
Cherry, sorry you’ve got the internet problems. We’re so used to things working fast these days when they go wrong it’s so irritating.
Thanks Ixion. Hmm ….step ladders….please be very careful.😱
Grammaretto, glad you spent yesterday with your df.
Good your chest is clear, that’s something. Hope you feel better soon. Nice to get ideas from architects even if you don’t do anything. Interesting to see I would think.
Kaimoana hope the boat trip was successful and you had a good time.

Thankyou everyone for your kind thoughts. I haven't been too sad- a few tears with df who knew DH well

The weather has been foul and I saw the doctor who listened to my chest and said it was clear. If I cough for another 2 weeks she'll send me for an X-ray!

Sorry that you aren't at all well Doodle.
I hope the antibiotics kick in soon.

Well done Nfk to have your cataract op so quickly. I had to wait years but at least it's done now. I hope your cough leaves you soon, and mine

I hope your boat trip goes well Kaimoana. 🛶⛵🛥️🚤🚢

The architect spent some time looking at my plot and will come up with some ideas. I showed him the other plans and he was rather scathing!😮

They are only options. I may decide to do nothing.

I'm struggling with my Gaelic homework and think I'll go to bed. At least with a hottie, that will be cosy. Sleep well dear Lobstar friends

I hope this anniversary day passed with happy memories amongst the inevitable sad, Grammaretto.💐.

Doodle- good always to get recognition for one's poorliness with a name and a Gameplan. Hoping those antibiotics work their magic pdq.

I wonder whether Kaimona has been piped on board yet? Here's hoping for a calm sailing.

I have to call Mr.I down from his pedestal stepladders, where he is stripping a bedroom wall. Also to tell him that my stint will start tomorrow, thank you. Too busy pouring a couple of 🍷 🍷 s to tackle a set of 🪜s.

I hope this quick message posts as we've been having internet issues all day but I noticed it's okay atm so I'm typing quickly 😁

Even if you haven't managed to do anything special with your df today Grammaretto I hope today wasn't too difficult but one of happy memories. Sending you a big warm cwtch 💐

Sorry to hear that you've got a chest infection Doodle, I hope the antibiotics work quickly and the x-ray tomorrow goes well. I'm glad your DH had a good DN today and I hope his wounds are all healing well.

Thinking of the rest of the lobStars, 🤞this posts and I can post more tomorrow.

I want Trevor Kaimoana. I’ll be in touch.
Grammaretto, I hope you find today a peaceful one. Is your df someone who knew your husband well? I hope you can share some happier memories today. Thinking of you and sending a hug 🤗 💕
Tang seemed to be pleasant company. Sorry it’s escaped me, when are you going to NZ? Bet you can’t wait.
I hope you were well wrapped up for your firing. Don’t want any more chills. Shame a piece was broken.
Did the architect have any interesting ideas?
Nfk a roaring fire appeals to me I’ve been freezing all day.
Oh poor Keira. I don’t blame her, I hate being rained on. Perhaps she needs som galoshes as well.
So pleased you’ve had your cataract done and so quickly too. Have you noticed the difference yet?
Codeine is a well known cough suppressant. DH has used it for years. I’ve been taking cocodamol to help with my cough too.
Thank you for the hugs. Yes I am pleased to have DH home.
I went to the Gp this morning and I have a chest infection and fluid on the lungs. I am not surprised.
The last few days of hospital visits were spent sitting in a draught and I had the shakes and shivers. Quite pleased I know what’s wrong now and I’m hoping the antibiotics will start to help in a few days.
Chest x Ray tomorrow to see how I’m doing.
DH had all his wounds tended by a very efficient DN today. Each one had to be photographed on her iPad and stored in his record for future reference. His skin is so tender he develops sores so easily.
A man has just delivered more equipment including a strange shaped pillow and pillow case. It was a bit like getting a baby into a babygro one leg at a time. 🤣
Hoping Cherry is enjoying some quiet.
I too wonder when we’re going to hear some more canine news.

Oh Grammaretto it really doesn't seem like three years. A big virtual gentle hug from me. If the weather where you are is as bloody miserable inspiring as it is here it would be hard to find something special to do. Although a roaring fire and a bottle of good wine with a good friend may be appropriate. I hope your architect has some brilliant ideas to inspire and distract a little.

I've just taken Keira out for a walk since she refused to go into the garden in the rain, she added to the puddles in the road and then pulled towards her favourite piece of grass next to the poo bin up the road - she was desperate! Since we were wet by then, I decided to take her further and couldn't make out why she was even more jumpy than she normally is. Then realised it was large drips from the trees landing on her back! I shall have to buy her a waterproof jacket!

And another new dog in the group - looking forward to more details!

I've been off the computer for a few days until my focus came back properly. I had a cataract op last Friday. Only one eye apparently needs doing for now. I can't believe how smoothly and speedily the whole process was. We're fortunate around here to have access to ACES which is "an independent NHS provider". Three weeks after my optician said I needed the cataract sorted, I had an examination with them and two weeks later its all done!! I was concerned that my cough would interrupt the proceedings, but then a nurse friend said to take codeine which would suppress it. I only had co-codamol, but it worked! I am wondering how much of my cough was nerves about the eye op since it's much better now. Nerves = acid reflux = upset Barratts syndrome = cough (Barratts symptom).

And the bestest of news is that Mr D is home. Hopefully, Doodle, this will help cure your pain too as the worry is lifting a bit and you don't have to turn out in the cold. Gentle hugs to for both of you lovely people. xx

Hello Lobstars

I've woken at an unearthly hour so have been catching up a little.
Your family are rallying round Doodle which is so nice but keep taking it as easy as possible please. I think we should be going into hibernation about now.

Tang went on her way. She will attend her cousin's graduation in Edinburgh and then joint a Buddhist meditation centre somewhere in England.
I have no Helpers booked until I return from NZ
Perhaps I can fill my pockets with Trevor books to distribute? I have to take shoes and various requested items on the outward journey so there'll be space in my bag.
I spent 6 hours Raku firing with the potters yesterday. Foolish to be in the cold damp air It was dark by the end and unfortunately a cooling piece was trodden on.
I hope that peace will reign in Cherry Cove with noisy neighbour away. Where has she gone?

Having Mamissimo find your backstory sounds very interesting to me ixion.

It is 3 years today since DH died. I thought Df and I could do something special but nothing planned apart from a morning visit from a retired architect who wants to look at my plot of land

Trevor the Daring Duck can wing his way to you for approx £10 inc. p+p.

Another quiet day of not doing much. Not felt up to it to be honest. Trying to sit upright more to relieve pain in shoulder Did another Covid test. Negative. Still got acid reflux and silly little tickle cough on occasions. Hoping whatever it is is getting better not worse.
Kaimoana what a shame more people didn’t attend the lunch. Glad you enjoyed it though. Wish there was something that could be done to improve your eyesight. Would the injection have helped at all?
Silly me, took me a while to figure out why you would be given a new version of the National Trust . It’s because I was reading about their new calendar on another thread.
Ooh going to a ball. How lovely
Cherry, I’ve got nothing to complain about really. Not feeling bad (apart from the shoulder) just feel out of sorts. Son said today he was exhausted the day after we brought his dad home. Just a lessening of the constant worry I think.
Thank you for the cwtch
Yeah, Cherry and Ixion we won. Well done our team. Close to the line I gather. Phew!
Good news about your neighbour Cherry. I hope that she gets some help and you get some peace and quiet.
ixion, we can always rely on Kaimoana to have the solution to any problem. 😊
How lovely you are finding out more about your family with Mamissimo. So exciting. Any black sheep or skeletons uncovered yet?
Hope everyone had a good weekend. Had a lovely long chat with DGD this evening and both sons this afternoon, doing their regular check ups 😊

Golly, Doodle, yours is not an easy ride, is it? But one entered into willingly and unconditionally❤️.. I applaud you💐. Let's hope the DN can be helpful for you tomorrow. How are you feeling today? Would telling you that we won yesterday help? Skin of our teeth job. Ably assisted by the motivating presence of the Team Cheerleaders, twirling fit to bust (as 'twere) as ever.

Ihope Grammaretto is feeling better, too many social cancellations not good for the spirits!
Thank you for the ping-pong ball trick, Kaimona - I'd totally forgotten, despite our use of a tennis ball in the fish pond in the olden days. Will do asap.
I hope you and your sea legs have a great trip out.⛴️. So frustrating about your eye appointment - can it be rescheduled any time soon?🤞

My back story (don't you just loathe that phrase?) is unfolding before my very eyes. My ongoing thanks to Mamissimo and her knowledge of all things Irish. I wonder whether she would be able to advise me on applying for Irish citizenship any time soon🤭. Actually, I think I go back too far to qualify ...

I am about to cancel my Amazon Prime membership toot sweet. Tbh, their marketing has been persistent and unrelenting. They seemed to be most disappointed that I wasn't availing myself of the daily offers and reminders they sent. You know the score -
Based on your previous purchases, we thought you might be interested in this coffee machine, now only half price at £499.99.
Yeh, right.
Off now to extricate myself.

Oh no, you too now Doodle. Kaimoana could be right or right to an extent, you're probably run down and therefore more vulnerable to colds and viruses. There are definitely viruses doing the rounds (always are this time of year) as Grammaretto will testify to. A couple of people I know have had one in the last week or so too. I've got a tickly cough and I'm sneezing a lot but I think that's just a chill so not too bad. Sending you a warm cwtch 💐

Sending you a warm cwtch too Grammaretto, you seem really poorly and it sounds really 🥶 where you which can't be helping 💐

Our team didn't half leave it late yesterday didn't they ixion 🙄. If they're not going to appreciate our cheerleading efforts do you think that next time out we should ditch our pom poms for irons to let off some steam and tell them we'll flatten them if they don't press 😉

That's a shame about the Sallies Xmas dinner attendance Kaimoana. I'd have thought people would be appreciative of the effort put in, attend and enjoy it. I hope it meant those who did attend had bigger portions though 😁.

I've been meaning to update you all about my noisy neighbour. Action has been taken, she's not there. Over a week ago now she had two visits, the first by four people, a nurse, a police officer and two other men in civvies and a few days later a visit by three. The following night, very late, there was a knock on her door ... and that was it, she's gone. I'm sure it's only temporary, possibly three months but if it is that long it'll be quiet at Xmas at Cherry Cove. I don't know whether I'm pleased relieved or sad for her but something needed to be done and now it has been.