The Lockdown Gang - 🦞 Lobstars Unlocked 🦞

Spookier and spookier, Mamissimo.
I have just acquired a positively huge F & M (it had to be🤪) wicker hamper/trunk for my tutt memorabilia.

Beware, it'll be impossible to budge! BTDT.

Good Morning 🙂

Ixion must be my doppelgänger! I too am the family archivist because I was a weird child no one else was interested in the old stuff and I had a huge curiosity about the distant family that we hardly ever saw. For my birthday I have asked for a huge leather trunk to home the curated highlights beautifully in the hope that one of my progeny will want to keep it together

When I retired from broadcasting in my late twenties I started a design business so that I could get trade prices on the fabrics and accessories I wanted for our new decrepit house that we had started to renovate. It was the time of swags, knicker blinds, bows above pictures and chintz. Mr M realised there was money to be made from curtains so I specialised in hand sewn interlined curtains with handmade headings etc and charged a fortune a lot. We have no curtains now - just shutters and great insulation 😂

Spud was on great form yesterday when he popped in for a feed en route to his weekend house party - and so was DD2 which is a joy to see after all those years of heartache.

Doodle - how's your arm/pacemaker? Hope you're doing ok 👌

Morning all. Having a slower start to the day today. No doctors rounds at the weekend so no need to dash in. I normally like to be there when they come round so I can (give them my point of view and advice) hear their plans for DH.

Grammaretto, yes, I know the curtains on the patio doors are huge but they’re not lined. Couldn’t believe how much they charged.
Pleased you’re enjoying your sculpting. Something completely different for a change.
I read on GM this morning that you are going for a coffee at a 400 year old house this afternoon. I would enjoy that too. Hope you have a good time.

Kaimoana, did you have a lovely doggie afternoon?
Thank you for explaining your sculpture. What an interesting idea and title. You have so many talents
Hope you enjoyed your doggie afternoon….i bet the dogs did.
First knitted slippers and now paper flowers. 😊. Can we have a picture. I’d love to see them.
Be grateful about the 23rd so you can just relax and enjoy the day with your lovely family and not spend all your time cooking.

ixion although I have a sewing machine and like quilting, I have never made curtains. I know I would never be able to make them straight so we have always bought them or had ours made.
All the nurses (bar one who was rather rough but rushed off her feet so who could blame her) have been really good. DH seems tao be in a ward with 2 other people who also live by or in the river so they have lots to chat about which is nice. Your family history sounds good. My brother did most of ours and passed it all to his son, my nephew.

Mamissimo, Hope you had a good time with Spud, any more photos?

Cherry, good idea to buy new curtains. That’s what we’ve decided to do too. Hope you have a good day.
going to do a little ironing now and then head off to DH who is busy taking a mountain of meds
Have a good day all

How wonderful that MrD is getting on so well. Relief all round but we remain vigilant. Bless those nurses.

The sculpture was Cornish granite, machined to my design by De Lank Quarry and incised with 12 Roman numerals like a clock.
The idea was to stand on the central circle and your shadow told the time. The title says: Time Circle - you are Time itself.

Yes ixion, the dogs come with special treats, looks and sounds like pork crackling - quite tempting.

My family home had extremely long curtains too, floor to ceiling, but my father worked for Listers Mill, famous for its fine velvets.

We had a treadle sewing machine, so Mum ran up the curtains
Dark green in the living room and burgundy and navy elsewhere.

I've been making paper flowers today, various designs with a view to showing the kaumatua how to make them for Christmastide. I need a bit of practice with the roses, so I'll persevere - between knitting.

Christmas Day for me will be 23rd - the family are coming over. DS says I should do nothing (cooking) as they will bring everything.

I'm not sure whether I am sad or grateful for that but DS is a superb cook, far better than I ever was.

I hope your away day doggies enjoyed their time with you, Kaimona. Can you treat them, or do they come with a list of strict tules?🤪.

Is your sculpting enhanced after your op, Grammaretto? Any difference?

Is Keira more settled now with her de-stressing meds, Nfk? Predictive text insists at this point in inserting ^distressing

Good on you, Cherry, for going for new curtains. I decided, when I retired, that I would no longer make my own, thank you very much. Very liberating! Hoisted by my own petard, tho, since finding readymades for 10' drops was quite challenging😡.
When my mother eventually moved from the Victorian family pile at 85, I was able to cut down all her velvet (grrr) curtains width-wise and the repurposed half drops fitted her new modern windows perfectly!

Ooh Doodle - more moving and shaking! Fantastic news. I hope the new move continues to provide support and stability - you both seem to be happy with this placement. Any 'special' nurses here too?🤞. I sense multiple purchases of tubs of 'Heroes' (= choccies, Kaimona!) will be called for!

I have been getting my Anglo-Irish history ducks in a row for Mamissimo's perusal. I have been much called upon by our WhatsApp family group today, having posted a couple of photos and bumpf of relatives lost at sea in both World Wars. Nice that many of the children of my 10+ maternal cousins are really interested. I was designated Family Archivist when 'we' all became the senior generation. Actually, I think they were looking for a mug Keeper of Collections, who had the greatest amount of tutt.

You name it, I've got it! (In a box, somewhere😂).

What!! That's shock at the cost of cleaning curtains 🫨😲

I had ancient silk velvet curtains in the big room. 4 windows, 4 sets.
I decided it would far too expensive to get them cleaned so I decided to wash them. Whoops. They ended up in shreds.

DMiL noticed and gently chastised me for wrecking her childhood curtains
I reckoned they'd done good service but bought IKEA replacements

I'm told that the poppyseed has the effect of diffusing the heat. Can't be certain but it seems to work.

So glad the dude is getting better Doodle. Sending more hugs.

I enjoyed my second day in the sculpture studio. Our efforts are to be displayed in the school at Christmas as an example of community involvement.

DH in new ward again but it’s nice. Big window with view on the garden and some nice roommates. He is improving more and more. Able to move his legs and eating better. Hopefully move to sitting out of bed tomorrow or Monday.
Kaimoana interesting sculpture. What does it represent? I can’t read the wording. Yes a bit heavy for a flight.
Have a lovely cuddle with the dogs.
ixion , toe wriggles are small fry compared to today when we have leg lifting and knee bending 🤣
Grammaretto your sculpture course sounds good fun. I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
Hope you do a good job and don’t get detention 🤣. Are you working in the cafe tomorrow?
Nfk be nice to have him in the same place for a few days. Constantly moving makes him disoriented but now he seems in a good place. That’s an interesting way of getting to sleep. I tend to watch something bland like escape to the country and then try and imagine how I’d decorate the rooms or what I’d do with the place. Your grandfather had an interesting job. What a lovely career.
Oh Mamissimo that’s a lovely tune. I expect you will have a lot of cuddles today.
Cherry, thank you we’ve had a really good day today,
Nurses seem really nice. With regard to cleaning living room curtains, We have two massive ones across the patio doors and three smaller window pairs. We were quoted over £400 😱😱😱😱
Take care all and thanks for your support x

Such lovely news Doodle. I'm so pleased that your DH is doing so well. A chattier time in the offing 😊 I hope the ward is peaceful and he is well looked after by the nurses this weekend and that he is able to get out of bed next week.

The sculpturing weekend sounds interesting Grammaretto, the local hero modelling for you all sounds intriguing too.
I wonder why the cakes don't sink when you put poppy seeds in them 🤔 Is it a trick somebody has given you to try? I'd love to know why they work

Interesting work your grandfather did Nfk. It's not a career for many anymore now. I remember a few years back a college in mid Wales was trying to recruit apprentices but it only had three or four places to fill. Nice to hear cwtches travel well 😁

My task yesterday should have been done in the summer was to find the cost for dry cleaning my living room curtains. I couldn't believe the prices, £75 for a pair of curtains that cost less than that to buy 🤦 We ended up buying a new pair that cost less than that instead 😂 I'll try an old trick with the pair we took down and hope for the best.

Good morning ☀️

Doodle please may I give away my current ear worm - it's been stuck for over a week.....🎶 Hey Dude...don't be afraid. Take a sad song and make it better.....🎶

Mr M woke early today for a change and I came down to find him cleaning the BBQ. He says he just felt like it - does the panel think I have cause for concern?

Spud is coming for a couple of hours today so there will be smiles later!

To the garden where I will plant pretty peonies instead of veg!

Such a speedy recovery Doodle, considering how bad things were. It's going to be hard to slow him down, perhaps the quiet inactivity of the weekend on the ward may not be such a bad thing! I bet you're sleeping better too.

Sculpting sounds wonderful Grammaretto, I hope you enjoy it. Take you in a different direction.

One of the ways I get to sleep is by designing houses. I imagine the land and the tenants and design something to suit. I rarely finish a project but on a bad night I have started to cost it too! I believe there are plans on line which can be used as a base to set you in the right direction.

My Grandfather was a stone mason Cherry and worked on many cathedrals. He spent a long time in Wales on working several there. My family do talk of having a cutch for a cuddle.

* Sitting up and chatting Doodle this is wonderful news. I hope the weekend continues to show improvement.
Thank God for antibiotics.

Good nursing is very important too.
I'm sure you are the best nurse of all

The sculpture workshop is a rather special one-off. It's a portrait in clay of a person, a local hero I suppose, who has kindly taken time off his busy schedule to model for us. He tells us his life story which is a bonus.

There's a teacher from the art college who is as engrossed as the rest of us and just tells us to look and look again.
There is the art teacher and some 6th formers. We are in the very comfortable art room of the local high school. It is like being back at school.

I still have my Saturday jobs to do. Picking flowers for the café tables is one I love and baking a cake which doesn't sink. Since I've started putting poppy seeds in the mix, I have had no failures famous last words

Oh, that IS good news, Doodle.
I'm thrilled for you at the progress Mr.D is showing:
Toe wriggles are exciting stuff. Let's hope for more as he continues to improve.
I hope you see an improvement in care and medical staff presence this weekend after last weekend's frustration and that your clear lightness of heart is not dampened. Will be thinking of you🦋

What a lovely, uplifting post from you dear Doodle and great to hear DH has a wonderful nurse which also makes you less worried.

As Nfk says, I think we all want to hug you and DH but we know you have a wonderfully close family who will provide those hug+ cwtches.

Sculpture Grammaretto ! that's a subject close to my heart as you may remember. I couldn't bring mine (made for Cornwall County Council) back to NZ with me, for obvious reasons. The airline doesn't allow chunks of granite as hand-luggage

Quiet afternoon with the dogs today

Hi all. DH having another good day eating sitting up and chatting and certainly feeling much better. Still not out of bed but maybe next week.
Grammaretto wouldn’t it be lovely to design and build your own home (or to have a hand in it anyway) .
Ooh makes a change for you being a student. Any idea what your subject will be? Are you doing it from home or is it a course?
NFK a proper big hug would be nice 😊 but the thought is lovely too. Have you taken Keira into the camper bubble yet?
Kaimoana I think I’ve missed a video of you some where. I’m going to backtrack and see if I can find it. Hope you’re doing ok.
Ixion DH has been showing off to our sons that he has been able to move his legs from the knee down today and wiggle his toes. Everyone is suitably impressed 🤣
Cherry like teachers at school a good one is priceless. The nurses here have been very kind to DH but yesterdays what an enchanting young lady with a good sense of humour and she and DH hit it off very well

Oh, Doodle, what a relief to hear that Mr D is comfortable and feeling better. I wish I was nearer so I could give you a proper big hug.

Good morning Lobstars,

I'm so glad to hear that the Dude is getting better Doodle . Enjoying his food is a great start and a lovely nurse too. Let's hope it won't be too long before he's well enough to come home.

I called on a df yesterday who built her own house had it made and she's encouraging me to do the same. Her house is very cosy and pretty.

It's the sculpture weekend starting today. I'm a student not a teacher thankfully. It should be fun.

Very welcome news indeed. Thanks Doodle.

Grammaretto I meant to say I cracked the problem of cling film, if what puzzled you is that it wraps itself before you can wrap the dish

This is really encouraging news, Doodle🙂. In feeling more positive, I hope some of the weight is beginning to lift from your shoulders.

^Baby steps^
🦋

A good nurse always helps Doodle. I'm just pleased that your DH is improving a little more each day x

Hi all.
Nfk that lovely girl will settle when she feels safe. Early days yet. She obviously feels safe with you and you are her world. Hope she gains more control soon.
DH has improved yet again today I’m pleased to say. He has eaten some fruit purée (he’s having difficulty swallowing) and some yoghurt. He’s been awake and alert for several hours and not in pain which is a first. We’ve had a lovely nurse today. One of the really special ones and she has helped him a lot.
Just spoken to him and he’s comfortable and sleepy. Such a relief.
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. It really means a lot.
Sleep well all x

When my son got a young German Shepherd from the shelter, the dog handler who helped him train Zeus (DS was nigh-patrolling with police) said it was best to view rescue dogs as you would a small child who'd lost its parent(s).

They are often nervous, scared, clingy and fear abandonment so if you leave them, you're adding to their problems.

DS had Zeus with him night and day but even after the dog had known and seen me every day for a year, he still fretted if left with me, even DS just nipped out to the shop - the pattern exactly as Grammaretto describes. Like a small child.

I do hope Keira settles Nfk. Otherwise it's literally quite a tie.
We took a rescue dog once, for 6 months while her owners went abroad. She was well trained and very easy but could not be left alone. She would climb up to the window to stare outside and whimper and cry until we returned. I only felt relief when her owners collected her after a year!

Later we bought a Labrador pup who was laid back and lovely. I still miss him.

I hope that corner is well and truly turned Doodle and you can bring DH home again soon.

Thinking of you all.

Just popper by to see if Doodle had been able to post and very relieved to hear that Mr D has turned the corner towards recovery. Thanks for taking the time to let us know you must be exhausted.

Now off to my local pet shop with Keira to see if they have any calming pills so I can leave little dog and buy some milk. She glued to me at the moment and is pacing trying to persuade me to sit on 'her' sofa with her. Leaving her on her own is the next step. So far, I've only managed to go out to the bins and you'd think I'd been gone a month. Fireworks close by on Sunday have rather upset her. But I need milk!

That's so good to hear Doodle. I hope you can relax a bit and sleep easier tonight x

Such a relief Doodle. You get a good sleep now knowing you can't do more tonight.