🦞 Locked down no longer but still firm friends 🦞

Grammaretto I am pleased to hear your buckets are dry ….hope the buckets don’t have a hole in the bottom
Your evening concert sounds a different sort of school event but quite enjoyable
Good to hear your df is around again be nice for you to have a catch up meal
I did sleep well thank you. Slightly too well. I must have nodded off quite early and was woken by the phone ringing.
My mind immediately went to the hospital and I was frantically trying to answer it before they rung off. Instead it was my taxi firm very apologetic, they were phoning someone else and got the wrong number.

Jan as someone who doesn’t like driving I can truly appreciate your trepidation about setting out on your own. Well done you for making it.
Cherry sorry you’re having another bout of seizures. I appreciate you making the effort to post. Hope you’re feeling better soon
Notspaghetti glad you’re feeling better. Enjoy the swim
Dear Kaimoana I am pleased to see that despite all your troubles your wicked sense of humour hasn’t deserted you .
Hope your new chest and drawers arrive soon

Is that your granddaughter. She is really lovely. Happy memories for April time
Sorry all my iPad is printing one letter every 10 seconds and it’s making it diffIcult to get anything down. Thanks for your good wishes all. Take care x

A primrose for you. Or is it a cowslip.

Yes Doodle & Gramaretto that's my first grandchild. Now a Quantity Surveyor. She frequently surveys the large number of males who fall at her feet after one bat of those eyes.

What a pity your phone call wasn't an offer from the cruise company for a freebie. fancy waking you with a pesky wrong number!
Or as my DS2 once said to me, 'If it was a wrong number Mummy, why did you answer it?'

Cowslip Grammaretto , Primula Bovinea and that name may have led to the common name but is actually from Luxemburg botanist Nicholas Bové, whose surname means 'above' rather than 'cow'. It's on the Red List as critically endangered now. Is there any way of your increasing its numbers and protecting it?

I'm glad you enjoyed the concert but I wonder why you then swooshed over to NZ to appear in my dream, totally unlike your real self, and eat my Knickerbocker Glory!

After such a sunny, warm Friday, today brings persistent rain determined to ruin the weekend and keep active, bored children indoors. Why does it always seem to wait until the weekend to do this?

You are right, things are looking up shush
I even got a whole 4 hours sleep last night, though one of these was spent washing up after Grammaretto's visit

Thank goodness so many of us here seem to at last find things are improving

🙏 please please may this trend continue.

Good morning!

Grammaretto and Kaimoana you need to drive the motorways to see Cowslips in their glory - both the M40 and the A3 have huge banks of them, seeded when the roads were landscaped. I'm in Hampshire and we also have near us an ox eye daisy roundabout that is glorious every year.

Nature is all over the place at the moment - the Chestnut and Willow trees are way behind in putting on their clothes but the oaks are out already. It's been a great year for primroses but the bluebells need a bit more warmth!

I'm really happy that all my varieties of tomato have germinated in the greenhouse, the chillies, aubergines and cabbages are all looking great and it looks to be the year of the lettuce - I forgot myself and planted a whole packet instead of a pinch, so we'll have hundreds all at once!

I'm still coughing but I take heart that maybe it will go away soon - I've managed to get a non urgent Drs appointment just in case - in six weeks time! I am keeping everything crossed that we all continue to improve.

The DGDs are coming this afternoon to build a bug hotel and eat cake. The youngest one want to be a scientist or lollipop lady so I thought I'd foster some more interest in the former 🙂

Mr M has finally woken up so I can make noise. He can sleep for England and wakes up starving -- but declines to cater for himself-- so I'd better get cracking or he'll get in a grump!

Onwards troops!

Mr.I and I have temporarily adopted the modus vivendi of Trappist monks, following the departure today of back to back stays by family members, who clearly thought it was a good idea to seek sleepovers en route to elsewhere and return. Sadly, nay irritatingly, it proved impossible to get out the jolly old iPad without seeming very rude hosts. We are now revelling in the ensuing silence following the final departure of one who could never go even the full 60 seconds of Just a Minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation.

I have tried to catch up and note that Jan successfully undertook her Awfully Big Adventure 🥇, Grammaretto is, hopefully leak free (do you get a money back guarantee?), hoping that Doodle has better news of Mr.D's recuperation, and Kaimoana is getting her new furniture. The blinds sound ideal, the DGD absolutely stunning. Hopefully Aiofe won't get near the seedlings and Cherry is match fit again for tomorrow.

It is a lovely evening here, Mr.I is watching ⚽️ His Team in the semi finals.
One wonders why they bother to have expensive and complex VAR devision makers, when all they need do is ring Mr.I, who has an opinion on every inch of the game🙄.

So that's what the icon is - a football! I thought he was watching a flower.

Both my AIs, Google and Alexa tell me no rain is forecast today. When I pulled up the blinds I see it's been persisiting it down all morning.

Another change about to happen is my ISP, which DS2 is setting up on Friday - the very day I had hoped to be jolly and social with my friends at Whanau Day.
However, if I have to stay home and be trechnical, I will. Don't see my boy often enough to miss a chance.

Mamissimos' Market Garden sounds promising
Not Bored Beans this season but Lotsa Lettuce. "'Roll up, roll up, come and get yer lovely lettuce."

Mamissimo - great swathes of bluebells open here! Stunning.

I've just zoomed through all your posts and echo ixion's summary. A week away and all is transformed with so much success and positivity. Leaks fixed, updating done operations performed successfully and challenges met. And the bluebells are fully out. Onwards and upwards!

I've been away in the Camperbubble. Kira went to stay and have her holiday with DS and family, settled well and had a good time, while I went off with the Motorhome Mob to York (the Jorvik experience is just as I remembered only updated. Sorry though that the smells are no longer included!). Then Whitby and Flamborough Head threw lots of weather at us. At speed. I invested in a hot water bottle.

Strange though that the grass still managed to grow to knee high while we were gone!

Dh not too well today. He has fluid on lungs and high heart rate. He is being well cared for and the nurses are lovely. He’s asleep now which is probably for the best he was very breathless earlier. I have been here most of the day today so will probably got back to the hotel and sleep.
Take care all. Hope you’re ok. Hope to be more alert tomorrow xx

So sorry to hear Mr is D is having such a difficult time Doodle, he's in the right place though. The nurses sound great, they will take very good care of him. It's good that he's managing to get a sleep. I hope you get some much needed rest yourself now. Sending you my warmest cwtches 💕 x.

That's a pity Doodle. Let's hope he can throw it off with the help of antibiotics and gentle nursing.

I was at an 80th birthday party today for a Scottish singer.
It began slowly but once everyone had eaten and drunk their fill the guests got up and sang and it was wonderful not me
I asked the birthday boy if I could come to his 90th.
Yes he replied, if I can come to yours.

DH has serious infection. High heart rate, low Bp and is needing lots of attention at the hospital. I’ve been there all day. Going to eat now then sleep. Hope all are ok. Back tomorrow take care all x

Sending all my love to the Doodles. Sleep well.

Try to sleep, Mr. D needs you strong.

He is in good hands, you are in our hearts.
♥️

We'll be praying 🙏 for him tonight Doodle.
I know he's getting the best care.

Mr D will be well looked after Doodle. Try to get some sleep and keep up your strength, that's good for both of you ♥️

Doodle
I do hope today brings good news.
Thinking of you both. Sending prayers 🙏

Hoping sleep has given you strength for today, Doodle.

Love and hugs
♥️

Hope Doodle had a good nights sleep and there is good news about Mr D later today.
Nfk you are certainly enjoying your Camperbubble. And so pleased Kire enjoys her holidays too. I remember the smells in Jorvik. Pleased they’ve got rid of them for all future visitors!
Kaimoana. Your granddaughter is beautiful. Bet all the boys are after her!
Pleased Gramaretto has got her leak sorted - fingers crossed.
Good to hear from Cherry. Think she and I just lurch from one medical episode to another. I seem very wobbly again and feel like I’m going backward again. Grrrrrrr!
We are seeing friends this afternoon. They have a very high step into their bungalow. Why are steps so difficult they never used to be!
Still taking the much hated Pregabalin- not that it’s doing any good.
Sending love to all especially those I haven’t mention. Will do better next time.
And of course thinking of Mr D

Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes.
Made an idiot of myself last night getting into a panic because my phone wouldn't charge. It’s my only means of communicating with the hospital or anyone as I’m not staying at home. Got into such a state that my son drove over in the middle of the night to bring me a new charger and calm me down.
Doc says the antibiotics are working which is great. Hoping that when the infection comes down the rest of him will start to improve.
Jan those health wobbles when you feel you’re going backward are hard to cope with. Keeping positive requires a lot of effort sometimes. Hope you have a good time with your friends. I had a taxi the other day that turned out to be a people carrier. The step up was huge and I’m only short. I had to throw my bags in and then seemed to belly flop onto the back seats and haul myself in using the safety belt. So graceful 🤣.
Sorry you are still having problems with the pregabalin. Hopefully the side effects will lessen over time.
Nfk hope you have a lovely time with your group and Keira enjoys her holiday too.
Grammaretto sounds like the birthday singalong was enjoyed by all (after a little imbibing 🥃).
Notspaghetti I love bluebells. Don’t see them round our way much but I remember the banks of them from my youth.
Cherry hope you are ok. I do think of you x
Kaimoana I wish I had a bit more of your courage and calm. I get myself so het up sometimes over the most trivial of things. You seem to cope with everything that comes along. Hope you get that time with your lovely son Gubbins “big guy” 😊
Mamissimo hope all your veg are prolific and not the target of insects and animals.
Hope your chest is improving soon.
Good luck with the bug hotel…….cake for me please
ixion hope you’re getting some rest and iPad time now your visitors have gone. Have you ever listened to Pam Ayers poem “They should have asked my husband” it’s worth a listen
Take care all and thank you so much for your good wishes

I feel your panic Doodle!
How good that your DS are both part of the team.
I'm sure he wouldn't mind being called out.

When my DH was very ill the DC all stepped up to the plate. They wanted to.

I'm very glad DH's antibiotics are working.
Still praying hard for his recovery.

I am OK. Doing away as they say in these parts.

The insurance assessor is coming tomorrow. I don't hold out much hope and may have to beg, borrow or --hopefully not‐- steal to pay for ceiling repairs.

Meanwhile I enjoyed an Andy Warhol textile exhibition. I had no idea he was a fabric designer for years before he discovered pop art.

Although even then his colours and print ideas were wacky. This one is flags.

Lovely to hear from Lobstars as always. It may need to be wine tonight Jeeves

Was that at the Dovecote Grammaretto? I would love to see that!