🦞 Locked down no longer but still firm friends 🦞

Hello Lobstars,

It makes me so happy to hear that you and your nearest and dearest, both animal and human, are having or looking forward to the weekend.

I am much better today. Still sound terrible i'm told but more energy.

My DGC arrived and are so delightful. "I felt homesick in the car" * she means carsick *
"I didn't know you were 75!" "Can we play scrabble on your phone"

They have both made long lists of all the things we are going to do this weekend.

I had better get to bed. I have a long day ahead.
Thanks for the hot chocolate Jeeves.

I have never let Mr.I or the children have their Easter choccy til the Sunday.
It has always hacked them off🤭.

Hello Ixion, Easter Greetings to you too. Our local churches do The Walk too. I’ve never been so I don’t know about whether or not they have a cross.
Yes DH had a good time with DS and DGS Even if DGS did beat him at chess in 3 games 🤣
Oh dear Barney (you have to smile) I wonder if the muffins fought back.
Have you had any Easter eggs? I’ve been given a chocolate bunny but not eating it till Sunday…….actually it’s so cute I might have a job eating it then 😋
We had a lovely visit from DS1 and family today. First time we’ve all been together since Christmas. So nice to catch up DH really enjoyed himself and managed to stay awake all the time they were here but fell asleep within 2 minutes of them leaving 🤣

Easter greetings to all 🐣.
One of the brightest (+1) rainbows I have ever seen, late this afternoon, showing us how even the wettest and gloomiest of days can bring forth a touch of magic before night falls.

I was pondering today how much Good Friday life has changed since I was a child, this being prompted by being woken very early by the clunking of dustcarts with their screeching lifting hydraulics. Mr. I wondered, cynically, if they were on Bank Holiday rates.
In my childhood, the only shop open was the baker's, which sold freshly made hot X buns until 11.00 then promptly shut.

One difference here, tho, is the village Walk of Witness, taking in all 3 churches in a procession. It is a silent walk, the roads being closed, with someone carrying a huge wooden cross, complete with robes and crown of thorns '(Jesus', not the cross🤦‍♀️) and a (silent) contemplative crowd following behind.
Actually, I find that kind of spooky, but if I need reassurance, I have only to look across to Waitrose to know that we are in the here and now.

I am so happy that Doodle has received some good news at least- I bet Mr.D enjoyed the change in company for a while too😉. Kaimoana is appearing more like her old self (yay) and Keira has been supporting her mistress through potentially dark days. I hope that Cherry is taking things easy and those who are entertaining family are at full strength and fitness (? Grammaretto?).
I am hoping that we might see Spud enjoying an Easter egg.

I wonder, Jan, whether Theo might like a little playmate from time to time?
Our Barney (late street urchin with manners to match) has decided he doesn't actually like blueberry muffins. Someone forgot to shut him out of the kitchen overnight. This morning revealed 4 muffins, originally in a hard plastic shell packaging, strewn over the floor. He had had, however, the grace to remove the paper cases from most of them.

Kaimoana it doesn’t sound a very well organised event but I like the sound of the sausages 🤣. How nice you had people back after for some company and a good natter.
I wish they’d sort out some better homecare for you, glad you managed to get some supplies in
Have a lovely time with your family
Notspaghetti that’s an amazing achievement to have home educated 5 children. Were they all close in age?
Grammaretto couldn’t believe it when they said I could go home. I was so sure they would keep me in. I’d spent ages sorting things out at home, explaining to DS how my oven and microwave work, all DHs medication etc .
Sorry you’ve got such a bad cold. A shame you had to go out at all. It was bitterly cold here and raining when I had to take DH to the surgery.
Oh not not another roof leak. Is it bad?
That sounds an interesting evening. Did he really build a boat in your house or do you mean in the garden?
Jeeves is sadly bringing me ☕️ when I would dearly love 🍷 but I’m on antibiotics for another 4 weeks 🥲🥲
Cherry I slept well thanks, even though I felt a bit like someone had kicked me in the ribs. The ache has worn off today so is fine now,
I agree with you about Kaimoana . A very special lady and very brave too. Just like someone else I know 😉
Ooh I think my iPad and your tablet have got the same gremlin. Mine is taking ages to type anything and keeps changing things. Are we being taken over 👽?
Jan your summerhouse sounds nice. Lovely in the sunny weather.
NFK Keira is wonderful company. Sounds like you came along just in time to help her have a better quality of life too.
I bet she loves her run on the beach
Mamissimo, is Spud allowed chocolate yet? Or is he having a fluffy Easter bunny instead?

I'm pleased that they got the samples they were looking for Doodle. I'm just as pleased, if not more so, that the result from sample they could test there and then came back good enough for them to allow you to go home. I hope the rest of the results are equally as good, that first one bodes well doesn't it. I hope you managed to have a good night's sleep last night and are not so achy today.

And it's a privilege to know you too Kaimoana 🌻🌻🌻.
It upsets me to think that you feel so down - My joie de vivre will come marching back one day - but days like you had yesterday can be a stepping stone to finding it again, companionship helps. The situation over your home care must be so difficult at the moment too. One woman in my epilepsy support group who lives alone had no home care for just a couple of days about a two weeks ago and she felt very vulnerable. The agency then sent her a new lady who was very condescending and abrupt with her, leaving her in tears. This week, however, they have sent another lady who treats her like the human being she is and she is much happier. It makes such a difference. I know you'll rediscover your joie de vivre over Easter with your DGS, you always have a good time together, you have a very special relationship with him ☺️.

Your reflexology session sounded lovely Nfk, just the ticket on a day you were dreading, and Keira has settled in so beautifully with you now, I'm pleased about that 😊. The dog cafe sounds barking mad like a nice little find 👍. There's one not that far from us, I'm told it's very popular.

I hope you did decide to spend time at the Summerhouse Jan and enjoyed the sunshine.

Yay, Grammaretto 👍, I'm glad your car passed its MOT. It's always a worry init - and a relief when it does 😁. I hope the man repaired the leak on your roof 🤞. We've got a leak in ours too but when we had someone come and take a look they said they couldn't work out exactly where it was coming from or perhaps they didn't want to do the work. When we if we ever get a spell of good weather we'll have to get someone else to have a look 🙄.

It's been a nightmare typing this ... my tablet seems to be having a meltdown with words randomly changing after I've typed them, gawd knows what's going on there but it's 😤. I think I'm going to end my post before I lose my mind if I ever really had one.

I'll have a cup of tea please Jeeves.

I am glad you were let out Doodle and could be reunited with DH and his "carers". Hope the next news is good.

Kaimoana, your Easter weekend has begun well. I hope it continues just as well.

Been an odd day here. My cold has got worse so I slept a lot and only dragged myself to the shops when the rain finally stopped as the cupboards were bare.

So much for the roofer, no sooner did it begin to rain than the water started to pour drip through the ceiling. 🪣

This evening was a memorial gathering online for a man whose life was designing, building and sailing wooden boats. I knew him years ago when he built a boat in our house. It was lovely to hear his family and friends rejoicing in his life. ⛵️

What will Jeeves bring us 🍷 or ☕️ 🤗

Kaimoana2 - it does sound like a good day though....

By the way, my "children" also say I give too much info when they want something simple!

Great news so far Doodle. Keeping fingers crossed for next set of results. 🤞

Delighted that yesterday started not so great but ended up not do bad!

What brave people we have here, Trojans every one, battling and winning over everything thrown at you. It's a privilage to know you, it really is.

NotS I would have loved to Homeschool my boys but sad to say, I didn't even know such a thing was possible until too late and they were at leaving age.

However, I have always been a sort of supplementary teacher. For instance when they were learning about the Emergency Services, I took them to the various depot, talked to the staff about their jobs and my DS2 even rode on a fire engine.

And my sons sometimes despaired laughed because I could never give a simple answer but covered in depth if I could even before the Internet which now makes things so easy to learn.

Despite a not-terribly-good State education, they have both gone on to be very succesful, which I put down to their enquirng minds and ability to think through and solve every problem which comes up. A rare skill it seems.

As predicted, Whanau Day was shambollick. No tent, just a gazebo for the tamariki and just 3 chairs but we took it over no food or hot drinks but a hot dog stand which sold the most delicious sausages I've ever tasted. I don't usually eat sausages but I had two, with onions, no roll.

Which proves, I suppose that at least my appetite is coming back

Predicted rain didn't fall until 3pm but it was windy and cold.
As I have no homecare now for over a week, I sped off post-sausage with Artoa to get in supplies to last.
The people in the photo came back to mine and we had a wonderful time of chat and cheek with Matua Ray until tea time.

Hang the housework.

Looking forward to breakfast with family tomorrow, hope they can stay a while - DGS is staying over Easter, yipee.

Feeling more positive today.

Great news Doodle And breathe! Night night

Hello all. Thanks for all your good wishes, procedure not a total success but it did provide the samples they were looking for which they were pleased about. One sample they test there and then and my being allowed home depended on the result. I am pleased to say they said I could come home. So here I am with a very happy DH who has spent a lovely afternoon with ds and DGS and Ben well looked after. I’m a little achy so will catch up more tomorrow. Thanks for all your concern.
Mamissimo the chemo treatment must take a lot out of you. hoping you have a good rest tonight, Jeeves on way.?

I did really love it Grammaretto. It was a joy and a privilege to be able to see the world through their eyes and spend so much time with them.

Except on the days when it wasn't of course!

It was hard work in some ways and easy in others. There was never a lot of spare cash however as we each had part-time work so only had a little more than one full time income. But that was our choice. I don't regret it. And anyway, even 5 of them soon grow up!

Wow! Homeschooling 5 children sounds like a labour of love NotSpag.
I know I couldn't have.

With mine, all their primary schools were good. It was High School when things began to go wrong.

My car has passed its MOT, the sun has come out and there's a man on my roof trying to repair the part that's leaking.

I shall look out for any Lobstar news.

Forgot to say, Doodle, re the wet-strength paper tester, no. No instructions but it wasn't hard to operate. It was really a sort of "strength scale" on a dial with a needle that moved according to the "pull" on the paper and the needle stopped when the paper snapped. I'm sure modern ones will be digital but basically the same idea. People who make j-cloths or kitchen towels (or even toilet tissue) will want to know how strong the product is when wet.

It did mean you had to test exactly the same size of paper of course to be meaningful. It gave the children lots of basic "science" type skills - experiment, record, repeat etc. We discovered that some papers are much stronger in one direction than the other (or diagonally).

Ha ha! I loved it anyway. We home educated our 5 so I was always on the look out for this kind of oddity.
Happy days!

Thinking of you Doodle and I hope all goes well for you ❤️

Yes having a dog brings so much pleasure Nfk and also new friends as I found when we had Sophie but alas we couldn’t cope with one now. I saw the bit about the Norfolk Distillery too. It looked very posh!
Doodle Hope all goes well today. Will be thinking of you.
The sun is shining in Norfolk. Maybe a day to hobble down to the Summerhouse. Have a good day all

Thinking of our Doodle and hoping all goes well. 🤞

You brave soul are going through chemo Mamissimo. That can't be very nice, but probably the alternative is worse.

Sending love and hugs to you both.

Good to see Kaimoana.

I seem to have yet another cold. I did have Floradix but have finished the bottle and it's not sold anywhere near.

I must make up beds for the family coming at the weekend.
I shall take the wee girls to the paper museum. They can make paper and maybe we'll make cupcakes with chocolate eggs on top. That's science isn't it. 😅

Last night I was at the older DGC school concert. It was brilliant. I didnt hear one duff note.
Someone in the choir fainted though, probably from lack of food. DDiL told me she'd hardly time to feed them between school and the concert.

My car is being MOT'd by a new mechanic today who comes to the house and picks up the car. I hope it passes.

*Will be thinking of you Doodle - this is important for your well-being so go with the flow and rest - the bed will be a wonderous novelty!•

•NFK - the yacht is a schooner - it was Mr M’s pride and joy and he misses it. He’s still able to sail with friends but the upkeep of the old girl was getting too much. He has a hormone moment car instead now 😁•

•It was my eight weekly day in the chemo unit yesterday so I’m snoozy -if Jeeves is about I could use a Horlicks with a tot of rum to knock me out for the night!•

Wot ho All

I have been here, but lurking. By the time I've read all your posts, I haven't had time to write an entry. But I have been keeping up.

I love your last boat Mamissimo. Is it a yawl or a ketch? I've always been confused between the two. Our last sailing boat was only a broads sailing half decker, not nearly as complicated with just one mast! No cabin, loo or kettle! It must have been really difficult when time came to sell her. Boats are a pain in the backside but become part of the family (and just as demanding).

I notice NotSpag that there's one of your paper measuring gadgets in Grammaretto's museum, perhaps a trip there and you can find out how to use it (if you still had it). I'm a bit bemused about the connection with wasps and knitted tortoises though.

Those children in the mud kitchen photos look far too clean to be true NotSpag. Two of my DGC went to a nursery with lots of outdoor play and a proper mud kitchen, in that it was like a mini-kitchen - not on the ground - and the mud was sifted and kept separate so no worms or nasties. And the children wore coveralls and wellies as they got plastered!

I hope your arm is starting to feel a bit better Cherry. Perhaps, if padding you up like a Michelin Man isn't practical, padding the furniture would be an alternative, and have a crash mat by the bed! Or doing both!

And I do hope that your procedure goes well tomorrow Doodle. At least at short notice you have less time to get worried about it. Good luck.

And that Karen is back soon Kaimoana. Her replacement sounds like a nightmare. Getting older is such a challenge, it takes a long life of experience for us to cope with it. And we need help. Good, empathic help. When you need it. Is that ever possible?! (Sorry, I'm getting a bit impatient not being able to find someone, anyone who has time to cut my overgrown and rather large hedge. It's a big job, a day's work. The Offspring can't do it. I asked them last time, and, well, they did their best...! And now it's nearly nesting season and I still haven't found anyone to take it on.)

However, I've had a rather successful day today. I was dreading it as it's DH's birthday and I keep thinking of what we were doing last year and the struggle he was going through. But I have a friend who's a reflexologist and good too. So a good session this morning with Kiera laying beside me, and then off to the beach where she gambolled and ran through the shallows. She's not supposed to yet, but she was so happy I couldn't stop her and it was infectious. Then we went for a late lunch at a dog cafe on the cliffs. Dog pictures on the walls, dog motifs on the tablecloths and dog biscuits for the mutts. Good human food too. I got home too late to do anything else. Having a dog may be a tie, but her company has been a Godsend.

(Just heard on the news that a Norfolk Distillery makes the best single malt in the world, and has the certificate to prove it! )

Seems to me that winter's end can't come fast enough for most Lobstars; at least when the weather is nice, things seem a little better.

As I write this, dear Doodle will be checking in - I am thinking about you my friend and hoping you can hop off the podium with alacrity very soon!

Yes, I could get a lot more help but in a way, it's that help which has added to the misery.

The wonderful kaimahi helping me and Ray are exhausted and ill - because they took on our cases and as usual, gave over and above.

While we are not directly to blame it's been awful to realise their collapse was because we were the last straw.

However, my main supporter, who actually had to leave the job to protect her health, now has a new and exciting one. She was very tearful yesterday, her last day at our elders group saying how much she would miss her lovely (and much overworked) colleagues and us. Too upsetting.

Little by little though, my problems will get solved, things will come right, I have been through worse but then I wasn't 77 and legally blind.
My joie de vivre will come marching back one day.

Ray, dear man, said, 'there's always light at the end of the tunnel' - just my luck if it was a train.

Just popping in to wish Doodle all the very best for your hospital trip tomorrow and hoping thall all goes well.
Rest assured that Mr.D will be in good hands with your boys. If you have to stay in, it will be for the best as you have to be match fit when you return.

Sorry not to linger as I am incubating a migraine, and am off to lie down in the proverbial darkened room.
Good to see you Kaimoana🌷

Been to podiatry again today. Poor DHs foot is always so painful after.
Youre right Grammaretto I’ve just go to go with it. DS2 and DGS are coming to watch over DH
is there anywhere local you could go swimming? Mind you I’m with you, more than happy to sit here and read 🤣

I did wonder about the podium 🤣😂
I think that anxiety is responsible for a lot of wasted time fretting. Boo to anxiety.

You could think of the hospital procedure like boarding a fast train first class ofcourse there is nothing you can do to stop it as it's out of your control. not out of control

I have just been to the Chiropractor who thinks I should get an exercise bike and go swimming. Both are better than sitting . Really? I am thoroughly enjoying lounging on the sofa, coffee in hand, and reading and tapping on here.

P.S DH and I are not on display on the podium….we are going to the podiatrist.