🦞 Locked down no longer but still firm friends 🦞

What a day I’ve had today.
Up early to take DH to hospital outpatients, we were there for 3 hours then due to go straight to GP surgery.
After we’d finished in outpatients, I left DH sitting in the hospital while I went to out in the pouring rain to put the walking frame in the car.
We’d managed to find a parking space in the last disabled slot at the end of a long row. When I got back to the car I found i couldn’t open the door.
I kept pressing the button on the key fob but nothing happened. Rushed back to DH to tell him the battery in the fob wasn’t working and we couldn’t get in the car so would miss out appointment
DH said there was a key hidden in the fob if only we knew how to find it. Lots of pressing various bits and poking about finally revealed the key.
Back to the car I go but this time with DH as well in the cumbersome hospital wheelchair . I get to the car and say to DH where do I put the key then. It was at this point he said
”Thats not out car” 😮
Someone with an identical car to ours had parked next to us where there wasn’t a parking space and in my rush and keeping my head down in the rain I just assumed it was ours. No wonder the doors wouldn’t open. I felt too relieved to feel much of an idiot. 🤣
Kaimoana you baby group sounds lovely. I love watching the little ones play and the Bubble snakes were a big success. 😊
sorry you’ve lost one of your lovely elder group
What happens at the tangi?
Notspaghetti oh how I’d love to have potters working in the hospital. I’ve always wanted to have a go.
I don’t know what a chanter is but I bet it’s easier to get a tune out of than a basketball 🏀 🤣
Gramaretto how are you getting on with your pieces for the weekend? Do you have enough yet?

Kaimoana2
I knew it was a big thing - well enough for me to come across it somehow over here! - and how interesting to know her!
I'm sorry you have lost an elder - will the service be from a priest or traditional person?
Grammaretto -
with all the pottery talk and exhibitions I'd completely misread this from Doodle
^Porters only work inside the hospital and are in much demand^
I read it as Potters of course!

Oh and yes, I looked up the craft things - some of which I'd actually made with my children years ago! I didn't find a playable bagpipe one though - but it did make me wonder where my daughter's chanters had gone. She was fixated on playing bagpipes for a while when she was about 10 and had advice from a bagpipe player to start with a chanter - she would "play" one chanter in particular around the house....
she found it difficult to be honest- but may have persisted if she hadn't found basketball!

The Mum and Baby group was just wonderful: babies crawling all over the place, toddlers running up and down and playing on trikes. The Mamas made Bubble Snakes and took them outside into the sunshine for best efect - magic.

Oh yes Grammaretto we will certainly have warm and sunny weather for months yet - but the colder mornings, 19 degrees today just bring Autumn to mind.

NotS You're talking about Dame Rangimaries aka Naida Glavich Pou, an aquaintance of mine whose Investiture I attended in 2019.

Her ex-husband Matua or Papa Pita is a very dear and good friend and kaumatua to our elders group.

She hit the headlines when the Post Offie, where she was a telephonist order her not to say 'Kia Ora' when answering the phones and she refused. Te reo Maori was and is an official language of Aotearoa-NZ.
She won her case and was reinstated.

Had the Post Office know her as we do, they'd never dared take her on - she's uber-tough and takes no prisoners.



One of our kaumatua passed away today - we're going to the tangi tomorrow.

Oh 😟 I was looking forward to one of those chocs too
my favorite along with chocolate covered orange rind
Yes that’s exactly what the hospital wheelchairs are like. So heavy to manoeuvre and they don’t turn easily. I’m counting down the days till DH can use his electric wheelchair and I don’t have to push him about (he can carry my heavy handbag on his lap too 🤣)

B***r Doodle! I hate to think of you heaving that heavy wheelchair about. Are they like supermarket trollies with a life of their own?

The hoist will help I hope.

Poor Karen. That doesn't sound hopeful does it, Kaimoana.

You may have more warm weather yet. The first year we revisited NZ we arrived in early May. The weather was lovely and I swam in the sea one day. True, apart from a Japanese man, I was the only one!

I finished the chocolates. - Sorry.

Notspaghetti DH has a rolator too. Rolly. He’s been in the cupboard since last October coz DH can’t use him. They are a big help though for some.
I can just picture your MIL shooting off down the slope.
i love a clear out. Got rid of a couple of big things recently to a neighbour who’s delighted with her acquisitions and I’m just pleased to have the space back.
That sounds like a genteel pastime Gramaretto “ the potters spring gathering” could be something out of Jane Austin. 😊
Hope you have a good time
Did I read on GM you are doing your Gaelic trip again this year?
I know you really enjoyed it last time
Hospital was hard work with the heavy wheelchair again today and probably tomorrow too but happy me, Friday the hoist will be fitted in the car and DHs wheelchair will accompany us from then on, 😊
Kaimoana your DGs would have to beat me. I love chocolate covered ginger 😋
Sadly I was left to my own devices with the wheelchair today. Porters only work inside the hospital and are in much demand
i used to love doing Mother and baby group. Love watching the little ones. Hope you have a good time

Don't let my dgs know about the stem ginger chocs Grammaretto or he'll start walking to the UK!

Still haven't heard from Karen but you're right, I don't think she can bring herself to say the words, so I feel it must be bad news. Were it good, she'd have phoned.

Doodle I suppose it's out of the question that there are hospital porter to help with the wheelchair?

I've often though the "disabled access" ramps we have in shops and Malls, are highly dangerous for the same reason - far too steep and very, very long. Ambulant disabled find it easier and shorter to get across the busy carpark than trek up these endless ramps. Why don't architects work with a disability consultant who can't walk?

For reasons I can't guess, my Internet went down yesterday, 2 days after I was put onto the Vulnerable List .

I do know to check modem and router but I hadn't considered turning my PC and assorted hardware off at the wall as suggested by my son.

It worked.
Pays to have an IT expert in the family.

I'd like to ask if he'll go back to being one after this present job ends in December just before they all fly to the UK but I think it'll be a case of 'we'll see what turns up' this time.

I'm volunteering at a Mama & Baby group today, making Bubble Snakes.
Did you find the crafts NotS? There are many kinds of tube trumpet.

Noticeably cooler in the mornings now, Summer is pulling her skirts around her and preparing to move over for Autum and cyclone/hurricane season.
My boy will be flat out once they strike.

You've made a start NotSpag. Well done. I think about making a start.😀

I have been rather busy today. Glazing pots and firing the kiln. First I had to mix up old glazes which means scraping them off the bottom of the bucket and coaxing them into a creamy consistency.
In the end I didn't use those, preferring to risk an untested glaze.
I'm going to the potters spring gathering this weekend so need some pieces.

I hope you got on alright at the hospital Doodle. I think you had to go again today. Hopefully it won't be such a workout or you are so strong now, it will be easy peasy.

I promise to get floradix tomorrow Kaimoana. It's on my list. I'm sure it's better for me that the stem ginger chocolates I've been consuming. I won a box in a raffle recently.

Off to make myself a cuppa.

My mother-in-law has a rollator and uses this when around and about outside - in the park, to get to the shops, at the hospital etc. When at home she is ok with a stick - but outside it's helpful for her to have something stable... Well, to get to her nearest park or café she chooses to go down a leafy "jitty" which isn't even totally even. She sets off at an alarming pace and downhill she goes SO fast!! She's quite small and it's hilarious but totally unsafe. She has brakes on it but told me "oh I never bother with those!"...

One day there is going to be a calamity - but she is insistent that "brakes are too much trouble".
This cut-through is quite well used thank goodness so I don't think she'd be in a heap at the bottom for long before she would be found. She has promised to take her phone with her on these outings so

Last time she went to hospital it was the same as you Doodle - zig-zagging everywhere and being sent from place to place. My husband got her there 20mins early and in the end was just exactly on time!

Having a bit of a clear-out today.
Old TV went on Freecycle.org in about 10 mins! Hooray
My daughter says she will have a bench (that used to be my grandfather's) - the sort of low ones with a padded top - it needs re-upholstering as I last did it maybe 40 years ago - so I'm pleased it's staying in the family
Now I need to convince myself that I'm not going to get round to recovering fancy lampshade frames that I've been storing since 1992!... sigh!
Lots more to do but at least it's a start...

I hate getting rid of stuff that "might be useful" or "just needs x doing to it". 🙄

Kaimoana I wish I could have seen your crafting group. How lovely to have such fun together. Sometimes the simplest things can cause great hilarity.
Oh dear I do hope Karen and her son will get over this. A big shock.
Gramaretto, in order to push along the long corridors I had to get the wheelchair from the car park to the hospital. That’s where I encountered to two steep ramps that join the two. I could have done with a team of horses on the way up and a good brake on the way down.
News is mixed. DHs foot sore is getting smaller but it’s what’s underneath it that they don’t know. Every time we go they scrape off a little of the dead skin and what’s underneath looks none too pleasant although the assure me it’s ok.
Please take care and don’t overdo things. You must be quite weak at the moment if you’re not eating properly. Hope you feel better soon.
ixion, well done our team. Perhaps the tide has turned now. A win at last.
Oh ixion I feel for you. That dreaded moment when you open the washing machine door and see the thousand little bits of shredded tissue nestling in amongst your washing. I usually let mine dry. Then give it a really good shake. Then wash again and finally iron whilst going over it all with a lint roller. **What a pain.
Hmm so puss is a man’s cat. I expect he too will expect his dinner at the right time. Leave you to clean the bowl and tidy up while he goes for his post meal nap 🤣
Off to the hospital again in the morning for another session with the wheelchair. Hope it’s not raining.

Oh my dratted eyes couldn't see you Sheesh! eejit.

ixion you are so funny; thank you for the smiles.
The 'Hidden Tissue Mystery' a plague on 'em.

I find they get caught in the elasticated pocket corners of fitted sheets (I drool so have tissues by my bed. I know, TMI )

Lovely to hear the cat has settled - if you've told us his name, I've missed it. Rum Tum Tugger? Bustopher Jones? His Mogjesty?

Grammaretto thank you for waving at me. I'm on the flight path so although I could see you, I certainly heard your waka.
Take it easy wumman! Rest, recuperate, it'll all wait, your health comes first. Try Floradix, brillian for getting one back on ones feet.
"yes Matron"

Here's another photo of us making/demonstrating a Bubble Snake.

Very easy: cut the end off a plastic bottle, cover this end with cloth, secure with rubber band, dip in w/up liquid and blow gently through the top.
The person who added half a bottle of food colouring clearly isn't a baker

Oh Doodle what next? Hope the news is better than it has been.

We won eh? Long may it continue.

It seems these days that attending a hospital appointment is as much about the journey as the destination - car parking, finding a wheelchair, going the distance whilst overcoming hazards. Out of order lifts necessitating yomping for miles are one of our local's favourites. Hope you recovered and slept all the better for it, Doodle.

I so wish I had been a fly on the wall at your craft session, Kaimona. You seem to fill every available occasion with joy😍..

Grammaretto - so sorry to hear you are struggling. You were going great guns the minute you got home. There was me thinking I would be struggling with jet lag for days. And yes, a win for Our Team. 🤫Our first of 2024🤫. Alleluia.

'I hesitate to say', said Cat Foster Mum,' that he is really a man's cat'. Presumably, I now see, because male laps are available for soooo much longer throughout the day. Just sayin'.
However, 'we' are restructured now to four-hourly feeds and went right through the night last night. Yay.

Interesting twist today on the tedious routine called 'the laundry'.
I - apparently in my enthusiasm - put Mr.I's abandoned trousers in the wash, without checking the pockets🤷‍♀️. Wallet had 20 minutes of a good hot wash before finding a way to extricate it mid cycle. Mostly plastic contents not wallet, fortunately and, interestingly, no paper money🤔. Nor, I must add, that lovely passport-sized photo of me on our wedding day.
To add insult to injury, the other pocket contained a tissue. You can guess what greeted me when finally the cycle finished.

Poor you Doodle! I can imagine you pushing that heavy wheelchair up the hospital corridors steep hills
It's one way to build muscles.
I hope the news is generally good.

I guess Karen is in no mood to discuss her son's condition. Ofcourse she knows what the alternative would be but it's still b awful.

I'm still not entirely better. I went into Edinburgh yesterday, and did some messages (bank and watch repairs) by the time I reached the gallery to meet the art appreciation group at the Scottish landscape award exhibition, I felt faint and had to sit down.
After half an hour I left to catch a bus home, boiled myself an egg for my tea and watched TV.
Energy levels zilch and no appetite.

Well done our team Ixion and Cherry!!


Has anyone news of Cherry?

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202402/medium-714929-making-trumpets.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202402/medium-564980-kai-at-kawhe-kaumatua.jpg

Doodle I wish I could show you the hilarious videos which were made today of what was christened Fartartara.
If you have ever seen a ceremony where a man blows into a large conch shell, that's a Putaratra.

The still photo just doesn't do justice to the fun we had, we almost fell off our chairs.

Karen hasn't contacted me so I suspect she's too upset to actually tell me Dane has lost his index finger.

Kaimoana, How awful about Karen’s son. Sepsis is so dangerous. DH has had it twice now and it’s quite scary. Hope his finger can be saved.
wish I could join your craft group. I love the idea of your musical instruments and the volcano. Hope all goes well.
ixion…….🤔 so what exactly have you been up to with rubber gloves and a length of hosepipe then!? 🫣
Today was a mixture of good and bad. Wound getting smaller (although to me it looks awful) but DHs legs full of fluid and swollen. We’re going back to the diuretic lounge to see if they can help shift it.
My shoulders really ache tonight. I got one of those big heavy wheelchairs at the hospital and had to push it up two steep slopes which was bad enough but then getting DH back to the car we went downhill at an alarming rate. I really didn’t think I’d be able to hang on. Fortunately we made it back to the car ok but it was scary
Love it that your new boy is settling in well. He sounds very intelligent and I imagine will be ruling the household from now on. 🤣

Thinking of Karen and Dane, Kaimona. Desperately sad, but as NotS says, better than losing a son. Has it been resolved yet?
Hmm, rubber gloves and length of hose pipe? There's a blast from the past🤭
Do send us photos of the finished articles!

How did it go today, Doodle? Hopefully all was positive and improving. You must be weary tonight. I hope you got your cardiology appointment rescheduled?

New Boy has settled in remarkably well. Within 6 hours, he was on everyone's laps, crept under our duvet overnight, refusing to budge, follows me around silently wherever I go. Eats for England. Continuously on the go. Dived through the (inner) cat flap which I had unlocked, knows both his name and the sound of a packet of biscuits or the fridge door from two floors up. Bit of shock all round really. As DS commented, how does a street cat know about cat flaps? He will keep us on our toes.
Your boys is a stunner, Jan.

Our Team are playing tonight - we are sliding inexorably down the table. We shall see🤔

What terrible consequences for Karen's son... however sepsis is a terrible thing and people still die because of it. If it was my son I too would be devastated but better to lose the finger than my son. 💔

I'm going to look up Tube Trumpets (Paper Roll bagpipes, my moko) bubble snakes and volcanos. I'm guessing the volcanos are the baking powder sort. If I can't find the others I may be back!

Nfk what a good idea to have a tracker for Kira. She's is gorgeous sin't she?

NotS what a dear chap your son sounds glad to hear he's so much better.

Jan Lovely to see Theo again. After ixions post I was thinking last night ^who used to put up pictures in the early days of a black and white cat?> and there he is looking as proud of himself as ever

Karen's son, who slightly injured his finger a while ago, refused to go to the doctor until his hand was double its size and blue. Emergency services were called and he's been in hospital four days and on IV anti-biotics which aren't working.
This issue has been highlighted in the press for years, as farmers use them on stock as a matter of course (is it to fatten the cow? ) whatever, our meat eating habits mean we too become resistant.

We heard this morning that Dane has develpped sepsis and the surgeon wants to amputated his finger.

Everyone is devastated; Dane is threatening to sign himself out of hospital and so frantic he had to be "chemically calmed".

Poor Karen sat in the car after the phone call saying, 'I made that finger, I made that baby, I don't want to lose them.' Heartbreaking.

Kawhe Kaumatua for me tomorrow. It's been re-named Waiora Waikumete but no one uses its new name .

I'm taking the group for crafts and will make those cardboard tube instruments with a rubbr glove and a piece of hose pipe.
Variously called Tube Trumpets; Paper Roll bagpipes, my moko, the 14 year old, indelicatelycalls them Fart Trumpets.

We'll also make a bubble snake and a volcano. All for the grandchildren of course, though I guess we'll get some fun from them as well.

*Just being out in the fresh air will help* - so true Doodle
something nice to look forward to as well 🙏

Oh Jan Theo is beautiful. Very impressed with the pose.
Yes we’re hoping the hoist will make a big difference to us. If we can use DHs electric wheelchair outside we can go out for lunch or to somewhere nice for a walk/ride around. Just being out in the fresh air will help
Notspaghetti nice your SIl is grateful for your help. Glad he’s feeling better. Love your daughters logic about her wisdom tooth 🤣🤣
ixion, have you found your feline friend yet. Perhaps you should re name him the Scarlet Pimpernel
hope everyone is having a good weekend. I won’t be posting again tonight as we are having to get up at the crack of Dawn ….well 6 am probably, to get DH ready for hospital visits tomorrow. I’ve got Sainsbugs coming soon then early dinner and early to bed I think

Another thread just brought to mind a conversation with my "muddy" daughter - she has just had to have a tooth out and has strangely decided to keep it. She said it was "pretty nasty" at first but she's soaked it and given it a good clean. She said as it's a "wisdom" tooth she thought she'd better hang onto it.

*You ate6 right NfkDumpling about my son-in-law. Grateful but feels very strongly that he shouldn't need help.

No *ixion - not a big garden. It's long and thin - and needs attention!

My son-in-law sent me a nice message saying thank you and that he was much better yesterday, Doodle. He is always thankful for small things, happy to help and yet never asks for any.

Think Gransnet has it in for me. Yet another post vanished into the great unknown last night!! Grrrrrr!
Kaimoana you are such a kind lady. Really hope Ray gets the help he needs and lives a happier and healthier life now.
Doodle. Oh dear it’s just one thing after another for you both isn’t it? Sure the hoist in the car will help a lot in getting DH out and about.
Ixion. Oh a new cat how exciting. Our Theo came from the Cats Protection. He was found living with around 30 other cats. He is a gorgeous boy! This is him posing! We think he is around 9 or 10 now. Like Doodle and Nfk I can’t settle until he’s safely in at night and the cat flap locked. During the winter he has been shut in the house at about 4 as I hate him being out in the dark! But better now as the days get longer.
Nfk well it’s another glorious day in deepest Norfolk after quite a hard frost but think it’s probably quite cold. Will find out later when we go out with friends for lunch.
Love to all the poorly ones especially our Cherry and hope you all have a good Sunday