Not Locked Down but may need to be locked up

Hello all. I’ve been out to the hospice today to meet up with friends for a coffee and nattter. Shortly after we arrived it poured down with rain so lucky we had chosen to sit inside,
Pleasant afternoon. Still feeling a bit snuffly but better than I was. Church tomorrow and then the town fair. A very small scale thing as it’s a small town. Not much exciting happening but something to do to pass the time.
Cherry and Kaimoana talking of furniture on pulleys, my aunt and uncle used to have a tin bath which was kept tied up at the ceiling on their back staircase. When needed on bath night they pulleys lowered it down and swung it into the back room where it sat by the fire to be filled up with buckets of water from the kitchen and emptied the same way.
Grammaretto hope the trip is going well and you are enjoying yourself,

Ixion so sorry to hear about Mr I. I hope he’s ok and feeling better soon. Look after yourself too. Sending hugs and love

ixion so sorry to hear about Mr I.

If someone we love is sick it completely fills our mind.
I do hope you manage to find some respite and "downtime" as well as looking after him.

Get better steadily Mr I. 💐

I am also sending wellness vibes to MrI. I hope he improves and you can stop worrying ixion

I am home already. I only went for one night and 2 long days.
I didn't get to see my DGD as she had had a fall and was taken to A&E by her friends. She was quite battered and bruised with mild concussion. She has promised to come and see me soon.

I did see my cousin who had
breakfast with me at my hotel and we discussed our family history. We had only met virtually after testing our DNA!
Her gt gran and mine were half sisters but mine had emigrated to NZ in 1866 and lost contact with everyone, although I knew their names. The brothers were easy to trace but the sisters married and "disappeared" so it was amazing to discover that we had both been researching the same family. And to her amazement, our gt gt GM had lived in Newcastle for several years and my gt GM was born there.
This cousin, who is my age, has lived in Newcastle for 50 years.
She's a retired language teacher, unmarried, who's lived all over the world.

Sorry to ramble on!
your eyes glazing over

I'll be back later to hear what you've all been up to. I'm glad you are feeling better Doodle

I actually have tin bath, on top of a cupboard!!!🤣

Tin Bath on cupboard

I suspect I'll bypass lines and be given a detention for not attending class with no note of notice. BUT...I was working Miss. I know it's a rude word but my friend ( company) made me do it. How do you do that line through a word thing on here? You lot are far in advance of me.
I had to spend yesterday overseeing 82 men drink beer, give their opinions on it and then pay them. It was a good day. I have a really nice team and needless to say the men loved it. I'm an Area Manager in Market Research and this was one of the nicer projects when on. Early memories of interviewing people on diarrhoea treatments still haunt me 30 years on.
Cherry...Welsh and proud as is Mr N ( West Wales me Pencoed him). Living in England but both in tears when we hear the Welsh National Anthem especially when watching them play rugby....I have to distract myself by looking at their thighs ( only cos my mascara would run otherwise). I love the idea of Jeeves...is there a choice of Jeeves? Who would you pick if there were? When is the test on what everyone's name is? I know I am going to get a 'see me' comment already so apologies in advance...I hope people feely grotty feel less so/better soon. I think that's Ixion. A new place to put tea and wine is always welcome in the cottage. ( Was that Cherry?) Flying furniture ( that was Kaimoana... obviously I am aiming to be teachers pet as if we get homework on what time of day is it best to drink wine I want another gold star) would be an utter danger near me...I would forget to check if there was anything on it before raising it and the whole scene would be like the one in Mary Poppins where everything went flying round the room. And then I would forget that it was hanging from the ceiling and crash into it in the middle of the night.
Are there class outings to shops? Can I go with Doodle to the market ? Have fun Doodle if I'm not allowed. Likewise Grammaretto in Newcastle. I'm part of the biobank research too but so far only have to complete on line. Did they pay for your trip? I can't ( cheat) and scroll back up to see who I haven't mentioned but please don't hate me as I'm new 😂 The personal Jeeves has just brought tea thankfully. We are currently residing ( this weekend only)in Henrietta Moho ( Motorhome) whilst working on this project. If someone had told me 5 years ago that I would be married to a younger man and spending time ( sort of willingly) in a Motorhome I would have told them to check their medication for side effects. Luckily said new husband knows how to bribe me ( get me out of bed) with tea...so I will have to put my hand up and ask to be excused from class. Enjoy your day.

So sorry to hear that Mr I is so unwell ixion, I hope it's short lived and he recovers asap. Sending you a gentle cwtch💐.

Back later, I hope.

Hi All especially Naughtyneine who has crept it while I wasn’t looking! Hello Naughtyneine - think you should fit in well here although I’m not sure you will make it to teachers pet - more likely to be put in the corner!! Hope wherever the 82 men drinking beer were that there were good loo facilities- trust me to drag the conversation into the gutter!!
Ixion sorry to hear Mr I is poorly and hope he’s feeling better today and also Doodle hoping you are on the mend too. Not having our Covid jabs till the end of this month but having read and heard of several people feeling poorly I’m not looking forward to it.
My daughter was a lot better yesterday. Sitting up in bed and talking - and complaining about being bored! When we saw he’s 3 days ago she was on oxygen and unable to make us understand what she was saying because of the mask.
However what has caused all this no one seems to know at the moment. It hasn’t helped that as everyone knows hospitals come to a stop at weekends. She is waiting for a CT scan and they are also going to test - who knows when - for sleep apnea. In the meantime it’s a very unsettling waiting game.
Have been out for Sunday lunch with friends today - well not Sunday lunch as most people eat - in my case it was fish! I don’t eat much meat and definitely not covered with gravy!! I’m just odd!
Anyway like Grammaretto said I’d better stop rambling! Sorry folks. Where is Jeeves? I need alcohol! I bet *Naughtyneine has kidnapped him and is downing vast quantities of beer!! Hope everyone has had a good weekend

Evening All

I'm so very pleased to hear you DD is feeling so much better Jan. I hope she gets her sleep apnoea test soon. Some tests are nearly up to date I believe, perhaps that's one of them. So you were able to enjoy your lunch out.

I had an unexpected lunch with DS and family at the Mariner in Old Hunstanton today. After a long walk on the beach. Kira got left behind when she found something interesting on the tide line and attached herself to a couple going the other way. Luckily I had a DGS handy to fetch her back. I feel sure that dog is short sighted. A lovely unplanned day. Always the best.

I could do with Jeeves coming round or one of Grammaretto's guests to help me sort out all the Stuff which is distributed around the house from the little front room. It's now decorated and a lot bigger and I'm fighting the urge just to dump everything back in there. Why is there a tin bath on that cupboard? And what's in it?

Bestest and biggest healing vibes to Mr Ixion and supporting vibes to you Ixion. I hope he feels better soon. xx

Heck Grammaretto, just read your post - I hope your DGD is alright, it sounds nasty, especially the concussion. I'm sending you a warm cwtch too.

I'm starting to think our whole group needs a cwtch en masse🙁.

My eyes didn't glaze over about your cousin Grammaretto but I did have to read it twice because I'm useless following connections 🤭. I've just got one question, if I may - will you meet up again do you think? It does sound like you got on.
Gosh, you still have a tin bath 😆. I remember when I was young we moved from a house with a lovely big bathroom into a house without one and had baths in a tin bath by the fire. As a child they were happy days I'd hate to be without one now 🤣.

I'm glad you dodged the rain yesterday Doodle, and had a good natter. I hope you've had an good day today, peace at the church and then enjoyed ^all the fun at the fair 😁. I'm pleased you're feeling lot better I hope it didn't rain whilst you were out today.

Ah Naughtyneine, so Kaimoana was right she's good at these things, you're Welsh. Your DH too. I am, my WP isn't.
Overseeing 82 men drinking beer 😬, rather you than me I'm with Jan on concerns over amenities 🤣. Your job sounds very, well, varied.

I'm really pleased to hear that your daughter is so much better Jan, complaining about being bored is such a good sign 😊. Hopefully the wheels will come into motion tomorrow and the necessary tests and CT scan will take place 🤞. Understandably you're still worrying but I hope you were able to relax and managed to enjoy your lunch out with your friends.

Grammaretto I’m so sorry about your DGD. I hope she is ok and not too badly hurt, hope you get to see her soon
What an enjoyable time you must have had discussing the family connections with your cousin.
Ok Grammaretto, I can with a great leap of imagination think about you possibly climbing a ladder to get to your bath but how on earth do you fill it with water 🤣🤣
Naughtyneine I used to do testing (not marketing) of products like soaps and shampoos and creams. One such test involved a group of people liked up against a wall with holes in it. They each had so rub some cream into their arms and then push them against the holes for others to rub and see how smooth they felt. Thank goodness it was body lotion and not haemorrhoid cream we were testing,
i love your story of your young husband and your motor home. Nfk has a camper bubble which she takes on trips with Kira her dog.
The market was ok, you didn’t miss much but for two ladies (!) on their own it provided enough entertainment for the afternoon and that’s another day passed. We did enjoy the dog show including the singing dog, rolling dog, jumping dog and the one who got stage struck and couldn’t do anything but hide
Cherry I hope you and the new furniture are both ok. My friend (who is Welsh) met 3 other Welsh folk today in town. There are a lot of Welsh folk around it seems.
Jan yes I’m feeling much better thank you. Glad to hear you found your DD a bit improved today. Hopefully the scans and tests will be done first thing Monday and they will discover the source of the problem.
Nfk glad you and Kira weren’t parted for long. How nice to have some time with your DS and lunch too.
Ixiin like everyone else I’m sending my best wishes for Mr I’s speedy recovery
Kaimoana we had several bands in town today for your town fair and also a group of Morris Dancers. The dancers were mostly over 50 (being generous) but performed a dance both energetic and lengthily that had the rest of us exhausted with clapping. Perhaps I should sew some bells on my shoes and have a tap round the garden

Crossed posts Nfk. It sounds like you've had a lovely day 😊 but poor Kira almost heading away with strangers 😕. Apart from today have you any other reason to think she might be short sighted, have there been other incidents that have led you to that conclusion? If you think it's possible perhaps you ought to get her checked out - or maybe one of the couple had something tasty in their pocket that attracted her 🤔.

Tin baths are great for soaking willow
just saying!

Hi everyone,
I hope there have been better days and nights for all?
How's your DD Jan? It must be such a worry for you.

My tin bath is going begging now that I am downsizing. I could certainly extol the attractions as a willow bath, though I have an enameled steel one of those outside, currently upside down and used as occasional seating. Right way up it served as a paddling pool.

Nice to see you Nfk. I don't believe Kira is short sighted, just a good sense of smell and those people were smelling good 😀

I managed to have a chat with the architect today so am still excited about that prospect. He has plans to show me quite soon and the planning application. It's good to dream 😍

I had a lovely visit from my df from the north. She's down south to see both her sons but had lunch with me in the sunshine.

You sound so much better Doodle and yes you should definitely sew bells on your shoes and find some white handkerchiefs. Morris dancing is underrated in my opinion.

My new Helper is due tomorrow. I bought a new broom I was probably mistaken for a witch as I carried it home I am collecting jobs for him.

So you're Welsh Naughtyneine!! I love Wales but haven't visted for years.
I certainly hope biobank pay for my trip. I left my bank details and Claim form.
I don't fancy doing it again.
The heart monitor I have to wear for a fortnight has already fallen off twice so I'm not sure how accurate the results would be. 😅

Grammaretto we all need something to look forward to or dream about. I hope the plans are something that suits you and is affordable.
Made me smile when you said I seemed much better. I did yesterday but today has been one of my worst. Splitting headache and eyes like bloodshot golf balls. I had to upgrade some software storage in my iPad. I’m not the most technically minded person normally anyway but today I was totally useless. A very kind lady from Apple talked me through what I needed to do. She was on the phone with me for over an hour but persevered until it is now (hopefully) sorted.
Jan I hope your daughter is improving and the news is better.
Sorry all I’ll be back tomorrow hopefully in a better mood. Love to all x

Oh gosh, Doodle, is this still the after effects of your jab? I feel sure you shouldn't be bad for as long as this.

Your tin bath is probably worth good money now, Grammaretto. It's very retro!

When I thought more about it, I think Kira was probably back tracking my scent where we had all walked along the beach, and the couple just happened to be following the same path. When she's left behind or looking for someone she doesn't recognise them until she's about fifty feet away. She goes by voice direction. She couldn't hear me at the beach as the wind was the wrong way. The vet thinks it's highly likely. She has saggy eyes, which everyone seems to find appealing, so she has drops to keep infection at bay. Never get a dog with saggy eyes. I knew they were likely to be trouble but they came with the rest of her!

I hope you feel better tomorrow Doodles.

Hi Nfk, no not the jab just a fit of the blues today. I saw all the Christmas stuff in the shops like Christmas puddings and mince pies that DH loved and had a melt down. Been at it all day. I’m heading off tot bed now and h after giving myself a big talking to, I intend to have a better day tomorrow. Kira sounds so lovely. Maybe I should see the vet for some eye drops too 😊

Evening all. Had my second counselling session today and I think it went well. I find the counsellor to be helpful and it’s good to understand that much of my anxiety and panic are normal responses. She thinks I’m following a good path, even though I had a rotten day yesterday. I was wondering if I was doing too much but she said no, it’s ok to go walking and meeting people as long as I’m not getting exhausted and have time to myself when I need it. I had a really awful headache when I woke up today. I’ve tried hard to keep emotions in check today as the headache made me feel quite ill.
Church tomorrow morning. Love our middle of the week service and chat
Hope all the lobstars are ok. No injuries or karate attacks on the furniture.
aixion thinking of you and Mr I. Hope things are ok

Not stopping long as I have an almighty migraine and to add insult to injury possibly conjunctivitis too 🙁

Just wanted to send you a gentle cwtch Doodle x

And say ... I hope your new helper is pleasant and proves to be a good 'un Grammaretto.

And ... how are you Kaimoana? I hope everything is alright, we're missing you.

Jeeves has just brought me a nice cup of tea and some paracetamol so I asked him to pop in and see all the lobStars with his goodie trolley offering 🧀🍷☕️🍰🫖🧁🥃 etc.
Night night all.

What to choose off the trolley Cherry!
Sorry you are have a migraine on top of everything else 😒

My new Helper is very nice. He cycled from Cornwall. Not today. Today he cycled from Edinburgh and helped to cook the tea and we went to the folk club which he loved.
He sang an Irish folk song, played a borrowed guitar and was the best performer in the room! In my opinion.

Dear Doodle. I hadn't realised just how down you have been. I hope the church midweek and the counsel helps a lot. Plenty of cwyches coming your way.

It's time I went to sleep. Night night everyone.

Good morning all - and especially you Doodle. It is still early days and I'm sure your counselling will be helpful.
Sometimes we forget that panicky feelings are normal - I know I do when I'm worried or feeling unstable. I'm pleased you have love and support during the week from your church community and not just at the weekend.
Just wanted you to know I'm thinking of you.

I hope today is a happier day Doodle. A cwtch from me too. X

😤, So annoying, I just lost my post.

Anyhow....
It's been a drab and drizzly day at Cherry cove ... so we made chicken soup, guaranteed comfort 😁. We also went to see my friend, the one who broke her arm, we took her soup, to see how she's getting on, She's still struggling a bit but is better than the last time I saw her I think she enjoyed the soup.

I hope the headache you had yesterday is gone Doodle and that you enjoyed the church service and chats with the people there.

Grammaretto you got me going for a moment about your helper- he cycled from Cornwall 🤯, then I read ^not today^🤣. It sounds like he fitted right in at the folk club and is a talented musician too. It's not easy performing in front of people, do you think that he's done it before? 🤔

Cherry, cwtch gratefully received and returned. A sort of boomerang cwtch 🤣 x
Yes headache better thank you. Hope you are doing ok too
Grammaretto you new helper sounds quite a character as well as having plenty of energy. Let’s hope he uses that you your advantage
*Thank you for the cwtches too. I’m afraid this dark gloomy weather has made me plummet a bit. Church is a big help. I go twice a week and the people are lovely. We have a coffee and chat after. Tomorrow is the church bereavement group. We have coffee and cake and chat for a bit then have a small service and light candles, it is lovely. Emotional but lovely.
Notspaghetti, thank you. I shouldn’t complain really as I have so much more than many others. I have several friends from church that I meet up with and my art class friends, my good neighbour and not forgetting our family. I just struggle in the times when I’m alone and miss seeing DH in his chair beside me.
Thank your naughtyneine yes I have had a better day today. Been to John Lewis and bought some fairy lights to put in a big glass vase in the lounge to brighten a dark corner and cheer me up.
Kaimoana sending you a cwtch too.

Doodle I shouldn’t complain really ?*
Are you sure?
I think we can complain and be grateful at the same time!
*We are just acknowledgeing we are blessed and that we are in pain as well*🙏

I think we are OK to feel sorrow as well as gratitude
Please don't be hard on yourself