🦞🦂 *What are we up to?*🦂🦞

What lovely people you all are... Such lovely messages. I'm gowned up all ready to go. It's been very full on since I got here at 12. Both consultants have been in...I think it's because I'm the first to be operated on under this procedure. I can't lie....scared doesn't come close but I'm a glass half full girl and hopefully this will be a new pain free me. Thank you for all your good wishes. Xxx

The funeral sounds as though everything went well and your DMiL would have approved. NotSpaghetti
I am so glad.

I do hope you can concentrate on your own health now and look forward to yet another stage. with a bit less responsibility
As a friend said at his dad's funeral we're the old ones now

Naughtyneine I'm praying that nothing goes wrong this time and that you get the best surgeon and the best treatment.

So nice to see blue sky this morning. I hope you have the same.

Hello, the funeral for my mother-in-law was today. Four of my children spoke, two at the service and two at the graveside. My husband and his cousin spoke. We had family fly over from Norway, our son and wife from the Philippines and her (now retired) cleaner from Poland. Family in Sweden watched on a loop (is that the word) and it was largely a very good day and she would have approved.

Some tears, yes, but lots of laughter.
A beautiful English willow coffin and the flowers (and people) she most loved.

We had quite a "fancy" afternoon tea and toasted her with prosecco.
Thank you for thinking of us Cherry (and others)

Now I turn my eyes to Naughtyneine who has no doubt been scrubbing herself shiny clean these last few days. 🤞for you for tomorrow

X

More well wishes for tomorrow Naughtyneine

The b awful weather has been relentless. My brolly kept blowing inside out.
I managed none-the-less to have my feet done, make some bowls, have lunch with friends at the community café, go to the exercise class and drive to Gaelic on semi flooded roads!

I'm now drinking a glass of wine and snacking on dates and pine nuts.

DD tells me she's a bit better and has eaten a banana and slept a lot.

Super news Cherry that really is. 😄

Well done Doodle but with all that pumping iron, we may not recognise you when you have huge muscles.😔💪

I hope NotSpaghetti. is bearing up.

Oh Ixion i do Hope Barney gets home safely soon. What a worry.

Cherry my friend lovely to hear from you. Far from taking it easy I have been to sit fit today, I have marched up and down swinging my arms, touched my toes (well almost) pumped iron (well a small hand held weight) and rocked my pelvis side to side and up and down. Shirley Bassey’s got nothing on me when I get going. 🤣. Finished off with lunch with friends so probably more calories on than off.

Hurrah 🙌 well done on the medical tests that’s good news.
NN hope all goes well tomorrow. We will be thinking of you
.
Grammaretto hope your DD gets better soon.

Kaimoana hugs for you lovely lady.

I've been practicing on the new routine Naughtyneine and I'll definitely be cheering you on tomorrow and in the days after 🌻 X

Poor you Doodle, I hope the any liniments you had available and a brandy last night helped you. I hope, too, that you have been taking it easy today xx

I hope your dd's 🤮 bug is short lived Grammaretto, it's a very unpleasant bug like the one that causes diarrhoea , I call it the dreaded lurgy. I wish her a speedy recovery.
I've been wondering about Nfk too, it would be wonderful to know how she is doing.
If you're reading, Nfk, it would be lovely to hear from you 😊.

Kaimoana, I've been thinking about you and the fact that it's hard for you to contact people without a phone. I know you've had contact with Blind Low Vision NZ in the past, can you n9t contact them again to see what help there could be available for you to obtain a phone, whether there's a way you might be able to get one at low cost or even free. I do know there are advocacy groups for the blind in NZ perhaps they could help with that side of the equation. Thinking of you xx

How are you bearing up NotSpaghetti?

I've had the results back from the worrying medical tests I had. Yay, everything is fine on that front anyway.

I hope Barney is sheltering safely with a kind person who rescued him from the cruel elements.

Thinking of NN - may it all go well.

Just popping in to wish NN the very best for tomorrow- in the sincere hope that both she - and the surgical team- can battle the elements and get to hospital safely.🌻

Bit unsettled here as Barney 🐈 has been missing since this time last night.
WhatApp group on alert and hourly patrols in progress.

It's so cold, windy and wet😢

Lots of roadworks at the moment. Councils are busy spending their budgets before the end of the tax year. Sorry you had a replacement walk! Doodle

The building behind the flowering tree in my photo is the HQ of the Bank of Scotland on the Mound.

Thanks for the link to NZ haggis. Kaimoana. I think DS and DDiL will have tried everywhere.

DD is unwell with a vomiting bug and has to photograph a wedding on Thursday. She does have a stressful job.

I hope the operation goes well NN on Wednesday. Good to know you have Doodle and Ixion and probably. Cherry to cheer you on ❤️

Jeeves will be round with healing drinks and nourishment.

Kaimoana i used to do the opposite. Cut the ends of the sausage off and squeeze the insides out for my mum to make sausage rolls. 🤣

I could do with Epsom salts, hot water bottle, liniment and a large brandy. I went on a bus ride this morning with a friend. Unfortunately the bus stop was blocked by roadworks so we had to walk to the next one. Not normally a problem but we had to walk really quickly in time to get there before the bus. I now ache all over. I’m in bed and hoping things have improved by the time I go to sit fit tomorrow.

NN I hope everything goes well for you. I will join ixion in wishing you all the best and we will be there with our new routine to cheer you on.

Grammaretto what a lovely photo. Impressive building in the background.

Someone was talking about sausage links a while ago.

My Uncle Harry used to own a butcher's shop and whenever I visited over the years I loved to sit making the (seemingly endless) line of sausages from the machine, into links.

I could probably still do it

"You can buy haggis in NZ from specialist butchers like Westmere Butchery, Saint Johns Butchery, and Blackball Salami, online retailers like UK Goodies, and sometimes major supermarkets like Woolworths (often Grant's brand), with options for traditional sheep paunch or pouch versions for delivery across the country. "
PLUS -- haggis.co.nz

Gosh that seems early Grammaretto - is it always in January?

Aches and pains and birthdays could apply to any of us Kaimoana
It's DS birthday in NZ this week and he can't find a haggis anywhere!!
😂
The blossom is out in Princes Street gardens. Almond?

Wishing you all the best NN for Wednesday. I do hope everything is easy and straightforward for you after that!

Just for a moment Grammaretto I thought you were talking about me :-) How conceited is that, eh?

I swear by epsom salts in a hot bath Ixion and of course a hot water bottle or several for aches and pains but maybe your knee pain is not muscular.

Whatever the cause I hope it's soon better.

Naughtyneine I hope you have a different surgeon this time and that all goes well on Wednesday and you bounce back.
🤞 🤞

I must say I quite like the idea of a button hole border on my pots Doodle 😃
The answer is yes there is a birthday this Friday. My friends' DGD who is a doctor and who likes my pots will get a couple of pasta bowls and the other order is for small jugs from someone else.

You are most welcome to sit at my fireside and join me for soup and supper.

Ready for bed now.

Good to hear from you, NN.

Don't you go getting cancelled, as we are choreographing something a little special to raise your convalescing spirits. I have told Doodle she won't need her thermals as, for once, our little number will be bed-side ,in the usual high temps of hospital wards.

Mind you, with such a high-flying # support team, they will certainly prioritise your surgery if push comes to shove so to speak.

Kaimoana - have you heard about how Gubbins is faring at school? She gives the impression if being very self-assured - is this the case? I do hope so. Was your Doctor's appointment last Thursday or this coming one? I hope something practical and supportive can be done about your sight issues.

Grammaretto - busy as ever. What is your commission? Have you a deadline?
What a nightmare to be put off the bus miles from home in the dark.
Thank goodness you came to the rescue.
I think we would all like, when we are back from Kaimoana's, to spend the evening round your fire with some home made soup. Tho'I do fear I might just nod off.

Not much news from chez Ixion. As well as being weary and ache-y, I must have done something to my knee in bed. It is very painful and unstable, but I have, in the interests of the family and the laundry basket, abandoned the use of ^D**p H**t^🔥 due to its all-pervading liniment type smell and greasiness.

Anyone remember Sloane's liniment? Beloved of my father after his badminton matches.

I shall now hobble away and decide whether I can get into the bath.🤔

Take care, all .

Grammaretto i just read the first line of your post and was wondering what sort of pottery you were making that had a button hole border.🤣🤣
Sorry your friend got stranded what a good thing you were able to help out.
Yes hospice was nice today I go at least once a week. Nice coffee shop too.
NN sorry you’ve had such pain. Hope it is resolved on Wednesday and is successful. Could your Dh cope with just a part time job perhaps? Hope things work out for you both.

Forgot to bold.

I haven't abandoned you....I have been struggling a bit of I'm honest. I think pain has made it harder to concentrate and put things in perspective but I'm getting there. I finally got confirmation that the op is set for Wednesday afternoon and they now finally know that the pain is down to hip impingement caused it would seem by a less than careful surgeon who did the first operation. I can also not realise that the redundancy came at just the right time....DH is due to receive his 25% tax free amount that he can take as he is 55 next week (We worried about what his parents would think of the age difference when we were first together but they just said age is just a number). He is looking for another position but neither of us want him travelling to somewhere like Bristol that would add at least another 2 hours to his working day. We have always believed that everything happens for a reason...and I'm not giving up on that now. Love to you all. X

I haven't abandoned you....I have been struggling a bit of I'm honest. I think pain has made it harder to concentrate and put things in perspective but I'm getting there. I finally got confirmation that the op is set for Wednesday afternoon and they now finally know that the pain is down to hip impingement caused it would seem by a less than careful surgeon who did the first operation. I can also not realise that the redundancy came at just the right time....DH is due to receive his 25% tax free amount that he can take as he is 55 next week (We worried about what his parents would think of the age difference when we were first together but they just said age is just a number). He is looking for another position but neither of us want him travelling to somewhere like Bristol that would add at least another 2 hours to his working day. We have always believed that everything happens for a reason...and I'm not giving up on that now. Love to you all. X

I got on with my pottery commission today and was doing the buttonhole border of my sweater when the phone rang and it was my friend from last night who was stranded and needed me to collect her from a village about 5 miles from here.
I was able to and heard what had happened to her.

She'd set off early to catch a bus to Dumfries and had a nice time there but on the bus back it was so dark she couldn't see where she was and asked to be put off only to find herself on the main road, in the rain.
She knocked on the first door she came to and the people tried to call a taxi but there were none. They had had a few drinks so couldn't drive her so I was her saviour!
Last night she was trying to persuade me I didn't need a car. I'm glad of it sometimes.

I wonder how Nfk Dumpling is. Like NN she has a campervan . Haven't heard from her for a while.

I hope you have a lovely day tomorrow Doodle. The hospice sounds very nice.

I've had hot chocolate and am tucked up in bed with a hottie and an extra duvet.

Night night 😴 everyone.

Grammaretto i would loved to have joined you round your cosy fire last night. Food sounds lovely. It’s been dry here today and I went out for lunch with two friends.
Church tomorrow might go to the hospice for a bit after then back home for hobbies or chores depending on how much energy I’ve got.
Sleep well all.

Ahh! The joys of "displacement activity"

*The inappropriately named TalkTalk*
made me chuckle too!