Anyone due to start chemo April 14??

[rosie14]

[rosie14]

Wow Lovewine a stunning view our pictures weren’t so clear! Gosh we were lucky to get in! 😊
I bet you feel uplifted having a major spring clean! Enjoy your garden tidy today and the bonfire!
DH is departing within the next hour for Bristol. I am returning a jumper I purchased from the M@S sale it was on a wrong hanger 16, when I went to try it on I thought it looked very large it was a 22😳!! That will teach me not to check I have been caught out before! 🧐
Has anyone else managed any good sale bargains?
Joan did you manage to get your PJ’s?

[Lovewine]

From The Sky Garden Rosie !

[Lovewine]

[Lovewine]

Good evening ladies, thankfully my work has finished for the weekend, really had enough of bedlinen, yes Rosie, you wouldn’t expect to be starching cloths these days, but sadly they do, it is usually my older clients who request it😏☺️.

Glad you enjoyed the Sky Garden , we went 2 years ago and met YS and his then GF, i really enjoyed it, we had a sunny, hot day so the views were stunning, you were lucky to get in , i had to book online on a certain date 3 weeks before our visit and it was very difficult to get tickets, so well done you😊! 

Dont blame you staying here for a couple of extra weeks, at least you have a warm apartment, hope you Can sort out your ear issues, my dog walking friend has had similar issues and visited the G.P yesterday and was given a nasal spray which has helped her ear problem.

Have had a major spring clean today in my kitchen and living room, also had a move around of my furniture and my room looks bigger, have decluttered which helps, i think tomorrow we are going to tidy up the garden and have a bonfire- always a personal favourite of mine!🔥

Hope everyone is alright.

[rosie14]

Good Morning ladies!
Lovewine I do sympathise with your over bed linen! 🙀I can’t believe that people are still using starch tablecloths! 🙀 I suppose OH is waiting with baited breath re the BREXIT news nest week!😬 Very worrying times!
Thank you for your ideas re London. We had picked up a free leaflet and DH found an advert for Sky Garden and you could apply for free tickets online! I tired but there was only one ticket left! I later phoned the venue and they said if we got there before 11.15 we could go in! There was a queue on arrival where everyone was showing their tickets and the guy was making some go to the back of the queue as there were trying to get in earlier than their time slot! As we got to the front of the queue without tickets I thought we would be sent away. But he let us in when I explained I had tried to get them online and spoken to someone earlier in the morning! Result! It has 35 floors and an amazing view of London from the top from the safety of a viewing platform! There are bars and restaurants at the top!
We then went for coffee in Convent Gardens and went on to see The School of Rock in the afternoon! We got half price last minute tickets! Catherine Tate was excellent the previous night as was The School of Rock! So all in all a very busy 24 hours. I found the stairs in the tube stations rather challenging 😳
The day before we went to London I made the decision to stay here rather than return to Cyprus tomorrow! I just can’t face the stormy weather they are still enduring and know it will be cold inside the property!😒 Also I am not happy about my returning temperature it feels like I could have an inner ear infection brewing so don’t want to be flying with that!😳
DH is retunrning alone tomorrow for 2 weeks. He will come back for a week on Jan 26th and then we will both return on Feb2nd.
Hope everyone else is ok, Joan I expect that you are busy before going in for you op?
DH had his 3rd screening test returned yesterday and although it was clear he said he had 3 of the 4 symptoms they told to watch out for!😳
Meeting up,with our friends that were on a cruise over Christmas today at a garden centre for lunch!
Hope you all manage a restful weekend!

[Lovewine]

Good morning ladies , haven’t drawn breath all week , work very busy and have had an enormous amount of bedlinen 🙄, one lady sent her linen tablecloths with a starch can in the basket and asked for them all to be starched !!
Rosie , sorry about DHs hernia and isn’t that typical of a man to still do things they shouldn’t !!🙄
Hope you are enjoying London , as regards filling the time I am not a great help in that , we either go into the British museum or the V & A , or go for a nice glass of wine in a nice pub - we used to go in The Mudlark a lot as we used to watch the t.v series by the same name - finding artefacts on the foreshore of the Thames ! Hope you find something suitable until your train back !
Hope everyone is having a good week , I think it’s going past quickly , nearly the weekend😊.

[rosie14]

Good morning ladies!
The doctor said DH probably had the start of a hernia but it wasn’t bad enough to operate and he shouldn’t carry heavy things! So what does he do in the afternoon go and ride his bike and carry it down and up afterward 2 flights of stairs in the storage unit! There is a freight lift he could have put it in but no, then he starts wincing when he gets back! I’m afraid I didn’t have any sympathy!😡
Joan I hope that you enjoyed your Qi Gong yesterday. M&S have nightware in their sale you could look online to save pushing around in the crowded store! 🙀
Today we are going for a Chinese with our friends up stairs and off to London tomorrow!
Can anybody recommend where we can fill a few hours on Thursday I booked us back on the 8.00pm train!🙀 We are staying in Leicester Square at Premier Inn and depart from Paddington. We have done the Big Bus!
I am a little worried as yesterday I had a temperature in the night and then again yesterday on 2 occasions and had to take paracetamol! I don’t have any obvious symptoms like I did last week, but don’t want to go back to Cyprus spiking a temperature! I think if I am no better when I get back I will have to see the doctor! 😬 In the meantime I will have to stay on top of it with regular paracetamol!
Lovewine it’s so dark in the morning for your dog walking it’s nearly 20 past 7 and it still pitch black!
Cassie and Wildpurl hope all is well,back at work?

[joan47]

Rosie, good that MIL is out of hospital and back to normal, even if cantankerous. Im sorry OH is having to repeat his screening test but great that the second one was clear.

lovewine, its not surprising youre feeling a bit flat after having had YS to stay for two weeks. And its natural fir you to worry about him. But he does seem to have coped really well with the ending of his relationship and as you say he has a busy life. But we never stop worrying about our children, no matter how old they are.

[rosie14]

Good morning ladies!
MIL is back home we went to see her yesterday and she was her normal self although more cantankerous than usual! 🙀We took her to Aldi to do her shopping and she wanted a small brown loaf, they only had large ones which she didn’t want even though DH suggested she halved it before putting it in the freezer! We picked up a couple of things we needed and I said to DH I thinkI will get her that loaf as I was worried she wouldn’t have any bread. When we have gave it her at home she said she didn’t want it she didn’t eat that type of bread and threw it back at DH! 🙀
Lovewine I am glad that your boiler is repaired and was a simple fault! I know how you feel with YS going back especially after 2 weeks! Maybe he will meet a nice young lady this year? I expect the dogs are missing him too?
Joan it’s always a relief to get the decorations safely stored  away! It’s never easy telling people your diagnosis as they don’t know what to say to you for the best!
DH is going to doctors this am as he has had an intermittent lower groin pain for a while he suspects it maybe a hernia! 😬 He is awaiting his 3rd bowel screening test the second one was clear but he had to do a third as the first one wasn’t! All worrying times!
We are going to London on Wednesday to see Catherine Tate so looking forward to that.😂
Today when DH comes back from doctors we have some items to take to the hospice charity shop we have been meaning to take them for several months so today is the day!
Hope the week starts well for you all!

[Lovewine]

Good morning ladies . Feeling a bit deflated now as YS left last night after nearly 2 weeks home - I will miss him and I do worry about him ... don’t like to think of him being on his own too much 😮, although he does have a busy life !
Rosie , glad you are feeling better , these viruses can be very difficult to shift , there are lots of people I know with coughs and also a nasty stomach bug going around 😬!. What do you have planned this week? Hopefully mil is feeling better now .
Joan , enjoy your Monday , at least the week starts with nice activities ! Regarding Pajamas there are a lot in the sales at the moment so you should find a good selection .
It’s not easy telling people your diagnosis , but at least people rally around ( mostly !) .
Have a good day ladies .

[joan47]

Rosie, its good that your viral infection has at last cleared and didnt linger on for weeks. Sorry to hear about MIL, how is she now? Good that the CT scan was clear though.

Lovewine, what a relief to have your boiler working again, especially with the cold weather being forecast. I think I will be in hospital for 4 to 5 days, so must treat myself to some new pyjamas. I feel a bit in limbo at the moment but hopefully will find out about appt times early this week. 

All decorations now down and stored. Phew! Back to normal tomorrow, with a nice start, Qi Gong in the morning and archiving in the afternoon. Quite a lot on the rest of the week, though that might be stymied if the appts clash. Also have to face letting various people know about the diagnosis, I held off with most people because its not what you want to put on a Xmas card but need to bite the bullet now. 

Hope you all have good weeks. 

[Lovewine]

Good afternoon ladies, Joan , what a shame your surgery date clashes with your family trip, i think with all the appointments you will have the time will soon go quickly. Do you know how long you will be in hospital for after the surgery?
Rosie, sorry to hear about MILs admittance to hospital, i hope she is back home now, good news the CT was clear though.
Thankfully the boiler is now fixed, wasnt too much of a problem, just a faulty fan.
Met some of our dog walking friends this afternoon and YS came too which was nice, we ended up in the village pub at the end for a well earned 🍷!

[rosie14]

Viral infection only just cleared after 10 days!🙁

[rosie14]

Good Morning ladies!
Cassie hope that you enjoyed your walk with ED and GS I expect that he goes back to school soon? 

Lovewine I expect that YS does get enjoyed by being spoilt by you, the dogs will miss him!
Glad that your cordless dyson has made life easier for you! I do hope,that your boiler gets sorted out today it’s not the weather you want it going wrong! Thank goodness that you have a wood burner! We are due to return to Cyprus on 12th Jan which I am not looking forward to as they have had a lot of rain and temperatures between 14-17. Which sound high but I can assure you that it is not inside as there are no carpets and no central heating! 🙀
Joan I am so pleased that you treated yourself to a new iPad it’s typical that the old one decides to work now though! 😬
I am glad that you have a date for your op you will find that the next 3 weeks go very quickly! It’s rather a blow that it coincides with YD’s birthday celebrations, maybe they will let her change the date?
Our Christmas tree comes out of a box and fits together in 3 parts and then - hey presto, plugs in and lights up!😄 We got it half price in the Dunelm sale last January!
We went to the theatre in Malvern last night to see the pantomime Snow White, Sue Pollard from Hi Di Hi was the wicked queen! In the interval DH had a missed call from his Y Sister and I had a message to say that MIL had been taken to hospital as she was feeling dizzy and the doctor didn’t like the sound of her symptoms! They were keeping her overnight so we will have to see how thing are today! BIL, who is the nearest said she seemed ok and that the CT scan results were clear! She will be 93 in April! My dad got to 93!
I am meeting my sister in Hereford today so I must get up to get to the station!
Have a good weekend ladies!

[joan47]

Message sent from new ipad. Old one decided to resurrect itself a bit so now have two, one for upstairs one down!

[joan47]

A very belated happy new year ladies. The week has been rather busy, with the last three days spent with GCn. We did have New Years Day to ourselves, which we spent looking at churches in Gloucestershire. Had a lovely NYs Eve with friends, on a bit of a high after the CT results. Now have a date for surgery -28th Jan, which is later than I had hoped. unfortunately it means we will miss spending a few days staying at the NT property YD has booked to celebrate her 40th birthday but that was the first date they could offer. Still waiting to get dates to see the consultant and for pre-op so a bit up in the air. At least I will have some time to get things organised re work commitments.

Lovewine, hope your misbehaving boiler is now sorted out and you are seeing the benefits of your cordless vacuum. Good news that ES and DILs house is sorted, he has obviously inherited your skill at securing bargains with the sofa.

Rosie, has your viral infection cleared up now. Youre very organised getting your tree down and stored, we have all that to do on Sunday. We tend to leave it to the last possible day, it always looks so bare afterwards. At least OH and I dont argue over the taking the tree down, unlike putting it up.

Cassie, you do sound well positioned to see the fireworks. We spent NYE in London a few years ago and went down to the river to watch, quite an experience though very crowded, it was still free then. Glad your brother is doing well. Hope you had fine weather for your walk, it was glorious here today, had a lovely walk along the seafront with the children, well we walked, they mainly ran. Oh to have the energy of a 6 year old. 

Wildpurl hope you had an enjoyable Xmas and managed to get some crafting done. 

[Lovewine]

Good evening ladies, a very chilly one here today and to cap it all our boiler broke down again last night, we have someone coming out tomorrow to fix it, we have the woodburner so that’s something !

Cassie i am glad to hear your brother is doing well apart from his knees, hope you enjoyed your walk with ED and GS.

I have been very busy all week with work, hopefully by next week it will have quitened down a little😏

Rosie, YS booked a couple of extra days off so he goes back to London on sunday, hes benefited from some spoiling by me i think😊, its nice to have him home and i always miss him when he leaves, but its nice when life returns to just the two of us!!

Not much to report other than my cordless dyson came on wednesday and its made life much easier, no wires to fall over and very powerful, not very exciting i know ! ☺️

Have a nice weekend ladies, Rosie, how long are you here for before returning to Cyprus? 

[Cassie86]

Good Morning Ladies,

I do get quite a view of the fireworks over London on New years eve and of course the 5th November I can only just about manage to see the glow from the ones on the Thames though. EB seems to fine at the moment he's knees are very stiff though bless him even getting out of a black cab is very difficult for him these days, thats what happens after years of being a carpet fitter!

I am hoping to meet with GS and ED later this morning for a walk have a lovely day ladies

[rosie14]

Good Morning ladies!
Lovewine I hope your YS has recovered after his New Year celebrations! I think it’s tomorrow he returns home?
I know what you mean about getting back into routine I lose track of the day it is completely!🙀
Good plan giving ES and DIL your Vax cordless!😉 You need a powerful one for your pet hair!
We did actually go to see Mary Poppins last night as I didn’t fancy any of the other films and we haven’t taken advantage of our cinema code 2 for 1 for ages, also a local boy was playing the role as one of the leading children! It was well done but you had to have a knowledge of the old film. DH went to sleep for a part of it! 😳 We has fish and chips afterwards! 😜
We took our Christmas tree down yesterday and DH took it back to the store. The living space looks much bigger and lighter!
Joan hopefully you will get your appointments through soon so you don’t have to spend too long stressing!
Wildpurl make the most of your last few days holiday!

[Lovewine]

Good morning ladies and a very happy new year to you all 🥂😊... ours was a quiet one which I quite like , ES and DIL came for a walk and a coffee yesterday and OH picked YS up from Rugby station - he looked very pale and tired and hung over !!!
I have given ES my Vax cordless hoover as I have treated myself to a Dyson cordless in the sales 😊.. it’s coming today hopefully !! It’s more powerful so I will find it easier - that’s my excuse anyway 😉!!
Am happy it’s normal working hours again today as I have found the extended holiday quite tedious - I worked but OH and everyone else did not , so I will be happy to be back in the routine again .
Rosie it looks like ES and DILs house is all in place , just waiting for the seller to find somewhere , they have ordered 2 new sofas in the sales from SCS so they are excited about those - dark slate grey fabric which looks lovely .
Cassie I hope you enjoyed your Prosecco , expect it will be busy at work for you this week!
Joan , hope you had a good new year with your friends .
Wildpurl , expect you will be planning your garden growing season soon ..
Rosie I expect it will be nice not to rush about for the next few days - it is very tiring travelling and socialising I think 😮, not sure there is much on at the cinema .. we wanted to go the other day but didn’t fancy seeing any of the films , not liking Mary poppins at all the first time around either !!

Have a good week ladies - Joan I expect appointments will be coming in fast , hoping you are not waiting too long .

[rosie14]

Happy New Year ladies!
Hope you all had a good New Year’s Eve?
Cassie did you see the fireworks from your flat? Hope you enjoyed your Prosecco!🍾🤪
We had a good evening playing games and I didn’t drink too much! We watched the fireworks from our friends 4th floor apartment that were going up all over the city, thankfully they didn’t last too long! The Catherdral bells rang out also at midnight and we saw and heard it all from the comfort of not leaving the building!😊
Lovewine I am not sure I picked the virus up from YGS as he had a cough and cold and thankfully I don’t have either of those! I still have the swollen glands and feel a bit off colour but I am much improved. Just hoping DH doesn’t get it! 😬 I think I may have just exhausted myself with all the travelling and stress of keeping everyone happy! We have only just got our feet on the ground it has been non stop since we arrived! We have a few days now to relax.
If the weather holds we may go and stroll round the lake at Croome and then get the box from the store to put the Christmas tree away!
We may go to the cinema tomorrow not sure what to see though? I didn’t enjoy Mary Poppins the first time round so won’t be seeing the sequel!
Joan hope you enjoyed your evening!
I think you were having a quiet new year Wildpurl?
Lovewine you must be looking forward to YS returning for a few more days. Hope your parents had a good Christmas and that your dad will enjoy better health this year.
I hope that everything is progressing well with ES and DIL’s home purchase?
Have a quiet relaxing day ladies!

[Cassie86]

Good evening ladies,

Good to hear things are not as bad as you had thought Joan sending a big hug love and some strength to you.

Happy  and a healthy new year to all ladies whatever you are doing this evening, YD is in New York to celebrate her Birthday tomorrow she arrived on Saturday and will return next Saturday.

There is a bottle of prosecco in the fridge with my name on it xx

[Lovewine]

Joan great news it’s contained in the bowel , hopefully it will be soon when you can have surgery , I think it must have been caught early ... go out and put it to the back of your mind tonight and definitely buy a new iPad !
Rosie , annoying you still have your virus , do you think you caught it from YGS over Christmas ?😮

Thankyou ladies for the comments on our hard times - I am not sure how we made it through to be honest and the boys can’t remember any of it thank goodness ! But it makes us proud despite all the turmoil they got degrees and good jobs !
It explains why I worked so hard before the BC - even now I do find it hard to slow down!!

I wish you all a very happy and healthy new year and Joan you would rather not have this damn disease but as the others have said it’s a lot better news than it could have been 💐

[rosie14]

Joan so pleased that the news wasn’t as bad as you had feared! It’s obviously been caught early! Now enjoy your New Year celebrations and get that new iPad! X

[Wildpurl]

Joan I am so pleased to hear the results of your scan, of course you would rather not have it at all but this is so much better than it could have been, I think it counts as good news. 

[joan47]

Got the CT results this morning - the cancer hasn't spread beyond the bowel which is great news and so much better than I was fearing and almost expecting. So it's a question now of getting a date for surgery, which should be sometime in January and of course the appts leading up to that.  So going to be a busy January. Must remember to do my tax return!

Rosie, good you know what it is but I don't think there is anything they can do about a viral infection, is there, other than just treating the symptoms. so I hope it soon clears up. 

My i-pad now seems to have given up completely, which is a great nuisance. 

[rosie14]

It’s viral! 😒

[rosie14]

Good morning ladies!
Lovewine I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your business and your home! 😢 You both did very well to go forward with 2 young children and start again. Can completely understand why you are not keen on this time of year! You should feel very proud of what you have achieved for you and your 2 sons.
I am with you on the making of new year resolutions mine were usually with dieting! 😳
As I type I am holding on the appointments line at the doctors surgery as I am still no better! Yes got one at 9.50am ! 👍
Joan glad you all enjoyed the Borrowers you will feel better when you know what the outcome of your CT scan. It’s always worse waiting for results! We all hope that it will not be as bad as you are fearing! Whatever the outcome continue with your plans for tonight don’t let it get the better of you!
Cassie and Wildpurl hope you both enjoyed Christmas.
Once again ladies my wish for you all is health and happiness! 🥂🎊🎉2019 Bring it on! 😌

[joan47]

No wonder you dislike Xmas Lovewine, what a devastating experience to go through, and with two young children as well.  It says a lot about your resilience as a couple to have survived that. 

Rosie, glad MIL wasnt upset by the scan. I expect it will be a while before she gets the results though. You certainly seem to have picked up a nasty bug; it does sound like you might need to go to the doc. I hope you manage to enjoy your NY celebration. 

The Borrowers was very good and enjoyed by both children and adults. I was in rather a black mood yesterday morning so it did a good job of cheering me up. We wont be on GC duty now till Wednesday. Spending NYE with the couple we go to the theatre at Stratford with, unless the news tomorrow is so bad I cant face it, or place them in a difficult position. 

[Lovewine]

Good afternoon ladies, to be honest i am glad the festivies are nearly over , i know i am a bit of a misery when it comes to Christmas 🤨, i like Christmas day but thats all, i have disliked it for over 25 years, mainly when our 2 boys were babies and it was the recession of the early 90’s which saw interest rates at 15%, We had a very succesful garden design and landscape business and a very nice victorian house with a lovely lifestyle, sadly our business was secured on our house- so when the bank called in our business loan our house went with it ! There followed several years of moving from one rented house to another, we actually moved into the first one 2 days before Christmas with nothing left to buy presents with-  have disliked Christmas ever since😒,  i suppose thats why i am now a workaholic as i cant bear to be in that position again .

Rosie, i am glad MIL is upbeat and seems ok, how lovely to have all got together , it is hard these days to coordinate families as we are all so spread out these days! Expect it was hard to say good to ES and family, but the months fly past and holidays will be here before we know it, enjoy your new years eve, we dont really bother going out, may get a nice meal from marks and spencer and watch t.v - really know how to live it up here☺️

Joan, i hope you havent got much longer to wait for your results, at least you managed to put your worries aside a little with Christmas, are you doing anything for New year?

As Rosie said, A happy and healthy new year to you all , with special thoughts of you Joan💐.

I am working tomorrow , then having my hair cut in the afternoon, no new years resolutions from me as i never stick to them!

[rosie14]

Good Morning ladies!
Joan I think you need to treat yourself to a new IPad you deserve it! I am glad to hear that you managed to have an enjoyable Christmas! What a nightmare to have to look after GC on Christmas Eve! 😳 Hope you all enjoyed The Borrowers. I do hope that you hear from the nurse tomorrow!
Mil didn’t seem phased by her CT scan and certainly was full of the joys of spring at the family get together!
It isn’t a cold I have, I had aching shoulders accompanied by a temperature which I still have and now I have swollen glands in my neck and feel lethargic. This is my 4th day so feeling fed up! Will have to see if I can get to a doctor if it continues! 😬
ES returned to Calais last night and faces a long final day of driving back home to Nancy.
I think it will be August before we see them again unless we manage to get a motorhome trip over to France Easter time. 🤔
Lovewine I noticed some pink blossom on some trees yesterday!😯
DD says they have the cream eggs and mini eggs out in the shops! 🙀
Have you managed to get your boiler sorted yet? We are due for a cold snap so hopefully you have! 😱
Has anyone got anything planned for New Year’s Eve? It’s always a bitter sweet experience I find! We are going up to our friends upstairs as they are on the 4th floor and we should get a good view of fireworks!
Whatever you are doing ladies I wish you all a happy, healthy New Year, especially you Joan! 🥂🍾🎉🎊

[joan47]

Wildpurl, just realised I missed you out. Hope you had a good Xmas, albeit with its inevitable sad thoughts and you are getting in some relaxation in alongside clearing your loft.

[joan47]

Sorry not to have been in touch over Xmas, family staying until Boxing Day, then unexpectedly having to look after GCn yesterday, plus my i-pad playing up so internet access unpredictable. I think I may have to buy a new one. 

Rosie, what a shame about your cold, hope it clears up soon and it doesn't spoil your enjoyment of the big family get-together.You are certainly having a very hectic Xmas. And family health worries too with your niece's little boy and MIL i hope the baby is now home and that MIL’s scan wasnt a distressing exoerience for her. It does seem a lot to put a very old lady through but I suppose, if it is confirmed, and hopefully it wont  be, it will be a question of them deciding how to manage it. 

Lovewine, what a time for your boiler to break down. At least the weather was quite mild and you had the log burner to give you one cosy room. Hope it is sorted now. How lovely to get a surprise anniversary present, and such a nice one too. Hope the workload isnt too horrendous, though I imagine it will be. 

Cassie, hope you have had an enjoyable Xmas. It is lovely to have someone else in charge of Xmas lunch though I expect you had to do quite a bit of preparation for Boxing Day. How is EB doing?

We had a very enjoyable Xmas and I managed to keep the dark thoughts at bay most of the time. YD produced a delicious lunch and the children were thrilled with their presents. Xmas Eve was rather trying, we had volunteered to look after the GCn who were absolute horrors, spending most of the time squabbling over the most ridiculous things. Even the threat that Father Xmas might miss out their house only brought a temporary respite. Today we are on our own for the first time. Should have been going out to a restaurant for  dinner with friends but she has a tummy upset so we have decided to go on our own, something we rarely do. Tomorrow we are taking GCn and parents to see The Borrowers at the theatre and Sunday have friends coming for coffee. Hopefully Monday I will hear from the nurse. 

[rosie14]

Good Morning Lovewine what a nuisance that your boiler broke on Christmas Eve. How lovely that OH gave you some pearl earrings, congratulations on your anniversary!
We returned from Newcastle last night. It was a very busy Christmas with a houseful even though DH and I slept in the motorhome! YGS has a very runny nose and cough and no one got much sleep in the house,😬
I have returned with a fever and a thick throat that made gurling noises in the night and I thought it was going to choke me!🙀 I am taking paracetamol for the temperature! Today we are meeting up at MIL’s community centre for a big family get together in Stourbridge. ES and family are going on their way enroute back to Dover tomorrow. We are all staying over at the Premier Inn in Stourbridge. DH has 2 sisters with family and a brother who is close by and they all have children! There will be nearly 30 adults and children!🙀 We are all taking items for the buffet. DD is driving down with the children, SIL is working today. YS and family are coming up form Plymouth. We could have driven back to Worcester but the family are all staying over and having breakfast! At least DH will be able to have a drink safely as Premier Inn is 10 mins walk from community centre!
I am going to have to keep my distance from vulnerable family members! I am so disappointed I was looking forward to this family gathering we don’t often get everyone together in one place as we are so big now!😬
Joan hopefully you managed to enjoy Christmas and put everything else to one side for a few days! I really admire you looking after your GC I find it very tiring especially ES’s 3 year old!😬 He speaks some English very well but obviously more French which is challenging I can pick out an odd word or phrase. DD’s children were very patient with him!
Cassie and Wildpurl hope you both had an enjoyable Christmas with family members?

[Lovewine]

Good morning ladies , hope you all had a lovely Christmas .
We had a lovely day apart from late Christmas Eve our boiler decided to break down - we have a log burner but that only heats the living room ... Christmas Day OH and ES did get it running again for the short term anyway 🙄.
Christmas Eve was our pearl wedding anniversary and I had a beautiful pair of pearl drop earrings - I was quite surprised as we generally don’t bother with gifts .
I returned to work yesterday and am quite busy today too .. YS is here until Sunday and then he visits his friends for new year in Stratford and then comes here until the 3rd /4th. OH is going to the Bonsai Nursery today with ES.
Rosie when do you return back South ? Hope you had a lovely time with the family .
Cassie how nice to have Christmas lunch at EDs too . - lovely when someone else cooks !
Joan , how are you ? Hope you could put things out of your mind a little over the last few days .
Wildpurl , enjoy your last few days off work too!
When I fed the birds in our garden yesterday I noticed daffodils coming up ! Also the birds have started singing much earlier in the morning !!

[rosie14]

Merry Christmas ladies!
I hope you all have a lovely time surrounded by those you love!
ES and DIL and YGS arrived last night and we had a meal with the at the Premier Inn. I took a book, Mog’s Christmas to amuse GS with! He loved the bit where Mog fell down the chimney!🤣
They are travelling with us in the motorhome up to Newcastle today to DD’s!
Lovewine hopefully you will be happy with your online purchases when they arrive!🤔
BCH are pleased with our niece’s little boy’s progress and he will hopefully be allowed home today!😊
Cassie I do hope that you won’t be too busy today and good luck with your cooking! Enjoy a little tipple with it!😉 Have a good day at ED’s tomorrow!
Joan enjoy your family time put everything else in a box until after Christmas!
Wildpurl hope you are coping with a houseful?
Merry Christmas! 🥂🎅🏽🌲

[Cassie86]

Good Morning Ladies,

The Carols by Candlelight concert was very beautiful and uplifting we really enjoyed it. ED has invited YD and myself and also EB for dinner tomorrow which will be lovely and then they all come to me for boxing day.

GS is doing well in school enjoying it as far as I know, he was upset at the prospect of loosing 2-3 teachers over the Christmas break and is a little apprehensive about the replacements.

I am sure today will be as busy as any Monday at work but hopefully no incidents and will pass quickly.

Lots of cooking planned for this evening,

Merry Christmas Ladies x

[Lovewine]

Good morning ladies , Rosie have a safe journey up to DDs today , expect it will be very busy - I share your dislike of motorways , in fact mine borders on a phobia , has done for about 20 years - give me spiders and snakes anyday, but a motorway sends me into a panic !😬 I am sorry to hear MILs news , I hope she isn’t too distressed by the scans etc today .Also your nieces little baby is back with his family by now .
I made use of the early Sales online yesterday and also in our local town , managed to get some nice cardigans from White Stuff , a blue one and a cream one and also a pretty t shirt with cats on / part of the money goes to Battersea dogs home too.

Wishing you all a peaceful Christmas , Wildpurl thinking of you and your family dealing with the loss of your DD.

Joan , you too , I hope you are not waiting too long for your results and treatment can be in place soon .

Cassie , I hope your family will be around you too at Christmas and GS is doing ok ?

Rosie , How lovely to have ES and YGS and DIL visiting - enjoy your family time too😊

We have ES and DIL here Christmas Day , all going down to my sisters in the afternoon. Which will be lovely .

Merry Christmas ladies and to all lovely ladies on the forum and the wonderful moderators too😊🎄

[rosie14]

Good Morning ladies!
Wow a full house yesterday, lovely to hear from you all! 😊
Cassie at least you are being appreciated for the tasks you do. I am sorry that you are having to work so late on Christmas Eve and hope that it will be quiet!
Wildpurl you will certainly have a houseful by the time all your guests arrive and then time to relax! I hope they will all help out! 🤔
Joan it sounds like your are keeping busy it will be lovely to have the family but do make sure that they help you! At least YD is doing Christmas Day.
Lovewine how lovely to have YS home for a good spell! Bless the dogs I bet he was happy to see them too!😀 Ha ha they are never too old for a stocking if they are home for Christmas!😆
One of our nieces had a little boy 4 days ago and he is now in Birmingham Children’s hospital they thought he had a twisted gut, but now thought to be a milk intolerance! They are keeping him under surveillance for a couple of days. She has 2 girls 6 and 3. Her sister, DH’s brother YD died in BCH when she was 5, so not a good experience for either of them! I do hope the little lad will be home for Christmas! She must have been going out of her mind when he was rushed off in a ambulance!🙀
We went to see MIL yesterday afternoon and BIL came over whist we were there to fill us in! MIL is being screened for bowel cancer and has to have a CT scan on Christmas Eve! Quite frankly I don’t know why they would do this to a 92 year old! Surely it’s best nature takes its course at this age? She still lives by herself and manages quite well but we can see the deterioration each time we visit.
On a more cheerful note ES starts his journey from France today and will be here tomorrow afternoon! 😃 We are then all travelling to Newcastle on Christmas Eve!
I am meeting my sister for coffee today. This afternoon we are going upstairs for a drink with our friends and meeting their son who has been working out in Cyprus!
Good luck everyone with final preparations!

[Lovewine]

Good evening ladies, Rosie, good you arrived safely and without incident , unlike the poor people affected by the chaos at Gatwick, how awful for people .glad you got your pasties too!

Cassie, your week does sound very stressful, at least you are appreciated though by some people which is nice, i have had lots of presents and wine from my clients which makes me feel good.Hope Christmas eve isnt too bad for you.

Joan, you sound like you are in for a busy few days which is good, well done on the soups and hams too. It will be nice for you to have Christmas dinner cooked for you.

Wildpurl, i think you have the best of both worlds having the family until Christmas eve and then having time to yourself! Even clearing out the loft ☺️.

I collected YS from Rugby train station this afternoon, the traffic in the town was horrendous, gridlocked around the station, made it though on time, took the two dogs with me onto the platform and they were shaking with excitement waiting for YS to appear off the train😊. He is home until 30 th december and then visits some friends at Stratford for new year and maybe rejoins us again for a couple of days after that.
I have done my wrapping i think , i was going to abandon YSs Christmas stocking this year- its one his grandma made when he was a toddler , but his disappointed face means i will have to dig it out and fill it with sweets , satsuma and chocolate coins!!

Good luck ladies with the last minute preparations!

[joan47]

Rosie, how fortunate you werent flying into Gatwick. What a nightmare.  Cassie, what a shame you are having to work Xmas Eve and that youve had such a difficult week. Nice though that you’ve had those  signs of appreciation. Hope the hamper has lots of lovely goodies ti enjoy over Xmas. Glad your Dads cataract operation went so smoothly Lovewine, I had one eye done a few years ago and it was anazing the difference it made not only to the sharpness of vision but to colours. Wildpurl, it sounds like you will have a busy few days but then time to wind down. Clearing out the loft doesnt sound very relaxing but probably very therapeutic. 

I think I may have misled you ladies about the biopsy results. It wasnt that the samples they were able to take from me were too small, apparently thus applies to any bowel cancer because the biopsy has to be done internally they can only take small amounts. 

Good luck with all your Xmas preparations ladies. I cooked two hams this morning and made a couple of soups. Presents at last all wrapped. ED and partner arrive tomorrow, YD and family will come across for lunch on Sunday, then we shall look after the children on Xmas, finishing with a Christingle service. YD is doing Xmas Day. After Boxing Day we shall be on our own although I expect we shall be having the GC quite a bit over the holidays.  

[Wildpurl]

Morning ladies, rosie I am glad you got back safely and bet you were pleased with your decision to fly to Bristol!

Joan it is good news insofar as it can be that this is a new primary and not a secondary. I would also take it as reasonably positive that they were not able to get a large enough sample to grade it! It sounds as if it has been caught early. I do hope you will be able to enjoy the festive season with your family and not worry too much.

i hope in fact that you all have a peaceful and happy festive season. My DS and GF arrived last night, as did my younger stepson. They are all here until Christmas Eve, and elder stepson arrives on Sunday. It will be a busy time but enjoyable with everyone here and then we will have the time from Christmas to the New Year to ourselves, which will be peaceful and I am also looking forward to that. We are planning to clear our loft!

[Cassie86]

Hello Ladies,

Yep your right Rosie I will be working up until 5pm on Christmas Eve, it has been a complete nightmare this week soooo busy IT problems with Docman again meant a backlog of approx 600 documents arrived all at once mainly from UCH and checking if they were duplicates or not before workflowing to the GP's was so time consuming plus worrying as a few went back to Feb, unbelivable! I had nobody to help as other staff were off on leave and also felt pressured to help with a couple of audits. The docman workflow is not really even my job but I feel responsible and have not had the time to train other staff sufficiently.

Rosie glad the journey was straight forward and I hope you enjoyed your pasty, yum. Our Christmas party at work has been postponed because not enough staff could attend. I had a couple of nice surprises today though firstly my manager phoned to say she had two tickets for a candlelit carol service at the Barbican Hall on Sunday afternoon if I would like them, then sent a driver with them for me. The next nice surprise was an unexpected parcel arrived for me which turned out to be a hamper which was lovely from the company which sent out patient appointment text reminders and any other messages we might like to send, they thanked me for helping to resolve some problems that they have recently encountered.

Lovewine the eye surgery is no less than miraculous when we was a fund holding surgery the consultant from Moorfields held a surgery in our practice saw the patient for a consultation and within a month the surgery was completed at Moorfields. The patients always said they did not know why they had put it off and that it was like a miracle that they could see clearly again.

Joan I hope that you are keeping well and that you manage to enjoy Christmas with your family.

Wildpurl I am also thinking of you

[rosie14]

Good morning ladies!
We arrived safely last night after a 5 hour flight! 😞
Joan I am so sorry that you are having to wait so long for the CT results and that they hadn’t got a large enough sample to stage and grade the suspected cancer! Not nice with this hanging over you over the festive period. As Lovewine said I do hope that you aren’t entertaining the family this Christmas and that they will look after you?
Lovewine what an amazing procedure that your dad had yesterday! So glad that went so well! Hope you enjoyed your curry night last night! We got our traditional pasties from Temple Meads!😋 The journey was much easier, straight out of the airport onto the Flyer to the station and 40 min wait direct train to Worcester home by 10.30pm.
What a palaver at Gatwick with the flying of drones this morning! 😡 We have a number of staff and families hoping to return to Gatwick today! 😬
Cassie when do you finish, I hope it’s not Christmas Eve?
Wildpurl it must be a difficult time of year for you facing the second Christmas without your DD, are you going to your DS’s?
This morning we are going to see our friends that live near Worcester for coffee as they are off on a Christmas cruise tomorrow on the ship we went to Norway on! 😬They are heading down to the Canaries but have to cross the Bay of Biscay! 😖
Then we need to get some supplies in and fetch Christmas tree out of store! We got a bargain in the Dunelm sale in January!

[Lovewine]

Sorry pressed too soon!
Dad did very well at the eye hospital and was home by lunchtime having had his cataract removed and a new lens put in , he said it was totally painless and quick.😊

[Lovewine]

Good evening ladies. Joan, sorry you have not had much more information yet, hopefully it wont be too long, an awful feeling though waiting for results, i can tell you though a very good friend of mine and client had a very aggressive womb cancer when she was 50 and then bowel cancer 3 years ago totally seperate to the first one, she is in her 70 ‘S now and very healthy with no problems relating to either of the cancers, what awful bad luck though . What are you doing for Christmas? Hopefully not having to cook yourself! Having the grandchildren around will be a welcome distraction too.

Rosie, i think by now you are airborne 😏, enjoy the pasty, OH likes the steak one and i like the Stilton ones🤪. At least the weather isnt as wet and windy as it was earlier in the week.

Cassie, i hope ED is coping with her recent loss , will she be coming to you for Christmas? Always difficult when you are facing problems and not feeling particularly festive , i always feel sorry for people who are bereaved or homeless etc.

Wildpurl, i think you have finished now, hope you can have some well earned rest.

Getting ready to go out for our curry night now, am getting quite hungry too!

[joan47]

Thanks for all your good wishes and hugs. I think my last post must have gone adrift because I’m sure I told you about the biopsy results, which I had on Monday. However brain a bit scrambled at the moment. I”, not a great deal further forward because with bowel cancer they apparently cant find out grade and stage because the samples are so small. However one bit of good news, I think, is that it is bowel cancer, not metastasized breast cancer. The CT scan on Monday went fine, except for getting the cannula in for the dye, which took several attempts. The Macmillan nurse is going to keep an eye out for the results but its likely to be in the New Year rather than before Xmas. Trying to keep myself busy in order not to think about it all. Xmas helps. 

Lovewine, hope all has gone smoothly with your dads op and that you get to your dog walking and curry night. Rosie, youve got a good day for your flight, thank goodness it wasnt yesterday when we had high winds and torrential rain around Bristol. Hope you get your pasty. Xmas is always going to be a rather bittersweet time for you I guess, because of the anniversary of your dads death but a time for happy memories too. Cassie, youve had a busy time getting ready for Xmas, no wonder you fell asleep on the sofa. Wildpurl, I imagine your preparations are well in hand by now too, 

[rosie14]

Good morning ladies from a very stormy Cyprus! Not the weather for taking off in! 🙀
The rain on the way to the theatre last night was torrential, thank goodness that I wasnt driving! The students did very well but it was very long, it started at 6.00 and finished at 9.00 with a 15 min interval! We hadn’t eaten luckily,I had 2 pizzas in the freezer so we had those! It was too late to sit and wait for food as DH had some loose ends to tie! 😬
Lovewine you will be glad to go out in the evening for your curry night after your busy week! Hope all goes smoothly today for your dad.I found out online that the Pasty Shop at Temple Meads is open until 9.00pm !🤪👍
Joan I too have been wondering how you are?🤔
Next post from much nearer to you all unless we get a delay due to the storms. We fly at 3.00pm and the storms are due to stop at 2pm! 😳 I think the airport will be busy with a lot of people going back for Christmas!

[Lovewine]

Good evening ladies, Joan, i have been thinking of you . 

Have been so busy with work which is what I expected this week. Dad tomorrow too at the hospital for his cataract operation and then out in the evening with 10 of the dog walking group at our local curry restaurant.

Rosie, i think the pasty shop stays open until the pastys are sold out, i bought some at Bristol and Birmingham towards the end of the day. Have a good trip back, very wet and windy all week forecast.🤨

4 years since your Dad died Rosie, i remember it very clearly, your Eldest GD is growing up fast too.😊