Breast Cancer Care Forum

Morning everyone, it has been a wet weekend here and continuing today. Rosie, you have a busy time of transition ahead, I wish you luck with your decluttering. I’m sure you will enjoy having the family to stay in a few weeks, they will enjoy the warmth and sunshine! The motorhome was an inspired purchase by the sound of it!   Lovewine, it must be hard for all the friends and family of your friend with cancer. Your helping with their dog is much appreciated, I am sure. It is hard to deal with the everyday things when something like that is hanging over you and practical support really helps. I hope things have calmed down at work after your backlog.   Cassie, I found it really helpful to discuss my retirement provisions with a financial advisor last year. Much to my surprise I found that I would be able to retire when I wanted and got a clear picture of what to do in the meantime. I hope you get similar insights! Your job does sound very stressful and busy, I think you cope with it very well but it is not surprising that you are considering other options.   Joan, I have mixed feelings about reunions, it is interesting and enjoyable to meet people one once knew well after a long break, but then I often realise that we have drifted far apart!   I can’t remember if I mentioned that I had applied for another role in the same company but a different business, earlier this year, anyway I was offered the role in August and started a few weeks ago. It is the sort of work I like very much, very full on and busy and worse at the moment because the team has been left to its own devices for over a year and everything is in chaos. I’m enjoying it but it is much busier than what I have been doing!  The sweater is progressing well, I will post photos when finished       ... View more

Morning everyone, it is bright here following a wet night and should be an OK morning, I need to get some washing on the line! rosie, it’s good that you and DH have managed to execute an exit strategy and that you will be able to spend more time in the UK and travelling in the motor home in the future. I look forward to following your adventures in Spain and Portugal! lovewine I hope you have an enjoyable and relaxing time away i hope you enjoy your weekend with GS cassie   i am currently knitting a sweater, it is very light and warm and fun to knit as there are different colours which is quite motivating as I am keen to knit to the next colour! ... View more

Your rally seems to have been really lovely, Rosie and how nice to have a barbecue with your ES and family! it is wet and windy here, the grass is turning green again. We have five huge cauliflowers in the fridge and a lot of courgettes! We will still have plenty of vegetables over the winter though as we have carrot, beetroot, swede, leeks, squash, kohlrabi and chard.   ... View more

Congratulations Lovewine, and what a nice idea to have the bell to ring. That’s a lovely photo! joan, that is also a lovely photo, what beautiful coloured lights on the water.   ... View more

Morning everyone,  i have been on holiday in the Peak District for the last week, where we had the most glorious weather and were able to go out walking every day. We had to rush out and water everything in the garden when we got back, though! Luckily it is forecast to become more unsettled and cooler over the next week or so.   The pond is basically finished now but only has two aquatic plants and no planting around it yet, I intend to get started on that now we are back.   i have Monday and Tuesday off and have some decorating to get started on.   hope everyone enjoyed the good weather and is having good holidays ... View more

I've found you now :) Lovely photos from Brugge, which is such a lovely city. ... View more

Have a good trip rosie! And belated happy birthday. I have searched what I thought was your name on FB but could not find you.  ... View more

What lovely photos Lovewine! And a very yummy looking afternoon tea. Pity about the wasps, but it’s the time of year unfortunately. The pond continues to progress, it even has a couple of plants in it now and all the slate edging is complete.  I don’t know what is going on with the forum but every time I log in it takes me to a random page in the middle somewhere, then I have to work out which order the posts are in as it changes that when logging in and when posting. I have to scroll to the bottom to select a page each time as there is no page navigation at the top, and the pages are long! It’s really irritating.   i hope you are all enjoying the bank holiday weather, it’s a bit hot for me but we are having a quiet weekend mostly at home, so keeping in the shade. ... View more

Evening everyone. Rosie the bank holiday is next week, maybe it’s earlier in Ireland? I hope you enjoy your meal and live music, I went to a pub like that in Dublin when I visited a few years ago and the music was excellent. well ladies, the waterfall feature is installed now and the pump and filter are connected up and the pleasant sound of running water can be heard from our little patio. So we are nearly there! There are more stones to cement in and some electrical connections to wire in rather than using plugs, but then we can start planting, at least in the pond. I’m really happy we have got this far! Pictures when it looks less like a building site LOL. cassie I hope you are enjoying your holiday. lovewine and Joan I hope you have a good week ... View more

Afternoon ladies, it is a wet day again here although after today it is supposed to brighten up and return to summer for a few weeks. I’m glad you are enjoying your Irish tour rosie, I look forward to seeing photographs when you are back home.   i managed a bit of gardening this morning before the rain started, then went to a yoga class, which I have switched to from Body Balance and am really enjoying. Later on I have a hairdresser appointment.   I too have a pair of Dunelm curtains, in my study. I bought them on eBay for £13.50 including postage and had to slightly lengthen both, which was easily done. I’m very happy with them. The only other room with curtains is the dining room and I made those myself. OH checked the price of getting them made by the fabric manufacturer compared to buying the fabric and notions and me making them, and it was the same, so as I preferred to make them I was allowed to go ahead!   Hope everyone is OK and enjoying the last month of summer     ... View more

Morning everyone, it is not a great weekend weather wise, we are in Bristol for the balloon fiesta,  staying with DS and GF, we had a nice day yesterday pottering about in Bristol but there were no balloons flying yesterday and will not be any today, either, which is a shame. Still, we will have a nice time anyway.   The pond was fixed in last week, the pump tested successfully and the edging stones have been cemented in around it. We need a few more but it is looking good and has been filled up. We saw some birds drinking from it a few days ago. There is a weekend's work to finish that, install the pump and waterfall and then we can start planting. It’s all come together quite quickly in the end.   cassie your holiday sounds lovely, rosie glad to hear your family holiday is enjoyable. Lovewine, good news about your friend and I am sure you are pleased the ivy has been cleared. Joan, it sounds as if you are having a quiet time for a few weeks, I quite like that in late summer.     ... View more

Evening everyone, it is warming up a bit here now again, but it was good to have so much rain after the intense heat. Most of my vegetables are now enormous, we are harvesting dwarf beans, beetroot, fennel and carrots as well as new potatoes. Glad you enjoyed your stay in France rosie! Joan, your weeks sound busy but nice to have time with the grandchildren. i have this Thursday off, my last short week for this summer and tomorrow looks nice too, so I hope to do some gardening and cooking as well as crafting. I’ve finally got my energy back after the heatwave. Not much progress on anything over last weekend as it rained most of the time and then we had garden tasks to do. I await possible progress this weekend! ... View more

It was lovely to see you all yesterday, and to catch up. The thought of a photo crossed my mind too and then disappeared again, we will have to make a point of taking the photo first next year. rosie I hope you have a lovely trip over the next 7 weeks, I am very envious, it sounds relaxing and also lovely to spend time with your family. Please do post some photos if you can!   i arrived home to find the pond had progressed slightly! The section where the waterfall will go and there will be planting behind and around it has had the turf removed and it has been dug up, it is now possible to see the whole footprint and I think it will be very nice. Today the border edging will continue and apparently there will be concreting involved. Next weekend is planned to bed the pond properly into its location. I will of course share photos ;)   I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend   ... View more

I should arrive at 10:35 so will look out for you at the station! ... View more

Joan and Lovewine, I will have to try your techniques for concealing shopping next time I buy clothes! i haven’t booked train travel in advance as I get a good deal with my railcard, I would prefer to meet at the station so I will check times and let you know which train I plan to get and when I expect to arrive.  I have never liked the new layout of the forum, it is very difficult to get a view of who has posted recently as each post now fills nearly all the page. They seem not to have realised it is normal in a forum to want to respond to several other posts at once and so need to be able to see and scroll through previous messages while posting. ... View more

Afternoon ladies, today I had my five year checkup with the surgeon and have been discharged with a clean bill of health. I was bricking it before the appointment, so glad I haven’t got to go through that any more! joan, good news about the Prosecco voucher!  Rosie, it is interesting that DH's knee is so much better without the intense heat, he must be much more comfortable. Cassie, what a pity about the disruption at EB's birthday bash, some people's behaviour just beggars belief. Good news about your planned holiday though, I bet you can’t wait.   rosie I had to laugh at your question about the pond. There are complicated logistics to take into account and in my opinion it will not be finished before the end of the summer. We do now have a pump and a layout for the planting area, so there is slow progress, but I know from experience that O.H. cannot be rushed. He does do a very good job, though.   not long now till our meet up, I am looking forward to seeing you all ... View more

I am pleased to announce that the pond was dug out last weekend, and this weekend we have been playing with some slate stones to edge it with. Yesterday was far too hot to work in the garden but today is a more reasonable 23C so work may continue. ... View more

Morning ladies, the weather is slowly improving here and it is looking as if it might get quite warm next week. Thank goodness we have had plenty of rain first.  I have only worked three days this week and will do the same next week and for three weeks in July. I did this last year using annual leave days and it means I can get more out of the summer period. Basically I am splitting my time between gardening and crafting.  OH has taken today off and I do believe he is going to start digging the pond!!!!! I will keep you updated rosie, how difficult for you with DH's knee problems. I am not very sympathetic either with OH, he never wants to go to the Dr but moans to me if he has a problem as if I could fix it!   Lovewine I hope the week has not been too busy for you. Joan and cassie I hope all is well. on Sunday OH and I have an afternoon tea at a hotel in Windsor, it was a Christmas gift from his brother and SIL. We are both looking forward to that! ... View more

Hi everyone, yes, I am fine, have been very busy at work and at the same time was quite tired and demotivated because of my shoulder injury. This has improved a great deal and I am now doing strengthening exercises as I have full mobility back, so I am feeling almost back to normal and have been getting through my backlog at work. We had a lovely weekend, DS and GF came to stay and we went to our village grape and grain festival, it was very enjoyable. i had to smile at the groaning wardrobe poles, I have been there, now I try to send something to the charity shop every time I buy something new, it has helped a lot. Well done on your clearout cassie, it is so satisfying isn’t it? glad you enjoyed take that rosie and I hope the West life concert is enjoyable too. i am glad you are having a lovely holiday lovewine       ... View more

Morning ladies, it is a rather nice day here and the weekend is looking good. I’ve been researching car insurance as I need to renew shortly, I have stopped as I need to check some info on OH as a named driver so I will go into the garden and put out the washing and start some weeding. OH is finishing pointing the brick edging around the greenhouse, which is looking very nice and we now have paved slabs for two water butts, one on each side.    When he has done done that he plans to install the electrics for the pond and then...wait for it...wait for it....to finish digging out the pond and putting the pond liner in!!!!!! Anyway, as you can tell, we are mainly gardening for the next three days and hope to go for a walk on Monday. My shoulder is greatly improved, I am more or less back to normal as far as everyday living is concerned and am now back to Pilates although not swimming yet. The shoulder blade area is not completely healed yet though, I think I must have really torn something as it is quite stiff in the morning and a bit achey for certain movements. I’m still doing physio 3 times a day and using heat patches sometimes, but my range of mobility is nearly normal and it is still improving, I think it’s just a question of time. These things can take many months, even a year.   im glad your OH's knee was OK and that he will be able to see a Dr in the UK, rosie. All those pool toys sound lots of fun! lovewine, sorry to hear of all the extra driving and dog/bonsai sitting you and your OH will have, when you are so busy. I hope you have a nice rest over the long weekend. I do feel for you with your YS and his GF problems, my DS was just the same, fortunately he seems very settled now with his lovely GF, I am sure your son will find the right girl eventually. cassie, I always found getting my cv up to date helped me to decide what to do and feel more in control. Have you come across a book called What Color is My Parachute? It is a handbook for career change and job seeking, with lots of interesting thought exercises and resources to help you identify all your skills, not just the ones you use now, and what you enjoy in work and to match them to possible jobs and careers. joan I think you deserve a relaxing weekend. Maybe you could try some vegan cookbooks, lots of vegan recipes are delicious, and then you would be experimenting with new ideas rather than cutting out things IYSWIM. Pity about the wine though. Mead? Cider? Gin! ... View more