Perfect Sunday

Yesterday was such a very particularly lovely day. I took the morning service at a little chapel in Trimley St Martin. The original building was badly damaged in the hurricane that came in the 80s so it is a modern building now, with the most stunning stained glass window. One of my cousins and a friend of his came to the service too and then back for dinner and the timer on my oven worked, so we ate on time (Hurrah!) Then the daughter of one of my other cousins popped in with her husband and two boys and it was hugs all round and a cup of tea. After they went cousin no 1 did some very helpful bits of DIY for us while I took his friend for a walk. It was a day filled with love and fun and friendship and was just perfect from beginning to end

Days Out Part 2

Today was my birthday. By coincidence, it happened to be the day that my friend Heather over at Random Ramblings and I had made an appointment to have our feet nibbled by fishes. It's all the rage at the moment and there are a few places around where we live but I did a bit of ringing round and was impressed by the information I was given by a nice young lady at Beauty Rituals in Melton so that was where we decided to go. I was chauffeured in style by H in her nice new car. Although it is hidden away a bit on the Wilford Bridge Road business estate, the interior of the premises are very well done and we received a warm welcome. We had our feet checked briefly and then climbed onto a high bench - very comfortable though - and gently put our feet into the tank. We probably looked as though we were in great pain but it didn't hurt a bit. It tickled. It really REALLY TICKLED! But after a minute or two that wore off, well for most of the time, and then it was just a very pleasant pins and needly sort of feeling. I must say that I was surprised how nice it was and how nice my feet felt afterwards. Unfortunately H has tastier feet than mine so next time I shall go on my own. They have a salon and do various other things too so have a look at the web site. I think I shall be treating myself again
After that we went into Woodbridge for me to get the rest of my present from my husband. I had bought a skirt and was looking for some tops to go with it and found some - amazingly - so hubby is stumping up the cash, bless him. Then we went to the restaurant at The Riverside and had a lovely lunch. An enormous roasted red onion and goats cheese salad for me and a duck leg confit with noodles for H. We had some pre-prandial nibbles, sweet potato chips and crunchy broad beans with a sour cream and chilli jam dip. The puds looked lovely but we didn't have any room.

All change!

Life has been a bit complicated this last few weeks and I really had to wait until I was feeling more positive before I told you all about it. True to my brief of only posting positive posts I won't go into all the details of how OH managed to hurl himself out of his wheelchair at The Heath and damage his right eye sufficiently to make it unlikely that he will ever get the sight back. For the first couple of weeks I needed a spreadsheet to work out when all the drops and cream and antibiotics had to be down and I had to neglect my mum a bit, in spite of her own mini crisis which we will come to in a minute.

The decision has been made that OH will not drive anymore so I am going to sell my car and drive his instead. We need to use his because of the space in the boot for the wheelchair and the electric hoist but at the moment I still have to use my own car for my own purposes and only drive his when I am taking him somewhere, due to various laws about these things so there's a bit of sorting out to do before that change can take place. It means I shall have to get my personal auto-pilot reset to driving the automatic rather than the manual. At the moment when I drive the automatic I keep saying "don't change gear, don't change gear" and then when I get into mine I forget to change gear for a few minutes! That may make me look a bit of a nit-wit but trying to change gear in the automatic can do real damage.

It's going to mean quite a big change in our lives too as he has effectively wiped out what bit of independence he had and will be totally reliant on me to go out, so I shall have to make sure that appointments for me, mum and him co-ordinate!

Then, the day after it happened we got an offer on mum's flat. Those of you in the UK will know that the process of buying and selling property is more than a little complicated, and as it is what I used to do for part of my living, I know more than most what could go wrong before it is finalised. We have been trying to get her moved closer to us since last August but I am not counting any chickens

I have been quite overwhelmed by the amount of love and prayers coming our way. I have realised in a more meaningful way just how many friends I have gained since we moved here. I have 2 churches looking after me, and such good cousins and almost cousins. And I really have felt God with me and His support and guidance and we are already seeing how things could have been so much worse and so counting our blessings. We will be alright. OH is back to reading the paper at the weekend and doing the dishwasher all wrong just as he did before! There was a moment there when I could have turned my face to the wall but it didn't last.

Spring Clearing

No, that isn't a typo, the cleaning will come later!
On Thursday I spent most of the day at my mum's flat helping her to start sorting out some "stuff". Well, I say helping. What actually happened was I took all the "stuff" out of her wardrobe and airing cupboard and she watched and we decided what could go to the dump and what could go to the Hospice shop. Anyone reading this who doesn't know, we have a local Hospice named for St Elizabeth and they have charity shops around the area where they sell people's unwanted, or pre-loved items to raise funds. Anyway, I went there with mum's big shopping trolley stuffed to the gunnels and they got very excited about some plates. Then I stuffed the trolley again with things to go in my paper recycling bin and for hubby to take to the local tip.
So enthused was I by this that I decided the time had come for me and him to have a go at our garage on Friday. Quite a lot of rubbish, the discovery of things we forgot we'd got, some more for the shop and, as a reward, fish and chips from the chippy at the Heath for lunch. And I had a pineapple fritter as well. But then I had walked to the Heath and back twice as I'd already been there in the morning to go to the Post Office so I must have burnt a few of those calories off one way and another.
Today (Saturday) I am continuing the good work at home and tomorrow, after I have taken the service at Kirton, I shall be going to mum's and continuing there.
Mum and I are both hoarders so it has quite a liberating feel to be making spaces that are not immediately going to be filled up again!
In other news, we really, really need some rain here. The farmers are worried, the reservoirs are dropping and there have been grassland and heath fires across the UK like I have never seen before. The temperature has been way above the normal for this time of year and although 20 degrees plus is lovely, it's not doing the wild life any good at all. Wondering how my Canadian cousins are faring

A Great Honour!

I'm sure I'm not the first to comment that "you wait ages for a Bank Holiday then 4 turn up together". By the way, does that joke work in the US?
Anyway, today was May Day Bank Holiday, which is on the first Monday of May and which is a relatively new holiday, having been made an official holiday only in 1978. Of course, we had Good Friday and Easter Monday last week, plus the special holiday for the Royal Wedding this Friday and I guess a lot of people will actually be quite glad to get back to normal. Amazingly the weather, traditionally awful whenever the holidays fall, has been lovely.
Today my friend @easternsparkle came for coffee as I had promised her some plants from my little greenhouse. We had a very pleasant time, her, me and my OH, chatting cheerfully. And then came my great and unexpected (though secretly hoped for) honour. If you look at Her Blog
you will see that she is a quilter and sewer and crocheter, and she has been learning to make useful and beautiful little bags. And she gave me one ! And I love it.

As you can see, she knows I am a purple person and not that flowery so my bag is made from a wonderful abstract purple and black fabric which I have already scanned to make background paper for my hand made cards. Now I have been thinking all afternoon what I want to keep in it and I haven't quite decided yet

That's Life!

My life really has been just jotting along recently. I'm not complaining, it's all been quite relaxing and serene, although the weather has been unseasonally hot and dry so I have horrendous hay fever. We had a visit from a cousin of mine who I knew when we were children but have had only occasional contact with as adults. It was a bit like finding a long lost brother. I can't really explain in detail as it wouldn't be right to talk about things here which are personal to other people, but it was a really lovely day.
I am now planning on what to do on Friday. Sorry, but although I may just put the tele on to see what Kate's dress looks like I shan't be watching the wedding. I might do some weeding Ha Ha!

Here's hoping

I am full of hope for today. After being seriously let down last year by someone who was going to do our bathroom and then just didn't turn up on the agreed start date and wouldn't answer our calls, and several false starts with people who did not understand the nature of our requirements re the wheelchair, we may have found someone who comes recommended by three people I know and who has a wheelchair user in the family so might just belt up and listen to us before trying to tell us what they want to do. This could be a story that runs and runs. I hate the disruption that having things done to the house causes and the stress that it will put both of us under because naturally I worry about hubby when he starts to get uptight about things. Still, let's be optimisitic about the meeting with the builder today and hope that he and hubby see eye to eye. The sun is shining through my study window as I type this and I am planning on a good walk this morning after I have done the shopping AND the new dishwasher is installed so that's a relief too. A happy Tuesday to you all

Start again

I think I will have to call last week's trying to get thinner and fitter regime a trial run as I am no lighter or smaller than I was this time last Monday. I am not very fit so burning off the calories is not easy and because I have to be a bit careful of my dodgy back it isn't just a question of doing more exercise, it has to be the right kind of exercise too. I am not overweight as such so don't need to loose much but I would like to re-distribute what I have got. I am the unhealthiest shape because I have no bum or saddle bags, which is now reported to be a good thing to have, and I have a huge waist which means I probably have organs drowning in visceral fat which will finish me off any day now. So if anyone has any experience of these things and has some ideas I would be pleased to hear them.
Now, as I am determined to keep this blog optimistic, I am able to report that I feel as if the stress etc that I was suffering last yer has at long last released its grip and I am beginning to think more positively about some of the things I hope to get done in the next six months. I don't go out in the evening but I am even toying with the idea of joining the local choral society so if you hear any noises akin to an animal in pain it will be me practising!

Coo-eee, only me!

By the time you read this the crisis will be over and I will be back online. At the time I am typing this I am bereft, missing all my chums, and my virtual fish have probably died by now for lack of virtual food. I must say that I am a trifle alarmed by the fact that it is bothering me as much as it is. Fortunately I do actually have a real life in which I have real friends, one of whom I had arranged to meet for lunch on Saturday, although, (this is a worrying thought,) we originally met via Twitter. As Ipswich has been so busy recently we decided to go to Woodbridge instead. I used to work in Woodbridge and I go there fairly regularly to shop. The lunch was very good company wise and passable food wise but I had done a bit of a reccy earlier in the week and found that the choice is a bit limited if you only want a light meal but want something more exciting than a sandwich, (although sandwiches can be very exciting if you make the effort..) My friend also had the dubious pleasure of meeting him indoors so now when I tweet about hubby she will have a picture in her mind, but I'm sure she could get counselling if she needs it.
I know a lot of people don't get Facebook and Twitter, they think it is a waste of time; they think that if you want to communicate with people you should pick up the phone or write a letter, or visit. For me, however, it has become, in part, a substitute for the bus queue, the coffee machine, the photo copier, the lunch club, all those places in my working life when I used to have little chats with people I didn't really know very well. I would become quite friendly with some of the lawyers I used to talk to on a regular basis because we would find ourselves on either end of a number of transactions, even though I never met them. When I travelled by bus I would see the same people every day and gradually learn more about their lives, interests, hopes and dreams, and listen to their troubles too sometimes, and they would do the same for me. There was a benefit in talking to people who you didn't see any other time. And occasionally I did make a friend who became more of a part of my life. Now, of course, if you are reading this then you don't need to be convinced but I hope I may have given you some thoughts to pass on when someone else tells you that it is a waste of time.
The internet is not, however, only about social networking and I am also struck by how many times in the day I would have looked something up on Google, IMDB, Wikipedia etc. I know that you have to be wary of the information that you find and if it matters then, as a rule of thumb, try to find the same information from three different sources before I start to trust it, but it's mostly trivia, like who wrote the music for a film I am watching, and what else did they write, or do Waitrose sell the particular fruit juice that my mum wants or have I sold anything on amazon today (oh dear, I hope not or I shall get a black mark for a slow response) I wonder if any of you who are into Sci-fi remember Dark Angel which was set in the US but after a terrorist "pulse" had knocked out all the computers so nobody could get at their money, all the Social Security records, criminal records, medical records etc were unavailable and so on and so forth. Now there's a thought

Fit for nothing

A few of my Tweeting friends have decided that getting fit might be a good idea and I have decided that it might be too. If you are a stranger and a tweeter you can try #f450 to see what we are on about. Because I have back problems I have gradually reduced the number of activities in which I engage and walking is about the only exercise I get now. I used to fence, which is a great sport for people with bad backs because it helps develop good posture, but it also develops the calf muscles to an alarming degree! I used to play badminton years and years ago but have no one to play with anymore. At school I played cricket (quite a good all rounder) and rounders ( liked fielding at 1st deep as the ball hardly ever came my way) and netball (Goal Attack) I was forced to play hockey in the winter (cruel and unnnatural punishment) and always seemed to end up playing a small butch girl who we will call Christine (because that was her name) I soon realised that the only way I was ever going to cope was to let her go gallopping off up the field and just wait until she came back again. I am grateful that we did not do cross-country or lacrosse like the convent girls did. I never learnt to swim but my greatest triumph was beating said Christine in the float race because she couldn't swim either.
So, at the moment all I am promising is that I will try to do my exercises every day, and walk more and cut back on the unnecessary calories and we'll see how it goes. I will report on how many pounds and how many inches round my middle I have lost but am not going to admit the starting points for either. I carry all before me which I am told is the most unhealthy shape there is. Hey ho.

Reflections and Resolutions

I am feeling in reflective mood. As I was driving over to mum's this morning I came up with a philosophical phrase of which I am rather phond -

"I must stop defining who I am by what I was"

I am becoming aware of the fact that when I answer memes or join in conversations or describe myself I always seem to be talking about what I used to be and what I used to do. This tells me (and maybe you too) that I seem to have nothing in the present to talk about. At least, nothing very interesting. I have to admit that I do miss a lot of the things I used to do. So now I need some suggestions of things I can start doing in 2010 that won't involve travelling very far or being out of the house for too long and which I can use to define who I am rather than what I was. I await your comments with interest.
In the meantime my New Year Resolutions - well, to blog better and to work out how to do my own art work for my blog background, to listen to Radio 3 more, to get a play accepted by Radio 4 and/or my novel published. To sort out the 3,000 photos that are on my hard drive, to go for a proper walk every day, to ban melancholy from my life as it is self indulgent and non-productive. To get the garden tidy. To get the house tidy and to seriously chuck out what I don't need.
So what about for February......(only joking!)
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS

Christmas is coming

Every year I say I will cut down my Christmas Card list - yes, you guessed it, every year I say but I never do. It is nice to know that people think of you, even if it is once a year although I wish people would tell me what they have been up to. I know there are those that eel a "round robin" is a bit impersonal but I always feel that I would rather have something than nothing. Usually I do one of those and add a bit where appropriate but for various reasons I didn't get round to it and then when I came to do the cards this week inpiration was sadly lacking so I decided to do it within the boundaries of this blog and just send people the link so they can look if they want to. (You can too if you want, just look right) Not that I find anything very rivetting to say, but next year - oh, next year, all that lovely free time I am going to have, who knows what might occur.

Family Christmas Letter

Hello Family and Friends. I am sorry that I didn't get round to doing a proper letter in with your cards this year. It's all been a bit fraught! Anyway, as anyone in the whole wide world can read this if they come across it I will keep things a bit vague but you will know who I mean. Hubby is fine now but gave me two scares. Firstly, just into the New Year 2009 he had another TIA (mini stroke) then in June he was very seriously ill for a few days because his medication caused an ulcer and he had to have 4 pints of blood and really frightened me. So glad we live near the hospital now so I was able to visit twice a day and boy was he glad to get home. I also had a bit of a scare but it turned out OK in the end (those who know what I am talking about will get the pun)I also decided, for various reasons, to give up my job and take a break but I only left last week and what with mum having been quite poorly recently as well that is why the cards are late and I am only now getting this letter done. Sadly mum's sister died in October. She had been very ill for a few months following her stroke from 10 years ago.
We both changed our cars. Hubby qualified for the scrappage on his 12 year old Mondeo so got a Focus and I got a second hand Fiesta that was a good deal and top of the range, trading in my 9 year old. The bathroom never did get done, very badly let down by the builder, all very upsetting. So, also for various reasons but pressure of other people's needs being one, I had to stop my studies and it is very unlikely I will be going back to them.
And, as you see, I have become a Blogger, and Twitterer and Facebooker and have made one very good real friend along the way and a few virtual ones. I know, but I don't get out much these days. If you look at my other blog( click here ) you can see some of the art work I have been doing for challenges and on this blog (click on the "Just Jotting Along" banner at the top there are some photos and the rest of my musings if you have time.
I am working on getting hubby to start up his own blog too!
We still go to Sutton Hoo a lot as it is one place close by where we can get quite a good lunch and a walk in the fresh air.
I have left this open to comment by anyone so do leave a message if you have dropped by. HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Free as a ...as a...as a free thing

Well, today was my last day at work until I find another job, but I'm not going to be looking for a few months. I managed to get away from the office at about 3:30 so literally drove off into the burgeoning sunset on the way home. It was a lovely sky, all pale blues and pinks and greys - the photo above isn't it but it's quite like it. I took that photo before we moved. I had Radio 3 on and there was some lovely music playing and I really did feel a weight lifting. There wasn't a lot of traffic on the road and all in all it was a very pleasant journey. I do feel incredibly lucky to be in this situation and I hope I make good use of the time it will give me. So tired now though but tomorrow I shall try and catch up with paperwork at home that has been neglected and hope my toothache doesn't get any worse before my appointment on Thursday. Then a bit of me time, a bit of card making (actually better get on with that) and some crocheting (if I don't get on with that it will be spring and my cardi will be too warm)and some housework (yes, better get on with that) and I have foolishly promised OH I will give him a few games of chess (if I can't find a good excuse to get out of it) - Oh dear, better get a job so I can have a rest!
Look out for lots of blog posts in the next few weeks!

We are Famileee

Had such a great day today. My cousins Christine and Helen came to visit. I haven't seen Chris for about 10 years, when we met when mum and I visited mum's sister (C&H's mum)Auntie Joan (see My Auntie Joan ) just after she had her second stroke. Before that I saw them both at my wedding. Chris and I are within a year in age and we used to get together as teenagers, and before that when we were smaller I used to go and stay with them for a week in the school holidays. Throughout our lives we have met up again and just picked up where we left off and it happened again today. After coffee and mince pies courtesy of the local baker and cake which I made myself we went over to Felixstowe to visit my mum, then back here for lunch and then I took them for a walk round the Heath. My Uncle was in the RAF in WW2 so I showed them a bit of tarmac so they could tell him about it. Then we looked at some old photos and got very nostalgic. It's just been a brill day and they have promised to come again soon and we had BIG HUGS.

A bit of psychology

Some friends of mine have been doing a personality quiz and posting it into their blog. I don't know how they posted it into their blog. There are thingys to post it into Facebook, MySpace or Twitter, but I can't find a way to post it here, so you'll just have to believe me when I say I am Warm and Social, but not the same way that some of my friends are warm and social because
(I quote)

You Are Warm and Social
You are unique and philosophical. You have your own way of living life, and you relish your independence.
You are very outgoing and friendly. You feel very comfortable in a crowd, and you can get to know anyone.
Money is fairly important to you. You aren't super greedy, but you enjoy spending money on yourself.
You are curious about ideas. If you had the means, you'd like to explore the whole world.

Spookily this does sound like me!
If you look at the questions then you will smile because anyone who knows me knows that I am of the opinion that heaven has a really good second hand book shop.

Now then, to my day.

The end is nigh

Well, after a couple of really very stressful days which I don't need to dwell on, I now have a leaving date and it will be next Tuesday. I brought about 8 hours worth home with me and got a couple done today but I shall have to leave most of the rest until Monday as I have to do lots of housework in preparation for a visit from two of my cousins. They are the daughters of my Auntie Joan who passed away recently. One - Christine - is a year all but three weeks older than me, the other is five years younger. I haven't seen them for at least ten years so I am really looking forward to it.
Now I don't want you to get the impression that my place is a tip (it is, but I don't want you to get that impression!) but as there is a wheelchair coming in and out all day and the previous owner of this house had carefully carpeted throughout in a tasteful plain beige, you will see the problem. Oh yes, and the other probolem is I don't do a lot of housework.
I don't care, I don't expect them to care. With luck we will be too busy wallowing in nostalgia to notice. Now where's the photo album........

Almost there

I know I should go and start clearing the garden but my chocolate cosmos is still flowering so I'll leave it a bit longer, when I have more time - which is about to be the case!
I have found it a bit difficult to blog these last few weeks as I handed in my notice but couldn't say anything about it for reasons I won't bore you with. Consequently I have been working extra hours to catch up a lot of stuff and write a "manual" for my successor plus mum hasn't been well so I have had extra shopping and cooking to do. Then I fell over in the garage and had almighty backache. BUT, as this blog is always positive, I am delighted to say that a successor has been found and as soon as her ruptured achilles tendon has improved I will be FREE, FREE I TELL YOU, FREE.
For a while anyway. The plan is to take a 6 month break, catch up with housework, do a bit of painting (artistic not house) reading, helping mum and OH with whatever they need help with and getting my little ailments under control. And blogging of course. A nostalgiafest probably so you will need to be a certain age to get some of it. Like laundry marks and little doors marked "off licence" and the milk being delivered twi8ce a day.
Watch this space

Christmas cards

I've always found that looking at colours cheers me up. If I'm low and near a wool shop I will go and look at all the colours and textures and it makes me feel better. I recently came across a lovely book about Iris Folding, which is a technique for making greetings cards and pictures using folded strips of paper, and this gives me an opportunity to play around with colours and textures again. Today I have been making some Christmas cards and forgetting the time and giving myself the backache because I was so absorbed in what I was doing. If you'd like to see a couple of examples click on this Link

Lovely day, lovely day...

I have you know, I've had a lovely day. Woke up when I was ready to - always a good start. Hubby already up and porridged, he was feeling well which always cheers me up. Usual chat with mum at 8 then off for a walk through the woods to get hubby's paper and some chicken from our terrific butcher. Saw two people that I knew. Off to Ipswich to get shirt for hubby, things from the craft shop to make Christmas cards and then to Arlingtons to meet easternsparkle for lunch. She is my friend I met on the internet about 50 years ago. Time always flys when we meet and the next step is now in the planning, which is the meeting of the husbands! Got waylaid in BHS on the way back to the bus stop.
Had a little rest then cooked huge pan of chicken and tarragon stew, froze some for us, some smaller portions for mum and the juice with pearly barley and lentils for soup. And had a glass or two. Now considering my artistic endeavours for my other blog.
Ain't life grand!