So HNY dear readers. A while since I sat blogged and so much to write about; the beautifully talented Pele, my grandson’s appearance on the English football scene as the country’s youngest ever manager, the state of the UK, and our latest move from Stratford-upon-Avon to Towcester. Maybe I’ll focus on that to begin with….
Hello dear readers. A bit of a delay since my last mailing. I seem to make a habit of this these days. Sorry folks. But the thing is I’m still keen to blog but find it harder to find the motivation to write at the moment. Is that an age thing? It’s definitely not lack of subject matter, as you’re about to discover. The need to proceed without hassle burns as brightly as ever. But I rarely achieve it these days…
Since my last posting it’s been an roller coaster few weeks. Our trip to the US did go ahead and it was just great. I’ll write more in my next posting. But on Friday we got to say a final good bye to our sister Helen. It was a tough day with atrocious weather at the graveside adding to the grimness of the proceedings. But the wake organised by my brother and his wife Deb was really good and the celebrations of her life continued long into the night. In the end it was a happy way to say farewell.
So here’s something poignant. My sister’s passing whilst dreadfully sad has meant something positive. The most important thing is that she’s no longer in pain and suffering from the cancer ravaging her body. There isn’t a person who would wish for life to be extended in those circumstances. It may be a cliche but the end was truly a blessing. And we, her family and dearest friends, are all thankful for that. For Caz and I there’s another smaller blessing. Our trip to NYC to see my daughter S and son-in-law E and our beautiful grandsons this w/e can go ahead. It’s not that we don’t leave with a heavy heart but if she’d survived for a few more days then our decisions would have been so difficult…
Regular readers may recall that 5 years ago we had a harrowing week away in Italy as we learned of the sudden death of my youngest brother M from cancer. He had been ravaged by the disease in a very short period. And I missed seeing him before we managed to get back. Now here’s a sad tale; my young sister H, the baby of the family 12 years my junior, had been dealing with a spinal cancer situation for the last few years. She’d been elected for an experimental drug programme after years of surgery and therapy but a sudden change in her condition necessitated a mastectomy a couple of weeks ago. Long story short it didn’t go well and her condition deteriorated. On Saturday night we learned she had little time left, days possibly, and headed up early Sunday morning to Blackpool Victoria Hospital. Half an hour away from Blackpool we learned my lovely sister H had passed away.
Am I the only one who gets increasingly infuriated by life’s little annoyances? I bet not. Today was a classic example of how to touch my infuriated buttons. We are desperately hoping that nothing happens to prevent us heading over to NYC in a week’s time to see our lovely daughter S and son-in-law E and adored youngest grandsons E & N. It’s been two years since we’ve seen the guys and have missed them terribly. So we’re doing all that pre-testing malarkey etc. And we decided that today we’d get a lot of laundering done – not everyday clothes but two sets of quilts, mattress toppers, sheets’ and pillow cases etc. And we needed lots of coins. Two duvet washes at £8 and probably 4 drier sessions at £4. About £32 in total and we had a magnificent £1 coin in the kitty. Sigh.
So I thought I’d do another posting of random things that have caught me eye this last week. I could do a posting on each of them but they’d be a bit thin I thought. First up a music starter for 10… Continue reading
So a few weeks ago I had my annual review with my local GP where I go for a blood test (no horror stories this time) and they check all my levels etc. He called me up – it’s always a phone consultation these days – and we discussed the results. The only thing he had an issue with was that my blood sugar levels were higher than he would have liked so we agreed I could lose some weight to counter a possible drift towards diabetes. I readily agreed that I would cut out red meat consumption (it doesn’t do my digestive system – or what’s left of it – much good anyway) plus cutting out as many carbs as possible. It actually has been ok though looking at my tummy I’m not sure I’ve lost too much weight as yet. The said my wedding ring’s started to slip off when I wash my hands so I’m shedding fat from my fingers. Well that’s a huge relief. Continue reading
Pasta Paulie 