tis the season to be .....

Last night my Bestie lost her partner. not lost as in died but lost as in getting drunk and going missing for several hours. He is back now, muddy (?) with a headache having returned to his childhood home in the early hours to make his way into the house and sleep on the sofa. This was after her going out in the early hours of the morning to collect him. He was not where he was supposed to be and not answering his phone. She was worried the whole night and was phoning the police as he walked through the door.

Today they have a lot of talking to do!!!

LSP and I are occasional drinker's and often go weeks or months without drinking. If we are going to a social event together often neither of us will drink. Sometimes we enjoy going out and having a few drinks especially when we are catching up with adult friends and this may happen 2/3 times per year.

I am proud to say that our children have never seen us drunk and OD was 21 before she saw me merry. previous to that she has not seen me have more than 2 glasses of wine.  We have always had a well stocked wine rack and keep some beer and spirits in for our occasional parties.

Alcohol can be very dangerous, it can wreck lives, destroy relationships, not to mention the health problems it brings. Some of the blogs I read concern me when people talk about downing vast amounts of wine/gin etc. facebook on a Saturday and Sunday morning has several people lamenting about their hangover's.

I do not think that alcohol should be banned or that we all should abstain  we just need to be more respectful of it and think about our drinking habits.

Supermarkets do not help either, when I was in the coop they had their discount spirits on each checkout!

last week I was reading the big issue and they had a feature about some of their seller's. One chap said that he only got drunk once, it just lasted for 18 years.

amidst all of the festivities think about why you are drinking? having a drinking problem is not just about drinking every day. just think?

have you ever felt guilty or ashamed about your drinking? have you lied to people about your drinking? have friends or family ever said they are worried about your drinking? Do you need to drink to relax? Do you need to drink to feel better? Do you regularly drink more than you planned? do you drink so much that you black out or forget what you did when you were drinking?

If any of these is a yes, talk to someone. your GP is often a good person to start with.

Sorry for this lecture, but Alcohol can be dangerous especially at this time of year when alcohol is everywhere!

(nice christmasy blog tommorow)

Christmas on hold.

This would normally be our weekend for putting up the tree and decorations. but not this year.
Sadly my grandmother died last week.
her funeral is on Wednesday.
So we have put Christmas on hold for a while.

Post office queue

Today, LSP and I created a Post office queue.

we are lucky in our village that we retain a post office. We went in today to send our Christmas cards and Post the packages.

How would we know that it would take 25 minutes. !!!!

 6 parcels, 8 overseas cards, and a stack of UK cards to be posted. 

(should not have taken 25 minutes) 

all the rest of the cards will be dropped off by hand. 

In the post Christmas Sales we do not need to buy any more Christmas Cards. We have enough in the box. I need to remember this when I see pretty cards. We do need Paper! we are down to the last roll. it did get tense. I did buy a roll of full price wrap this year when we went to John Lewis. I could not resist as it has bunting on it. This was lucky as we would have ran out. 

All of the presents have been tidied away, well those that have not been posted far and wide.

 (happy full snowmen) 

so after disrupting the whole village, we took oldest daughter to the shops. (although LSP and I finished our Christmas Shopping, the rest of the family have not) 

Its great the feeling of wandering around with no pressure. no need to buy, no need to queue, just to enjoy looking. 

oh and fitting in a hot chocolate and mince pie.....

I was tempted to buy for me as Kirsty Alsopp's Craft was only 12.99 and they had some lovely knitting books. however. I resisted. there is nothing in it that I cant find on the internet. 

Also this morning when I was tidying I realised how full the bookshelf is! I am going to have to treat the bookshelves like the cookbooks and will be operating a 1 in 1 out policy! so any purchases will have to be carefully considered. 

After a stroll round TKMaxx...OD still had not found what she was looking for so. 

We ventured to Matalan. I am not the biggest fan of Matalan, but did find something to make me smile...

(No I did not buy one as they did not do double's or king's) 

Well that's all the shopping, wrapping, packing, posting stress out of the way. 

December will be spent catching up with friends and sorting out the food....oh and putting up the decorations. 

The highlight of the day? (apart from spending time with the family)

Beautiful Sky!

All wrapped up.

Well, that's the Christmas Shopping done. just a couple of things to wrap and we are all sorted.

I love Christmas, a lot. however, I cannot abide all the hustle and bustle of shopping in December.
My Christmas shopping is done in the sales and we always have a present box in the house. some things we buy with people in mind and other's are just nice things that will get a home with someone at some point.

All of the cards and wrap are bought in the sales in January/February. However when we looked at all of the cards we possibly have enough for the next 2 years. !

I do go mad at Christmas. Lots of gifts, lots of decorations and good quality food.

I think our day is quite typical.

The day starts with present opening.

Then Breakfast of fresh fruit, Brioche and croissants.

I then retire to the Kitchen where I will cook for the next few hours. I love it. LSP and the children will play with their presents while I am basting, boiling and roasting.

We then sit and eat lunch. LSP and the children do the washing up and then  we watch the Queens speech.

We keep the fire lit all day and it is a very relaxed day.

Our most unusual Christmas was one we shared with a friend.

Our Christmas morning started as usual,  however at 12.00 we packed up the roast turkey, trimmings, roast veg, stuffing and veg into container's.

Packed it into the car and drove into town to a friends house, where we unpacked it all again.

We then had a shared Christmas, there were the 5 of us and the 3 of them. They made the starters and puddings and we brought the main. It went very well and included the most amazing trifle, which pleased SE as its his favourite pudding.

I am sat, listening to the Sunday service on the radio. Its the first Sunday of Advent. I am going to wrap up the last of the presents.

I hope all of your preparations are going well.

(for the regular readers of my blog. Youngest Daughter is recovering. She is still quite weak but in a lot less pain.My Big Sister is recovering and adjusting to living with gall stones and is adjusting to the change in her diet. My Nan is still in Hospital, she has recovered as much as she can in hospital and now just needs to go home. There will need to be adjustments to her care package as she will need some more help at home for a while)

 

my past 2 weeks...

phew! anyone who read my blog last week (its been a bad week) will have seen that we have been going through a tough time the past 2 weeks.

Well. I am not writing this from Vietnam which is where we planned to be today our challenge . I am sat at home on the sofa writing my blog.

They operated on YD to discover that she has been walking around with a rupture in her appendix. which had made her insides a bit nasty! well she is now minus an appendix and has had her insides jet washed and is feeling better. Just sore and hobbely. (walking like an old lady). the strain of up and downing to the hospital and back each day has left LSP and I Shattered. So on the day we were due to fly to the other side of the world we were bringing her home from hospital.

BS. big sister has gall stones, they are not planing to operate until January so she has been sent home with a very low fat diet plan. She has gone to stay with her partner's family in Wales for a few days to recuperate.

Nan, well Nan is on the mend and hoping to come out of hospital next week. the is regaining her mobility!
The sad thing about Nan is that Today is her 85th Birthday. It was not in her plan to be spending it in Hospital and this makes her a bit sad. At least she will still get to see us all as we pop in and see her through the day.

It has been a very tough couple of weeks.

However we are lucky. In hospital we met people who's relatives have also been in for some time. Each day they make the journey in to see their loved ones. for some the prognosis is not so good. They are making the most of the time they have left. We are lucky, 3 of family have gone in and 3 are coming out.


When my Nan was feeling down and talking about dying, I told her quite firmly that I am not ready for her to die just yet so she had better stick around for a few more years as I need her. (yes I am selfish.)

LSP's family have been very supportive and our friends have been great. Here's hoping for a calmer week ahead.

Here are some photo highlights!

Well the soup is now ready (LSP's Tattie soup) so its a quick bowl of soup then off to the hospital I go.

Its been a bad week.

this morning, we have to take the Labrador to the vet, the spaniel ran into the Labrador's  left leg and now she has a limp. I am trying to write this with her sprawled across my lap. (its not easy)

Normally taking the dog to a vet would be a major event. However, this has been a terrible week.

Last Saturday I had cycled to Cirencester, it had been a long 26 mile cycle (I did lose the path several times).
When I arrived I phoned LSP only to find that my Nan had been rushed into hospital following a fall. I started to cycle home and whilst trying to work out the quickest way made a mercy call to my bfl. (who not only has a generous nature but also has a big VW transporter with room for a bike in the back). I could not call LSP who was at home in bed with a cold. I called BFL and as I was talking I could hear she was out, (my heart sank) However, she was out in Cirensester shopping and getting ready to leave. My best friend became my guardian angel!

Went to the hospital, saw Nan, nothing broken, but bruised and shaken, she had not been well in the week.

Sunday. Went to the hospital to see Nan, Nan very tired and having respitary problems. (she has COPD) and needing additional oxygen. LSP still full of cold.

Monday. YD wakes us up in the early hours of the morning she has some tummy pain and is feeling very unwell. LSP takes her to the doctors believe she has an infection and prescribe antibiotics and painkillers. I go to work, after work, cycle to the hospital see my nan, come home, make dinner, go to bed.

Tuesday. YD wakes us up at midnight, very unwell. we go to hospital and they admit her at 3am LSP and I go home. I get up, go to work. finish work. go to the hospital, visit YD, visit Nan. Both still unwell.

Wednesday. I wake up and receive a text message from my big sister. She is in Hospital. yes. my Nan, YD and Sister all in hospital at the same time. I also have caught LSP's cold. I go to work, then go visiting. The good news is that YD has been discharged. the bad news is Big Sister has Gall Stones grandmother feeling quite low and sad as well as upset.

Thursday. Get up, go to work. get a call from YD. she has been feeling unwell, gone to the Doctor's and they are sending her back to the hospital. LSP and I leave work and go to hospital. YD has more tests and x rays and scans. they still do not know what is causing her pain. we get turfed out of the ward at 5.30 as visiting finished at 5pm. a quick 30 minutes in the cafe and back we go again. I try to split my time between my YD, Bs and my Nan!

Friday. get up, go to work. LSP gets the afternoon off to be with YD. After work. up to the hospital, They are releasing my Sister. so say a quick hello and goodbye before her partner takes her away to look after her. Then its trying to spread my time between YD and Nan. (who are at opposite ends of the hospital). get home. exhausted.

Saturday. up, doing housework, writing blog, getting dog ready for the vet, have a shopping list of things for Nan and YD. We were due to fly to Vietnam this week but that is now looking very unlikely. There is no way we can be on the other side of the world when YD is so unwell.

LSp and I are shattered. to say the least. we have seen the best and worst of the NHS. including the lack of water jugs. (at some point each of my relatives have not had a water jug as there is a shortage) how horrendous! water is a basic requirement, we have been buying bottled water for them.

Right, time to hit the shower and get ready for the next 7 days.......

Womans Weekly

Woman's Weekly is 100 years old. If you have never read a copy before then do get this one.

(this post is not sponsored or endorsed by women's weekly)

they have reprinted their first copy which is fascinating and the magazine has a show's how things have changed through the year.

Editor Diane Kenwood said: “When she launched the magazine, my original predecessor set out a clear vision which stated: ‘I say frankly that the women of Mayfair and the lady who lives in the castle are not catered for in this paper.

“But the women who lives in the villa or the cottage, in a large house or a small house, the woman who rules the destines of the home, is going to be helped in her life, her work and her recreation by this journal’.

 now i have an affection for woman's weekly as mum mum was a life long reader. there was always a folded copy next to her chair usually on a knitting pattern. I have worn and eaten so many projects over the years!

I must confess I have only skimmed it so far. I am waiting for Sunday Night, so I can relax with a mug of tea, some chocolate and the magazine.

they were always there. a constant source of knitting patterns and recipe's and stories.
in the centenary issue.

OUR FABULOUS CENTENARY ISSUE!
A celebration marking 100 years of your favourite magazine...

Our first-ever issue from 1911 to pull out and keep

Fashion trends through the decades - and how you can wear them now

Spectacular four-tier cake to make for your own celebration

A look back at 100 years of WW health advice

Centenary story from The Robin Family - back for one issue only!

Exquisite wedding-ring shawl to knit

A century of ads - fantastic and funny adverts we've carried over the years