Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 9 June 2019

Good Morning. Wet here again!

Annette, yes, we had pics of grandchild way back in early days of pregnancy: the parents see it on screen at the time, of course, but can request a photo taken from it, for just a couple of pounds. Our Youngest has had a very understanding boss, who gives him time off to go and be with d.in law during these scans, so he's been very involved in all her pregnancies. They have had a hint about the sex of baby, but don't want to announce it until he/she makes an appearance, in case its not correct.

The young man who was our Youngest's good friend at Uni, and subsequently his Best Man at their wedding, has also just become a father for the third time - they have three boys. They live nearer to d.in.laws parents than to our two, though, so they only see each other occasionally.

AQ - Great that you had a good trip out. Looking forward to the pics.

My OH is off to get his ears syringed - hopefully he will hear me better, when he gets home!

LINDA - having them able to hear better doesn't improve their listening!

More later, I hope.

Hope to hear your news later, OG: hope that J is OK.

I often have to repeat myself, as for some reason my dulcet tones just don't get through to his brain.... If I try to limit myself to only uttering Very Important Things, and stop my usual rabbiting on, so that he might take notice, he says "Are you alright?" :-))

Have a half hour to spare so am going to go back and look at my cruise photos, as they seem to have been forgotten all winter. Some were interesting, so I hope to put them on here without boring everyone.

This could take some time..... I tried to "search" to see where I had left off putting them on here, but this stupid Site is almost impossible to navigate now. Gave up and tried to gauge which ones I have treated to "resizing" so that I could guess where I was up to last (months ago, probably not even this year!)

Found my photos and I have literally hundreds of them! And I had only just begun the cruise, I think, by showing the Tower of Pisa trip. So now have to get some work done to put the others on, and will have to be picky as there are waay too many!

At least you can find your pics, LINDY! I have lost so many....
AQ - look forward to seeing yours! I have yet to Google what sounds to be a nice ?cake.

I'm resting in between heaving sacks of compost and putting them on the front border. At least it is almost dry weather today. Just a couple of showers, so far.

Hello, ALL. What a week we have had!

I think I last wrote properly on Tuesday evening! That was the day J had his afternoon appt at Occ Health agency. They don’t seem to be helping much and he is sad that he misses giving support to some of his pupils, but they apparently have to see him in working hours and getting there can take up to an hour depending on traffic! He was going to ask school admin whether he has to go next week, when he would most definitely be needed for acclimatising the new intake for next year.

On Wednesday I went to rheumatology, expecting a steroid injection. However the doc there who I have most often seen, said she had looked at the Xrays requested by the locum last time, and a steroid would not be appropriate! My right hip joint has lost its cartilage, and the bones are seriously damaged, so she is referring me to the orthopaedic surgeon – the one who repaired my femur on the other leg. Whether I have replacement surgery is partly my decision, but the only other option is gradually increasing strength of painkillers. I am sure the waiting list will give me plenty of time to think about it. We had our lunch at the hospital, where they have opened a new salad bar, which was very pleasant – only spoiled by OH deciding he “needed” a bowl of semolina to follow – disgusting stuff, right in front of me! I have been given extra painkillers for the time being, so am not always entirely “with it” – was I ever?

J had a migraine that day, so we left him at home, and he was partly recovered in the evening. He went to work Thursday but unfortunately had an “episode” mid-afternoon and had to be fetched home. We aren’t sure whether it counts as a seizure (which would mean counting his driving ban from beginning again), so he phoned his epilepsy nurse for advice, but she hasn’t phoned back yet. He thinks it was caused by rapidly flickering images on some of the computer screens where young people were “working” – it was supposed to be a music lesson.

This morning J had to go for blood tests before work – ordered by the GP in response to a request from his endocrinologist at The Christie, with another added in by the GP who wanted to check something new. OH drove him there (as everywhere) and then on to work. We haven’t heard from him today, so assume he is okay.

OH just now back with some shopping. I am still hoping to come back later with some replies!

Don't go lifting anything so heavy that you pull a muscle, Heather. Try to break into the sacks and decant it in manageable amounts.

Sorry you've lost your photos. Do you mean they're on your pc somewhere and you can't access them? I think my pictures through the years are some of my most precious possessions - the 1st thing I'd save if in a fire!

Sis in law just popped in as we sat after finishing our lunch of beans on toast. She has borrowed some bunting for their village fete, which is tomorrow.

Morning all:

OG: If I could have "liked" your comment about hearing vs. listening a dozen times, I'd have done it.  So very true!  So a possible hip replacement on the horizon for you?  Definitely an option worth considering. They do seem to make a big difference and I think they've streamlined the process.  Hope J gets the Occ Health people sorted plus his other docs..  I can get ocular migraines from a flash of light but that's all.   Semolina?  Yuk.  We used to call it "frogs spawn" back in the day when we'd hang around ponds and look for tiddlers.  Do today's kinds even know what a tiddler is?

Lindybird:  I spent hours last night scanning photos from 1995 when both grandkids came to visit during the summer - they were only here for two weeks but I took enough photos to last the year.  The next event is Christmas of that  year. Aack.   I know at some point I had Costco make CDs along with prints so all I have to do there is copy them onto a flash drive on OH's desktop and then onto my computer (which doesn't have a CD player).  When folks have evacuated fires, etc. here, family photos are among the first things they take, along with pets.

Heather: I can't lug stuff around like I used to and bought a  four-wheel plastic garden cart with a lid that you can  sit on (but which also lifts so you can carry stuff inside).  I've piled bags of mulch, planting soil, etc. onto the seat and hauled them to wherever I needed them.  I had to tie a rope to the cart to pull it.  Watch out for your back.

Better get on with the day....

Hope all lurkers are doing okay...

ANNETTE - it was tapioca that we used to call 'frog spawn'. Semolina must be the same or similar to what my mother called ground rice, I think. I could eat it as a child, with jam on/in it but wouldn't choose it these days!
OG - indeed, what a week you have had. Big decision ahead regarding the hip surgery, I think. I'm sorry that J is having such a tough time. I hope that he will be able to continue in his job.
I'm the biggest plonker in the world (?). I've been lifting and spreading in the garden but guess what? Tomorrow, all the local family will be here for what we call a 'Rajah Night' - takeaway curry from that restaurant. There will be two sons in law plus Callum here. I could easily have asked them to do the garden work. It would have taken much less time.
ANNETTE - I really like the sound of your trolley gadget. I must look more carefully in those booklets that arrive. OH used to call them the 'everything you want but don't need ' catalogues. Now, though, I might need these things!