2 November 2008
What a lot seems to have happened over the last couple of weeks. I had a lovely pre-birthday with Ranger and saw him again last week which was good.
A's daughter L, was due to give birth to her first child around 19 October but nothing happened until last Monday when she went into labour, went to the hospital and was sent home. Tuesday morning early, her waters broke so she went again to the hospital and again was sent home for 24 hours. The next morning she was put on a drip and given antibiotics (a bit late I would have thought) and made no progress during the day except that by this time she had been in labour for 48 hours. Eventually, at nearly midnight on Wednesday they decided a Caesarian was the only option and eventually the baby was born.
He is named Benjamin Leo and I have a photo of him, aged 12 hours. He is gorgeous although his head is elongated owing to the length of time he was trying to escape into the world. L is doing well and I believe was due home yesterday; when I caught up on the complete tale I could not believe it that she has had to endure all that pain and ended up with an outcome which I am sure was inevitable from the start as she is barely five feet tall and a size 8 at the biggest.
I was treated to the wonderful colours of autumn yesterday when I was driven across Cheshire by coach to sing in Chester cathedral through places where I used to live but have not seen for some years and it was just beautiful.
The afternoon was somewhat spoiled by the fact that the very expensive under-floor heating in the cathedral had developed a fault about a month ago and there was no heating at all. We sat for a two-hour rehearsal, under a broken window, becoming more and more chilled and then had a further hour and a half's service with only a quick break between for a hot cuppa. Still, nothing could take away from the joy of singing in such a lovely place (not a patch you understand on my home cathedral of Liverpool!) and I was delighted to meet several old acquaintances including a lady who used to child-mind my son when he was about eight!
What a lot seems to have happened over the last couple of weeks. I had a lovely pre-birthday with Ranger and saw him again last week which was good.
A's daughter L, was due to give birth to her first child around 19 October but nothing happened until last Monday when she went into labour, went to the hospital and was sent home. Tuesday morning early, her waters broke so she went again to the hospital and again was sent home for 24 hours. The next morning she was put on a drip and given antibiotics (a bit late I would have thought) and made no progress during the day except that by this time she had been in labour for 48 hours. Eventually, at nearly midnight on Wednesday they decided a Caesarian was the only option and eventually the baby was born.
He is named Benjamin Leo and I have a photo of him, aged 12 hours. He is gorgeous although his head is elongated owing to the length of time he was trying to escape into the world. L is doing well and I believe was due home yesterday; when I caught up on the complete tale I could not believe it that she has had to endure all that pain and ended up with an outcome which I am sure was inevitable from the start as she is barely five feet tall and a size 8 at the biggest.
I was treated to the wonderful colours of autumn yesterday when I was driven across Cheshire by coach to sing in Chester cathedral through places where I used to live but have not seen for some years and it was just beautiful.
The afternoon was somewhat spoiled by the fact that the very expensive under-floor heating in the cathedral had developed a fault about a month ago and there was no heating at all. We sat for a two-hour rehearsal, under a broken window, becoming more and more chilled and then had a further hour and a half's service with only a quick break between for a hot cuppa. Still, nothing could take away from the joy of singing in such a lovely place (not a patch you understand on my home cathedral of Liverpool!) and I was delighted to meet several old acquaintances including a lady who used to child-mind my son when he was about eight!
4 November 2008
I am feeling a bit odd today. The neighbour whose messy garden backs on to our garden has disappeared to Greece, leaving detritus of various unfinished building projects. As he is probably not returning the house will either be let or sold; my next-door neighbours have just put their house on the market and the church where I have found so much solace is now losing the lovely vicar to a parish many miles away. Perhaps it was something I said?
On the web-site for a local newspaper I was amused to read an advertisement for a nearby University informing us of "open day's". Hmm.
Also, Fil's house is now on the market and an offer has been received for £55k less than the asking price leaving us with the dilemma of whether or not this should be accepted. Actually, the estate agent rejected it out of hand as the house has only been on the market for a week but it shows that although there are buyers around, they are not prepared to pay. The house is in an exclusive cul-de-sac and although it requires modernisation, it would seem that this viewer wants to buy at a price that would mean the value at the end of the modernisation would be the asking price!
I am feeling a bit odd today. The neighbour whose messy garden backs on to our garden has disappeared to Greece, leaving detritus of various unfinished building projects. As he is probably not returning the house will either be let or sold; my next-door neighbours have just put their house on the market and the church where I have found so much solace is now losing the lovely vicar to a parish many miles away. Perhaps it was something I said?
On the web-site for a local newspaper I was amused to read an advertisement for a nearby University informing us of "open day's". Hmm.
Also, Fil's house is now on the market and an offer has been received for £55k less than the asking price leaving us with the dilemma of whether or not this should be accepted. Actually, the estate agent rejected it out of hand as the house has only been on the market for a week but it shows that although there are buyers around, they are not prepared to pay. The house is in an exclusive cul-de-sac and although it requires modernisation, it would seem that this viewer wants to buy at a price that would mean the value at the end of the modernisation would be the asking price!
29 November 2008
I cannot believe that another year has gone by and my birthday has been and gone once more. It was a lovely time as on the actual day big Sis and her husband came over and we went out for a meal which made the day special and on the following day I spent it with R and had another birthday meal which makes three including the one which my friend A treated me to, albeit a week early.
The concert the previous Saturday was a triumph and a sell-out which is unusual for choral works but we are building a good reputation and the change of venue to a church in the middle of the place where we rehearse seems to have spurred us on to greater efforts and greater audiences. This time the flowers were more of a pleasure to do than in the past but I still get a bit anxious about them.
A glorious morning here with sun and frost and a spider has woven a complicated length of web around the remains of the honeysuckle on the trellis and then
jumped across to the house - the result is a line of gossamer which looks like a skipping rope and is wonderful
to behold. I hope he/she has found a safe and warm niche in the bricks and that he won't be gobbled up by the
blackbird.
The dishwasher (only about three years old and part of the disastrous kitchen fitting) blew all the fuses in the house on Thursday evening and left us in the dark! It was maddening as it was in the middle of a programme on television but eventually, we isolated the offending bit of equipment which of course was fully loaded and strangely, blew the fuses simply by being switched on.
So the result, after various phone calls is a new dishwasher is being delivered on Tuesday; the local plumbers/electricians will not touch this particular brand of machine and as it is built in the replacement is quite expensive.
As I am so clumsy I foresee a lot of breakages until then as I hand wash the crockery! I believe that the chip in the control panel is apt to, in common parlance, "get confused" and this has been happening increasingly over the last several months and the machine had to be switched off and on again before it performed properly.
We went shopping in our nearest town in the late morning and had a wonderful time. I saw some friends from two choirs with whom I have sung and in some cases still do and they (the choirs) gave an unaccompanied rendition of the Hallelujah chorus from Messiah which was very good - singing outdoors is very difficult - and in the market place the stallholders had dressed up in Victorian/Edwardian costumes and the atmosphere was wonderful.
A splendid day.
I cannot believe that another year has gone by and my birthday has been and gone once more. It was a lovely time as on the actual day big Sis and her husband came over and we went out for a meal which made the day special and on the following day I spent it with R and had another birthday meal which makes three including the one which my friend A treated me to, albeit a week early.
The concert the previous Saturday was a triumph and a sell-out which is unusual for choral works but we are building a good reputation and the change of venue to a church in the middle of the place where we rehearse seems to have spurred us on to greater efforts and greater audiences. This time the flowers were more of a pleasure to do than in the past but I still get a bit anxious about them.
A glorious morning here with sun and frost and a spider has woven a complicated length of web around the remains of the honeysuckle on the trellis and then
jumped across to the house - the result is a line of gossamer which looks like a skipping rope and is wonderful
to behold. I hope he/she has found a safe and warm niche in the bricks and that he won't be gobbled up by the
blackbird.
The dishwasher (only about three years old and part of the disastrous kitchen fitting) blew all the fuses in the house on Thursday evening and left us in the dark! It was maddening as it was in the middle of a programme on television but eventually, we isolated the offending bit of equipment which of course was fully loaded and strangely, blew the fuses simply by being switched on.
So the result, after various phone calls is a new dishwasher is being delivered on Tuesday; the local plumbers/electricians will not touch this particular brand of machine and as it is built in the replacement is quite expensive.
As I am so clumsy I foresee a lot of breakages until then as I hand wash the crockery! I believe that the chip in the control panel is apt to, in common parlance, "get confused" and this has been happening increasingly over the last several months and the machine had to be switched off and on again before it performed properly.
We went shopping in our nearest town in the late morning and had a wonderful time. I saw some friends from two choirs with whom I have sung and in some cases still do and they (the choirs) gave an unaccompanied rendition of the Hallelujah chorus from Messiah which was very good - singing outdoors is very difficult - and in the market place the stallholders had dressed up in Victorian/Edwardian costumes and the atmosphere was wonderful.
A splendid day.
16 December 2008
Last night we went to a party at the care home, having visited Fil on Saturday when Father Christmas called and gave out little gifts.
Fil is at the stage where nothing and no-one is of any concern to him except his obsessions of the moment so that was a bit awkward as he took the parcel without a word of thanks and then went back to his bank account which is just one of the subjects which occupy his mind. It was a funny Father Christmas as he had no beard - I have not seen a beardless one before!
The party had been arranged for families as well and I got to talking to a lovely lady whose husband goes to the home two days a week respite care. There was a singer (who worked very hard) a buffet, raffle and soft drinks and the carers were getting people up on their feet to dance which they looked as though they were enjoying and they were so careful with everyone.
The Deputy Manager went over to this lady's husband, who is quite frail and got him on his feet, holding him round the waist so that he could face his wife and move with her to a slow dance. The look of love on his wife's face was almost unbearable as she cradled his face in her hands and I filled up.
It was a real Christmas moment and I was glad I had been there to see it.
Last night we went to a party at the care home, having visited Fil on Saturday when Father Christmas called and gave out little gifts.
Fil is at the stage where nothing and no-one is of any concern to him except his obsessions of the moment so that was a bit awkward as he took the parcel without a word of thanks and then went back to his bank account which is just one of the subjects which occupy his mind. It was a funny Father Christmas as he had no beard - I have not seen a beardless one before!
The party had been arranged for families as well and I got to talking to a lovely lady whose husband goes to the home two days a week respite care. There was a singer (who worked very hard) a buffet, raffle and soft drinks and the carers were getting people up on their feet to dance which they looked as though they were enjoying and they were so careful with everyone.
The Deputy Manager went over to this lady's husband, who is quite frail and got him on his feet, holding him round the waist so that he could face his wife and move with her to a slow dance. The look of love on his wife's face was almost unbearable as she cradled his face in her hands and I filled up.
It was a real Christmas moment and I was glad I had been there to see it.
21 December 2008
I spent the day yesterday with R and had a lovely day. OH rang about lunchtime to say there was a bird in the garden with a white tummy with spots so he took a photograph of it (he is not knowledgeable about birds). I looked at the picture later and it was so far away that I couldn't really tell if it was a bird or a leaf! I thought it could possibly be a thrush and this morning, as I was making my tea, there it was. It came and grabbed some bread, put it down and had a go at the porridge oats, picked up the bread again and flew off. It is now sitting on the fence and I am so thrilled - we have been here nearly eight years and this is the first thrush I have ever seen in the garden, let alone feeding from what is put out.
Really thrilling. The next thing will be when it is a little lighter and if it comes back, to see what sort of a thrush it is.
I spent the day yesterday with R and had a lovely day. OH rang about lunchtime to say there was a bird in the garden with a white tummy with spots so he took a photograph of it (he is not knowledgeable about birds). I looked at the picture later and it was so far away that I couldn't really tell if it was a bird or a leaf! I thought it could possibly be a thrush and this morning, as I was making my tea, there it was. It came and grabbed some bread, put it down and had a go at the porridge oats, picked up the bread again and flew off. It is now sitting on the fence and I am so thrilled - we have been here nearly eight years and this is the first thrush I have ever seen in the garden, let alone feeding from what is put out.
Really thrilling. The next thing will be when it is a little lighter and if it comes back, to see what sort of a thrush it is.
27 December 2008
Just watching the dawn above everywhere white and frosty and having a cup of tea.
We have had a really good Christmas, including a lovely cuddle with baby Benjamin on Christmas day when he fell asleep in my arms which was lovely. The midnight service at church was moving as it was our vicar's last Christmas with us as he is moving on at Easter.
My step-daughter and her partner are coming for lunch today but I am not venturing out as it is too cold. The pink welly search is on hold for the moment as the local garden centres have sold out so I will have to wait for new stock but I am determined to find some so that I will not feel house-bound next time there is snow.
Tomorrow would have been Mil's birthday so I am wondering how OH will cope - he has mentioned it once or twice but sadly, his father whom we saw briefly on Christmas Day has no memory of her at all. I think about her with affection and have certainly missed her although I am glad we do not have to face that long journey down to Kent.
Off to see R tomorrow for a Christmas Day a bit late but he entertained his father on the day itself so naturally we would not intrude!
Just watching the dawn above everywhere white and frosty and having a cup of tea.
We have had a really good Christmas, including a lovely cuddle with baby Benjamin on Christmas day when he fell asleep in my arms which was lovely. The midnight service at church was moving as it was our vicar's last Christmas with us as he is moving on at Easter.
My step-daughter and her partner are coming for lunch today but I am not venturing out as it is too cold. The pink welly search is on hold for the moment as the local garden centres have sold out so I will have to wait for new stock but I am determined to find some so that I will not feel house-bound next time there is snow.
Tomorrow would have been Mil's birthday so I am wondering how OH will cope - he has mentioned it once or twice but sadly, his father whom we saw briefly on Christmas Day has no memory of her at all. I think about her with affection and have certainly missed her although I am glad we do not have to face that long journey down to Kent.
Off to see R tomorrow for a Christmas Day a bit late but he entertained his father on the day itself so naturally we would not intrude!
