Friday News - 15th January

So it's Friday again and I am giving Wendy's Friday News another go. You may remember last week that I had trouble with the sport category as I simply don't “get” sport! This week I am scrapping sport in favour of UK news. This will be in addition to International. Let's go…….

International.

The international story which I have noticed today is that of the medical trials in France that have gone so badly wrong. Apparently the drug trial was in phase one which is where a tiny dose is given to healthy people to test for side effects. One man has been declared brain dead and 5 more have suffered permanent brain damage. It is being said that the drug being tested was derived from cannabis but it is not clear what the eventual drug would be used for.

This is truly horrible. I know that we need new drugs for all kinds of conditions and at some point they must run trials with real people but that means there is always going to be the potential for this kind of tragedy. For the record, I am totally against animal testing. Apart from the often cruel way the animals are treated and the pain and suffering they endure, I cannot see any logic in it at all. Every single animal is different to us so how testing on a mouse, or a dog, or a monkey has any bearing in what a drug will do to a human is beyond me.

UK.

Apparently we have a British astronaut in space! Who knew? Not me! He is called Tim Peake and today he was doing a space walk with another astronaut to repair an electrical box. Simon has the news on and this came up whilst I was typing. It would seem the space walk has had to end early as the American astronaut had water inside his helmet which is not a good thing it would seem.

Can you tell that I am not overly enthralled with space stuff? I guess some of it is interesting but I am afraid that I think we need to put our house in order here on Earth before we start worrying about what’s out there. So much money is spent that could be spent on better things. Just an opinion of course.

I commented to Simon just now that I had no idea that there was currently a Brit up there in space and he said how could you have missed that? Easily. I try really hard to not watch or listen to the news. It is so often depressing, half of it is totally fabricated, they only tell us what they want to tell us which is not always the truth, plus I simply do not have the time for anything that doesn't interest me.

Another cousin of mine, Pat, posted on her FB page today how sad she was at the death of Alan Rickman. I thought she had just lost a friend. It soon became apparent from the comments that this was not a friend but a celebrity. I had to ask her who he was and got told to wash my mouth out! I think she couldn't believe that I didn’t know. I hardly ever watch TV and haven't the patience to sit through a film, and I have zero interest in “celebrities” so consequently I never know who anyone is.

Local.

The local news buzzing around the nearby town of Bourne is that a well established and loved gift shop is to close to make way for a new pub. A Wetherspoon's pub, which is a big chain here in the UK. The general feeling seems to be that there are enough pubs in the town anyway and we don't need more and also that the big chain type establishments ruin the image of the country market town. I tend to agree. There is already a big chain pub as you enter the town but this new one would be right in the middle of the main high street. However, it could help bring more custom into the Three Counties Dog Rescue charity shop which is just a 100 yards or so further along. Now that would be good.

Entertainment.

I guess the big news story this week is the death of David Bowie. Yes I had heard of him! Not a fan though. I am continually surprised by how the death of a celebrity apparently causes so much distress to so many people. It is sad when anyone dies, particularly when that person is no great age, but I don't understand why it would cause such upset if you didn't know him personally. I am also rather taken aback by some of the tributes. I quote: “Singer David Bowie, one of the biggest stars and most influential musicians of his era, has died of cancer at the age of 69.” Was he really that big and that influential? Perhaps I missed something? He wasn't ever really on my radar. I was a teeny bopper and massive Donny Osmond fan.

Miscellaneous.

My misc news is that today is my little grandson, Jackson's 3^rd birthday. 3 years ago today he was born at just 28 weeks and he lay in an incubator whilst we stood by helplessly. He has come such a long way since then and today he was going bowling with Mummy and Daddy. So very, very proud of him. Happy 3^rd birthday Jackson.

Here is a photo of me and Jackson.

Well those are my 5 bits of news. I said earlier that I find the news depressing. If I do this next week, I am going to seek out positive, happy stories. Maybe I can even find something that really interest me!

Friday news was the idea of my cousin Wendy.  Why not join in. It would be very interesting to read what is going on in your area and maybe we could open discussions on some of the topics. 

G is for Grandchildren

Day 8 of the A-Z Challenge and it is "G" for Grandchildren.

Grandchildren are the best thing ever!  I can't begin to tell you of the excitment when you learn that one is on the way; or the joy when the little bundle finally arrives. 

We are lucky.  We have 6 Grandchildren so far and I am sure there will be more. We have 2 Granddaughters and 4 Grandsons.  They are all very differnt and all an absolute delight.  I could say so much but I would need to write a book so instead I shall just post some photos!  

 Ellie Grace

 Evan Reuben

 Flynn Spencer

 Jessica Madison

 Jackson George

 Shafiq Morra Usman

Dad with his 6 Great Grandchidren.  L- R Evan, Flynn, Jessica, Jackson, Annabelle and Ellie.

As you can see the first 5 photos are all taken with their Great Grandad Alf.  This is for 2 reasons, some of my children aren't too keen on putting photos of the children online, so I have gone for baby photo's and secondly, I wanted to show just how much these children meant to my Dad, their Great Grandad.  He adored them all and they him.  It is so lovely that my 4 eldest had very strong bonds with him and saw him regularly and have great memories. 

It is a great sadness that for little Jackson and Annabelle (my sisters grandaughter) they will not remember.  The biggest sadness of all was that he never got to meet little Morra who he was so excited about.   Of course he now has 2 more, Scarlett and Joshua who are my sisters grandchildren. 

The 6th photo shows Morra with his Grandad.

Jilly

Blessings - My Dad.

Righty ho, I said I would blog so here I am blogging. Trouble is I am limited for time today as I have a fair few jobs to get done this morning as I want to go to the big city this afternoon for some shopping. I need to buy a present for my little Grandson's birthday.

I have to use public transport to go anywhere as we only have the one car and Simon uses that for work. The buses from my village go once an hour and it takes around an hour to get to the city. I have to change buses in the nearby town of Bourne and then I can get a bus to Peterborough which is the nearest big place with decent shops. It is a bit of a trek so I don’t do it very often! However going today I can come back with Simon in the car so that makes it better.

Anyway, where was I? See I am already waffling on. I can't just write a blog without some waffle. Yesterday I mentioned that despite recent sadness we are also very blessed. So I think I will restart my blogging habit by talking about some of my blessings.

I am going to start with my Dad. He was the most wonderful man and one year on I still miss him terribly. I think of him every single day and talk to him too.

He was born in the East End of London on the 13^th of December 1926. The 2^nd child and 2^nd son of Harry and Edith Sansum. He eventually had 4 more siblings, another brother and 3 sisters. They were a typical East End family of that time. They were very poor and eked out an existence. His Dad liked the drink a bit too much so although he worked, the family didn’t see too much of his earnings. His Mum was a very strong, sensible lady with good morals and I think it was her influence that made my Dad the man he was.

1951. Great Yarmouth

He was kind, patient, honest, hard working, and devoted to my Mum. Many of you will know how hard it was for our family once the Alzheimers took over my Mum. Dad never faltered in his love and care for her right until the end. Once Mum had gone we thought he wouldn't be long after her but in fact he enjoyed 2 more years.

They were good years. He once again became fully engaged with all of the family. He adored his great grandchildren and we had many family occasions where he had the best time. He also started to visit us every school holiday. He had never done that while Mum was still alive because he would never leave her. He really looked forward to coming to stay and in fact he always knew when the next holiday was due.

This was taken on his 87th birthday and is the last photo of him with his Great Grandchildren.

So we were both eagerly looking forward to the February half term break last year. I had various plans of things we were going to do together. Little did either of us know that it wasn't to be.

Dad suffered a stroke at the end of January. In the first few hours the news coming from my sister was that it might not be too bad. After all he had been out doing his shopping and had walked to his doctor himself because he didn't feel so good. However over the next few days we realised that actually it was the very worst kind of stroke. It had occurred at the back, right in the centre so had effected not just his ability to walk but also things such as his swallowing reflex.

He was in the Lister hospital in Stevenage and over the following weeks they tried hard to do some physiotherapy with him but he was very down. He also had an operation to insert a permanent feeding port as it seemed that he would never regain his swallow. After around a month they moved him to a rehabilitation unit in Old Welwyn. They seemed positive that they would get him back on his feet. To be honest, I always had doubts, I just couldn’t ever see him making it home. I did try to have hope though.

Sadly from the very first day there things went wrong. He contracted some kind of infection and was in a lot of pain and discomfort. They could not begin his rehabilitation as he couldn’t move from the bed. This went on for several weeks during which time they had him in isolation as they were not sure what the infection was. It was a miserable existence for him and he told me on several occasions that he didn’t want to be here, he wanted to be with Mum. That is very hard to hear but I did understand.

Finally after several weeks he got pneumonia and they decided that he needed to be transferred back to the hospital at Stevenage. They moved him on he Monday night. I went up to see him on the Tuesday. I was shocked. I knew then he was never going home. He had on an oxygen mask but he kept fighting to take it off. It was hard to hear and understand what he was saying with it on. He did remove it briefly to say he loved me. I will always remember that.

I had a long journey home and didn't get in until around 8.30pm. I rang my children to let them know that he really was very poorly. I knew it wasn’t going to be long. I didn’t however expect it to be a matter of hours. I got a phone call around half an hour after I got home from my sister to say that the hospital had phoned for them to go in as he was asking for them. At around midnight she phoned to say I should return.

Simon and I were straight in the car. Once we were there the doctor came and spoke to us. Dad had made up his own mind that it was time. He refused all further treatment and the doctor told him that without it he would die that day. She asked if that was what he wanted and he told her yes. She asked my sister and I if we agreed. We had to say yes. It wasn’t what I wanted at all. I wanted my Dad back. I didn’t want to lose him. However I did understand that he wasn’t going to get better and that he had simply had enough. It was time to go and be with Mum.

They switched of all the machines and removed everything from him. We were moved into a private room as by this time most of the family were there. He died about 20 minutes later. It was very peaceful and he knew we were all there. He even had his youngest great-grandson Jackson, sitting on the bed holding his hand. Jackson was just 1 year old. We asked Dad if he knew Jackson was holding his hand and he nodded yes! A few minutes later the light went out on my world.

I found it incredibly hard. I was inconsolable. Even now I cannot write this without the tears streaming down my face.

And now a whole year has passed without him. The last one of the “first anniversaries” has passed. It isn’t any easier. So many times there is stuff that I want to tell him. On several occasions I have actually picked up the phone and dialled the number before my brain has reminded me that he won't be answering.

I wonder what he would make of it all? I know what he would tell me. “Life goes on and you must pick yourself up and get on with it”. He once told me that my sister Julie had described me as pragmatic. He said “I don’t know what that actually means but I know you will be OK because you are e a coper. You deal with things”. He is right. I am dealing with it. One of my ways of doing that is to try and live by the mantra of always remember the good times and also to always count my blessing every single day.

My Dad was one of the biggest blessings of my life. I was so blessed to have such a wonderful man as my father. A man who showed me how to be the best that I can. A man who taught me that no matter what, family are the most important thing. He will always be a blessing.

I love you Dad.

PS. I hope I haven’t made anyone feel down with this blog. As I wrote it, I got quite upset. It's OK to be upset. You know, my sister is right, I am pragmatic. I am a coper. As far as I can see there is no other choice. Whatever life throws at us, all we can do is carry on. I have my tears and my sad times, but then in the words of my grandson Evan, I “give myself a talking to” and then I follow my road.

My friend Deb will understand the reference to following the road.

Count your blessings every single day and whatever happens follow your road.

Jilly

Photo 365 - 18

We went to Cambridge today for little Jackson's first birthday party.  It was held in the sports hall of the college where Steve works.  There were 35 of us so a bit too many to have in their home.   It went really well and everyone had a lovely time.  The birthday boy was very good.   He had a lovely number one birthday cake baked and decorated by his Mummy.  Verity is a fabulous cook.

Little man did need some help from Mummy to blow out his candles.

Jacksons First Birthday

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday dear Jackson

Happy Birthday to you!!

Jackson George Youngs is 1 year old today.

With lots and lots of love from

Nanny and Grandad xxxx

Photo 365 - 15

Today is a very special day.  Our little grandson turns one year old today.  I can't believe where that year has gone to and I can't believe just how far he has come.  I expect some of you will remember this time last year.  I know none of our family will ever forget.  Little Jackson was born at just 29 weeks gestation and weighed just 3lbs.  This photo is not one that I have taken it is the one that Verity posted on her Facebook page today. The tiny little bodysuit that he is holding in the right hand photo says "I'm a little miracle" It was one of the first things that I got for him.  It was a long while before he was big enough to fit in it.

This is the text that accompanied that photo from Verity.

Happy Birthday my precious boy, one today! I had to wait 5 days to hold you, a week to see your whole face, about 2 weeks (before I dared) to kiss you and 6 weeks to bring you home. But we never felt hard done by, the opposite, we felt very lucky. It was a happy, scary, worrying and joyful time all in one. We love you little man, you are perfect. — feeling blessed

This photo was taken by me but clearly not today!  It is one of the first ones that I took  of Jackson.

 I know Photo 365 is about taking a photo a day but today is different.  Today is our little miracles day. Today is special.

A time for reflection.

Tuesday 31^st December 2013.  New Year’s Eve or Old Year’s Night.  A time for reflection.  As always we had our ups and our downs. 

Our highlight of course was the birth of little Jackson.  It was a scary time when he came into the world at just 29 weeks.  Verity and Steve had to be so brave. We all did.  He is nearly a year old now and doing really well.

The worst event of 2013 has only recently happened. The loss of our Alfie, who crossed the rainbow bridge on the 19^th of December.  We will love and miss him always.

Looking back it is the ups that I want to remember tonight and for which I am grateful for.

I am blessed to have made it through another year pretty much unscathed.  I have my health, my family and my home.  I have many friends.  I have the luxury of being a home maker and have time to do my own thing as well as time to work with the doggies. I have so much to be grateful for.

I hope as we pass the midnight hour and enter the New Year that 2014 will be a good year.   I hope that it will bring each and every one of us ………. Enough.

Happy New Year.

Thursday 14th March

Just realised that I haven't been here for 2 weeks. I have read blogs from time to time and I have had good intentions but other stuff has got in the way. I know I have said it before but I really do need double the hours in my day.  I am just so busy.  The sewing and Etsy shop is taking up time and also my volunteer work with the dogs is taking more time too. 

So what is new?  Best news ever is that our little, tiny grandson, Jackson has had his feeding tube removed.  Yay! He is now 8 weeks old and weighs 5lb 1oz so he is doing fantastically.  Remember that he still shouldn't even be here for another 2 weeks. 

That reminds me, big congratulations to my friend Pam and her daughter Stephie.  Stephie has just given Pam another grandson.  Little Adam. 

I have a headache today.  It started yesterday and I can't get rid of it.  Hence, I’m doing some blogging rather than anything else. I have the TV on in the bedroom and am just watching “This Morning" and there is this really weird man, David Icke, who thinks the world is a hologram. Apparently we are all being controlled by members of the Royal family!  Weird or what? 

I actually do think that we are controlled by many forces and organisations but the Royal family?  No. Our governments, the church, yes, Royal family, no.  Speaking of the church reminds me of the election of the new Pope. Now there is a controlling organisation if ever there was one.  The Catholic Church. Oh yes, you better believe it.  Did you see all the faithful waiting to learn the name of the new head?  Sheep. Most have no idea who this guy even is but they will revere him anyway. 

Coralie posted on her Facebook page yesterday, "Dare we hope for a slightly more progressive thinking Pope? One who can lead the Catholic Church into the modern world?"  There is no way that will happen.  They are not interested.  They just want to stick with the old ways. They want to stay in control.  

My response was “Dare we hope for someone who will put an end to the sexual abuse that is so rife throughout the Catholic Church?”  Interestingly, Coralie deleted that.   I find that interesting in itself.   Coralie is someone who would normally welcome debate.  Seemingly my opinions are not appropriate for her page.  Hmmm, makes me really wonder.

So, Pope, Francis the first.  He is a very conservative, 76 year old. Is he going to change anything?  Is he heck?  That is why he was voted in.  They will never dare risk anything else.  He is anti-gays, anti-abortion, and anti-euthanasia need I go on?  Interesting that he is also a Jesuit.  Anyone recall from their history lessons how the Jesuits became so powerful at the end of the 18th century that they were suppressed?  Hmmm, power and control. 

OK, my brain is hurting, and I am waffling and not being coherent. I think you have realised by now that I am not impressed.  

For anyone that doesn't know, I was christened at my parent’s local parish church.  (Common C of E).  After my marriage, in a very misguided attempt to be accepted by the outlaws, I was confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church.  Our children grew up in that faith and at primary age they went to a Catholic school.  I have never believed. Simon has never believed. We were both just trying to fit in with his family. It didn't work. Nothing will ever work there, but that is another story.  

Basically as we got older we realised that there was no point in pretending to be something that we are not.  We have not attended church for years and never will again. (Weddings and funerals excepted). Simon believes very strongly that the church is just an organisation that controls the masses for their own purposes. I mostly don't even bother to think about it. If I am anything, then I am probably a sort of Pagan.  But I prefer not to define myself.  I am me and I believe in balance and good and..........oh  my goodness what a lot more drivel.  This is what happens when I have a headache!

I am being driven crazy buy Alfie.  We were all 3 of us on the bed.  Alfie was in Simon’s place at the top of the bed next to me and Loulou was at the bottom by my feet.  I got up to go to the loo and Alfie followed me.  Of course Loulou then saw her opportunity and moved into the prime position.  Alfie is not pleased.  This happens all the time.  I wish he would just realise that I am only going to be 2 minutes and stay where he is. He then tries to get on my lap which doesn't work with my lap top.  I have moved to the chair and he keeps trying to get up here with me. I might shut them both downstairs for a while. I think I need to close the curtains and lie down quietly.   Stupid headache.

At least I managed a blog.

Good news and other stuff

First the good news.  Little Jackson is home with his Mummy and Daddy.  Yep, he really is.  I have seen it with my own eyes as we visited them yesterday. Already 6 weeks old but still not due to be here for another 4 weeks yet.  He is a little miracle.  He has done so well.  He still has his feeding tube in place and that will probably be there for a few more weeks.  He is having around half his feeds from his Mummy but they have to take it slow as it uses up lots of his energy to feed and breath at the same time. He was weighed yesterday and is an incredible 4lbs 12oz!  Mummy's milk is good stuff!

Here are a couple of the latest photos.

Now, to the other stuff.

Why is it that I can quite happily ignore dust for weeks on end (months actually) and yet I cannot abide dirty floors?  Wretched housework takes up so much time.

Why are there only 24 hours in a day?  Who decided that?  It is no where near enough for all that I have to do.

Just recently, I seem to be busier and busier.  Today so far, I have done the kitchen, top to bottom, including cleaning out the fridge and the oven. Haven't yet done the floor.  I have done 2 lots of washing, which will generate a ton of ironing in a while.  I have had a a general tidy of other areas.  I have made 3 more of the paper "logs", that eats up time.  Oh and I have also made a felt brooch and cut 3 more.

I need to get on with some sewing this afternoon as I have a couple of orders.  Yep, actual bona fide orders!  A bag and some burp cloths.  My little shop is beginning to get noticed and to get a few sales. Stuff is also still selling on EBay.   One of the things that has been quite a big learning curve for me is the importance of social net working via sites like Facebook and Twitter.  There are others too.  It seems that if you want to sell online then you need to be networking all over the place.  Seems to be true as it has got some sales for me.  Plus all the success stories that I read have big followings on lots of different sites.  It pays off,  BUT, it takes up lots of time.  People contact you and you need to reply. Time, time, time, not enough time.

As an added time eater this week I also need to get our bedroom painted.  We went to the auction on Saturday, well Simon did, I went to the dog kennels.  Let me start from the beginning; the local auction had a big sale of carpets from a bankrupt company.  We went and looked Friday evening and chose several that would be suitable for our bedroom.  It is time to finally finish that room as we have done no more since Simon finished building the wardrobes.

Simon went on Saturday and bid on a nice neutral coloured one which he won for £70.  Brilliant bargain as the price label states £365.   He went and fetched it home yesterday and it is currently residing in the downstairs hall and half in the bathroom!  The dogs have to hop over it each time they go in and out of the kitchen.  It probably isn't helping Alfie's legs.

Anyway, having got the carpet we realised that the sensible thing to do would be to paint before we lay it.  As we want to get it laid this coming weekend the painting is kind of urgent.  Simon will do the ceiling one evening as I can't do ceilings.  I have the walls to paint and the woodwork. The woodwork will be a doddle as there are just 2 windowsills and a door all the rest is stained and is fine.  Even the walls are not a major job as most of the back wall is covered by the built in wardrobes, the side walls are small and have windows in so the main wall is the one with the door.

After some consideration between green and purple we have gone with purple.  Cadburys purple!  Only on one wall though!  The rest will be in a very pale oyster colour.  We purchased some new purple silk curtains on Saturday and they should look nice against the oyster.   Our new cuddle chair is a kind of pale oyster, beige kind of colour, so very neutral.  Oh, forgot to show you that.  It was delivered last week and we are very pleased with it. Also finally got a set of shelves last week for my teddies.  Got a bit upset arranging the teddies as a lot of them were my Mum's. I have yet to work out what to put on the bottom shelves but it doesn't much matter now as it will all have to be moved out to lay the carpet.

You can see the horrid existing curtains here. The carpet isn't too bad but it was just here when we got the house.  It will be nice to have new.

So, once I have finished my coffee, I need to get down the old curtains.  I shall wash them and then take off the header tape and cut out the linings as they will be useful.  The curtain fabric is gross so I shall throw it out.  They are the curtains that were here when we moved in.   Then I need to strip off the green border.  hopefully it will come away easily, don't want to damage the paper behind it. Actually it probably doesn't matter too much as we are going to put another border over it anyway. Then I guess I can start slapping paint around.

These are the paint colours.  We are going with the one on the right.  That is the border you see there too.  haven't tried out the oyster.  It had better be the right shade as we have a big can of it.  I'll let you see the end result in a week or so when it should be totally finished.

OK, best shift myself now and get on with some more jobs. It is already midday and time is rapidly disappearing again.

MIA again

I have just looked back at my blog and it appears that I have been missing in action again for well over 2 weeks.  Time flies when you are having fun!  Time flies when you are busy too but I have had some fun along the way.    So where to begin with my update?  You know me, I won't possibly be able to remember the whole 2 weeks.

I guess Jackson is a good starting point as my last blog was about him being back in the NICU.  He is now 5 weeks old.  Incredible.  Of course he wasn't even due to be born for another 5 weeks yet.  He is doing really, really well now.  He was moved out of NICU last week on to SCBU.  He is now out of his incubator and just in a "hot cot" which they are turning down day by day.  He only has 2 wires now, a heart monitor and a temperature  monitor.  He still has his feeding tube although he does now have a sucking reflex and is beginning to feed from Mummy.  It is slow progress as he finds it hard to suck and breath at the same time. He weighs 4lbs now. All his test results are now fine. The heart specialist is pleased with him.

Here are the latest photos of our little guy.

These next 2 were just taken yesterday.

Last week was the school half term break in Lincolnshire.  As always it was really busy.  Simon spent one complete day moving cars around.  His truck has gone to someone to do some work that for some reason he can't do. His dragster is now residing in the garage. We had dentist appointments, several meals out, a day in Lincoln,  an evening out with staff from the old Walton school, a trip to Stevenage to collect my Dad, then to Stamford station to collect Saskia. We had a day in Leicester at the fabric shop, lots of kennel visits and we saw lots of the grandchildren. It was busy.

Alfie had a day at the vets for more scans and X-rays.The good news is that his very large bladder stone has broken down into much small pieces and they were able to get some of them out. He has been given more tablets which should hasten the process. The bad news was his arthritis is looking pretty bad. More bad news was received in a letter........our insurance will not cover the cost of his very, very expensive prescription food.

I am sure I have missed stuff out.  I don't seem to have any photos though.  How about one of Alfie the evening he got back from the Vet.  He is still very drugged up.

Here is a  recent one of my 2 gorgeous boys.

Photo blatantly stolen from Coralie's Facebook page!

We had a good few days with my Dad. He saw 4 of his great grandchildren and he enjoyed that. He came and had a cup of tea at the dog rescue kennels and he got to see Jenson the Dalmatian.  He took a walk down to our village church and lit a candle for my Mum.  That seems to have become a regular thing when he visits here.  I'm not sure why as he doesn't do that anywhere else. On Sunday we took him to Leicester to the Fabric Guild.  He has wanted to go for ages. He is really into his sewing now.  He has made me 4 tote bags for the fund raiser for the doggies and also this table runner for me.  He has made a good job of it.

The Fabric Guild was disappointing.  They had a sale on, which was good but they had less than a quarter of the stock that they would normally have.  Also I thought they closed at 2pm and they close at 1pm so we only had about 40 minutes there.  It was a good job that we had combined it with taking Saskia home otherwise it would have been very annoying.  My Dad still thought it was a fantastic place and I still managed to spend lots of money!

We had some good news on Sunday evening.  My niece Carly has just had her first baby.  A little girl named Annabelle Iris. Both are doing well.  My Dad was so thrilled.  He especially liked that she has Iris in her name as that was Mum's name.  He can't wait to see her.  He now has 6 great grandchildren, 3 boys and 3 girls. She is my sisters first grandchild so they are all very excited.

Simon took my Dad home yesterday and he is now back at school so peace and quiet is here again.  I will probably be spending the next few days getting the house back to normal.  It deteriorates rapidly when Simon is on holiday!  I get out of my routine.

Today, I have washing, ironing, cleaning etc, etc. Hopefully I will find some sewing time too.  I have done lots of sewing the last few weeks and will do a show and tell soon.  Right now, I am having a coffee  before hoovering my bedroom.  Our lovely cuddle arm chair is being delivered this morning.

Well my coffee is finished so I suppose it is time to move myself into gear.