Christmas Crafting for Distraction....

With such dark days now upon us, both weatherwise and with the state of the world, I need a distraction otherwise I feel I will go under.  I refuse to call it depression but it's hard to find joy in the day right now.  As always, my crafting helps to take my mind onto safer ground and I have tried to keep up with my weekly card makes for the Hospice.  On Friday I took 45 cards to the shop, including 40 Christmas ones, samples below......

 This takes my total donated for this year up to 449.  I might not manage the target of 500 which I set myself, but should come fairly close, hopefully.

I took a box of biscuits in for the staff and volunteers to have with their coffee too 😋

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A grateful thank you goes to everyone who commented on my last post.  It certainly helps me if I write everything down and kind responses make me feel that all is not lost.  Thank you so much, Kirsten, for your offer of contact.  I might take it up at some point in the future. It's just that I feel overwhelmed at the moment.

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Thanks so much for popping in.  Do stay safe and well wherever you are in this crazy world,

Angie 💗

Bad News and Not So Bad News.....

 

Good morning everyone.  Happy Sunday from the UK

We have been pretty full-on here since I last wrote a post.  There have been myriad hospital visits and consultations culminating in yet another diagnosis  for Gray.  His cough is the result if Interstitial Lung Disease with Pulmonary Fibrosis.  His lung function is down to 68% and the consultant also suspects sleep apnoea as well as a heart murmur.  He never does anything by halves, does he.  He has another appointment at the end of the month for 'sleep study' which might involve wearing a finger device to check his breathing during the night, followed by an oxygen device to wear at night (assuming he does actually have sleep apnoea) then tests for heart, more breathing tests and a 6 week 'breathing class' to improve lung strength.  His condition carries a prognosis of 3-5 years depending on speed of progression.  There are drugs to slow down progression but they have pretty horrendous side effects so he's hoping to help himself to stave off the inevitable.  We are eating well and walking a little more. although he does get very breathless.

It looks like we will have to give up the allotment at the end of 2026 and just concentrate on growing more in pots at home.....

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Today (Sunday) is my 77th birthday!

I began the day with a hospital appointment at 9am...yes...on a Sunday!  I took a phone call on Friday to ask if I could attend and I grabbed it as I've been on the waiting list since 11th February.  It turns out that my sore patch on the scalp is Basal Cell Carcinoma 😖(skin cancer)

Luckily, I didn't have time to worry about it as the Dr, a lovely lady, could treat it there and then with a freezing spray, the kind they use on Verrucas 😏 Apparently, it will burn off the problem area and scab over.  I need to go back in 8 weeks to check it and any area left can be treated with chemotherapy cream to finish it off.

I've also seen a physio for my sore, stiff back and the pins and needles in my left leg.  She basically said that it's down to the aging process but has given me a sheet of exercises to try to keep my back and hips mobile.  I can go back in 6-8 weeks "if I want to" !!

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Thank you so much for popping in again.  Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be in this worrying world.  You are ALL precious 💗

Angie 💗

Rain, Repairs and Glamour at the Cinema......

At 8.15am this morning (Wednesday), after quite a warm night, I woke to the patter of rain on the roof and the fresh smell of a rain washed street.  I opened the bedroom window to let in the air and it was lovely. Now...... breathe..... 😊

You might have noticed the bottle of Versace eau de toilette on my little tray.  No....I haven't won on the premium bonds 😁the bottle has been partly used and was given to me by my daughter recently.  She passes on all the designer perfumes that she no longer wants to me.  It's the only way I can try them and I'm more than happy to take them off her hands 😉 AND it's a bonus that it matches the pink and green of my bedroom.....

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For a long time now we have advocated the Re-use, Repair, Recycle mantra.  Last week my headphones broke.  I actually sat on them which did them no good at all 😟and Gray repaired them with tape.  Jack Duckworth's glasses spring to mind (UK Coronation Street joke) but, at least I don't have to put my glasses on now to find out which side is left and which is right!

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Yesterday, I bought tickets for the Odeon Silvers' showing of The Devil Wears Prada 2.  They cost £1.80 each for the film, coffee and a wrapped biscuit.  We took our sandwiches to eat in the cinema because the seats are luxury ones with a little attached tray and a dip to place your cup in.  Luxury eh?

My attempt at photography fell somewhat short of perfection.......

........so I put the flash on.  Not a very good idea I think!!.... 😁😅

 

The film was OK, full of the glamour of the fashion industry but Gray fell asleep half way through, so obviously not very gripping!

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Today we took sandwiches to the local garden nursery, bought cups of tea and ate our picnic in the car.  The air was fresh and clean, and did us both good.  Gray is still suffering with a head cold and actually fell asleep in the car after lunch.  It did him a power of good and he awoke refreshed, ready to drive home.  I don't think he'll be having his flu and covid jabs on Sunday as it's too close to him having a cold.  

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Thanks for popping in.  Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Busy, busy, busy.....

Spring 2026

It's been a very busy couple of weeks here, what with hospital appointments and surgery visits etc.  It always takes such a long time to get to the hospital and then factoring in the queuing to park and the waiting to be seen, it seems to take all day.  The upshot is that they can do no more for Graham's neck/ spinal problem and are referring him back to the last Doctor he saw at a different hospital.  He also has an appointment at yet another hospital next month for his chest problem.  His cough is getting much worse and, to make matters worse, he now feels he's coming down with a cold.  As we are both due to have flu and covid jabs next Sunday, now is not the ideal time to have a cold, is it.....😕

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The garden has been tidied as best we can over the last couple of weeks and the allotment produce is coming to an end.  We still have parsnips and a final crop of carrots in tubs, but the rest of the beds have been cleared and weeded ready to cover them for the Winter.  The last of the Butternut squash has been harvested; 14 in all. Although some have been given away to friends and family, we still have enough stored in the garage to last a wee while.  I will chop and freeze some for making soups and stews because I don't want to make the same mistake as last year and let the last two squash spoil when the weather gets really cold and damp.

The few apples we got from the Bramley apple tree have been stewed and frozen for crumbles, alongside some gifted blackberries and the last of the rhubarb.  It will soon be crumble and custard weather! 😉

In the garden greenhouse, there are just two peppers left to pick.  One is valiantly struggling to ripen but the second one is still green.  I might have to give up and pick them both anyway, just so that Gray can begin to clean the greenhouse ready for overwintering some of his plants.  The green pepper can be chopped and frozen for stir-fry as it will not be as sweet as the ripened one.

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The weather is quite cold this morning.  It's drizzling with rain and it feels chilly in the house.  The monitor displays 20.5C which isn't too bad, but it feels much colder than that.  We've been spoiled with all the heat we've had this Summer 😎

What's the weather like in your part of the world?

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Thanks so much for popping in and being patient.

Stay safe wherever in the world you happen to be.

Angie 💗

A Village Show, Happy Conversation & All Round Champion Day!

Saturday turned into the perfect day for the village show; cool and dry.  We placed our entries early morning, took a quick peek at the competition and went home for lunch.  The show opened at 2.15pm and there was a fantastic turnout.  With the weather having been dreadful all Summer regarding growth conditions, we didn't expect there to be so many entries!  The baskets were fabulous.....

 

I scored a third prize for my unframed photo of wildflowers (taken at the allotment a few weeks ago).......

...... a second prize for one of my card entries (no prize for guessing it was a 'knitting' card!).....

Graham scored a second prize in the succulent section.  It was a cutting which I bought at the Guild plant sale two years ago and Graham has nurtured it for me ever since 😁 It has developed 3 off shoots and looks very healthy.  It must have enjoyed our very hot Summer this year.....

Only first prize winners could claim the massive £2 prize 😂 so no money was involved, but it was very satisfying to win nonetheless.

Our reward to ourselves was coffee and homemade cake.  It cost a mere £4 for three slices of cake and two lovely coffees which we enjoyed sitting under the awning enjoying the fresh air.  Oh...and it was Graham's plate with 2 slices of cake on.... not mine !

I took £12 with me in change to spend on raffle tickets and the tombola, and we will know in the November meeting how much money was raised for the Guild.

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When I was retrieving my entries at the end of the show, I got into a conversation with three lovely ladies who were admiring the 'knitting' card.  I explained that it was me who had made it and that I made them for the Hospice shop.  To cut a long story short I offered to give the winning entry to one of the ladies.  She refused to take it for free and insisted on giving me £2.  I've put the money into my jar to use for future supplies and the ladies are going to pay a visit to the shop to see what other cards there are. 

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Thanks so much for popping in.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie💗

Apology, TV and Book-y Mojo!

 I always seem to be apologising lately, but I really am sorry to have been missing once again from blogland.  I'm having trouble using my phone to upload photos and have no other way to add them to my blog.  My phone is far too fiddly to write a blog post on as well so I've fallen by the wayside.  In addition, every update on the PC seems to change the way I have to do things and, quite frankly, I'm struggling with it all.  I really don't like change 😕

Anyway, with the weather cooling nicely over the last couple of weeks we did manage a trip to Dudmaston Hall using a free National Trust entry voucher.  It was a beautiful day.  We enjoyed a good walk, a cappuccino and a browse around the second hand books.....

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I have never really complained about paying the BBC licence fee as we watch a lot of BBC dramas, and feel that we, personally, get value for money.  However..... when I went onto iPlayer to find something to watch this week, I got this very unsettling message.....

....... From 31st October our Humax box will cease to work and we won't have access to iPlayer 😱  To say that I don't get along with new technology is a gross understatement, so what this actually means for us is beyond me.  Does it mean we need to buy a more up to date TV?  Is it all to do with paying for a streaming service?  Heaven knows.  I will have to let Gray investigate.

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Now that the weather is much better, cooler and with rain on a regular basis, I have got my reading mojo back.  I spotted this title in Sainsbury's, liked the look of it, and ordered it from the library.  I LOVE it! It's right up my street and I think my blog buddy, Gill, would love it too......

Gill introduced me to Lorna Cook and Amanda James so I'm looking out for more of their books.  Isn't it lovely to find a 'new to me' author and have a good binge read 😊

I've tried to add more book-y photos on here but blogger is just not playing ball.  However, last week my neighbour loaned me It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover.  Although it was not my usual genre, and I did feel a bit uncomfortable reading parts of it, I persisted and found it to be rather good with a satisfying ending.  I believe it's been made into a film but I don't think it's one I will really want to watch. 

Has anyone read it? What did you think of it?

This morning I've had an email from the library to say that the latest Rob Rinder book which I ordered is ready for collection.  I'm looking forward to that one!

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On Saturday it will be the village 78th Annual Show which is organised by the Horticultural Guild and Flower Club.  The weather forecast is looking reasonable and we are looking forward to it.  We are both entering a few things 😊

I'm entering some cards and photos into the craft section and Gray is hoping to enter a couple of things into the plants and veg sections.  Unfortunately this year, the weather has created havoc with the growing season and lots of our produce has already 'gone over' so we have very little of exhibition quality produce.  It's just a bit of fun anyway so we're not too worried and just want to support the event.  I'll let you know how we get on 😊

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I've still been struggling with back pain and can't sit for more than 30 minutes at a time, but have managed to make another 20 cards for the Hospice shop over the last 2 weeks.  This makes 360 this year so far 👍

Thanks for popping in.  Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Feeling Blessed, Feeling Cool, Rain at Last!

 Today, Tuesday, I feel truly blessed.  It's 21C and feels so much cooler that I feel more like myself at last.  We had rain overnight, from midnight onwards according to Gray who lay in bed listening to it fall, and it's put a few inches of precious water into our water butts. 

Yesterday, we went to the allotment to pull some carrots....

..... and this morning I picked cucumbers and peppers from our little greenhouse at home. The single tomato is from the Crimson Crush plant.  We've never grown it before and won't bother again because all the fruit has split or remained 'greenback' despite consistent watering.  They are only useful for cooking with.....

 

The second reason for feeling blessed is that the fridge is full to bursting!  There are so many bits and pieces to use up that I won't be placing a grocery order next week, at least until we've eaten all the bits and I can actually see some gaps! It really needs a good sort out, doesn't it. Everything in the box at the bottom is home grown produce and in the left hand corner of the bottom shelf is a bag of 6 corn cobs.  Yes!  We beat the badgers to the corn this year!  There are still some to ripen on the far side of the bed in the top photo, which we are hoping will still be there in a few days.  We've tried one cob and it was delicious......

There are jams and pickles in the door along with some cheeses and I'm aiming to use up some of the jam so that I can give the jars to Andrea Drury when Howard's lectures begin again in September.  She makes lovely jams and marmalades to sell at the lectures for the McMillan Nurses charity......

I began the day with muesli, homegrown raspberries and a dollop of Greek style yogurt.  A perfect start to the day 😋......

Another reason to feel blessed is that in an hour or so our Daughter and Granddaughter are coming for lunch.  There will be sausage buns with home grown onions gently sauteed to a golden goodness 👍

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Thanks so much for popping in.

How are you feeling today?

Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗