Cabin Fever?

After a wet start this morning, it has turned sunny and I was really looking forward to going out as it is my afternoon off when Harry's helper comes to sit with him for a few hours.

However, he rang in sick today so I won't be going out for any length of time after all. This will be the third week of not having the helper, as Christmas Day and New Years Day both happened to be on a Thursday when he wasn't working.

When it's teaming with rain I don't seem to worry. It seems cosy in the house. I get on with my jigsaws, books and other hobbies. However, as soon as the sun starts to shine, I feel really pent up and wish I could get out, stretch my legs and feel the sun on my face.

Well why can't I do that anyway, you may ask?

The simple answer is that Harry has no sense of danger. He acts rather like a naughty child when I'm gone and puts himself in dangerous situations where he would need help to make himself safer. He begs and pleads and assures me that he won't do it again. However, he can't seem to learn by unwise consequences of his actions, so I guess it will always be like this. I can't trust him enough to leave him on his own for more than an hour and even then, he gets into some dangerous situations.

We'er still waiting for the hospital to get in touch with us about his forthcoming tests and possible operation for a shunt but it doesn't seem to be going to happen any time soon.

That's the way it is with our National Health over here. No good getting in a stew about it.

Trouble is, our body clocks are ticking by.......

In the meantime I must be content with my hobbies and try not to get irritable and impatient.

Happy New Year

Hoping you all had a good Christmas. We really enjoyed ours and it seems to have gone by really quickly.

Does everyone wait until twelfth night to take down their decorations? Mine are now beginning to annoy me and I'm itching to start taking them down. At least I'll see the New Year in first.

I'm always a bit twitchy about the start of another year as I wonder what delights it has in store for us this time.

Halfway through this year, I lost an older friend to cancer and just before Christmas my long term blogging pal, Irene died of it too. I am missing both of them very much.

Does anyone make New Year Resolutions?

This morning, one of the Radio Bristol presenters said he was going to speak to everyone he met with a suitable greeting such as "Good Morning".  I thought that was a pretty good idea and thought I might adopt it.

However, as I was walking out this afternoon, I realised that might not be such a good idea as I live in the city and rub shoulders with dozens of people who might think I'd gone potty. I'm going to adapt that idea a bit and speak to at least two people I don't know each day and try to be cheerful to them.

What are you going to do if you've made a New Years Resolution?

Christmas Greetings Everyone.

I've had a very hectic few weeks as we've had to travel 17 miles to a hospital in a neighbouring city so that Harry can be assessed by a neurologist for tests with a view to having a shunt in his head to drain off the excess fluid that is pressing on his brain. This might help him to balance better and improve his quality of life.

He has decided to go for the possible operation and has signed the papers already.

However, in order to qualify for this, he has to have further tests done which might mean an overnight stay in hospital beforehand. However, because we haven't any transport and he cannot get into any vehicle unaided, we have to reply on the NHS ambulance service which does make a very long day when we have to go to these appointments. They are always very kind, though and I don't know what we'd do without them.

The possible operation is a ray of hope for us to cling on to.

I've also been to my granddaughter's nativity play at her school where she had an angel part this time. I really enjoy going to these Christmas activities and I also attended a concert that my daughter in law organised for all her pupils (adults and children) she teaches. They all were very high standard flautists (flute players). Some had not been learning for very long at all. 

Millie, my youngest granddaughter recently did very well in her grade 2 examination. (Well, being a grandmother allows one to brag about the grandchildren, doesn't it?).

I'm looking forward to the Carols By Candlelight Service at Church tomorrow evening. 

 We want to wish you all a very Happy Christmas. We're determined to enjoy ours and look forward to my daughter and grandsons spending a good few days with us over the Christmas period.

Merry Christmas, Peace and Goodwill to all men, women and children.

Dual Carriage (way)?

My two granddaughters are of dual heritage (Anglo/Japanese) and strangely enough, most of their favourite friends over the years are also of mixed race, in various forms. They obviously feel akin to people whose parents come from two different lands, even if it seems to be at a subconscious level.

It really doesn't seem to have bothered them in any way, but as my youngest and her friends are now nearing ten, there are obviously some questions being asked.

My friend, Audrey, recently told me that nine year old, Ruby, who is a beautiful coffee colour, began to ask her, "Mummy, am I black or white?"

Audrey explained in depth about Ruby's mixed heritage and thought, well that was that, as she seemed satisfied with her answer.

However, Ruby was later overheard to be saying something to her sister that included the remark, "......after all, I am dual carriage."

Good Neighbours

Photo copyright: Maggie May

Aren't Spider's webs beautiful? When you come to think about it, they are so cleverly and laboriously made, considering they come from a creature that causes so much distaste and fear, to some, anyway You either love them or hate them, especially if they accidentally brush right across your face when you walk through the garden.

This one was noticed before I loaded my washing on the rotary one early morning when the dew was still on it.

We're still having mild weather and I have roses out in bloom which seems really weird in November.

I have seen on TV the havoc that parts of USA are having with heavy snow falls at present and obviously the weather is really being affected by Global Warming. No one seems to be getting their normal weather anymore.

I have some good neighbours and every bin collection that is due, Karen's husband kindly wheels my whole assortment of bins and recycling boxes out to the pavement on the evening before collection. I also wheel out my other neighbour's bin because he keeps forgetting to empty his. This struck me as rather funny. The one with a bad back having her bins moved to save her from being injured, who then wheels out another neighbour's bin because he keeps muddling up when he has to put it out. Between us, though, everybody seems to be happy. 

Have you got good neighbours?

Ancient and Modern

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

I recently went into our city Cathedral on impulse on one of my Thursday afternoons off. I hadn't been there for a good while and although I had to be careful walking in a dimly lit building because the floor levels seemed quite uneven in places with unexpected steps going up or down, I did feel that the windows were so spectacular and luckily I had my camera with me. 

I'm sure my photos don't do them justice but I was overawed by the magnificence of the large windows in the traditional style of Bible illustrations and I was also taken with this small modern one in a corner that I found by chance.

The whole place had a kind of aura of peace and I felt quite small thinking of all the generations of people who had worshipped there and walked before me.

There were memorial stones underfoot wherever I went and tombstones in recesses.

Do other people have these sensations when they go into a very old building/church/cathedral?

Our weather seems to be really muddled and we have experienced sunny days followed by constant rain. A bad day can follow a good one and then it goes back to the bad. The temperature of each day is very varied too from mild to decidedly chilly. I should think the flora and fauna would be really baffled by it.

I was very moved to see the thousands of ceramic poppies that were put around the Tower of London, in a place that used to be the moat. It was meant to be a sea of blood, to represent the soldiers lost in all the recent wars, from WW1 to the present time. Although I got to see it on TV, I wasn't able to go to London. There were thousands upon thousands of individual poppies that were *planted* there, each one representing a soldier who was killed. Even viewing it on TV gave me a really moving feeling of all the suffering that had been caused in the past and is still being caused through war today.

I think you could still Google the Tower of London poppies if you haven't seen this spectacle that was created by an artist for Armistice day on 11th November.

I am amazed/almost dismayed at the amount of Christmas things that are already filling up the shops. Apart from vaguely totting up whether I shall have enough Christmas cards, I haven't given it much thought.

I have some important Birthdays to get through first.

Is it too soon to be thinking of Christmas?

My Least Favourite.....

I think I can honestly say that November is my least favourite month.

However it started in a really strange way, being unusually warm and sunny.

There was a BBC News announcement yesterday, saying that Halloween was the warmest ever recorded. We were walking around in short sleeves and this was unheard of when I was young and probably in all the years that I can remember and that's quite a few.

I've recently had my daughter and the two grandsons staying for the best part of a week. It was really lovely to have them. The youngest one is now over 6ft tall and almost knocks his head when he goes through the kitchen archway.

Now they have left, it is quiet and Harry and I are getting into our routine again. He loves routine and I suppose it helps me to get everything done in some kind of order. 

I organised the helper to come on Thursday even though I had visitors and I was really pleased that I was taken to Clevedon, a small seaside resort fairly near to Bristol but too far for me to normally go in the allotted time that the sitter is here, in my daughter's car. That was a lovely treat, especially as the weather was so pleasant. I noticed I was not as good at walking as I was when I last went there a couple of years ago. Cranky hip and knee pain and a numb foot slows me down considerably. Oh well, what can you expect at my age?

I thought I would just mention that I'm having a bit of a problem leaving comments on some blogs, so I'm sorry about that. It is mainly when people use Blogger+ and I've decided not to use it. I also find that some other types of blogs won't let me comment either. I wonder if there is some kind of button that some of you haven't pressed to let ordinary bloggers in?

One other of my blogging friends has also noticed this. Have any of you had problems?