Happy Easter

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

Today I am writing this post before my two children and four grandchildren wake up. There is no indication, at present that there are so many people in my house.

Soon it will be a very different story as they get up one by one.

Granddad is the first up. He has already gone downstairs to feed the rabbits.

In the space of just one week, he is such a different person to the suffering man he was last week.

He is not in so much pain now and he seems to be walking much better. Harry is not on strong medication but the first lot of tablets that were prescribed made him feel quite ill. The ones he is taking now, suit him very well.

I am not so scared of him going out by himself and he will soon pop to the newsagent for his paper.

The weather has been just like summer. The temperatures up in the twenties centigrade. Today, we have the possibility of rain, but there is no sign of it so far and the temperature is quite pleasant.

We have had a riot in Bristol that has made the headlines on The National News and in the newspapers..... all to do with a supermarket that was built in an area where the local people did not want it. Well, I wasn't aware of the commotion, though it went on all the night before last

and there must have been the noise of helicopters, sirens and such like passing through. That seems to have calmed down now but there is still strong feeling about the supermarket.

Millie, the youngest grandchild has just got up....... quickly followed by her sister, Amber.

The boys are not so eager to rouse these days. Teens seem to need more sleep and don't go to bed early enough.

I must rescue Granddad. He cannot understand why the whole world doesn't get up at the crack of dawn, though he seems to be struggling to do so himself, these days.

He will be getting the breakfasts for the girls.

Soon, this post will be old hat. However I will not be writing another one this side of Easter. The boys won't be be going home until Sunday.

Schools are on holiday for at least another week and the Royal Wedding on Friday has caused us to have yet another day off...... so the holiday stretches on.

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter.

I will try and catch up with reading blogs and commenting when I get a quiet moment. I am sure there will be some ...... or is that wishful thinking?

The Other Side Of The Door

Photo Copyright:Maggie May

The door of the new year has now been opened and we are getting on with life in 2011.

The Christmas decorations have been taken down and things are slowly getting back to normal.

My daughter is now back home on the east coast and the house seems very quiet.

She rang to say that Rick, who is autistic, was moaning to her that he was homesick.

"What do you mean?" She said, "You are home."

"I miss everyone in Bristol." He replied.

Once they all got over their illnesses, the cousins played very well together in the attic and only emerged when they got hungry.

This morning, I was rather taken back when I saw what they had done up there. The whole room had been rearranged with bedding spread all over the place and they'd made it into little dens.

Oh well...... they did enjoy it.

Its back to school tomorrow for Amber and Millie, in fact Rick and Dean went back today. Its After School Club for me too.

Lily, the rabbit has made a remarkable recovery. I have had to dismantle the small part of the pen she was cooped up in. I thought she might try to injure herself in her quest to jump out. So even though I was advised not to put the two rabbits together, I decided to go with my instincts and my knowledge of my rabbits personalities, and leave them together permanently.

Well, Ash so far, hasn't pulled out her stitches and they seemed so pleased to snuggle together again. It is a joy to watch them.

In fact Lily has been bouncing about in sheer delight. I am sure she has recovered far more quickly because she was part of a bonded pair.

Lets hope the vet was just playing on the side of caution and that I won't live to regret it because the stitches are not due to come out until next week.

Our New Toilet Seat

What depths have I sunk to....... posting pictures of our toilet on the net? I never imagined I would ever do such a thing.

The old seat was very unstable and moved about as we sat on it, though it was in good condition apart from that.

One afternoon, a couple of weeks ago, Harry arrived back from town with the new blue seat and started to replace the other one. He finished the job about five minutes before the girls were due to come back from school.

Sam called in to pick the girls up and saw the seat, adjusted it a bit and then went on to use it.

I went with him to pick the girls up from school, as it is good exercise for me, secretly thinking that I would try out the new toilet seat when I got back. How childish is that?

What happened? The girls saw the new seat and had to try it out. They spent time arguing about who would be first.

So it was well used by the time I got to it.

I think the design is meant to be a rain drop in a pool of water.

Don't you think it looks like a giant eye staring at you?

A bit off putting.

I can't believe what I did this week. On Saturday I received an appointment to go to the hospital to get the result of my recent CT scan. It was right on the time that the children would be needing to be picked up from school. I have cancelled it till the following week.

I decided that, as I was looking after the grandchildren all this week, that I didn't want to know. I can wait till next week what ever the news, good or bad........

I would never have been able to do that before. The suspense would have been too much for me. I wonder is that progress with my anti worrying techniques or is it negligence?

Maybe I am just expecting good news..........

My Grand Children.

Photos copyright: Maggie May

I just loved Millie's colourful collage that I put on the fridge door.

She has settled in her Reception class very well. She especially seems to love Art and English.

The picture at the bottom of the post seems typical of much of her art work. She draws lots of friends holding hands and this picture represents her friendly nature.

She has a thirst for learning that is hard to describe.

Amber is also very good at reading and spelling. I find it hard to imagine her coming to England unable to communicate in English only two years ago. She has many friends and seems to be going to parties regularly. A real little all rounder.

My oldest grandson, Rick (who has autistic spectrum disorder) has now received a statement at school, which will mean that he gets 21 hours a week of extra help. He really needs this help as without it he tends to mess around and doesn't get motivated.

He is fairly intelligent and just needs to be guided, though his social skills are very behind average.

Dean, his younger brother, just loves Sam, my son, who he looks to as the father figure that is lacking in his life. He just won't leave him alone when he comes over from the east coast.

The two boys were here last week and they had such a good time when they all got together. The cousins spent hours on the wii in the attic and were no trouble at all.

I am so proud of all my grandchildren and they give me so much pleasure. Their photos are everywhere about the house.

Past Christmases

Hosted by Cecily and Honey Mommy

Photos copyright: Maggie May

As I have said before, this Christmas will be like no other because I don't know what to expect or how I will feel after chemotherapy. I have to be at the hospital by 8.15 am to start the treatment on Tuesday. My daughter and the grandsons will be here this Sunday and we are hoping to have a chicken roast on Monday just in case I feel too ill to eat over Christmas. I will enjoy a glass of wine with it as I don't suppose I will be allowed to drink or even feel like it from the next day onwards.

So I have been looking through old photos of Christmases past. The younger grandson in the above picture put on two Christmas hats.He must have pinched the second one from his brother. He certainly had a triumphant look on his face.

This one was taken a good few years ago when the oldest granddaughter received a microphone for Christmas and she practiced being a diva for days. She was only here for a short time and had to go back to Japan again after that. It always caused me great distress to say goodbye.

Here she is again showing off....... the same Christmas.

The picture below shows the wonder of Christmas to a small child (same one again) looking at the lights. I think this one was taken when they lived in Japan.

They are flying out to see their other grandparents on Christmas Eve. They will be sadly missed. However when they are here, the other grandparents miss them too, so it seems that one or the other of our families are going to be sad some of the time. Can't be helped.

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

From my point of view, I hope it will be a better one than last year!

I can remember last New Year's Eve (2007), celebrating with my daughter and grandsons, who happened to be holidaying with us. We'd all stayed up late to let in the New Year with a family friend. We'd played games with the children while we sat round the table and drank wine (the children didn't, honestly!)

Little did we know then, that within the coming year, Deb would be left a widow. Just as well we never know what is in store for us. Now I am being a damper...... but it does make you wonder.

Once again, the family have been staying with us over the Christmas holiday and we are about to let in another New Year and we cannot help but be slightly apprehensive about what the year holds for us. 

  

On Boxing Day we went to London Victoria by coach ( a rather bizarre thing to do as Deb was getting quite near to home again and had already travelled across England once, to be with us!) We had backtracked to London to see a musical in the West End, *Joseph* starring Lee Mead.

After the show, which we all enjoyed, Deb had been hoping to get her programme autographed but all she received from Lee, after queuing, was a pre signed photo, which was better than nothing, I suppose. She never got to chat to him, though.

I travelled quite happily back to Victoria by tube train. As long as I have someone with me who knows what they are doing, I don't mind the Tube a bit!

Deb has caught up with a good few "old" friends from school and her nursing training days and we have visited relatives and travelled to The Midlands to see Deb's mother in law, who had been staying with her other son over Christmas. A difficult time for her, as you can imagine.

Rick and Dean, my two grandson's have been great while staying with us and we have been glad of their company. Rick, the oldest who was recently diagnosed with autism, seems to be doing very well and has lost the anger that he displayed after the death of his father. He is much calmer now, and did so much better at school last term, probably because he has a special helper.

Deb and I have been reading some very helpful books on the subject of autism. I have found this to be particularly helpful in trying to understand how my grandson's mind might be working and how confused he must be when I don't understand why he sometimes doesn't respond to me the way I would like him to. I realize that I must find different approaches if I want to make breakthroughs concerning behaviour and understanding what makes him tick. Good progress has been made with those things, during the holiday, though.

One of the hardest things to deal with is the fact that Rick will only eat certain brands of food like bread and the soya milk that he has to have.  If we cannot get hold of a particular brand, he refuses to eat or drink it. (He knows it is different without seeing the container, just by taste). As he is so thin, we cannot just let him go without.

Deb has joined a few organizations and went on some trips with the boys before she came to us and she seems to be building up a better social life now.

One thing that books have taught me is just how diverse this condition is and how different each child is one from another. No easy answers, much of it is to follow instincts and wait and see.

You might be wondering how I am finding time to read these books! Deb brought a few over with her, lent by Rick's school, so obviously I have to read them fast. Every time I have an opportunity, I open up and read some more. I love books anyway and have a whole stack of books waiting to be read that I had as presents!

Our granddaughters, Amber and Millie, and parents, went back to Japan before Christmas, to visit the other grandparents and relatives, who really miss them all. They are due to fly back very soon and sleep off their jet lag before school starts again. 

Anyway....... Happy New Year Folks!

Hoping that 2009 will prove to be a good year for you all and I wish everyone peace.

Things look frightening in the middle east and the credit crunch is making our lives difficult, but surely there is always the possibility of peace in our own lives and this is my wish for you all...... peace.