Saturday 25 February 2017

Update

I continue to be carried along by all your good wishes - I can't tell you how much they help.
,Just to give you an update.    The farmer has had a small hole drilled into his skull and a biopsy taken.
How long it will take for results apparently depends upon what kind of tumour it is.   In the meantime he is home, rather weak and only able to do very little.   Each day he tries to walk a little bit further with the dog and he is now feeding the hens.   He is on reducing doses of steroids and his language has stabilised to some extent so that although he forgets words he is nothing like as bad as he was.    He sends thanks to you all too.

God bless you all for thinking of us.

Thursday 16 February 2017

Thank you

Sincere thanks for your thoughts, prayer and good wishes.   They are helping tremendously.

Friday 10 February 2017

Thank you.

I have just put on my computer for a moment and I find almost ninety lots of wishes, prayers and positive thoughts from all of you around the world.   I just can't thank you enough - the power of blogland - and the knowledge that I have so many virtual friends is so comforting and touching.   Thank you all so much from us both.

Thursday 9 February 2017

The Farmer

For those of you who know, I can't thank you enough for your thoughts and prayers - it does help.   For anyone who has not yet heard = the farmer has a brain tumour.   He has not been well for some weeks and was undergoing tests.   It has now been confirmed that he has a brain tumour.

He has been in James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, where they have looked after him wonderfully.   On Wednesday he came home, with masses of steroids, and we are both due to see the Specialist on Wednesday when we shall know more about what is happening.  

You can imagine we are both totally stunned by the news but are bearing up as well as we can.   I do sincerely thank you all for your group hugs, your thoughts and your prayers.   They are helping.

Saturday 4 February 2017

Coffee morning.

Our Church Coffee Mornings have started up again into the new year.   I am not a church-goer but I always go (the first Saturday in the month) because as I live out of the village it is a good way of seeing one or two friends I might otherwise not see.

There were a lot of villagers there this morning and the usual buzz of conversation - a lovely atmosphere altogether.   A thermos of coffee on each table and a plate of biscuits.   A raffle table, a card stall, a jig saw and book stall - and most delightful of all - a home-made food stall with cakes, pies, marmalades and jams - and delight of delights Ann's Turkey Lasagnes.   She always saves me two which I freeze.   They are delicious and come in handy if I go away for the day and have to leave the farmer his lunch.

 Today I gave friend J a lift home afterwards - she suffers with a bad knee and a bad back - always worse in sharp weather like it is today.   Yesterday when we came home from the market it was ten degrees, today when I arrived home from the coffee morning the dashboard showed a temperature of one degree above freezing.   Quite a change.

Clear skies  - and my goodness how much lighter it is suddenly in the morning and how light it is in the evening - the rooks are not coming home to bed until after five now.   As so many have said in blogland this week - Spring can't be far away now.

Thursday 2 February 2017

Heating.

I am in the process of having Gas Central Heating put into my cottage in the village.   At the moment it is Oil Central Heating (which we have here on the farm, along with an oil-fired Aga) but the boiler is not fully efficient so I decided to change over.   It will be more efficient and - I am assured - cheaper to run. 

The gas has already been brought to the house so now we are waiting for the inside work to be done.  This is scheduled for the week after next and I understand that the weather is scheduled to turn wintry that week - sod's law I suppose.   My son and daughter in law live there and as my daughter in law is in poor health I am quite worried.   Various friends have offered electric appliances and I too have an electric convector heater they can have, and they also have an open fire in the sitting room and an open staircase to upstairs from that room, so perhaps things will not be so very bad.

I was talking to a lady yesterday who does not have central heating - from choice.   She does not care for it being too warm.   Each downstairs room has a fire place and she takes a hot water bottle to bed.   This time of the year we have our heating on from 6am to 10am and from 4pm to 8pm.   In addition we have the Aga going all the time and a woodburner in the living room.   We still have an electric blanket which goes on an hour before we get there and if my feet turn cold in the night I have been known to switch it on for a few minutes then!

Are you a cold person or can you manage with less heat in the winter?   I am sure I have got worse as I have aged - perhaps my blood is thinner.

Although the temperature here (according to the car dashboard) today was nine degrees at lunch time, because it is dull and damp with a sharpish wind blowing, it seemed cold to me.  I suppose that proves that it is all in the mind.   A bit more leaping about would probably warm me up - but you can rest assured that my leaping about days are well and truly over (if they ever began).

Wednesday 1 February 2017

Keeping going.

Nothing like persevering when one feels like not doing something.   I have undergone two very bad night's sleep - in both cases mostly because of cramp in my feet.   And, as I am sure you all know, if you can't sleep then unwelcome thoughts which you hoped to forget while you were asleep, pop into the head to exacerbate the situation.

Today is my exercise class, which I know is very good for me, and I was determined to go.   To that end I went back to bed after tidying round after breakfast.   I awoke several times with foot cramp but did manage two hours, getting up again at half past ten for a shower and to get lunch.

The first half hour of our class is 'top half' of the body and brain exercises and these I found most helpful.   But the second half is done standing up and really, after ten minutes, I was just too tired to continue so I sat down and watched.   In one way it was good in that I was able to watch the rest of the class and it was pleasing to see that I was nowhere near as bad as I thought I was compared with the rest of them.

But I must say that arriving home I had no energy left and was happy to sit by the fire.   It is very much warmer today - ten degrees for a while early afternoon, once the fog had cleared.   But a storm is approaching from the West.   We over here in the East are hoping that it is not quite as bad over here and that, perhaps, it doesn't get so far up the country as here.

It is the first of February today - and I forgot.   It always say 'rabbits' and ceremonially turn the calendar over.   Someone on their blog has just reminded me, so when I sign off I shall have to turn round three times.   Yes, I do still retain some of my belief in these daft old sayings.