Hello everyone!  I had a busy week at work, but from next week things will improve as our new secretary starts on December 1^st and she will be working each day, so I shall be able to concentrate on my own work.  Also one of our doctor’s who has been off ill for a few months returns next week, so it will mean that we will be back as a full strength team from next week!  It will be amazing too that I can get help with coding and summarising too from the new secretary, as that will mean that it will not be such a daunting task for me to keep up with summarising and coding.  On Friday we all went out for a meal to wish our former colleagues well in their new places.  Our present secretary does not leave till the end of this month, when she will concentrate on looking after her grandson when her daughter, who is a senior houseman in paediatrics, and her husband is a registrar in elderly medicine, are working; of course days change and sometimes she is on nights, so our friend has to be flexible.  The other colleague, who was a receptionist and administration worker, left to be an assistant practice manager at the end of October, so it was good to see her.  We enjoyed a meal at the Bon Appetit in Wetherby; I had garlic mushrooms followed by chicken breast stuffed with goat’s cheese and completed with sticky toffee pudding with ice cream, which was lovely. 

Yesterday morning I delivered letters and newspapers for the Liberal Democrats on a gloomy drizzly day and in the afternoon we went to the Liberal Democrat Christmas Fayre, where I supported the cause, but I agreed with my beloved that it was not very Christmassy occasion.  Unfortunately the weather discouraged many visitors and as it was off the beaten track it did not do as well as it might have in a more prominent position.  When I had nearly finished delivering the letters and newspapers one of my dear neighbours John called me in for an extremely welcome drink, when I had a lovely chat with his delightful wife Betty, who remains a positive person, despite her health problems.  Both she and John are very special people who I truly value, as they have been and are both great encouragers.  Friends like them is what makes life special!

Smiling is infectious

You catch it like the flu

When someone smiled at me today

I started smiling too.

I passed around a corner

And someone saw me grin

When he smiled I realized

I’d passed it on to him.

I thought about the smile

And then realized its worth

A single smile like mine

Could travel round the Earth.

If you feel a smile begin

Don’t leave it undetected

Let’s start an epidemic quick

And get the World infected.

I hope you liked this poem as much as I do.  I love smiling when I meet people, especially as I enjoy walking, and I do often get a responsive smile.  It also makes me feel like smiling more and therefore I feel happy!  Let us all pass on smiles to all we meet, as that is the sort of epidemic worth starting!!

Hello everyone!  I have been busy at work, even being encouraged to go home one evening, as I had been there all day!  I just get absorbed in what I do and time flies, then I think I will just finish this before I leave and so time passes!  I was pleased to catch up with some more patient summaries until my colleague brought another set of new patient notes!  Never mind I am never short of work to do and I do like to be busy.  I did a few letters yesterday as my colleague is taking next week off as she has her grandson all week!  Rather her than me!  I do look forward eventually to being a granny, when my daughter gets around to getting married and having children.  These things take longer nowadays, but for the time being I enjoy indulging my beloved’s great niece, as he only has the one nephew and the one great niece, whereas I have a large number of great nieces and nephews, at least 2 great nephews, and 9 great nieces ranging from about 2 months, Annabel Joy being the latest addition to the family as my niece Marie’s first child to teenagers of up to 16 in my other nieces and nephew’s families.

Today I helped at the Acorn Centre and found myself quite busy helping the students with little time to try and improve some of my skills or be an encouragement to any who were struggling with health issues.  The heavens opened as I set off for home, so I arrived as a drowned rat, and it took me a couple of hours to dry off and warm up from being chilled.  Now after a delicious meal of smoked haddock in cheese sauce served with broccoli, leek, beans and sautéed potatoes I felt much warmer.  Now I am relaxing with my beloved for the evening nice and warm and cosy by our fire; can life get any better?  I think not!  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I have had a good week at work and I had Friday off this week, as the computer course was not on, as it is half term.  It was lovely to relax longer in bed before going shopping yesterday.  Having been informed by the Council that our bush was overhanging the footway, as they called it, I had to chop it back; it was still just over our boundary, so my beloved managed to chop a thick branch from the bush to curtail future growth over the pavement!  What annoyed us a little was that the letter posted to us was addressed to the owner/occupier; we are council tax payers on the electoral role yet they did not address it to us!! 

I also had a walk into town to pick up a prescription yesterday and the weather was lovely during the day, so I enjoyed the walk.  It was lovely to relax and enjoy the evening with my beloved last night. 

This morning I woke up early for some reason but enjoyed relaxing and reading in bed.  I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before I did some more tidying up in the garden and it was good that my beloved was awake earlier than usual, so he joined me in the garden, where he feels most at home.  I treated myself to a massage today, which was lovely and relaxing this afternoon.

We are now having our not so relaxing time together, as we watch the X Factor this evening.  In the first act Joe was not a rock singer, but he sang it sweetly, a cute lad, who will be voted for each week.  I loved Danyl who was slated by the Cheryl and Danni this week, but it has really upset my beloved so he has left me to watch it now.  I hate him feeling this way, but I record it for Cathy; I do understand why he is so fed up, so I will not watch it next week, but just record it.  It is too annoying and I value time with my beloved more than watching it.  Tomorrow I will be able to just record it without watching it.  Lucy did better than last week and Stacey looked more relaxed than last week, but I still love Danyl better than the others.  Jamie is also got at by the other judges, but I do hope this time they don’t put him down; I like his performance, much better than the other acts; on a par with Danyl, in my opinion.  Jamie gave a great performance and I don’t care what the judges say.  I am not enjoying it on my own; I miss my beloved.  I will soon switch it off and just record it without watching it, so I can be with my beloved.

Hello everyone!  The changeable weather continues with pouring rain with the sunshine streaming through it, as the wind blows.  Now I am cosily inside it is good to watch as it changes; a wild autumn day!

I thought I would update you on my views on last night’s X Factor, as we have to watch it to record it for Cathy.  My beloved gets more and more depressed each time he watches it, but yet he feels he must make an effort, as he loves some of the performances, but is often annoyed by the comments of judges, with the exception of Simon, whose comments are usually absolutely right.  We liked Olly’s performance after a slow start; Miss Frank gave definitely their best performance last night and looked great; Jamie gave a very good performance and obviously enjoyed singing with the big band more than he had thought he would; my beloved is one of his friends in his My Space – Jamie Afro site and complemented him on his performance; Danyl was the star of the show last night when he gave an excellent performance in our opinion; Rachel performed brilliantly last night, really showing off her lovely voice and her skill as a performer; she just seemed to react a little over the top to the universal praise of the judges, but maybe she was relieved to have got it right.  I agree with Simon that her hair looked a lot better in that style, much less severe.

Lloyd found the big band experience a little overwhelming and did not rise to the occasion, but he will do fine as he is so cute!  Joe also did not do as well in the big band performance, especially with the dancing!  Stacey looked overdressed and not herself when she sang her song; it was not her best performance, perhaps because after she admitted that though she felt like a princess, she could not breathe or move easily!!  I loved the way her little boy clapped his hands and said ‘Mummy’ when she was on the television.  I love her and her naturalness; she always makes me smile; she is such a ‘sweety’ I feel!  Lucy looked beautiful and sang quite well, but she was obviously not totally in her comfort zone in this week’s big band show, but she did sing quite well.  John and Edward or ‘Jedward’ as coined by the guardian live blog gave a bizarre performance to disguise their inability to sing; I suppose someone will keep them in for yet another week tonight!  I just do not see their appeal, as I just find them annoying and over the top.  It will be interesting and/or frustrating when we see and record the results show for Cathy tonight.

Hello everyone! I have had a busy week at work; I even did some overtime on my day off and managed to sort the remaining patient notes into order. Joy helped me do the finishing touches on Thursday. I did not have time to summarise notes but I did some letters and coding. I enjoyed my work, but I was glad to relax with my beloved when I was home. I went to Bible Study on Monday night, but it was decided only to meet in future for social events as it was getting too much for one lady to come out at night. It seemed to have come to a natural end, although we felt sad; I found the housegroup such a help to get to know people when I joined the church about 3 years ago. Unfortunately there is no suitable group to join at present, but something might come up. I do prefer spending evenings with my beloved than to go out, especially after a long day at work.

Yesterday I spent some time preparing a sermon for next Sunday and have begun to choose hymns. I did not want to leave it till the last minute. I am especially glad that it is well under way, as I will be seeing my best friend Hilary next Wednesday and my sister Janet has invited us to supper next Thursday, which are both events to look forward to. It is always good to see my sister and my best friend, but it just means that I will not have so much time at home.

Yesterday we watched the X Factor, although my beloved is really not keen, especially as there was so much acrimony last week. This week the judges were not quite as judgmental, although Jamie came in for more stick again this week. My beloved and I loved Danyl, Jamie and Ollie's performances. The other acts were rather out of their depth or comfort zone in their performances. Cheryl was very upset about one of her young acts and hoped she had not ruined Lloyd's chances. I am sure he will be fine, as he is as Simon put it, 'so cute'; the girls will certainly keep him in. I am not so sure about Miss Frank, the group or Rachel as they did not perform well this week. Even our lovely Stacey looked very uncomfortable when she performed; we love her as she is so bubbly and natural as she chats about her feelings. Lucy did not do as well as last week either, but it was not the right song for her. I thought Rikki performed better this week, even though Simon was not complimentary. Simon's comments are always the most apt and fair even if some of the finalists thought they were personal comments; he is what makes it worthwhile watching it as far as I am concerned. The worst part is the results show, when the ones we would rather left the show seem to survive, whereas finalists we like leave the show. I am sure that once again John and Edward will survive, although I do not think they deserve to. Young girls will vote for them again I suppose.

I am going into the garden to see if there are anything to tidy up as the garden bin is being emptied tomorrow. It is lovely to relax with my beloved. I have just had a lovely chat with Cathy via Skype for over 40 minutes; Skype is great. This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone! I have had a busy time at work this last week, with a staff meeting on Tuesday and a staff training afternoon on Thursday, which meant I did not have so much time to do my work. I got myself into quite a state on Thursday, when I completed a module and promptly lost it, so I had to do it from the beginning again; I am afraid I got upset, as I thought I would never finish it, and I had so much work to do. The practice nurse was so helpful and encouraging. I am fortunate to work with such lovely people. I will complete it later, when I don't feel so pressurised.

I was rather tired on Thursday evening, so it was a relief to relax with my beloved and watch TV and collapse early into bed. I did my shopping early on Friday, before going to help at the Acorn Centre. On my return home my beloved and I went to our favourite cafe culture for a drink and one of their delicious cheese scones. We had an enjoyable evening together.

This morning I was upset to see that one of my credit cards had not been paid online on September 17^th as we had set up, so I had been charged interest. I went into town to the Halifax bank to sort it out; the young man apologised when he saw it had been paid fine the previous month, but just told me to pay on the machine, which I did. I will not know until Monday that it has been paid, as it will not be paid before then; I hope this time it will be successful. I shall not risk paying on line again. I enjoyed the walk into town and back as it has been a lovely day. I also managed to pop into a local coffee morning which was to raise money for one of the recent natural disasters and took some home baking and a raffle donation. I bought scones for Cathy and her partner, some cream buns for my beloved and some raffle tickets.

I took my beloved for his flu jab, when he was also given his pneuococcal vaccination but decided against the swine flu jab, when it is available. We had a good afternoon with me preparing areas ready for bulbs for my beloved was also planting three varieties of honeysuckle. Now we have been watching the X Factor and relaxing together. This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I have had a good week at work, although I have had to contend with itching from the eczema brought on by the eucalyptus oil used in a treatment I had.  Today it has felt more comfortable at last.  My eyelids settled first, but my neck kept being rubbed by my clothing so remained itchy longer.  I do sound like a wimp I know, so I will not go on about it any more.  A colleague at work suffers much more from eczema, on one occasion her whole body was covered with it, so I am ashamed of my moaning!!  Also my beloved puts up with aches and pains most of the time with little complaint and I moan over a bit of itching!! 

Work was busy as usual with some sadness for me as some valued colleagues are leaving for various reasons, and I shall miss them.  I was so relieved to be told of a reprieve from another considering moving to pastures new, as she rang my beloved to convey the good news that she was staying; I am so fortunate with all the colleagues I work with.  I can’t believe I have been there for well over 3 years now; time passes so quickly when you are having fun.  I am so fortunate to be doing a job I love.

Today at the Acorn Centre I enjoyed helping the students and in between times playing spider solitaire.  I find that relaxing as I don’t play games at home and it unwinds me, as I try to help any students with problems.  It is always a relief that Kath the tutor is there, when I am stumped!!  It is good to be a volunteer helper without having the overall responsibility for courses; I can use the gifts I have of teaching without having to do all the paperwork and measure outcomes.  Oh the joy of volunteering! 

It has been lovely this week not to have to go to any evening meetings so I can enjoy being with my beloved.  It is much more fun watching programs with him, listening to the radio and sharing ideas with him and learning so much from him.  I am so fortunate to share my life with my beloved and have so much to enjoy; I love my beloved’s enthusiasm for our garden birds.  I am so glad he is enjoying making videos of our birds; today a goldfinch feasted on peanuts, whilst six fed on our Niger seed feeder; the grapevine has spread the message of our garden being a good food source to other local goldfinches.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I had a good week at work, although I have not felt 100% since I had my cold.  I feel tired and I just a little run down, but I am relaxing now with my beloved.  I made a couple of apple cakes to take to our harvest service tomorrow for guests for Back to Church Sunday.  After all they are made from apples in our garden, our harvest.  I helped at the Acorn Centre yesterday which was good.  I have sore eyes at the moment, which have not responded to opticrom eye drops, which help me if it is an allergic reaction.  The chemist has given me some optrex to treat them, but suggested I see the doctor, if I still have a problem.  I hope this will clear the problem.

My beloved and I walked together to Waitrose, which was lovely, much more fun to walk together hand in hand.  We seemed to go at a good pace, which was great.  We just needed to buy some gluten free bread for tea tomorrow, as it is Beth’s birthday, and she has to have gluten free products.  I have already got a couple of cakes which will be suitable for her.  It will be good to see her to celebrate.  This last year has gone so fast, I can hardly believe it is almost the end of September.  Time seems to go so much faster nowadays and I feel no different from when I was younger, except perhaps more tired and with less stamina.   

I have just been and collected our latest harvest of blackberries, so I shall make some small blackberry sponges either for the harvest or to freeze.  We are so fortunate to have such abundant produce in our garden.  The apples look more or less ready to harvest now and today is a beautiful warm, sunny and bright September day.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I was able to get to work on Monday despite my cold not clearing, although I was sent home early on Monday, as my practice manager thought I looked awful!  I must admit it was good to rest at home, although my beloved was astonished to see me so early!!  My beloved was really excited as he had managed to capture a juvenile goldfinch on his video camera, as well as getting some good photos.  The video and photos are wonderful and a tribute to my beloved’s patience and the way he chatters to the birds as he potters in the garden.  It was a thrill to see them.

Yesterday I felt a little better, although I always feel totally blocked up when I wake up, even though I have been sleeping more propped up to ease the breathing.  I managed to catch up with the backlog at work, accumulated from my holiday, but did not stay as late as normal, even though there is plenty of work to do, as I was feeling tired.  I also had a meeting last night, which I had to chair, at church; I asked if we could complete the work by 9pm, as I needed to leave then and everyone worked hard to do that, so I was not too late home.  However as I still felt so blocked up this morning, with tender sinuses, I realised I had better go to the doctor.  I have now got some antibiotics to help me clear the infection. 

My beloved treated me to lunch at our local pub today, which was lovely, as my cold has not affected my appetite.  I had a delicious starter of French onion soup, followed by goat’s cheese crêpe served with salad and chips; a more than satisfying meal!  My beloved had a mushroom and blue cheese starter, followed by smoked salmon crêpe, served with chips and salad; it almost proved too much for him, as the meals are very generously proportioned!!  I enjoyed a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, whilst my beloved had a pint of Hobgoblin, which he really enjoyed too.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I walked to church this morning, as the lady I usually give a lift to was not well enough to come, and as is my wont, I have little runs as I walk fast and I tripped and fell!  I fell flat on my face, but amazingly I did not break my glasses or hurt myself badly, I just slightly cut and bruised the right side of my mouth, had a couple of grazes on my right knee, and a cut left toe, but I felt slightly stunned so lay there longer than usual, before leaping to my feet!  A lady driver stopped her car to ask me if I was alright and I thanked her and reassured her.  I was a bit shaken up but otherwise relatively unharmed for which I am very grateful.  I also felt rather silly as you do and imagined my beloved’s reaction which was true to form; I should not have worn open toed sandals, as I most likely tripped over them!!   He knew I would have been doing little runs as I do, so he was not over surprised!  Alls well that ends well!

Hello everyone!  This is just a quick note.  As we said goodbye to Janet and Imogen, I noticed a plant and a mug on the doorstep and realised that they must be a raffle prize from Oatlands Coffee morning.  My sister Janet commented on how lovely the mug was as it was decorated with purple pansies.  It was a lovely surprise; I don’t expect to win raffle prizes, but I just give money to support the cause of the coffee morning.  I always contribute a prize or two.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I had a busy day yesterday, shopping at Sainsbury’s, helping at the Acorn Centre for a couple of hours and baking in the afternoon; I made 2 apple cakes and some blackberry sponges for the coffee morning at Wesley Chapel today.  During the day I don’t feel too bad, but my cold always feels worse in the evening, and last night I felt exhausted and found it more difficult to breathe; of course I had been busy during the day.  Unfortunately I did not sleep as well as normal; in fact I was awake early as it is so difficult to breathe when I am lying down.  I shall have extra pillows tonight to see if that helps.

I got up in good time to organise my things for the coffee mornings, as there was also a coffee morning at my former chapel today to raise money for Scope.  I took round some raffle prizes for Oatlands Coffee morning and some gluten free cakes, as 2 friends there have the same problem as Beth.  I also bought a couple of raffle tickets, and some scones for Cathy’s partner Ken, as he is partial to scones.  I then returned home and collected the baking to take to town for the Wesley Coffee morning, which is raising money for Nigerian health projects, which we support as a church.  I also bought one or two things to support them, before returning home.

I drove part way down to save time, as I knew that my sister Janet was coming at 11am with one of her granddaughters, Imogen and I did not want to be late.  She arrived more or less on the dot with her.  As it is a beautiful warm and sunny day today we decided to sit in the garden.  My beloved made us some proper coffee and I brought out some chocolate biscuits I had made for them.  Imogen decided to have some milk to drink and really enjoyed the chocolate biscuits; Janet allowed her to have another biscuit, after she spelt out to me not to bring any M O R E out!!  It is rather a temptation for a child, I realise.  I asked Imogen if she would like to see more of the garden and she was happy to come and look.  She was interested to see the apple trees, so I asked her if she had any apple trees at home, but she said she did not have any, ‘zero’, she added.  I asked her if she had any fruit in her garden and she told me that she had grown some strawberries, which were juicier than the ones in the shops.  She then noticed the blackberries and was interested in picking some, so we went inside to find a bowl.  She was really enthusiastic as we set off in search of ripe berries; she was aware of how they were green, turning red, before being finally ripe when they were black.  I was careful to warn her about the thorns, as I have scratches all over my arms, caused by picking blackberries, but she managed very well, only getting an odd scratch.  She said that was because she was so small.  She had such sharp eyes to spot ripe blackberries, some of which she could reach, but others were for me to reach.  At one point there were some out of my reach but she suggested we go to the other side and that I could get them if I caught hold of a leaf to pull the branch down!!  She does not easily give up; in fact we soon had 2 bowls of blackberries for them to take with them.  She was not keen on sitting down, preferring rather to go on a berry hunt and kept calling ‘Helen!’ It was so much fun and every so often she gave lovely chuckles.  She is a delight!  It was difficult for Janet to get her ready to leave with her, as she was captivated by our garden and her blackberry quest.  As we picked some blackberries she could see some were still too red to eat and happily discarded those.  On a walk down the garden with my beloved she saw many blackberries which were really high up, but she suggested that she could hold the ladder, whilst my beloved climbed up to reach them!  My beloved pointed out that they would still be too high to reach even from a ladder; she is certainly an enterprising five year old!  The time passed very quickly.  My beloved has taken some lovely video clips of Imogen, Janet and me.  He also took some photos, one of which really captured her delight in the blackberry hunt!  As they left, Imogen said again how much she had enjoyed picking the blackberries.

Hello everyone!  On Tuesday evening my beloved suddenly noticed that one of our large fantails, Goldie, was nowhere to be seen.  He looked everywhere even sweeping his net along behind the rock, but to no avail.  I went out for a meeting and forgot that Goldie had vanished.  My beloved told me as soon as I arrived home, that he had taken the rock out, even turning it upside down and draining the water out, and cleaned the floor of the aquarium, without seeing Goldie, a large bright gold fantail!  He was extremely puzzled by that, so prior to putting the rock back in the aquarium, he shook it and out plopped a somewhat dead looking Goldie; he had been stuck in the rock!!  I had noticed he had lost weight, so perhaps he had tried to swim through the rock.  My beloved noticed that the gills were moving, so he took it up to our isolation tank, and added tonic salt, bacteria and some medicine to the water, as emergency measures to help him.  He languished on the bottom for a few days hardly moving for food, in fact my beloved thought it might be kinder to put him out of his misery.  Yesterday he began to struggle up for food, before returning to the bottom, but at least he was more upright at the bottom.  This morning when I brought my beloved a cup of coffee, he was very excited as Goldie was looking for food in the gravel.  My beloved added some more food. This lunch time Goldie was swimming up and devouring the food, he is now swimming around, more; we will complete his treatment before attempting to restore him to his companions in the large fish tank.  Miracles do happen sometimes!

Hello everyone!  Yesterday I had my day off but I felt rather under par.  I woke with a sore throat, but I had several newspapers to deliver for the Liberal Democrats, so I did that in the morning.  Fortunately it was a fine morning with even some sunshine and it was warm, when I delivered the newspapers.  Afterwards I felt quite tired and had a lie down for about ½ an hour and felt a little revived.  My beloved prepared a delicious lunch of stir fried salmon, peppers, home grown tomatoes, and mushrooms served with jacket potatoes.  There were a large number of blackberries ready to pick, so I filled 3 small containers and then rested again.  I felt rather a wimp but my beloved was very supportive.  I did not even want to read, but I sat and made some crumble mix, so I could make some individual blackberry crumbles; there are 2 coffee mornings on Saturday which I am preparing for.  I managed to cope, as I took some paracetamol, but was careful not to have too many doses.  I still felt shattered and had to rest which is unlike me, especially as I had only just had a holiday!  I had had a meeting on Tuesday evening which went on till after 10 pm, so that probably did not help.  I kept resting as I had a local preacher’s meeting, but I agreed with my beloved that it would be more sensible to rest and give my apologies for the meeting.  I was relieved as I just had to rest that evening and went to bed not long after 9 pm! 

After a good night’s sleep I realise that I am full of cold, but it is not anything worse, especially as I rested so much yesterday.  I had a quite good day at work, considering that I could not work as efficiently as I normally can.  I have made progress and nearly caught up with the backlog at work after my holiday.   I am glad now to be relaxing with my beloved.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  It is lovely to be home again, especially as my beloved is so much more relaxed.  On Thursday evening we did some shopping at Sainsbury’s to replenish stocks, so I could relax in bed on Friday morning.  It was good to take the day in a leisurely fashion, especially as my beloved was so relaxed and happy.  On Saturday it was another slow start with me catching up with some Methodist Recorders I had not properly read and making notes on the Methodist Conference for members of our Executive Group, which meets on Tuesday. 

On Saturday evening we went over to St Mark’s Church for the farewell of the vicar, who had married us nearly 10 years ago, who had been so supportive to Malcolm when his mother had her stroke in 1998, and who had been so helpful to Stephen in his final crisis in 1998.  We enjoyed a hog roast, a band which performed hits such as, ‘Will you still love me tomorrow?’ ‘You’ve got a friend’ and a Beatles medley including my favourite, ‘I wanna hold your hand’, sung in a true rock way.  This was followed by a contrasting male harmony group, who sang some serious and some fun songs; and my beloved managed to stay for over an hour, before we set off for home.  It is good to be home together.

Wednesday September 2^nd Evening

We arrived at about 5pm at Kathleen’s and it was good to spend time with her.  She prepared a delicious beef casserole, where the beef melted in our mouths, served with fried potatoes, beans and cabbage; it was certainly ‘morish’ and I had a second helping!!  The pudding was a lovely pie with proper custard, which was most enjoyable and I had a second helping.  The meal was complimented by the chardonnay we shared and completed with cheese and biscuits.  We ended with coffee with fudge or chocolate.  It was lovely to see Kathleen and have some good chats with her.  She has let me have an ornamental gypsy caravan, which I have wanted for some time, as it reminds me of my father.  I remember it from childhood on the mantelpiece of his study and it is a thrill to have it now on our mantelpiece.   It may be a little worn but it will always be special to me.  I am so thrilled and grateful to have it.

Wednesday was my beloved’s best day since we had gone away, and he felt much more himself after our meal with Kathleen, and maybe also because he knew would be going home the next day.  It was so good to be able to see Kathleen in Liverpool.

Wednesday September 2^nd

My beloved felt a little better when he woke up, but this time we were cautious, as we wanted to be careful with his dodgy tummy and his stress levels.  He managed to eat breakfast again after having a swift shower; he could not relax in the shower as he does at home as he did not have a shower seat.  He then rested in our room as we knew he knew had to pace himself better.  We went for a walk along the attractive tree lined dual carriageway for about 20 minutes and this time only I bought a sandwich, so he would be able to enjoy our meal with Kathleen later on.  We rested and listened to the radio relaxed and were ready to see Kathleen for an evening meal.