Billy, nothing is easy in my life.  Rang Faye again this morning, Alfie hasn't decided yet if he's Coming, Faye has swollen ankles and fingers, massive bites on her legs from Italy and I told her she needs to see a doctor.  I've just been to Tesco to buy enough food for us all and she messaged me in there, doctors appointment at 2pm and Ella has been with a friend whose Mum told Faye when she collected her that her daughter has nits, so it's now a delousing session as well.  I hope she doesn't bring them here I'd be most annoyed if my new bedroom became nit infested!  Tesco still have all the plastic partitions up so you literally have two foot of space to pack the shopping, £80 worth is a lot to fit in such a small space, will we ever go back to normal, it's time we did its all so depressing now.  I know what you mean about medication, remember when Norman came home from hospital, a carrier bag full of meds and no instructions on how to give them, the NHS seriously needs a major shake up, count down on a reply from them regarding my complaints, six days left.  Take care, Carol x 

Hi People,

I am back in the land of the living. I tested negative on Saturday but felt totally worn out so no better until yesterday when I had to get myself organised because I had a dental appointment.  I got a text from my dentist in May saying I needed to come in for a checkup.  I should think I did, they hadn't sent for me for two and a half years! I phoned immediately I received the text and August 2nd was the earliest they could offer me.  Anyway yesterday was the day. My appointment was for 10.10, but for some reason I read it to mean 10 to 10, so it was a mad rush to shower, blow dry my hair, feed and walk Archie to get away for 9.30 to be sure of getting there well before 10 to 10.  Of course while I was sitting in the waiting room watching all the people who were there when I arrived, plus everyone who came in after me, being called in, it dawned on me that I was half an hour early.  I still had to wait an extra fifteen minutes of my life that I'll never get back before I was called in. I was in the chair for less than five minutes. The dentist said there were just a couple of pockets in the gums but apart from a visit to the hygienist to sort them out, everything seemed fine.  I went back to reception to book an appointment with the hygienist and pay my bill, £65!!! for less than five minutes with the dentist and a scale and polish to be booked. I had come out in the morning with shopping lists and orders to pick up a parcel for my daughter, from Next, and I was looking forward to going round a newish Home Bargains that I had heard a lot of good things about, plus I wanted to go to B&M Bargains for bird food and garden stuff.  However, I was offered an appointment for the afternoon, which I accepted because my day was already geared up for dental work. I did the grocery shopping and picked up the parcel but I had to forego the mooching round Home Bargains and B&M because it would have meant leaving Archie for four hours, and then having to leave him immediately again. Anyway, I had my gums prodded and my teeth scaled but was told my teeth were beautifully clean but there were a couple of pockets in the gums at the back where my toothbrush hadn't reached so she would take some X-rays and get me back in three months to keep on top of them. The £65 didn't seem so exorbitant then so I made the appointment for November.

Obviously, as yesterday was the first day I had done anything remotely normal, I was shattered by the time I was done, and I spent the evening alternating between watching something, (I don't know what) on TV and nodding off. I roused myself enough to walk Archie for his last toilet trip and went to bed at 9pm.

This morning I am still in my pj's having been up since 7.30, and I can't get going.
.  
It sounds as though you are paying for sins committed in an earlier life, Carol, so embrace all the disasters, reassured that you are bound for heaven after this one! That's what my mother used to say when faced with problems. It was the 25th Anniversary of her death yesterday, and it would have been my younger brother's 70th birthday if he had lived. He died suddenly about fifteen years ago. I used to have four brothers and a sister but we're down to one brother and sister, now. The brother was what they used to call an afterthought baby, he is fifteen years younger than me.  Nowadays it's very normal for women to have babies in their forties, but my mother was the oldest in her maternity ward by a mile. There were even a couple of young mums who had gone to school with my oldest brother! People used to think he was my baby because I used to take him out with me. My mother used to get annoyed with people thinking she was grandma!

Billy, I hope your meds don't give you any problems now you're back on them. I'm glad you've got Brenda's sorted.  We are really lucky here, our repeat prescription gets emailed to the surgery then sent across to the pharmacy and they are delivered within two days. If the doc prescribes something new, they get delivered the same day. I'm actually a bit scared when I read about the shortage of GP's and that they will have to combine surgeries. There is only the one in our village and if we are combined with another it would mean losing the fabulous service we get at the moment and travelling further to get seen by a doctor. I was asked to fill in a questionnaire recently about the different staff we might see instead of a doctor depending on  condition etc. Also asking what kind of doctor appointments we wanted, face to face, telephone, video or home visit, then, how far we would be prepepared to travel for a face to face!  It bodes I'll for the future of our NHS as we know it.

Carol, I hope you don't have to be "Nitty Nora", I thought nits were a thing of the past. I remember every Friday night kneeling in front of my mother while she sat with a newspaper on her lap and took a fine tooth comb to our hair to make sure we were nit free.  If there was an outbreak at school, she used to soak our heads in something called Suleo to kill any that may have dared to jump on to us. We had to keep that stuff on all weekend, with hair all matted and smelly, until Sunday night when she would wash our hair and do the fine tooth comb thing to get out any corpses or eggs.  I don't remember ever getting nits, but just writing about them has made my head itch! I must have been very young when that happened because I must have revolted when I was old enough to look after my hair, myself.

It's funny what memories crop up when you see or hear something that opens that door in the back of your mind.  I have a neighbour, who is dreadfully ill and totally immobile, but when I go round for a chat we invariably find something the spurs the memory and as we are about the same age, we spend hours laughing at things we did when we were young. He is being pushed to go into a care home as he really needs 24 hour care but is fiercely independent and is fighting it for all he's worth. His main grievance is the cost, he's been quoted £1500 per week, which he is horrified by, because if he lives long enough to empty his bank account he will have to sell the house that he and his wife had always said was their children's inheritance.  I don't think he can stay alone at home much longer, he isn't eating properly and falls so often he could kill himself one of these days. He insists that if that happens, it happens, but I've told him I don't want to go in one day and find him dead on the floor!  I don't say it, but I want to shake his children and tell them to look after him. They visit at the weekend but don't come as often as I think they should I moved in with my parents when they were poorly and I would have stayed as long as they needed me, but they were both gone within two years,  I treasure that two years, it was hard work and restricting, but I felt I had gained more than I lost over that time.

Right, it's 10.30, I need to go shower and face the mess that is my house and garden untouched for two weeks.  How can grass grow so high in such a short time?

Enjoy Faye's visit, Carol and you keep enjoying having the lovely Brenda home again, Billy.

Christine xx

Hi Billy,

Quiet no more! Just wondering how you are doing. I'm hoping having Brenda home is what you both hoped for and you are getting on top of the medication lark. 
Are you feeling ok, now you are back on your meds?

Lots of love to you both,

Christine xx

Hi everybody, had family here so been busy. I'll catch up tonight as all is now quiet and I'm home alone again but not for long as off to Liverpool on Wednesday. Xx

Hi dear Carol and Christine.,another oh oh  ,Brenda's water sample from last week dr said was clear, got phone call yesterday saying there is infection, apparently dr sent it off for double check after saying clear. 

Brenda on antibiotics, 

I asked Brenda how often she was checked, she said couple of times at beginning of stay, she got fed up waiting for nurse to take her so took herself using walking frame or stroller, nobody said anything about it.no more checks. 

I've warned Brenda if she starts being awkward with meds she'll be back in psychiatric ward and she's determined not to go back there. 

Im still waiting to see what happens now back on meds ok yet. 

Carol off gallivanting again,hope you have a lovely time. 

Christine really glad you are back to normal or almost. 

Love to both you lovely ladies and anyone else reading this posting. 

Billy xxxx 

Hey Cheeky,

There's nothing normal about me! 
Sorry to hear Brenda's back on antibiotics, hopefully the thought of going back to hospital will keep her taking the tablets, although, I must say, antibiotics always make me feel worse than the infection did.

 How are you coping with this heat?1 It's a bit too hot for a lot of people but I don't mind it.  The secret is to admit you can't do much in the heat and do whatever you can, like sitting in front of a fan reading a good book, eating home made ice cream. Maybe that's just me!  My car desperately needs washing, it hasn't been given a proper detailing since before lockdown, I think.  My daughter just tells me to take into the car wash, but I prefer to do things myself while I can.  Most of the time we have enough rain to keep it clean with a sponge down, but the hot sun is showing up bits I've neglected. I've got Bobbin for most of the day, so there's no way I can do anything outside because they would want to be outside, too, and yesterday they both got covered in grass seeds and sticky bobs, just from playing in my garden.  It took me half an hour to get them all out.  I will wash it this evening when it is cooler. I even bought a kit I saw in the supermarket that had a collapsible bucket, sponges, a brush and cloths so I wouldn't need the hose pipe, so the intention is there, but you know what they say about good intentions and the road to Hell.

I see Carol has come up to my neck of the woods, I only live an hour away from Liverpool. I was there only a few weeks ago, it's an interesting city!

I'd better go and look for those dogs, they were here a few minutes ago Bobbin at my feet and Archie lying on the marble hearth, but they heard a car door and rushed off to see if it was somebody coming here. Last night when I took Bobbin home, (my daughter isn't very well so I'm keeping him out of her way so she can rest,) Archie disappeared. I already know that if I can't  see him, he's doing something he shouldn't  and that's usually eating but I had already picked up any of Bobbin's snacks for the hearth.  I ran in the kitchen, so sign, ran upstairs and there he was in the bathroom, chowing down on Bobbin's bedtime snack that my daughter leaves there because he is such a fussy eater she worries about him getting hungry in the early hours. The little so and so wouldn't go down the stairs when I told him to, I had to pick him up and launch him on to the first step. They are opposites as far as food is concerned, Bobbin can take it or leave it, and prefers to graze throughout the day, and my daughter is worried that he doesn't get enough nutrition, as he is quite thin, hence the bowls of kibbles she leaves for him.  Archie,on the other hand, lives to eat. When Bobbin is at my house, I have no problem getting him to eat because he knows that if he doesn't get his head in the bowl and finish his meal, Archie will have it.  I actually stand between them at meal times, to make sure Bobbin eats his fill before he moves away as Archie will be in there like an Exocet missile the second he lifts his head. I think Bella and Archie are probably similar in enjoying their food.

Right, that's your reading for the day from me. Bobbin has come back and is lying with his head on my foot, Archie is sitting in the hall as it is cooler than in the living room, which is heating up quite quickly as the sun comes round to the front of the house. I'd better get my shoes on and take them down to the woods. It is way too hot to walk them up the lane as the ground gets too hot for their paws and Archie gets too hot with his big fur coat on. I fasten them in the back of my car on a comfy bed, and Archie just snuggles down when we are going somewhere, but yesterday, because it was so hot, I opened all the windows as I was driving, rather than just use the air conditioner. Every time I looked in the mirror, there was Bobbin, on his hind legs, peering over the back seat, with a big smile on his face, ears blowing in the breeze, watching where he was going. Cute!

Keep well, take care, love to Bren.

Christine xx

Dear Billy and Christine,, guess what I'm now stuck in Liverpool due to rail strike!!  So now coming back tomorrow, hopefully, Denise has made me so welcome, eaten outside every day as its stunning and lots of drink, it runs in the family. So haven't forgotten you both and will have lots to make you laugh when I'm finally home. Carol x 

Dear Carol really glad you got home safely, and plenty of funny stories to tell.

Hope the drinks taste as good as at home. 

Love Billy xxxx 

Hi you two!  So I arrive at the station Wednesday morning, full of hope that I'll see my cousin soon, which platform do I go from I enquire for the 10.17 trans pennine express, oh he says cheerily that's been cancelled, looks at his watch, catch the 10.02 to London, get off at York and someone will help you, I honestly don't even blink now at this type of knock back, the worst thing was losing Norman, a cancelled train is nothing.  So off I hop at York, best smile and you get helped, but it's an hours wait, so coffee and croissant on the platform, not realising I would have to battle pigeons for my fair share!  Anyway an older couple join me, they've missed it as well so we commiserate with each other, platform five it's going from he advises me, off we go dragging our cases, could we find platform five, no, 1 to 4 6 to 11 the signs say but I'm lucky two strangers who travel regularly know where it is.  So it took me five hours to get there.  The weather has been fabulous,  Denise's husband whom I've never spent any time with, and has  a reputation for being a bore and moody was kindness himself, he watched in amazement as Denise and I chatted for hours, reminiscing about our childhood, gosh you two are so alike he says shaking his head. John has auto immune disease and retired aged 35 years, he fell and broke his leg badly after a hip replacement and is in a lot of pain but he came with us for lunch by the canal, all the canals link to Leeds, we laughed as I said we should hire a barge each and sail to meet each other half way.  The ducks floated by, everyone waved from the barges, the trees are like palm trees, I'd forgotten how beautiful the outskirts of Liverpool are.  So Saturday when I was coming back came and went as my train was cancelled again.  We didn't mind, we had a barbecue in the garden, Denise got very drunk, I wasn't far behind but could still speak, I had to put her to bed.  Denise has a house that is in a 1970s time warp.  Everything they have has been handed down by their parents or what they bought 37 years ago when they married.  The kitchen is fifty years old, I opened a cupboard door to find a cup and it nearly came off in my hands, she's decided she needs a new kitchen.  There is still a daffy duck sticker stuck to their bedroom door that they had for their son, he's now 32 years old.  Bob the cat is the love of their lives and apparently hates anyone, he how ever came to me to check me out, I'm very privileged they say in amazement.  All day it's , I wonder where Bob is, haven't seen him for two hours, Bob is so very hot they say, he won't eat, ten o'clock at night Denise cooks him fish so he will eat, John spends all day whistling him in, Bob, Bob, come on boy he shouts.  I struggled not to laugh as the name Bob reminds me of Black Adder when he falls for Bob, who he thinks is a man servant and turns out to be a girl.  So yesterday we set off in time for my train, the area around the station has been cordoned off due to a police incident, off we go following diversion signs, down side streets, ending up in road closed signs, it's now 10.45 and my train leaves at 10.54!  Throw me out I tell them and I'll walk, I made the train by the skin of my teeth, grabbed a seat as one was not booked and heaved a sigh of relief, ten minutes later four very large slightly drunk people get on with a Boom Box, which they then entertain the entire carriage with rap music, normally I'd say something but I'm older and wiser now,  so I moved.  The rest of the journey was fine.  Faye and Lisa said I need to stay home now for a while, for once I agree with them.  Take care both of you, love Carol x