Hi Prof,

Hear! Hear!

I couldn't stop reading when I first came across Carol and, in absentia, her lovely Norman. Her honesty and humour are a good recipe for life and I'm sure there are so many others who may have read just a part when they needed a lift, and by golly, they would have got a huge lift. 
 

x

Hiya Carol, 

I want to see that Cinderella, it sounds brilliant.  However, I am impressed  beyond belief that you could sit on the grass! The nearest I get to sitting on the ground, these days, is when I have Bobbin here and the ball we play with goes out of his reach beneath the Tv or coffee table and then I take an age to get on my knees and even longer to get back up again. I made the mistake of taking a bath one day, recently,  when I had been gardening and just needed a soak in a hot sweetly smelling tub. I had forgotten the reason why I rarely bathe is my bath is shorter than I would like. If I want to get my shoulders into the water I have to bend my knees and slide under.  I persevered for a while then thought it wasn't worth staying in any longer and decided to get out! 'Nuff said! I was like a contortionist  trying to get into a position where I could heave myself out of the water! I even considered phoning my daughter to come and help me, but I managed after draining all the water out.  Note to self, get a new bath!  Just to make it clear that I shower!  

I'm glad you enjoyed your stay in Liverpool, it is a lovely city. You certainly sound as though you enjoyed it! Denise and her husband sound great fun, just the kind of people you want to visit.

Enjoy the cooler weather at home. They say the sun is going to come back with a vengeance. I'm going to be baking tomorrow, it was too hot last week.  I've got dog treats to bake, apples to crumble, and a coconut or lemon drizzle cake to make, or maybe both.  
 
Love

Christine xx

Hi Christine, I know what you mean I am now grunting when I bend down, I'm telling myself off for doing it, mind I've only got me to talk to at the moment I'm really struggling after all the company I've had but I must get used to it as winter will be a big challenge for me.  I miss the furry bundle, the daughters and the grandchildren but I'll keep Mum as they've done so much to help and its hundreds of miles to travel.  I did laugh at the bath story, I had to have a full hysterectomy aged 36 years and was stapled together from hip bone to hip bone.  My Mum came round to help me have a bath, I had quite a large house then and it was all thick stone walls and an old fashioned ceramic bath enough to sink a whale in.  Please don't forget me Mum I tell her as she left me soaking.  I should have known, she was a clean freak and I could hear her hoovering up, I shouted and shouted to no avail, I couldn't even sit up and it was December and the water was cooling by the second. We had no heating in the bathroom.  Thirty minutes later she reappears looking so ashamed, Carol I forgot about you, really Mum I replied, shivering and teeth chattering, it's a wonder I didn't catch pneumonia.  I love lemon drizzle cake, it's my favourite.  Night, night.  Carol x 

Hi dear Carol and Christine  ,when we first got married my first job was bathroom everything out including airing cupboard and shower where cupboard was, Brenda thought you had to hold shower head so wasn't keen till i told her leave shower alone and move under it she loved it even a seat if she wanted to use it. Over 45 years later Brenda getting aches and pains so wanted to use bath, getting in ok with me supporting good, getting out not so good she couldn't stand up, bath was in a corner so i couldn't get behind her because of wall so i had get in bath to lift. After a few tries finally got Brenda up and carefully out, didn't use bath again. 

Not long after completely refitted wet room no bath and room for wheelchair and walking frame, Brenda would still like a bath so looking around for walk in one. Not sure where it'll go yet might be back garden. 

Take care all 

Love Billy xxxx 

Dear Billy, a wet room in the garden sounds good!  I'm a little down this week and not sleeping well, horrible dreams, no idea what about but disturbing my sleep.  So this morning I awoke to the bin men reversing up our road and that horrible robot voice, stand clear reversing, stand clear reversing, beep, beep, Malbec the dog next door kept barking which he only does normally when I go to my bin, oh for goodness sake I thought there is no peace at this hour of the morning, so I took my eye mask off and it was ten fifteen, I nearly fell out of bed, no wonder every day life was happening.  I forgot to tell you about Denise and I going to the outdoor Market whilst at hers, we were meandering back in the boiling sun when a bike wheel ran up the back of my heel, Ouch I said, we both turned round ready to confront the vandal and shut our mouths immediately, it was an African nun about six feet tall in her blue and white habit on the biggest bike I've ever seen (she may have brought it with her) she was profusely apologetic and asked if I was hurt, no, no we said the wind knocked out of our sails, I'm fine I said as I hobbled off.  Denise started laughing, only You could get run over by an African nun on a bike in the middle of a market, she knows me well.  Take care, Carol x 

That's an impressive outing, Carol. I used to find driving a good way to unwind.  Cleaning can be therapeutic too... How lovely of you to do that for Lisa! 

My afternoon wasn't so great. I fell asleep and when I woke there was a terrible smell of gas. My friend had been cooking on the sly! Thank goodness he isn't a smoker or we'd have all gone bang. Luckily the window in my bedroom had been half-open, so I quickly opened more windows and went out. The place still smelt when I came back in. He of course couldn't smell anything and insisted on staying in. Guess who's been coughing ever since... It's so tough. He's a big fellow who seems to grow more and more stubborn by the day. Xx

Crikey, that was lucky.  Stubborn people, who needs them!  Norman was stubborn beyond belief but it kept him alive.  How are you doing as I saw your post, life is hard, look after yourself as well.  Xx

Thank you, Carol. I really appreciate your kind words. Thankfully the thunderstorm asthma has vanished and my peak flow and oxygen SATs have improved dramatically. Phew! The asthma is extremely brittle. I did cry a lot after my first counselling session and was an absolute wreck the day after, but somehow managed to bottle things back up. I don't have time to grieve! I also don't want another breakdown. Hallucinating a world in which my childhood friend was still alive wasn't good. Anticipatory grief with the home situation and so much other stuff besides isn't helping. Am still waiting on up-to-date news re daughters – they've gone silent, although I think one of them has started posting on this site. I really need to get myself up to visit next weekend! 

On the homefront, my friend and I no longer eat meals together, his meal-times and sleep patterns are so out of sync, he prefers to eat alone watching TV. I'm noticing he's watching a lot of the same films over and over. He says it's easier. The DVDs he bought for when he retired have been given to me – to watch alone – or the charity shop. We do still manage to go for occasional walks and swimming, but generally he prefers to stay home, doesn't want people visiting... We can't reminisce about the past because – unlike Alzheimer's – he's forgotten it and has no interest in my telling him about it.  Enough of me ... I hope you enjoyed your gin and the meal at Bella Italia. And keep watching those big-screen films! Xx

Forgot to say his cooking was a lot of rotten apples foraged from goodness knows where that were full of horrid little flies. There'll be upset if I throw his haute cuisine away. He didn't eat the last lot he cooked up because they tasted fizzy! xx