Hi and welcome to the forum which I hope you will find supportive.  My story is more that of my late husband as I joined when he was diagnosed and the support of the forum for nearly three years during his illness helped me considerably.  Since he passed away in January 2015  the virtual friends I made here continue to chat and show me kindness just by listening to me rabbit on!!

You are more than welcome to post on my thread but it may also be worth starting a thread of your own and perhaps mentioning the kind of cancer you have in the title.  This way others who may relate to your own personal journey can respond and I am sure there are many who will definitely understand the sleepless nights along with all the emotions you go through as you undergo treatment and wish you all the best with your treatment plan and hope you have family and friends who can also be there for a support network. Jules

Hi Brian

Glad Mrs B is feeling more like herself but hope she does not overdo it too quickly as she would not want to be back in hospital again.  Fingers crossed with you sharing the chores (when allowed) all will be well when she has her check up next week and with your practise runs with the washing machine it is all sounding good ha ha.  I wish I could show you the video my son sent of 21mth old Darcey emptying the washing machine and then filling the tumble dryer ..............she loves to help!!!

I have been out most of today as the toilet has been out of commision whilst the tiling gets done.  They will re-connect overnight and then it's out again tomorrow whilst they do the flooring tiles/grouting.  I am meeting a friend in town tomorrow so will have use of public loos ha ha. Finally when the tiling is finished then the new amenities will be connected so has not  been too bad at all.

This morning I went to the garden centre and had a coffee stop plus stocked up on   suet pellets whilst reduced as well as a pack of fat balls so should be okay now until the next 20% off weekend.  Feeders have had their weekly wash and brush up and now refilled in case the promised cold weekend takes hold.  So far it has just been a heavy showers kind of afternoon,  I also bought  some Summer tubers to go in a hanging basket but will not plant up just yet.

Take care of yourself  as well as Mrs B as all that 'woman's work' can be tiring!!  (probably not a fashiionable choice of words ha ha).

Best regards to you all. Jules

Good morning Jules.  

It has been snowing here since about 9.00 am but is not laying. Wind is very cold though

Hope work is soon finished so you can enjoy the new bathroom.Hope you also enjoy you day out with your friend. 

Mrs B is someone who likes sticking to a routine so is pleased to be able to get back to near normal. The bottoms of my shoes nearly caught fire trying to hald her back yesterday despite me offering to help. I suppose, no one does it as well as you can yourself at the end of the day. Its so nice to have her back home. I have had several of my wood club friends phone/e-mail to see how she is which was nic of them. 

I have also started yet another story and have written eight pages so far. Its about a retired bomb disposal man who gets called in to deal with an unexploded bomb found in the small local harbour after a bad storm and he meets with a woman who runs a local resturant and is set in the west country. Am enjoying writting it.

Snow is falling a lot harder now and is starting to lay. 

Take care of your self and I wish you a relaxing Sunday, Brian

Hi Brian

Not too much snow here and now starting to thaw a bit.  Have been in the garden and sorted the birds out and had a good view of next door's huge pond (wind ripped out an already loose fence panel) and their duck visitors.

Just waiting for the Tiler to check the bathroom flooring and pick up his gear then off out for my walk to the Famrs/Artisan's Market.  Maybe a hot bowl of soup awaits ha ha!!

Glad MrsB now okay and if  you do live to a routine (my Mum always did which is probably why I dont!!) then it is hard when disrupted no matter how well others do with helping out.

Stay safe and warm and would appear to be the ideal reason to continue writing your new story. When will we see your words in print somewhere?   You have so much patience and obviously enjoy your storytelling so would be lovely for others to see the end results.

Hope you both have a peaceful Sunday and that the family are all ok. Jules

Good morning Jules,

Your mention of the bird feeders reminded me of what happened this morning Mrs B had put more water out for the birds as the other lot was frozen solid. A starling landed on Mrs B's bird table and went for a drink He gulped a beakful down and suddenly shook his head vigorously as much as to say, "Flipping heck,,,,,,,,,, That water was cold" then flew oiff as if he didnt want anymore of that. I couldnt help but laugh at its reaction. 

Have got to take Mrs B back to the hospital on Monday for a check up. She has now got her diabetes under control again thank goodness. She is still feeling a bit weak and tired I told her it has taken a lot out of her and she needs a few days to recover.

Take care on your walk out today and enjoy your soup. Sending best wishes to you and your family, Brian.

Hi All, very cold in cheshre but a fantastic sky had 3 good walks with RIA and fed about 150 gulls must be bad on the coast  our local fields are full of gulls .Aldi shopping tues need some bird feed and perhaps a bottle of highland earl .Regards for now keep warm ,george .

Hi Brian

I do hope that Mrs B's check up yesterday went well though bet you were both glad to be back in the warm afterwards.  It was quite a chilly day here but remained dry so after going to the gym I was able to go on  my walk to the Farmers' market and came home with some lovely freshly baked artisan bread and local cheese.....needless to say not  exactly a healthy eating day ha ha.  I know the weight will be up a little when I have my assessment later today but in this colder weather it is a lot harder to 'be good'!!

Just waiting for the workforce to arrive and then will go down and visit Mum.  Thankfully the  tiling in the bathroom is now complete (he worked all weekend) so the plumbers are back today to continue.  Who knows by the end of this week some normality may well have returned.  Both the plumber and the tiler went to school with my daughter  so have had a few trips down memory lane as well as catching up with their growing family news over the past  15 yrs or so.Made me feel my age I can tell you.

Best regards to you both.  Jules 

Hi George

Yes pretty chilly over the last few days in Middlesex too and still have a tiny amount of snow lying in the garden but with temperatures on the rise agan no doubt that will go today.  We get a few gulls round here but they do not drop into my garden (yet!!).   With a 'lido' just a couple of miles away they make that home, more so in the winter months.

It is wonderful that  you and little rascal Ria are enjoying your walks and the wildlife.  I am visiting Mum this morning and  having coffee with a friend after lunch which will keep me out of the way of the workmen before doing my two day work shifts Wed/Thurs. 

Enjoy your tipple after the Aldi trip. It will warm the 'cockles of your heart' my forum friend.  Jules

Hi Jules,Busy time comming, up at our local hospital tues have had a problem in the bowel for weeks it as taken 6 weeks to get a app but it looks like the right man ,and whyenshawe is the best place for me I have had 5 operations in there over 20 years .Not going to be a  nice time for anne she is more worried than I am .Sons Mrs is taking me and will stay with me all the time .As for today had two great warks with RIA and dinner with our eldest Beverley .Regards for now .george .

Hi George

Hope Tuesday's hospital trip goes well for you.  The waiting period gives Ann more time to build her concern though I am sure she is used to you taking it in your stride bless you both.  Hope Beverly is keeping okay too.Do let us all know how you get on if you get a moment between your strolls with ever faithful RIA. Enjoy your weekend.  Jules

Hi George

Hope Tuesday's hospital trip goes well for you.  The waiting period gives Ann more time to build her concern though I am sure she is used to you taking it in your stride bless you both.  Hope Beverly is keeping okay too.Do let us all know how you get on if you get a moment between your strolls with ever faithful RIA. Enjoy your weekend.  Jules

Hi Jules, 

Hope you enjoyed your weekend and that your renovations are soon finnished. Something to look forward to.

Have had a busy day. First thing took Mrs B to sugery for another blood test. Then fired up my older back-up laptop and found there was a queue of updates waiting Have been working on this on and off all day and still only the first one going through. Have mowed the front and back lawns. the front was easy but the back one was so wet it made it very hard work. Have also boiled a load more chips ready for freezing. I spray then with oil then put them in a big freezer bag. They cook very nicely in the air fryer. Have also done my frozen chestnut in there and they were the best I have had yet. Also this evening will start work on a 40 page A4 folder as I am putting a load of wood club photos in there so we can take this to our shows to show people the variety of work that our members undertake. Plus did the hoovering for Mrs B.

We do have a nice display of primroses in our back garden curtesy of our local birds. Plus our new fortsythia is coming into bloom. The lilac in the front garden is alsoin bud now and the leaves on the cherry tree are also just opening up. Spring must be nearly here. 

Hope your visit to your mother goes well tommorrow. Also your visit to the gym.

Take care, sending kind thoughts to you and your family, Brian.

Hi Brian,

You have been a vey busy boy the last few days. I too managed several hours in the garden over the weekend and lawn is mowed/edged and borders weeded. I also moved one of my bird's feeding stations.  The daffs are still coming through and the front garden has a good show of the miniature vesions in bloom though with the workman's rubbish piling up around them!  Today or tomorrow should see this collected and it will look a lot better then.

Bathroom just awaiting a couple of bits (shower dial replacement being picked up  today) and cupboard doors and then  they will be back to finish off.

My daughter and grandsons were down for a few hours yesterday as they already broken up for Easter.  They were going to their old school at the end of day to see old friends and apparently there were lots of hugs going around.  I will see them all again Easter Monday all  being well when the all the family meet up for a pub lucnch followed by a walk.

Mum once again slept through my visit but there appears to be little change and she is comfortable and still having her meals. I continue to enjoy the gym and will be back there on Friday once my two work days are done and dusted.

Wishing you, Mrs B and the family a peaceful and pleasant week. Jules

Hi Jules,

Spent most of yesterday afternoon on the phone gathering information and have now spent most of the morning writing and re-writing a form for our wood club to do with THE DATA PROTECTION ACT. 

Have now sent the form together with an explanatary text to our committee members for their approval/amemndment before sending it out to our members for their signature/s if approved.

I know the act is well meant but it has meant a whole lot of work for me and I have still not finnished yet.

As once i have got the signed forms back, I will have to file them and maybe chase those who have not replied.

Also have a fourty page spiral folder with clear pages to put photos of our members work in. We will then take this to our exhibitions so try and make our club stand a bit more customer friendly. Have put white paper in each of the clear pages ready for when the clear photo corners arrive tommorrow. Will also print out some more colour photos, some in A4 size. There are five clear seperators included so may seperate it into turning, carving, pyrography, toys and misc sections. Will have to trim some of the photos to get good fits but have a cutter for doing this.

I'm sorry your mum slept through your visit but at least she is still eating and is holding her own. Glad you have now got the extra bit for your renovations you needed and can see light at the end of the tunnel ha ha. 

Sending kind thoughts to you and your family, Brian 

Hi Brianm

There certainly has been a lot of admin work for you to do on behalf of the WoodClub but hopefully the end is in sight and once finalised you can rest easy that everything is up to date.  I have had no end of 'notifications' regarding the Data Protection Act and several alterations to make on a personal level to make sure all is well recorded/privacy protected etc.

Mum sleeping through visits is preferable to her being anxious or in pain so in some ways a relief. The staff, doctor and I are all pretty amazed at her body's resilience though she is a shadow of her former self.  The pain patches are so much easier than her having to take oral medicine. She is now off all her other medications and appears to still enjoy her small meals especially breakfast.  The staff go in and chat regularly but she rarely chats back.  There is however one young carer she has taken a shine to and does answer her questions.  They even placed music in her room (tried the tv but she waved it away and has not shown any interest in her surroundings for a while now).  I will always be grateful for the support the residential care home gives despite ongoing staffing changes which is pretty common in this industry.

Good news yesterday in that my bathroom is coming towards the end of its renovations and thankfully the issue with the 'technology' involved with the shower/bath was resolved by 7pm. Painter/workman in on Friday which should put the finishing touches to it (and get the door back on!!). The only thing outstanding is the delivery of the vanity unit doors which will be a quick fix once in stock.  In the end only a couple of days over the estimated 3 weeks planned.

Very frosty here this morning and I have been watching a beautiful thrush trying to get something out of the ground to no avial.  Took pity on it and put out suet bites and some dried meal worms and it got tucking in before the starlings sussed!!

Stay warm and regards to you both and the family.  Hope you get to see the grandchildren over the Easter break too.

Jules