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

Good morning Jules

Glad to hear you feel You are still on holiday ha ha. 

Mrs B was sorting out her china display cabinet this morning when she lost her ballance and has broken a lot of her treasured items. I manager to glue a couple of bit back together but most were to far gone to do anythinh with.She is feeling very very annoyed with herself but its all down to her hearing loss in one ear. I have tried telling her this and that its not her fault but it isnt making any differnce. 

Have finnished another two of my stories and am now almost up to date until I start some more. I have done the odd bit in my workshop but its too darned hot for most of the day so writing is all I can do for now. But I have found a use for our old oil spray bottles. I have thined some of my celliulose laquer down and with the pump action button, it makes a good spray gun. I used to buy my spray laquer from Wilco but it was water based and took a long time to dry where as the celluilose one dries very very quickly. So pleased about this. I have experimented with a new idea (see photo below) Using my dremel type mini drill I have doen a dolphin. It not as good as I want but it was only an experiment so know I can do better next time as I will do things a differnt way. Have another club meeting on Wednesday so will have to send out a reminder e-mail to our members as soon as I finnish this. 

My son has his club archery championships today so hope its not to hot for him and that he does well. Garden is very dry and needs some rain but at least the grass doesnt need mowing. Grand daughter now has a part time job working two days a week for a publishing company but is having problems with the trains at times. 

Sorry to read about your mother. She seems very resiliant as she always seem to recovery quickly so she must have a hidden strength somewhere Jules. I dont envy your daughter in law as it cant be nice with this hot weather. 

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

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A couple more engravings Ive done. Still have a lot to learn regarding this.

Oh Brian, poor Mrs B, so sad thaat she has lost precious treasures and hope she did not hurt herself when she lost balance.  It is human nature to blame ourselves even when we know that sometimes our bodies let us down (I think we all do it!!). Hopefully Mrs B will savour the memories that the items brought her. Tell her I send virtual hugs.

Your new projects are pretty good for first attempts but know you will continue to strive for that perfection and enjoy the process too.  Much cooler start to the day but a beautiful sunrise (I was awake early as usua) so perhaps you will be out in your garage/workshop soon.

Hope your son enjoyed his archery and did well and no doubt needed plenty of sunscreen!  Lovely to hear that your grand-daughter has a part time position at a publishing house and bet she now understands more about 'dodgy commuting' than she would like!!

I saw a couple of different friends during the days yesterday so caught up with the tennis on the highlights show and pleased to see Federer march onwards.

Yes the gardens are looking a bit parched but enjoying the bonus of not mowing and they always recover eventually.  Some colour from everlasting sweet peas/fushcia/roses and the buddleia which seem pretty resilient so far.

Will go and visit Mum this morning having been staying in touch by phone. Her body's inner strength is amazing us all but sadly she no longer resembles the Mum I knew and her mental torment at being 'resilient' is deeply sad;  I am and will be forever grateful to the care home staff who treat her like precious cargo and are wonderful and keeping me informed (as it is her wish that I only attend on my (her) routine days).

World cup fever has hit the area and shops/homes so no doubt not much will get done tomorrow evening (other than more garden BBQs)..........remains to be seen whether I switch it on or listen to everyone elses ha ha.

Take care and best wishes to you and the family. Jules

Hi Jules, 

Hope you arev enjoying the weekend weather and bet you have been you your usual sSunday morning stroll. Luckily Mrs B was unhurt allthough still blames herself. She saw the film The Legend of the Glas Mountain the other day and said how she loved the music so I managed to find a five cd collection of Mantovani and on the first one is the theme tune. We both loved Mantovanis Music.

I am writing a crime type story at the moment  about an ex dectective investigating the unsolved disspearance of four young girls and for the front cover wanted a picture of an old dark green Austin A40 with gold lettering on the sides. So I typed  Austin A40 into the intenet and the very first picture that came up was a drak green Austin A40 with gold letterin. How wierd is that?????? So have downloaded that picture. 

I took Mrs B our for a drive yesterday and took her to Eastbourne and on the way bought her a big bag of Kent cherries and a punnet of Strawberries. On the way back we stopped at Berlin Gap amd I thought it was a province of Shanghia. and got ourselves an ice cream each. We both enjoyed the trip.  Well this morning all the cherries are gone!!!!!!!!!! and I bet Mrs B's sugar level is pretty high. 

My son won his archery commpetition and even if they had added second and third place scores togther he would still have beaten them both.  So we are both proud of him, Went out to the garage early this morning but have now given up as I dont want to end up "oven baked" ha ha. 

For our wood club meeting last Wednesday we had a lady who uses driftwood to make amazing sculptures. I may have persueded her to join our club. I am experimenting with what I call Stick Ons. Similar to my engravings but these are small pieces of timber shaped to differnt patterns and then stuck on a backing plate. Photos attached.

These are quite quick to produce so will do some more of these before our next craft show at the end of next month.

You sure struck gold when you found the home where your mother is, as we hear of so many where the care falls well short of what is expected. Hope your daughter in law is okay especially now the weather has turned hot again. 

Take care and enjoy the weather. Sending kind thoughts and best wishs to you and your family, Brian.

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Hi Brian,

Well am loving the sunshine but the temperature could do with coming down a bit to make life a little more comfortable. I did indeed go for my usual Sunday walk after going to the gym. The Artisan and Farmers' Market was on so  popped in there and stocked up on my favourite cheeses as well as grabbing an iced coffee to enjoy whilst I sat and read my book whilst listening to the live music.

My Dad was a great fan of Mantovani and I asureMrs B is delighted with her present.

Seems you can google anything these days and does indeed cut down some research time.  Hubby's workmate used to have an Austin (7) but it saw its final days languishing in a barn. Glad you were able to find a picture to help illustrate your tome. Are you getting them published now?

I also bought strawberries and blackberries and enjoy them with my breakfast most mornings. Have to eat the quickly in the hot weather as they do not last as long (hence much reduced in the greengrocers this week:)  Glad you both enjoyed the outing out.

Congrats to your son; great result and also to you for producing more great works in wood.  Hope they sell well for your craft fair.

Spent some time with Mum this morning bringing her up to date with family news and though no words from her did get a nod as I said goodbye.  The antibiotics seem to have helped physically at least but her only request to the visiting social assessor was that she be allowed to pass in peace.At 92 she is very frustrated  that she cannot have her own way on this bless her.

Well off to have a bite of lunch and then get dead-heading in the garden again.  Still nice to have a respite from mowing for a few weeks.

Take care and best wishes to you and your family.  Jules

Hi Jules,

Just a quick post. I came across this information while doing our clubs newsletter which included an article about The Moringa trees which are native to India but are grown elsewhere. .

The most commonly harvested species, M. oleifera, is a small, fast-growing tree used for centuries to combat many different ailments, including symptoms associated with a mesothelioma diagnosis. That species also is commonly known as the drumstick tree because of its long, slender, triangular seedpods and the horseradish tree because of its taste.

Will post again shortly, best wishes, Brian

Thanks  Brian. There are some fascinating facts out there.

My late hubby would be very proud as our son and daughter in law welcomed a baby boy into the world on the 24th weighing in at a healthy 9 lb 10oz. That makes me granny to four now. A lovely piece of happy news.

Still waiting for some rain for my concrete garden ha ha. Hope you and MRS B coping ok. Jules 

Hi Jules,

Have had to put the lights on to write this as its dark and raining at last. Not that I'm complaining about the rain. We do need lots of it. Our back garden is so cracked Mrs B nearly fell in one of them. Congratulation on the latest addition to your growing family. Bet everyone is pleased, especially your daughter in law.  My youngest grandson becomes a teenager next week. Tried to tell him he is getting as old as me but he said "But that would mean I would be as old as a dinosaur just like you grandad". See what cheek I have to put up with. We have had more members join our club so our recruiting campaing is working. I told our chairman, we cant just w=sit and wait for people to join up;we have to be more pro-active.

Have spent some time tidying up some folders on my laptop; something that needed doing. Bought some more frozen chestnuts yesterday so enjoyed some last night. Have been cracking on with my stories. Am well advanced on one about a guy who inherits a big house and factory which is losing money. And another one about an ex detective who is investigating the dissapearance of four teenage girls. Both going along nicely and I think my writing skills are a lot better than they used to be. Practise makes perfect they say allthough I am way off being perfect ha ha. 

Only about a month to go now before our next show which again is a three day show which I am looking forward to. Have got some small multi coulor led lights to put on part of my stand. Hvae plenty of new lines to exhibit so looking forward to see what the public think of them.

I bet your mother is glad its cooled down. We have both felt for those in homes. My son went out to try and get some photos of the red moon the other night but as he expected, it was too cloudy. But He did get some nice photos of the lightening storm over one of our coastal towns. My youngest granson is having to do cooking classes at school. He is not happy about this as he had told them he will never be able to eat. When they said well when you older and someone come to visit you, you will be able to cook them something. He replied, they can blooming well bring their own food for I wont have need of a cooker. Plus as he said, If I cant taste what I'm cooking, how do I know if its eatable. He has a point.

 Sending kind thoughts to you and your family, Brian

Hi Jules,

Just to add to the above, Just had some good news.  I have just had an e-mail asking if we would like to have our three day exhibition in the mansion house at Wakehurst Place in August rather than having it in marquee..

This is where we always used to have our exhibitions so am looking forward to going back there.We have always had good sales when there.

Take care, Brian

Hi Brian

Lovely news about having your exhibition back in the mansion house. Whatever the weather I an sure the footfall will be greater for you and hope the whole event goes well for everyone taking part. Also good news inthat the Club's numbers are rising and being pro-active in advertising/talking about the Club can only be a positive thing.....I bet the Chairman thinks so too and you must be very proud of your own achievements in this respect.

Finally, like you, we had a day of pretty steady rain yesterday.Thankfully no cracks in my lawn but very hard  and dry beforehand (though the weeds carried on growing!!). After a couple of hours I had a lawn full of sparrows and starlings as obviously could access the insects/grubs etc.  Happily most of my shrubs have managed fine  and as I usually keep annuals to a minimum not too much lost. Cooler temperatures meant I could get out and do a bit of weeding between the showers too though it was very windy.

How quickly time goes and hope your grandson has a lovely birthday as he becomes a teenager.  His sense of humour/cheekiness is wonderful and it is a shame that the school curriculum does not allow for some choice (but that would be going back to the good old days when girls did home economics and the boys did wordwork etc). I can understand his thoughts on cooking when he is unable to enjoy it himself, He manages so well and know you are very proud of the whole family.

Not too much going on this week.  The calm before the storm as I have my daughter and two grandsons coming to stay next week which will be lovely but busy,Fingers crossed for dry weather for the most part as they catch up with old friends and we have a couple of days out planned as a holiday treat for them.

Also have the decorator coming in (probably tomorrow) to assess state of walls in hall/stairs/landing (stripping old wallpaper) so we can find out whether just skim plastering will be sufficient (hopefully as less expensive option) before work starts next month.

Will pop to see Mum tomorrow and would be nice if she is awake so I can tell her the news of the latest edition to the family, her fourth great grandchild and show her photos. Unfortunately in the past three years or so she has shown little interest in family events and even refused to have other members of the family visiit and so she has never met my son's daughter and now will not meet their son. At least I can celebrate the news with the staff. Social Services carried out their yearly assessment of Mum's care and have informed me that she is still 'eligible' to receive support (red tape forms completed and the boxes ticked!!).

Had some sad news yesterday as my best friend's brother has been diagnosed with lung cancer.Pre op appointment next week followed by the operation the following week so worrying times for all the family. She has put herself on standby to fly to Ireland.  He is apparently in no pain and they only found it when a chest infection refused to clear up and his GP quickly send him for follow up tests/scans etc. All hoping for a successful outcome from the surgery which is said to be a little tricky as the tumour is close to his windpipe.  Am giving what support I can though she does not like to be fussed over.  As a former Samaritan volunteer of over 25yrs  experience she is a very organised person but know she will be worried sick and she supported me and hubby throughout our own journey.

Well, dry here just now though apparently some sunny intervals forecast so am going out to clear my head with a gym visit and a walk and then trying to research my ideas for a 2019 summer break (via the computer).

Sounds as though your writings are coming along nicely though I am not sure where  you find the time to fit everything in. Keep up the good work.

Wishing you and Mrs B a very pleasant week.  Jules

Good morning Jules. 

Bet you are pleased the weekend is here once again and that you are looking forward to the arrival of your family visitors. Bet your grandsons are going to keep you busy. How does your mum cope with this warm weather? My youngest grandson is now a teenager and called his mun and dad old wrinkleys last night when they commented about his age while he reckons I am older than the diinosaurs. He just love a wind up. whenever I go there with a bag of any sort he come up and wants to look inside. So I played him at his own game some while ago. I took a bag up with me and he grabbed it out of my hands. Inside was a box which contained another smaller box. after her had got to about the fith one there was a not saying What a nosey little devil you are. Hr took it well thankfully even though his parent had a good laugh at his expense.

Instead of getting our club A/ Frames re=lettered, I have altered them so we can just slide some small wooden sections on which will list what sort of items are on display/sale like wood turning wood carving etc In addition I have made up another slide show of members work but still have some alteration before I am happy with it. I hope to take my older laptop with me to our show at the end of the month. We have been told we may be able to play it on their big television screen which would be brilliant. We also have a dvd I did years ago that has six slide shows on it which we will set up to run continusly. I have also yesterday put on to my two 9 inch high display upstands two sets of ultra bright colour changing LED lights. Took a lot less time than I thought it would and am very happy with the result.

I have noticed over the years at our shows, the men set the stalls up but those whos wives attend will nearly always re-arrange the items on display. Me I just put it on how I think it should go but often wish Mrs B was there to re=arrange things. You ladys are so good at things like this. After all display sells. I remember one year one of our member sold nothing much all day. Next day his wife was withhim and she completely altered his display and he sold very well one the alterations were complete. 

Our grass in the back garden has grown and greened up nicely since that drop of rain. Trouble is, it now need mowing . We had two lots of 10 free begonias earlier in the year and the first one has now just come into bloom, much to Mrs B's delight. Mrs B has an electric dehidifier in our bedroom which stopped working yesterday so have taken that apart and cleaned the motor and housing this morning and it is now working quieter than before.  Almost as good as new. Dont like throwing things out if they can be repaired. My mother was just the same and often repaired items her friends or neighbours were dumping.

I wish you a pleasant few days and am sending kind thoughts to you and your family, Brian.

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Good morning Jules. 

Bet you are pleased the weekend is here once again and that you are looking forward to the arrival of your family visitors. Bet your grandsons are going to keep you busy. How does your mum cope with this warm weather? My youngest grandson is now a teenager and called his mun and dad old wrinkleys last night when they commented about his age while he reckons I am older than the diinosaurs. He just love a wind up. whenever I go there with a bag of any sort he come up and wants to look inside. So I played him at his own game some while ago. I took a bag up with me and he grabbed it out of my hands. Inside was a box which contained another smaller box. after her had got to about the fith one there was a not saying What a nosey little devil you are. Hr took it well thankfully even though his parent had a good laugh at his expense.

Instead of getting our club A/ Frames re=lettered, I have altered them so we can just slide some small wooden sections on which will list what sort of items are on display/sale like wood turning wood carving etc In addition I have made up another slide show of members work but still have some alteration before I am happy with it. I hope to take my older laptop with me to our show at the end of the month. We have been told we may be able to play it on their big television screen which would be brilliant. We also have a dvd I did years ago that has six slide shows on it which we will set up to run continusly. I have also yesterday put on to my two 9 inch high display upstands two sets of ultra bright colour changing LED lights. Took a lot less time than I thought it would and am very happy with the result.

I have noticed over the years at our shows, the men set the stalls up but those whos wives attend will nearly always re-arrange the items on display. Me I just put it on how I think it should go but often wish Mrs B was there to re=arrange things. You ladys are so good at things like this. After all display sells. I remember one year one of our member sold nothing much all day. Next day his wife was withhim and she completely altered his display and he sold very well one the alterations were complete. 

Our grass in the back garden has grown and greened up nicely since that drop of rain. Trouble is, it now need mowing . We had two lots of 10 free begonias earlier in the year and the first one has now just come into bloom, much to Mrs B's delight. Mrs B has an electric dehidifier in our bedroom which stopped working yesterday so have taken that apart and cleaned the motor and housing this morning and it is now working quieter than before.  Almost as good as new. Dont like throwing things out if they can be repaired. My mother was just the same and often repaired items her friends or neighbours were dumping.

I wish you a pleasant few days and am sending kind thoughts to you and your family, Brian.

.

Hi Brian,

Just a quick response as I am shortly due to leave my family to their own devices and go to work. Hot weather earier inthe week meant a slight change of plans as my daughter's health condition means her body does not cope well with high temperatures.  Lovely day yesterday with a visit to the cinema in the morning followed by lunch and then a visit to see the newest member of the clan, already two weeks old and doing well.

Mum is no different whether it be hot or cold but the carers make sure she has plenty of fluids and there is a lovely big floor standing fan in her room which I certainly felt the benefit off when I visited last Sunday.  Most of her time is spent sleeping other than when meal times come around.

Sounds as though all your Club business is being very well looked after and hope the slightly cooler weather now upon us will help with your preparations for the next show event.

Best regards to you, Mrs B and the family.  Jules

Hi Jules,

Just a quick post. We had a very good club meeting last night. I was so pleased as we had six potential new members come along and one of them has allready joined up. We have never had some many new people turn up for a meeting since we started the club 33 years ago. Plus the veneers and brass locks we had donated to our club, I gave to one of our members who makes these lovely veneered boxes. He was so pleased he very kindly gave the club a donation of £100.00. I guess he had nearly £300 to £500 worth of goods so he had a good bargain. I know he will make good use of them.

Hope you are enjoying your break, Brian

Hi Jules,

Just a P.S. to the last post . Since then we have had two more people pay up so for the first time in years our club membership is going up. 

My youngest grandson is unhappy;.................. He wont be able to come and wind me up at our show as he is on holiday. Apparently he had worked out several things to pull my leg about and is quite upset about it. But my son said, he will no doubt make up for it later on. Trouble is Jules he has a very good memory and just doesnt forget.

Here is a picture of the big Begonia which is one of twenty free ones we had.

Hope you have had a great week and have made lots of memories, Brian.

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Hi Brian,

Lovely to hear that the Club membership is on the up and that must be rewarding to everyone involved.

Have enjoyed having the family for company this week and despite the changeable weather managed to juggle our plans and still fit everything in (including my workshifts as usual) and a little rain never harmed anyone ha ha.

The 'free' begonia is a beauty and am very envious as this is one plant I rarely manage to have any luck with.  My lawn already showing signs of recovery so no doubt will be mowing again soon but for now just nice to see green shoots instead of straw!!

Hope your weekend has been pleasant and peaceful and am sure your youngest grandson will make up for missing you at the show but thinking up even more cheeky comments.You have to love them!

Regards to you all.  Jules

Hi Jules,

Am liking this weather better thank you. Hope your decoration will soon be finnished. Mrs B's begonia has even more blooms on it now and we have a second on just starting to flower now. pics attached.

Our show is approaching fast now. I suddenly realized our club chaiman has not exhibited with as as he doesnt sell his carvings. But I have asked him if he will take part in our exhibition. He also is a terrific wildlife photographer and has given several slide shows of his work to our club so have suggested he might like to bring these along as well as he does sell his photos. He is thinking about it and iis looking at his diary so keeping fingers crossed.

I am also on page 10 of another new story which I dreamed up the storyline for in bed the other night. 

I wish you and your family agreat weekend, Brian.

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Hi Brian,

Beautiful pictures of the plants.Not much colour in my garden now though the buddleia and fuschia have managed to withstand the dry conditions.  Think the heavy rain last Thursday was a boost.  I even mowed the lawn on Saturday and the weeding was so much easier with softened soil.  A pleasure to be able to be back out there.

Weekend was a good one as had my son and family over for lunch and the latest family edition turns 4 weeks today and his 2yr old sister seems to have grown in confidence with him.....so cute.

On Monday I had another trip into London, this time as a belated birthday treat from a good friend.  We did the Tower Bridge tour followed by walking the local 'sights' and then taken to St Katherines Dock (Marina) for lunch.  Such a lovely day out.

Hope your Club Chairman manages his diary so that he can see for himself how hard everyone works to bring their  exhibits together for the show next weekend. Even if he does not sell his creations I am sure it would make good viewing.  Hope everything goes well and the footfall is good. 

Decorating is going well and even with just the undercoats on there is a huge 'lightness' in the hall/stairs/landing now.The brunt of it should be done by the coming weekend and then can arrange for the new carpet to be laid.  Another project that will put a tick in the box ha ha.

Hope you and Mrs B are having a pleasant week and wish you all the best for the upcoming Show.  Regards to you all. Jules

Hi Jules,

I have had a busy week getting the last few things ready for the show. Most of us set up on the Friday evening but there are a couple I let set up on the Saturday morning as they have a distance to travel and the things they do dont take long to set up. Dissapiontingly our chairman couldnt make this weekend but our club secretary is coming up for the Saturday afternoon. He has to pay someone to be with his wife as she is not well. Am going to struggle to get everthing in my car as I have the display boards and 3 A-Frames as well. If the worst come to the worst I will take the A frames tommorow morning. No I will have a good laugh with the lads over the weekend. 

Have also been feeding my sons two cats as he is in Scotland. Have just bought my first lot of Kent Cobb Nuts. Also mowed front and back lawns and dug the front and back gardens.  

Probably wont be on site much until Tuesday. Will post some photos of peoples work. 

Have a great weekend and sending kind thoughts to you and your family, Brian

Hi Brian,

Well I hope your hard work has proved worthwhile and that you have been enjoying the company of your fellow exhibitors during this bank holiday craft event.  I bet you have been glad to be back inside though especially with the wind and rain yesterday.  Hopefully today slightly better weatherwise and hope visitor numbers will have been good.  Bet your new items have found new homes and it wont be long before you are considering what comes next.

Good to know that your favourite cobb nuts are being enjoyed again though it is a reminder that Autumn is approaching.  Where did that beautiful summer go?  A bit of sunshine this morning so I am going for a walk soon.  The gym is closed for a professional clean following a fire from a neighbouring property causing smoke damage and loss of electricity so having to find other things to keep me 'sane'!!

Thankfully the decorator has now finished and  another project will come to a close when the new carpet gets fitted later this week.  Just in time for family coming to stay next weekend as we celebrate my daughter in law's parents  joint 60th birthday BBQ (weather permitting), my sister in law's birthday  the following day and then a day of reflection for me on the Monday which would have been our 41st wedding anniversary.

Looking forward to seeing the photos from your weekend and  no doubt you will need time to 'slow down' and relax following a very busy time indeed.  Take care and regard to you and MrsB. Hope  your son and family have enjoyed their holiday in Scotland; a beautiful place.

Regards, Jules

Hi Jules, 

I hope you have a very good weekend with your family get to gether. Bet you have bben looking forward to it and seeing the grandchildren again.

My son comes back from Scotland today which mean we wont have to feed his two cats anymore. My next show is not until late December so have plenty of time to re-pleanish stock. Sold all my new elephants, cats and the sit up and beg mice. Plus I have a tinket box that has a walbut base but a differnt lid and I could have sold this several times over if it had a walnut lid. I have now found some walnut which will do for this so I will make a new lid for it.

Need to mow both lawns again today, Didnt the lawns green up quickly after that dry spell? Amazing how quickly nature recovers.Wont be long before I shall be buying my chestnuts again. This years has gone by so quickly, just dont know where it has gone.

When we have our next woodclub committee meeting, I am going to suggest we make a video with our club chairman and cluc secretary talking about the club and then interviewing some of our members who I hope will also demonstrate what they do . I want ywo versions, one running for about 30 minutes that we can play when we have exhibition and one which runs for about an hour so I can go round to local groups and play it to them to publicise our club. Think this could be a great recruitment tool. 

I hope you have a really enjoyable weekend with your family. Sending kind thoughts and best wishes your way and will think of you on Monday, Brian

Hi Brian,

Thank you, I and the family had a wonderful few days and always a joy to watch others enjoying themselves too.

Today has been more reflective as would have been our 41st wedding anniversary but after paying my respects at hubby's resting place I spent several hours walking in the lovely sunshine and enjoying the nature around me.  Just feel it appropriate to post this picture which somehow just seems right for the occasion (taken today as I sat by the water) 

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Sounds as though everything went well with the weekend and it will be great if you have videos that can share information further afield when you are giving talks and attending your next Woodclub Event. I hope your hard work does not go unnoticed though I know it gives you great pleasure.

I am working extra hours over the coming couple of weeks (a bit of a shock to the system I can tell you as it has been some time since I worked a four day week ha ha). Thankfully it is just holiday cover and then all should return to normal.

I have spent this afternoon in the garden and yes the lawn soon back to a lovely green.  One set of my neighbours are currently in the process of replacing their fence so we are taking the 'joint' opportunity to hard prune the honeysuckle and reach those parts that are usually hard to get at.  Hopefully over the coming weeks a slow transformation will occur and the garden will be good and tidy for the winter months.  Several bags put out for the green collection this week.

Hope your son and family enjoyed their Scottish holiday and am sure the cats will also be pleased to have them back.  We are, as a family, sorting out the Christmas arrangements this year (still waiting to hear if I am needed for Boxing Day working as this year it falls on one of my work days).

Hope also that you and Mrs B are keeping okay.  Take care of each other.  Jules