Hi ladies,

Just a welfare check!

All well Chez Sheltie, dogs, daughter and son all ok.  It is official,my daughter has only two more weeks of work, then it is the summer hols, except she is retiring!  Her contract doesn't end until the end of August, but she works Term time only. I am delighted for her, but it doesn't half make me feel old!

Hoping all is well with you girls,

lots of love

Christine xxx

Hi Everyone,

Seems like a long time since I came on here - shows how life moves on! 
Life is good here. I am currently on day 7 of covid. Felt awful the first few days but been a lot better since Sunday. Having to work from home but no issues with sitting in the garden to work.  Think I caught it off my son and now my hubby has tested positive. Seems covid is def not going anywhere fast! 
We sadly lost one of our cats last month. She went missing for 24 hours and we found her the following day, just on the other side of our garden fence but she had died. Looked like she had been hit, probably by a car. Everyone was so upset - my 17yr old really struggled. We have said we may consider getting another one in the autumn. We did bury Poppy in the garden and my son's girlfriend had a stone engraved for her. 
I have managed to get an MRI in August! I gave my breast nurse a letter I had got off a web site, asking for my breast density and requesting an MRI as part of my screening as high breast density and lobular cancer can mean they get missed on a mammogram. My breast density came back as C, which means it is dense. They have agreed to give me a one off MRI this year but then back to mammograms. I'm grateful for that!! 
Christine, how is your knee? What did you decide to do about possibly having an op? And good news about your daughter! You will be able to see a lot more of each other!

My parents were meant to be staying with us this week but we had to cancel that. Hopefully they can visit soon.

Sam, hope all is good in your life. 
Right, I really should get back to working!! 
 

Caroline xx
 

Hey,

Glad to see my shout out worked! 
i know so many people with Covid, at the moment. It feels strange that we are so laid back about it. I'm one of the few who have never had it, thank goodness.

Sorry to hear about your cat, I know I've had dogs for the last decade but I have had cats in the past and really love them.  I know how much it hurts to lose a pet, it's like losing one of the family.

We have just returned from visiting a neighbour who has the most laid back cat I have ever seen. He lies on the sofa, ostensibly in a deep sleep, then he opens one eye as Archie gives him a kiss. Then he closes it and I swear he has a smile on his face. 

I had an MRI scan before my surgery - be warned it is not a pleasant experience lying face down, boobs dangling going in and out of the machine. I'm afraid my boob density is zero these days.

I had a stack of scans of various kinds on Saturday as part of an imaging trial by uK Biobank. Results are for research purposes only, but they do say that if they find something really bad, they will let you and your doctor know, but not to think it's a health check. I had one MRI on my brain, another for my heart and lungs, a Dexa scan for my bones, ECG and ultrasound on my neck. With each scan I felt more and more wobbly from lying so flat, then the ultrasound on my neck finished me off. I had a full blown vertigo attack. I managed to get to my daughter's for Archie, and she gave me some anti nausea pills and made me wait until I felt better.  I thought I was better, and left, I navigated her steep, wonky path, and felt ok until I bent down to put Archie in the back of the car. I had to cling to the door to stop myself from falling over.  Stupidly, I drove home and was so sick, I puked about six times, fed Arch, let him out to pee and poo, then collapsed on my bed and slept for ten hours. Next day I felt severely hungover and didn't feel right until Monday.  I think I've done my bit for mankind, now, and I will politely decline the next invitation. I got such a telling off for driving home and not asking for help!                                                                             

My knees are still the same, but I keep taking the tablets!  Actually they are not too bad at the moment with the warmer weather. I don't think I will have the operation unless the injections and tablets stop working.
 I do hope you are ok soon, and your parents can come to stay.  Is your niece still with you? 

I am watching Nadal playing quite badly at Wimbledon, but I imagine he will do a Djokovic and end up playing well when it really matters. I would like to see a Nadal v Djokovic final, as I think they will be overtaken by the hot young players after this year. I noticed last week that our current stars are all losing their hair and getting injuries. It's interesting seeing the players I watched in years gone by, sitting in the crowd looking like the old men they are!

Hope the sun is still shining while you work!

lots of love

Christine xx

Hi all

Yes am still alive…despite this evil, oppressive heat….bring on the winter I say with my northern roots well & truly on display.

I would have replied earlier but am just too blummin busy…its ridiculous, the fact that I manage to find time to work is nothing short of miraculous!  Christine glad your daughter has given up work, its the way to go definitely…I’m handing my notice in at the end of the month, how on earth will my work survive without me? by putting up bunting every day and celebrating I suspect.  Hopefully this news doesn’t make Christine feel EVEN older…

Everything good here - especially in light of the previous news! Today am off to a wedding and am so glad that its not the weather forecast of a couple of weeks ago where today was the bonkers hot day.  And on the plus side the wedding isn’t till 5pm.  I did originally decide to wear a lovely dress I have that’s far too big now and tried to take it in…a combination of me (cr4p), the sewing machine (cheap) and the fabric (man made) resulted in much frustration,missing stitches and my now wearing something totally different.  Will stick with patching jeans and cushion covers I think.

The boyfriend is having a melt down as he paid £22 to have an air con unit delivered yesterday that didn’t turn up and now he’s concerned it will be delivered once we’ve left for the wedding (its 2 hrs away) or won’t get here for Monday…I have told him he’s a loon for spending £500 on something he’ll use 3 days a year and that I will be lying down in a dark room to avoid the heat…thankfully my house is old and has thick walls etc. so keeping windows and blinds shut does the trick.

Also managed to fit a holiday in in June, 12 of us went to Dubrovnik to celebrate a pals 50th, fab time had and thankfully flights & airports behaved themselves, and it wasn't too hot!  That's it for hols abroad now until the airline industry madness dissipates though.

Does Archie and your dog Caroline (sorry name eludes me!) like the heat, my cats are just flaked out in the house…actually that’s no change from usual tbh!

I like the new piccy of Archie - he’s such a fluff ball.

Pants news about your cat Caroline, sorry Poppy went in such a way, I’d be devastated if I lost any of my gang and Adrian goes apoplectic when he see’s the dopier of the 4 sat in the road (thankfully its a quiet road…I chose it that way).  But well done on getting the MRI, suspect you’re quite tenacious as I know you have to be to get such things, am assuming the results were fine…I know for a fact that the only thing of mine that’s dense is what’s between my ears.

Christine are you glowing after all your scans?  Good to see you doing your bit for medical research…and glad you’ve finished it if its making you feel pooey!

My knees are getting worse (I blame step aerobics back in the day) , am hoping that I won’t have to have the same operation that my step mother had earlier this year (and that presumably may be on the cards for you too Christine), don’t fancy being out of action for so long.  And I hope Christine that your tablets keep doing the trick…I might need them soon…

Right enough sitting in the garden, better have some lunch before I get glammed up for this wedding (bring on the booze!).

Stay cool ladies! XX

May God bless you. I am praying for your health and recovery. Stay strong. XXX

Hi girls,

Glad to hear you're still alive, despite the weather.  I'm quite used to heat,  Sam, having lived in hot climates for twenty years on and off between '74 &'94, it's our British stoicism that causes us to suffer.  Even fifty years ago there were air conditioners in every house where expats lived, locals not so much. My daughter has a full blown system in her house, in bedroom and living room. She also has solar panels on her roof, to pay for it.  It isn't just for hot weather though, her system blows hot air when it's cold. I had one of the portable ones a few years ago, but you had to be able to vent the hot air out of a window, which wasn't possible when I moved here, so I just rely on open windows when it's cool and closed curtains when it gets hot.

What do you plan to do when you leave your job?  Something good, I hope.

Sorry to hear about your knees, my GP says it's time for the operation when the injections and tablets stop working. The consultant I saw spent most of the appointment telling me why I didn't want the surgery.  After he had finished his speech I told him I didn't want it anyway!  He then gave me injections in both knees and hit the bone!  Not only was it excruciatingly painful, they didn't work, but I still had to wait for months before they could be done again.  Recently I have been having them from myGP and bless her, they have been painless and effective! 
I'm glad you weren't one of the thousands whose holidays have been ruined by the airlines. I still can't see the attraction of joining a couple of hundred people in a tin box, breathing in their recirculated air, sharing their germs.  My daughter is nagging me to renew my passport so we can go on holiday to Greece again, but it's not working.  I'll volunteer to mind Bobbin, instead.

It was a lovely day for a wedding, the photos will be beautiful!  We, daughter, dogs and I went to our annual family gathering. Also known as a music festival organised by cousins of my kids. The dogs were impeccably behaved and Archie even let some little children stroke him.  Usually he runs a mile at the sight of anyone shorter than three feet. Of course everyone loved Bobbin, who performed beautifully for anyone who showed him some attention. These events have been going for a few years now, and have raised a lot of money for different charities, this year it was the Air Ambulance and a food bank. The noticeable difference this year was the large number of little children, and the lack of oldies like me.  I suppose that's the norm with the passage of time.
 Caroline, I hope you are fully recovered from the Covid, by now, and are enjoying the sunshine, although the temperatures are a wee bit over the top for a normal British Summer.  At least it will be gone before we know it.

I was supposed to have a face to face checkup on July 1st, but it didn't happen, I just got a phone call telling me not to turn up at the hospital but no hint of rescheduling.  That's three years in September from diagnosis, and October for surgery  and not one six monthly checkup in person.  It'll be time for my next mammogram soon, they don't usually cancel that!

Take care, ladies, and catch you in another few months 

love

Christine xx

Thank you x

If you get past it relatively unscathed, it might not actually be a bad thing. An infection along with the boosters offer the best all round protection.

We all caught it at the end of February, and the wife did have to get antibody infusions, but she was ok with it. Had she not tested positive (she had a raging temp for one day and got rushed in in-case it was an infection), i wouldn't have even known i had had it. She was fine after day 1. I had no symptoms other than a dry right nostril for a day. So i can see why some people just go out and about and don't even realise.

That said, it does seem like a lottery. I know someone who had it badly, and a lot of others who were floored for a day or 4.

Before we had got it, the kid was off School from before Christmas, and was home schooling. We were caught between a rock and a hard place because she must have felt isolated. Getting it also allowed her to go back to school. It was actually a relief to get it and kinda get a wee bit of normality back into our lives.

Oh no! Same happened to me a couple:laugh: of weeks ago!! I'd been bragging to people at work that I thought I was immune, then the following evening woke up feeling crap, got up, did a test and was positive! Felt crap for the first 4 days. Fatigue, coughing, like a heavy cold. Still coughing now, 3 weeks later! My friend has just caught it - also managed to avoid it until now too! Our hospital cases have shot up and we've gone back to having to wear masks.

I did spread my love/germs with my husband :laugh: