Weekend

Have had a weekend full of family visitors.

Bro has been to help sort out practical things....like back gate, sorting security,  lights, washing line (yippeee!!)....and has been good company:o))

I don't know why we ended up living so far apart.   Will soon be remedied, hopefully.

His dog, Max,  is HUGE!!  Blummin Scoobydoo gone wrong.....but soooooo soft.  He even ended up sleeping on my posh sofa..mainly 'cos I couldn't get him off 'cos he weighs too much!!!  He is such a lovely dope.  He's so big that he has his own armchair at home:o)

He's so nice with the mogs, although Cilla isn't too keen on him!!!  Maybe she demands a bit more intelligence!!

Olive's last litter has gone... new homes.

Junior.  Upset, as per the norm.  Anyway, they have gone to lovely homes and will be spoiled rotten.

Ollie is due in to the vet's after Crimble.  I am worried...given LooLoo's reaction to being spayed.   Ollie and LooLoo are really similar physically; long-haired, light as a feather while the others are heavier.   LooLoo is at last walking.  Just a bit at a time.  She's been wiped out by the op, so is being lavished with tlc and upmarket cat food.  Tinkerbelle, who was 'done' two days after Loo, is like the proverbial Tigger:o) 

Camera has been playing up of late...sigh!!!  We did/do have great photos!!!

Arthritis playing up too...means I am REALLY slow at everything (what's new? did I hear you say.  lol) with typos galore.  Bugger!!!!  Shall keep taking the oil!!! lol

We're trying to put up Christmas decorations.  Junior has two little trees, both lovingly adorned....and being eyed up by the mogs. lol    Found some posh, singing and dancing twinkly lights in the garage.  They're going up in my bedroom; 'tis where I can sort of guarantee that they won't be used as an assault course and so felines won't be barbecued!!   "Weeeeeee.  look at me.  I'm swinging"..........Bang...sizzle!"   

Foot Bliss

Been trying out a bit of the old reflexology.  Ok, foot massage:o)

Seeing as I'm still struggling with iffy joints, thought I'd give it a go.  Junior, of course, had the job of Chief Massager.  lol    We struck a deal.  A sort of "I'll do yours if you do mine" type of arrangement.   I explained to Junior about reflexology and she seems quite interested, so my old books are coming out:o) 

Anyway, 20 mins each using the Barefoot Doctor lotion that we had kicking about.  Was bliss.  No smelly feet and, I can walk alot better.  Junior is happy, too.  It's relaxed her and she went straight to the land of BoBos once her head hit the pillow:o)

We're doing this twice weekly now, purely for relaxation and footcare.  

I did think of this as a possible new career in a former life.  That or herbal medicine, which I have great respect for.  It cured me of gallstones and I was eyeing up university courses at one point but the unis were too far away for someone with kids and I would never have been able to manage everything.   Sigh.....so, for now, I potter about.

Daughter is into herbs.  She has her pots of basic stuff, which she's always snipping and adding to her food.  We sometimes buy pots of basil and coriander and she munches the leaves as we walk around the supermarket!!  eeeek!!   She is, of course, into cookery and especially likes this person, so Santa is bringing her  this.       Junior isn't vegetarian;  she'll be trying out all these recipes asap, me thinks.  When she has her cooking head on, the kitchen looks like it's been hit by a hurricane.   lol !  Clearing up is always the worst job and is when I wish I had a dishwasher.    I think she likes this particular chef/cook because she's very even tempered and informative, with none of that effing and blinding that some of the other chefs seem to deem necessary.

Tomorrow is 'attempt to waddle around town' day and purchase stuff.  I have not a lot of dosh and I'm not really into overindulgence nowadays.  I've seen the light!!  lol    The green/eco/frugal way for moi:o))    Trouble is, most people I know seem to think the more you spend on someone, the better it is.  The boys, especially, feel the need to spend fifty quid on each present.  'Tis madness.  Told them no more than a fiver for me, tenner at the most as it's the thought that counts.   The less you spend, the more thought you give to the gift.      Here endeth my sermon.  lol  

Anyway, need to get arse into gear.  Humbug!!

Dark Nights

Junior is sort of recovered from the flu.  Still has a chesty cough but she's got an appetite back, sort of.  

We've been making the most of the dark nights.  Curtains drawn and snuggling indoors, trying to keep warm and eating comforting, healing food.  Shutting out the crap from the outdoor world.  I love the dark nights.  All the peace and quiet.  I end up doing all sorts of rearranging.  Bit like nesting, I suppose.   We've rearranged furniture to maximise warmth and cosiness.    The mogs have been doing their bit for peace in the Min household and switching off the phone by stepping on the Belkin.  lol

On the subject of warmth and cosiness, we're making novelty draught excluders...or trying to...and Junior has been Christmas card making.  Her efforts are quite good, but she gets her hair off when something goes wrong.  You can hear her muttering away...."stupid, stupid".  Little perfectionist that she is!

I don't much care for Christmas, though.  Can't get in the mood for it.  The over commercialism drives me mad plus it's the month when Dad went.  But, hey ho, must make an effort.  Tomorrow shall buy some twinkly lights to put up in the window:o)

 

Dad

Been thinking of Dad.

We lost him on this day a few years ago.  I was expecting Junior at the time and my family were concerned that I might miscarry because of grief.  

Dad knew he was going to be a Grandad again to a little girl.  First birth child of mine.  I was the last of the kids to 'produce' physically, so it was a big thing.  All his sprogs had become birth parents!     He desperately wanted to hang on and 'meet' her.  But, sadly, it wasn't to be.  I know he watches over her, guardian angel-like.  He said he would.  She has some of his traits.  Stubbornness....and his eyebrows!!!  And she cheats at cards!!!

Mother, of course, was desolate when he died.  50+ years of togetherness had ended.  Ups and downs and the like.  I was at work when I got the 'call' to go the the hospital as it was 'time'.  I lived over a hundred miles away.  So, my lovely workmate rang the kids' school and explained and soon after I collected them at the school gates and we were on our way up the motorway to the hospital.  The boys were bewildered but very protective.  Primary school aged kids protecting their mum:o))  I drove on autopilot. 

Everyone else was there when we arrived.  Even an old family friend, Emilia.  Beautiful woman, salt of the earth type.  Adopted auntie, if you like:o))  She was another WW2 refugee.    

It turns out that Dad had been hanging on for me.  Everyone was in bits...especially Mother.  My siblings couldn't bring themselves to stay in his room for any time.   Watching someone die is no fun when they are struggling for breath.    After a while I asked if Mother had eaten or had a break?  No.  So I took her for a 'break'.  She needed it.  After a while, maybe 20 minutes, she sat bolt upright and said she had to go back, so we went.  It was time and 20 minutes later Dad was gone.  Mother sobbed at his bedside.  But I didn't cry.  I couldn't because of Junior.   I couldn't lose her too.

We felt relief that he was no longer suffering.  So now we had to support Mother.

  

When we got back from the hospital, their dogs were waiting.  They knew!!!!!    and comforted Mother in their way.  A few days later, Mother laid out Dad's burial clothes on a bed.  His favourite suit and Ukrainian tie.  They had been dry cleaned.   And thermals.  She didn't want him to be cold:o)   We were pottering around downstairs and I noticed that one of the dogs was missing.  Went upstairs and found him laying, hugging, curled up on the burial clothes:o))  Wouldn't leave them.    Broke my heart to see that and when the dog eventually died, years later, we scattered his ashes on Dad's grave, so they are together again:o)

None of my siblings could bring themselves to sleep at 'home' once he'd died.   So, I stayed.  Autopilot, again.    Couldn't leave Mother on her own. He came home the night before the funeral. I thought I would hate it, but it was strangely comforting.

What do other people do on such 'anniversaries'?  Do they congregate together, have a post wake type of thing, or what?

We don't seem to be such a family.  We all contemplate, remember, celebrate in our own ways....on our own.  No gatherings. 

We are a strange lot.

Now I can cry...and I do  But he's probably up there telling me to stop being such a wuss!!  xxx 

He was just an ordinary bloke with faults, just like any other.  Forced out of his homeland and away from his loved ones because of some tyrant.  Did his bit and best to help keep us ALL free.

My Dad, the Hero:o))) xxx

Yes, it'snot!!

Junior has flu.  Poor thing.  

She does not sleep or eat well with this., having a head full of mucous.   You know how it is.  

So, Vick, Oil of Olbas and the tissues reign here!  And throat tablets to help keep an irritating cough at bay!   And Lucozade.

The mogs are doing a sterling job of keeping her feet and back warm while she's lolling on the sofa.  (warmer down here)  Cilla acts like a foot muff when she's on the computer.

Iffy joints and flu.  What a pair of old crocks we are!  lol  

Never argue with a cat!!

Junior has been a tad argumentative of late.

Think she's a bit fed up of the chores known as 'Tidying up after yourself' and ' Could you just do **** for me?''  Well, hey ho, 'tis tough.  Needs must and all that,  especially as Iffy Joint Old Crock aka Min isn't as nimble as she once was and needs a little help now and again.

Anyway, the mogs are hungry and need feeding.  Seeing as I was up at 4am due to Junior sleepwalking into my bedroom and could not get back to sleep, I asks daughter to attend to them.  One, Meg, has become really grumpy and growly which does nothing for you when you are as equally short-tempered and trying to feed the hungry furry masses.   It just makes you even more bad tempered.

So, they are fed.  House rule is that animals are sorted first, humans second.   Junior asks me to cut her a few wedges off the homemade bread.  She is going to make herself a tuna and mayo sandwich.  Her favourite.    Of course, the aroma is not missed and soon she has a mass of furry 'friends' vying for titbits.  Still grumpy, Junior shouts and yells at them and tells them to go away, leave her alone, they've had theirs, etc.  They, of course, ignore her and carrying on hassling.  lol

She makes the sandwich.  It is piled high with tuna mayo and they still pester her for some.  She tells them that under NO circumstances are they having any of this.   Not a chance.   It is hers and hers alone.  

Off she toddles to sit down and consume it.

A few seconds later, there is a little commotion and a child-like expletive.  

She returns to the kitchen, with plate and lop-sided sandwich.

It seems that because of her bad temper (sigh) her hands slipped and plate fell onto the floor...followed by sandwich.

Ah ha!! 

See!!   

The mogs got their tuna, after all.

There's a moral in there somewhere,...eg;  What goes around comes around...and all that.....  but I'm in danger of losing bladder control as I'm laughing so much!!!!

I made her a fresh one and presented it in a large, non-slip bowl. 

Still tittering:o))

PS.  The Mogs...filled with tuna mayo sarni...are strategically lazing around..or so it would appear.....but, don't be fooled... all eyeballs are on Junior incase she drops this one aswell.   

Keeping Warm!

Woke up to find that it had snowed here overnight.  A bit more than a dusting....and it looks REALLY cold and icy outside!!  

Unfortunately, we have to venture out to visit Mother, who has the bag on with me 'cos we didn't go down yesterday.  Iffy joints a la moi and daughter who is suffering from cramp sort of makes your mind up to stay put...especially when it takes me ten minutes to put one boot on!!!  Junior titters at the sight of her old Ma rolling round and cursing, fighting these boots,  'cos she isn't as supple as she once was, going red in the face, etc.  Have to put these boots on to go out nowadays.  Slip on flatties are a no no in this cold, even with three pairs of socks!!     I'm taking a daily health supplement that the chemist recommended, but says it will take a couple of months to get me feeling better so, until then....I  think thermals might be in order to keep the joints happier:o)  The old-fashioned haberdashery shops are no more around here, which is a shame 'cos they were an Alladin's cave, full of the useful things that you don't find in the high street shops nowadays.  Have been explaining the virtues of bloomers to Junior.  lol  She still prefers leggings.

Daughter is into watching a maths type programme  of late. ..and some strategy games. Suits me:o))  I was waddling around WHS a few weeks ago and spotted their book deals.  I love books.  There's something safe about them.  There were some great offers on educational stuff, so I got a huge encyclopedia of the Earth for a fiver.  Bargain!!   It's like a doorstop!!   I was going to wrap it up for Crimble (present from the Ho Ho Ho HE fairy) but she eyeballed it before I could say sellotape!!  So, she's going to do an hour a day on a subject of her choosing, which I think will be geology based to start with:o))  Where can you dig for precious stones in Hill Billy Land?   Guess who ooos and aaaahs at Gems tv?   lol

Re our cooking list from the other day.  Soup and the veggie pasties are on the agenda today.  Maybe bread, but that'll be cheating via the breadmaker.  Not enough hours in the day!!