Windy here

but at least it’s not raining.  It seemed like a gale at 9.00am this morning but according to the weather forecast it was only 20 mph.

At least it’s better for John to take Ellie over to Llanllwni incinerator.  She died yesterday. She’s been a very good fostermother for Elvis.  She had a hard lump, some sort of  tumour on her side.  Fri morning she didn’t want much food and yesterday she was by the hut.  When he went over at 3.00pm she had died, peacefully, no signs of threshing about.  He thinks it might have been a strangulated hernia. 

Elvis is weaned anyway but he has stayed down and still likes to keep to the paddock and go in at night.  The lambs will be going soon.

Small’s leg is a bit better, he stilll limps, mainly because he can’t resist jumping about.  He has a quiet day in, walks better and then goes hunting. 

Holly doesn’t like this wind much.  I think she’s a bit frightened by it.

I need to tidy up an article for the Countryman and get it and some photos off.

Nice to be home

I’m safely home from  my Cardiff trip.  I went up yesterday, the time has flown by.  The Ibis Cardiff Gate hotel I stayed was basic but my room and bathroom were fine.  The bathroom was excellent, all grab rails etc, and immaculate and spotlessly clean.  It was quiet there, only 15 guests but the staff were friendly and helpful.  I had a broad bean and asparagus risotto ffollowed by treacle tart and ice cream.  Only small portions, but quite enough.

This morning, after breakfast I set off to find the St Mellons ?County Hotel where the MS training day was.  I started  off ok but got lost. In the end I asked a lady in a petrol stationa and she said follow us, my husband will flash his lights where you turn right, but he didn’t, he stuck his arm out opposite the entrance by which time I’ve passed it.  Anyway, I was there. 

It was an interesting day, there were three of us would be volunteers, a young man, Alex had come down from London.  He runs the MS Helpline.  One lady there, W tended o dominate the conversation.  She has been a Samaritan so has all the listening skills.  A bit of a know-it-all.  Liked talking about herself. 

We had a nice lunch but I think that  hotel is not a good venue for disabled people. It’s probably expensive to hire a room and after all, the MS Society is using funds donated by people.

I told them the Ibis would be much better, but it’s not so ‘posh’ and the food is more basic but you’re not there for the food.

I think it’s raining again.  I shall o to bed earlier. I’m  reading about Lady Godiva (pronounced good-eva).  Did you ever wonder why she rode through Coventry naked?

I’ll tell you next time.

Busy

I’vejust been printing a map off the internet.  On Monday afternoon I’m going up to Cardiff for a training day with the MS Society on Tuesday.  That’s at  the St Mellons Hotel and the ms soc booked me a room there for the Monday night but I rang the hotel and the only concession to disabled guests is that it is on the ground fl0or.  There are no disabled use bathrooms. 

So I booked myself into the Ibis Cardiff Gate which is a large, modern hotel just off Junct 30on the M4, very easy to find and theyhave disabled rooms/ensuite.  I’m sure it will be ok.  They don’t have a restaurant but have 24/7  hot snacks, so for my Monday evening dinner I’ll have a hot snack, they say they have curries and pizzas etc.

This training day is for a new Ms Society scheme.  It’s a Newly Diagnosed Buddy plan where someone can ring up a person, possibly me and get information etc.  It all depends on the drs etc in hospitals actually giving out the information to the patient that there is this scheme.  Whenthere is  a diagnosis of something like ms Some people go into denial, others want to wait a while.  We have a girl of 27 coming into th eOxygen Therapy centre in Cardigan who has only just received a tentative diagnosis of MS but she wanted to start Hyperbaric oxygen and do as much as she could to help herself.

When she came in she was really struggling with walking, balance poor etc.  Now, a month later, she drives herself in, walks much better and can get down on the floor for her 11 month old baby.

So she is really pleased with the oxygen treatment. 

Anyway, I get a day away from the sometimes chaotic kitchen here.  Holly is going round and round the table, Catty is off her food again and Small still  has a poorly leg.  Not helped by his going out and hunting around.  He likes to sleep on Holly’s chair which means she can’t get on it.  She loves to sleep upside down with her legs in the air, very relaxed, like a baby.

The weather is changing

It’s colder and with the hedges cut it’s starting to looka bit wintryt.

The tack sheep come tomorrow so John has gone up on the quad to check the fences again.  In case badgers have made new runs under the fence.  Had a good writer’s meeting here this morning.  Lively with plenty of amusing quips.

Holly did a woof when Ken and James came in but she copes with them although she isn’t friendly.

It was a lovely sunny day when we were at Morrins on Sat collectin  for the cente.  We had to sit in the foyer which was cold, I didn’t realise how cold until I went in the shop to get coffeee.

Gina said she was hot standing outside.  I’ll find out tomorrow how much was collected.  All sorts of people, young and old give.

Beautiful sky…

tonight.   After a spot of drizzle this morning it turned out sunny this afternoon and by tea time there was  not a cloud in the sky.  When I took Holly out the sun was warm.  I got up at 7.20 this morning, which is early for us, to let her out.  So I am absolutely tired now. 

Tomorrow I’m going down to Morrisons in Carmarthen to help as the MS Therapy centre in Cardigan are collecting there.

I can at least sit and hold out a collection bucket so I really need a good nights sleep.

We hope, as the mornings get darker, that Holly won’t wake up so early.  Sometimes she pulls Mark’s old boot out and bangs it around.  Small  has hurt his leg and is holding up his paw.  He is having arnica which is good.  The problem can be that he feels better than he is, does too much jumping around on it and hurts it again. 

He likes sitting on Holly’s chair and if he is feeling sorry for himself he hisses at her when she tries to jump up.  I pick him up and put him in the living room. 

He’s still a mummy’s boy but if I make a fuss of him, Catty and Holly want a fuss as well.

Busy

I’m v busy with writing work.  It’s a lovely sunny day with th clouds drifting in from the west.  So I’m here at the pc and will get my fresh air when I take Holly out later.

Small has a bit of a poorly leg. Probably hurt falling off or jumping off.

He’s taken to coming home in the early hours and climbs in the bedroom window.  He rested all day yesterday, snoozing on Holly’s chair.  He’s better today, limping slightly.

Busy outside…

today.  It’s cloudy with patches of blue and snatches of sun so is reasonably pleasant.  I will clear the summer flowers.  I have winter pansies and wallflowers to put in.  I have a bag of tulip bulbs but I found last spring that mixing tulips with pansies was not so good as the tulip leaves are large and overshadow the pansies.  The pansies seemed to recover well from the hard frost as well. 

I got 9 cheap plastic pots from Morrison’s.  Suitable to repot the trees etc.  Holly is very keen on plastic pots so we shaell have to keep an eye on them. 

I’m just hoping we can stop her trying to empty the pansy tubs – size is no problem for her.  Just more of a challenge. 

She’s just been racing round and round the house, just for the fun of it.  She’ll probably have a snooze in a bit – just like a puppy. 

John is brushcutting the nettles.  John Crossley got the two brushcutters going so I hope they keep going.

The washing is on the drive…

It’s grey and cloudy now but earlier it looked brighter over towards  Cardigan Bay so I put the towels in to wash.  

Holly has pulled them all off the line and dragged them to the drive.  John told her ‘no’ when he pegged them out but he has gone out and this worries her. 

I have told her she’s a  bad girl and i think she has got the message but John said earlier he will have to make a clothes prop so the line is higher.  

I shan’t be going to see my friend Eddie in hospital for a while as he has the hospital bug c.diff and is in isolation. 

My  brother John has just had a similar eye problem to John’s detached retina last year, although brother John was very lucky.  He had a tear but it hadn’t spread so it was lasered immediately.  In fact he had had a lot of floaters, which was blood in the eye for three weeks and hoped they would go away.   When it got worse he went to the optician who sent him straight to the Royal Gwent who sent him on to the Heath Hospital in Cardiff.   I think they felt like their feet didn’t touch the ground.  Mary was given a contact number and told to go home.   I don’t think they appreciated the seriousness of the problem.  If John’s tear hadn’t detached and split down to the retina he would have had immediate lasering, but by the time we got to Singleton the damage was done. 

Anyway brother John is cheerful as ever although he won’t like not being able to drive or umpire at hockey. 

I must go and check what Miss Holly is up to.

Staverton

I’m writing this for Mark and Vivi as they are on their way to Devon for a holiday. They are going to north Devon but I’m hoping that they will be able to go over Dartmoor to Staverton which is between Buckfastleigh and Totnes, east of the A 384. 

This was the village where my grandparent’s and aunt lived from the 1940’s until 1976 when my aunt died.  When we were children we usede to go and stay with my mother’s sister in Totnes and go over to Staverton to see my Grandmother and my aunt (Dad’s family) 

They had a farm, in those days Jerseys and horses but when I last went in the late 1960’s my Aunt Bets just had the stud horses.  She had two stallions, one was called Colonel Bogey, he was a brother to a well known racehorse called Stalbridge Colonist. 

Their house was called Woodcote and I couldn’t give directions to find it.  All I can remember is that if you go in the churchyard there is a side gate with a track or lane that leads to Woodcote.  It’s not very far.  The stables were on the right hand  side from the church and the side of the house is on the left side of the road, with a gate at the side.  The whole area might be changed now. 

Their garden was quite large, overgrown at the bottom with the river Dart and the Dart Valley railway running along. 

In those days Bets lived there with a couple called Triggs, Blanche and Russell.  She was a real Ambrosia rice pudding farmers wife type, short and plump, with a pinny and her white hair coiled up. He was a real horseman managing the huge stallions. They went to all the shows and even up to the Horse of the Year at Wembley sometimes.

  John went somewhere with him in his Land rover and Russell’s driving in the narrow Devon lanes scared him. 

They’ve all been dead a long time.   In those days the place was owned by the Church Commissioners but it may well have been sold many years ago.

Stacy, Eva and Elizabeth (Bets) Lockington are buried in the churchyard.  I think they must have a grave stone, I remember going there with flowers, so I hope Mark and Vivi will. 

Anyway I hope they have a lovely holiday and they relax and  chill out.  I’ll have a look at the weather for Ilfracombe.

It’s grey and cloudy here, with sporadic flashes of blue, not cold.

What a grey day…

I’ve forgotten to change the setting so there will probably be mistakes in this that I cannot see.  John was going to paint the side of the bungalow today but it’s a bit damp.  Better day tomorrow.  Holly is running off with the large tubs of flowers.  The one with the dying marigolds by the back door.  She’s looking for something else all the time.

John has given her a game with a sock, throwing it,  and she brings it back and drops it.  She is much friendlier now.  He can pat her, I can sometimes.  Chris came yesterday and said she is much quieter and less nervous.

I went to see a friend in hospital on Sunday.  Eddie has had a stroke and it will be a while before he is strong enough to leave.

If ever there is a reason to give up smoking that is it.  John has been warned he is at greater risk and as I tell him – strokes don’t always kill but do leave you helpless for months.  He would not  want to be like Eddie, watching the clock, waiting for meal times and visitors.

We’ve just been looking at 99 Squadron website.  John’s father was in this in the war.  His plane his listed, it hit trees as it was trying to land in a field and burst  into flames.  All killed.  It’s very sad to see the lists of young men, planes lost or shot down.

At least they were fighting for Britain, not like now, getting killed and injured for Afghanistan.  What was the point of razing the camp at Calais when they are just going to move somewhere else, but always close enough to get to Britain.