Today I shall be Mainly...

[Sue]

Heptonstall, a very interesting place. Sylvia Plath is buried there in St Thomas A. Beckett Churchyard, Heptonstall. The old cemetery has a coin clippers grave. The last time I was there I spoke to an old postman who said it was so quite up there that if you saw someone who you knew you shook hands, even if you didn't like them!

Absolutely, we spent ages browsing the headstones, so old and worn. We found one dated early 1600s . No Widdups though, although they must be there. Probably couldn’t afford headstones. Lots of Sutcliffes. My early Rochdale ancestor John Widdup married in St Chads, Rochdale in 1785, and moved to Barlick about 1790 where he created quite a dynasty of Widdups that lived in the area right back to Burnley and beyond. I suspect his wife Martha Edmundson was from Barlick according to my research. Anyway he , himself was born to William Widdup and Susan Sutcliffe of Heptonstall. Williams father was Daniel, also of Heptonstall. That's about 1710. I have been unable to go further back but the chances are that the village is the point of origin of the family.

[Wendyf]

I'm taking a trip to Harrogate today for lunch with my cousin. We are both terrible at keeping in touch and for a long time only met up at funerals, now our parents generation are long gone and there is a gap in family funerals we have to make an effort! Silly, because we get on well. Our mothers were very close, and Sue and I heard all about each other's lives through them, now there is catching up to do.

[Stanley]

The shed is history! I have spent all morning in honest endeavours like changing bedding, washing bedding and net curtains, cleaning and disinfecting the bedroom window, lubricating the window opening mechanism, rehanging the net curtain and putting the clean duvet covers on the bed. I am now officially knackered. We will have a short walk, a bit of dinner and a listen to 'In our time' and a good sleep. I have earned it!

[Stanley]

Shopping and washing curtains and nets and re-hanging....

[Cathy]

Ooo can I come and stay at yours Stanley,, sounds wonderful.

[Stanley]

Ah Cathy! This is only the windows, in other aspects I am a very careless housekeeper! Actually, the way the morning is developing I might not get round to them today, we'll see. Cooking and preparing for going into hospital on Monday are taking over. At the moment I am cooking dried peas, grilling Jack's sausages, cooking Jack's mince and there is a steak pudding to cook. (I steam them until the pastry crust rises, they are only partially cooked.) These things always take more time than you think.

[Sue]

My goodness that was one intensive yoga class last night. I feel so stretched I must have gained height . Today is craft and this evening is wine tasting. This afternoon I think I shall pot on my corn plants which are getting too large for the small seed tray. Looks another nice day.

[Marilyn]

I will attend wine tasting with you, but you can forget the rest.
Having a "mixed bag" of a day with pain. I took a wrong step in the bathroom this morning and yelped. Have been paying for it since...and it is such a shame...because I woke up this morning feeling wonderful.
It didn't help when hubby rushed past me while I was struggling to put my slipper ON the sore leg/foot. Seeing me having problems, he whipped the slipper OFF for me on his way past. He was gone and half way up the stairs before the cry of "Hey! You brute! I had that half way ON!" reached his ears. ( I heard a faint "Sorry" sailing off into the distance)
I've been slightly out of kilter with the world today.
One good thing is that I got him to take me to our local library, as they had a sale of old/un-needed books. I made him carry those two lovely big heavy bags all on his own.

[Stanley]

I took a wrong step in the bathroom
I know that one well Maz! Even when things are fine, you only have to drop your defences for a second and you can be in a world of pain. I find that first thing it helps if you do some very gentle warming up exercises, I do them while I am waiting for the kettle to boil first thing and just before I go for a walk. Nothing serious, just things like swinging your legs, gentle twisting movements with your upper body or stretching your calf muscles. They really do help. It's that inadvertent move first thing that can spoil your day. Over 60 years these things have become automatic and I don't even think about them. Forget what people will think if they see you! (There's a good reason why a cat or a dog stretches when it stirs after a sleep....)
Curtains and nets lost out to cooking and small household tasks yesterday, today might be the same, we'll see how things pan out.....

[Marilyn]

Well I thought I would be OK, as I had just hopped out of a warm bath. Not so.
I don't dare stretch. Horrible thoughts of un-name able things going 'ping' in unspeakable places. ( and you must never say the word TWIST to a spinal patient, Stanley. Surgeon threatens death if you dare twist! )
I took extra care in the bathroom today. Made it most of the way around the supermarket this morning before I had to use my stick. I'm doing ok.

[Stanley]

Doing very little other than usual tasks, packing my hospital bag, re-reading the fasting instructions, choosing a book to take with me and making sure my body is presentable and as near sterile as possible. Roll on Tuesday!

[Stanley]

Getting out of the house at 11:15 with all set in place for being away for at least a day. Who knows, if I have a quick recovery they might even let me home tonight but I doubt it.....
If I am AWOL tomorrow you will know that I missed.....
Tiz is back from holidays and might fill in for me......

[Wendyf]

I hope all goes well Stanley and that no further treatment is required.

[Stanley]

Thanks Wendy, that's what I am hoping for. I am encouraged by the fact that they made me two offers, go away and come back in six months or take the option of the BCG treatment. I chose the latter of course for insurance.
I will find out shortly if I took the right decision.
I have of course a vague sense of trepidation but I think that's natural. Ill be glad when I get the results! Onwards and upwards. I have all my ducks in a row, the sooner I get in there the better. I am scheduled for noon arrival.

[Stanley]

Doing as little as possible after a brilliant day yesterday. More later when I have got into my stride....

[Stanley]

Having another quiet day. I am rapidly getting up to speed but will take no chances.... Having a general anaesthetic is still a shock to the system. Apart from anything else I find it gives me a slightly sore throat but gargling with salt and water seems to be a good thing.

[Sue]

Going for our usual 4-5 mile walk this morning, we usually manage 3 miles an hour and like to keep that up. The point of these walks is the cardio as neither of us run or would want to. We do more leisurely walks if we go out for the day and on holiday.

This afternoon I have a lesson with Maxine to review the toile of my asymmetric shirt. There are a few issues with the fit of the sleeve that need sorting and an aesthetic issue with the shape of the bodice ie it looks like an old sac on me ! This evening is pilates and later a friend will pop round for a natter and a cup of tea.

Its due to be a nice day. I really think Spring has come at last.

[Stanley]

It's almost here! All we need to do is get rid of the East wind. Warnings about low rainfall this morning and possible water shortages. Perhaps we need a period of rain to accompany the sun!

[Wendyf]

Yes please, a bit of warm rain would be good. The early growth on the grass has all gone, there is not a lot for my boys to nibble on!

[Stanley]

One of the problems with East winds Wendy, they are usually dry. It's a full moon tomorrow and I often think this influences the weather. I think we could get some rain before long.....
I am not fully back to speed, very tired and it can just suddenly creep up on me so I am still taking it easy. Lots of reading and sleeping, good therapy I reckon!
I think I might be a bit slow on the uptake at times. I had mail from my Macmillan Nurse yesterday saying that Monday was very positive. I knew that of course but I suddenly realised what a weight had been lifted off me. I'm sire Colin could relate to that. Not out of the wood yet but definitely reasons to be cheerful. That prompted me to order a new laser cartridge for my printer and put out feelers to Pluggy about upgrading the FM3!
So Today is taking it easy but feeling positive!

[Sue]

The weather forecast should have been rain over the weekend , it has now shifted to next week sometime. Temperatures look very pleasant indeed.

Bob , hopefully has mended the leaks in the garden pond and we have refilled it. I may pop to the garden centre today to get some more marginal plants as we threw away all that we had in there, being somewhat overgrown and entangled with pond weed

This afternoon is the U3A monthly meeting. We don’t often go as the talks can be rather dry but today is the unveiling of a large framed textile produced by the craft group celebrating the first 10 years of the Todmorden group. It is a tree of knowledge with fabric shaped apples, each depicting a particular group. I made three, the walking group, Creative writing and the gardening group. It has taken us 15 months from idea to completion.

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[Sue]

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[Wendyf]

What a lovely idea, I like your apples!

[Stanley]

I'm impressed too, they look very complicated. how big are they?
Shopping, reading and sleeping today. I feel quite tired, probably an element of reaction as well as the anaesthetic. No worries, I like my bed!

[Sue]

Thank you both. I think they were About 9 cm by 11 if I recall. The edging was a bit fiddly on the two I edged. The walking one was mainly hand sewn, involving a technique called picture quilting. It was 3D with the hills stuffed with wadding from the back. The other two were machine embroidery, done on my sewing machine, the gardening was a bought motif, not particularly added to. Time was running out and it was an extra as I did one for someone who was ill. The Creative writing one was again a bought motif but I downloaded it to a computer program so that I could manipulate it. I altered the shape and size to fit the apple and added the writing . Each took about 5-6 hours including initial sketches. They are backed with two layers of stiff iron on interfacing to give them a bit of body.

We are up early today, off to Coventry to see the family and driving back tomorrow through Derbyshire and visiting Hardwick Hall. Forecast brilliant, T shirt and cardigan weather and light weight fleece.

Have a good day everyone