Happy Christmas.

When I was a kid I am sure Christmas lasted longer than it does now! The two festive days are over in a flash and all the preparation that goes into it makes it feel as if just when you are almost unwound and enjoying it, that's it! its over. My family and I went to midnight mass on Christmas eve, probably the only time we are able to drag Beth into church with out a fight! My husband actually had work to do in the service Christmas morning so we all went to church again! Aren't we good. Once home again we unwrapped our presents, even the dog had one and got quite into the whole Christmas wrapping paper thing! We had a traditional Christmas lunch of turkey with all the trimmings, then in the afternoon we all went down to the stables to put the horses in. The blonde bird had put them out earlier and she had mucked out made up feeds, filled up the water buckets and hage nets. Back at home we all played games watched Christmas films and ate and drank too much. It was in fact the first Christmas for years that we have all spent the whole day together, not working or going to see friends (Beth). Although my husband was working boxing day until 5.30pm and Beth went out, we were all together in the evening with my Mum, my brother his wife and two children and not forgetting Mums dog Boo. More silly games food and drink. We really did have a lovely Christmas this year.... HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE....AND BEST WISHES FOR A BRIGHT NEW YEAR.

Let it snow

For the past three days we have had snow here, in fact I think pretty much the whole of the south of England has had it. The dog loves running in the snow, when I first took her out she just ran for ages without wanting me to throw a ball for her, when we got back to the car though she had dozens of icicles dangling from her tummy and huge clumps of snow round her feet. The horses kicked up their heels when they were first put out into it, but now they are eager to get back into their nice warm stables with their hard feed and hage. Tonight I had a phone call telling me that the temperatures may drop to -9 C tonight and would I double rug Red. Poor Red isn't very well at all, she has lumps all over her and is itchy, she rolls and scratches and gets herself into a bit of a tizzy. We are waiting for the vet to ring with the test results so that we know exactly what is wrong. She has quite a cocktail of powders and tablets to take twice a day now, and she is so dubious about anything being put in her feed. Last night it was my husbands works Christmas dinner, all but one of the watch turned up, it was a really good evening. Good food, plenty of red wine and lots of dancing, (not by my husband though, he didn't get on the dance floor at all!). There were a couple of other groups from the fire service there and their tables were quite close to ours making it quite rowdy at times! I even bumped into the one with the scary eyes, from Aikido who was there with his other half, who was on one of the other fire service tables.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

I have to post this quickly but I will expand on it later.
I had my Gynae/Oncology appointment yesterday, the specialist was awesome...
I like her even more because she told me I don't have cancer, she re scanned me and said she could see a lot going on but that it was most definitely not cancer. She was less than impressed with the way the GP had dealt with the situation and told my husband and I she would be having words with them.
I can't begin to explain how I feel now, or even how I felt for the last two weeks!
When I was told nothing would ever be the same again, it was probably the truest thing ever said to me. Nothing will ever be the same, even though I don't have cancer.
This will hopefully be the last post with that label....

Receptionists!!

I don't know if Doctors receptionists have to have a qualification in unhelpfulness but at our surgery they would pass with flying colours!
The other day I blogged about trying to get an appointment to see a doctor, and being told I would have to call the practice nurse the following morning, I have since had two more dealings with the receptionists there, the first was the following day when I duly rang for an appointment with the nurse, when she asked why and I told her she told me "Oh no you need to see a doctor for that" Give me strength.... she did however give me an appointment but I did have to then wait a few days! Having been in for this appointment the doctor asked me to make an appointment to see either him or my normal doctor in seven to ten days....
Back out at reception they told me that the doctor I had just seen wasn't in until mid January, so I asked for an appointment with my own doctor, she, it seems is fully booked. I leave. whilst I am outside ringing my husband to pick me up one of the receptionists comes out and asks me to come back in and make an appointment with another doctor. I explain that I don't want to see every doctor in the practice thank you.
Once back at home I got a phone call from the surgery, they have managed to find me an appointment with my own doctor on the Wednesday after all!

Saturday

Its only midday, but already I have that uneasy feeling that usually only creeps over me as night time approaches, maybe its because Wednesday is suddenly fast approaching and I am getting more nervous. My husband has taken his blog off the web as he is I think feeling the strain of worry and it is leaving him devoid of things to write. The dog thinks I have forgotten her as we haven't been out today, but later on I am meting up with a friend and her two dogs for a long walk. I haven't seen her for a couple of months so we have lots of catching up to do. My husband has taken litlun shopping and Beth is at work so I am home alone. Not that I can sit around doing nothing as Twiglet needs her wheel cleaned and there is laundry to be done. My husband has promised the girls he will get the Christmas decorations down today so that tomorrow they can decorate the tree and the house, I seem to recall finding decorations in the bathroom last year! ( I don't feel in the slightest Christmassy)
Picture of Twiglet, I wonder what she will make of Christmas lights and tree.

Training

Yesterday I went with my husband to the Royal Army Chaplains Division Museum. We had to Email them first as you visit by appointment only, its a small museum on the training site of the serving Army Chaplains..... I have a feeling my husband wants to become one! (Army ! !, well now that would be an interesting concept, for an ex RM!). When we got home, I did the horses and cooked a roast, odd day to have a roast I know but we have all been doing other things and yesterday was the only day so far this week that we are all in for dinner. Training last night. Training is the bright spots in my otherwise gloomy time, its two hours where I have to concentrate really hard to get the moves right, its fairly physical and most of the people I am with don't know there is anything wrong, (and the ones that do know are concentrating on training too). I think we could do with an extra two training sessions a week. . . OK maybe not but it would be brilliant for my mind! My husband however doesn't have this break, he is back at work today, and I am hoping that the break from me will give him some space, it can't be easy for him either, especially as I keep getting stressy on top of everything else!

Black and White

Last night at training I met the first person who knows that I have OC but treated me just the same as normal. Thank you Obelix, Since finding out people either don't seem to know how to deal with it or go over the top, both of which is not nice. This mornings post brought my hospital appointment, the date and time were no surprise as they had spoken to me on the phone, what was a surprise to me was the shock I felt at seeing the words:- Gynaecological Oncology appointment on a letter addressed to me....... Since receiving the letter the day has gone in a daze, even my husband seems to have been affected by either the letter or my reaction to it. I have no more to say today.

Tick tock tick tock

Today after sorting out the horses and cleaning out the hedgehog, I sat waiting for the post! Hoping that my hospital appointment would arrive and be quick... The post came, but no appointment. After lunch I got a phone call from the hospital to make an appointment, the first one they could offer me was next Wednesday (16 Dec) I know this is only 9 days away, but right now that could be 9 weeks it feels like such a long wait. I rang my line manager who suggested I get a sick note from the doctor as I won't be fit for work with that hanging over me! I rang the doctors surgery and got the most unhelpful "jobs worth" of a receptionist who wouldn't listen to what I was saying and decided in the end that I should see the practice nurse tomorrow. Bloody hell!!! But I can't make an appointment to see her oh no! Not now at least, I have to phone back at 8:30 tomorrow morning. I think she may have shares in BT. Why is everything so difficult? Or maybe its me??
My husband and I are off to see a friend shortly who is the chaplain at the local hospital, then its training tonight... I wonder if I will want to go, and then if once there I will want to be there! Everything seems very upside down at the moment.

Wet and windy

I woke up at 4am this morning, I haven't been sleeping well and when I do sleep I have nightmares. The alarm went off at 7am which was a relief it meant I could get up knowing my husband was awake. Driving down to the stables was awful the car was being blown all over the road, and as for the rain well! It was a job to put the horses out both of them seemed to want to stay in their stables warm and dry. We were suppose to be going to see a friend today, its an hour and a half journey in good weather so with the rain and wind we decided not to go this week but maybe go next instead. I sent a text telling him we wouldn't be going, the reply was almost immediate saying it was just as bad where he was. Fifteen minutes later the wind had dropped and the sun was out! Typical. Litlun and I went to church with my husband, Beth was going to see her boyfriend and stay over then they were off to see Eddie Izzard on Monday night at the O2 arena, she had got me a ticket for my birthday but with all this going on if my appointment comes through for Monday or Tuesday it would have been difficult. I feel so ungrateful but Beth understands and at the moment I am just not in the right frame of mind to be that far from home. Bringing the horses in this evening was quite interesting too they both played up Red who is 24 or 25 years old was bucking and rearing all the way in! We are now sat in front of the television watching the NFL, Texans V Jaguars (9-23 at the moment).
((pic... Sam Greenwood/Getty Images))

living on pause

I am on pause. Everything is moving at ninety miles an hour all around but I am in suspended animation.....
This morning we had a phone call asking if we could have our granddaughter for a few hours as my daughter in law had some things to attend to. Whilst she was on the phone I gave her a rundown of what happened yesterday. She was shocked!
My husband had to take litlun for her grade two singing exam today, and Flower turned up whilst they were out. We made up the Thomas the tank engine tracks and played with that then had some lunch. My sister in law came round with some flowers and had a cuppa and a chat which was nice, as although we live about three miles apart because of our shifts and kids clubs we rarely get to meet up.
After Flower had been collected and Litlun and my Husband had got home, Apparently Litlun did really well and her singing teacher thinks she may have got a pass with distinction, I drove down to do the horses, it was raining I rang Lou, (hands free) and had a good cry.....again (poor Lou) then got on with the job of bringing Red and Mouse in, Lou had mucked out and got the stables ready so all I had to do was mix the feeds and change their rugs.
People don't seem to know what to say to me, I feel like I have been set apart as different and its horrid, I am not cancer, I am still me..... I am still me!

Where is my blue sky?

Yesterday I went to the doctors for a scan, I have been having a few problems and had a scan about 6 weeks ago, this was to be the follow up scan. Its not a pleasant experience but the lady who did it was nice which makes a difference. Last time I went they found fibroids and a few other things, this time however I mentioned I had been having abdo pain low down for months, so she investigated this area further... Last night I had a phone call from the doctors surgery, I needed to go in for an urgent appointment in the morning. This I guessed couldn't be anything good! This morning I went to the doctors, he told me I had Ovarian cancer, and that a fast track (within two weeks) appointment at the local hospital would be made, and as no cancer had shown up on the blood test I had had two months ago, they would like to do another one. I don't know what to think I am confused and disbelieving and angry and can't stop crying...... My blog will now become my journey, it won't be pretty my language no doubt will be..... well Fishwife springs to mind! So if fishwife isn't your thing, best you don't read on.

Today I got up early, met up with my brother and caught the train into London, (there was no point trying to drive into London in the heart of rush hour!) where we met up with some of our cousins and their families for the cremation of my uncle, their father. He actually died last year, but left his body to a London medical college who have released his body back to the family. The service was short, and rather distant. My cousins had managed to chose the music which was to accompany the coffin into the chapel, the music that played us out and the hymn that was sung, or be it just one verse! Despite the somber occasion we all managed a smile as Benny Hills theme tune began to play and Uncles coffin entered. He would have laughed with us. After the service my brother and I caught the train home again. Today was doubly difficult for us as it's Dads 4th anniversary of death, which is why Mum didn't make the journey with us. He and Mum had been on a cruise when he died. I miss him and think of him very often, I wonder what he would think of the things we have all done in the past 4 years. I think he would be upset at the divide that seems to have appeared in the family, as are we and my cousins.... very sad.

Wet wet wet.

I am not referring to the music group, but rather the weather! Yesterday I was at work, and at one point my crew mate and I thought we may have to call out the RN LI (we were nowhere near the sea), the rain came down so hard and fast that we were able to watch the road in front of us flooding! We even had hail! Remarkably we didn't do a single weather (rain, flood, rta) related job! All but one of our jobs were referred through the on call doctors!! grr, and all but one of those had been diagnosed(wrongly) over the phone..... Note to self, try and get on the on call doctors crystal ball reading course would save going out to at least half the jobs! even if the diagnosis was wrong...hey it works for them!! Once home though I settled down to watch the NFL, my team was being screened, yay,.....not so yay, we got trounced 32-3. This morning I went up to the stables to put the girls out, as the blonde bird had done them yesterday whilst I was at work I hadn't realised that the puddle by the gate had turned into a rather large pond! Nor had I realised that my very old wellies had perished.... need I say more? Having sorted them out and changed my socks I took the dog out for a run, or rather a squelch, the fields we walked in were full of puddles and mud, oh and did I mention the rain, for a moment I wished I was back in the ambulance watching the road flood... but only for a moment, the dog brought me back to my senses by laying in the biggest puddle she could find..... Aikido tonight surely that will be dry?

Twiglet

It's not until you look back at photos that you can see the difference in things, I was looking through some photos of Twiglet today and was suddenly aware of how big she had got and also how much paler her spines are now.
In a few weeks time I intend to do the same with photos of me! Oh yes! I have been going to Slimming world (again, after months of "can't be bothered") this time I have added swimming the gym and of course Aikido and walking to the mix, I have lost weight quite fast and intend to keep at it this time and then stay at the weight and size I end up at. No more of this faffing around.

Houdini

For the last few weeks, Mouse has been managing to escape from the paddock, well the whole field was split into three but she just marched through the electric fencing as if it wasn't there! Very annoying. Then the main catch on the gate failed and she escaped out onto the footpath that runs along one side of the field, this was sometime at night because the local vicar was just taking his dogs for their last walk of the day (somewhere around 11pm) and came face to face with her! fortunately she dived into the paddock next to ours and he was able to shut her in!
This understandably has worried me and annoyed a few people, so over the last two days Lou, the Blonde bird and I had decided to get a stronger pulsar for the electric fence, (the other option was to run the fence off the over head power cables, but we couldn't find anyone willing to attach the cable!)((that was a joke no calls to the RSPCA please)).
Once at the shop we realised that the pulsar we had should be doing the job, Lou decided to get a new leisure battery, new electric tape and an voltage tester thingy.
Back at the yard we attached the battery and went along with the meter, well about 10 feet along the tape the current stopped......then there was nothing at all, it was no wonder she was pushing through, the electric fence wasn't electric after all.
Lou you are an absolute star, who else would have got new tape on a whim? We undid the tape on the fence and ran out the new then attached the pulsar again.
Yes, electric pulses right to the far end of the field, OK mouse walk through it now!
We decided that they should come in at night now as we are getting quite a bit of rain, that and the wind they were both looking a little sorry for themselves.
So now they are snug in their stables at night and safely behind electric fencing that works during the day..... and long may it last!

Back to work

My first two shifts back at work were from opposite ends of the spectrum! I was third manning this week as I have been off work for two months! Third manning is when you work with a full crew, I was lucky to be working with two really lovely people for my first shift back, we decided to split the shift into three four hour segments, for the first four hours I was just an observer, I would have helped but we actually didn't have a job! the second four hours I was to be attending, we had a couple of jobs but neither of them were difficult, one we left where she was as she didn't require hospital the other was a fractured neck of femur so we took him in. When my four hours attending were up I drove till the end of the shift, I think we had another job but everyone was saying how quiet the day was... a nice way to come back to work! The second day however was totally different! Again we split the shift three ways, we had cover move after cover move interspersed with the odd job, our first (and only)meal break was at three pm after a two hour resus, after a busy afternoon we then managed to get a late job!! Well, I thought we were being led into a barn! It turned out to be the front room. The rubbish and food and paper and "stuff" was piled from floor to ceiling with just a walkway through to the bedroom and two doors that were shut, they had suffered two house fires but just left the burned walls bare electrical wires, and holes in the ceiling, which led to the roof space as this was a bungalow, the cobwebs and dust were so thick, we were coughing. Our patient was in the bedroom on the bed, I don't want to comment on this room as it makes my skin crawl! Our patient had suffered a CVA (stroke) and we needed to get her into hospital as fast as we could, the problem was our carry chair wouldn't fit through the walkway, in the end we called the fire service who issued us all with masks, as the dust was even worse once they began to move everything. We eventually got our patient out and shipped off to hospital. One hour and twenty minutes past our finish time we arrived back in base to hand over to the night crew. After my first shift back I had to drive straight to aikido, so I was glad not to have had an overtime job then!

Pyramids

After my extremely late night last night you would have thought I would sleep in.... well unfortunately I didn't!
I was up doing laundry, shopping sorting out the animals....
It is just Lit'lun and I at home this weekend, My husband has gone on a residential course and won't be home until tomorrow and Beth has gone up to her boyfriends Uni, to stay with him for the weekend.
After doing the chores I asked Lit'lun what she would like to do.... play badminton and go for a swim was her instant reply, so we did.
Two hours later we got back home where I started again with the laundry (towels swimsuits and sports kit) Its strange but when all the family is away I wish they were at home and when they are all at home I take them for granted somewhat.... Why do I always want the opposite of what I have?
The one good thing, both my husband and I agree on is that when he is away I can read Terry Pratchett's disc world in bed! ..... When he is at home I annoy him, disrupt him, keep him awake because the books are so funny I literally laugh out loud, all the way through them!
Well that's it for tonight I am going to curl up in bed with my favorite Disc world book.

Blowing a hoolie

I actually don't know what a hoolie is! I will have to google it once I have finished writing.
Earlier on I went down to give the horses their hay and feed, the Blonde bird and I had decided that we would leave them out, as even though the weather was going to be 75mph winds they are able to get in the field shelter and under the trees.
Many years ago, I think it was 1985, we had a massive storm, I had been out to a night club with some friends and on the way home we were getting more and more angry at our "designated driver" because of his erratic driving. It was only when we found several roads impassable due to trees down that we truly believed him when he promised he had no control over the swerving the car was doing.
Once back home I began to get worried about my horses, (not the same ones we have now, these have long since gone to the pastures in the sky) at the time we had five, four of them were stabled in a dutch barn with the fifth in an outside stable adjoining it, she had breathing problems and had more airflow outside.
Well, my friend Dawn, who was staying with me over night, and I had both been drinking so after Kevin dropped us home my mum (who had waited up for us as it was such bad weather) got dressed and drove us down to the stables. This should have been a mile and a half drive, but with so many trees down we ended up doing a nine mile round trip! Dawn who wasn't in the slightest bit horsey hid behind my mum, who is a tiny bit horsey!! Whilst I let all the horses out into the seven acres, they must have thought I was mad putting them out on such an awful night.
The following morning when we got down to the stables "Stream", (the horse with breathing problems) had she been in her stable may very well have died! The whole thing was flat, and the roof was blown completely off.
I hate the sound of the wind when its bad like it was then and is tonight, it always makes me anxious, which is why, if you look at the time this was posted, I am still awake now!

Bokken

Yesterday evening I set off for Aikido, in the knowledge that I may not be able to lift a cup to my mouth today! Obelix, who takes the Monday class has us working hard, usually within the first 10 minutes I have worked up a sweat! (sorry a little graphic) .....Yesterday was no exception, we worked hard, the first half of the two hour session had us learning some throwing and pinning techniques, the second half was so much more fun!! Weapons work, I would like to point out that I am not a violent person whatsoever but I have a thing about the Bokken, a wooden replica sword, I love it. On my second ever session, there was a move I just couldn't get, it was making me frustrated, Caine, who was my partner for this practice went and got his bokken and demonstrated the same move only using "it", not a partner, he got me to do the same then once I had caught on told me to do the same this time to him! It made so much sense (anyone who is familiar with aikido will know why) from then on if I didn't get it, he showed me using the bokken. As an anniversary present my husband bought me my own (it was an early present) when I took it to the club, Caine said he would sand and oil it for me and weave some tape I had chosen around the handle. Yesterday was the first time I have actually used it in a lesson and I love it, even if I can't practice what I learnt at home! ( the ceiling gets in the way!)
Oh and this morning...... I lifted my cup easily, either Obelix was easy on us or I am getting used to the work!
The picture shows my Bokken and Jo.

Alone....

After my husband went to work this morning, I got up and decided to go to the remembrance day service at the church.
All the kids were out or away so I went alone, I sat alone in an old fashioned pew in a church I have never been to before. I didn't know anyone there, but everyone there obviously knew each other.
When it came to the act of remembrance, the laying of wreathes, the single trumpeter playing last post....... I wasn't alone....
I was standing with people have who lost family members, friends and colleagues during WWI, WWII, and all the conflicts and wars since.
I was definitely not alone....

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

A Memory of Milo.....

RIP Little fella........

Guy Fawkes night.......

Well its that time of year again, when every shop that can, will try and sell as many fireworks as they possibly can.... from about mid September, then from that date most weekends you can hear the flippin' things going off everywhere.
I seem to recall writing about this last year, well we are in the same situation again, the dog begins to prowl around the house as soon as it gets dark, as she knows that the scary bangs and whizzes will begin again and she will be either attached to my heels as if she's glued there or else she will squeeze herself into the smallest gap she can find, even with the television or radio on she still hears them. well its now the 6th of November so I guess she will only have to put up with it for ANOTHER TWO WEEKS OR SO!! Grr.
Its not just my dog, lots of my friends have to keep their cats in and as for wildlife, other than the fear factor there is the hedgehogs hibernating in bonfire issue, especially the bonfires that were started to be made a while back.
Why can't we just celebrate Guy Fawkes night on the night?

A Fresh Start.

For the last two months I have not been well! I was signed off work by my doctor for a couple of reasons, one which may result in an operation!
During the last two months I have been away for a few days in the west country, that was my time out, and also taken up Aikido!
So I am now drawing a line under it and starting again. (Blog wise that is).
I thought I would add this photo of me throwing myself down the fish ladder on the River Rother, shortly before the start of the raft race.
The Search and Rescue team of which I am a member used the time before hand to do some swift water training......aannnddd it seemed like a good idea at the time! getting back up the ladder was much more difficult!

Memories.......

Yesterday evening Beth and I drove to the ambulance station that I work at, not because I had to go to work, but because one of my crew mates was about to start his last shift, he is leaving to start a new life in Australia. The station had got up a collection for him and with the money we were able to get a really nice wallet and the rest was changed into Australian dollars to put inside it. We had all put some of our funny memories of jobs we had done with him, or things he said or did into a card on the front of which was a photograph of him with the new ambulance in which he'd had quite a bad accident, on the inside was a photo of the ambulance after the accident. Denise had made a huge chocolate cake (which we all had a slice of, it was absolutely delicious)and Steph had put up a banner wishing him luck. I think, (hope) he liked everything, we will all be sorry to see him go but know his reasons for leaving. Good Luck, (if you ever read my blog) Today after going shopping, seeing to the horses, and going to see my mum, I had to take the dog to the vets for her annual jabs and kennel cough booster. As my dog scratched at the door to be let into the vets two other dogs were clamouring to get out! She loves going, always has to say hello to the reception staff and any other people in the waiting room. After her Jabs we talked about the search and rescue and the sort of things I might need in a canine first aid kit, my vet was able to supply everything I needed for a small kit which should cover most immediate emergencies. My husband then joined us for a walk, we wandered down to the sea where I happened to bump into someone I hadn't seen for almost 30 years! he used to help run a club I attended, and almost every weekend and school holiday would see my brother and I down at his houseboat, playing with the many water vessels he owned from canoes to dinghy's to Dell Quay Dorey's, good times fond memories. The last 24 hours seems to have been all about memories.........

August (to date...)

On my way up to see the Northern Bird I had to fill my car with petrol, imagine how shocked I was to be told that my card had been declined!! I transferred £800.00 into my account out of my savings on the phone but had to wait till I got home to sort out the problem. To cut a long story very short, I have two mobile phone numbers, which means two sim cards. One card is in my phone the other I keep in a small sim box in my bag. This had been stolen unbeknown to me and the person who stole it rang up £771.50 in calls phoning Lithuania (The reason I hadn't realised is that I haven't used the card for over 18 months, I kept it to let the kids use if they ran out of credit and I needed to keep in touch with them, now we have friends and family its not needed) Vodafone said that I am liable for the charges as I didn't report it stolen till after the calls were made, my take on this (and the consumer directs take is.....) when giving a phone and or sim card the provider has a duty of care which covers noticing when drastic spending patterns occur (for instance, 13 calls to Lithuania????? you think???? Hmm, Other than that, August became a tighten your belt month, no treats for the kids even though it was the summer holidays and unfortunately no holiday, as the £800. was our holiday money. On Friday Number 4's friend called to ask if she would like to go on holiday with their family to Cornwall, after 24 hours of frantic clothes washing and drying (out on the line , in as it rained, back on the line when the sun came out again) She went yesterday at 3 pm. When I went to put her rabbit in last night I wasn't too pleased though as she hadn't shut the cage properly and the flippin thing was hiding behind the shed! a little bribery with food soon had him back in his run though. My Husband was on nights and Beth was out with her boyfriend so I was home alone, ... well me and the dog anyway.

South meets North

At the beginning of August I travelled north to spend a few days with the Northern bird, I have only ever been through Lancashire en route to Scotland, so it was all new. After a massive 6 1/2 hour journey (two big Rita's (Rita's? surely I mean RTA's on the M6) I finally arrived, early evening sort of time. That evening we went out to a carvery for dinner and spent the whole time catching up, The Northern bird had a few things she had to do the next day but we still got a chance to wander around and see different things. On the Friday we headed north to see the Angel of the North, known to the locals as a chunk of rusty steel, I thought it was brilliant, and loved it, we did the touristy thing and had our photo taken there, before finding yet another pub to have some lunch at ( there seems to be a theme here!) After which we went to the James Herriot museum, we saw some of the sets they used for filming as well as the real practice at Skeldale house. when we got home we had fish chips and mushy peas (yeah and gravy......don't ask, ..... but it was lovely!!) Saturday we went for a walk up a hill called the coppice (I think) from here I took a photo of the real Accrington Stanley football ground, it really does exist its not just a milk advert! That afternoon we went to a castle ruin before returning back to Northern Birds house for tea (not dinner! ) Sunday morning I left at about 10am for the long drive home again. I had a really good time and just hope we get to see each other again soon.

July

Well I think the most important things to happen in July have to have been Lit'lun turning 13! and me turning. . . well ok lets just say my Birthday was at the end of the month! It seems like such a short time ago Lit'lun really was a lit'lun, and in fact from here on in I will call her by a different name, as, even though she is the youngest she is as tall as me now. (number 4) she is our 4th child after all! She broke up for the summer holidays and went to stay with my mum for the first week as my Husbands and my shifts were such that she would have been home alone, and that is just not happening!
One evening during swift water training down at the harbour (with T24) I happened to mention how I would like to go out on the harbour masters launch, not realising that one of the team members was actually the deputy Harbour Master, the following Saturday saw me out for the day with the Harbour Masters team on their RIB's attending their emergencies within the harbour. It was brilliant, I had a great day even if it did start at 8 30 am and my first meal was at 4pm, just like being at work really.
I was asked if I would cover a few of the private ambulance shifts at a horse race meet which I did as its nice to have a bit of extra cash now and again.....or so I thought..... (see August!) and then The Blonde bird and Lou decided that for my Birthday we should go to ladies day at the aforementioned horse race venue, but, not just turn up.....on no, we were to be going in a Limo,.....but not just any Limo, oh no,...... A pink Limo with champagne and all. we had such a good day there was a small group of us went, and what made it extra good was the fact that everybody won some money, but best of all the horses all got to go home, none of them got injured (which is why I don't usually go to the races.)
The following day was my Birthday, My Husband took us including BOTH girls out for the day for a wander, then when we got back the two of us went out for dinner at a quiet country pub/restaurant it was a lovely end to the day and the month.

June.

It seems so long ago, the last time I posted on here was way back in June. I am sure loads has happened but only a few things stick in my mind, I will try and remember a few of the better things and endeavour to keep my blog up to speed!
As I previously mentioned the dog and I have joined T24 which is a search and rescue team, we were members of lowland search team several years ago but for one or two reasons we discontinued.
Along the south coast a short way from us every year they hold a 999 event, where all the emergency services get together to promote their latest campaigns and just so the public can see what sort of things they can do. This year the dog and I were invited to go with T24, Lit'lun who is a cadet member also came with us, it was held over a weekend so we decided to stay in the area, camping Friday and Saturday nights and coming home late on the Sunday.
The days were lovely and bright although a little too hot for the dogs who had to be paced and put into the shade (or the sea) quite frequently. Lots of people came over to our display tent to see what we did and to make a fuss of the dogs, there were 5 dogs there in total from T24, and they were all well behaved.
The nights however were a completely different ball game! The weather seemed to know when the show was over and immediately start raining! It didn't really bother us too much as the sound was quite nice on the tents, oh and did I mention the tents were all being sold at a country fair so we just used them of a night with out the trouble of putting them up and taking them down...... what joy! Thanks Ben for the loan.
I managed to bump into one of my friends down there who is a firefighter, he used to work for the same fire service that I did which is how I know him but he has since transferred to a different one further along the coast.

Race for Life part 1

This morning I got up early, drove up to my station and collected one of the private ambulances, as today I am doing an overtime shift for the private ambulance service which is part of our company.
I drove miles out of my area to a place by the sea where the cancer research were holding one of their Race for Life runs, this ( for anyone outside the UK) is a sponsored 5k run/jog/walk purely for women to raise money for cancer research, most people dress up in fancy dress and usually it is a sea of pink tee shirts tutu's hats and leggings, everyone who takes part gets a medal, a goody bag and a bottle of water as they cross the finish line.
They do a men's one and this, I think, is called run for Moore, after the footballer, the colour scheme for this is red.
I met the paramedic I was to be working with on site as he is a local.
we got on well and had a good day, there was only really one patient which was a little girl who had an asthma attack, but was fine after a bit of medication.
Whilst we were there the ambulance decided it was going to break down! what joy, so far away from home, but we did manage to get it started again, and after reporting it I made my way back home, the driving position isn't very good in this vehicle and it aggravated my already bad back even more.
Once back in my own car I drove home, doing the horses before I got there.
We had been lucky enough to have warm sunshine all day but back home my family said they had a few showers in the morning, the race for life runners were very lucky not to get the rain!

Stronger Tablets

Today when I woke up my back was worse than ever, I got up and dressed so slowly I felt like I was about 80 years old!
Harley man I know how your back feels now! (Not that Harley man is anywhere near 80 years old mind you!)
I drove down to the horses and sorted out the electric fence and fed them, today is the last day they will have a morning feed as from now on they are just having an evening one, there is plenty of grass. The blonde bird and I decided that they should go in the pylon field for a while so that we can rest the big field, hopefully we will get some rain then the grass will grow again in there ready for the winter grazing.
When I got home my back was so bad I had to ring for a doctors appointment. which I was lucky enough to get for this afternoon. My doctor has prescribed some stronger pain killers to go with the anti inflammatory I was already taking, she also advised me to stay off work, I can't I will be put on monitoring as I have or would have had three bouts of "sickness" in 12 months, hell we work with sick people give us a chance, they would also stop me going forward to do my paramedics course if I am on monitoring, so I will just have to work through it. What an uncaring, caring profession I work for!
I was supposed t meet up with Storm today but she was rushing around and couldn't make it.
So I just spent the afternoon farming on farmtown!!!

A road trip

Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday I was away with my Mum visiting my aunt, her sister. Unfortunately I can't get Internet connection while I am there so for the three days I was away there were no posts sorry.

An odds and ends day

This morning I was woken by my husband bringing me a cup of tea before he went to work. It was lovely again, so after sorting Twiglets viv out I did a couple of loads of laundry before heading off with the dog down to the stables. I parked the car at mums and we both, with the dog walked the short distance to the stables to feed and check the horses.
We then carried on down to the beach, the dog immediately ran down the sand towards the sea as you just can't keep her out of the water. We walked along for quite a while, there was hardly anyone there just a pony and rider trotting towards us and a few sunbathers further up the beach.
Behind us was another dog walker with two large retrievers, suddenly one of them saw the pony and ran at it, the girl managed to stay on and after a few minutes she regained control of the horse which was still being chased!
Finally the woman got her dog under control and came over to us, the dog immediately jumped up at my mum. I shouted at it as she seemed oblivious
"did you see that horse"? she asked us " my dog chased it! it kept running!"
" Any horse would if it was being chased by an out of control dog " I said Some people really need to take responsibility for their dogs, she then said that where she lives people usually go in the other direction when they see her and her dogs! ! I WONDER WHY!!!
We went back to mums and had a cup of coffee then I left. On the way home I put the car through the car wash and went shopping.
Back home yet another load of laundry went on the line and I contacted my friend Willamina Power (Will for short) again and signed up for fat club again, I have to loose this weight I am piling on!
Then it was back home again to cook roast lamb for the family.
Now all I have to do is go and feed the horses their evening feed and I am all done for the day.

from fast horses to heavy horses

Today the Blonde bird is doing the horses, so when I got up I just had to prepare a picnic lunch and make sure I had plenty of water for the dog to drink, as, together with Flower and Lizzie , Lit'lun, the dog and I are off to the heavy horse event. I picked Lizzie and Flower up en route and we were soon wandering round the stalls, I bumped into some friends who I had worked alongside with the dog for SuSaR. We got chatting about it they have changed rescue group and suggested I bring the dog along again. We wandered on and I got some lovely home made jams, a Rhubarb one and a Loganberry one, can't wait to have toast now! While we were all watching the horse displays the dog got quite hot, so I found a hose and hosed her off, she loved it! At lunch time we all went to find a shady spot to have our picnic. The dog sat happily chewing a stick while we had lunch then after putting the cool box back in the car we all had an ice cream. About 4 times during out day out we had to top up the sun cream, especially on Flower as her skin is so fair, Lizzie bought her a sun hat early on and she wore it for most of the time. While we were walking round we came across a Jack Russell terrier that was the image of our little one who was bitten by an adder two years ago and sadly died, I have never seen one that looked so much like him, it upset both Lit'lun and I a bit. Lit'lun and Flower decided they wanted to have a ride on a cart that was being pulled by two beautiful shire horses, I just casually asked how much a set of shoes cost for one horse, the owner told me £165 every 7 to 8 weeks. (Please don't grow any more Mouse) After this we made our way back to the car and drove home, dropping Lizzie and Flower off at their house on the way.

A day at the races

Today when I got up it was brilliant sunshine, I had to take all the back roads to get down to do the horses as the beach traffic was already building up. I mucked out the field and fed the girls, Mouse should be called Jumbo! she has grown yet again, she must be a good 15.1 hands high, and only just two years old! She is still beautiful though and very calm for a youngster. having done the horses I walked back to my mums house where I had had to leave the car, as I couldn't get anywhere near the yard. We had a cup of tea and a natter before I had to go, to get back in time for a shift I was doing with the Private side of our ambulance service. Back home I grudgingly put my uniform on, its far too hot to wear on a lovely sunny day like this. I arrived at the rendezvous point and met up with five others who I would be working with, we were given tickets for a complimentary meal before the briefing. I had a jacket potato and salad followed by apple crumble and custard, yummy. At the briefing we were put into pairs and given our areas, my crew mate for the event was Alan and we had the crowd to do, yay, this meant I didn't have to watch the horses at all. I hate horse racing and only agreed to do the shift because they were so short of staff, and it was to be flat racing, therefore less chance of a horse having to be destroyed!! oh yes. What people see in racing over the sticks I just don't know, even flat racing sees its share of destroyed horses, not an event for horse lovers that's for sure. We had a grand total of zero patients, but it wasn't too boring as I managed to catch up with Alan who I haven't seen for years. Once home I just got back in time to say goodbye to Flower before she went home. Then my Husband opened a very nice bottle of white wine (yes I did say white!!) called Cuvee Prestige, and we spent the rest of the evening chilling out.

:-(

As you can see from my last post I was on nights last night, once home I fell asleep for about an hour before the Northern bird text to say she would be round shortly. Today she and the Northern chick are heading home again! When she arrived we had a cup of tea and consulted out diaries to find a suitable time for me to go up to Lancashire, where she lives, for a few days. We managed it, I am going to go and stay with her in August, which, knowing she is about to leave and go home, seems a long time to wait till we catch up again. Shortly after she arrived my Granddaughter arrived too, she is stopping over night with us again tonight. Lit'lun decided she wanted to go down to the Noise again, so after a short wander to the shop for some more milk, Northern Bird, Chick, Beth, Flower and myself head off to Pizza hut to have a buffet. The two little ones are as thick as thieves again, and when the time comes for them to head off north again Chick and Flower are unhappy. Back home Beth decided to go into town and take Flower with her my Husband is studying so I take the chance and go shopping! Probably not the wisest of things to do having had one and a half hours sleep in the last 24 hours, its muggy and hot, and the supermarket is packed!! Grrrr. Still its done. After doing the horses, filling the water troughs up and mucking out the field I can sit down and chill out with a large glass of Red! Cheers. I have had a text message to say that Northern Bird arrived home safely. Looking forward to August xx

Overtime

Today I didn't have to get up early as Blonde Bird is doing the morning feed and sorting out the horses, so I had a lay in. My husband came home from work and brought me a cup of tea in bed, which I am embarrassed to say I didn't drink as I fell back to sleep and let it get cold. All these late nights and early mornings catching up with me! I had a chilled out sort of a day as tonight I am doing my own shift as overtime, I am on annual leave at the moment but this night shift wasn't covered so I agreed to do it as overtime. I set off to do the horses on the way to work but the traffic was so bad I think there must have been an accident somewhere because in the end I had to turn round and go to work, ringing the Blonde bird to tell her what had happened. She told me not to worry as she would see to them, but its a bit bad when it was my turn to do them and I couldn't get through the traffic! I got to work slightly early but the ambulance was out on a job already so I was on my own till both the day crew and my crew mate turned up at about the same time. We were given a job almost straight away and then didn't get back to base until 1215ish when we were given our first meal break then we were off again job after job interspersed with the odd cover move. Well what can I say! I was glad it was a stand alone shift, my poor crew mate had done two days and still has another night shift still to do. The shift was OK even though it was busy, most of the jobs were genuine with just one sticking out in my mind as being a bit of a waste of time, the patient really didn't need an ambulance, me with my back and my crew mate's shoulder were far more deserving causes haha. Other than nearly falling asleep on the way home and doing the horses on the way home that really ended the day/night.

Didn't we have a lovely day the day we went to Butlins!!

Today Flower was dropped off at our house early so after my late night I was a bit bleary eyed. After getting showered and dressed Lit'lun, Flower and I went down to the stables to do the horses, It was pouring with rain which was a pity as our next stop was Butlins. Northern Bird and her daughter are staying there so we can get a discounted fee day pass. We are all given wrist bands and firstly drop our swimming things off at her chalet, then we head off to all the children's rides, even though Lit'lun is 12 and too big for the rides she is as happy as the two youngsters to be there for the day. Flower and northern chick hit it off immediately and are soon giggling and chatting away as if they have always known each other. at midday we all head off to the theatre for a performance called Warner Bros. in which Buggs Bunny, Tweety Pie and Daffy Duck make an appearance, the kids loved it joining in with all the fun. We found somewhere to get lunch and while Lit'lun and the two terrors chatted Northern Bird and I took the opportunity to catch up some more. After lunch we went to the swimming pool, there was a wave machine and various slides which incorporated tubes of varying length. There was a water ride also that you had to go in a blow up dinghy and the first part was a near vertical drop!! Lit'lun and Northern bird went on it first while I stayed with the little ones who were both too small to go on it, the queue took about 15 to 20 minutes and the ride its self well less than 40 seconds. when they got back Lit'lun and I went on it. we were in the pool for hours there was so much to do. but when we did finally get out and dried we decided to call it a day and head off home, stopping off to do the horses on the way, and dropping Flower off at her house. By the time we got back my husband had already left for his night shift.

Ann Summers

this morning I popped round to see my Mum, after doing the horses, one of her friends has given Lit'lun a TV with built in video and DVD so she is very excited. After getting a shower I went down to the shops to get a few bits for my Ann Summers party tonight. Lit'lun went down to the Noise again so I was able to get on and prepare food for this evening, I made some Moroccan meatballs and some chicken kebabs, later I will do a load of spicy wedges to go with them. I also did a few veggie bits as well as the usual crisps and snacky bits. Twiglet is much better now and enjoying her new look vivarium, each morning I can see where she has made tracks in the grass so I know she is having more of a poke around now. The blonde bird called to say she would do the horses on her way over for the party which saved me having to go out again. Northern bird arrived first with her daughter who is going to watch DVDs or sleep in Lit'luns room. I can't remember what order people arrived in after that but the ones I didn't think would come didn't. The games the organiser had us playing were so funny, she then showed us some of the items out of the catalogue and let us try things on if we wanted too. After eating we ordered what we wanted then people started to leave, by now it was 11:30 One of my friends together with her daughter who is also called Beth and was my Beth's best friend at school, stayed for a good natter, it wasn't until we realised it was gone 1am that we decided to call it a night. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did, it was a laugh.

Off and On!

Today is my Mums Birthday!
Happy Birthday Mum. xx
My brother is taking her out for the day so Lit'lun and I who had already decided to get up early to avoid the holiday maker traffic, decided to drop round and see her before she went, to give her a Birthday card, we had already given her a present. We chatted for a while then went to do the horses, whilst we were there I got a text message from the Northern Bird to say her car had broken down on the M6 and she was being taken home car and all by the break down company.
We were all gutted!
After doing the horses we went home, Lit'lun went to meet a friend at the railway station and I decided to turn Twiglets vivarium from a plastic play house into a rustic retreat (LOL)
The grass was ready to go in and I had the wood and bits to go into it.
As soon as she realised something was happening she came out for a look! licked the nearest new object and immediately began to anoint herself ( make froth and contort herself to put the froth all over her body, typical hedgehog behaviour and very amusing to watch.
Whilst I was doing this, the Northern bird text again to say her Mum had put Northern bird on her insurance and lent her the car.Yay. It means she will spend a lot of the day travelling but at least she gets to come down.
Lit'lun and I had lunch then she went off to the green as there is a holiday youth group from 9am till 9pm called "The Noise".
I prepared the dinner then Northern bird rang to say she would meet me at Tesco, as she had to get some bits, we could also get a cuppa in the cafe, or so we thought! When we got there the cafe was closed, so we got a few bits and went back to my house for a drink instead.
We had a good natter before she and her daughter had to go and book into their accommodation.
Just as they were leaving Storm turned up to return the catalogue so we all converged at the front door.
When they had all gone I put the dinner on ready for my Husband coming home from work.

The silly season!

Today when I woke up my husband had already gone to work, I got up and dressed and woke Lit'lun, we set off for the stables, but unlike our usual 15 20 minute journey it took over an hour as the whole of the UK was descending on the beach and the traffic queue was right back to the main road which is over 7 miles away, even with the short cuts it took me ages to get there! I think I will have to get up very early tomorrow morning to avoid the same, as it is a bank holiday, as for tonight well if I am not careful I will get caught up in all the traffic going home again, how much fun!! We stopped off at the shop on the way home to get one or two things, then once home I prepared the dinner and did 4 loads of laundry. That sort of took me up to putting the dinner in and my Husband coming home from work. I can't wait for tomorrow as Northern Bird and her daughter are coming down for a weeks holiday. Yay.

To the beach

When I got up this morning Lit'lun and Flower were playing in lit'luns bedroom, once we were all dressed I took them with me down to the stables to feed and check the horses, before all the sun worshipers arrive and make it impossible to get down to the stables for the queue's of traffic heading to the beach. Once back home we put the dog in the car and my Husband the girls and I went off to another quieter sea front to walk along and see the boats, we all had an ice cream too before heading home for lunch. After lunch Storm text to see if I would like to meet up with her, she wanted to borrow a catalogue too, so I drove down and had a cuppa and a natter before coming back to cook dinner. After which I dropped Flower off home on my way down to do the horses again.

Proffessional Development Training Course

I set off early on Monday morning (after checking that Twiglet had poo'd) to travel up to the Ambulance HQ or at least a hotel very near to it for the first day of my 5 day course, the course is being run in two separate locations, Monday Tuesday and Thursday we are at the hotel, and Wednesday and Friday we are at HQ.
When the first day had finished I went back to stay with some friends who live in a village much closer to HQ than me, they have let me stay for the week as it saves me time and mileage each day, to be honest it was nice catching up again, as we have drifted in and out of touch with each other in recent years, their middle child is my Godson, although all three of their children have flown the nest now.
The first night we all went out for dinner as my friends mother had been cat sitting for them the previous week end and they wanted to take her out as a thank you.
The view from my bedroom window reminded me of Scotland with the low cloud on the hills.
The nearest neighbours are across the fields and it is lovely and peaceful, and no light pollution at night.
The course was well, the last day had the best content and if it had been down to us we could have made it a two day course and that would have covered all the points we really needed!!
I was sorry to be leaving on the Friday in one way, as it had been nice catching up with my friends and staying in their lovely house, but I was glad to be coming home to see my Husband and the kids, including my Granddaughter Flower who is staying the night.