Blood in poo (his, I hasten to add) meant unscheduled trip to vets tonight - he is prone to this, because of the long term affects of his internal injuries (may his former owners rot in hell) - so as long’s as he’s still bouncy, which he was, I don’t have to get him there asap, but a same day check is advisable.

He’s fine. My nose isn’t. It was a very crowded waiting room, and the only seat left was alongside the wrong end of a lovely but nervous (and consequently windy) greyhound. Silent but violent!!

But they’ve given him this squirty medicine again (JG will rememebr it) - the vet suggested putting it on his paw this time so he’d lick it off.

Yeah, right. Ever seen the trajectory (? spelling) of an inch of goo when shaken wildly by a disapproving cat? I nearly had to redecorate the kitchen AGAIN!!

Woo hoo! - TWO consecutive decent days - and a good forecast for the next three days. Is it summer at last?

Two good drying days too, nice and windy - I can almost see the bottom of the laundry basket!

Another fairly boring domesticated day, including Bath Day for Mum (it’s 50:50 as to who gets wettest), and doing her tablets for the week ahead (she really should rattle), and yes Hutters, I have finished the bathroom (and made a start on the bdroom too). I didn’t let Chris anywhere near the bleach Andy, but he’s now tackling the ironing, so that’s fine by me!

Monday tomorrow. Bah.

Apologies for lack of bloggage yesterday, bit of a crappy one to round the week off with, and I simply couldn’t be ostriched.

Today, I have been very domesticated. I have done 4 washloads, and taken advantage of that long forgotten thing - a decent day’s drying weather - and cleaned the bahroom.

Hence the Ew! - trust me, you DON’T want to know!!!

Managed to get Mum over again this afternoon to see her cat Bones, she seemed to find the visit easier this time, and Bones was more accepting of her. She also enjoyed playing with Pickle, who’s anybody’s if they’ve got a tickler to hand…

I’m now considering whether or not to finish the bathroom, or play on the pc a bit more, as it’s MINE, all MINE, with Chris having gone down to London for the day…decisions, decisions!!

…and I’m cream bloody crackered, so here’s the executive summary :

Got Mum up & dressed OK
Got to hospital OK
Clinic running 1 hour late - not so OK for Mum’s (or my) nerves
Stupid BMI poster in changing room tells me I’m still overweight - not OK!!!!
Procedure went OK (and things look much better apparently)
Got to Audiology OK (did I mention Mum had bust her hearing aid?)
Hearing aid fixed OK
Got soaked getting back to the car (very not OK)
Got Mum home OK (it’s 4pm by now)
Got to favourite pannini shop (was very hungry by now) - to find it had closed early because of the bad weather - definitely not OK
Home and zonked on sofa with hot water bottle (OK, but ludicrous for July)
Had *salad* (ahem) for tea - very OK!

So thanks for all the positve vibes, all in all the day, although long, went much better than I thought it would.

Work tomorrow - not OK!!!

In just over 12 hours it will all be over.

Mum has promised faithfully not to refuse to go to the hospital in the morning, but it will still be a long, hard day for both of us.

I will do my best to blog tomorrow evening, but I may be in basketcase mode, so we’ll see!

Send out them positive vibes please…

FINALLY payback for the last 4 months of rubbishness. Stress has to be good for something!

Not only do I fit in a size 12 again (or at least, Tesco’s version of a size 12), but the gorgeous skirt I got in a SIZE 12 (too bloody right I’m making the most of this) was reduced from £25 to £6.

BARGAIN!!!

One f**k off sized piece of cardboard in front of taped over cat flap, and a roll of left over vinyl flooring on top of the boxes barricade & wedged down the back so she can’t get leverage.

It worked last night!

*goes to surf the net and look for different types of cat flap*

She got out again.

The scene of post Button exit destruction was quite impressive - she’d knocked the bin right over and there was rubbish EVERYWHERE.

Bones had chucked up fairly spectacularly in the sitting room (this after three goes yesterday).

Then Eric went and lost his collar, complete with magnet key for the cat flap. It wasn’t in any of the usual places he loses it in, so I’ve had to delve into the spares, and will now have to re-stock.

If it wasn’t for the fact that you can’t cuddle goldfish…

Seriously though, it’s the 21st of July, and I’ve spent a fair chunk of the day in close contact with a hot water bottle. Yes, I’m grateful I’m not under three foot of water, but still - want some sunshine please!

Been a bit of an odds and sods day; car passed it’s MOT (yay!), got my hair cut (no more dulux dog impressions), sorted Mum’s tablets for the week ahead, and managed to persuade her to come and see her cat. This was a major feat, as she’s still very anxious about leaving the flat, but having not seen him since 7th May, was pretty keen, and thankfully this side won. She managed about an hour here, and we’re going to try again next weekend. The major hurdle this week will be the follow up out patients appointment on Thursday : not a pleasant procedure to look forward to at the best of times, and she is terrified, but promising not to back out. I’ll remind you again nearer the time, but a few more of your positive vibes wouldn’t go amiss.

Back to cats, Button stayed in last night, didn’t even seem to attempt a breakout (we also added a further reinforcement of a large plastic place mat taped over the cat flap, underneath the newspaper - it’s a military operation this!). Lorry’s idea is a good one, except for the fact that their food & tray live in the room in question, and also none of the doors in our little house actually close properly, so if she can breach the existing defences, a shoved to door would be a walk in the park. And yes, the cats & cars scenario is exactly why we want to keep them in during the hours of darkness. Especially when two of them are black anyway. Reflective collars are only good up to a point…

Nope, not a typo. I refer to the lovely Button. Or should that be Houdini?

Before we homed Pickle and Button, nice lady from CPL came to do a home visit. One of the things that we discussed was after dark. This is when the vast majority of bad incidents involving cats take place, and their advise is to keep cats in overnight.

OK. Anyone bothered to tell the cats this? Or more particularly, Button?

We have progressed over the last not quite two years to the following level of security :

Locked cat flap, taped over with newspaper, large piece of cardboard in front, held in place by rubbish bin which is weighted by big bag cat litter, flanked with large cardboard boxes filled with heavy stuff either side.

And she managed a breakout last night.

Short of physically concreting the door every night - which seems a tad impractical - I’m stumped. Any bright ideas out there?

(Seriously difficult to stay cross with a cat when they’re curled up on you lap purring and washing your face… )

Flippin’ ‘eck, I now have Nobby and Matt making disparaging remarks about my luffly Minnifer!!

I guess I am one of that rare breed - a lover of both the old traditional mini, and its newer counterpart. I like the way they’ve kept the character (it’s just as much fun to drive), and let’s face it, I’m crap enough with new cars, if I had a older mini and needed to maintain it… *shudder* - let’s keep death off the roads, eh?

Nothing much to blog about tonight, so I shall just answer an outstanding question from Nobby, aka that tall git who slags off my car ( - I actually thought the BMW Half Series comment pretty funny!) - regarding me burfday party :

Saturday 18th August
4/5 ish onwards til we can’t stand each other anymore
Bring bottle & something BBQable/grillable if we have the same weather as the last two years
Basics like salad & rolls provided

I shan’t publish any more details than that, if you need more info like directions and an actual address, then drop us an email, or ask Gottle, or pop something in as a comment or something. You’re a clever bunch, you’ll figure it out!

Oh, ankle update - lot less stiff, lot more achey. But I can drive my car!!!!!!! :-)

Although that particular piece is still very stiff and achey, it has at least stopped hurting quite so much! Hasn’t bruised very much though, I’m most disappointed.

Now, let’s clear a few things up. I didn’t fall over a chair - my ankle bone walked directly into the pointy end of the rocker bit that sticks out from the garden rocking chair. There is a (subtle) difference. I might have been paying more atention if I hadn’t just got a huge splinter from the wooden washing line prop. It was a fairly accident prone 5 minutes. And my timing was brilliant - Chris is away training in Brum this week, so I had to, as they say, phone a friend, and ask if they had any plans that would prevent them from spending a few hours in A&E…I have good friends!

And no Hutters, thankfully not Queens. There’s a minor injury unit at a local community hospital; I rang them and they said whilst they don’t have x-ray out of hours, if they did suspect it was broken, they could strap it up well enough for overnight and I could go back in the morning - would still have been quicker than Queens or for that matter Derby, so t’was there that we went.

So I’ve made it back into the loft, and as of this evening am driving again (thank gawd, arranging lifts for one day was enough!). See you again tomorrow (further disasters allowing that is…)

Hello chums, Paul blogging on Jenny’s behalf.

I had a text from her earlier this evening: “On my way to hospital with a suspected broken ankle”. Since her computer is in the loft, if her ankle is broken she’s unlikely to be blogging for a day or two. As I type this - at nine Pee Emm - she reckons she should be seen within the next hour.

She hasn’t told me what else to say, so we’ll leave it at that for now. I’ll update you if I hear anything.

UPDATE (9:20 Pee Emm): Deep soft tissue damage. Apparently she tripped over the rocking chair. Wally!

I’m trying to be upbeat writing this, because this time yesterday I was having FUN - yes, FUN - with friends and new friends, and it was just like being me again. I laughed, I whooped, I joined in and initiated some jokes - yes, it definitely felt like me again.

And it carried on feeling like me til about half way up the M1, when in a strange coincidence with Mother Nature, as the rain clouds gathered, my mood lowered, and I felt the all too familiar tiredness creeping back into my blood.

The problem with enjoying yourself, and having a whole 28 and three quarter hours off duty, is that coming back is so very, very hard. I’ve already been to see Mum, I’ve done her shopping, and we’re back to see her later before we (hopefully) make it to the quiz, another brief staving off of reality. Tomorrow it’s back to work, back to stress, back to fighting the NHS, and I really really don’t know if I can be arsed with any of it.

I should have written this last night when I was still high on escapism. Sorry.

In my post this morning : an acknowledgement from Hospital 2 to my Big Letter of Complaint, advising a full investigation, and asking me if I’d like to meet senior members of the Trust before/after…woo hoo!!

In Mum’s post this morning : 2 letters, one from Hospital 2 confirming the flexible sigmoidoscopy appointment (good, expecting that, all well so far) - and - a letter from Hospital 1 (the urology lot in Nottingham), advising Mum she’s to be admitted to one of their wards on 20/7, and to attend a pre-op check on 18/7.

Whaaaaat?????????????????? Where the flock has that come from? I have an out patients appointment for her as a follow up to the procdure they did back in April, but this??? Eh??? Seems to me an almighty cock up has been made, and they’ve confused Mum with another patient with the same surname - or something. Whatever, you can imagine it shook Mm to the core, and I’ve spent most of this morning so far reassuring her that it is a cock up and she doesn’t have to go back into hospital next week.

Honestly. Are there NHS league tables we don’t know about that are specifically for Great Big Fuck Ups? It beggars belief, it really does.

I’m off down South. I’ll kick ass on Monday. Again.

I haven’t actually got excited about a weekend for aaaaages - but thanks to my wonderful husband, who is bravely taking on Mum for part of the weekend, I can get down to Southampton for Best Friend south of the Watford Gap (so as not to offend Jan) Sarah’s Big Birthday (it’s somewhere between 39 and 41, hee hee, I’m dead) celebrations.

I can’t tell you anymore, ‘cos she reads this, and doesn’t know what’s planned, and having nearly stuffed up when we last spoke (sorry Paul, hadn’t confessed that one to you - I did say nearly), I’m not going to risk saying anything here.

So, I get to do Mum’s breakfast tomorrow, then head down south. Chris gets to do lunch/tea/
bedtime (agency social services weekend cover doesn’t kick in til next weekend, such timing!) and Sunday breakfast, then having spent the night chez Gottle (can’t find sleeping bag, will probably bring duvet), and enjoyed a slap up brekky at some pub he knows of), I shall head home in time to do Mum’s lunch, and mop Chris’ undoubtedly by that time agitated brow.

And if all that wasn’t enough, we are working on a plan that will enable us to go to the quiz on Sunday night with Stu & Co - if you’re going guys? It’s been so long we probably can’t remember how to get there, but it really is our intention this week to make it!

So, roll on the weekend - sunshine would be an added bonus!

Sorry. Don’t mean to keep you all in suspenders. Just best to keep mum (no pun intended) for a bit.

So, what’s new? Well, another busy day, more things done and crossed out in the diary, more things to do added to the diary - and finally, some clarification from Hospital 2 about Mum’s out-patient appointment. It’s more minor procedure, the flexible sigmoidoscopy, meaning, amongst other things, that she won’t need 24 hour surveillance afterwards, so I won’t have to take (more) additional time off work. Phew.

Mum is still in a major down and having panic attacks over the slightest thing - today’s panic stricken phone call (which luckily went to voicemail - seriously, 3 minute long message) was whether she was OK to throw aerosols out in the normal rubbish. OK, so it’s good that she was considering doing something about rubbish, raher than just leaving it, but as I tried to patiently explain to her this evening, that’s hardly the sort of life or death call that needs to be made to me while I’m work, when she knows I’m going round there straight after anyway.

Aaarrgghhhh!!!!!!

Boo!

And with a bump too.

Humph.

Watch this space, the worm might finally be turning. No guesses please, just be patient!

Eight and a half hours of heaven to be precise. And I’m so relaxed, I’ve barely got the energy to write this blog, so forgive a higher than usual typo rate!

The place we went to is called Eden Spa, and is near Newark in Nottinghamshire, so please feel free to google and have a look, ‘cos I’m waaaaay too knackered to provide you with a link. It’s a totally gorgeous place, the building, the decor, the staff, everything. Wonderful place. We’re already working out when we can go back (in fact we nearly staged a sit in with some of the others who didn’t want to leave either!)

I’ve been massaged (would it surprise you to learn that my back is a mass of knots and my neck was pretty much solid? - no, me neither), pedicured, fed, chilled, yoga’d, swum and sauna’d and I feel wonderful (but knackered!). I think Jan enjoyed herself too, and I really appreciate the sacrifice she made in making herself go with me (it’s been the joke of the day) - seriously, Jan you are a Fantastic Friend, and I’m very lucky to have you. To (mis) quote the old Yellow Pages ad, it’s just possible you saved my life…

Tomorrow is back to real life (boo!), and I will probably ache like hell, but Boy oh Boy was it worth it!

Well, I survived today. Everything fell into place quite well, and I got shedloads done. Wednesday onwards is still likely to be more than a tad chaotic, but that’s OK, ‘cos I have Tomorrow first, and that should recharge my batteries good and proper.

Now I haven’t mentioned Tomorrow before, mainly because I couldn’t quite belive that it would actually happen, and that nothing would go tits up to stop it happening. But happening it most certainly appears to be.

Tomorrow, my *Best Friend North of the Watford Gap* (just so’s Sarah doesn’t get offended) is taking me to a spa type place for a de-stress day.

She’s not letting me pay, she’s not letting me drive, and she’s being incredibly, but wonderfully bossy about it. And yes, she’s reading this over my shoulder.

Jan, you’re a Godsend. Luv ya!

So, tonight, I spent an hour - yes, a whole hour - in the bath, getting ready. Such bliss!! Most of it was just revelling in a good old soak (can’t actually remember the last time I had the time to do that!), but I have to confess it took far longer than is ladylike to defuzz enough to be seen in a swimmng costume tomorrow - suffice to say the bath resembled the aftermath of a sponsored poodle clipping session when I’d done. Too much information?! Don’t worry, I’m not talking about that kind of clippng - never have been a fan of South American baldness…

So, expect totally relaxed and chilled bloggage tomorrow, and cross your fingers, legs, eyes, toes WHATEVER that my mother doesn’t pull some sort of stunt in the next 10 hours to scupper the plan.