What to do while waiting............

Visiting -
 Col had a temperature which means another infection, so he is stuck in hospital until Tuesday at least, which is why I'm waiting for him to come home again. He's feeling very rough after this round of chemo but hopefully will pick up again soon. The ward sister goes by the nick name of Alf! A very nice nurse.

 Cross Stitching -
 Two more lavender sachets ready for Christmas

Watching -

The French Open Tennis on TV. So far so good for Andy Murray, they could really do with a roof as rain has stopped play several times

Puzzling - 

 with the new Sudoku book I found in the charity shop, they are rather easy.......at the moment, I hope they get a bit more difficult as I progress through them.

Reading -
 more library books. Quite a variety......... in the last 10 days I've read Nell Dunn's 'Up the Junction', first read when I was about 16, seeing it mentioned in the bibliography of The Button Box made me decide to re-read. 'Song of the Skylark' by Erica James which is a bit of a light tear-jerker and Anthony Trollope's collection of Christmas stories first published in the 1860's to 1880's. I've not read any Trollope before, this was a tester, probably won't bother again!

Enjoying -
 the scent of these lovely roses from the garden

And Baking-
A few scones and some cheese straws to take in to Col

Thank you to everyone for the lovely comments about our beautiful new grandson. We are so looking forward to  Col  being well enough for us to go down to Surrey to see him.

Welcome to Alison Collins a new follower in the google pictures. Every time the numbers go up to 354 they then go down again a few days later!

It's a really grey bank Holiday Monday here in Suffolk, cold and windy too. I shall stay in except for hospital visiting.

Back Soon
Sue

Just had to share this

Welcome to the world Jacob Rhys, you are gorgeous.


Back Soon
Sue
PS Thank you everyone for the lovely comments yesterday

Here is the Good News From a Small Suffolk Bungalow

We are Grandparents! Whoop whoop!
Our eldest had a little boy at 11.30 this morning. Mum, Dad and baby are all well. No name yet. He is a tiny baby 6lb 2 oz and 3 weeks early because they were a bit worried about H's health. Very exciting, hope we get some photos soon. We will get down to Surrey to see them  as soon as Col is well enough.

 Col was called in Monday night to grab a bed ready for the 6th chemo cycle to start on Tuesday morning, but it didn't because his platelet level was too low. The doctor decided that while they were waiting to see if the next blood test was better they would do a bone marrow sample to see how things are progressing. Col asked for gas and air as pain relief because it's a very painful procedure. The results of the bone marrow are good, there is no sign of Lymphoma now. His next blood test was OK and they finally got going with the chemo on Thursday morning. All being well he will be home on Saturday evening. We had a chat with the cancer nurse specialist who has explained the next stages of treatment (stem cell therapy and a different chemo) to consolidate everything that's been done and put the NHL into remission for as long as possible. We knew right from the start that it would be probably be a year until he was well again - and that still seems to be the time scale. The biggest risk with everything isn't the treatment but the chances of serious infection while he has no immune system. So it will be limited visiting for the weeks he has to spend in hospital during the summer.

Our son has been offered a permanent job as a Project Officer with Suffolk Archaeology CIC (once Suffolk County Council Archaeology Dept). He has been working for 8thEast for 2 and a half years but their funding runs out in the Autumn.  8thEast and Suffolk Archaeology have consulted and negotiated and found a way for him to work part time for both so he can see out the Airfields project. Such good news. He has managed to work in his chosen profession since finishing uni in 2004 - something very few archaeology graduates do.

Our youngest had her 20 week scan today and all is well with her bump.

And finally we got a letter from Department Work and Pensions giving him more benefit money per week back dated to April (from £73 to £109 - handy, no idea why).


So good news all round. I am a happy Nanna Sue!

Back soon
Sue

Dirty British Coaster - A bit more poetry by John Masefield

 The ships out at sea heading into The Port of Felixstowe are no longer Dirty British Coasters but ships like Majestic Mearsk a huge container vessel approximately 399 metres long, 44 metres wide, carrying 194,000 tonnes of c**p from Asia that will be on the shelves of a shop near you in a week or two.

That very small boat behind the monster is the Pilot boat which comes out from the port with the Pilot to guide the container ship safely into dock.

I suppose in fairness it may contain a few useful things - clothes perhaps? but I bet a lot is stuff people buy and then throw out a year or two later!

Some of these containers will go by train but most will be on the backs of lorries heading through Suffolk and all round the country.

I remember this poem from primary school.

 Cargoes

Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.

Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds,
Emeralds, amythysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.

Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack,
Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rails, pig-lead,
Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays

I shall be back with a diary post at the end of the week

Sue

(Take Three) It's only a small garden but......

............the list of what we have growing is even longer

Thanks to everyone for comments about all the mystery things in the garden.

 Now I can add Centuarea, Mock Orange and Lychnis to my definite list and a possible Jasmine.
Pat said one was a polemonium, so I looked that up but I don't think the leaves are right for that , they are too grey, although I hope it is.
Also not sure about Lysimanchia that Sheila said for one picture either although again I hope it is - very colourful
My sister looked at the things I said were like garlic chives and said Aliums. My only experience of Aliums is big showy globes but I've searched through google pictures and found they are Allium Roseum or ornamental rosy garlic, so she was right.

And here are more that I've found or forgot to list the other day.

Aquilegia
1 small sad Hosta

A rhododendron ( restrained in an old wooden tub - luckily)

Bluebells 

A small conifer that isn't a leylandii

Perennial wallflowers - I think
2 very small Hydrangeas
A label for a Penstemon beside something half dead under some borage!
Another Fushcia
A Huge Broom right at the back - mostly dead
A Spirea? possibly, although perhaps too tall.

Have attempted a small video here, no idea if it will work or not.

And I've not even mentioned the shrubs that are out the front of the bungalow!

Many Thanks for comments. More poetry, photos and probably book reviews coming later. We are hoping that Col will finally get in for the 6th chemo session one day this week and I need to sort a dentist for us. Seems we have a choice of 3 withing walking distance - how easy life is in town!

Back Soon
Sue

We go down to the sea again, the lonely sea and the sky

Yesterday with Col still waiting to go for the 6th chemo cycle and the weather not too bad we packed some lunch and nipped down to the beach hut.
It was deserted, except for dog walkers and walkers without dogs

Took my big camera and zoomed in on this big ol' gull

The windbreak is ours - not a soul in sight at any of the other huts( except a man doing repairs down the end)

 Sailors going into the sailing club on the River Deben

The sandbank is Felixstowe side of the Deben and the trees in the distance are Bawdsey on the other side of the river Bawdsey is famous for being the birthplace of Radar during WWII

The post title comes with apologies to John Masefield!

Sea Fever

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

( Take Two!) It's only a small garden but......

there's quite a variety of flowers in the borders.

The elderly lady (Mary) who lived here prior to the lady ( Beryl) who's executors sold it to us was a keen gardener - so we've been told by  neighbours on both sides - and she managed to squeeze in a lot of shrubs, plants and bulbs. My big flower book is packed in a box  but so far I've identified

Forsythia

Aconites

Pansies

Daffodils

Tulips

Hyacinths

Various Primulas and primroses

Several different Rose bushes

 Forget-me-nots

Cotoneastor
Bamboo
A Laburnham Tree

Pyracantha

An Acer

Fuschia

Rosemary
Aubretia
Feverfew

Loads of Borage ( running a bit wild)

Few Iris

Lily of the valley

Garlic chives? but with pink flowers (also spreading everywhere)

Grape Hyacinths (ditto)
Welsh Poppies ( ditto again)

 Crocosmia 

Foxgloves

Delphiniums

Weigela
A Elaeagnus of some sort
One of the Viburnum family
A too large Leyllandii
2 Buddlias
Variegated grass
 Geum ( perhaps)

Mysterious purple flowered thing looks like a cornflower but with wrong leaves

A Lily?  There is a weed mini geranium thing close by that ought to come out really and something behind that looks a bit weedy too.

I should know this perennial below but can't think of it

 Lambs ears? No that's not right, this will have small pink flowers but can't remember it's name

Another one I should know, is it a Cornus?

I hope when this flowers I'll know what it is

This shrub below is quite tall and looks like a cross between a honeysuckle and a blueberry( and it's got blackfly )

 A Climbing ?

Clematis

Another mystery shrub below

Plus some other perennials that I don't recognise yet, although I hope when they flower I'll have a bit more of an idea.



 I pushed the publish button yesterday by mistake when doing this post, didn't realise and found 6 comments already so I've copied them onto the post below

6 comments:

1. 
   KC'sCourt!19 May 2016 at 12:30

   Your garden sounds very colourful.
   Julie xxxxxxxxx

   ReplyDelete
2. 
   KC'sCourt!19 May 2016 at 12:32

   Reminds me of the song English Country Garden
   Julie xxxxxxxx

   ReplyDelete
3. 
   Sheila19 May 2016 at 12:50

   That's a very impressive list of shrubs, plants and bulbs for a small garden-x-

   ReplyDelete
4. 
   SandyExpat19 May 2016 at 12:56

   How nice to find all those lovely flowers and nice to hear that you have neighbours on both sides who are friendly. Expect you'll soon have it sorted and how you like it.
   
   Your bungalow sounds quite perfect for this stage in your life.
   
   I often add to Colin to my prayer list. Take care.

   ReplyDelete
5. 
   Jules19 May 2016 at 13:33

   That's a lot of plants for a small garden. They'll look gorgeous when they are all in bloom. X

   ReplyDelete
6. 
   Sue19 May 2016 at 14:13

   I'm guessing then that there's not much space to squeeze any vegetables in, but I bet it's about to look very colourful :-)
   
   
   Thank you to everyone above. There would be space for veg if we replaced the grass in the middle with veg beds but if we move and let the bungalow out then it's best left simple.
   
   I shall keep weeding and cutting things back so that when the grass is cut it all looks quite tidy
   
   Back soon
   Sue

It's just a small garden but...............

Pushed the publish button by mistake on this post! It wasn't finished so I'll republish later when I've finished the list!
The book post below is really what you should be reading!!

All I Do Is Read

All I do is Read
This ought to be the title of my blog.

We are waiting for Col to go in for the 6th chemo session. Once that's done he will be ready for the last, final and nastiest bit of the treatment for NHL. In the meantime he is having a echo-cardiograph and lung function test. The CT scan showed the blood clot in the lung had gone, one piece of good news.
The weather hasn't been good enough to go to the beach hut, the house is tidy, washing and ironing up to date and the grass cut, so I'm reading

Here are  two books read in the last few days. First,  A presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh and Dorothy L Sayers
When she died Dorothy L Sayers left some letters describing what her hero - the amateur detective Lord Peter Wimsey - might have done during the war. Jill Paton Walsh used these letters as the basis for this novel.  Although I've not read any of the original Sayers books (why?) I enjoyed this. A well written story.

Second The Shepherds Life by James Rebanks.

Flagged up as 'The surprise Hit of the Year' this is a lovely book about what life is like for a third generation sheep farmer on the fells of Cumbria. James Rebanks was a failure at school - he just wanted to be out with the sheep and his Grandad. Several years later he discovers that he is actually clever enough to go to university and sets his sights on Oxford.
Now, as well as being a prize winning sheep farmer he works for the World Heritage Sites part of UNESCO.
The farming year from shearing to lambing and through harsh winters is told from the point of view of someone who has always loved the area and always knew he had to keep farming the Herdwick sheep that are specially bred for the landscape.





A welcome to someone over in the Google followers, not sure who, maybe Jules? Thank you for clicking the button. 

I picked up more books from the library yesterday, so better keep reading.

Back in a day or 3
Sue

A Whole Lot of Random Stuff

First of all, apologies for my unexcited response to the Liebster award last time. My excuse? - I am sometimes grumpy!

I was pleased about a snippet of news heard the other day, - The RSPCA have a new head bloke and he has said he wants to take the organisation back to what it was started for - using the funds that people donate to them for protection of cruelty to animals. They spend millions every year calling out vets where they are not needed and I can give you an example.
A friend of ours rents a field one end of which is beside a main road, here he keeps ponies and cattle, he's a bit of a wheeler-dealer but never neglects his animals. He has an elderly donkey in this field that likes to lay down or sit like a dog - and every now and again some " helpful" person will ring the RSPCA and say there is a neglected donkey dying in a field.
They call up a vet and our friend who all meet in the field, where our friend demonstrates that if the donkey wants to get up ( like when a bucket of food is waved under his nose) he is up and walking in no time. The vet says there's obviously nothing wrong and leaves but the RSPCA person has to justify the call so spends hours grilling our friend  " There's no water supply" - Yes there is, it's at the other end of the field. "There's a piece of rubbish in the field" - Yes the field is beside a main road - people chuck rubbish in - our friend clears it when he finds it and eventually.... " A feed bucket has a crack in it". The RSPCA person says he will have to report this and keep our friends name on record. Our friend cannot speak to the RSPCA  or find out what details are kept on file about him - they are not obliged to tell anyone what information they have, they can prosecute him without him knowing why. He is now listed in EXACTLY the same way as another farmer who left animals to die, didn't remove them from the building, had no paperwork for his cattle and had been banned from keeping livestock before anyway. Fair?

On Saturday we went to visit my sister and brother-in- law in their new home now they've moved back into Suffolk. They are in the village just up (down?) the road from Col's dad and brother, also the same village Col's Nanna and Grandad lived in when they were alive and not far from where we lived between 1980 and 1992 so we know the area well! They have lots of things to do in the house but will soon get it sorted I'm sure. On the way home we (just me really, as Col went in the hardware shop over the road) called in HERE. This wonderful treasure trove of pretty things wasn't here when we lived in Cotton and Bacton, which is probably a good thing! If I didn't already own several jugs, I might have been tempted by this

Their website only shows a fraction of their stock and at Christmas they seem to cram in even more bits and bobs. ( Note for Sadie-There's Lots of Pink and Gold things there! ) I didn't buy anything in the end and Col just picked up Duct Tape and a Carbon Monoxide alarm from across the road.

I came home from my sisters with this, which until I got my stitch picker and needle and thread out, said 2012. I made it for them when they moved house 4 years ago, so it's now been updated and makes me feel less guilty about not getting around to making them a 'New Home' card this time round!

Did you watch the institution that is the Eurovision Song Contest? We watched a bit but it was pretty bad and I went to bed way before the end. I was surprised next day to hear who the winner was (really?)and not surprised that UK rolled in 3rd from last!

On Sunday morning we went to our nearest "car boot sale", this is in quotation marks because it is the most pathetic, full of tat and rubbish boot sale that I have ever seen. Shan't bother again that's for sure, my bag came home empty, no good going to sell books there as most of the buyers were not speaking English! ( Oh- controversial! and un PC)

I've had great fun going through the bibliography from the back of The Button Box book. Several of the books listed I already own and others I've borrowed and read, but there were many more that have now been highlighted as possibles to borrow from the library and somehow four books that the library didn't have and were just 1p (forget the postage!) from Amazon jumped into my virtual basket - and will be on their way soon - Oooops.

Look out for a TV programme starting on Friday - based on the  book by Nina Stibbe about her time as a Nanny in an unconvential 1980s London household. The book was funny and a good read so hope the mini series is just as good.

Monday was quiet, the meter reader came to read the meters and I couldn't remember where they were! Duh. It will be our first gas/electric bill here - it will be a shock I think after not paying for heating or hot water for 20+ years.

Thanks for comments on the last few posts.
Back in a trice
Sue

That Liebster Award

I've been trying to avoid it for 3 years! but I've been nominated for the
It's a bit like a chain letter and I think it was really meant for people to flag up new blogs they have come across and to share with others.  Anyway, Thank you Sheila at Life's Too Short........ !




Here are the questions Sheila asked

1. Your favourite way of eating potatoes?

See Q 10.

 

2. Favourite craft.....past or present?

Papercrafts for speed  or cross stitch and tapestry for effect

 

3. Skirt or trousers?

Trousers, leggings and shorts . Def Not skirts

 

4.Favourite room in your house?

Haven't got one in this small bungalow, I'll get back to you on this when Col's better and we move again ( yes I mean it.......move again!)

 

5. Carpet or wood/laminate for your floors?

Been there, done that on laminate and have gone back to carpets for the living and bedrooms

 

6. A book you have read more than once?

The Cottage Garden Diaries by Fiona Houston

 

 7. Your favourite dinner from school days?

I loved most school dinners ( a very strange child)

 

8. Long, mid length or short hair?

Very, very short

 

9. Your favourite ice cream flavour?

Haven't really tried many, may have to try all the ones in the Asda freezer section so I can let you know!

 

10. Least favourite vegetable?

See Q 1! 

I won't nominate more bloggers as I think it's already done the rounds of the blogs I read. But if anyone wants to answer a new set of questions and keep it going

Here are 10 more for you

1.  How many different homes have you lived in?

2. The first record/CD you can remember buying?

3. A memorable holiday in this country?

4. Favourite job if you could choose?

5. Worst ever road journey?

6. Last meal out? 

7. The station your radio is usually tuned into?

8.The colour most featured in your wardrobe?

9.The oldest thing in your house?

10. Best boot sale/jumble sale/charity shop bargain recently.

I'll leave them with you, just copy the Logo, answer the questions, nominate more bloggers, set some new questions and see what happens.

Back Soon

Sue

As requested - a book review of The Button Box

Each button in Lynn Knight's button box tells a story.
I'll quote from the library website

"

An inlaid wooden chest the size of a shoe box holds Lynn Knight's button collection. A collection that has been passed down through three generations of women: a chunky sixties-era toggle from a favourite coat, three tiny pearl buttons from her mother's first dress after she was adopted as a baby, a jet button from a time of Victorian mourning. Each button tells a story. 'The Button Box' traces the story of women at home and in work from pre-First World War domesticity, through the first clerical girls in silk blouses, to the delights of beading and glamour in the thirties to short skirts and sexual liberation in the sixties."

I had already read and enjoyed " Lemon Sherbet and Dolly Blue, The Story of an Accidental Family" which is the story of 3 generations of adoptions in Lynn's family. So I guessed this new book would be just as readable, and it was.
The amount of research that was done for this book is amazing - books, magazines, film and TV - there are dozens of quotes. The author says" Some of my research was an indulgence, enabling me to read and re-read many memoirs,autobiographies and academic accounts". All her reading has made a fascinating story of how fashion has shaped women's lives and vice versa.
She has listed all her resources in a brilliant bibliography, and I intend to photo copy this list before the book goes back to the library so that I can track down several that sound interesting. I'm also going to have a look through the buttons in my button tin - some were from my mums button tin but also many older ones bought years ago from a jumble sale.

This book is definitely worth reading.

Back Soon
Sue

Chemo cycle round 6..........

.................not quite yet.
Col was due in for the 6th chemo session today but that's been postponed until next week while they do some investigative work to find out why he is still short of breath. So it's another CT scan today instead. He  felt well enough to get out into the garage yesterday  to sort some of his workshop stuff, he's been wanting to get that done for weeks. The garage has a pitched roof and some boards across the beams so he's been able to put a lot of stuff up out of the way. I can now get my bike in and out without tripping over

I picked our first "harvest" this morning ready for our lunch - a colander full of salad leaves, all from 2 small troughs and plenty left too.

 Then I walked down to the charity shop, to take a few more bits in and found a book of Sudoku puzzles for 50p which was a handy find as I've only got 5 left in the book I'm working through. I like giving my brain a work-out over breakfast every morning.

 Not much else has been happening here at the bungalow, which is why I haven't posted for a few days. Lots of reading  and TV watching - loving the Invictus Games.

Welcome to Roses,Lace and Brocante - a new follower, but still numbers are stuck at 353 so 1 in and one out again.

Thanks for comments recently
Back in a day or two
Sue

In which we enjoy some warmth

What a beautiful Sunday, of course we went to the beach hut, it would have been silly not to.

We solved the walking to the loo problem at the beach hut by borrowing a small wheelchair from Colin's sister, she had it in a shed at her house to use when their Dad visits and she can push him down the lane to visit neighbours, but as she said they could always go by car on the odd occasion  this happens and we won't need to borrow it forever - We hope.
There are a few  steps on the way to and from  the car park to negotiate but he can get out for those and pushing him up the slope is a good work-out for me.

Here is another glimpse of beach hut life to tease you. The hut came complete with the cushions, so I just took  the covers off and brought them home to wash. There is a storage box/seat each side of the hut and these have long foam filled cushions. Unfortunately when the covers of these were washed they shrunk and  I had to cut an inch off the width of the foam to get it back in the covers and even then they are a bit of a tight fit.

Poor Col has to stay covered and in the shade due to the chemo but he prefers the shade anyway, it's me who likes to soak up the sun - suitably covered in a high factor sun cream of course. Luckily the hut also came with wind break, a wooden frame to fit the windbreak into so it can stand on the concrete forecourt and a parasol.

I feel so lucky to have spotted it for sale and it's so good to have the time to use it after all our busy, busy years on the smallholding and campsite.

Back in a jiffy
Sue

In which I manage to get to a car boot sale..........

......................At last!
It's been a long wait to get to my first boot sale of the year, what with moving and the weather but I was up with the lark to go to the once-a-month-out-of-the-football-season boot sale at Melton near Woodbridge.
It was packed with sellers and buyers, more than I've ever seen there before.

 This was my haul. I've set myself some rules for buying for the future grandchildren -
1. Things must be less than £1 and
2. They must fit on the shelf of the new wardrobe.

My favourite buys? The two Victory wooden jigsaw puzzles -£1 each and 4 Ladybird picture books for 25p each. Can't resist Christmas cards at 50p for the pack. Love the lift out animal puzzle too.

Mighty Movers is a brand new book/pack of 6 pictures of Big machines and some of those picture cubes that make the pictures in the book. The Alison Uttley is really for me (after reading her books of country essays I thought I'd collect a few of the childrens stories) and the wool for my sister to knit more baby cardi's.

I know some of these things will have to stay in the cupboard for a few years but Be Prepared is my motto!

I forgot to include in the picture another book, " From Store to War" by Linda McCullough-Thew. (over £3 on Amazon -but  50p from the boot sale) This is the biography  of a woman who joined the ATS during the war and mentions that it is a sequel to an earlier book  "The Pit Village and the Store" which has now been added to my Amazon wish list.

It was very strange to tour a boot sale and not look at the plants but my enthusiasm for growing our own food seems to have vanished with our move here. I guess after 37 years it was bound to wane, perhaps when Col is better and we can make some veg beds I shall get my growing mojo back.

The other day I forgot to say thank you to VC  for   the encouraging words about her sister and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

Back in a tick
Sue

A library book picture

Welcome to Monalisa , a new follower but numbers are the same........... One in - one out.

I do miss going to the library van every 4 weeks and coming home with all the books I had ordered and then putting the photo on the blog. To make up for it I'll post a library book photo whenever I have a good heap here.

At the moment, heading back to the library are
- Larkbarrow looked good but the print is too small for me to read comfortably (a privately published book - odd typeface).
Calamity in Kent - another of the British Library Crime Classic reprints, originally from 1950. Good story.
Murder Dancing - I read all the early books in this series but haven't bothered to finish this - they are a bit rubbishy really.
House of Eyes - The 20th in the Wesley Peterson series of crime, linking archaeology and history. Good as always.

and still to be read
Prescription of Death -  a recent book by Jill Paton Walsh but using the characters created in the 1930's by Dorothy L Sayers.
Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald - picked this off the library shelves in a quest to read less crime.
The Button Box- Lifting the Lid on Womens Lives - Non Fiction
Princess Elizabeth's spy - second in a series. Read the first a few weeks ago
How To Be Well Read - short precis of 500+ books that "everyone should read". I flicked through.....seems I'm Not well read at all!

Thanks for all the comments on the last couple of posts. The hospital re-examined Col's blood tests on Tuesday and rang to say come and collect a different sort of antibiotic. He had a better nights sleep and felt well enough to go to the beach hut on Wednesday although the 5 minute walk to the loo and back nearly finished him off. The sun was lovely in Felixstowe but wind was still very chilly down on the sea front - blowing along the coast, which is why we were inside. The reason the video clip is so short is because I had completely forgotten which things on the camera to press and had no idea if it was recording or not. When we got home and I found I had 4 short videos interspersed with some still pictures! Then I couldn't remember how to load a video and when I'd sorted that I couldn't watch it because Adobe keeps crashing on this computer - no idea why. I was amazed to find that other people could actually see it. Wish I knew more about technology!

Thought I better trot along to the doctors as the cough I've got wasn't getting any better and I didn't want to end up in hospital on a drip suffering from pneumonia like a couple of years ago. So now we both have antibiotics - drat. This is the second cough/cold I've had since moving here, we are starting to wonder if there is something in the bungalow triggering it although it could just be that Col's reduced immunity makes him catch more bugs which he then passes onto me or it could be that I seem to be spending more time in shops amongst people than I used to!

More sea air needed I reckon

Back Soon
Sue

Beach hut life

Back Soon
Sue

The May Bank Holiday Weekend in Sentences

Our electric went off  late Saturday night, so much easier to see where it's affecting now we are in town as one glance out of the window told us it was half the road and nice not to have  worry/responsibility of the people on the campsite managing without electric.

It was back on before we were up on Sunday morning but I searched boxes to find the wind-up torch and the wind-up radio - just in case.

Sunday lunchtime on our way to a family meal out we spied a man in a lay-by on the edge of Ipswich playing bagpipes!

Don't bother to go to The Beagle at Sproughton - it was nothing special.

If the menu said

Ricotta, spinach and red pepper tart

with a tomato, olive and herb sauce 

Would you expect a gooey cheesy mess in a deep pastry case covered over with a very thick (as in deep) strong sauce that drowned out any other flavours? No sign of red pepper or spinach.

We didn't get to the beach hut as Col wasn't feeling up to it (and is still coughing like someone who smokes 60 a day!).

We completely forgot to take any photos of our family get together - how dim are we?

Our eldest loved the baby things I had collected for her and the little jumpers my sister had knitted for 'bump'.

Early Monday morning and the milkman who goes down the road at 3.45 had a different noisy milk float -I think it needs fixing - soon please.

How quiet the hospital is on a Bank holiday morning when I went with Col for a blood test (all OK- despite him still feeling pretty grim)

This unusual pale pink double tulip has opened up in the garden.

What is this shrub? it's all round the area, every 3rd garden seems to have one, not something I've grown anywhere we've lived previously.

Monday afternoon and I'm out in the road taking this photo WITHOUT A COAT! and I didn't feel cold.

 Surprising how high we are, the water tower in the centre distance is 2¼ miles away as the crow flies, in between the town goes down to river level and back up again.

Very frustrating to live somewhere and hear the jingling of an ice cream van but have no idea which roads he visits.

Monday night inspiration -  watching the athletes training for the Invictus Games. They start on TV on May 9th.

2 weeks of snooker watching and went to bed before the end..........again.

Back in a jiffy or 2
Sue