General Chat

I am glad that your daughter is OK Florence, hopefully you will both get a good nights sleep tonight.

I am going to look like a pin cushion by the end of the week. We keep getting invites from the doctors to take part in trials, I guess they get money for drumming up custom.

OH is currently doing a heart monitoring one. He has a little device he puts his fingers on and it takes a reading which is automatically sends. He has to do that four times a day for three weeks.When he finishes that, I will do it.

I signed up for a second NHS one called Our Future Health. Apparently they are trying to get data from five million people. I had to go to a nearby town where they had a mobile centre in a supermarket car park. They did, height ,weight, waist circumference, blood pressure and heart rate. They do a finger prick for cholesterol levels ( which was fine), then a blood sample. If anything is wrong, they tell you of course, so I am expecting to hear from them.

I had already arranged this when my doctors arranged an appointment for my annual, review which involves a blood test, so,I had that done in the other arm earlier this week. I always have low abnormal results for all the ones to do with white blood cells and platelets, but this time they are especially low, so the doctor wants to repeat the test. I will do that on Friday, so will have had three blood tests in a week.

I am hoping that it will be OK as all these low things are signs of infection such as lupus or bone cancer. Best not to read about it, as there are too many nasty things. I will just ignore it for the time being.

It is quiet in the house today as the girls are at school, but Esme has tomorrow and next Tuesday off because of the teachers strikes, so there will be no peace for me tomorrow

Just had a phone call, daughter is ok and sugard stable but she waiting to hear from the Diabetic nurse at the clinic to chat about tonight's doses. Phew!!!

I can now relax a little this afternoon.
I have ordered 2 small trellis and 2 planters for each side of the front door.

Cant decide what climbers to plant in them?

Anyone know of a good long flowering climber i could get? Something colourful.

Hope your daughter has recovered Florence. Good that you are able to progress with the sale of the flat, hope it sells quickly for you.

A dry day here as well but still a bit chilly .

Not been doing much except the usual tidying up. OH has been pottering around the garden . The cherry tree has some beautiful blossom at the moment.
Hope everyone has a good day.

Ginnie

Morning all.
Well I had a very sleepless and worrying night!

My daughter fully recovered from Covid decided to go and visit her elderly nanna who has become very frail so much so that the aunty has come home to look after her for a bit.
Yesterday afternoon, daughter went out for a walk. She took her insulin around 4.30 but then.....when she was having her food did she not take another 24 units by mistake so 48 units in less than 2 hours!!!

So, panic stations set in. She rang 111 and was in the queue for an hour. She then waited an hour for someone to phone her back. So that was 2 hours waiting in which time her sugars had dropped loads and had to keep eating and drinking to avoid a big Hypo.

The aunty is a qualified nurse thank goodness, so 111 decided she was best placed staying at the nannas house for the night with aunty/nurse checking her sugars all night every 1/2 hour.

I never slept a wink worrying whether she would end up in A & E. I checked her Whattsapp and she was last seen at 6.15 am and not heard a word from her. I guess shes probably sleeping if she was up all night.

When she has a Hyper(high sugars) its actually easier to control by givinng insulin to reduce the sugars but when its the other way around, its much harder toi get the sugars up to a stable level and probably will take a couple of days to get back to normal levels.

Just when I thought I would have a couple of days to myself, peace and quiet and then it all goes pear shaped...what next.

Hope all is well with everyone. The sun has made a comeback today..yayi :-D :-D

Florence in the hebrides

Morning everyone
Well I'm feeling better but still chesty and to my surprise, got a delivery of more steroids yesterday. Apparently they had shortened my prescription as was out of stock so I have another 28 tablets. I'm glad as they do me the world of good so shall take 4 a day for 7 days and hopefully clear my cough once and for all.

Been quite busy in the house tidying and sorting out things ready for my friend coming. My new plant pots arrived and some ceramic rectangle kitchen dishes too which are lovely. Just right for individual crumbles or lasagne or for dips/chips etc

Just my cast iron casserole dish to come and then I can make my veggie hotpot, its actually a bit lighter than cast iron but looks like it.

We had some hail/snow yesterday but didn't come to much however the temp is down even with the sun out. The high temps we had last week have long gone.

The DWP have concluded their investigation into mums estate and no action to be taken as it would appear everything was in order, so that's a relief.

Hoping the estate Agent going round this Friday to value the flat.

Hoping everyone is well and ok.

off to sort some more laundry for the drier now.

Florence in the hebrides

Well the chicken wings went down well, they were delicious. The coleslaw made with greek yoghurt and a dash of lime juice was so tasty, daughter said to make it again :-D

I did not make the crumpets today as was just too busy and think I will wait until i have finished the shop ones in the bread bin.

AnnG, I was borderline pre-diabetic last year so to keep it down, i made a few changes but nothing drastic. I switched to sweeteners instead of sugar, sugar free volvic flavoured water instead of fresh orange juice.

Reduced my intake of bread, pasta etc. I dont eat many cakes anyway.

if you cut out carbs altogether, you develop key tones which isn't healthy. We all need some sugar in one form or another otherwise we would have permanent hypos and that would be dangerous.

Everything in moderation i say.

What a horrid, cold wet & windy day today. Its like we have gone back to winter!

I started filling my albums with mums photos from her life after sorting roughly into years. Helpful nanna put dates on the back because bless my mum, she never wrote anything on any of them! I have 2 albums left to do and thats another job all done and dusted.

2 weeks tomorrow and my bestie from down south will be here so i am a tad excited as the last time she was here was in 2000!!!

Right dishes are calling me

Florence in the hebrides

good morning all. booster vaccination for me this morning so nothing else planned.

As I was pre-diabetic (almost) with my last blood test, I am now, before my check up in October, going to try the diet that helps to keep daughters sugar level down. I won' do it as strictly as she does but will try. she is on a no carb diet and it does work. she has an arm patch and a meter on her phone that monitor the blood sugar level. Luckily she can afford to do this as although the first two patches are free, the subsequent ones cost her £100 a month!!

Anyway for me that means no bread, biscuits, cakes, potatoes rice, pasta and a host of other things. and a list of things I can eat if I cook them myself using almond or coconut flour. It sounds draconian and she is very good at sticking to it. Her main reason was to get herself off the drug that regulates blood sugar levels but caused her constant stomach problems for years. I don't have to be as draconian as she is (she is Type 2 and has been for 10 years now). just reduce my carbs as much as possible. I will see how it goes. First step will be to go in to town this week to buy Almond flour.

I have a recipe for ordinary and GF and yes I have a range of ring sizes.

So I am gonna try the ordinary ones first!

They are loaded with carbs but i prefer them to toast for my breakfast or sometimes for tea with either peanut butter or marmalade or cheese spread and marmite mmmn

I made gluten free crumpets before one could buy them I don’t remember any complaints.
One does need rings, otherwise they spread out too much - would that make them like let’s?

I will be interested to hear how the crumpets turn out Florence, the girls like them but they are not good for my diet, 5 syns each ( slimming world) so I don’t have them.

I made a mince based curry and Bombay potatoes for dinner. The others had popadoms, but they have too much fat in for me. I usually make side dishes, but didn’t bother tonight. I still did home made Tzatziki , not a traditional curry accompaniment but they love it loaded with garlic.

The rain has passed here and it is much lighter, it was dark enough to need the lights on this afternoon. OH has managed to get out in the garden and finish off his last bit of bird proofing. The girls have a trampoline and Esme has a large triple frame with a disabled swing on it and a nest swing. We have a huge number of wood pigeons in the trees and the things sit on the top of the trampoline and swings and leave their calling cards, which is a real nuisance. OH put pigeon spikes round the top and it has stopped them thank goodness. He was just short if one length, so had to order some more to finish it off.

Afternoon all
Well what a change in the weather! After a beautiful sunny & warm week, today the tempo has nosedived, the wind picked up and it is really chilly. So no outside for me today.
Glad I got all the bedding done mid week so washing fairly up straight.

Oh Linda, sorry to hear about the sale not going through but asking to drop £20k, thats a lot. Could your daughter negotiate say £10k? Its a loss but half what it would be.

Its a dilemma as if they wont take of £20k and lose the sale, they may have to wait ages for another byer and lose the other house in the meantime. I hope something works out for them soon.

Joan, yes its brr here, am thinking about putting the heating on but its been off for a week and so that has saved some pennies but I think we will manage without it, just put a cardigan on. Hope you get your plants soon as well and its ok to put them out.

I have ordered some small coloured double planters to hang over my dividing fence between my garden and next door. You get 4 for £24 in 4 different colours. Its will brighten up the little fence too. probably put lobelia or something similar in them.

JustGinnie, i don't know how young people can get onto the property ladder anywhere. They need at least £50K for a deposit and who can save that these days? Rents around here for a 2/3 bed house range from £500-900 depending if you live rural or town.

Well got me Tesco order earlier with lots of goodies so off to decide what's for tea tonight. Going to make some spicy chicken wings tomorrow with a red cabbage coleslaw and Tzatiki with naan bread. Something different. I bought various spices and sauces to make a marinade. Hopefully will turn out ok.

Im also going to attempt to make crumpets. I found the recipe used for the Warburtons ones online, cant wait to see if they work.

Hope everyone ok and well

Florence in the hebrides

That's such a shame about your daughters house move, it is a nightmare when there is a chain involved it seems to happen a lot now. 20K is an awful lot of money to lower the price by though. I do hope something gets sorted soon for them.

House prices are rising by us I was looking at a website and was really shocked at the prices of just a small 2bed terrace in the area. Rents have sky rocketed how young people manage I don't know.

Well we have sunshine but it is quite chilly still but washing will dry outside which is good.


Have a good weekend all.

Ginnie

Hello girls.
What a difference indeed Linda, it was sooo warm yesterday I had to take OFF my jumper, lol, today I have had to put ON a 2 woolies, it is that cold & rather windy,

I had planned for my grandaughter to come over today, she was going to slap some paint on the back of the shed, I can't get in the space myself but she can, lol, but because the wind is blowing directly at she shed we had to cancel.
I wasn't gong to bother about the back but it's about 2 years since grandaughter last did it so it needs doing, we left space originally to get at the back but I was much thinner back then, lol.

I am still waiting for my recent order of plants to be delivered, should be this coming week as I have had a message to say they are on the way.
Hope the weather warms up again so as to get them planted up.

Joan.

Linda, I bet you were relieved to hear that Esme had a lovely time on the trip, being away from home like that can be a bit "worrying".

Brr, what a difference. It is cold and cloudy today, I have even put the heating on. I think we were taken in by the lovely weather last week.

Esme is back from her residential trip, she seems to have enjoyed it and not caused them problems overnight

I took the opportunity to have a good sort out of the cupboards while she was away. I had lots of good quality clothes in storage from when I was much larger, so I bit the bigger and took nine large bin bags to the charity shop.

My daughter’s house move is going from bad to worse. The chain collapsed when their buyer lost their cash buyer. My daughters buyers now have a new first time buyer but they have offered less money My daughters buyers are now saying that they can’t buy the house unless my daughter reduces it by 20k. They have to decide what to do, if they accept that it means they won’t have the money they need to buy new furniture. If they put the house back on the market they will have wasted three months with this buyer. As apparently prices are falling, they may not get as much with a new buyer. It looks like they may end up losing the house up here which they are supposed to be buying. It is all such a mess.

I hope that you are feeling better Florence now the antibiotics have had time to work

Afternoon all,
Well yesterday was lovely sunny and breezy so got washing dry outside Cleaned the downstairs rooms as hadn't been able to do much with all the work going on but all finished now and everywhere needed a good dust, polish or a wipe down . Happy with the outcome .Today is dry but overcast and OH has been tidying the front garden up just a bit of weeding and then a sweep up. Living on a busy main road has pros and cons, litter being one of the cons .

Good to hear you have tested negative at last Florence and hope you feel better now.

Joan sounds like you are busy already in your garden. We must get out and start on our back garden it's not very big but there is always something to do even if it's just finding the toys etc that come from next door and throwing them back before our dog gets them. lol.
Hope Esme enjoys herself Linda.

Ginnie.

Good afternoon everyone from a Glorious day here in Aberdeenshire.

So glad to hear that your test is showing negative Florence, though I have to be honest ! I don't really trust those testers one way or the other, just me I suppose who is suspicious of many things, LOL.

You have been a busy bee today.
Sadly I have neglected our house this past week I really must make a start on some more thorough cleaning, LOL.

Linda, I hope you had a lovely time at the Spa.

I have been outside once again, finished tidying the flower borders, as much as i can do at the moment, the Daffies are beginning to fade & so it won't be long before I can trim them back, at least just a little to start with.

I have almost finished painting a garden chair, got the 1st coat on it, but it's a fiddly chair to do a lovely heavy single chair but lots of slats on it, back, both sides & the seat part,. I get a bit bored of trying to get the paint brush in between the slats !

Having a gravy dinner today, Hotpot, a bit warm today but I had already planned last night to make that today.
I just hope hubby fancies it come tea-time, his appetite is not good at the moment, & he changes his mind at the drop of a hat !

Well now, time to get back to painting the reast of that chair whilst the weather is so nice.

Bye for now.

Joan.

Good morning..just to all looking in today
Yay :-D :-D :-D my Covid test is negative. Im stil coughing but by tomorrow the meds should kick in.

So we have begun a deep clean of the house today. Daughter did bathroom, I did kitchen. Beds all stripped and washed at 60 degrees, then out on the line as a brilliant sunny breezy day here. Perfect to get all the laundry dry.

Then we have the lounge and hallway to clean, hoover and polish. Wipe down all the door handles, cupboards etc. Got all the windows open so a great breeze flowing through the whole house.

Steroids are great, but they keep you awake so last night was a struggle to sleep but hey ho, they will make me better.

I also got good news just now, I qualify for my blue badge and it will be ready in 10 days. Cost £20. I shall have it before my best friend arrives and that will be used when she drives me out and about mid May.

My appetite is still poor though even though I feel hungry. i did eat a banana yesterday but it bloated me so shall not have anymore. maybe some tinned fruit and icecream, thats my go to food when Im not feeling well.

Hope everyone else is getting this lovely weather up here, its great for a change. :-D

Linda, hope you had a lovely time at the Spa, sounds wonderful and hope Esme is ok being away on her trip.

Joan, hope you are having sunshine so you can get outside and finish your jobs etc

Well i'm off to make a coffee and then power on with the chores whilst I have energy lol

Florence in the hebrides

I am pleased that you got your meds Florence, hopefully you will start feeling better soon.

I had a nice day with my daughter, after dropping the girls off at school we went to Rudding Park Hotel roof top spa in Harrogate. I have been a couple of times before and it is excellent

Esme is going away tomorrow for two days on a school residential trip. Goodness how that will go. She is full of it, but she does wake in the night and wants mummy. If it all goes pear shaped it is only fifty minutes away

I am glad that you are getting your sheds sorted Joan. I remember what a mammoth task it was after my father died. OH had lots of stuff in our double garage, including in the boarded out rafters. He did get rid of lots of stuff before my daughter moved in because half of the double garage is now packed up to the ceiling with boxes and furniture. We are still waiting to see if the chain is back up again in my daughters house move, hopefully it is and it will be sometime in June. We have everything crossed

Well the sun came out and a pleasant 15 degrees with no wind. Daughter and I managed to repot 4 small fuchsias into a huge pot, the 6 carnation plants had outgrown their tiny pot so all went into another bigger pot.

After that, we were both feeling really tired and my back was aching so we tidied up and went indoors to sit awhile. I have 2 large tubs left and not sure whether to wait and fill them with small bedding plants maybe, all sorts as that will be colourful, not sure yet.

Shock of horrors, went on XC weather for our area and its showing snow 24 April and for Ballater in the highlands most of that week. Eeeek just when you think better weather is coming, you see this! So hope it wont come and its a mistake lol

Hope hubby enjoyed his toasted Hot X bun Joan, i love them with cheese spread.

Well got a Tesco order to sort before Friday so better crack on. Still hardly any
appetite so just dont know what to eat as tummy is rumbling!

Hi Florence.
I have managed to get the end of shed painted so that's both sheds done, well pleased, will look even better when our son gets the new panes of glass/perspex in place.

I have just made hubby his snack lunch, I was late making him something to eat as I was so engrossed in the painting, just a toasted Hot X Bun & a cuppa but he was waiting patiently for it, LOL.

The sun is well out now & a tad warmer than yesterday.

Take care, hope the pills work.

Joan.