Attic 24 and Wool Warehouse

My early birthday present to myself.

I won't do the log cabin blocks on the Attic 24 CAL, I will just do the granny stripe.

I just fell in love with the colours, I ordered the yarn on Wednesday and it arrived on Friday, what fantastic service.
Maybe a little crochet will help keep me sane.

Samhain Blessings

Tonight I will don my black velvet cloak and witches hat.

I will keep my besom in the hall along with a bowl of sweets. 

I will have a lit pumpkin on the doorstep and will welcome all the little & not so little visitors with 'Samhain Blessings'.

Last year just after Halloween my DGS had lots of local kids saying to him 'Did you know your  Nana was a witch?'

He replied 'Of course I knew, she keeps her besom on the decking'

Families who'd bloody have them

God give me strength, another evening of countless phone calls, text messages and stress.

We visited MIL this morning to find her crying with pain, she has painkillers at 6 am and at 9am the staff roll her to and fro to change her sheets. This causes her a great deal of pain yet she isn't given any more pain relief when she asked for it because the staff are too busy making beds.

I found a member of the nursing staff and queried this, she told me that MIL couldn't have any more pain relief in case she becomes addicted.
She's fecking dying, she has about 10 days to live, what does it matter if she becomes addicted!

I wandered around until I found the registrar who was on his rounds, I explained the situation to him  and he immediately wrote her up for increased pain  relief.

There may be a bed available early next week in the hospice for MIL, I sincerely hope so.

It now seems that FIL is getting more and more confused and sometimes forgets to pass on important information regarding MIL.

So hubby and BIL 4 have been updating each other and other extended family members so that everyone knows what's going on.

FIL now thinks we are talking about him behind his back.

We asked if he wanted a lift to see MIL and he replied 'Your services are no longer required'.

Choices updated due to errors

It was a very long day today, with many difficult conversations and many tears shed.

The doctor was careful to include everyone in her discussions despite BIL's bluster and demands for the rest of us to be excluded.

MIL was better today than she was yesterday, despite thinking she was in Scotland a few times.

We sat a chatted to her until she got her bearings and the doctor decided that she was lucid enough to make her own decisions.

Her kidneys have failed and yesterday when she was dropped again by the staff her drainage tubes were pulled out.

The doctor explained the options a few times & I held her hand and checked that she understood the implications.

MIL was given the choice, she can have the drainage tubes back in and wait for the cancer to kill her in a few weeks, or leave the tubes out and kidney failure will kill her in a few days.

She chose not to have the tubes replaced, so she will be allowed to die pain free and with dignity within the next few days.

She will be moved to the local hospice if a bed becomes free in time but that may not materialise.

We stopped for a meal on the way home, when we arrived home we had a cup of tea, listened to music and held each other for a while.

Hubby is at work tomorrow, we will visit MIL on Friday and at the weekend.

Feck, feck, feckkity feck

Can I please sit in a corner and gibber until this whole sorry mess is over?
The results are back from MIL's scan, the cancer has spread to her bowel and spine.
Yesterday the staff dropped her again when getting her out of bed.
BIL2 is claiming MIL is confused and is wanting to use his power of attorney to exclude all visitors except himself and his wife. MIL will be devastated if FIL no longer visits her as they a very devoted couple. He is also waving around a will, BIL4 has a copy of a different will.
MIL is still mainly lucid and the hospital have asked to see the POA documents before proceeding.
FIL asked me to buy MIL some new nightdresses, I bought 3, he seems to have asked most of the females in the family to do the same. MIL now has 18 new nightdresses!
I'm grateful we have more money now than when my father was dying. Paying train fares of £12 a day 10 years ago caused us severe financial hardship.
At least this time we can afford the petrol to visit MIL regularly without having to go without food & heating. It sounds callous, but it is one less thing to worry about.

What a waste

After a 2 hour drive to attend MIL's case conference today, we arrived only to be told that they couldn't make any decisions until they have the results of MIL's latest MRI scan. When was that? Ten minutes after the meeting should have started!

Problem Updated

Whatever the problem is, alcohol is never the solution!

This comment is nothing to do with MIL or the family.

It is because of an alcohol related spat on FB that is going to greatly embarrass the participants when they sober up!

This means war

I'm getting ready to fight, to fight to get MIL what she needs.
I shall wear heels, I can do a good stalk when wearing heel

I know my onions

To distract himself from the ongoing problems with his mum's care hubby has been occupying his mind with the holiday we have booked for next year.
He's been reading up about it and watching things on you tube.
One thing has been stressed repeatedly is the fact that trousers are the only satisfactory mode of dress for said holiday.
This has worried hubby as I don't wear trousers or skirts or tights, only dresses.
I'm not worried, I'm sure I'll manage as my dresses are mid-calf length and fairly full.
Obviously hubby is a great connoisseur of fashion and he proved this when he came into the kitchen and suggested I bought some shallots to wear on holiday!
I'm assuming he meant culottes, either way I won't be wearing onions or a split skirt on the holiday

Planning

It's half term this week and when I'm home all day I tend to eat everything that doesn't move.

To avoid this I planned my meals & bought most of what I needed.

Breakfasts will be either poached eggs on toast, boiled eggs with soldiers or beans on toast.

Lunches. Jacket potato, HM soup or pasta with tuna and sweetcorn.

Evening meals, chicken chow mein, sausage & mash, chops with HM chips, spag bol and liver, bacon and onion with mediterranean veg.

I wasn't able to get any potatoes but I have everything else.

Of course all this could go tits up if, as I suspect, the week is spent sorting out a care package for MIL.

Shopping

FIL phoned yesterday & asked if I would be able to buy MIL 3 new nightdresses from M&S, as we were visiting her this afternoon I went to M&S this morning.
I took DGD with me, we dropped hubby at work at 7:30 and we were in town by 8 and in M&S just after.
I decided to do my own shopping at the same time so we went upstairs to the lingerie department, I bought 3 nightdresses for MIL & 3 bras for me, DGD was a great help looking for the correct sizes, her eyesight is better than mine.
I treated her to breakfast in the M&S cafe, we both had a croissant, I had tea, she had fruit juice.
As we left the cafe we walked through the children's department where DGD saw a fur gilet that she liked so I bought it for her.
We then went downstairs where I bought a new coat, gloves and a cardigan. I needed a bag and another cardigan so we went to Primark where I managed to buy the last items I wanted.
DGD did ask why I needed a new coat, I told her I hadn't had a new coat in 25 years, I had always had other people's cast offs.
We were on the bus back home just after 9:30 and I dropped DGD back home.
I collected hubby when he finished work and we did the 90 minute drive to visit MIL, spent time with her then met up with FIL & BIL4. 

Diet! What diet?

I had to go shopping this morning to get things MIL needed from M&S. I had to take DGD with me and we were in town by just after 8, so I treated her to breakfast in the M&S cafe.

We had a croissant each, she had fruit juice with hers, I had a cup of tea.

We went to visit MIL and didn't get home until 5 and I'd had nothing to eat since the croissant so I ended up with  a bacon sandwich, hey ho. Draw a line under today and try again tomorrow.

Get Well Card

DGD has made a card for MIL, we will take it over with us tomorrow when we visit.
DGD got out the paper and felt tips, asked for information regarding MIL's favourite colours & choice of flowers. 
She spent some time drawing and colouring in the card and then came to show me.
'I haven't written  Get Well Soon, as I know she's going to die soon. So I've written Feel Better Soon, I hope that's ok'
I assured her that it was a lovely thing to write and we have put the card in an envelope to take with us tomorrow.

Is this Mordor

Or is there a dalek in my bed?
Hubby has one of the Actipatch free samples.
He wears it on his shoulder.
It has a little red light on it.
In the middle of the night, it shines out.
When he's laying beside me it looks like the eye on top of the mountain in Mordor.
When he gets up and shuffles to the toilet it looks like a dalek wandering around the bedroom.

Quinces, updated

I've been given 6 quinces, I'm wondering what to make with them.
Thanks for the suggestions, I think I'll make quince cheese.
I'll let you know how it turns out.

Septicemia

MIL has septicemia and will be in hospital for at least 14 days, she may then be moved to a hospice.

Epic Fail

As my friend Sybil would say today has been an epic fail.
I've been following the Slimming World diet and doing quite well, only 1 or 2 lbs of a week but it's going in the right direction.
But MIL was admitted to hospital earlier in the week and since then it's been nonstop phone calls, the family are all at each others throats and expecting hubby & I to sort it all out.
Today I have eaten almost enough Curlywurly's to put me into a diabetic coma.
I'm also covered in stress hives!

Explosion in a glitter factory

I bought DGD Eileen a Frozen magazine, it had paints and glitter with it.
Whilst I was struggling to open the paints  (and getting covered in paint), Eileen opened the glitter and dropped it on the kitchen floor!
My whole house now looks like an explosion in a glitter factory, oh the joys of having grandchildren.

First World Problems

It's been a week of first world problems.

DD2 phoned to tell me that whilst she was babysitting for a wealthy family that she knows she'd got soaked to the skin helping them when the gears went on the machine that rolls out their swimming pool cover.

Then there was the drunk who was upset about the provenance of the leaves littering his garden.

Next a colleague was in tears because she wants her house redecorated and the colour she wanted has been discontinued. I personally can't tell the difference between the current Celtic Cream and the previous Linen Cream and I have a reasonably good eye for colour.

Even Froogs has done a post about watching the exchange rate.

The demon drink

As hubby was leaving work yesterday at 3pm he was accosted by an aggressive drunk.
It seems the drunk's garden is full of leaves and the leaves have come from the school grounds.
There are many trees in the school grounds, in the drunk's garden and all the surrounding gardens.
Said drunk thinks it should be hubby's responsibility to clear the leaves from his garden.
His comments were punctuated by many repeats of the F work, a few waved fists an regular pokes at hubby's chest.
I was most impressed that hubby didn't lump him one.
Hubby was aware that the altercation would be caught on CCTV, hence the lack of lumping the drunk.

I saw this and thought of John

What a shame this was picked too late to be entered into the Trelawnyd Village Show

I love you but!

I got a tearful phone call from a friend Lorraine, a few days ago, it seems her husband Jonah had said those fatal words earlier that evening. 'I love you, but I'm not in love with you any more.

After 40 minutes of tears, wailing and comments such as 'He's supposed to be my soul mate' and 'He's supposed to be my best friend'. I managed to get her to talk coherently.

It had been a bad day, one of his biggest customers wasn't able to pay a large bill on time.

Lorraine was planning next years holidays and was looking to spend in excess of £10k on two holidays, one family one and a holiday for just the 2 of them.

Lorraine had cooked fish for tea and Jonah hates fish, not surprising with his name.

The row between them had exploded because he wouldn't eat the fish.

She said 'If you loved me you'd eat the fish.'

He replied 'If you loved me you wouldn't cook fish for me'

She said 'If you loved me you'd let me book the holidays even though we can't afford them'

He said 'If you loved me you'd wait until the big bill was paid before you booked the holiday'.

She said 'Do you still love me?'
He said 'Yes'
She said 'Are you still in love with me?'

He said 'Oh look Wales just scored'

Fatal mistake, he should have just said yes and then I wouldn't have missed most of the programme I had been trying to watch.

He wouldn't have missed the rest of the rugby match.

So he didn't actually utter the fateful words, he just got distracted at the wrong time!

Hands free tailgate

Ok, who else has seen the advert for the car with the hands free tailgate and thinks. 'If I stood on one leg to open the boot of my car, I'd fall arse over tip'.

Figs

Figs are part of the Aldi super 6 this week.
I love figs, but when I eat them I have to keep repeating to myself.
'Don't think about D H Lawrence, don't think about D H Lawrence'
I'm showing my age, the film was released in 1969.

What's worse than stupid.

As I've said before, I struggle with stupid, I try to be patient as I understand that there isn't a cure for stupid.
Unfortunately, at work I am occasionally cursed with the self opinionated stupid.
Today I was treated to a petulant temper tantrum by someone trying to make a machine do the impossible.
After 3 attempts to explain that the 2 contradictory requests wouldn't work and getting my head bitten off, I left the room and took an early lunch.
Whilst on the subject of stupid, an acquaintance has been summoned to court, in Leeds, for non-payment of credit card fees.
He's not bothering to attend as it is a mistake.
He was struggling to pay his credit card bill as the card was maxed out and he couldn't make anything more than the minimum payment so the balance wasn't reducing. 
Someone advised him to do a credit transfer to a zero % card as this would reduce his costs.
He did as was suggested and he believes that as he is paying zero % interest he doesn't need to make any payments on the card as the interest is zero, therefore there is nothing to pay!

The cat crept into the crypt

crapped and crept out again.

I remember my father teaching me this tongue twister many years ago. It came to mind on Friday when I went round to feed DS's cats.

Although I am by nature a nosey parker I would never pry when I'm in someone else's house.
Therefore I hadn't gone upstairs in the two weeks I have been feeding the cats.

On Friday I took my DGS with me, he went upstairs to look for the cats.
He called down 'Nana, one of the cats has poohed in the bath'.

Oh boy, had they, not just in the bath but on the towel and bath mat that had been left on the side of the bath and pulled in.

I bought the towel and bath mat home and put them through the washing machine, twice. DS may not want them back, but I had to try.

I removed the cat pooh and scrubbed the bath, I let DS and his GF know and assured them that I had cleaned the litter tray regularly, I wouldn't want them to think I hadn't taken proper care of the cats.

I need not have worried, it seems one of the cats does this occasionally, probably as a punishment for being left!

What's wrong with hard work Part 2

So what started my rant about hard work?

A few things actually:-

A friend's wife announcing that she's gone on the sick as she is pregnant and is planning on staying on it until her maternity leave kicks in.

A colleague bewailing her son's unlikelihood of ever owning his own home, he only works 15 hours a week. It seems life isn't treating him fairly for although he has been offered full time work, it's not his dream job. His dream job is one he isn't prepared to train for.

A neighbour complaining that 15 hours a week is too many hours for her to be expected to work as she is nearly 50.

A colleague panicking about Christmas as they are already drowning in debt because his wife is entitled to the best of everything. Between them they only work 30 hours a week.

I don't care how many hours people work, I only work a 30 hour week myself now, but I don't keep on about how skint I am. If I was broke I'd work more hours!

What's wrong with hard work!

I have worked full time for almost 50 years, I helped in my parents shop from when I was 11, I also did various paper rounds and babysitting. I worked in shops, veterinary surgeries and offices from age 15 until 25 when I had my first child.
When my son was about one I registered as a childminder, I did this for 10 years until my 4th child was 3 months old. I then started my own IT business and I ran this for 17 years for the until I was divorced.
After my divorce I temped in offices and did early morning or evening cleaning for a couple of years as I was moving around, I moved 3 times in 12 months. I took in foreign students or lodgers, even when it meant me sleeping on the sofa in the living room to free up a bedroom.
When I started in my current job I did any available overtime, covered lunch duties and I still took in lodgers, I temped during the holidays, I did dressmaking, alterations, took in ironing, dog sat/walked, knitted things to sell.
I now class myself as working part time as I work 30 hours a week.
In all this time I claimed one week's benefit, I was allowed £11. I also received child benefit when my children were younger.
I'm lucky, I live in an area where there is plenty of work, I do realise that these options aren't available to everyone. 

Thank you

Thank you all for you comments on my previous post, Jill, I need to take your words to heart I think.