Eye eye

Typical. No blog for days then two comes along…

All day Friday and Saturday my right eye was really itchey and sore. I had a bit of a poke around but couldn’t find anything wrong.

This morning I found out why my eye was so itchy and sore. A nice clump of cold sores had appeared both near and in my eye.

Normally I would have gone straight to the doctors as cold sores in the eye can cause you to go blind if the infection spreads. However this is a weekend and our doctor surgery only work weekdays, it meant a trip to the A&E department of the local Eye Hospital.

Thankfully we only had to wait 1 1/2 hours as the notice board said the waiting time is between 2 to 3 hours, and longer at weekends.

As the cold sores have affected only the white part of my eye, I don’t have to take oral antibiotics. I have them in eye drop form instead. Excellent news as I wouldn’t have been able to drink at Blackpool if I were on the tablets. Yippee ! ! !

At the moment my eye is painful, swollen and blurred, and doing nothing for the bags under my eyes…. Hopefully it won’t get to the purple stage as that’s when it resembles a black eye.

You can image the comments I’ll get next week. I think I’ll have a ‘it’s not a black eye’ badge printed just in case….

Marie

Mothers Day

As it’s Mothers day I thought I’d tell you a little bit about my mam.

I’ve already mentioned previously that she thinks everyone is telepathic. What I haven’t told you is that she has a finely tuned sense of smell, taste and hearing.

She can smell Carbon Monoxide. Gloria, her next door neighbour, had a leak of Carbon Monoxide and my mam claims she could smell it seeping though the walls.

She knows when the food is nearing its ‘best before date’ as she can gradually taste it going off. This happens especially with milk .When the ‘bbd’ is up everything suddenly tastes awful. Whenever I’m shopping for her, I must make sure that the date stamp is well in advance otherwise she won’t have it.

Confession time – I once bought her some milk and forgot to look at the date stamp. It only had two days to go and knowing her obsession, tore the label off so she wouldn’t know. I half expected a phone call two days later complaining about the milk. No phone call. A week later and she was still using the milk…

She came to ours for Christmas day and was convinced she could hear the roast potatoes burning. The sound would have had had to pass through the Aga door, through the closed kitchen door, along the hall way, through the closed dining room door then into the living room.

Whenever we go shopping at Dainty Supplies (a haberdashery shop where I get my dressmaking fabric), we always bicker over fabric and patterns. The assistances know us very well so act as referees.

She is a red head so had a temper to match. I used to have quite a bit of red in my hair when I was younger so the arguments we used to have were beauties.

For all her ‘quaintness’ she’s still a wonderful mother.

Marie

No more lady Vicar

First of all, apologies for not blogging for ages but we’ve been rather busy with Blackpool conference. I’ve stored up what I was going to blog so will tell all later.

Now about this lady vicar. For the past couple of months my hairdresser Gillian has been encouraging me to grow my hair. I fancied a changed so decide to give it a go.

Three weeks ago and I was (excuse the pun) tearing my hair out. It took ages for it to dry, kept sticking up and worst of all showed up all my grey hairs ! ! !

I decided to perceiver as Gillian was coming in a couple of days time. Then I got a phone call. ‘Sorry Marie, but James (her son) has to go into hospital to have his tonsils out. I have to cancel your appointment and can’t fit you in until another three weeks time’.

Aaaaahhhhhhhh

As each day went by my hair got worse and worse. Then the most frightening thing happened. I started to look like a lady vicar….. I’ve got nothing against these lovely ladies but they do seem to have disastrous hairstyles – think Christine from a Seaside Parish. It got to the stage were I was embarrassed to go out, it was that bad.

Gillian came this morning and I’m really pleased to report that I’m no longer a lady vicar as I’m back to my normal short hair.

Wonderful ! ! !

Marie

What no Blog

Apologies for not Blogging for a while.

At the start of the week we were both feeling pretty rotten – and no it wasn’t alcohol related ! ! ! John was in the middle of a cold and I was just starting one. We were so rough on Sunday that we didn’t get up until 2pm…

I’ve made a start making my dress for Blackpool conference. As I couldn’t find any patterns suitable (see a Stitch in Time), I decided to reuse one of my previous patterns. However the last time I made that particular dress I was at least a stone lighter so consequently I’ve had to alter the pattern.

The last time I wore that dress I was also smaller in the bust region so seeing as it’s backless I was able to wear one of those multi-way bras. Not this time.

Yesterday I went to the Metro Centre with my mam – the first time out shopping since tearing the ligaments in my ankle – and I went to M&S to get measured for a bigger size multi-way bra. Having taken my measurements the assistant then went looking for the bra in my size but came back empty handed. They don’t make them in my size.

The only thing she could recommend was a strapless bra, in a size bigger than I would normally have, then pull the back bit down and secure it in place with some toupee tape. I bet Jordan doesn’t have this problem ! ! !

Sorry Jenny but more references to Blackpool. We went shopping this morning at Makro and came back with nice things for conference packs. Having taken a large delivery last Wednesday from Viking Direct, our dining room is now rapidly looking like a stationary warehouse. What’s worse is that the nice things from Makro are also in there too ! !

Marie

PS if you like dogs and have satellite television, have a listen to GlobCast Radio as they are presenting Crufts FM. If you hear a man with a North East accent, that’s John Hindhaugh - he was best man at our wedding….

Right Of Reply

If anyone feels that we're being unfair by denying you the right of reply when we post these ramblings, our only defence is that it's not our fault. I changed some settings and the "leave comment" option has vanished. I can't get it back and I can't even ask you to leave a comment telling me how to put it back.

John

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

When we opened the bedroom curtains this morning everywhere was covered in snow. There must have been at least 3 inches.

My late father in law always took great delight in saying that it never snows by the coast.

My very first Christmas living ‘by the coast’ and we had a 6 inch white Christmas.

Whenever it snowed I used to remind my father in law about what he said only to receive the reply – ‘It’s your fault. We never had snow until you moved to Fulwell’.

So if anyone wants snow in their area, let me know…

Marie

P***** Off

As you can see I’m a little cheesed off. Three guesses as to why…

Yes that’s right, it’s our new neighbours.

I had hoped that seeing as they spent their first night in their new home, they would have finally ceased with all the banging, drilling, hammering and their obsession with power tools.

How wrong I was ! ! !

It would seem that they are now starting to replace the floor boards in the remaining two bedrooms. As one of the rooms is adjacent to my work room, the noise in here is deafening.

I’m starting to wish ‘John’s theory’ would come true. He thinks they have bought the house to modernise it then sell it for profit.

To say I hate our new neighbours is an understatement…

Marie

Moving in time

It would seem that there is moving activity next door as today the new neighbours started bringing in some furniture. You would expect this to be a quiet affair. Our new neighbours quiet – you must be joking. Every time they unloaded the car, it set off our phantom door bell.

Of course no day would be complete without a bit of banging. They had their television Arial replaced…

It look like we’ll be getting more new neighbours as Greg and Kay who live opposite have today put their house up for sale and the house at the end of our street has also just gone up for sale.

Was it something I said ! ! !

Marie

You know when it's getting close ...

You know when it’s getting close to an HBA Spring Conference when :

Marie is looking at dress patterns.

Our dining room is full of boxes.

Viking Direct raise our credit limit.

We start thinking in terms of days to go instead of weeks to go.

Paul starts to blog about minibus hire.

Our alcohol consumption rises (the stress, the stress !!)

Large quantities of cash are stolen.

Not long now ...

John

Marie’s Theory

Apologies for not blogging for awhile but there hasn’t really been anything exciting to report.

My ankle is still swollen and rather painful so haven’t ventured into the outside world by myself. Weather permitting I’m doing that tomorrow – wish me luck ! ! !

We went to Blackpool on Friday night for a meeting with the hotel on Saturday morning to finalise things for conference. Driving there was fine (moving the accelerator pedal was good exercise for my ankle), however walking wasn’t…

Still the pain was worth when we checked into our room. The hotel had given us a suite and to say it was huge is an understatement. We counted eight different rooms ! ! ! Shame we were only there for less than 13 hours.

Anyway about my theory. It concerns the new neighbours. Having ‘moved in’ 17 weeks ago, they’re still hammering, banging, drilling and demolishing from 8.30am – 6pm, seven days a week.

Because of the current state of the housing market, the new neighbours wanted a new modern built property but couldn’t afford one.

They bought Dennis’s house due to it being in need of a little TLC. As modern properties are open plan, bland and soulless, they decided to rip out all the glorious features of a 1910’s terrace house.

That’s the only plausible theory I can come up as Dennis’s house was a little tired but really only required cosmetic work doing to it.

Marie

Upset me at your peril

Remember my encounter on Friday with the nasty nurse in A&E. Well I made a complaint against her this morning.

I didn’t like doing it but she gave me no choice as her behaviour and attitude was not what I expected from a member of the medical profession.

The Matron in charge of A&E rang me this afternoon and was most apologetic. She has assured me that the matter will be dealt with.

My ankle has been throbbing this afternoon. I wonder if the nurse has been putting pins in a ‘Marie’ doll…

Whilst I’m on the subject of the NHS, I had to cancel my dentist appointment. I was meant to be there this afternoon but because of my ankle I couldn’t make it. The earliest rescheduled appointment they could give me is 4th May. By then it’ll be six months since my initial appointment.

I’m glad I’m not suffering from toothache ! ! !

Marie

Snap

You know I hate shopping, and in particularly grocery shopping. Well it took it’s revenge out on me last night.

As we were walking out of Morrisons I heard and felt a snap in my right ankle. To say it was painful is an understatement.

Thankfully the car was parked quite close to the entrance so I didn’t have far to hobble.

During the night my ankle decided to swell and as the pain was unbearable, I decided this morning to call NHS direct to see what I should do.

As the little man said ‘anything that snaps isn’t good’, so I was told to go to A&E as he thought I’d snapped my Achilles tendon.

John had just arrived at work only to receive a phone call asking him to take me to A&E.

Having been seen by two lovely triage nurses and waiting over two hours we finally got seen by a nurse practitioner who must have been suffering from Friday blues as she wasn’t a nice person at all.

She was extremely blunt, had no bed side manner and could have done with a couple of lessons at the local charm school. Her diagnosis – I hadn’t snapped my Achilles tendon but failed to say what the problem was and would get the physio to come in to see me. Then she left the room. No good bye, sod off, nothing…

It was the physio who told me that I had torn the ligaments in my ankle. So I’ve got to rest it for a few day, take loads of painkillers, put an ice pack on it twice a day and it should take about three weeks to heal.

All I can see is thank goodness I did it now and not a week before Blackpool conference! ! !

Marie

A stitch in time

It’s that time of year again were I start planning the dress I’m going to make for the HBA Spring conference.

Having looked through all the various pattern books I’ve come to the conclusion that:

A) I’m too fat
B) I’m too short
C) I’m too big busted

All the patterns I like are no good because they fall into one or more of the above.

I can do something about A but not in the timescale. There’s only seven weeks to Blackpool so not much chance of loosing that much weight.

Unless I get leg extensions there isn’t much I can do about B.

And sadly dieting does nothing to reduce my bust so my only option would be surgery. Not something I quite fancy.

So it’s back to the drawing board – now there’s an idea….

Marie

A to Z

Thought I’d copy Gottle so here are my A to Z’s.

[A is for age:]
37
[B is for booze of choice:]
Wine, wine and more wine and Pimms in the summer
[C is for career:]
Housewife
[D is for your dog’s name:]
Don’t have one
[E is for essential items you use everyday:]
Computer
[F is for favourite song(s) at the moment:]
‘Penny to my name’ sung by Eva Cassidy and ‘I’ll build a stairway to Paradise’ sung by Issy van Randwyck
[G is for favourite games:]
Backgammon
[H is for hometown:]
Sunderland
[I is for instruments you play:]
Piano (badly), recorder and used to play the clarinet
[J is for jam or jelly you like:]
Blackcurrant
[K is for kids:]
No way ! ! !
[L is for last kiss:]
1 minute ago
[M is for most admired trait:]
Loves animals
[N is for name of your crush:]
The football player Bryan Robson when I was at school
[O is for overnight hospital stays:]
Lots
[P is for phobias:]
Thunder and lightning, loud noises and creepy crawlies
[Q is for quotes you like:]
‘We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard’ President John F Kennedy
[R is for biggest regret:]
Giving up teacher training to join the civil service
[S is for sweets of your choice:]
Chocolate and fizzy cola bottles
[T is for time you wake up:]
Several times during the night
[U is for underwear:]
Non-wired bras and anything from M&S
[V is for vegetables you love:]
What’s them…
[W is for worst habit:]
Having to the loo three times before going to sleep
[X is for x-rays you’ve had:]
Loads
[Y is for yummy food you make:]
Fruit cake
[Z is for zodiac sign:]
Virgo

Marie

Friday part 1 (again)

It may not be word for word perfect but here goes…

On Friday I took my mam shopping at Sainsburys. Food shopping with my mam is always an experience but as she had a cold it was like shopping with someone on speed ! ! !

The fruit and veg section. “Do you know were er is”.
I should explain. My mam thinks that everyone is telepathic so doesn’t need to say anything else other than ‘er’.

After a process of elimination I finally guessed what she wanted only to have to repeat the process over and over again.

Still in fruit and veg. “Do you want some tomatoes”.
“Mam, I don’t like tomatoes and you know I don’t, yet you ask me this every time”. “Well I only asked in case you changed your mind”.

The uncooked meat aisle. She spends quite a while looking at the variety of sausages then says “I don’t like sausages”.

The ready made meals aisle. “What can ‘you’ have for a change”, she asks.
“Mam I don’t have RMM”.
It transpires that ‘you’ means ‘I’ (I’ll have to remember that one…). She spends ages looking at the different meals then said she doesn’t like RRM either.

The dairy aisle and she’s standing facing the yoghurts. “Can you see any er”.
“A clue would be helpful”.
“Yoghurts”.
I resist the temptation to be sarcastic so ask “what kind”.
“Sainsburys own”.
“Narrowing it down, any particular one”.
“The Winter Collection”.

After spending ages searching I couldn’t find them.
“Found them”, she says picking up Autumn Fruits…

This is the edited version. Imagine the whole thing ! ! !

Marie

Friday part 3

For some strange reason Friday part 1 has disappeared from my blog….

I did publish it – honest ! ! ! John will be my witness as he remembers reading it.

I’ll type it up again tomorrow.

Marie

Friday part 2

While at Sainsburys on Friday I decided to hand in my prescriptions. I needed more tablets for my IBS, more cold sore cream and a sachet of penicillin for when I have my teeth scaled and polished at the dentist next Monday.

These three items cost me £19.50 ! ! ! The woman in the chemist commented that it’s expensive to be ill. Too right…

One thing drove me to drink on Friday and it wasn’t the cost of the prescriptions. It was the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I’ve mentioned before that the programme is a lot funnier when accompanied by alcohol. Don’t ask me how I would have coped watching it sober.

Boy was it awful ! ! !

Marie

PS John says I should have called my blog ‘Friday the Third, part 2’. Now I do need a drink…

Too good to be true

Yesterday for the first time since the new neighbours started demolishing (sorry – renovating…) their house they did so in relative silence.

I know what you’re thinking they were having the day off. No I could still hear them going up and down the stairs (no carpet + heavy shoes = slight noise) but no banging, hammering, drilling, sawing. Nothing.

Having had one of the worst weeks of noise last week, this was a welcome relief. Last week they decided to remove the chimney breast from the kitchen. You can imagine the noise. It was so bad that I couldn’t hear anyone on the phone, no matter what room I was in…

Sadly peace and tranquillity has ceased as they were back working today on the chimney breast again. If that wasn’t enough the council are digging up the road in the back lane just outside our house.

Where did I put my ear plugs ! ! !

Marie

I hate plumbing.

We’ve got a leaky pipe, and it’s got previous form.

Let me explain. When our heating system was installed, years before we bought the house, some of the pipes were laid across other pipes. They began to rub, and eventually, after about a dozen years or so one of them (the main hot water feed from the tank) wore through. The leak was under the floor in my office, and the water appeared in our living room at about 10pm on New Years Eve, three years ago. Temporary repairs were made and the next day a proper repair was effected.

All was fine except for a slight drip and even this stopped once the joint settled in.

That is until we had the boiler replaced, and now one of the joints in the repair is leaking again. I suspect it’s because the hot water is now pumped instead of being gravity fed (more pressure). It’s an awkward spot and I can’t get any more leverage to tighten it without doing serious damage to the rest of the pipework. It loses one drop every 45 seconds or so. This one showed itself on December 29th. Just as well it didn’t start two days later or we would have returned home from Jan’s party to a rather damp carpet. I put a tray under the leak to see how quickly it filled and a day or so later there was only a wet stain to be seen.

And guess what. We were sitting minding our own business after lunch today when Marie thought she heard a sound coming from one of the radiators. The sort of “ping ping” sound you get as they heat up or cool down. Only the heating was off and it wasn’t “ping ping”. It was “drip drip”. So up came the carpet and floorboards in the office, and yes, the tray was full. It’s a funny thing but I was only saying to Marie yesterday that next weekend we’ll fix the paper on the ceiling where it was affected by the damp, and check the tray. So now we know we’ll need to check it about once every three or four weeks until it gets bored and seals itself.

I hate plumbing.

John

Room 101

Sunday’s blog was the challenge set by Jenny to blog 5 things that define my own particular brand of quirkiness.

Well today I’m going to give you a list of the things I’d like to be put in ‘Room 101’.

Wasps: Unlike the bee which has a purpose in life and dies when it stings you, wasps don’t. They should be issued with ASBO’s…

Cold sores: It starts with a tingle on the lip, or an itchy nose or eye, then seconds later a huge blister appears and for the next five days it’s sheer hell. Not only are they painful, but you can’t eat or drink properly and no kisses ! ! !

Trifle: Three of my worst foods rolled into one: custard, soggy sponge cake and cream. What more can I say.

Arran jumpers: Apologies to the lovely residents of Arran but their jumpers are awful. John had a very out-of-shape one which he liked because it kept him warm when working on rallies. As soon as we got married I threw it out when he was at work. I don’t think he’s ever forgiven me…

White cars: They always seem to be driven by people who don’t give a damn about other road users, and don’t get me started if the car happens to be a BMW.

Gregorian chant:*: John loves them. I hate them. They are supposed to be very calming. I must be missing something as they drive me up the wall ! ! !

And finally for people who really know me ‘Saturday arrivals’…

Marie

* For those of you who don’t know what a Gregorian chant is, it’s acapella church music from the middle ages.