18/10/2010 by Aileen.

Yes, much better today.

Still 11st  9, so haven’t put on any weight.Showered, answered mail and forums, ready to go for the day.

Plans. John has three clients so that will keep him busy. I was a bit out of sorts with him over the weekend, as he got up so late each day, and just sat by his computer, then watched telly. I thought he had wasted his weekend. Bit of projection on my part methinks!

I’m about to run through the house (not literally) then might power wash the patio as the ducks have been doing their business (literally)

Sandy and Joy are  popping in this afternoon (on way down from Scotland) to collect clothes they forgot last weekend. Gardeners will be here too, hopefully.

This evening, I have Viewfinders, and we are to discuss our new Clikpic website. More important, Jane is going to show us her pictures from Canada. We were going to have a Photoshop tutorial, but I doubt there will be time.

Bye all. Computer going off now until after lunch.

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14/06/2010 by Aileen.

Working backwards… I got really dizzy yesterday. I was fine at Mass, went to the dump afterwards, attended (for a few minutes) the Newport Nature Trail opening. Michael Flowers was there in an official capacity to point out the nature, and I said he could pop in for a cuppa afterwards. The event was rained off early, so Michael called and we had a cuppa, then I started tidying a high-up cupboard. I was up and down like a yoyo, and got really dizzy afterwards. I don’t know how I finished cooking the roast. Anyway, I was fine if I sat still, but felt sick, and staggered a bit if I moved.

This morning (yes, I am working backwards in a minute)  I was still dizzy. I staggered on putting out the wheely bin, and thought if anyone say me they’d think I was drunk. Anyway, I got an appt at the doctors (John drove me) and the doctor thinks it’s benign poitional vertigo. I could have treatment there, which would probably make me sick (making me move around in various positions to relocate some ’stones’ in the ear canal) or have tablets and see if they worked. I was very brave and asked the doc what she recommended. Luckily she said the tablets. Anyway, I’m much better this evening, but I can’t drink or drive for 3 weeks while I’m on the tabs. This takes in the holiday, which is a bit of a bummer.

Working backwards… oh I can’t go through everything in detail.

Friday. Good creative writing session.

Thursday. Sheffield with John to sort out new wheelchair. Then lunch in Meadowhall. It’s the most enormous shopping precinct I’ve ever been in.

Wednesday. Birding. Lovely fresh morning, although not really summery.

Tuesday. Think I did housework.

Monday working backwards to Friday evening. Trudie and Al here for the weekend. Weather was really good and we had a barbecue, played Scrabble, caught up on the news from OLI (Our Lady Immaculate, Tolworth) It’s amazing how many people we know there are aging and unwell. Alright, John and I are no  spring chickens, and I’ve got this balance problem at the moment, but on the whole we are so healthy.

Balance problem!  That reminds me. My tablets are for ear infections, but also for anxiety, and mental problems. Oh well. I should be well and truly sorted after three weeks.

It’s Ali’s 40th birthday today. I feel bad that we haven’t sent  her a pressie. (Sent two cards) We just don’t know what to buy her. We haven’t bought Martin’s pressie either (he was 42 a fortnight ago, the day before Alexander’s christening) It’s so difficult in this affluent age and country. And yes, I know there’s a recession, but in this family we are fortunate enough to be to buy something if we need it (or as Ali corrected us, if we want it)

Oh dear, Catholic guilt is setting in. Maybe I ought to double up my tablets.(or give a donation to a worthy cause)

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04/06/2010 by Aileen.

It seems wrong to write trivia after the awful events in Whitehaven the other day. But what can I say about it?It’s unbelievable, especially as Derrick Bird was meant to be so ‘normal.’ He doesn’t seem to fit the usual profile of a killer. Well, I suppose we all have our dark sides, and sometimes they are very deeply buried.The more they are unacknowledged the more they can get out of control when they do emerge.

John and I spent a very pleasant day in Whitehaven. Twice I think. Once was with Ali, Eric and  Liam. (Kieran was a tiny bump in Ali’s tummy. It rained like mad, and we have a photo of us getting soaked. We also went on a steam engine. (I think this was Whitehaven!)

The time I do remember well was when John and I were having a few days at The Fat Lamb in Cumbria.

http://www.fatlamb.co.uk/

We went to Whitehaven for the day and I tripped up on the cobbled pier. I was so busy saving my camera that I broke my ankle and ended up in casualty. I had to have a tetanus injection, and the thought of it nearly made me faint. Anyway I survived.

The next day we went to St Bee’s, and there was a group of men driving sports cars on to the promenade. They were from that motoring programme cum magazine (forget the name - the one with The Hamster in) I took a photo of John next to a very snazzy yellow sports car. Not digital, so I won’t scan it in and  publish it.

Lo and behold, when we got back to The Fat Lamb the men were staying there. We watched them as one drove down the country lane while the others followed with the photographer, shooting arty pictures. We bought the magazine when it came out and keep it as a souvenir.

Back to the present. Trudie and Al are coming for the weekend. I already have a casserole on, and it’s only 9.15. Feeling very virtuous. Think we’ll have a barbecue tomorrow, and a roast on Sunday, so that’s the food taken care of. Except for the puds. I don’t do puds. Johyn can do a fresh fruit salad, I’ll buy a gateau, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll stew some rhubarb from the garden. Crumble and Pie are beyond me.

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01/06/2010 by Aileen.

So long since I’ve posted. I’ve just been too busy I suppose. Chris and Nigel came to stay, Ali,Eric and kids came for a couple of nights, and then we all went south  for Alexander’s baptism.

So where do I start?

Let’s do it chronologically. I’ve known Chris since the late 60s. We were in St Matthias parish in Worcester Park, Surrey, then Chris moved to Tolworth. Lo and behold - we followed.

Chris is an incredibly kind person who has looked after various people for the last few years, and she and Nigel have only just now been able to come up and see us in Yorkshire now that her father and father-in-law are dead.

We had a great time catching up on the gossip.

We had a great meal at The Pipe and Glass in South Dalton.

http://www.pipeandglass.co.uk/about.php

We also had a great game of Scrabble. Well, it wasn’t really great, as the board didn’t open up much, but we enjoyed it anyway. Chris won and I came last.

We had a day on our own (washing sheets etc) when Ali rang to say she was coming down on the Thursday so the kids weren’t too long in the car on consecutive days.

Once again, a good time was had by all. I didn’t want to miss my Creative Writing on Friday morning, so rudely went!

There was a broken down lorry on my route, and I got there half an hour late.

However, this wasn’t the worst thing. As I was driving along I was thinking that, barring technical reasons (like not getting my work in on time) I should have a degree this year. I was idly thinking of what could go wrog when I suddenly thought, Hell (or worse) I didn’t attach my commentary to my story. This would mean I fail as both parts are necessary.

Anyway, as soon as I got home I rang my tutor, and he got back straight away - I had attached the commentary.

So. Barring technicalities I should have a degree by the end of the year. (Sounds big-headed, but I won’t fail the story.)

Anyway, on Saturday we all drove down to Oxford. We stayed in the Premier Inn in rooms opposite one another. We tried to book a meal in a nearby pub, but both ones we tried were full, so we stayed in The Beefeaters attached to the Premier Inn. Martin joined us, and we all enjoyed our meals. It was Martin’s birthday, but the next day’s celebration took precedence. (Fiona stayed at home with her parents and Alexander.)

The next day we had Alexander’s baptism. There were so many people there. 41 kids plus all the adults. But the priest commented afterwards how well everybody behaved. Well, both sides of the family are Catholics, so we all know the routine! Some of the friends were from Martin’s and Fiona’s Catholic secondary schools, but a lot of the new friends weren’t.

After the baptism we all went to the village hall at Hutton-cum-Studdley. This was an inspired choice. There is a great adventure playground and lots of grass all around, so the kids could run around. (Some adults too!)

Sarah, M and F’s neighbour, did the catering. She’s doing a meal for David Cameron and 80 friends next week, so she’s good. The food was lovely.

As an aside, I have to mention the birds. There were two red kites wheeling over the hall earlier in the afternoon, and there was a little bluetit who had laid eggs in a cigarette disposal unit outside, and the poor little thing was run ragged feeding her offspring. There only seemed to be one parent.

Time to put up some photos.

Bye.

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22/05/2010 by Aileen.

I should be going for a long walk up in the Wolds with my OU friends, but a boil in a rather embarrassing place means I can’t walk, stand, sit or lie down. In the end I had to go the doctor and he put me on antibiotics.

I like to think how healthy I am. I haven’t had a cold since we moved to Yorkshire over 6 years ago, and I don’t get headaches or anything. Just suspicious lumps that turn out to be innocuous.

Oh, and I don’t really have bunions. I just thought it sounded a good heading. My feet are in really good shape and I put that down to wearing Dr Scholl clogs for most of my teens, twenties and probably thirties. Even now I wont wear heels if I can get away with it.

It’s the Christening next week, so I suppose I’ll have to dress up.

In the meantime, Chris and Nigel (friends from the 60s) are coming for a couple of days on Monday. It’s their first time here, and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m going to cook and freeze a nice meal, so I can chat to them. We may have a barbecue, and we may go out for the day on Tuesday and have a meal out. Sorted. (Apart from my messy house. Chris is so organised and neat.)

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20/05/2010 by Aileen.

I forgot to say I’ll miss David, but I suppose that goes without saying. At Creative Writing we sit in a square, and David always sat at the top right hand corner. He would grin slyly at everyone seeing inuendoes (clean usually) in everything. Well, like a family we have in-jokes. Women drivers, taxi drivers, Xanthia, all subjects of past writings.

I didn’t want to go to Creative Writing last week as I thought it would be so sad, but I needn’t have worried. Sheila, who always sat next to David and was a special friend of his, moved into his place, so we wouldn’t have to look at his empty seat.

There were a few absentees as well. Christine was at a funeral, and Jim had taken his wife for a hospital appointment. (See, we’re all old codgers) But Mary had brought her sister along for the morning as her sister was visiting from Surrey.

That’s what’s so nice about the group. It’s so open and friendly. John has been along. On Friday, Terry, who used to come but did’t rejoin this term as he was on a long cruise,  popped in to ask if anyone wanted a lift to the funeral. The week before Pauline, who doesn’t come any more as she is ill, managed to pop in an see us, and so did someone else, but I’m b***ed if I can remember who!

Next term we might have to relocate to the Adult Ed Centre, as they have a vacant room, but I can’t see it being as friendlya venue as the Methodist Hall.

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20/05/2010 by Aileen.

I haven’t written for a while, as I wanted to write about David, yet at the same time didn’t want to start, as I won’t be able to do him justice.

He was one of my Creative Writing friends. He seemed to be a vey healthy  77 year old, but he had a heart attack, followed by another two (I think) and then died in hospital.

He always had a twinkle in his eye and had a delicious sense of humour. His writing was so elegant. He used to say he had no imagination, and invariably, whatever Stella set us to do, he would write a political piece. He would have made an excellent journalist, and we were always telling him to send off his writing for publication.

In the last few months, though, he had been writing more imaginative stuff. Almost as though he was rounding off his personality.

In a Creative Writing group you get to hear very personal things. We all trust one another and know one another well. That’s why I call David a friend. When he wrote about his family his love and devotion to them shone through. He used to tell us anecdotes during the coffee break too.

At his funeral we heard more of his escapades, as is brother and two sons-in-law spoke. He was very much loved. (David means ‘the beloved’)

The funeral was a humanistic one, and as a Christian I found it a bit sad. (Although the service leader was very upbeat, smiling a lot and saying David hadn’t gone, he lived on i our memories) So, when we have all died and no one remembers him any more he’ll be gone then, I suppose.

Anyway, I missed biblical readings and singing, and the hope of everlasting life. I like to think that David was trying to say,’I was wrong, there is something’ and doing his darndest to let us know. He would enjoy the joke being on him.

Now I’ve started writing again I’ll probably log on later with an update on my life. See ya.

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25/01/2010 by Aileen.

Is it really so long since I posted?

Wednesday  13th - had my followup to mammogram. Scan this time. Everything looks fine but I need another followup in three months.

Friday 15th - I rang Stella the previous night to say I might not be there. I was still coughing and hadn’t got into the swing of going out since the snow. However, I woke full of the joys of spring, and had a great time with the others. Such talent. Such a laugh.

16th/17th - Kev and Mag came to stay, as they were dropping Andy off at Uni. We had a good time. On the Saturday afternoon I had a tutorial at Sheffield. Useful, and I put faces to two more names. Sheffield is sooooo hilly!

17th - 22nd - John and I had a Course at St Beuno’s (former Jesuit seminary which puts on courses and retreats) on Myers-Briggs Personality Types, Prayer and Shadow. Sr Ann Morris was excellent.

It’s funny, I explained to people over and over again that I was the one originally interested in MBTI and other psychology stuff, but John got interested and followed it further, so he is now a counsellor. So we went for John’s professional development, but by no means was I a hanger-on. I’ve actually studied MBTI much more than he had. In the end, he got a lot out of it spiritually, which was an unexpected and blessed outcome. I also got loads out of it.

Saturday 23rd. Just remembered the previous night that I was going for a walk with my OU friends. We met at Pocklington, drove to Millington, and walked about 5 miles, ending back in The Gait Inn at Millington for a pub lunch. Scampi and chips. Nom, nom, nom. The uphill bits made so breathless I couldn’t talk, but I recovered quickly on the flat and downhill bits. Two of my companions are struggling with their MAs (for different reasons) and one is not enjoying her literature course.

Sunday 24th Church. Such a friendly bunch of people. Prepared two kids for their First Holy Communion. It’s so lovely teaching them as they’re lively and inquisitive and fun.

Today - back to my usual Monday optimism. Great plans for the week. I have a TMA due in on Friday. Also, Parish Dinner on Friday night. On Wednesday we’re going birding to Potteric Carr - always a special place. I haven’t seen the birding crowd since before Christmas, so it will be nice to get back.

I’ve been on the Wii-Fit for the last three days, and am taking exercise seriously. It’s such fun. (Is that a paradox or a groan comment?)

Last but not least - Fiona is still doing well. Not long now until little Angus is born. (No, he’s not going to be called Angus. That’s what John keeps calling him, and now Ali seems to be saying it. I remember John’s mother kept calling Ali ‘Mary’ for ages. I used to seethe. Luckily Fiona and John have a much better relationship than Betty and I did. The difference  is - Betty thought she would get her own way eventually. Also, I didn’t speak up, whereas Fiona is assertive enough to say if she wasn’t happy with the teasing.

Oh well. I decided at St Beuno’s that I’m spending too long on the Net, so I am cutting this time down drastically. I’ll post photos of the Welsh countryside and others later. Maybe tomorrow as I have Viewfinders tonight. We’re photographing ‘liquid.’

Bye all. Have a good week.

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30/07/2009 by Aileen.

I so want to write something here - something lovely - but I think I’ll wait a while. I’ll tell you all soon. Promise.

Anyway, in spite of the showers I’ve been gardening a bit. I’ve cleared (sort of) the long thin bed outside the back door. I’m going to call it the Landing Strip. So now we have, a front lawn, a top lawn, a cherry orchard, a wild flower meadow and a landing strip. Pretentious or what!

Yesterday we had two of John’s former colleagues for lunch. And very tender they were too. No, seriously, they both worked with him years ago in the Civil Service. I first met them when we were on a treasure hunt. This couple started off on the Treasure Hunt, but never ended up at the destination pub. It was the beginning of an office romance. They now have adult children! I don’t know where the time goes.

John is well but these anti-biotics leave a constant metallic taste in his mouth. He hasn’t got his hospital appointment yet.

Oh well, the showers stopped us going for a cycle today, but it is sunny at the moment, so I think I’ll finish off the privet hedge. (Or is it box?)

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11/07/2009 by Aileen.

We’re off to the Swinton for a few days, to celebrate John’s 70th, but he is paying I should be rushing round tidying the house up for the neighbour, but no, here I am prevaricating. I’ve just made a thank you card too, for Jim, who lent me £20 yesterday when I found myself 20 miles from home with no money and very little petrol. This double dactyl (Google it!)  tells the story!

Heckety peckety

Aileen B Urquharty

Travelled to Hedon

Without any purse.

Gentleman Jiminy

Characteristic’lly

Came to her rescue

Before it got worse.

Anyway, must sort out house. Will have to leave the garden.Ironing and packing to be done. Hey it’s only a couple of hours away. I could come back each night to change!

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