Our New Life in Devon

 Daughter stayed for 5 days which was nice to have her and the granddaughter here. I'd started catching up on the housework and decided to buy some new net curtains for the living room and upstairs landing. Well, they were here when we moved in so well past their best. We drove to Trago Mills and were spoiled for choice. Also, we picked up a curtain pole as we've decided to put curtains over the patio doors leading to the conservatory to keep the heat in. I'm ill again, but this time it's just an eye infection. It's annoying but I had a spare unopened tube of ointment in the fridge so don't need to see the GP tg. It's a pain though as you have to apply it 5 x a day. Son came for the night this week which was nice to have company. Our youngest spaniel Lola was delighted as she really loves him. When he had a slipped disc he stayed here for weeks and slept on the floor with her (his choice as we did have a spare bed!) I'm never lonely here it's like a ...

 Daughter and Granddaughter arrived just after 1am so not too late. I rarely go to bed before 1am as I can't sleep before around 2am. Courtesy of working in a residential children's unit as a social worker, with teenagers in crisis, as the early hours were often our busiest times. Tried many times to get back to a sensible bedtime but then I'm just awake for most of the night. I do sleep well now though usually for 7 or 8 hours unless I have a morning appointment. Talking of appointments I had yet another at the surgery today with a nurse for a full health check. Apparently the NHS is doing health checks on people my age and again in 5 years time. Weight, height, blood pressure, blood test for cholesterol and diabetes and at least 40 questions about family history of heart problems etc and my lifestyle. Quite intrusive really, questions about what I eat, do I exercise, do I drink alcohol, do I smoke etc. The nurse was very nice and she's just filling out a form on her c...

 Travelling home to South Devon I started to feel really tired and fell asleep in the car. Sleeping in the day is very unusual for me and only ever happens when I'm ill or going to be ill, so I knew I'd caught something. This was probably at the school play as there were over 60 children taking part. Germ bags my OH calls them 😆                             The School Play Next day I had a message from my daughter saying she was off work with a flu like virus, exactly the same as what I had. Not bad enough for flu and very severe for a cold with a temperature at the start. So, really I haven't done anything this week apart from rest, sleep and eat. Valentines day was nice as OH bought me a bunch of flowers and a box of chocolates. He does this every year. Daughter and Granddaughter are on their way here atm. They are arriving late tonight, which isn't a problem as I'm always up until the early hours anyway. ...

 My son and sister arrived for the weekend at the end of January as arranged. On arrival she didn't seem too bad but deteriorated over the weekend. She's suffered with poor health unfortunately for many years, and a few days after she returned home went in hospital. I'm hoping to visit her tomorrow afternoon for an hour or so. I managed to spend a lovely afternoon visiting my friend in Exeter after sister left. She was baking scones which were lovely with butter and jam. OH took the dogs for a nice long walk in the park so we had a good catch up on our own. Must ask her for the recipe when I next visit.  We're staying at our daughter's home for a few days atm. We have tickets to see the school play as granddaughter is in their drama group. Saturday we're hoping to meet up for lunch with our son, daughter-in-law and oldest granddaughter in a local pub for a carvery. Then, Saturday night, it's babysitting duty, as daughter is going for a leaving do meal with h...

 I had a phone call from my sister this evening as she wants to visit for this weekend. She has a small dog but has arranged for her friend to look after it which is good news as we already have 2 dogs here. OH went upstairs for a nap as he's not feeling too well. He hasn't been right for weeks but won't bother the doctor. I'm going to make him an appointment next week if he still won't go. Same when he had pleurisy I just rang and told him to go or cancel it. He went and the Dr told him off for leaving it too long ie 2+ weeks!! Husband came downstairs and said son is coming tomorrow for a few days as the weather has affected the shipping at his works. We are never alone for long here 😆  Both our dogs are in season at the moment but it's nearly finished now. We did breed our oldest dog, and our other dog is one of the puppies that we kept. I don't intend to breed her again, but don't agree with neutering unless there's a very good reason. I've o...

 Well, the family all went home, and I was left with piles of washing - think 5 lots of bedding as eldest son came to stay too last weekend. No problem if you have a working washing machine but mine was definitely on the way out. The spinner sounded like a jet taking off at Heathrow as it was so loud. Thankfully, we have insurance on it so it's now been fixed. I'm actually down to half a basket of washing today, which is much more normal. The machine is so quiet now I'm forgetting it's even on. Had to pay for a new rubber door seal, but the new drum and bearings were covered by the insurance policy tg. Last year wasn't very good for me health wise so hopefully this year will be better. I had 5 chest infections and a bladder infection that sent me to hospital. I've had so many medical tests this year it seems unreal. 6 ECGs, bladder and kidney scans, urine and pooh tests, chest x-ray, lung cancer scan, so many blood tests, heart scan, and breast cancer screening....