Working, well at least something is.

The lack of blogness is not because I'm lazy or disinterested in my life, nor is it because my pc isn't working right which would be a first. Its simply because I now go out to work, I have the greatest admiration for people who do a job and also keep up with the cyber world, I can't do it, I've tried and I can't. I have 3 games of scrabble on the go on facey and thats sent me to bed the last couple of night's in a dither...do I go for my big word or do I block. My last thoughts before I close my eye's are what word has 4 A's an I a U and something else.

Anyway, I've tried to post a slideshow of the hols but at the moment it won't work so the pic's are going on facebook, I'll try to post a link on here sometime in the next month. Until then I'm putting up a pic of the view from my kitchen window at 7am this morning, I panicked and nearly rang 999 as I thought Helsby Hill was on fire but it was the sky.

Watch out Janey, I might be joining you with the natural world photo thingy.

All good here, hope alls good with everyone out there.

Happy Birthday babe, missing you terribly.

Love, Mum Dad and Mike. xxx

Smiley blog

I wasn't really looking forward to my birthday today but when I was in the shower this morning I thought to myself 'am I sad' and before I had time to answer a picture sprang into my mind, it was the one of my birthday in 2005 when I decided to get my own back on Mike and Chris for all the wind ups they had subjected me to. I got into goth gear and visited Chris in hospital, he wasn't amused and refused to speak to me for two days.

Mike loved it...fortunatley.

I remember texting Mark one of my good buddy's from the cf forum and telling him to put his webcam on to see what he thought of my scheme he was tacful bless him, Chris forbade me to get the goth gear out again and I didn't until today. its been a well smiley day and I dare say Chris had a hand in it but I couldn't resist.

Much food and drink was consumed tonight and I'm ready to hit the wooden hills.

Many thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes, you have made my day all of you.

Much love to all

Sue xxx

I'm back from the Majorcan experience and for some strange reason have been manically cleaning my house from roof to garden since my feet touched base. I can't for the life of me explain this strange phenom, phenonom....the more I try to spell this the more ridiculous it sounds so I'll start again. I can't for the life of me explain why I suddenly had the urge to make my house a minimalist thing and clean everything in sight that I allowed to stay put. John ordered me to stop tonight because he thought I was losing my marbles, Mike also commented 'bloody hell mother you don't do any cleaning for ages then you go at it like a lunatic' so I stopped for a moment and pondered over the last few days. Yep, I suppose it was a bit out of character shoving a toothbrush in every nook and cranny and poking steel kebab things down every plughole, not to mention hanging precariously out of the upstairs windows to clean the outsides while waving to my neighbour who knows damn well I don't do the cleaning thing. Normally my house is in a state of near condemnation and I usually don't give a toss, it now shines and I'm very worried that I'll get up tomorrow and look for something else to wipe so I've cut the plug off me hoover and left a stack of dirty dishes randomly spread out over the worktops.....that should balance things out.

The holiday was good, it was sad on the way there and sad on the way back but while we were there it was fab, this holiday was booked on Chris's request because on the night of his transplant he had asked the doctor 'when can I go abroad' and was told 12 months. He asked me to book a villa for us and close family so I did one week after his op, it was a hard decision whether to go or not but at the end of the day Chris would have wanted us to and Suzy one of his bessy mates came in his place.

It wasn't a cultural holiday by any means, I learned to play brag or is it blag anyway I was good at it the kids said, that means I can lie through my eye teeth and be convincing. They also promised to teach me to play poker but they discovered Magaluf first so that didnt happen. I got very friendly with Ozzy a praying or is that preying mantis who Eve Julie and I rescued from the pool after realising he wasn't enjoying a late night swim but was actually drowning, well for goodness sake are we supposed to know these creatures don't swim. He came back to see us regularly and loved his pic being taken, I am now an avid fan of them and have sadly googled info for future reference. I rock climbed but froze on a precipice where the sea was raging down beneath me (slight exaggeration) I don't do heights very well, I get quite dizzy and have an overwhelming feeling that I need to chuck myself off the edge. My lovely brother talked me down in the end, not something I'm in a hurry to repeat and I'm sure our Bal feels the same. I jumped in the pool fully clothed at 1am, that was a first and yes I was very under the influence of Spanish brandy it wasn't my idea but when dared I can't possibly resist and several more followed me.

I've gone on and on haven't I, I'll be quiet now and leave with a last night pic. When I get time I'll post some more booooooooring holiday snaps.

Nite all, hope alls well with everyone.

Non blogness

Ok I know its been a while since I blogged but where the hell has the choice of font gone, maybe blogger doesn't like it if you haven't done one for a bit.

I've been busy busy busy since the Hydro with things, mainly 'FACEBOOK' you log on thinking I'll just have a look and before you know it someone has sent you an egg or a drink or an invitation to do something you would never consider doing in public. If you ignore the invite you might offend someone, so you do it...another hour has gone. While you're there someone throws a plate of beans at you or bites your vampire, well they're not getting away with that are they, another hour spent biting and throwing a horrid bit of food back. I wake up in the morning thinking have I missed something so log on and by dinner hour I'm all facebooked out.

Its not good, so I'm off to good old Majooooorca on Saturday for a week, we have a villa for 10 of us, many of them are young uns so timetables will differ slightly, but we'll be on hand to scrape them off the floor after the foam thingies that go on...and on....and on. Bacon and sloppy egg anyone..hehe.

See you in a week or so, take care all.

Hydro 2007

My Slideshow 9/17/07

Brilliant

Absolutley awsome weekend.....massive happy sigh!!!!

Bed now.

Love to all x

Its nearly time to amble around Hyde Park with many 'pink' women once more. Because, at heart I'm a bit of an exhibitionist I'm posting this years outfit again. I'm really looking forward to meeting up with all the fab people, many of whom I have only spoken to in cyberland up to now.

Instead of being in a wheelchair hooked up to oxygen, this year our Emily will be walking and no doubt talking round the course, thats a major feat for someone who had a double lung transplant only 8 months ago, what an inspiration she is.

Although we're all excited and in happy mode, I'd like to take time out to remember another young person from the cf forum for whom the call didnt come in time, Robyn passed away on the 11th of September while waiting for a transplant and this is the real reason why we all take part in The Womens Hydroactive Challenge every year, because it raises awareness of cystic fibrosis and also organ donation hopefully encouraging more people to sign up to the donor register so less people die while waiting for that call.

Breathe easy now Robyn.

Temper temper!!!

I 'bit' my phone....very hard, so to anyone who usually texts me, I'm phoneless for the time being. I'm not sorry, it was the last straw when it refused to unfreeze last night, it was bite it or cry so I bit it. Surely everyone has done something similarly immature....haven't you?



Love to all

Sue x

Ring ring

Surprise surprise I can blog, this is indeed a bonus.

The gremlins moved into our house last week big time, first my pc told me windows was corrupt or something and wouldn’t boot up. No problem, I skipped upstairs and fired up our Chris’s, AOL says a local cable is unplugged and apologised for not being able to connect me……….ok!

My phone now freezes whenever it feels like it, mostly mid text, its not that bad though I only have to take the battery out for 30 seconds according to T Mobile, that re-boots it, that’s a relief, or is it? I re-boot it 20 times a day at the moment.

Sky has gone off, no warning, no message on the screen…just gone.

I’ve lost everything on my pc for the umpteenth time and have begun to seriously consider whether I actually need all this technology in my life. While being disconnected I’ve done jobs that have been needing done for years and I don’t have a headache or scratchy eyes from screen gazing while trying to work out what went wrong and how the hell do I get it back.

I have a land line, it has a book next to it with many phone numbers in it, when I dial the number I speak to the person I was expecting to speak to, we chat with our mouths instead of our fingertips, we know we have spoken because we remember the sound of each others voices and if we need to talk again, we’ll open the bloody book and the number will be there, we’ll dial it and bingo…we get the same person again. The book will never tell me its lost the numbers or self destruct in front of my eyes and my landline will work, just as long as I’m not in the middle of changing to talk talk. I’m sticking to the old dog an bone for now, before I lose my marbles.

Long rule pen ‘n’ paper, technology…..HAH!!!! its out to get us and one by one we’ll end up in padded cells.

Goodnight.

Dead sea salt

I’ve just been had !!!

I’m stunned with myself and I reckon I need a good slap. Recently I’ve given myself a few pats on the back for not succumbing to over spending or silly spending, well that’s if you don’t count the ugly gnome, tacky wicker candle holders and chamber pot look alike, but they were a snip at £2 each from Asda. Anyway, compared to my hubby’s latest purchaces and Mike’s huuuuuuge spend on his new car I thought I was doing pretty well, until today.

I’d got my rear in gear and got back to the swimming at long last, I did 32 lengths….well done me, I didn’t feel like going straight home so headed off to nearby shops in order to buy new trainers and three quarter length joggers for the hydro (not classed as unnecessary spend as they are needed). I got the trainers for £35 which I think is reasonable, desperatley wanted pink joggers but gave up and got pale grey, now they were a bargain at £6.99. I left the shop ready to head home for a coronation chicken butty, I’m hooked on this at the moment and have been known to eat a whole container full before I get it onto a butty or in a spud. I obviously had a sign on my back for all to see saying EASY TARGET or something similar, because I was persuaded by this very good looking French speaking bloke to spare him 5 minutes of my time so he could pamper me. I’m not stupid, of course I knew it would cost me, you don’t get young French good looking blokes for nowt these days, but what the hell I was curious.

Top and bottom of it is, I had my hands and forearms messed about with for 20 minutes with salt, not just any old salt though, ‘dead sea salt’ and I ended up buying a pot for £25…….why? I could have gone to Sainsburys and bought a massive thing of it for under £2, I must be losing my touch.

Dam it

I cannot make blogger put the writing in the right place on the last post so its staying where it is, I've been here for aaaaages, I have to go.......now!!

Horrid, horrid blogger.

Smiley

The week before last wasn’t nice, I’d decided to give in and let myself be a miz, it was horrid and I wont be doing it again if I can possibly help it.

This week has been so different, I think its time for a ‘What’s made me smile’ this week blog.

I went to an afternoon hen party, it was quite different from anything I’ve been to before and most enjoyable, the music and food was mainly African as was the dancing, we all had these shimmy belts on and were trying to copy the experts who could make parts of their bodies move independently, naturally we ended up laughing loads. My mate has already done belly dancing so I’m joining the class as well in the hope that I can make things move independantly

My plumbs have been ‘fab’ this year, I honestly do think they’re the very best you’ll ever taste, I’ve eaten about a hundred of them in this last week and also given a bag to anyone I could force them on.

The sun put in an appearance at last so I was able to get mucky and work my butt of in the garden, followed by a few sessions on the hammock with a bit of something cold in a glass…….tonic.

My new neighbours impression of us is now dodgy due to my friend on the other side of us shouting across the back ‘Sue I’ve put another cannabis plant in your front garden’ I love to observe the shocked but try to hide it look on peoples faces at such times. I will eventually get round to telling them he meant a ‘pot marigold’ not yet though.

My week ended with a brilliant trip to Dumfries, we left on Thursday morning, hubby was driving as he hates to be my passenger and my last fiasco was still fresh in his mind. Anyway, we arrived at my good buddy’s and I got to meet her daughter who I’ve only known of in cyberland up until now, we were greeted with much food and had a big catch up. Afterwards we went up to P’s house and the first thing I spotted was a massive trampoline in her garden, I couldn’t resist, so I asked if I could have a go on it….whoooooo it was brilliant, I felt like a kid chucking myself around on it. I did put my lattissimus out a bit, small price to pay for such fun though and its fine now. More food, coffee and natter then off to the hotel to freshen up for dinner.

The hotel was set by a river with beautiful gardens and was so quiet and peaceful.

My meal was scrummy and so was everyone elses I had a taste of….yes I really am a nightmare to eat with. A cosy evening in the lounge chatting rounded off the night then off to bed in a strange place, something that always makes me smile.

What a cracking time we had, can’t wait to do it again. There’s some really lovely people in this world, we just have to get out there and meet them, they enrich our lives, so they do.

I'll finish off with a pic of my good buddy and her grandson, who I had the pleasure of meeting along with his mum.......It looks a bit like he's about to give her a kick but I assure you he isn't, he was bouncing round her, making her giggle.



Hope alls well with everyone.

Much love Sue x

I've had a brainstorm......or is it a brainwave, whatever!!!

Constantly wanting to test myself I've decided to have a fiddle about with this blogging lark and in future I'll have two.

I'm keeping this one for my usual mad ramblings and I'm in the process of making another one for more ramblings of a different nature, mainly to do with our Chris. I'm quite pleased with my decision to have two blogs, something else to keep me glued to the pc is always a good move. It will probably take me a good few weeks to get the other one up and running mainly because the sun has been out here and when 'its' out so am I and of course every name I came up with 'blogger' says its already taken, yeah right.....liar.

I've had a cracking two days in the garden.....blog to follow, also ordered my 'Angels' t-shirt, dusted me wings and purchased some very sparkley beads....I'm sooooooo excited an I just can't hide it, forgot the rest.

Chester to Oxfordshire and back (nearly via London) in 9½ hours with out stopping.

Well then, that was a learning curve, No, I didn’t just want to see if I could do it. I was supposed to be meeting up with a good buddy today in Banbury, which is in Oxfordshire, I printed my route off last night and got on my way at 9-30 this morning. I can’t for the life of me understand how it all went wronger and wronger, I think it started after the toll road in Birmingham, or maybe a bit further on than that, I missed a turn off for the M42 I think.

Anyway, suffice to say I got mega lost, not once, but 3 times, you know when it suddenly hits you that this planned day just isn’t going to happen, because you just pulled into yet another services in no mans land. I was sooooo frustrated I just sat on the nearest seat and cried my eyes out, then phoned my hubby and asked him to tell me where to go….he was tempted bless him, but instead he asked me where I was. I didn’t know, well which junction did you come off at?, I didn’t, it’s a services. He’s patient my hubby, but only to a point, so I said I’d ring him back when I knew where I was.

I’ll not subject anyone reading this to the rest of the fiasco that was today, but I’ve learned something…two things actually. I must brush up on my geography because when going north in one place, it doesn’t really apply when in another place, it depends which side of the motorway you’re on. Secondly…..I must have a Sat Nav thing.

What a bloody day, on my return our Mike asked me if I’d be trying that route again, too right I will, it wont beat me. Got it off my chest now.....bedtime.

Andy….Soz you had a wasted journey hun.

My kinda day.

I’ve had a welly day today, this is my very very favourite kind of day. There’s something so satisfying about getting stuck in and tackling a physical job..in muck. I counted 124 snails/slugs, 4 little frogs, a massive toad, zillions of caterpillars and an odd butterfly here and there. I’ve got 5 insect bites and my shoulders and back feel like I’ve been on the rack….but do you know what, I’m as happy as a pig in s**t, so I am.

The work carried out today was a start on the ‘secret garden’
This is the before pic.

And this is the after.

Don’t laugh, I know its not the sort of before and after you see when Charlie Dimmock and Tommy have paid a visit, but I bet the end result will be just as magnificent.

John’s been shopping again, purchases today are a massive gas barbeque and a hammock, oh yeah and a message for Nigel….Lorraine are you making a note of this. A weeny shiny fire putter outer is an essential for the man den in case you have an indoor barbeque ;-) John got a pressy from his employers today because they’ve had three years without a lost time accident in his department. They gave him a little fire extinguisher, I swear he couldn’t have been happier if they’d presented him with a cheque for £1000, he excitedly rushed off to the den and fixed it to the wall, what!!!!! I have things that have needed fixing to walls for years and he puts an extinguisher in the den in 10 seconds flat. He then proceeded to instruct me on the correct way to use the damn thing, I was speechless and couldn’t even get the words out of my mouth to tell him I had my fire extinguisher certificate already…thank you.

Getting hyped up now!

Firstly, Em thank you for your lovely message on my blog, of course Chris would be proud of me, he'd also be glad I was earning a few bob and would probably say 'no need for me to chip in to the housekeepin this week then'. Today was better and tomorrow will be just fine.

I'm a bit pleased with myself tonight as I've managed to put some links up for the Hydro, its not rocket science, I know, but when your a bit older and not particularly up to the minute with all things pc related its a 'mega' accomplishment. How clever am I eh!!!

Excitment is growing about the Hydro and I thought I'd post a couple of pic's from last year, it was a brilliant day meeting all the lovely people I'd only spoken to in cyberland, it raised lots of much needed funds for the Cystic Fibrosis trust and raised awareness for organ donation. I know a fair few people who are waiting for that call and just pray that they get it in time.

Some of us mums & Em.

'Andy & Em' Andy being a good sport in Angel gear, bless him he doesn't know what he's let himself in for this year......

Roll on September, can't wait to see everyone again....magic.

Love to all.

Sue x

Oh bugger!

I went back to the world of work today, the job itself wasn’t difficult, it was a kitchen and I’ve worked in a fair few of them. It was a fairly easy one compared to my last kitchen job, which was manic from the minute you got there until the minute you left. So…whats my gripe?

Since we said goodbye to Chris my life has been pretty much the same as when he was here, get up have coffee, do a bit of tidying up, go for a swim etc…. But today I did something that was different, something that Chris would never know about, or be a part of and it was so hard, I really hadn’t expected today to floor me, but it did.

Tomorrow will be better and I’ll probably be loving my new job, cos I was told I was a brill worker…I know that!!!

Washing it all away

It ocuured to me this morning when showering after my swim that I may vanish completely one day, due to working my way through many layers of skin. I showered yesterday morning, as you do when you start the day, then had another at 6 ish last night because we were going out for a meal with friends. We had a cracking night,, I had King Prawn Dupiaza, John had a Tandoori mixed grill, Wend had a chicken Biryani and Ian had a saffron special, I think. I wore white to go for an Indian meal incidently and for the first time ever I came home without a dash of curry on me…marvellous.

I got up this morning and went for a swim, note, I’m back in water again, then I showered again and washed my hair as I was meeting up with a good buddy of Chris’s for coffee and cake and didn’t want to stink of chlorine. I’ve been promising to do coffee with J for weeks now, she’s an adult with cf who goes to the same unit as Chris did, they sort of car shared when they were in for iv’s and wanted to pop home for a few hours. I have a lot of respect and admiration for J and I also love her to bits anyway, she literally lights up a room with her massive smile and is always positive with a capital P.

Anyway, I digress, back to the washing story. I intend to do some gardening this afternoon, so I’ll get dirty, wont I, so I’ll be back in the shower tonight, now this doesn’t strike me as very good for one’s skin, because as well as overwashing it I also cream head to toe each time, wash and condition my hair, deodorise and cleanse tone and moisturise my face. I feel a bit sick now, thinking about all those chemicals I’ve shoved on me in just over 24 hours.
So, I’ve decided to do an experiment, maybe not next week or the week after because I’m joining the workforce for two weeks, but after that its one shower a day and I'm going to see how many chemicals I can do without. Yep! that’s my contribution to the ozone layer sorted.

Need for speed

I always wondered where I got my inner demon that said ‘go fast’ from, now I know. I took my mother out for the day on Monday and was well impressed with her driving skills. No….she wasn’t at the wheel of a super duper Ferrari or anything, but she managed to manoeuvre the motabilty bike like ‘Colin McRay on a good day. She rounded every stall on the market narrowly missing the displays by a quarter inch, whilst keeping a steady flow of conversation and dodging the general public who were intent on a head on collision. I was impressed, in fact I was in awe....

This was me miles behind……..no wonder Chris always referred to her as his biker nan.


I’m off to the Lakes today to meet up with Elaine (Lainey) a good buddy who I met through the cf forum, we’ve met there about three times now and every single time its been raining, looks like today will be no exception, ah well we’ll just have to stay in the pub again.

Update.

Had a fab time at Windermere today, it was great to see Elaine and Julie, the sun came out now and again and we ate loads and loads, well I did anyway. Thoroughly enjoyed the drive, I'm once again well proud of my skills behind the wheel as I encountered many idiots on the journey but managed to stay alive despite their best efforts.

Just a wee note about my 'Toolbox' blog, as yet I have not come across a tool I felt the need to discard, just in case it came across wrong.

Much love all.