Its all fine

Well my dear hubby has had the operation, all is well. It was keyhole surgery so will recover quicker. I am so glad its over (as I am sure he is too) and he can now set about getting better and looking forward to a good quality of life.

So many lovely messages and cards for him, he is such a popular guy. I do love him.

To add a little humour into the situation, when the physio first came to get him up, she noticed the pack of cards on the side table and enquired if he was playing cards, to which he replied he was a magician. Well that got them chatting and it ended up with her booking him to do the entertainment at her forthcoming wedding.
Now there's not too many people go into hospital for a major operation and come out having secured a well paying job. How Funny!

Once Don is up and around and has had a check up with the surgeon I plan on taking him on a holiday to the sun to recouperate. It will be nice to spend some quality time together and relax, maybe a cruise.

Now the main worry is over, I will relax a little and I plan on taking a morning just for me tomorrow and spending a little time painting before I go visiting him. It will be lovely to relax and lose myself in one of my hobbies which have had little time spent on them recently.

Then it will be on to the plans for when he comes home in a couple of days time, Yippee!

Trepidation

We are on countdown now to my husbands operation in just 5 short days time.

Its a fairly big op and he will be in hospital for 5 to 7 days.
At first I thought Thank Goodness we have a date for it all to happen, lets get it over and done with and get him back to full health!

Then the doubts set in. I worried about it and then decided the experts know what they are doing, everything will be fine.

Then more doubts set in. I worried a bit more until the hospital appointment this week. That certainly put my mind at rest. The care and kindness shown by all the staff was brilliant. Explanations and questions and answers took a long time but at the end of it we both said we fully understood the operation and the aftercare now.What the long term effects are and how it will help him in the long term. Its like a weight has been lifted!

So with some trepidation I will be on my own next week with hubby in hospital. I rather enjoy my own company for a short time but with him undergoing medical treatment I am sure the week will be endless.I somehow doubt the planned spring clean of the house, even my crafting may be in doubt.

I shall certainly look forward to visiting times and then again look forward to bringing him home again.It will be hard work for a while once he is home but the end is now in site!

So with some trepidation and a few anxieties, the odd tummy churning, I am looking forward to next Monday!

Be Prepared

I have just read my sisters blog and in the light of the recent Haiti disaster she wrote about being prepared for emergencies, tragedies and any other huge event in our lives.

Well it got me thinking.................Yes the Haiti disaster and happenings like this around the world get you thinking but do we actually do anything 'just in case', I think the answer is no! We donate to the disaster fund to try in our own small way to help the poor unfortunate people that are currently suffering. And then we move on into our lives.

We do need to be prepared. We need to ensure we have a few tins of nourishment, soup, beans and the like, a few bottles of water, a working torch, a small first aid kit, and maybe even a portable radio. If such a terrible distaster befalls us and we are not immediately injured so badly we cannot move, there is a chance, just a chance we can reach the water, the food, the torch, even the first aid kit and radio.

At least we can survive a short while, hopefully till the rescuers get to us. We can hopefully listen to reports on the radio, even turn it up loud when we hear voices near to us.

Please God in my small world, please dont let anything like this happen to those I love and hold dear. Thats all I can do,hope, pray to keep us all safe and prepare, just in case!

The World Stopped!

So England has snow and plenty of it!

The trouble is that we are never ever prepared for it. There is not enough grit and salt for the roads, the schools shut because of health and safety and many cannot get to work because of poor public transport.
Why cant we get it right? We've known for ages it could happen.

Health and Safety! Whose? The head teachers are so frightened that a child will slip on damp flooring, or skid in the entrance to the school, they shut the school. Madness! Coupled with many kids getting bussed to school from outlying districts nowadays, I guess its easier to shut the school. But tomorrow will be the 3rd or 4th day of being shut this year.(Thats not counting the couple of days before Christmas). What happened to our kids education? Will they make up the time from the summer holidays?

As a child, I remember several winters like this! Walking to school in the snow in wellies, putting plimsolls on when we got there, with our legs still damp. And in those days we wore skirts and socks, no tights or trousers. We just carried on. If there wasnt a bus, we walked. Wenever had a car till 1961, no one did so we either walked or got the bus, no matter how far.

The roads were a playground, if it snowed and was icy, we made a slide. (Treacherous for the poor adults but great fun for kids). When we were cold and wet we went in, dried off and had a hot drink.

Since my childhood, there have been many snowy days in this country. Sometimes for days on end, sometimes just one day. Always we grind to a halt!

There were little shops on almost every street corner where everyone knew everyone. You could buy most things from the little corner shop. We all survived!

Snow, its lovely to look at and thats what I am doing.Lets see what tomorrow brings.

Still it gives us English more to talk about, the weather, yet again!

Becoming Titled

How about this for a pretty good Christmas present? Two of our sons, Mark and Stephen along with two grandchildren, Autumn and Beau came for the day on Christmas Day for the big Turkey meal.
We always have table presents in a Secret Santa style which we open between the main meal and the Christmas pudding.After the big meal, we got ours and put them on the table in the recipients places. Stephen & Mark did the same. So that meant Autumn, Beau, Mark and Stephen all had a gift.
There was nothing by mine or Dons place!

Mmmmm I thought, somethings going on here! They all said we had to wait till after desert and everything was cleared away as they needed lots of room for our gift. Well we got curiouser and couriouser!

It all got cleared and then we were banished from the room for 10 minutes whilst they 'setup'.

We sat in the bedroom and then there was a knock on the door. We opened it and there stood Mark in a Knights outfit, complete with sword! We were ordered to follow him. He then knocked on the lounge door and a voice told usto enter!

In there was Autumn dressed in resplendant ermine and scarlet cloak, Stephen with the video camera running who welcomed us to the ceremony. Beau was there holding a cushion.????? We were told to kneel on the two satin cushions placed in front of Autumn. Mark joined her as we knelt.
Autumn began to read...........Mark carried on reading and Beau placed a crown on each of our heads. Stephen carried on filming. It was a full on ceremony!

The gift was Title Deeds to a small plot of land in the highlands of Scotland which under Scottish Law gives us automatic right to be known as Lord and Lady!!! We have a Scottish family Crest and are entitled to wear the Lochaber Tartan.

We have title deeds, a fmily crest (above) and can by law actually change our names officially if we want to so our passports and drivers licences show Lord and Lady Bentley Simpson.

We were absolutely stunned and I couldnt stop laughing!,(In fact on the film which we watched over later, I laughed so much it sounds like a witches cackle!!)

What a fantastic unusual and thoughtful gift. The whole play acting that they put with it was terrific and took half an hour for the whole ceremony.
Apparently they had been planning it for 2 months! What a surprise and so very well done.

The selling of plots of land like this is because a lot of these estates in Scotland are in danger of being lost with deforestation and to the developers and by selling off small plots, the money goes to the upkeep and maintenance of the estateas a whole and it can then be preserved.

It is a one foot square plot each so not enough room to build a castle! For the conservation its fantastic and we have an exact map of where it is so we can go there to visit.

The actual estate is called Lochaber Highland Estates which is in Lairds Wood and its just a little south of Fort William. The area is maintained by Scottish Woodland Alliance which was formed to help reverse centuries of deforestation and breathe new life into the Scottish countryside, its wildlife and communites.

This Christmas present that will go on into perpetuity.