Getting nearer

 Pirate is really ready for his op..I just wish that he had seen the light months earlier....but that is past, now we deal with what is. 

He also has the same pre race nerves as when he was racing... understandably!

We managed a short walk after a late lunch...after even a short siesta he takes an hour to get going...the mattress topper has made our bed far too comfortable!!  We checked the frogspawn pond..nothing yet...although yesterday just down from our home I saw a car squashed toad on the road...

The forecast was for overcast and 10% chance of rain...we had light rain and blue sky on our walk, and very inquisitive sheep.

Then shopping for new knickers, 'jamas, dressing gown and sliders...

Ready for tomorrow morning.

Gone

 

I went into Ayr by bus after lunch....even the bingo has left town.

Friends

 We managed to get out for a day... eventually...mornings are not easy for Pirate.

Lunch was a gift from a friend in Dumfries..a local church there has built a new community centre about four years ago...gym, meeting rooms, hireable conference/office rooms, a really good cafe Monday to Friday...and a church.

They have employed a full time chef and the food is good....and there is plenty of parking, unlike our favourite bike cafe by the river in Dumfries.

Then our original reason for going to Dumfries....the Abbey Sewing Machine shop....he was initially trained by Singer in Clydebank, Glasgow...and has a lifetime of working on sewing machines..he services machines from far and wide as there are so few doing this now. He also sells secondhand machines.

I took two electric machines that I had....and found out their worth...and discussed what I needed....I initially he didn't think he had what I needed....

But then remembered the last one of a batch of Bernina machines he had.... older style ones, not the modern all plastic jobs....

My mother had a Bernina in the 1960s...and I was supposed to get that when she wanted to change it but she part exchanged it for a Janome instead of letting me buy it....This one doesn't have all the embroidery stitches..which I never used on the old one..but it runs well and sounds just like the old one!

Sweet!!

He gave me a part exchange rate that I would have got by selling them on any online marketplace...which was a good deal. 

He did have a Husquvarna Viking machine.....but that was another £150 above the price of the Bernina...worth it, but I don't have that spare!!

To celebrate we went to see Phil McMenemy at the Gallery at Lauriston...celebration should be done with friends! 

Cake sharing....Ginger and Lemon Drizzle...with a proper hot chocolate that doesn't need the mug to hold it up!!!!

And now he has requested new curtains.....I do have some light tweed material....now to investigate the fabric stash ... Do I have lining material?

Now for some sewing mathematics......

Indoors , and family

 We had yet more steady rain all morning..as if we hadn't had enough already. The grassy bits of the garden are like sodden sponges. Water is sitting like a moat at the back and either side of the ramp to the house in the front.

The good news that we appear to be one more step closer to new loft insulation and boiler on the government grant scheme..the paperwork goes in tomorrow and the decision should be back to the agents in seven working days...so a week Tuesday....

Pirate had his siesta late morning...and I got stuck into sorting my study...packing boxes sorted and two bags of paper to recycle...

We were both glad to see that the rain had lifted and we had a gentle walk down to the village pharmacy to collect Pirate's latest scrip....pressure socks!

Another little bit of preparation for his op next Tuesday.

Pirate received a letter from one of the unpleasant people....Debby, your discovery of the word Errogant...is perfect.  

It hurts, but he has decided to take the advice of a friend on the downsizer forum....leave them on the riverbank as you go with the flow...

Mind you he does prefer his saying...act like a dog....scratch some grass over it and walk away!!!

He will send a reply....but only when he gets strong enough a few weeks after his op.

One discovery on doing the studio clearing....

The Epps family tree I drew for Pirate a couple of years ago..his mother's side...now this is incentive to do more!!

Room to think

 We met a friend for lunch yesterday..nearly a year since we saw him last in person...but he is busy running his own business and travels a lot.

Then down to the sea for ice cream and Pirate to sit and write and set out his thoughts.

He wants someone to write on his behalf..but unless you go down the legal route, that won't be possible, and that wouldn't be sensible...it would be being as bad as them.

He is really stressing, which isn't helping what he already has. 

However putting his thoughts and feelings on paper has been a good step.

Far better than just stewing them over and over in his head.

We looked over all communication over the past few months...and got it into his head that he has done nothing wrong.  He has had the backing of the Macmillan nurses and District Nurse and our doctor in all he has done.

So if a couple of people are being unpleasant because he hasn't done what they thought he should be doing....tough. I am even getting bad mouthed as I am his secretary...but I never write in his emails anything other than his words.

He has the love and respect of hundreds of others.

After all that he had a down day today, mainly resting and sleeping... ironically what these people think he ought to be doing every day...and by doing that he ends up feeling worse. Too much bed rest ends up with him being fatigued, shorter naps and activity works.

I just hope that next week's op will work and relieve him of at least some of the pain.

What did I do today?  Not a lot....

Our boiler and radiators and loft were surveyed this morning...one more step towards a government grant.....fingers crossed...

A bit more tidying and sorting....and some mending.....

A stitch in time as is said.  Worth doing, as very slowly my waistline is reducing...it is no longer a stretch to do up my waistband buttons on my trousers AND I can tuck in a t- shirt....

I am not going to weigh myself again until I can feel that I am getting my waistline back properly!! 

Swedish Afternoon

 We were on a roll this morning...two washes done, Blood Orange marmalade done (tasty!!) , clothes and sheets ready for ironing....sun and stiff breeze meant that didn't take long!!

Pirate went to have bloods taken at the surgery here....and on returning, decided that we were going out.....to a certain Swedish Shop!!

It was a lovely day to be out, but I'm glad we were in the car as that breeze was cold.

First a good (and very reasonably priced) lunch, then to slowly make our way around the shop...following the arrows as that makes life easier!

We had hoped for a quiet Monday shop.... unfortunately it appears to be half term...cue a lot of grannies with grandkids....so we missed one thing we were looking for.

I gathered a few things in my big yellow bag....plate shelves to stand plates on on the kitchen bench instead of one stack of plates and bowls....a loo brush and holder, a mattress protector...Pirate took a shine to a large wooden spoon x spatula, a pair of roller blinds for my study....and then Pirate realised that what he wanted, a mattress topper, was upstairs....

Off he went... bravely as he Does Not Like Shops....back up the stairs...only to find that what he wanted was downstairs on the warehouse shelves....and he had difficulty finding his way back down.....one rather stressed Pirate later, we found the beast, an assistant got us a trolley and shopping was Done...and he felt Done In !!

Then the joys of rush hour traffic...and a roll home, seeing the crescent new moon in front of us, and thinking that without the clouds, the sky would be surprisingly light.

The topper feels good... hopefully it will give us better sleep.

The old mattress is still good after 25 years...it was apparently very expensive then...even if you take out time spent in NZ it must have done 18 years work. It shows that a good bed and mattress is worth the investment, but we looked at the price of a new one and gulped!!

He has had an early night tonight, unsurprisingly.  Pirate is still doing what he can, but Charlie is pulling him down..he has worries about the op, but hopefully it will relieve symptoms even though it won't remove the problem.

Most people are understanding and do what they can to help...but a couple of his relations are being rather callous, almost accusing him of " crying wolf"...as he has been here before with prostate cancer..."here we go again"....but it is serious, it is terminal...people he cares for too. So unfair.

At least I have a quiet time to unwind after the day, blog a little, read others, do my Duolingo lesson... especially as I missed this morning!!

Night all xx

Weekend

 Once a month on a Saturday, the youth cycling club in Johnstone...the Johnstone Jets..organise a day long competition at Glasgow Velodrome.

Monsters of Track...in other words the youngsters! The future of track cycling...three under sixteen groups in two year age bands, with so many in one that there are separate boys and girls' races. They are running with full fields of 24, which is the track limit for a 250m track like this..it varies according mainly to length but also width, both of which are fairly standard for indoor velodromes. Add to that , Women's events and open events...anyone over 16.  Each in turn, every time I the same order so that you know which group is going on..and five events each group.

We managed to arrive just after midday, a little before the lunch break. ( The commissaires...judges...need a half time break!)

It was great to see riders from our club...three women..racing. 

Then to add to that our Fife friend turned up unannounced...making a good day great.  Pirate had the best of times watching the racing and talking to friends (and so did I)

Today we had a slow start, but as the clouds lifted we had a walk along the Big Hedge to check on the birds and down to a pond to see if the frogspawn was there..a bit early for that!

We heard chaffinches, saw great tits and blue tits, sparrows and dunnocks, rooks and gulls...by the river we saw dippers and mallard ducks, but not the kingfisher. 

And now waiting in the masking pan are the markings of blood...or blush as some now call them (!) Orange marmalade.