Good news

Dear G & G, glad to hear the all clear today, and hope you are better soon Grandma after your tumble.

I had a email today from the Phoenix Cinema in Jericho about their new listings for upcoming shows, and they're advertising the Pam Ayres show I mentioned during our 'Larkrise to Candleford' discussion at the pub on Sunday:

AN AFTERNOON WITH PAM AYRES

Sunday 2 March 2008, 3.00

Pam Ayres, 'The People’s Poet', will perform a special show which will be broadcast onto the big screen live via satellite.

The show will include material from her latest best-selling book, Pam Ayres: Surgically Enhanced, as well as new unpublished material.

It’s over 30 years since Pam first appeared on the TV talent show 'Opportunity Knocks', and her shows now sell out throughout the UK and overseas. Come and enjoy this exclusive special event – it’s the ideal gift for Mother’s Day.

Tickets available now:
Full Price £15
Concessions £13.50
Members £12

Please call the Box Office for details on 0871 704 2062.

"Pam Ayres is a proper poet, whose wistful, funny and perceptive verse captures both the joy and unfairness of life."
The Sunday Times

Update from 31

Pleased to day that recent blood test shows everything to be A1 Dr is afraid that diverticulosis is here to stay but can be controlled by regular Fibogel which clears things gently. End of lesson. Love H&M

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JEN-HWEI ON SUNDAY

Love from us all, Jen - we hope you enjoy your day on Sunday. Card posted belatedly last Monday Love from H&M

Good Morning, Good Morning

Hi, Gang - Just a report on recent happenings at no.31. The panic which occured after Mum tripped over while carrying a tray of hot tea, teacups and milk is thankfully over with only a stain on the old carpet. She was in pain as the areas around her ankles were highly inflamed and I was afraid that blisters would result. However, she slept fitfully last night and this morning there seems to be no severe ill effects. I phoned Steve last night but found that he was some hundred or so miles away, so as Mum has an appointment to see her lady doctor (Dr. Cargill) this morning to discuss her recent blood test, I decided not to widen the area of panic, as I thought I could cope OK, I did ok and cleared up as much as I needed to as I was in the middle of de-frosting the freezer. Bunged it all back and will tidy it up later.
Thanks for the nice lunch out on Sunday, Steve - lovely to share with Gem and Clive with a bonus of Will, who will be 28 this coming Sunday (3rd Feb). What a nice little village pub, eh? Our mushroom soup was super but the half chicken with all the veggies was a bit hard to accomplish - even for me!
It is also Jen-Hwei's birthday on 3rd. so suitable Birthday wishes to you Jen. We hope you will have an enjoyable day. love to all from Mum and Dad.

The George and Dragon

Mum and Dad and I, plus Will, Gemma and Clive went out for Sunday Lunch across the border into Northamptonshire on Sunday.













interior pictures

Dad seems very pleased with his new pins and has been observed picking up a tea towel off the kitchen floor, and Mum's complexion has improved although she couldn't quite manage an entire half-chicken roast plus mushroom soup starter. Mother likes to sip on port and lemon which could account for the cheery glow!
The Tiger ale was excellent and the ambience and interior first class, with duck egg blue panelled walls and inglenook fireplace.
The Oxford gang went up to KS initially to collect the Seat Marbella fresh from it's MOT, and as part of his Mongol Rally preparations, Will has new lenses in so wanted to have a good look at our steed.



Shotover Hill, Oxford
Originally uploaded by FlickrDelusions.

Shotover Hill is good for Mongol Rally practice!

Birthday thanks

Ruth is working long days in Paris rehearsing the continuo for two performances of Don Giovanni. Sunday was a day off so I picked her up from Avignon on Sat. night at 11 and she was back on the train at 9 on Monday morning. Thanks for all your birthday wishes, I hope she gets a moment to read them.

Love to all, julian

Happy Birthday Ruth!

...and having cake of course.

love Gem and Clive

Happy birthday Ruth

Hope you are enjoying a glass of fine wine and a relaxing evening.

All our love,

Pete, Jan and the girls

Trouble wi't Renault

After we arrived home from the Horton, following Mum's colonoscopy, Cathy had stayed with us on one night and unloaded a bed for Amy to use which she transferred to the Renault, Next day Pete turns up, having brought Amy to K/S by train from P/R. Jan turns up in the Peugot and then Pete transferred the bed from Renault to Peugot,
We learn later that Amy slept well in her new bed. Following day (Monday) we had decided to visit Doctor, but on trying to start the car - not a thing! - Not one spark. So we call the AA and he could not start it, but he arranged for the AA to take it into Renault garage in Banbury. So it went off to Banbury. Later the man phoned and it was ready to collect. One new fuel pump supplied and fitted ==£355 thank you very much. But the car goes OK we have a year's guarantee for it. I wish he could do the same for ME! DAD

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RUTH ON MONDAY

I may have missed the post today as it is collected at 7am, but we send you our love and best wishes for a Happy Birthday on 21st. from Hugh and Margaret.

Happy Anniversary

I hope you have some time to live it up together. Have a lovely day. Love Cathy and family.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY FOR TOMORROW

Dear Nic and Jen, We hope you are able to celebrate your wedding anniversary tomorrow with a blow out meal in a super restaurant. It reminds me of our trip to your wedding in 1998. Congratulations from Dad and Mum

Tanks and beds

Hello all,

Cath, thanks for the bed. Amy slept well in it last night and it is just the ticket. Now we have all got beds to sleep soundly in. A full house, so to speak.

Mum, great to see you yesterday - it was lovely to find you looking reassured and positive. - and dad too. The doctor will probably not prescribe chocolate cake to either of you, but in the absence of flowers at the Post Office, get the cake in while you can!

The tanks I saw from the train actually turn out to be some collector in Luggershall. You can check them on Google Earth at 51 degrees, 50 mins, 52.38 seconds North, and 1 degree, 2 minutes and 43.62 seconds West. I reckon there may be a Chieftain there but the photos are a little unclear from 262 feet. It was a nice journey on the train and well worth a go with your senior citizen railcards.

Love to all

Pete

Update

Hi! all. Well at last our worries have been and gone. Mum's worries at what would be found with a more detailed oscopy, first the sigmoid and yesterday the colonoscopy have failed to show any of the big C worries that we all had. Not even any polyps!
Mum is still very thin and still has pains but these have been put down to her diverticular abnormalities. We will have to meet up with the clinical dietician in a week or two to see what the next steps are, but in the meantime eat, eat, eat! Clinical diverticular, when shown on the screen look like a field of brussels sprouts. Log on to google 'Clinical diverticular' to see what I mean.
Meanwhile my pin prick seems to have healed up although the surrounds look like the aurora borealis - such lovely colours. Thanks to Cathy and Steve for helping me out with sentry duty - waiting for anything is very boring, innit?

Pete and Amy came over in the afternoon - BY TRAIN from Princes Risborough - Jan and Jess followed on a couple of hours later and managed to fit the bed that Cathy had brought from Moodkee Street for Amy to use, into the Peugot and they all left together about 8-ish.

Love to y'all from a grateful DAD

Lilies from the East

The mood in the house is calm and all is going well in Kings Sutton.

Grandma say's thank you very much Nic and Jen and the herbs because she received the lovely floral display of lilies jasmine and chrysanthemums tulips and freesias, she's absolutely thrilled.

Midway

I have had my 'procedure' and Mum will be having hers on Saturday.
I had a small hole dug in my groin and into that went a catheter, then some coloured liquid so that I could be monitored from the radiology screen. (this makes my leg go all warm - nice!) Then they inserted a balloon on a stick and tried to blow it up inside the artery (looks like an egg timer). Twice they did this but the ballon would not stay up so they had to insert a stent ( a short length of rubber bicycle type of 'chicken wire' looks like a tyre valve) Then they reverse the whole thing again and bobs yer uncle!! I had to lay flat of couse and could not get up for a pee and my back was acheing from lying flat, so I was ready to get up when told!
Mum starts her enema tomorrow morning - three packets of jollop which each make up to 1.5 litres of liquid, which she must drink during the day to flush out the system - she is dreading this as it means almost full time on the loo!!
No food after midnight and then up to the Horton Hospital day case unit for the photos.
I am making light of all this, of course, but we will both be glad when she has not got this 'procedure' to worry about.
Thanks to you all for your concern and especially to Steve, who is doing the taxying. Love to all from Dad

Mongolian Update

Our Seat Marbella is taxed!
I bought this baby off ebay for £150 with 3 weeks MOT left to run on it, and now it has 6 months tax on it too and a full tank of 2 star! It has the distinction of being one of the Spanish built pandas, has cart springs on the back like a landrover so I thought it might make a better fist of the roads in Outer Mongolia.

Singapore

Yes, I can do that, meet Jenny. You need my handphone number and my email address, do you have those, if not I'll call you with them. New Zealand's a really long way, 24hrs from miserable foggy old Heathrow. A two day stop is recommended to check in and pamper yourself in a spa here.

Nic

Furniture

Pete, the bed is in London so I won't be bringing it to you today, I have to pick it up from the flat, I'm off in a miniute but won't get to the flat till latish, but I can be phoned there on my mobile I haven't got your numbers, I shall be about all week and with Mum for her exploritory on Saturday so I'm not quite sure exactly when it will be with you but soon. Mobiles don't work in the village so you wouldn't have been able to get me unless I'm out shopping etc, you have to use the land line when I'm at home.

Nic, thanks for the birthday wishes.
John's sister Jenny, daughter Emily partner Tom and daughters Lilly and babe in arms Madaline are off to a Wedding in New Zealand in about a week but Jenny is on a different flight and will be stopping over in Singapore for two nights in a hotel in Orchard Road and I think she will be alone and I wondered if would have time to meet up with her, I have forgotten all the details at the moment I will have to check with her, love to all Cathy

Bed and stuff

Cath, I did try to phone you but I don't know if you got the message. Probably too late now, but if youi do get the bed in the car and get over to us after 3pm we'd love to take it off your hands and you could get some food in with us. Hope to see you tomorrow

Pete and Jan

Mini Freezer £10 South London

Quality item

Facebook et al.

Happy belated birthday John. Good luck Cath with the roast and the flat looks great.

Re. facebook, I noticed a lot of my messages coming in through Microsoft Outlook had been routed to the trash bin - you could check there.

Love Nic

JOHN' BIRTHDAY

We didn't forget, John, I had every intention of wishing you a happy Birthday on the 4th - Today is the 5th and we were imagining you all sitting round the table drinking wine, listening to the CD machine and gorging yourselves with roasted peanuts, last night. I hope you enjoyed your birthday. We had visitors today from Bledlow so the good intentions that I had went aft gang awry. Just think, in 30 years time you will be able to stay at the Oxford Prison. like I did. Good luck in 2008.
Love to see you if you can spare the time, Cathy.
Love to all from Dad (Hugh)

11 Murdoch

Saturday 5th Jan 2008

Today I am recovering from Johns birthday celebrations, coffee and cocktails, chat and birthday cake at home with anyone who called in about tea time then to the pub at about 7.30 then back home again with friends to more chat, more drinks, finger food, loud music and then later guitars and drums and singing(not me of course) then finally to blissful bed and sleep. The children had walked with friends(and supervising adults) up to the youth hostel, stayed the night and have just returned happy but tired, I think that tonight I will roast for them the beef that I didn't get around to cooking on New Years Eve, we've been one large meal adrift ever since John through in the Joker on Christmas Eve with the Goose he bought from the goose plucker's in the New Inn!

Steve thanks for the work on the flat, as we discussed I shall be up on Tuesday after I have got the Kids off to school for there first day back.

Dad, you and Mum are very much in my thoughts so good luck on Monday and I shall be with you at the end of the week to hold Mums hand and be helpful in anyway I can. I expect you know all about it but friends of mine have advised that we check that your procedures are going ahead as planned as I'm told that many hospitals have wards closed and ops on hold because they are short staffed due to the sickness bug that is whipping around the country, I hope all goes to plan for both your sakes.

Pete, Have you a got bed for Amy yet? I have a single bed to spare, it's a pine framed 3ft bed abit knocked about but servicable, could be painted to look pretty I could bring it over if you want it, there is also a little desk thats abit cheap and cheerful but may serve a perpose untill you find time to get something better there may be other things too, I think there is to much furniture in the flat but I'm not quite sure yet, also I have Mum's dressing table that I haven't found a natural home for if Jan or the girls would like it I know Mum would be very pleased for you to have it, if you think you are interested in the dressing table let me know by monday if you can as I will be traveling up in an empty car on Tuesday.

We have had abit of trouble with our broadband and our wireless router and the upshot is that in trying to restore a connection(you can see I don't know what I am talking about) everything got wiped and our family commputor is dead untill we recieved some hardwear/softwear/disc from Dell in a few weeks time the children are in computer purder, so if anyone is trying to communicate with them I'm sorry but they are commputerless

Julian, You sent a invite thingy to me for facebook but it doesn't respond I may have been out of time can you send me another as I don't have Ruth or your email address so I can't invite you to join me. Also I haven't forgotten about our letter of welcome for your baby, just abit daunted but I will get there in the end, I very much do welcome the little person that is waiting for you somewhere in the world and it will be an exciting day the day we all meet. much love Cathy

NEW YEAR'S DAY

We had a lovely surprise visit from Steve, Gemma and Clive, who brought their dinner with them. We squashed into our little kitchen and the into the dining room and saw of a couple of chickens and a couple of bottles of wine off. (restricted as Steve had to drive back, past some very 'hungry' drink-drive cops.) We sat and watched telly in the evening with poor Mum trying to learn off her visit to Horton Hosp. next week, by heart, so we turned in and worries were soon forgotten. Next week it will be all over for me and not long after, for Mum also. I hope not !! love from Dad and Mum.

Happy New Year everyone!

Bin abit of a funny old festive season, what with me having been away from home for the the best part of five weeks with only one flying week-end visit to John and children in all that time,we have never been apart for so long! so I did very little preparation. It has been quite a roller coaster of emotions, everyone very pleased to have me back. Christmas was very quite but we need the rest. For Kate's birthday we went down to Swansea to see a film with Nikki, Freya, and Pam- Nikki's Mum, then back to Nikki's so the boys could have a go on Nikki and Mark's new iiw(is that what it's called(sic)'wee') Tennis,golf and boxing. New year was as usual with a few friends who didn't fancy the scrum at the Pub, around the dinning room table drinking wine and eating peanuts(nothing fancy to eat this year) Chrissy and Aza left about12.10 having listened to big ben with us, Aza looks well for a man thats just had half a lung removed but abit tired, he said the best Christmas present was being given the all clear by his consultant. Thinking of you all lots of love Cathy

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

Well here we are at 1250 on 1st January 2008, having seen off a bottle of M&S Cava and half of a cooked chicken, watching Jooles's Hootenany.
















Thought about phoning you all up but were afraid of waking some children. Steve has just left so we are off to bed now with 'Our House' by Madness ringing in our ears. Goodnight all and dormez bien. As I hope we will. Love From Dad and Mum xxxxx