Life!

I went back to London on Wednesday afternoon, and had a nice quiet day to myself on Thursday.  Mike had texted to say all was going well - and he had done a beer run to Asda for himself and his roommate so rehab was well under way! Elora was born to Lee and Emma on Thursday 12th April. Neville and Beau seem to have taken to her ok - the blanket in the last photo was crocheted by me!  I quickly got the date stitched into a cross stitch I had ready - and I found a few moments the next day to make a card and send it off so it was there soon after they took her home. I went to Steve's to ring handbells on Friday morning - we attempted a peal of Superlative with Peter B and Peter K (me on 5-6) but it was miscalled.  So we rang a bit more to practice and then I got off to go to Stoke Mandeville to get Mike nice and early.  We got home and had a cup of tea and then it was off to Barnes to ring a QP!  Hammersmith Bob Triples never really got going s...

I popped back to London on the Tuesday after Easter as Mike was being seen by the consultant the next day and I wanted to be around in case he got a discharge date.  Wayne started on the flat roof as I was leaving - which was good timing (until the weather turned!). I went to see Mike on the Wednesday and was there for 3 hours - just got back to the car before the 3-hour parking period expired.  Unfortunately I couldn't stay long enough to hear what Derry had to say - although he had appeared on the ward to do his rounds he didn't get to Mike before I left. However Mike texted later to say that the dressing was now off and he would be off the hot air bed on Friday and sitting in the chair on Monday.  Great news - and also the easiest for me logistically as I could now take Jayne straight to Devon after picking her up at Heathrow the next day. Thursday was the hottest day of the year so far, with lots of sunshine and blue skies. I spent the morning doing enough shoppin...

When I arrived in Devon the sun was shining and the birds were singing - just like last time only warmer.  I went and sat on the terrace steps in the hot sunshine with a cup of tea and rang Mike for a chat - just as good as visiting really and less exhausting for me.  With the clocks going forward the evenings were now much lighter and I was able to take Suki out a bit later and still be in the daylight.  I drove to the tourist information car park and we walked to Parke from there.  It was a lovely evening. Monday morning was beautiful - although rain was forecast for later - and we actually made it up on to the moor for the first time since last Autumn.  It was beautiful up there and we had a good long walk - from the small car park up on to Black Hill, with its lovely view over Manaton, then down to the tramway and back along it. I went bellringing on Monday evening - well attended - and even went for a drink afterwards.  However the week wa...

Clearing the drive had been a really good idea - the sun came out again the next morning and although it had little effect on the deep snow, it melted all the patches of ice on the drive and dried it up so that getting out later was not a problem.  I took Suki for another long walk in Parke from the house before setting off for London, via Jay's for lunch. I got to Jay's house just after 1 pm - Suki dragged me through the garden and into the house, and then promptly peed on the carpet!  I don't know if it was the smell of cat or just excitement.  Jay produced a nice lunch of homemade soup, rolls, quiche and salad - and a cup of her nice strong coffee to finish.  Certainly helped break up the journey - and I didn't need to eat a single sweet.  Must be a record. It was funny being in the house on my own - strangely quiet.  I made a lot of progress on admin and paperwork and I finished putting the Barnes QPs since the fire on Bell Board.  I went to se...

When I arrived in Devon from Stoke Mandeville it was positively springlike - the sun was shining and the birds were singing and it was just beautiful.  I forgot to unset the alarm when I went in, and was drawn to go out in to the back garden as it was so lovely and sunny - at which point the alarm went off!! The following day I saw rain was forecast and got out early for a nice long walk in the plantation - the rain started at 10.30 and it hammered down all day resulting in lots of flooding and everywhere for walking is now a muddy boggy mess. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing the final paperwork on Mary's estate.  I was not impressed with the Tell Us Once service we were offered by the Registrar when registering Mary's death.  There was a council tax bill for Mary when I got here and when I phoned to query it they stated they had not received any notification.  When I telephoned HMRC to enquire what was happening with the income tax refund, they wouldn't tel...

It looks as if I left Devon at the right time - there was a red weather warning the next day for severe snow and ice, due to Storm Emma coming up from the south.  I might have been snowed in there -  which I wouldn't have minded ordinarily but I needed to be back this time to take Mike in to hospital  on 28th for his pressure sore operation on 1 March.  The garden was covered in quite thick snow - and the pavements were very icy with thick hard packed snow on them.  It was all treacherous. The snow started again about half an hour before we were due to set off, and I was getting very anxious about driving.  All the official advice was to stay in unless your journey was absolutely necessary.  People had been stuck on the A303 all night.  It was difficult getting out of London - Larden Road was slippery and had snow on it, as did the Uxbridge Road.  The A40 was a little better but the snow was beginning to build at the sides, and we were...