The Day of A Thousand Phone Calls

Had a long chat with Bea - we talked quite a lot about medical matters, and what the doctor said to us when we had our tubes tilted.   Tom rang to say he would love to come over on Friday. Its been a long time since I saw him.   I had a long chat with Jackie.   And Captain Butterfly rang to update me.  He was called away by the earliest phone call which required him to rush into the nearest telephone box, put his tights on over his underwear, and zoom away as Captain Rescue.  I had to hurtle (slowly) around, abandoning my half-eaten breakfast, making sandwiches for his packed lunch. Thank goodness I had made that cake yesterday.  Butterfly Mark rang to ask if Captain B could come out to play today.  He couldn't, but through no fault of mine. And then my young surgeon rang!  It looks like my operation will be before the Spring.  Fear, fear, dread, dread. At least I now know when to stop my meds.

Will I survive another two hours in the operating theatre?   And the days in the hospital afterwards.  You have to be fit, strong and sturdy to survive in hospital, but, due to some cruel Catch 22, they never send you there when you are.

Anyway, I must be, and am, very grateful for the NHS. And feel rather guilty about all the money it is having to spend on me.

Back to Real Life

Sort of  back to real life anyway - the New Year will interrupt things a bit I suppose, though we are looking forward to the new Sherlock Holmes on the evening of the first.  Can it maintain the brilliance of the first series?   Hope so.

We had a lovely evening at Jackie's last night - smoked salmon, risotto, cheese, grapes and chocolate log. With ice-cream!    A lot has happened since we last saw each other. Some of it very sad. But we enjoyed each other's company, and being alive.   I had to listen in to the meeting this morning, as my chauffeur has taken himself, and his box of sandwiches, off treasure hunting.

And now I need to go and make a carrot cake. I have to wrestle with some brown sugar that seems to have turned to concrete in its container.

Got some lovely pictures from the Oz Branch this morning - and a nice card yesterday from The Roger, asking for an update on my dancing skills.  I have emailed - and assured him that I did give the other girls a chance in this year's Strictly.

Another Year Winds Down

2013 is winding down with stormy weather though its not yet as cold as it should be. I am feeling rather stir-crazy which is hopefully a good sign.  Perhaps the most intense phase of healing is now completing itself and I am getting a bit of energy back.

Can't do much though. The knees and the weather prevent it.   Kind Col chauffered me to the meeting last night, which was a big help. And I got and sent a card from and to Lilian - and I hope I have sent her some encouragement from Jehovah after the tragic year she has had.

We are all in the death zone now... and this is going to be a recurring theme until either we too fall off that edge, or Armageddon comes and Jehovah allows all our faults and failings to be covered by the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ and shepherds us through to the new earth, with life "to time indefinite" ahead of us.


I have been re-reading "Tess of the D'Urbervilles".     And rather wish I hadn't.  What an irritating big girl's blouse Angel Clare is.

Jill

Jill died on Christmas Day.

We wondered, sadly, as we ate our sandwich lunch at the lagoon,  if it would be her last day.

So now she sleeps in the dreamless sleep of death.  But there is hope because  "a hiding place is the God of ancient time, and underneath are the everlasting arms."

Everlasting arms don't go away. They don't fail to catch and hold. So I am sure she remains in Jehovah's memory, every hair of her head numbered. And when the time comes for the resurrection she will wake up on an earth ruled by the law of loving-kindness - an earth ruled by the Kingdom of God, with Jesus as its King.

Maybe she will wake up in her own beautiful rambling garden - with life "to time indefinite" ahead of her.

Jehovah looks for the gold in us, the goodness, the valuable things. And surely there was plenty of gold in Jill.

Just Call me Tiny Tim

I hobbled pathetically around Widewater Lagoon on my crutches this morning, saying wistful TinyTim-like things, such as: "Please sir, Can I have some more?"   No, wait a minute, that was Oliver Twist.

It was such a lovely day. The light!   There was blue sky with fluffy white clouds in one corner and an ominous dark sky in the other, with the low winter sun making everything glow - especially the seagulls. And, for the first time, it was cold enough for December.  We had sandwiches in the car for our Christmas lunch - or at least he did. Chicken sandwiches at that. I no longer eat wheat bread, so I had a yoghurt and a biscuit. And we had a flask of tea.

The beauty of it all made it extra sad that a friend with cancer was taken by ambulance to the hospice yesterday.   This could be her last day...  

I have made a lamb stew for tonight - the Captain helping me by chopping up the root veggies - I am having a bit of an attack at the moment and am not up to much.

Hurricane Winds

The wind apparently reached hurricane strength last night, and it certainly sounded like it.  Its much calmer today, though still grey and rainy.  Captain B valiantly rode out and bought back some shopping, so we won't be reduced to drawing lots to see which of us eats the other.

I was up in the early hours, unable to sleep - arthritis pain.  And the lights were flickering. We had a tray of candles, matches and a torch on standby in the hall. However, thankfully, it was not needed.

I am feeling a bit stir-crazy,and that is perhaps a hopeful sign recoverywise, though the last time the feeling was followed by a bit of relapse.  Time will tell.

Strictly Come Dancing - and Abbey

Abbey won Strictly this year.  She had become our favourite - in fact the Captain and I have fallen in love with her.   She is so graceful.  Born to dance.  She and Alijaz were an inspiring team.  However we divided our votes fairly, as Natalie was also excellent - and we thought her and Artem's Showdance was the best.

We were sorry that Sophie and Brendan didn't get into the final three, as we would have loved to have seen their Showdance too.

Well, that is it for this year.

It is stormier than ever today - the Channel is as wild as we have ever seen it.  I would love to walk on the beach today, braced against the storm. But maybe next winter.  Spent  a fair bit of the morning in calls to the hospital, trying to confirm things, give them answers to questionnaires and find out when I should be thinking of stopping my medications, pre-op...  plus I did a couple of loads of washing and getting us lunch.  The Captain is trapped indoors by the weather.  He had the rest of the chicken with salad and garlic-fried potatoes.

Here are two poetic glimpses of the Captain at Home in our deserty expatworld.  They are verses of course, not poetry.  We used to do our own developing in those pre-historic days.

WHAT COLIN DID    13^th December 1985

 by me

Colin and Mark crouch on the floor

Looking through photographic magazines

By the score

More gadgetry to spend their money on

Is what they’re looking for

Or a ten thousand dollar photographic tour

All the goodies that will lure

Monies out of bank accounts

In large amounts

Bank Managers and wives are feeling sore.

Colin, developing photos at the kitchen sink

Framed in the hatch above a shell filled shelf

Seen through a fringe of potted plants

Makes quite a good picture himself.