28th April

[Mick]

Screenshot_20240428_180843_Gallery.jpg Hiya all how are we ?just got to Tewkesbury sun is out and it's a lovely day. We are overnighting here then onwards in the morning. The bells are ringing in Tewkesbury Abbey over the road.We are going for a walk in a wee while. Hope everyone is ok.
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[porqoui]

MAE ALL...2nd trip to the new hair salon was a total bust! Couldn't book with the stylist I had last time, she was fully booked. The gentleman that cut my hair wouldn't listen to anything I asked. Just did what he wanted to and yup, came away with a boy's haircut. I'll be waiting for my other stylist next time. Rant over.

Mick...Glad you got away and that you have a sunny day. Great pics and the place looks lovely. Positive vibes the trip continues to just get better.

Lav/Slo...I'll check back later to see how your day went.

Pi...hoping all is good and that you weren't affected by the tornados.

Had a productive morning getting housework and laundry done. Now the afternoon is for relaxing. Have a great day all....PPQP

[Lavande]

Greetings everyone,

it’s 6 pm, sunny & 77 degrees, nice
Son & grandsons came over for a visit this afternoon which was nice. The boys seem happy & are getting so freaking tall, haha! The 15 yr old is looking for a summer job so we gave him a few ideas.It’s hard for the kids around here, nothing is close by so they can’t walk back & forth like our kids did at that age.

Great pics Mick, so glad you made your destination in the sun no less Lol
Hope the rest of the trip is fabulous.

PQ, I only let a male cut my hair once, never again. They truly are not capable of listening, I get that haha!
I think I would have called the police & reported fence jumpers on the tennis court. They would have gotten a good lecture at least.

Hello to Cyn, Slo & Pie.

I don’t know if anyone is familiar with pawpaw trees, we now have 6, all started from seed. YB came home with a few pawpaws he found on the ground years ago & decided to try growing them. They’re a native fruit but went out of favor at some point. They have an almost creamy coconut taste, very unusual. He cuts them up & freezes them for smoothies.
I just took a few pics of our trees to post in a FB group. They are. Just starting to leaf out (look kinds naked right now) but they have plenty of purple blooms on them.

Have a nice night all!
Lav

[treegirl]

Mae all,

I seem to be in a different time/space reality than all of you - I think I missed just a day, and now when I read back it was in the middle of last week!! Sorry. Fatigue and trying to reduce screen time for my brain has left me not posting much.

Mick, I am imagining the sounds of the bells in Tewkesbury... I'm sure that was beautiful. I read back to all your struggles of the last weeks - so sorry - I'm glad that it worked for you and Julie to get away. I hope that her tests come out well. Yes, I saw the pics of the London horses too - frightening. I always think that we demand too much of those horses... It tries my patience just seeing videos of the idiots at the gate tryi to get too close to them and take pictures... those magnificent animals need space and respect!!

Lav, Paw paw trees! I never imagined that those prickly things would be edible... amazing. And whole-grain English Muffins, aren't you fancy! I'm so sorry about the buggy accident... how sad about the poor Amish gentleman, just minding his own business. And losing a horse to injuries. Liife sure isn't fair sometimes.

SLO - so sorry that you have hit a "rough patch" - I get it. I hope that you can surround yourself with some things that bring you comfort. Not having a shoe that fits would definitely be a major problem for any one of us. I really hope that at least that gets "sorted" soon... sending good energy your way.

PPQ - oh no, not a "boy cut"!!! Dang. So sorry. Thank goodness hair grows out. (I say that whenever I cut my own hair - which is always, nowadays. I just say "give it 2 weeks...") I love the stories about the Accountant and the Boss. (And I love Lav's idea of putting a mouse trap in with the papers she looks through! LOL.) Sounds like you might have had a low-key weekend, I hope so.

We had bad tornadoes here a few days ago - loss of homes, loss of life. It's been awhile since a really bad string of tornado activity has come so close... I was working at TJs, and the sky was definitely looking funky. I was collecting shopping carts, and the worse the sky looked, the faster I got them "corralled" - I figured no sense having those fly around hitting cars or glass windows when the wind picked up. I ended up walking to the cars with the shoppers leaving - I would grab their cart and get it stowed away as fast as I could. But the shoppers just kept coming! Even after the warning sirens were going?!! They were practically begging to be let in. Finally the manager said "you can come in, but we aren't allowing shopping, and you'll have to stay until the all clear." And many did!! It was about an hour and a half that we all had to be in the backstock area or breakroom/bathrooms. The sirens just kept going off. The storm was moving in an unpredictable way, so we had to stay put. Finally the all clear sounded and people rushed around buying stuff. Weird.
Then yesterday I was walking to work as always, but I stepped wrong on a sidewalk that is raised an inch, and did a total face/knee/hands plant. I had a big abrasion on my chin and a little one on my cheek. I thought I might have damaged my kneecap, but I walked in, went to the bandage box and got myself together and worked my shift. (Coming home for an hour dinner so I could ice my knee. And take a handful of Advil.) Anyway, I'm healing from that... pretty good if I ice enough and stay on the anti-inflammatory. Back to work tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. Please, no jokes about how graceful I am! LOL!

Hoping all are hanging in - it is a truly lovely spring here - thank goodness lots of rain, so beautiful green and pretty clouds. Be well all -
TG

[Lavande]

Wow Cyn, so glad you’re OK - mostly! I kept seeing news reports about those tornadoes, too close for comfort.
I’m about as graceful as a failed ballerina myself, tripping & falling is my specialty. Remember my great fall backwards down a full flight of steps back in November 2000. I hope your scrapes & aches heal up quickly. Take good care of yourself!!
Lav

[Mick]

Mae all .how are you doing today then? It is 0637 am..and we are up...fitst cup of tea on the go.slept pretty good last night....and i woke up this morning..so that's a bonus!!weather is sunny but blowing. Next stop is Charmouth.thata a 3 day stop over .

Hiya lav..how did the muffins turn out? Glad you had a good time with son and grandsons coming over. Did your son say anything about why he hasn't been over before etc?My total knowledge of pawpaw. Is Baloo sang about it in the film Jungle Book!!paw paw and prickly pear.if i am honest it do appeal to me.maybe you could employ grandson (s) doing the garden. Is there no chance of the Amish employing one of them?

Teegee good morning to you. Firstly I am glad you are ok.thats a pretty brutal experience to go through Secondly you had the nouse to collect the trolleys when folk were just dumping them .not so sure over here any shop managers would have let people in..they would have pinched most of the stock!yes Tewkesbury Abbey is fantastic as a building. If you look at it in detail you can see where it has been added toover the centuries. Mullions,buttresses gargoyles etc.My only gripe is it was locked and we couldn't get in.that really annoyed me it's a place of in old school speak a place of worship sanctuary and safety. If you go on YouTube. type in Tewkesbury in the floods..you will see everywhere is flooded including the site we are on and the Abbey stands as an island on the higher ground. Hope the ankle heals quick.

Hiya ppqp hows you then?hope all is well. Did you pay boys prices for the haircut? Julie's hairdressers have closed down. She got a message during the week..not that that wasctop of her list last week.She found a new one on Saturday and most of the ex hd clients are at this one now.new start to the week .best of luck at work.

Hiya slo how are you doing? Hope all is well with you

Right folks second brew time..have a good day

[Slo]

Hi all,

Mick, that is so cool to see Tewkesbury Abbey! And in the sun! And you woke up today…count your blessings! It reminds me of the prayer I had to say every night as a child:”If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” What a thought for a child to have to contemplate every night before bed!

PQ, sounds like you could have just gone to a barber. Or put a bowl on your head and cut around it! That’s too bad.

I’m coming out of my funk now. And also having somewhat less foot pain. I wish I didn’t bottom out so badly every full moon, for an extended time. Spring is helping too.

TG, oh, I’m so sorry about your fall. I sure hope it’s just surface injuries that will heal.
You sure were wise to know the importance of getting the shopping carts out of the parking lot. Although, the shoppers should be returning them! They do at the Trader Joe’s closest to me.
Surprising that so many people were out shopping in the middle of severe tornado warnings.

Yesterday I met up with my daughter D1 and the three little grandchildren of hers and my sister at a local “discovery” museum. We mostly looked at the fish in the large aquariums and the turtles, did the craft projects that were on offer, looked at the turtles, went in the ship model…
My heart is full again!

Lav, glad your son popped over for a visit. Mick has some interesting ideas for employment for the teen grandsons: would either one want to do some yard work with you & YB? It would be a way to see them more, and teach them about plants & such.
I was going to say the same as Mick: only know of paw paw trees and prickly pear from Baloo the Bear!

Off to meet a friend for lunch now!

[Lavande]

Hey kids,We had a hot 86 degree day here, record for this date is 90 (50 years ago). Extra hot feeling. In the sun too.
Went to the dentist at 4 pm to have my bridge glued back in - again! Lol. YB has been pestering me for the last 8 weeks about a Swiss mountain dog puppy. A local Amish family breeds them, of course they’re cute as anything but I don’t know how wise it would be to get one at our age. We never go anywhere, maybe we should get the last one. I told him that he will be the one getting up at night with the pup until he’s crate trained, haha! We’ll see what happens.

Mick, glad to hear you’re enjoying your trip. Have fun

Slo, glad to hear feeling better today. Thank the universe for small gifts.
Spending time wit the little ones is a joy, for sure! We already have our grandsons on board for spreading many yards of mulch for us, we just need to get it delivered. The oldest is interested in saving for his first car already, geez.

Cyn, sure hope you’re OK today. How’s the ankle doing?

Hello to PQ & Pie!

Have a nice night all!
Lav

[porqoui]

MAE ALL...it was a cold, overcast, grey, winter day here today. Man! Only 8C/46F, wanted to curl up in front of a fire somewhere ....and cold front coming in tonight and they're calling for 10 inches of snow by Wednesday! Far cry from Lav's 85F! Got into work, dealt with our software provider with the tennis court booking glitches, assisted the boss with trying to reset the tennis court lock, answered numerous emails and poof! it was 4:30 and time to go home. A little late posting tonight as I had to file my income tax before I did anything. I thought I still had one more day. Oh well, it's done and I actually get a refund this year!

TG...yup it was a low key weekend with a great visit with my brother. I'm glad the tornados didn't cause a lot of damage, good on you rounding up those carts. So sorry to hear about your fall, but so glad it wasn't more serious. I bet you were pretty sore when you woke up this morning.

Mick...I'm glad the sun is continuing to follow you. As a matter of fact I did pay boy price for the haircut. LOL Was quite surprised when I got the bill. Glad Julie found a new HD, it's not the same as mem popping into the barber. Hopefully all the drop-in last minute booking requests hold off this week as I have a couple of deadlines, getting out the welcome email to the gardeners with their choice of volunteer tasks, June newsletter by the end of the week and then booking more vacation days off, I'm making that a priority. I've booked July 19th as I'll be dog sitting for my brother as they do another Christmas in July party. Enjoy your trip and look forward to more pics.

Slo...getting ready for work this morning I was actually able to get some curl so wasn't too bad. Yup, the "Now I lay me down to sleep..." prayer, what were they thinking. LOL I'm glad you're coming out of your funk. Just tell yourself that bottoming out because of the full moon is nothing compared to bottoming out because of AL.

Lav...86 is getting way too hot for me. If you need me to send some snow to cool you down just let me know. Sorry about the dentist trip, my toothache has passed so of course I'm going to ignore it. Sounds like a Swiss Mountain puppy dog is in your future. Like you say, you never go anywhere and you can teach YB to listen, as he'll be the one getting up with the pup. You can always get him with "It would have been easier if you just learned to listen to me." LOL

Wave to Pi...have a good night all....PPQP

[treegirl]

Mae all,

I started the day at 8 AM, downtown at the church where we do the Homeless meals. I was helping another person prep (cook) about 30 lbs. of raw ground beef for making into sloppy joe's for Wednesdays meal. I didn't think it was fair to have her do it all alone... she's in her 80s, I think. But she's still acting in area dramas... I saw her he night before in a production of "Peter and the Starcatcher", a musical play that was roughly about how Peter Pan got his name. Interesting... I realize that I never have paid much attention to the Peter Pan stories... I think I will read them, or read about them now...

So after the run downtown, I got to work and did my 10 to 6 shift. So now I'm tired and hurting... in fact, I took an hour lunch so that I could walk home and get some Ibuprofen... I didn't realize how much it's been helping until it wore off... ouch. Did I say I hurt my ankle? Sorry, it was my knee that I landed on... along with my chin, my cheek, my shoulder, etc. I was really worried about my knee being badly damaged... that would be a really difficult situation. But it is fine (I went home and iced it the same day I fell, I think that helped...). Hurts, and is quite bruised and still a little swollen, but working just fine.

Tomorrow I see my doc for my annual visit... we'll have plenty to talk about! After that I'll go for my Long Covid theripies. I just received a bill for $1,600 from the Rehab place... apparently Medicare doesn't find this therapy something useful enough to cover, sheesh. So I'll talk to them tomorrow and see what can be done. I have a supplemental insurance, I'm not sure if they tried that. I also have a policy at work, but I don't want to use it if it would jeopordize my Medicare... Lav, do you know how this works? UUUgh.

SLO, so good to hear that your spirits have picked up - I hope that the pain continues to go away - even if slowly. Lav, another Swissy in your future? Wow, that would be something. I don't think I could handle a puppy now... Mick, sound like you are having a fine time, I'm so glad. Ppq, I hope the day has been good for you. Hello to anyone dropping by... Cheers,
TG

[Slo]

TG, yes -our insurance isn’t interested in paying for therapies that might actually heal us, only in ones that manage symptoms. My doctor can quote the exact Medicare bylaw that states this!! So I too am paying the exorbitant out-of-pocket costs to try to heal, while also paying a high monthly cost for health insurance that won’t help me with what I need help with, health-wise.

It is not fair for one person to cook that much ground beef! I am shocked that one person would be expected to do so much. You are meeting some neat people that you volunteer with. What an interesting play that she was in. I hope you have today off, so you can rest & heal from your injuries.

Lav, can you plan a little getaway? Go visit a friend in Florida, take a grandchild or grandchildren to a beach this Summer; take a little trip with a retired friend?
Those grandsons can be real useful now that they’re tall, strong teens!

PQ, I love hearing about what all your day at work encompasses. I was wondering why you weren’t checking in last night! Now I know! Our taxes are due April 15, and yours must be due April 30. April 30…that’s the day my dad died, 13 years ago now. Cancer took him out too soon, at age 68.

I enjoyed my luncheon out yesterday, and some shopping too. Sadly, I’m shopping for larger pants, as I gained weight back. I didn’t think I would do that again, and got rid of my bigger sizes. Now, here I am again. Ah well.
Today I help out with Huxley. I could only sleep 5 hours last night, so, hope I can make it through without crashing. Looking forward to some time with him & D2!

[Mick]

Hiya all.how are we.yep knew it was to good to last.just got down to Devon and set up..made tea and Julie gets a phone call to say her dad had fallen again and they were waiting for an ambulance. So it was a case of wait and see how serious it was .as it turns out it wasn't too bad.a 4 hours wait for an ambulance. He was on a trolley in a corridor in the hospital till 9 this morning. Again did cy scans and all the other crap that goes with it.and discharged him at 11.27 this morning. So for just under 12 hours he lay in a poxy hospital on a trolley for no reason.Julies nephew who is a prison officer stayed with him.but he has to have today off.Fortunately whilst waiting for the ambulance the lasy in the nursing home video called Julie to show her that her dad was ok.very thoughtful of her.
on top of that we both have thr cold or some lurgy..oh and its raining. On the bright side we are away in the van..hopefully the weather will change all ok here .
Slo ..i recall that prayer too.the last part being god bless all my relatives and all the people everywhere.

I would send a pic but rain is rain ! Hopefully better tomorrow

[porqoui]

MAE ALL...what a day! Woke up to a blizzard. Sideways snow and about a foot covering everything. By the time I left for work the snowfall had ended and the winds had stopped. So after shoveling a foot of heavy, wet snow off the car the drive was ok. Nothing was sticking to the cement and by noon almost all the snow had melted. We are currently under a snowfall warning, beginning tonight and lasting into Thursday. And just think the tennis courts open tomorrow. It was a busy day with people phoning, staff lining up at my door for help, customers at the counter. geez, what got into everyone. The boss even emailed me a meeting request for this afternoon because every time he came to my office someone was there. LOL Needless to say had no time to get my community garden welcome email out so I'm going in early tomorrow to get it done.

TG...and there's the proof that age is a state of mind. Good on the 80 year old volunteer still acting. That was a lot of activity after your fall. I wonder if the doc will question you about your living arrangements, trying to figure out if you're being abused at home. Ouch, a 1600 bill from the rehab centre. I am not on any benefits or medical insurance and I'm sure things are different in Canada, hope Lav can give you some advice.

Slo...yes, that's way too young for your Dad to pass away. Both my Mom and twin sister died before the age of 65. I'm the first female in the family to pass that milestone, I'm 68. The drama in the office today was between the boss, accountant and childcare director. Not worth getting into details, basically the accountant screwed up (she who never admits to making a mistake) gave some money from the government to a family she shouldn't have and when more money came in she wanted the childcare director to refund it to the government and she said no. She's giving it to another family that didn't get their subsidy and said you, the accountant, can figure out how to record that. LOL Never a dull moment at work. Glad you enjoyed your luncheon and sorry about the pants. I may by smaller sizes but I never get rid of the originals because I know I'll be wearing the again. LOL

Mick...well at least the call didn't surprise you. I'm glad Julie's dad is ok but what a disgrace that he had to suffer through that again. So glad Julie's nephew was there to help. It was a nice thing for the lassy in the nursing home to video call Julie. Sorry you've got the lurgy or what ever it is, at least you don't have a snow storm. Hope you're traveling into clear sunny skies.

Lav...I'll pop back on to see how your day was. Have to get dinner on the go.

Have a good night all....PPQP

[Lavande]

Good evening friends,

Still hot today, cooler tomorrow supposedly/ well, we did it, we got the pup. I guess we’re both officially insane
8 weeks old & already weighing in at 16+ lbs. The breeder named him Otto, but YB wants to change it to Doc. He’s a real sweetheart & it will take time for all the others to adjust to him. We met a nice local lady, a few years younger than us who runs an animal rescue. She’s getting one of the other pups & said if we ever needed to re-home Doc that she will gladly take him. That made me feel better.

PQ, oh no snow, sorry
hope your day was good & a bit less busy. The heat & humidity have done a real number on my hair this week, I should have your boy cut haha!

Cyn, you’re still too busy! I would definitely ask your MD to write a note about your Covid therapies & resubmit your claims to Medicare & your supplemental insurance with the note. Yu don’t have to take no for an answer from any insurer. I hope your knee is healing OK & you’re not overdoing things. Take care.

Mick, glad to hear Julie’s Dad is OK post fall. Sorry your trip had to be interrupted like that. I’ll gladly send you some of this heat & sun for the rest of your trip.

Slo, i used to take trips to the beach with my daughter & granddaughter but things are different now. Kids get older & make their own plans, etc.
Glad yo enjoyed your lunch out & shopping, that’s always nice.

hello to Pie!

Have a nice night all!
Lav

[porqoui]

Lav...Doc is so adorable, how could you not bring him home. Nice to know you have an option if things don't work out. Looking forward to hearing all about the interactions with Doc and the resident felines. LOL

Have a good night!