Wednesday 29 August 2007

ALL I WANT IS A NEW IRON AND IRONING BOARD..........

Says the birthday boy! There is a long story behind this. It was Si's birthday on Monday of this week. He is the most difficult man to buy a present for. We all pussyfoot round him for weeks before his birthday to see if he drops hints and eventually ask him what he would like. The response this time was the iron and ironing board!!! I ask you .It was said in this pathetic voice !! Now for the story. Si had a small stroke about 4 years ago. He had extremely high blood pressure which he did not know about until after the event. He is a wimp where going to the doctor is concerned and eventually when it was obvious something was not right we got him there. The doctor wanted to admit him to hospital but he refused. We had a difficult time with him for several weeks because he could not believe it had happened and it took some time for the treatment for his blood pressure to work. He was off sick for about 12 months and had to have a staged return to work. He is very well now with a completely normal blood pressure. However whilst he was off work and begining to recover he began to get very bored. I was working fulltime in quite a stressful job and suggested he started to do things around the house to help. This man can take cars apart and fix them, can do mental arithmetic but the washing machine leaves him scratching his head. So he decided he would start ironing and he has taken this over now. I no longer do any ironing he's the main man!!!! The iron and board are very old and falling apart at the edges A bit like myself. There is no way I'm going to buy anyone those for a birthday, especially when each one should be treated as special when his blood pressure could have killed him at the age of 54.

So we scratched our heads and came up with the idea of a picnic basket as he loves picnics and than the Fortnam and Mason picnic hamper grew from there. We all contributed and ordered it on line. Below is said hamper with goodies.




As some of my family were around we invited them and some friends for a barby on Sunday (had to be Sunday as Mike(son) who is a staff nurse on a childrens intensive care unit) was working on Monday. My sisters kids and their children were able to come and they all bought him a red Ferrari. Now the picnic hamper can't go in the Ferrari Oh no the opposite way round.

We all had a good time and it's lovely to see the children as they are all spread out around the country so don't see enough of them.

The garden is looking a bit sad. The weather has been very strange. This morning started very grey and now the sun is shining. The everlasting sweetpeas are just coming into flower.

Berries are abounding here.

Look what we have been making Damson gin . Should be ready for Christmas


Now the last photo are my runner beans Yes they were runner beans until Mr and Mrs Slug and their family moved in Gone in one day now we have Mr and Mrs Snail attacking anythings else they can find.Oh well thats life.

18 comments:

Kari (GrannySkywalker) said...

Hey - I say BUY THAT MAN HIS IRON AND IRONING BOARD before he comes to his senses! lol
(But I love the picnic basket!).
Kari

julie said...

I wish I had a Si to do my ironing I hate it, still I must admit the picnic hamper was a great idea and not just any old picnic basket. Well done, I always find it difficult choosing mens pressies lets face it they seem to have a gadget for every eventuality, the problem is getting them to use it if they can find it at all to start with. He who thinks he must be obeyed is one such person and I spend half my days listening to him saying have you seen my thingamebob it was here the other day. Off I trot like a sniffer dog looking in every place but the one he thinks it is in. Iv'e found it I shout triumphant, Oh you must have tidied it away. Oh well there are worst traits I'm sure.

Kara said...

oh Mary wow what a cool guy, my hubby hates housework.
I hope he has many more fab birthdays to come, what a lovely hamper so traditional i would love that as a gift, glad you all had a great time, sorry about the slugs, bloody pests
kara
x

Sandi McBride said...

We both apparently had the good sense to marry great men. How could we both be so lucky? Or maybe it was written in the stars...my main squeeze is right now out there tilling up the garden preparing to plant collards and sweet peas (the eating variety). Tell Si happy birthday from us...and many more.

corry said...

lucky you, never have to do any ironing! Happy birthday to your Si and many more to come!

Anonymous said...

I've been a lurker here for a while but damson gin sounds delicious and has drawn me out of hiding:) Any chance of a recipe pretty please?!?

Papoosue said...

Sounds like Si had a lovely Birthday! Poor man, no new ironing board... only a Ferrari !!!

That gin looks yummy - I've never tried anything like that before - mainly due to the lack of gin and, er, damsons..

Thanks for your comments on my quilties by the way, they were good fun to do!

Anonymous said...

Oh my, you are so lucky! I hate ironing, I iron the clothes I want to wear on the bedroom floor in the mornings!How bad is that!!(worse bit is I have one of those designer polka dot ironing boards!)

Loving that hamper, that is a great idea, My dad will be getting one of those for his birthday!

Mary said...

Mary! Wow - what a loaded post! I am so happy your dear husband has a normal BP and loves to iron! My husband is appliance-stupid unless I coach him. In our 32 years of marriage, he has only used a washing machine, dryer, dishwasher and oven while I was on crutches two years ago. I coached him with every step and now - he wouldn't have a clue.

He does know how to iron, though. But he takes his shirts to the cleaners. Perfect. I don't iron much. I hate to iron.

Tea said...

Hi Mary :)

Your sweet peas are looking so pretty as are those berries. Darn slugs. They ate a beautiful lily I`d only just bought and planted once. Like that picnic basket and how lucky not to have to iron anymore now!
I`ve never heard of Damson gin, but shame on me...I once got very sick from Lemon gin and haven`t touched any kind of gin since LOL

tea
xo

Rubyred said...

Lucky you,a man that irons!the hamper was a lovely prezzie!The damson gin looks good too!

The Nostalgia Fairy said...

Hi Mary,
What a treat to have the ironing done for you. I hate that chore more than anything else. Hope Si loved that hamper - what a great idea. I'm sure that damson gin will be fab. Cheers!

Angel Jem said...

Get him the board!!! And then when you nick the hamper to keep your craft stuff in, at least he'll have something to play with!

annie's abode said...

How lucky are you to have a man who does the ironing - I hope he had a happy day and continues to enjoy good health.

Thanks for your comments - yes blue glass is so lovely too. I have so many plans for the new house but I must be patient as we cannot go yet due to committments here but it is nice to have a dream.
love Ax

The Honourable Billy Blunt said...

Oh I wish !!!!!!
I love your picnic basket,we are going to order a hamper for xmas this year,I can't wait.
Kat x

Country Cottage Chic said...

Our damsons are ripe now - how do you make damson gin I wonder??

Sandi McBride said...

I went back over your last post and looked at that picture of you again. Kept thinking you looked so familiar and Mac came in and wanted to know how you got a picture of Toni (my sister). MY LORD...I'm gonna did that picture of her at your age and post it...have fun in Spain, but hurry home, missing you already

Anonymous said...

Good words.