Ladies that lunch (but in Spain)

Hello all. You may be wondering why I am off to Spain without the husband. Well 42 years ago on the 6th September 1965 I started my nurse training with 30 other 18 year olds. Picture this fairly shy,dumpy girl fresh out of Convent school leaving home to live in "THE NURSES HOME" with regulation black stockings and black lace up shoes in tow. If tights existed then they would have been too expensive for me to buy. The stockings had seams up the back and always had to be straight.

So I arrive to be met by the lady who ran the training school and my fellow colleagues. I was the ugly duckling. There was a tall very glamerous blonde Pauline, and a much travelled daughter of a British diplomat Val, who had travelled the world, and all seemed so much more glam and wordly wide that I did.

It was like being in boarding school with lots of studying and hard graft on the wards thrown in.You had to be in by 10pm and could have one late pass to 10.30pm one evening a week.I spent most of my time off, we worked a 44 hour week when I first started, either in the bath soaking my poor aching feet or asleep.!!! The first year was the hardest when I was always in trouble and hated it. I spent hours crying, but couldn't go home and say can't do this as my mother did not want me do do it and would have had no sympathy. With the help and support of all my friends I eventually settled down and became a state registered nurse in November 1968.

Nursing became a way of life and eventually a long career. This is me taken circa 1971 when I was first a sister on an intensive care unit.

Over the years I came to realise that it was a honour to be able to care for so many people at a time when they were vulnerable, in pain and frightened. I hope I did a good job. My friends have been with me , if not in person,then in spirit all this time. We are all 60 this year and so we are off to Spain to celebrate in style!!They too have all nursed over this period in time and 2 still are. Val married a Canadian and moved to Canada in 1972. I have seen her twice since then. But on Sunday along with Pauline, Pip, Carolyn, Hilary,Kay and Viv she and I will be raising a glass or two. We have to remember two members of our group who are no longer with us and all the others who are out of touch or cannot come.

So to all have a happy and healthy week and I will catch up when I return.

"If reading be the food of love read on"

Today I must first thank Sandi at http://Holding Patterns.blogspot.com/ for her generous award of " You lift me up". She has been having some painful treatment but still retains an amazing sense of humour throughout. Sandi lives in the USA but spent some time in UK in late 1970s. She is currently writing about her English experiences on her blog. Visit her if you want your day to be brighter as its very funny. So Sandi, sweet peas picked from the garden yesterday. Hope you are feeling brighter today and thanks.

This week has been a week of horrible jobs including wallpaper stripping and uncovering horrors! This is a little part of the dining room. We are still awaiting plumber, to replace radiator, plasterer to make the walls look erm normal, before we can paint. I saw a chandelier Sophie Honeysuckle and thought of you! Now will we or won't we have one??

But now to the reading part. Lots of bloggers have been writing about reading! Angel Jem devoted her blog to the numbers of books she has read. I can't apply the equation, am useless at maths, can I just say a lot for me. Reading has been part of my family for ever. Sarah has so many books she even keeps them in a wardrobe, her clothes..... well she is very untidy! We use our 4th bedroom as a study now and as I write this books are everywhere, yes even in piles on the floor. However I have recently bought 2 lovely books at car boot sales. I am ashamed to say I have never read any Daphne but got this for a bargain £1 so have an autumn read.I also spent another £1 on this old sewing book which hopefully will help me to sew but is also a bit of social history.It has amazing illustrations and was a Christmas gift to Patty in 1945. I wonder what todays girls would make of this for a Christmas gift?

You all know how much I hate ironing and it is now Simon's job. Can't imagine he would want to do it like this though!!

To round off today. Sarah, Sophie and I are having a home made Christmas challenge so sewing is involved. I am patchworking with squares for someone ( not them ) and Dougal decided he would try and help!! Hope everyone is keeping well. I'm off to sunny Spain on Sunday but more about that before I go!!!!

Happier Days

Today we are going to be happy.I got some advice about washing the eiderdown that I bought about 2 years ago. It was always a bit "mucky" and I wasn't sure whether it would wash. Thanks to the advice from jessica daisy I washed it at 30 degrees and tumble dried it and then gave it a very good shake and it looks about 10 shades lighter. Thanks Jess it has a new lease of life. This is its close up and below is the whole thing. This is for all of you that love eiderdowns!!!

Sarah bought the October edition of Country Homes and Interiors and low and behold the dinning table, chairs and dresser that we have ordered are featured on the front cover. Hope they look as good in our room when they arrive. We are off tomorrow to order a new fire for this room. We have seen some cast iron vintage ones which I love but I want to be sure as they are so expensive and don't want to make a mistake.

On a different note I enrolled for a day school course for 10 weeks to do some basic craft things. I am really looking foward to it and all the others there were so enthusiastic I'm sure it will be fun.

Meanwhile I'll leave you with the 2 boys Dougal and Hamish keeping each other company!! Many thanks to all of you for your good wishes following Lucy's death.

Sunshine and sad news

We have been in the country for 2 days getting some fresh air and picking these lovelies. When we returned yesterday it was to find that Lucy had become very unwell again. The daughters had taken her back to the Vet who found her to be very dehydrated. Despite syringing rehydration fluids into her she became very distressed today, with very rapid breathing. Simon and Sarah took her back to the Vet whilst Sophie and I said our goodbyes to her. The Vet said her lungs were full of fluid and on his advice we had her put to sleep. We couldn't let her suffer any more and the vet thought she had a tumour in her abdomen as well as her thyroid problems. We have buried her in one of her favourite spots under a bush, where she used to lie to cool off after her sunbathing sessions.

I know I need to thank some of you for awards but I will do later in the week.

I have been a naughty girl

Today is a very quick post. Jenny has returned to OZ this am. She will be winging her way back right now.The cats were very quick to jump on the bed.

Lucy ( the white and black one ) is the cat who is ill at present. She has an enlarged thryoid gland which is giving her some heart problems. Trying to get tablets down her is a work of art! She knows when you are going for them and hides! She has improved and we all hope this continues. Hamish likes to keep her company. I think he knows she is ill and is watching her.

Now to the Damson gin. I have had some requests for a recipe for this. I'm not good at precise measures. It's mostly done from memory as I have lost the original recipe.

You will need a large glass container ( old fashioned sweet jars are good for this) which has been sterilised. I use the tablets that you can get from chemists to sterilise baby bottles and rinse throughly afterwards. You need one bottle of gin ( can use cheaper brands), to 3 pounds of damsons and 1 kilo of sugar.Wash the fruit and discard any stalks and any not in good condition. Place gin in jar with the sugar and prick the fruit in several places with a fork placing them into the jar. Place lid on and leave in darkish place. Stir gently ( try not to disturb fruit too much )once a week and leave for approximately 3 months. You can then strain it and place gin into bottles of your choice. It makes a nice little Christmas present in a jazzy bottle. You will get approximately twice the original volume. I have a friend who used the damsons to make pies afterwards. She says they were very alcoholic!!!! You can drink as is but can be very strong or have with ice, lemon and tonic water/lemonade.

Now why have I been a naughty girl? We visited Laura Asley on Saturday and they had 20% off the dinning furniture that I really wanted so... a new table. 6 chairs and dresser will be with us in October. New curtains came home with me! The hard work on this room has now started. I am planning before photos as well as after. I may have to go back to work if I carry on buying anything else for this room. But it has not had any sort of face lift ,except a coat of paint for over 20 years.

I have an appointment to see an Orthopaedic surgeon regarding my shoulder next week. For those in UK I got a letter from my GP to say he had refered me one week post X-ray and a reference number and password so I could choose and book my appointment on line, where and when it suited me. How good is that. Well the sun has decided to appear this afternoon but its not very warm. I think I'll make veggie soup tomorrow.

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.

Tagged for name game

OK its happened again. This time the name game. I have to use the letters of my middle name to describe things that are relevant in my life. Well I have a long middle name with a Z in it so this going to be hard. OK here we go

E.. eyesight I do not know how I would cope without it.
L.. love from my family, friends and the cats.
I.. imagination running wild of how my dinning room will look after its makeover.
Z.. Zebras are very cute are they relevant in my life ? Well erm can you think of a Z??
A.. alcohol couldn't do without my odd glass of red wine & G&T
B.. beans cold baked beans on toast with marmite (or vegemite)
E.. England I love many other countries in the world but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else
T.. thrifting. I know its an American term but I can borrow it can't I.
H.. husband of 32 years I am going to blog about his birthday tomorrow.

So there you go Elizabeth I was going to cheat and say I spelt it with an S but I didn't. So now I have to find 9 others to get with this. So Sarah, Sue, Sophie,Hayley and Fred, Alison, Jo,Jenny and Kara its your turn to hurt your brains now.
It's called the name game, and here are the rules for those that choose to follow them: Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
Well I'm off to the Vet with Lucy now I've had fun doing this.