Just Last Week

 

Just last week, she had no toothache and was playing very happily in the gardens.
When she is suffering it is comforting to look back and remember times when she was happy and not hurting because it reminds us that things were OK and will be OK again, God willing.

 

Poor little Wendy!!

Poor little Wendy is having a rotten time with her teething. She has just cut two lower incisors. They are through the gums now but she is also cutting a top molar and she is very sore. She cries and cries and you can see that she is in pain as she stuffs her hands into her mouth and when she is cuddled, she snuggles in and tucks her head up and nestles it in your neck, crying all the time. Her parents give her the proper dose of paracetamol but it doesn't solve the pain problem completely. While it is working, she tries to play and be cheerful but it only lasts for a short while before she cries again. It is so unlike her, poor little thing!

Her parents have been living on cereal and sandwiches so they had dinner here tonight so I could take a turn in trying to comfort Wendy. I've told them that they really must sleep when she sleeps and not to worry about the housework. It will still be waiting for them when Wendy feels better and she is far more important. Nobody is going to come along and steal their dust.

I have offered to help because a crying baby can get on your nerves no matter how sorry you feel for them. It is quite a new thing that parents are left to cope with things like that on their own. In former times when people were born, married and died within a few miles, the extended family helped a lot so parents felt less pressured. We are lucky that our family is a close one and we are all willing to offer whatever help we can.

News

Michelle
Michelle has been working impossible hours, and she hasn't got a day off next week at all. Last week she was running two Care Homes simultaneously because the person due to come on duty at the neighbouring home was 6 hours late. She is very tired and drained. She shouldn't be working like that. Those hours are excessive especially with the type of clients she is working with. It won't do her health any good at all. If they continue working her like this, she will be ill sooner rather than later. I am worried. She enjoys the work and enjoys her job but in order to continue doing so she needs and deserves proper rest periods.

Caelyn
Caelyn has had some bumps on her head. Nigel squeezed one and lo and behold! out came glass fragments and watery fluid. They collected quite a lot of them and I told her to keep them to show the Dr. She was in a car accident 17 years ago and the surgeons at the time said we would probably be picking glass fragments out of her head for some time to come - and we did - but goodness me! After 17 years! You would have thought they would all have worked their way to the surface by now.

Woozle
Woozle has a new tooth through and another partially through. She was fractious and miserable last week with it, poor little kid. And she is showing very wilful behaviour, almost tantrums and at 14 months it is a bit early for that. I must ask Kate if they give her enough attention when she is being good because kids can play up if that is the only way they are going to get parental attention.

They have found that she is much better if she is taken out in the pram every day and allowed to walk and run around. I had thought as much and took her to play in the Gardens last week and she ran around for an hour without getting tired. Their garden at home is so small and she is confined to such small areas at a time that she builds up too much energy which needs an outlet. They must see to it that she is dressed appropriately for the weather and just take her out so she can let off steam.

Internet Connection

I had Tiscali Broadband. My bill was in arrears because they began charging me for phone calls and I use BT for my phone calls. So Tiscali cut me off.

I got a prepaid Internet pass card for £10, and it offers either 30 days unlimited or 2000 minutes over an indefinite period. It is dial-up and sooooo slow!!!! All the same, it is a good system especially when using shared computers as each card gives you a user name and a password so you can log on to any computer and the costs come off your prepaid internet pass.

The slowness really got on my nerves though and I painstakingly over 2 hours (!!!) downloaded a free trial of Onspeed which claims to compress data and speed up slow internet connections. well, I can tell you it works! This is even faster than my Tiscali Broadband was so I will buy their product for £24.99 for a year. For the sake of my shredded nerves, it is worth it.

It is such a relief to have this sorted out.

Suspension of Service

Hi friends. I have no internet access at home for the moment so the Blog won't be updated quite as often. This is a temporary state of affairs and I hope things will be back to normal again soon.

Find Madeleine McCann

Like millions of other people, my heart has been torn with the ordeal the McCann Family are going through. If anyone knows anything that might help this family, please let someone know as soon as you can. This surely must be the worst thing a family could go through and I pray that God will send Comfort to them.

Enjoying Photo Editing Programme

I took this photo of Wendy age 14 months just the other day.


Then, I added a red frame with a heart cut-out.


Then I added a woven background texture


Then I changed the colour of the woven background and added a silver border around the heart shaped cut-out.


This is a great programme and because it has so many possibilities, it is interesting to keep learning and experimenting. Some don't turn out too well, but who cares? I'm enjoying the creative possibilities. We finally ended up with this, and I don't think I will do anything else in this series because I am getting bored with them now.

Last ones of this Weekend.

Grampa Sean, who is a soft touch.


With Auntie Mellie


Little Imp who is into everything and on the go constantly. All the adults get tired out so it is very lucky that she still has afternoon sleeps. Just as well, or no one would keep up with her. And when she is asleep, she is so beautiful with her long dark eyelashes resting on her rosy cheeks. Awww!!

Weekend Pics

Sean as the benevolent Paterfamilias


Pappa Nigel


Scatty Mamma

Dearest Jack

Mel and Jack having a purrrfect conversation


He tried slow-blinking with Sean, but it had no effect. I knew Sean would never cuddle Jack, but he might have had the courtesy to be polite to him. He should have slow-blinked back! How many male allies does he have??

The Noble Savage

The noble savage when he has not dined! Don't they look grumpy? Well, after an afternoon shopping in Ashford, being turned away from restaurant after restaurant, we were hungry. And grumpy. But we all cheered up after we had had a good dinner.

The Weekend - Sunday

Nigel dropped Kate and Woozle off at my house, as he and Michelle's boyfriend Richard were going fishing at Littlestone. They caught some bass but not very much. Well, not enough for a family meal, so the cats are in luck! Nigel said he enjoyed Richard's company and he said he needs male companionship from time to time. I agree with him. Although he loves the ladies in his life, he has proportionally too much time with them. Richard too, I would think. I'm glad they had a nice day.



Sean and I took Wendy to Sainsburys to get some salad stuff for lunch. He pushed her in her pram and the dog came with me. Here he is, on the seat of the scooter, keeping a watchful eye on things. Wendy cried on the way home as her teeth were bothering her. Her mum had had a great luxurious wallow in the bath while Wendy was out with us. We had lunch and later an afternoon nap.


Michelle was worried about one of her diabetic patients with a very high blood sugar reading. Her Manager suggested she make him exercise and I suppose that would help but I recommended that she phone the doctor on duty at the local hospital and ask his advice. I was a nurse and of course you don't use exercise to bring blood sugar levels down in a hospital - you would check the prescribed sliding scale and administer insulin. Unstable diabetics make me nervous and well qualified as I am, I would not want to deal with it on my own, particularly with bigger patients as when their blood sugar is wonky they can become very aggressive. I hope it all works out OK. I have told her to keep very accurate records in case questions are asked.

The Weekend - Saturday

On Saturday, Mel and I slept in for most of the morning which is just as well as we were very busy for the rest of the day.
Sean came and took us to the Outlet Centre in Ashford to get the last piece of my wedding outfit. Such disappointment as it was too tight across the chest. It totally 'threw' me as I had had a mental picture of my outfit and there we were having to rethink everything from scratch. We ended up buying a completely new outfit (although I haven't told Sean that the navy and white hat won't go with the cream outfit I have now ...) The shoes and bag are wrong too but they are still in their bag and I have the receipt so they can probably be changed.

When we got back to Folkestone, Sean wanted to take us out to Bella Pasta, but they were full. So we tried the Hermitage - and they were full. So we went back home to get the car and try the Gurkha Palace - and they were full too. Melanie negotiated with them though and although we had to wait for it we got a table there eventually. By this time we were starving so the food was especially welcome when it turned up.

When we got back, Kate and Nigel popped in because they were out in the car trying to get Wendy to sleep. She is cutting lower teeth and is quite fractious. Then we all went to bed exhausted after a long and happy day.

Finally

Some cute ones, just because they are cute.
Here she is with two of her dolls.


Peek-a-Boo!


A Giggly Girl


Fun on the favourite old Brick Trolley.


We have a family gathering every Friday night becuse family ties are precious and deserve to be nurtured as a matter of priority. Tonight felt a bit odd because my Mum is in South Africa and Michelle is at work so we were two members short. But as a once-in-a-blue-moon thing, my sister Melanie was with us. She lives in New Zealand and is visiting because she is to marry an English man, Peter, on 2 June. She will be with us until next Wednesday.

A pleasant evening

Wendy and her Great Auntie Mel

Caelyn and Nigel were happy too, if a bit tired. Their washing machine has broken and they expect the repair man any time between 08h00 and 20h00 tomorrow. I wish they could give a shorter expected visit window, like between 10h00 and 12h00. Why do they have to stipulate 12 hours?
Sean has got their previous landlord to agree to pay back part of their deposit but seeing is believing. He is a bit of a shady character and has more stories than Hans Christian Anderson.

Cute!

Wendy created her usual havoc in the kitchen.


She is so cute, and has taken a big shine to Mel.

Lazy Day

Mel and I had a lazy day today.


We stayed in bed with the cats and watched Camelot. It was a wonderful thing to do on a cold wet day.

Sean and the Kids

Sean had a nice chat with Kate. He is pleased at how happy she sounds. She has enrolled on a college course starting in September, and Nigel is enrolling on the next phase of studies in motor mechanics. Wendy is cutting a bottom tooth and has been sore today and needed to go to bed early.


Michelle, in one way or another, usually has Sean scratching his head in bemusement and perplexity. He was tired this evening as he has had a very busy week and a busy weekend. His allergies were bothering him too but he was cheerful and happy. He is sleeping the sleep of the just and I am blogging because I was so wrecked when we got back from town that I slept quite a bit this afternoon.




My right ear is still deaf and not responding to treatment.

Michelle and Richard

Michelle and Richard stayed for dinner. It was a mild curry with Irish soda bread followed by pineapple cake and custard.


They cleaned the kitchen afterwards which was very helpful and considerate.


After supper, Michelle got a bus back to Hythe. She has found, as I did, that Jenny is very affectionate, loving and cuddly. Michelle has been visiting Auntie Squibbs round the corner. She is such a lovely person, and she misses my mum a lot.

Other Welcomes for Mel

Father Jack letting Mel know that she is welcome here as far as he is concerned. He has been very loving and affectionate to her.

Mel wanted me to take this photo to show her son Thomas. She misses her boys terribly and she spoke to Luke and Thomas this morning. She would have loved them to be at the wedding but the air fares are so terribly expensive. At least in this day and age of communication, she can phone them, text them and email them photos. Its a lot better than nothing, but a mother's heart is never happy being away from her kids. Well, of course Mel is happy generally, but she does miss her boys.

Getting to know a Brak

Cosying up


Inspired by 'Dances with Wolves' but does 'Dancing with a Brak' have the same cachet?


Mel, Brakkie and I went on a Charity Shop crawl today. She had packed summer clothes and it has been cold the whole time she has been in England. She got a few good items at a good price. Weddings are expensive so she is being very careful with money and Charity shops are usually good value. She was pleased to find a Laura Ashley blouse that fitted her.

With the Quilt Mel made for Woozle

A meeting of minds

Then Woozle came

But she was snoozy at first. Sleeping on the quilt that Melanie made.

Getting Re-Acquainted with Brakkie

And this time he didn't bite her.

Melanie arrives in Folkestone

In Folkestone again after 3 years.

Way to Go, Nigel!!

Well Done Nigel!!!

Nigel has passed his course in motor mechanics.

He has been advised by his tutor to continue his studies to the next level, and Nigel is planning to do that, God willing. He has done very well. It isn't easy studying with an active toddler and all the other demands in his life, but he has done it and shown great talent in this field.

We are VERY proud of him. Way to go, Nigel.

She is 14 Months old now

Fourteen months old and full of fun.


She was carrying that Evian water bottle around all afternoon.


Her parents very kindly came to take me grocery shopping. This is a big help because Melanie is coming tomorrow to stay for a week on her own, while husband-to-be Peter catches up with his old UK connections. My house is a mess because I was in Hythe this morning then did shopping later, was wonderfully Woozled, and worried about Michelle breaking it off with her new boyfriend Richard. Sean is coming tonight because we didn't see each other over the weekend and I'm never going to be ready in time. In fact, I'm tempted to curl up with my dear old cat for half an hour .... zzzzzz


Very tempting.