Sweetly Sleeping

Look at these two, fast asleep. See how Caelyn is holding the baby, protecting her even in her sleep, and wanting to be aware of the slightest change or movement. To me, this photo shows maternal Love because her love shows even when she is not consciously present. Her love for her baby goes far deeper than her conscious mind.



Today both Caelyn and Nigel are in college, but Woozle wasn't sent to Nursery because she has a cold and is a bit under the weather. She stayed with me instead and is snuggled up on my bed where she has been sleeping for almost four hours. I will have to wake her sometime soon to give her a drink. I don't want her to get dehydrated. I'll leave her a little longer, though.

I forgot to say ...

I forgot to say that poor Caelyn had a very bad week last week. She has longed for a Spiral Perm for years. Her hair is beautiful and easily her best feature, and the Hairdressing Dept at the college she attends charges cheap rates if you let a student under supervision work on your hair, so she booked an appointment for a Spiral Perm.

Well! The Tutor had absented herself so the student did her first Perm ever on her own. She left the Perm lotion on for 35 min too long and she made a mess of the neutraliser as well. When Caelyn got here, her hair was like straw cottom wool. Sort of melted into a fine wooly nest that was brittle and very very dry. She went to a professional hairdresser who told that her hair was "fried". She also found chemical burns on her scalp. Most of her hair had to be cut off because it was too damaged to even try to fix. She has been given a special conditioning program that she will have to follow for at least 3 months.

She has had dental troubles too. She had an appointment last week and she had some abscesses. The dentist had planned to put a crown on the tooth, but as soon as he started work, it crumbled, so he had to take it out. He popped the abscess too, so her pain problem has been sorted out. She is booked in for a lot more work, and the dentist had to apply to the NHS for special funding to do it, and fortunately, they have agreed. The thing is, the tooth-forming beds were damaged when her jaw was smashed in a car accident when she was 3yrs old, and I was told at the time by the Maxillo-Facial surgeon that she would always have trouble with her teeth.
She has had trouble indeed, made worse by the fact that she vomited so much when she was expecting Woozle, which has affected the enamel.

Happily, she now has a dentist who was prepared to fight for funding to sort her mouth out. His partner had wanted to do 8 extractions, which I suppose was the cheaper option. But the girl is only 21!

So - loss of her "crowning glory" as well as a tooth. Things just have to get better from this point onwards.

My brother's visit

I said that I haven't had time for blogging lately so these photos are being posted quite late. Paul, 45 and his son Nicolas, 19, came to England on Saturday 10 November. They visited the London Eye then made their way to Tonbridge, where they stayed at Sean's house. Paul, Nicolas, Josie and I stayed overnight. Michelle, Richard, Caelyn, Nigel and Wendy came up for dinner then returned to Folkestone.









On Remembrance Day, 11 November, we went to Oxford, where we had lunch at the Randolph Hotel. Then Sean's nephew Patrick took the men around New College while my mother and I stayed in the hotel lounge and had some tea.

My mother brought Paul and Nicolas to my flat on Tuesday, on their way back from Dover Castle. They had hoped to go round the Castle but it was closed. My mother wanted to leave again almost as soon as they arrived. I'm not surprised really, as my house had been thoroughly Woozled and looked like a disaster zone. Paul is quite posh and has a couple of servants so his house never looks like a bomb has hit it.

They had a couple of days in London before Paul flew back home and Nicolas joined his tour group which was going on a tour of Europe. It is a nice thing for a young person to do before they settle down to serious study at University.

The next photos show either Paul or Nicolas.

The place my brother occupies in my heart is a pain-filled one. In 1990, I did something wrong that hurt him. I have apologised, written to him and his wife to apologise, sent cards and emails, to no effect. The only response has been silence. I now have a new life in another country and after 17 years of silence, my mother hoped all would be fine. Well, eggs can't be unscrambled. I have done what is possible and I can't do any more. I am pleased that my mother enjoyed his visit and it was good for my girls to meet their cousin.

I have another brother, Stephen. The family split up when we were very young and Stephen had never met Paul. They have genes in common so Stephen yearned to meet Paul, to shake his hand and have a beer with him. The yearning was so strong that I wrote to tell Paul about it. Needless to say, there was no reply, but my mother came back and said that Paul and his wife Isabel, thought it very odd.

Well, I suppose people can see anything as odd. People always see what they expect to see, as has been discovered by psychology departments in universities all over the world. I daresay they will always see me as odd and someone to be avoided. There really is nothing to be done about it, but seeing Paul has opened up old wounds and my peace of mind has been disturbed. My mother tried to engineer change of hearts, but it was all too little too late. It might have worked if tried 10 or 15 years ago. I don't blame Paul for feeling the way he does, but I won't be manipulated into exposing myself to pain like that again. I wish them well and hope they have a nice life.

I wonder if he felt bounced into something he'd rather not have been. He was faultlessly polite, of course. It might have been easier for him had I thought to let him know beforehand that I expected nothing from him.

These are painful things to put in the public domain, and I would not have done had it been less painful for me, but people keep asking how it went and I try to brush them off with vague generalities, but the truth is, it is too raw to talk about. So, OK, here is the explanation. And please don't try to talk to me about it for a couple of years at least. Sleeping dogs are best left to lie.

With Nigel

Nigel is so good with her.

My Birthday

It was my birthday a few weeks ago but I haven't had time to Blog recently. Here is the cake that Caelyn and Nigel got for me.

Michelle gave me a boxed set of Hornbkower DVDs and she put them in a bag stuffed with these blue streamers. Woozle thought she was in heaven and created havoc with them. You can see how much she enjoyed herself.

Richard was egging her on.

See the coy look on her face? And the dog's nose? He always stays close to her when she is here.

Beauty

Caelyn is doing a Beauty Therapy course and she uses my Mum as a guinea pig.



Woozle likes to join in too. She learns so quickly and she copies what she sees. So we need to be careful what we do and say in front of her.

Shoes

She has had a big thing for shoes for ages now.



One of the first words she said clearly was "shoes".

Furry Friends

A Brak and two cats.



Poor Kate! The only one who would dance with her was Brak. You can see by her body language that she loves him. He is very different to the nervous snappy little thing who moved in with us two years ago. June would be pleased.



Father Jack is the sensible one who maintains a benign dictatorship over the household.

Technowoozle

She is still fascinated by technology and finds functions on things we didn't even know were there.



She is 20 months old and bright as a button

Woozle's House

I mentioned that my new printer had been delivered. No one was happier than Woozle, who adopted the box as her new "house" and has moved her treasures into it - her motorbike, her books and her dolls.



Even her animal friends visit her in her house.

The Man Himself

Steve in what he calls his "Boer" clothes complete with Aussie sweat.

When Steve left Folkestone, he was very ill. He had had major heart problems and some pretty serious surgery. He was bored, dejected and jaded. How life changes! Here he is, fit as a fiddle, with an interesting and busy life. Of course it has taken some adjusting to, but I think it is clear that his new life has been his salvation. Never underestimate the love of a good woman and a healthy outdoor lifestyle.

We are now in the run up to Christmas and if there are two things that dont sit right with me its people saying close the door/window its hot, conserving the air conditioning I know, but it just doesnt sound right. The other is the sound of carols and sleigh bells, and pictures of elves and Father Christmas, when the temperature is in the thirties, and the sun is burning your eyeballs out.

A newly discovered Joy

Stephen has been working very hard in their very large garden and is surprised at how satisfying gardening can be.

Steve's pride and joy, his roses, which are doing magnificently despite all that mother nature can throw at them. We have finally acquired a digital camera - more piccies to follow! (Margaret)

So, what does Mother Nature throw at the Roses?

In answer to your question, yes we do have tremendous thunder storms, in fact the United Nations severe weather study centre is located is located in Queensland a sit is the worlds thunder storm capital. One of the centres functions is to warn of impending storms; the fact is that they often get the location and the time wrong. The other problem is that when they do get it right, the notice is so short that you havent got time to put up an umbrella let alone take precautions against a deluge of golf ball size hailstones.

he weather is back to normal low thirties and seventy degrees of humidity, even the wallabies are staying in the shade. I have just made a new bird feeding table for the lorikeets and they are fighting over feeding rights and the noise is deafening, it sounds like Kate and Michelle at there very worst, although it must be said that the lorikeets don’t swear as much. I seem to remember that I had a niece called Michelle once, perhaps I imagined it.

Wallabies in Steve's garden

Great changes are underway here, we have a new family of wallabies in the garden, Rocky a magnificent creature who lives up to his name, two wives whom I have named Chazza and Dot and a Joey I have named Che.

Most of the Magpies have migrated except for a couple of solitary males, one of whom is so nosey, he not only sits on the rail of the balcony and listens while we talk, but walks into the house to see where we are, and what we are doing. The other is the gentlest of creatures, with perfect manners, he allowed young Mia to hand feed him last week although, he has only seen her a few times.

Lorikeets

I had a letter from my brother Stephen in Australia today. He sent me four lovely photos that I'm going to post here with snippets of what he said.

We had some very heavy rain last week so we became a nursery for the rainbow lorikeets again as the rain washes the nectar from the trees and they cant eat and the competition for seeds is lost to the bigger varieties. We put out wholemeal bread and sunflower seeds and sugared water, and in no time we have twenty or thirty birds on the balcony. They really are like family with their squabbling and bickering and noise, after a long days dispute and a full belly they settle down and cuddle up and sleep.

Sean and Fruit cake

I am a bit late making my Christmas fruitcake this year. As I mentioned earlier, I haven't been well, and didn't feel strong enough for all the creaming and beating involved, but help was at hand! Sean showed himself a man of many talents, and he mixed the butter and sugar with a will.



He also chopped the almonds. This cake was a joint effort, make no mistake. I think he is rather looking forward to tasting the fruit of his labours.

Replacement Printer Arrived

The replacement printer arrived on Friday as promised, much to my relief. Madam Woozle immediately adopted the boxes as her new "house". What baby could ever resist a box?



She is having so much fun with these boxes that she quite reasonably could be given a whole lot of boxes for Christmas and she would be in the 7th heaven.

Oh Dear

Oh dear, I am so behind with this Blog! I haven't yet put up much about my brother and nephew's visit or a lot of the other news. Truth is, I have had a urinary tract infection which wasn't treated for a while due to a mix-up at the surgery. I was expecting to be phoned with my test results and when I wasn't, I assumed all was well even though I had symptoms. I happened to see my GP for a routine appointment and she asked how it was. She thought I was on an antibiotic because someone had recorded that I had been given Augmentin. I said I hadn't because I was waiting to be phoned if anything was wrong with the sample. Anyway, she gave me an antibiotic and I already feel better for it. Alls well that ends well.

I have 5 lectures coming up this week, and I have been trying to study even with the urinary tract infection. It is taking a lot out of me but I'm keen to do it because it will be a great qualification to have.



Here we are having a rest together.




It is heartwarming to see the bond between this baby and this Brak. Whenever she comes to visit, Brakkie stays very close to her. It is sweet.

In Anticipation

I have been told that they found a factory fault in my old printer and that my new one will be delivered between 09h00 and 17h30 tomorrow. I have a doctor's appointment so Michelle will wait in for Parceline. Keep the fingers crossed - nothing about this printer's return has been straightforward so far. I'm quite excited because even with it's fault, the old printer was fantastic.

I am shattered. Last night I fell asleep early without even saying goodnight to Sean. When I got there I was so nauseous that I had to ask him for a little brandy to sip with a rice cake. This morning I slept late but am fighting to stay awake now. I feel all viral and it is horrible.

Michelle gave me to Hornblower series on DVD and she came round to watch one with me this afternoon. Surprisingly, the films are just as good as the books. I am often disappointed by a film after I had read the book but this series is great.

My Girls in brief

Lovely photo - and a Rant

I love this photo of Caelyn and Sean. I seldom manage to capture a really good photo, but I really like this one as it captures their mood and character perfectly.



Sean has asked for copies of it when I get my printer back from it's repair under warranty. Actually, the company took forever to pick it up because they kept going to the wrong address and all the Returns Dept had to do was plug it in and check ONE button. They have had it for more than a week, and the silence is deafening. I wish they would get a move on - I have a vast backlog of things I have to get printed and I'm getting annoyed now. Its not rocket science to pick something up from the correct address and even less difficult to plug something in and turn the only possible button it could be to determine that it isn't working. All they have to do is send a replacement. What is so difficult about that? If their Returns Dept is so hectically busy that they can't keep up, it makes me worry about the products the Sales Dept is selling!!

If this isn't sorted out by Friday 23 November, I will Name and Shame the company concerned right here on this Blog!

A Flood but no Rainbow

I was sitting at my computer doing my College work when I heard water dripping. I looked around and water was streaming through the ceiling. I shoved a bucket underneath it and went upstairs to wake the man in the flat above me. He had had a plumber in to fix his toilet, and that is where the flood came from.

He couldn't stop it so we tried to find his Mains water stopcock. After some trial and error, we found the right one. He filled up his kettle then turned his water supply off and said he would get the plumber back to fix it.

Luckily I was still up and awake. Can you imagine the damage if I had been away or asleep?

En Route to Sean's

It was a long journey to Sean's for a little girl, so, to amuse her, Auntie Michelle let Woozle play with her lip gloss.




Well, I guess that's the last time that lip gloss will be played with.

Hope this works!

I'm hoping that this is going to work, but it might not. It is a video taken by Richard in Sean's garden. Cross fingers!

Brother and Nephew

My brother Paul and his son Nicolas arrived from South Africa on Saturday. Paul is going back on Friday, while Nicolas, 19yrs, will join a tour group to visit Europe.

They caught the Underground from Heathrow and got off at Westminster to see the London Eye, then they got a train to Tonbridge to stay at Sean's house. I stayed over on Friday night and the dog barked at the newspaper boy early and neither of us could go back to sleep after that. My mother arrived at about 10h30 then went to pick them up from the station at 12h00. Not too long afterwards, Caelyn, Nigel, Wendy, Richard and Michelle arrived and we had a family reunion and meal. It was a very Autumnal evening - chilly with fallen leaves blowing around. They all left after supper so Mum, Sean, Paul, Nicolas and I went to bed.

I had a bad night. When there is too much noise, it sets my ME off again. I felt like my brain was in meltdown and quickly reached the point where I could understand very little of the conversation. As often happens after events like that, I woke myself up in the night by vomiting. Yuck!! It is the worst way to wake up! I really hate it. I'm obviously sleeping too deeply to realise that I am nauseous, hence the vomiting strikes without warning.

The next day was Remembrance Day. We travelled up to Oxford where Paul, Nicolas, Josie, Sean, Sean's nephew Patrick and I had lunch at the Randolph Hotel. It was excellent; a fine example of good, wholesome plain English cooking. After that, Sean's nephew took Sean, Paul and Nicolas on a tour of New College. When we said goodbye, Josie, Paul and Nicolas went to Bicester where they saw Bernard then to Milton Keynes where they saw cousin Barbara.

I've had a day in bed to try to recover. I've only been up for 15 min at a time then dizziness, pain and nausea sends me back to bed. I have managed to do some studying in bed so the day wasn't a total write off. Richard very kindly did a bit of shopping for me, bless him, even though he was tired after work.

I am trying to upload a video to post, and I'm planning to put some photos on here too after I have edited them. Patience! I am told that Paul and Nic enjoyed themselves and I hope that is true.

Generosity Rewarded

Jack is a sweet, gentle and kind old pussycat so when Brak indicated he wanted a share of the milk, Jack moved over to share with him.



But how was his generosity rewarded? By a faceful of milk, thats how! My poor old lad!



With the pumpkin there, its a real Halloween picture, isn't it?