Simons 21st

Just to pick up from where I left off last week. On Sunday morning, we all managed to get out of the house on time, and drove down to Bristol, where we met up with Deb, Carlos, Simon and Matt, for lunch to celebrate Simons 21st. It was a lovely day, dry and clear, and we made good time to Bristol. In fact we were half an hour early, almost unheard of for this family.

The lunch was great… great company, great food, and a lovely time.

After the meal Robbie went back with Deb, Carlos and Matt as they could drop him off in Northampton. I took Nikki back to Hatfield in the evening, and gave her hug as I won’t see her now for about a month.

Ouch II

The temp repair on the the tooth held up for the week, then came Friday and the day of reckoning… tooth removal day. In no way did it reflect my enthusiasm for the task in hand, but I arrived quarter of an hour early. I had made allowances for traffic which in the end wasn’t on the road. However, as I was first one on the list for the day, and the dentist was ready, I went straight in. After being injected a few times, and when the numbness had kicked in to such a point that I could only say ‘flubbabubba’, the excitement began… well, I saw some tool disappear into my mouth under guidance of the dentist, felt some wiggling around, and recall thinking… hmmm the jaw might be sore later… when the dentist said, that’s it, tooth out… which surprised me. I don’t know if expected some big pop or something, but that was it job done. I was asked if I wanted to see the tooth. I declined the opportunity, and suggested, through clenched teeth as I bit down on some wadding to stop the bleeding, that the bin was the best place for it.

On my way out I said thank you to the dentist. She was a nice young lady, and had dealt with the extraction with the minimum of fuss, so it just seemd polite to say thank you… I must have been brung up proper Does seem odd to say thank you to someone who has just pulled out one of your teeth though.

I had various instructions, which included don’t eat peas or sweetcorn as we wouldn’t want them stuck in the empty socket… salt water rinses 2-3 times a day for the next 3-4 days… and don’t do anything which may raise the blood pressure. I explained this to Tricia who laughed, said good, and suggested I have more teeth out .

Apparantly there is a danger that exercising, bending etc, may dislodge the clot which builds up in the socket. Hence the ‘don’t raise the blood pressure’ comment. I had been exercising hard during the week, I had done 3 sessions of 100 lengths in the pool… but no swimming till Wednesday at the earliest.

The gap seems to be healing. I didn’t need any pain killers on Saturday, so that has to be good. After a period of healing I will be back in to look at getting a bridge put in.

Halloween

As a kid in the 60’s and 70’s, Nov 5th and Bonfire night was the thing we looked forward to… I don’t know whether it is because people have less firework events, or kids have changed, but Halloween seems to be more popular theses days. Ellie loves it… she went out with her friends Jess and Charlotte this evening ‘trick and treating’, we had to get a pumpkin and cut out a face on it and put it on display. It is a fairly safe place to go t&t’ing in the village, and Jess’s father went around with them to people we had pre-arranged a visit with. This year Ellie went out as a vampire. A few piccies… Ellie the vampire, then Ellie with Jess, and Emily, Polly and FReddie from next door.

In other news… Nikki disappears to Europe later this week, off to ‘Bobschool’, going to Germany, and then Austria, before her first races. Needless to say she is excited about her adventure… Here are some pics from when she was with the team at Bath last week… In the second pic, is Gillian Cooke, who is the driver in Nikki’s Bob, and who was world champion in 2009.

We haven’t heard much from Robbie this week… he has a new profile pic on Facebook so we know he is still alive ! Seems like he is having fun.

Ellie has enjoyed her half term. It included a visit to the caves at Wycombe, and playing with various friends. She is back at school on Tuesday.

Tricia has been busy producing the last of the chutneys etc that she will be selling over the next few months.

Today Tricia (in the rain !) planted up some daffodil bulbs, and spring flowers. Yesterday she removed some overgrown ivy, whilst I cut the lawn (hopefully for the last time this year, and I did it slowly so as not to get the blood pressure up) and continued painting the fence panels.

I have a busy week ahead at work… then a week off

Earlier this year, at a dental check up, the dentist identified a tooth, which he said could cause me a problem, and that it might go anytime, from that day to any number of years. The consensus was I would need a crown at some point. On Friday morning, whilst eating my healthy breakfast of porridge, blueberries and almonds, and as I bit into an almond, it seems the day arrived… as the tooth broke. So, off to the dentist, the plan was to do some temporary work, to ready for the crown… However, it seems I also had an abcess.. but with the tooth being dead I didn’t know this – no pain – but when the dentist drilled in to the tooth, it seems the infection had damaged the tooth to such an extent that I now will have to have it extracted. Oh joy. . The tooth is being removed next Friday.

Ellie had her arm looked at on Wednesday, and the doctor seems happy with progress. Ellie was re-plastered, in bright pink… and what with it being a lighter cast, she is much happier with it. Robbie and Nikki are home for the weekend, they have been helping Tricia do the catering at a wedding. Robbie did a nice pattern (?) on her cast !

Tricia’s catering went down well… she got a hug from the groom, so he was happy. Here are some of the cakes that she did.

Tomorrow we are off to Bristol. Deb and Carlos’ eldest, Simon is 21… so we are meeting up in Bristol, where Simon is at Uni, to have a lunch for his 21st.

The youngest of our family reached the ripe old age of 11 today…. so many happy returns. Ellie enjoyed cards and gifts today, and took cakes into school for her friends. Tomorrow she is off to the doctors to get her arm looked at again. It certainly seems less painful for her, so we hope that is a good sign.

We had the boiler fixed today. When we had the hot water tank replaced in early September, we noticed afterwards that the heating wasn’t working… eventually we got a callout into the boiler man who came today, and sorted it out for us. Just as well, it has been getting cold in the evenings..

So, on Monday morning, Tricia and Nikki took Ellie off to the hospital to have this op to pin the break in her arm. They arrived at 7:30 am, Ellie had her pre med, and was due to see the anaesthetist when there was big conflab, the result of which was the paediatric doctor saying she didn’t need the op. And so, Ellie was let home. Not that they returned home, they went off shopping, getting bits for Ellies birthday party. In case there is anybody left in the world that she hasn’t told, Ellie will be 11 on Tuesday. Ellie has to return to see the paediatric doctor on Wednesday of this week, when the plaster will be taken off, the arm looked at, and plaster put back on. Ellie is hoping she can have pink plaster this time!

Monday evening I went across to Winslow to help take down the set from the play I was in last week. Then on Tuesday night, I had the village acting group around (MADS) and I presented a play to them I have chosen called ‘The Village Hall’, which I will be directing and will be put on next Feb. 

During the nights I was being woken by Ellie as she still needed painkillers. So on the back of the play last week, and the visit to a&e on Sunday, and evening activities, and oh yes, don’t forget I work as well, by Wednesday I was starting to feel cream crackered. Fortunately I had the day booked off. Ellie was back at school… Tricia was out doing various tasks… Rob was at Uni, and Nikki was in Bath at the season press launch for the GB bobsleigh team. I had the house to myself… I could have sat and watched tv, and just rested. But… I had intended to do some fence painting before the winter got here, and I had started on the Sunday before going off to a&e with Ellie. So, instead of resting I went out and painted (well, put wood protector on it if not paint) the gazebo and then some of the fence panels. It was a pleasant enough day, and I had the radio on with me, and got quite a bit done. However, in the evening, what with being in the fresh air all day, I could barely stay awake.

Nikki had a good day in Bath, and picked up a lot of GB kit, before going back to Hatfield on Wed evening. On Saturday I met up with Carlos, and went across to Reading to see some old class mates from my time at Presentation College. A pleasant afternoon.

Today was Ellies birthday ‘party’. So, after church we took her and some friends for lunch at a place called ‘Frankie & Bennys’, which is where she wanted to go. The four young ladies (Ellie, Jess, Helena and Lucy) discussed topical items such as who they wanted to win X factor, and made observations about the boys in their class, one of whom has ‘anger issues’ I was informed… They also had competitions to see who could make an ice cube last longest in their mouth. It was at times more entertaining than the TV ! They seemed to enjoy themselves which is the main thing. Here they are…

This afternoon I spent between three and six doing more fence panels. It was a pleasure to be outside. Warm enough to work in whilst wearing a sweater, and just a beautiful autumn afternoon.

Next week promises to be hectic… Tricia is catering for a wedding on the Saturday. Nikki and Rob will both be back for the weekend… Ellie has the small matter of her birthday. And I have loads of work to complete.

I have a week off from Nov 8th… Tricia is allowing me to escape to Hay-on-Wye for a few days. Hay on Wye is bookshop heaven, and not a place therefore she is particu;arly interested in. So I will spend the Monday and Tuesday trawling through the multitude of bookshops and just generally chilling and reading. I am in need of a break, so I am looking forward to it.

Robbie had one visit to casualty after a fall when he was young… but that was it. Nikki almost seemd to take up lodgings there at one time. And now it seems Ellie is following in her footsteps. It was a beautiful autumn day today, Tricia and Nikki were up in North Yorks, where Nikki was doing bobsleigh. Ellie had gone to play with her friend Jess. I had cut the grass, and creosoted some fencing… and I was going to sit and have a cup of tea when the door bell rang.

At the door was Jess’s mother Sara, with a tearful Ellie with her arm in a sling. Ellie had come off a swing at the park, put her arm out to break the fall, and her arm buckled the wrong way… So off to A&E we went. A few examinations and x-rays later the doctor decided that she had a break and it would need pinning. She is at home now, in bed, arm in plaster, and a little worried about the operation she will have tomorrow. Nikki is sleeping in her bedroom with her tonight. Tricia and Nikki will take her across tomorrow, they have to be at Stoke Mandeville for 7:30 am. One of the nurses was brilliant with Ellie, very gentle and reassuring, particularly when doing a physical exam of the injury.

Here she is at home about 9pm this evening. Happy to be home.

Last night was the last performance of the play I have been in, ‘Slaughterhouse’… what with 7 rehearsals or performances back to back, I am knackered, but will at least get some time back now. I always love being on stage, and was reasonably pleased with my performances. I had quite a supportive crowd on Saturday night, what with friends in the village, and also Deb and Carlos and Wendy and Rob. Carlos was in LA last week on business, and had only been home an hour before coming across. I got murdered in the pay, seems he was keen to see me getting bumped off. As they drive through Northampton to get here, they picked up Robbie en route, so he came and watched as well. After the show he went back with Deb & Carlos, had a few drinks with Matt and stayed for Sunday lunch, so Rob has been well looked after this weekend. Tricia did dinner for everyone on Sat evening… there were 15 to eat, so it was a bit of a squeeze.

Oh well… better go to bed. Early start for everybody tomorrow… Tricia, Nikki and Ellie off to the hospital. I have to take the car in for a service then work from home…. It’s a busy week ahead.

Well apparantly it is October 3rd today, so it must be! October means Ellies birthday, which she normally starts counting down to from August. She is 11 this year, and in her final year at primary. We hope she will be going to Waddesdon school, and we took her along to an open evening for prospective pupils on the 21st Sept, and she liked what she saw. I hope she gets in, as I believe the school would suit her well. At her present school, the headteacher announced a few weeks back that the school would be taking 5 pupils to Berlin for a weekend in December…well, Ellie was immediately interested. Those pupils interested have had to write in as to why they would like to go etc, and there were some other selction criteria, which included ‘being sensible’ , and to be fair to Ellie, she is certainly that. Anyhow last week she learned that she had been picked to go, and is very excited about it. So, no doubt once her birthday has passed she will start counting down to her Berlin trip.

Yesterday, as an early birthday present, we took her to MK theatre to see the musical Hairspray. She enjoyed it. Not quite up my street, Tricia and Ellie thought it was fantastic, but even I have to say it was a pretty good show.

In the evening Tricia and I went to a friends 40th party, along with our friends next door, Alan and Rachel… it was a good evening, and Tricia and I danced a lot. In the morning, Tricia and I had gone out and done a 3 mile run together. So what with the dancing, my legs are a little sore this morning. However, my head isn’t, I was the driver last night, so no drinking.

Last weekend we had our Sept Safari Supper, where Tricia and I organise 16 couples to eat and drink in various places, the theme was Bollywood. Here is Tricia in her splendid Indian dress, and me as Bollywood bad boy actor Dudesh Mahakajan. It was a good evening, and went well. Next saf sup is Jan, and the theme will be ‘Childrens Birthday Parties’… more jelly and ice cream than you would want to think about I would imagine!

Nikki started back with lectures at Uni this week, full days and her firsta assignment already. Robbie is settling in to Uni, although he is back with us this weekend. His computer didn’t have the right connection to get onto the network, so on Friday I went and retrieved Robbie and the computer… we bought a new Lan connection card and fitted it yesterday, and then got it working. Rob has taken advantage of the trip home to get some washing done, and catch up with his mate Zak.

Tricia is just off to a course in Aylesbury for the morning, and then will be taking Robbie back later this afternoon. I have a rehearsal later this afternoon, then hopefully this evening Tricia and I will be able to flop in front of the tele, and watch some tv. The play, Slaughterhouse, is on Thu, Fri and Sat evening… but I will have to rehearse Mon, Tue and Wed as well… as usual I am now thinking ‘why did I say I would do this’ as it is consuming to much time… I will be glad to get to next Sunday and get some time back. Anyway, I need to go and do a few jobs.