Been A While

How quicky time passes.  I cannot believe it has been so long since I updated my journal.

I have been filling my time with other things, things which had been neglected. The computer does tend to take over your life.  So, I will do a journal entry about every week or so in the future provided I have something to write about.

What have I been up to?  Well, believe it or not I went back to the family tree.  Been quite some time since I did anything with that and new information comes online all the time.

I decided to have another search for my paternal Great-Grandfather.  I only had his year of birth and the place.  However, I struck lucky.  I came up with the right name on two different sites giving the same parents.  I was then able to access the old parish register which records his birth and the date fitted exactly with what we know about him and when I saw the Father's occupation was carpet weaver I knew I had the right person.

I was able to trace the Proclamation of Banns for his parents.  After that I was able to search for the births of any further children to this couple.  It transpired that he had three brothers and two of the names tie in with family names so there is no doubt about it.  Definitely him.

I have not been able to find out anything about his brothers, whether they survived to marry, whether they had families of their own but I shall keep looking.

Sadly, I cannot get any farther back.  Registration of marriage only commenced in Scotland in 1855 and his parents married in 1819 so there would be no marriage certificate and hence no name of a father which would take me another generation back.

I put a message out on one of the boards and was contacted by a distant relative on another branch of the family.  My maternal great-grandfather was his fourth great-grandfather so I was able to gather more information on that line.

Apart from that I have been doing a lot of reading.  I did miss my reading.  Mainly biographies and autobiographies and also I have tried to be a bit more active around the house.  I need to more active if I am to have any hope of keeping my blood sugars under control which is something I am aiming for.  Much as I love journals, long-health is more important.

When I have been online I have been playing Canasta with him indoors and we have both enjoyed it so much.

The family have been away on holiday this last week.  Sadly they only had one sunny day but they made the most of it and Nathan and Daniel managed to do a lot of swimming in the pool which they had mainly to themselves.  It was a break away for them and that is the main thing.

Mike has not used the camera so much recently, he is waiting until the trees are in leaf and there are more flowers about but he was able to get this shot which I like very much.

I mentioned long-term health earlier.  Here we are almost at the end of April and May will see my appointments back at the breast unit.  I say appointments but I have received no notification on my mammogram.  I fear I have been lost in the system.  They did say they would contact me but I have  heard nothing and I feel certain that I am supposed to have it before I see my oncologist again.  So I shall have to ring them on Monday morning and find out the situation. Whether they will fit me in quickly or be able to arrange it on the day I see my oncologist I do not know.  It would be so nice if both appointments could be got out of the way on the same day.  Anyway, it is only just over three weeks to go for the oncologist.

Naturally with each day that passes I am getting a little more nervous about it. Silly really, I know that being worried and nervous will change nothing at all but people who have been there will know what I mean.  Not knowing whether I shall get the all clear.  So, my friends, fingers firmly crossed for me please and those of you who believe, please say a prayer for me.

Someone commented on my journal a while back that my guestbook no longer worked.  I checked it out and no, it did not work.  Nothing I could do would fix it so I had to delete it.  That made me quite sad.  I had lots of lovely messages in there and quite a few from friends who are no longer with us.

Anway, I have started a new one (on sidebar) and it is empty apart from a welcome from the site owners.  So if you would like to leave me a message feel free.

I sat in the garden today, actually it got too hot for me but it was nice whilst it lasted.  Tomorrow they forecast rain yet again so it was nice to be outside for a while.

Anyway, it will soon be time for the evening meal so I had best draw this entry to a close now.  I hope life is being kind to you all and that you do understand why I am cutting down.  I know I shall feel easier and happier in myself when those appointments are out of the way (if they go well).  I shall then be out in the garden taking photos for you all once more.

Have a good weekend dear friends and readers.

Snow On Sunday

It is hard to believe.  On Thursday I spent the afternoon in the garden.  It was the first time I was able to sit out there since last September.

The sun was so warm.  I just sat there, did not do any gardening just sat and took in the warmth, the song of the birds, the blue sky, the blossom on the trees and the sprouting of the new leaves.  Mike did some tidying up and I watched him and we chatted. We had all the doors and windows open and it seemed as if Spring had finally sprung.

This morning we woke to snow.  For a while it was quite heavy.  It did not settle as it did last time because it simply was not cold enough.  However, it is cold enough for us to have the heating on!

We have had snow this late before but never so soon after such a very warm day. That is why I say it is hard to believe, Thursday sitting out in a summer top actually putting sun screen on.  Today back to winter clothes and the heating going.

I was very sad to read of the death of Charlton Heston at the age of 84.   I remember going to the premier of Ben-Hur at the Odeon, Leicester Square and being simply over-awed by the film.  I also remember one of his earlier films that I simply loved - The Greatest Show On Earth.  He brought pleasure to millions with his movies.  May he rest in peace.

I do not have much else to write about, it has all been very quiet here.

I do ask you all to pray for me.  I am having lots of trouble with my blood sugars again.  It is not what I eat, I am sticking to my diet.  I simply do not understand it.  I am on the maximum dosage of my two different tablets and they cannot be increased anymore.  Next month I have my hospital appointments and I simply cannot afford to be like this.

I am also due for my diabetic blood/urine tests.  This is such a worry to myself and my family and to be totally honest with you I have been in tears a few times over the situation.  I am now worrying that an underlying cause is keeping them high. I do not need to tell you what underlying cause would worry me - you took last year's journey with me.

I am praying for a miracle and that they will drop.  I know that worry does not help and tension only makes them higher but it is not a good situation to be in, especially at this time above all others.  I am a believer in the power of prayer and good thoughts, so please take a moment to ask for help for me.  You have helped me so much in the past.  I find myself pretty frightened by the whole thing and am also getting very depressed which is why I have not done my journal until today and have not been commenting on any.

Daniel had his check-up at Gt. Ormond Street and all is well. Thank God.  Now I need for things to be well with me. I can only pray and do my best.

On a lighter note, I had my usual yearly flutter on the Grand National.  I missed it last year due to my treatment.  I managed to pick the first and the third horses.  Did not win a great deal as I was not in a position to spend much on the wagers.  But a win is a win.

Wishing each and every one of you a good and happy week.

White Stuff

Easter Sunday and down came the snow.  Just sleet at first but after a while it got quite heavy and settled.

You would never know it now because it stopped after two hours and has already melted away as if it had never been. I know that Mike is disappointed as he wanted to take his camera out and get some shots of trees and bushes covered with it but we had the family calling over so that was not possible.

The boys were so excited.  They were both too small to enjoy snow last time it fell here.  Nathan ran up the path shouting "snow Nana, snow."

At least it gave us a little photo opportunity for me to share with you today:-

It was nice being able to get these shots which we will treasure.  Then it was time to come inside and exchange Easter eggs.  Two little boys were very pleased with theirs:-

Becky and Dean gave us another bird feeder.  This one has a basket at the bottom for planting flowers and a solar light at the top which glows at night.  We can only hope it attracts birds back to the garden.  We had so many of them coming to all our feeders but the last few weeks they have all disappeared.  Only one solitary Wood Pigeon seems to come now.  With this cold snap and all the food outside they should be flocking but all our Sparrows, Greenfinches, Bluetits, Collared Doves - all gone without trace.

When the shops are open again, Mike is going to buy some fat balls, that usually attracts them.  Could make some of our own but they seem to like the circular shape and we have nothing suitable.

It is all very quiet now that the family have gone - they are off to visit the other Grandparents this afternoon - more chocolate eggs for them!

At least I was so happy for them that they got to see the snow, just a pity it did not last just for a while longer.

And on the third day, He rose again. Praise be to His holy name.  Jesus lives.

 

Hope that you are all enjoying your Easter.

Love,

For God So Loved The World

New Look For Easter

Easter time is when I always change the look of our lounge.

So yesterday it was out with the autumn coloured flowers. Mike was lucky enough to find a place where they had some lovely artificial spring flowers and a garland of Ivy.  Becky gave me all the left-over chicks from when they made the boys' Easter hats.  I have changed the candle rings (I already had spring type ones in storage that I have used for several years) and the candles.

Now, despite the horrible cold weather and the dark leaden skies it looks bright and sunny in here.

Tomorrow, Good Friday, I will light the candles on either side of the cross and remember our Lord's suffering and sacrifice.  On Sunday I will light them again  and give thanks that He rose again.  Easter has always been a special time for me, the holiest of the year.

I thought you might like to see how our room looks now

I even have Easter chicks sitting on the top of our clock.

Becky just experienced a power cut so we have checked we have candles just in case we get any here.  I do not think we are likely to see any snow although it is bitterly cold.  It is very rare these days that snow comes this far south.  You never know.

I would like to thank all those that sent me Easter cards.  You can see how pretty they look.  Pat and Peter - I cannot for the life of me remember your surname so cannot trace your address, so I am very sorry I cannot send you one in return but know that you will be in my thoughts this Easter along with all my other journal friends.

So, once again, I wish you dear friends and readers, a happy and blessed Easter - whatever you are doing and whoever you are with.

Let us all keep in our hearts the true meaning of this holiday.

From Mike, myself and our family - God bless you all.

In Our Easter Bonnets ...err Hats

Hello my friends,

Nathan and Daniel took part in the Easter Parade at pre-school yesterday. All the parents had to make bonnets or hats for the children.  It was not a contest - every child that took part received an Easter Egg.

Becky took some lovely photos of the parade which, of course, I cannot share with you here because of the privacy of other children and parents.

They came over to see us yesterday so we could actually see them wearing their creations.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.

The fence is broken on the above picture, that is because Nathan grabbed it to pick it up and a piece snapped off.  I think Becky and Dean did a great job on these Easter creations as it is much harder to make things like that for boys whereas with girls you can use lots of ribbons, flowers etc.

Well, what has been happening in our lives.  I never had the decency of a reply from AOL (my previous entry) which just goes to show that even when you contact head office and the chief of complaints they show a could-not-care-less attitude.  I did not expect to receive a reply which has confirmed my opinion as to their standard of service.  Several people have now told me that they are leaving AOL - they are just totally fed up with the poor service. I had not only written about my treatment at the hands of their help line but also about the fact that I have reported several times that although I am on Broadband silver and have been since last November, they are still charging me for Broadband Platinum!  If they continue to do so despite my telephone complaints and now in actual writing, I shall seek professional advice.  Taking money they are not entitled to is tantamount to theft.

My situation with the bank has been cleared up.  Someone had been fraudulently using my bank account so I had to deal with the fraud department.  They were very helpful and we traced back fraudulent transactions and the bank repayed me in full.  Only problem is that they repaid me twice!!  Good job I am honest and reported it.  They were full of apologies but you do not expect mistakes to be made by the actual fraud department.  So I was, for a while, much better off than I  had been before - that is until the Bank took it back again!  Anyway, that all seems sorted out now.

Last Friday morning we were sitting reading the newspapers when this terrible chemical smell filled the entire house.  It was choking, made our eyes stream and gave us a headache.  Mike traced it to our freezer which had malfunctioned.  It was the old type that are banned now.  He unplugged it and threw it into the garden. We had previously opened all the doors and windows.  We did contact the fire brigade for their advice and were told we had done exactly the correct thing and as we had provided good ventilation, we would suffer no lasting harm.  We also contacted the local council who refused to take it away because it had leaked.  Makes me wonder why we pay community charge.

They told us we would have to drain it out first.  Mike was not going to touch it.  So I ended up phoning Essex County Council and spoke to a very helpful gentleman.  He was appalled at our local council for refusing to take it.  He said that when they have to clean up fly-tipping, there is often hazardous material but they have to take it regardless.

He told us to leave it for two days then it would be perfectly safe to take down to the local tip.  We have our main freezer in the garage, this smaller one was only kept in the kitchen for convenience - we would bring up what we needed for the next couple of days.  So we had the small freezer and a fridge below it.  The fridge was the original one that was here when we came.  When Mike moved it to get at the freezer a load of rust fell off the bottom.  We decided that had to go as well.

On Sunday Dean came over (he has a bigger car) and both items were taken to the local dump.

We now have a new all in one - fridge/freezer which is quite big enough for the needs of two of us.  The food we lost was minimal so we are not claiming on the insurance especially as the age of the two items would go against us.

It was scary at the time though and it took hours before the smell of ammonia gas disappeared completely from the house.

So far this year has been nothing but hassle, maybe only little things but coming one after the other.  We are hoping things will quieten down now and we can enjoy the rest of the year once I get my looming medical appointments out of the way.  I have to see the oncologist in May and have not yet received a date for my mammogram.  I am going to be very nervous when that arrives as you can imagine.

This is a very quiet area so we were quite surprised last week when a house in the next road was raided by the police.  It turned out that the whole place, every room, was filled with Cannabis plants!  The house was unoccupied but neighbours said they had seen four well-dressed men going in and out.  Someone tipped off the police and apparently they detected a heat source coming from this empty property (according to the papers) so broke in and found "the stash".  We have not heard anything farther as to whether there have been any arrests.  Justs goes to show that you never know what goes on behind closed doors.

I cannot believe itis Easter already, seems such a short time since Christmas.  They have said it will be bitterly cold and have even forecast snow showers although I am not sure whether they will come as far south as us.

Well, this is turning into a book and lunchtime is looming.

I would like to wish each an every one of you a happy and blessed Easter.  May life be good to you and may the Lord smile upon you.

Love

Some Photos

A grey day now although we did have some sunshine this morning. Still very chilly.

Nathan and Daniel are now well over their Chicken Pox and are their usual bright selves.

I have been having lots of problems with AOL and with my bank.  These things are sent to try us as my Dad used to say.  Hopefully the bank is sorted out now after another very long telephone call this morning.

I received such disgraceful treatment from Customer Services at AOL that I wrote a very stiff letter to their headquarters.  I have received no reply as yet and do not know whether I ever will.  I was tamping mad at the way they handled my problems.  It is far too long to go into on here but it turned out to be a problem with our telephone exchange and nothing to do with our computer.  When you are told by Customer Services that the problem is because you have an extension phone and that you need to replace wiring and cables, then to be hung up on by one representative and have another walk away from the phone and just leave you - well!!  I know the person did this because I could hear all the other phone calls going on, this person just stopped responding to me when I said I could not accept what they were saying, that is was a load of nonsense and I wanted to be put through to a supervisor.

I was right, it was a complete and utter load of nonsense, absolute rubbish as the problem was at our telephone exchange and everything was back to normal the following day.

I will not put up with rudeness and I do not suffer fools gladly.  It remains to be seen whether I shall receive a reply, cost me the price of a stamp but worth it to tell them what I thought of the service.

Other than that I have been pottering around and also doing lots of reading.  Just finished a very good book - Poe, A Life Cut Short by Peter Ackroyd.  The life of Edgar Allan Poe.  What a sad and haunted man he was.  A very good read indeed.

Mike has been out with the camera a few times - just taking local shots, anything that appeals to him - so I am going to share a few of them with you today.

 

Nice to see the Spring blossom coming out.  The clocks change this month and we will be back to lighter evenings.  Maybe then I will be able to attempt some little jobs in the garden, nowhere near as much as I used to - one of the sad things about getting older.  I used to be able to work in the garden from morning until evening but those days are long gone.  As long as it is kept tidyis all that bothers us now.

Well, there really is not much else to tell you.  One day is pretty much the same as another at the moment.

I was very sorry to hear that Patrick Swayze is so ill.  I loved him in Dirty Dancing and in North and South not to mention his films.  I can only say that I hope there is a miracle for him and wish him well in his fight.

Right, lunchtime now so I am off to get myself a sandwich. Hope everything is going well for all of you.  God bless.

Love,