I am back in touch with the Universe and cannot be happier**

  I was not surprised to find that the iphone had to be completely reconnected to the web, as if it was a new machine... so I went and called Apple help, and finally after several attempts to get seen to , and after holding on each time for more than ten minutes, I got a girl who was very very helpful... later it turned out it was her first day, and she had the patience of Job, as I am no techie, and had to wait for me to implement her suggestions, but she got it working again.

. I think that the person yesterday at the Apple shop should have got me back on line, but it was so busy I don't expect he really had the time...


 all in all, I think it was almost two hours of hanging on then chatting to my friend the girl who was based in Lisbon** to get me back connected... well, how marvellous that feels, and I just hope that from now on in, this phone will behave itself***

 This is a picture of a very happy lady, back in touch with Blogland  yay !!!!¬

 

eureka!!!

I went to meet with the Oncologist this morning Monday 26th October 2015, and she was absolutely wreathed in smiles after examining me. She palpated the area that had been given radio therapy and saw that there was some scar tissue that made it feel a little hard around the site of the lumpectomy, but she said it was obviously wonderful to be able to say that I am now all clear, and that I don't have to be seen again until next year, when I will be called in for another Mammogram just to keep an eye on things.. Phew, what a relief... I hadn't really realised just how anxious I had been before the meeting... now I can relax and do whatever presents itself to do.. wonderful news, and so thankful for attending that mammogram in May...

tomorrow I get to go on a very long drive.. about almost 4 hours away.. to visit an old school friend. the last time we met was several years ago and it will be good to catch up with her, and another friend who will be meeting me there. I hope that the weather is as clement as today has been. Today was just the most wonderful autumn day, very mild and with all the wonderful colours of the trees and their leaves. Darkness catches up with us quickly now, but its to be expected... just that its so nice when the evenings are long, but now around five thirty the darkness imposes its will on the living.  Each afternoon John takes Millie out for her walk.. Its about an hour and she gets to run free for a while, but now, they are returning in the darkness even though when they left it was bright sunshine.

I am still feeling the affect of this radio therapy I think, because around 7 30 in the evening I start to flag, and if it was not so early, I would happily climb into my bed and go to sleep. I just hope that the long journey tomorrow will be ok, and that I will be back earlier than that so I wont fall asleep on the motorway*
 Although England is a very small place, travelling to see friends in other parts of the world can take some  hours, and this time, my friend lives near Southampton, so its a reasonably straight line there, just a long time getting to her house!!



this is a bit out of sync as it happened at the start of this week, but I shall put it here anyway, another set of random thoughts ,,

what a palaver**

On Monday because BT telecoms advert kept  getting in the way every time I wished to use the web on my mobile, I decided to see if I could rid myself of the annoyance by reverting to an older setting.. well, that did it* It froze onscreen with the apple icon, and stayed like that.. could not get it to jump or reboot, no matter what I tried over the next few days, and oh, what a loss it was to me..

 I went to visit friends and of course got lost, because I didn't have my little helpful map thing on the phone

.. finally on Thursday, that is, yesterday, I got to go to the Apple shop in Leicester.. Of course I printed out a map and directions, but guess what?

 There was an accident, so had to turn round, rejoin the motorway and get off at the next junction.. so no map was helpful at all!! I stopped at a small garage and the lady told me the directions and I bought the map of the area off her, and started on my way again. The kindness of some people is so charming.. anyway, got to the centre of the town, stopped in a restricted zone to see if any one could help.. just hope I don't get a ticket for that... then parked and thought that if I have to walk, a long way, then I will have to do it, but park the car first..

 On my way to the lifts I asked a man where to find the shop and he said that there was one in the very centre where we stood.. Thank the lord, again the kindness of strangers.. he took me onto the floor of the mall and pointed it out to me..

A young man in the shop  saw me and took the phone away for half an hour, then returned it to me.. the phone is now working, but I have to rejoin it to the wifi and all the other settings re establish..

Now I am NOT a techie, so probably the whole of today will be taken up, just trying to reconnect... wish me luck!!!

set piece for Autumn

This afternoon I decided to do as other bloggers have done and arrange a little set piece to show Autumn is here, or as the others call it Fall... That word Fall used to be an English term,but got crossed out after the Normans took over in the 11th century and we use the French word instead of our own real one... However it went across the seas and is used in Canada and America, so we can still relate.. I picked the pine cones and sprayed them gold and added the horse chestnut fruits and a few leaves and a small squash fruit. I tried to get a pumpkin, but they are not on sale over here yet.. at least not in my neck of the woods... I always used to like this time of the year, when the leaves came down and the trees became bare.. it was a time of getting new coats and new uniforms for school... a time of restarting all over for the coming school year. Going to school on the first day, finding your desk in the classroom, smelling the newness of the books, pads, and pencils are what remain in my memory. The first time you open the book to write what is on the board in front of the class, and put it into the pristine pages of the new book is a wonderful memory.

 I loved learning.. not much good at it really because I never pushed myself, but I held my own, never first, but not last either in the classroom.

 I was taught by nuns. They were very strict, but fair. I have read all sorts of horror stories of people educated by nuns, but our nuns were not nasty or sadistic, just good wholesome women who were there to teach us the subjects. It was a school that was established about thirty years before I joined it. I was nine, so that would have been in 1954. We had moved house to Hampton Middlesex, and the school was a bus ride away in the next village. Each morning we would walk down the road for about fifteen minutes and then wait on the side of the platform for the train to arrive. We went with slightly older girls who kept an eye on us, making sure we didn't get into any danger.

 After arriving at the station in the village of Sunbury on Thames, we would then walk together for another 15 to 20 minutes to the gates of the school then walk up the long drive. On the right of the drive there was a big field with at least one or more horses just chumping away at the grass. Never knew who owned them but we saw them every day.

 Walking up the drive would take another few minutes before we would arrive at the cloakroom to take off our outer garments and go to our classroom.

tomorrow

Tomorrow I am meeting up with my oncologist to decide if that treatment was sufficient and I don't need any more attention.. I certainly hope so, but I shall wait and see and not get worried until I know.  Its been quite a journey from the mammogram in May and then after coming back from seeing my girl in Canada, starting the treatment in July... 15 days of radiotherapy and then, as they said, two more weeks when the therapy was continuing to work around the breast... bruised and discoloured, itchy and irritated skin that broke and wept a bit... then it all started to heal... Then, I caught a virus that laid me low for three weeks, so this evening I am happy that my body is back to normal and I feel quite myself again.

I cannot imagine that in two months we shall be at the end of another Christmas day.. This year, instead of entertaining the family and friends, I am going to be spoiled and given lunch at my daughter's house in Oxford. My other two sons will be there and her family, so it will be super to be all together.. We shall probably try and ring Dan in Australia and Gaby in Canada, so we can all chat and catch up and bring them into the celebrations with their little families too.

I like Christmas, but it is such a lot of work for mothers and wives. I don't think that one really appreciates how much has to be done, planned and executed and keeping a smooth household without dramas as well as you go along! when all five were little, it was very hard work, but so enjoyable seeing those little faces light up on Christmas day.. what fun and happiness and laughter roared through the house. magical days indeed.

So now I am not having to worry about Christmas planning, just having to get all the gifts sorted, and I actually do start in October to get the little bits and pieces sorted so I can manage to have an array of gifts for my kids and their kids, without spending a fortune. I know how easy it is to spend a lot of money on toys and items for others, without really knowing just exactly how much everything is costing.. but this year I am going to be frugal.. no more sending out #Christmas cards Used to spend over £60 just on the postage, which is stupid money gone down the drain, so they will all be emailed, or spoken to.. I know its nice to see cards, but really the cost of sending now I am retired, it is just too much money..
I sound like a skinflint I know, but really it is common sense..  I have found reading other blogs so inspirational and the ideas astoundingly good and easy to copy.. I had one year, the very best gift of all. It was a hamper made by my daughter in law, with homemade things in it, like jam, bread biscuits, soap and it really was so wonderful as it was made with thoughtfulness and deep love.. so that's the mood for my Christmas this year.. somethings made by me, and other gifts thoughtfully chosen at the Charity Shops.. what are you all going to do this year?