Thursday 29 January 2009

Christmas? What Christmas?

First of all may I wish you all a very Happy New Year. I can't believe it is nearly the end of January but I will try and let you know what has been happening. As you know we had to leave France early to take my dad back because he was so unwell. It was a very long....... long drive home because dad was so uncomfortable bless him. We made it and managed to get him to the doctors next day and basically, he has been through all the various tests, x-rays, consultancy with a back surgeon, physio etc. firstly, with him not getting any better. Since he has been home, he couldn't even go to bed in a bed, luckily we had a special chair which flattened out and he has slept in there until 2 weeks ago which isn't the best thing is it? After a couple of weeks with the physio, we realised that exercises weren't doing any good at all so we went down the route of acupuncture. What a difference, he is obviously one of the lucky ones who responds well to it and he is now walking without a stick and as I say, he is able to lie down in a bed. Fingers crossed he will continue because he is desperate to come back out here again.

Christmas was very difficult, poor dad was in absolute agony and I did think of calling an ambulance at one stage. Every time he moved it brought tears to his eyes, so instead of going to my youngest daughters, Clare and Kenny came round to mum and dads and cooked the most delicious meal for us all. Not the most exciting day for them but needs must. They were both wonderful and we just had to make the most of it. Very strange because Vicki and the grandchildren were away for Christmas in Guernsey, but as it happened, it was all for the best because it would have been impossible with the children and very boring for them and even more difficult for my dad.

On top of all this, .... yes, there's more...... I had the most awful cough and I just coughed day and night so wasn't sleeping at all. It would go for a day, then a cold, then back again. Three trips to the doctors later and a course of antibiotics and staying at Vicki's with the poor grandchildren wondering why Nannie was shut in Williams room, I thought I was getting better. I called my mum and asked if I could go back there as I wasn't infectious any more and they jumped at the chance of having us back. When I got there, my bed was made up with a water bottle in it, a bowl of grapes on the side table and she fed me with lemon and honey, and milk, honey and whiskey to go to bed on. Mums are wonderful aren't they, but I think I have the best. I have just got rid of the bad throat and cough and it has taken 9 weeks!!!!

We finally got back to France on the 20th January and as you can imagine, with being away for so long, the house was very cold and rather damp. The beds were horrid so we had to wait for quite a while before we could go to bed, giving the blankets time to warm it through. The fires were lit the next morning and we found out we have something wrong with the chimney in the kitchen, so back to one log fire in the lounge. This hasn't been out since we got back.

There's more.......As you may have heard, we had a tempest / hurricane come through here and we were pretty lucky with no damage to the house. Trees down all over the place, part of the roof off the church in the village, and majority of houses have lost a certain amount of tiles. The outcome of the storm was, no electricity for nearly 4 days and no telephone or internet for 7 days. We are now slowly trying to catch up. Reading this post, you have to laugh it's so awful, but needless to say we are glad to be back and are now getting into some routine. Oh by the way, did I mention we had a puncture which needed a new tyre. Oh and the cat has been bitten and we had a trip to the vet. What else.............................

I think I had better stop there just in case I think of anything else but again I would like to wish all of you a very happy new year and I look forward to catching up with everyone's blogs. It is going to take me ages but I will make it in the end. Hopefully I will be blogging on a regular basis again. Oh by the way, I found my first two snowdrops and some crocus yesterday.

8 comments:

apple tree quilter said...

Welcome back. You had a very unusual holiday as I see it. Glad that you are feeling better and that you Dad has responded so well to the acupuncture.

Vicki wrote that Bill's parents were coming, but not when. I was going to try to send some fabric over with them, but have not heard back from her. Would like to spoil you with some new patterns. Let me know.

Here's hoping 2009 bodes well for us both! Sharlene

Clare said...

Glad to have you back (in the blogging world at least).
I will be back in Blog Land soon too - I have a plan just need to work on it first.
Love you lots
Clare
xxx

Vixbil said...

Love you and so glad you are feeling better.
xx

aims said...

Well my friend - what a bout of 'one thing after another' you've been having. I did wonder about your place when I read of the storms you've had over there. Glad everything and everyone came through okay.

Now - what bit the cat? Do you know? Is he okay?

Glad to see you again. Have missed you - but have been off in my own little land without internet much of the time as well. At least we've both survived. So glad your Dad is feeling better too!

Clare said...

FYI - check out www.bligger-blogger.blogspot.com
xxx

softinthehead said...

Hazel glad to have you back. It sounds like it has been a stressful couple of months, I am sure you have lots to catch up on but don't over do it :)

dND said...

Welcome back Hazel. What a Christmas! And then to come back to the storm too...

I'm so glad that you and your dad are feeling better. I don't know what it was about 2008 but I am hoping for a better 2009. So far, it doesn't look any better for me but there is always the rest of the year.

I do hope you've got the house warm soon, it does take a few days, and that the chimney is fixed too. So glad to hear you escaped any major damage too.

Take care,
Deborah x

Living the Dream said...

Thank you all for your lovely comments. Sharlene, spoil me with some new patterns??? What a tease, now I will just have to wait and see.
Clarabelle, have I told you lately just how damn cute you are? Weren't dad and I clever? :-)
Vicki, you were a star looking after me, what a miserable time I gave you. So sorry. Will be better next time.
aims: Good to hear from you as well my friend. I hope things are going well for you now. As for Smokey, don't know what bit him and we have kept him indoors for 5 days and he was going crazy this morning, even pee'd on the sofa so we had to let him out. We haven't seen him since!! I wish he would come home, it's now 7.30pm and I want him safe indoors.
sith: thanks for the comment. No chance of overdoing it. Off to Ikea tomorrow with some friends. Ho hum.....
dnd: not a good time at all and the storm was very scarey. Did it affect you at all? I hope 2009 is better for you. Sorry things are not good at the moment. Take care