Day 350 - BLANKET

We have quite a few blankets in our house, not for our bed but for the cats!! Here is Florrie in Peter's chair during the day when he isn't around!!

We are finally sorted in our house , all presents wrapped.,all decs we want out and calm descends again

Presents to give to friends are under the tree and presents for DGC and DC on Christmas tree are in our spare room.
I am now busy getting mini books for 28th made, think I will get there :)

Day 349 - HEALTH

Peter and I are fairly healthy people and rarely get colds...having said that woops hope we don't catch one so near Christmas.
I have been around a lot of colds and coughs this winter and thanks to a friend's advice take echinacea and vit C for a few weeks if I have been in contact with someone.I have just started taking it again :)

A horrible day today, wild and windy and have had to go our twice this morning to shops with a friend and breakfast which was nice. Then to collect DGD from the farm where she studies to catch a bus to Eastbourne so she can work there this weekend. Now I am off to collect peter from bowls where he went after his am work!!

Jenni in case I forgot, thank you so much for starting 2013 blog, haven't really had time to digest it yet!!!

Thank you Anne for your lovely card xxx

Day 348 - EDIBLE

Thank you dear friends for you kind words yesterday, you are quite right I am under an obligation to look after myself and Peter!

Today I feel in a much better place, went to my scrapping class where I wasn't good but back home at lunchtime I finished the Christmas tree, put other bits around and vacced downstairs...also washed down the front door and hung a wreath. Feeling much better

Are these bananas EDIBLE?

Well Xanthe saw these bananas on Tuesday and said "yuck" but after I  peeled one of them she was happy to eat it as it wasn't over ripe inside!

I have to say we normally don't let them ripen up but then things haven't been normal here for a week!!  Getting to grips with food in the fridge and a shopping list for tomorrow through to Christmas weekend!

Yes I feel quite relaxed and hope tonight that my sleep is relaxing too and I awake refreshed!

Day 347 - OBLIGATIONS

A difficult one today, thank you Susie xxx
One of the definitions...People are obliged to carry out certain actions for other reasons as well, whether as a tradition or for social reasons

Well we all have lots of obligations. For me......  
1.  It is to care for our DD who has is very down as she has been signed off work til the new year so money will be difficult for her :( She cannot drive so we will have to run 2 teenagers to football, collect from college and to take the 16 yr old to work when there is no public transport.  I don't want to say anymore in public now.
2. We have Christmas coming up and we feel obliged to give and to receive, I would rather give and really I am not bothered about receiving
Here is Peter who is the present wrapper in our house...well I do write and post all the cards :)

 3. I am obliged to keep our house clean and tidy, at times I would rather not!!
4.I am also obliged to think about our meals daily, ....to provide some lunch each day and to cook a meal each night. OK I could say nothing bought and nothing cooked and Peter would do something but...I feel obliged LOL!!.
Dinner tonight scrummy fish pie we have just eaten and one of our favourite vegetables, sprouts!

I can think of many others but becoming depressed. I would rather not use the word obliged, but I want to !

Well we went out in the country and stopped at a frosty field for this photo. I am pleased with it as I didn't use macro on the camera!

Sorry Helen I burnt down below today's date tonight :( Not a good photo but WOW not many days left!!

12 days left til Christmas day!!

Day 346 - LOOK UP

Looking up at our ceiling light this afternoon

 Looking up at the ceiling kitchen light at DS's house this teatime

 Strange sky as we left for the school run this afternoon. The clouds were still like this in the east as we came home after sunset, but they were now black clouds !!

To show you all I am still burning the advent candle daily and haven't left it to burn down!! but scraey to see there aren't many days left til 24th!!!

Day 345 - Tree -that tree or your Christmas tree!

Here is THE tree all shorn by Peter and ready for 2013!!

Cannot show you our finished tree as Peter got the tree and decs down from the loft at lunchtime to give me some TLC.  We had 2 lovely hours and then back to family collecting DGD and shopping for stepDD. Tonight I don't feel I want to finish it so it has lights and nothing else!!

Here are a box of decs waiting!!

Another one of our baby trees around the house, we bought this from Germany many years ago. We have seen them in the UK in the past years.

Day 344 - LIGHTS

Jo  has managed her pain quite well today and I think the crutches are helping her walk better. It was her birthday at home and she was pleased to be home. We had a Chinese take away meal tonight instead of a meal out.

 This hat was Amie's present to her Mum which was stuck on Peter's head, Mr Happy????

 On our way home tonight we saw this tree lit up for my lights photo.

 What a surprise I had when I looked over the fence

It was a beautiful scene

Day 343 - MUNDANE

Day 2 of D stepD in hospital and our DGC and sorting them out!!

I was too tired to post yesterday and realised that you didn't know we took DGD and a friend (2 16yr olds) to see a group the Rizzle kicks?at the Brighton Centre last night.  Have you ever heard of them? Do you want too? I am feeling not only tired but old too!! Any way last night having been at hospital all day we took these two girls to Brighton, dropped them off at 6.20pm to get in a huge queue to get in a standing only view and spent the night in the lanes eating in an Italian restaurant. We finally got the girls back in our car at 11.20pm and home before 1pm!!

Today we were at home am TV enigneer comes, Perdita (DIL) comes and ringing the DGC at different venues and Jo's friends and sorting DGC's social lives again before A&;E day 2.

Do we look fed up...well we are!! 

 This is Jo about to be discharged as the nurse gives her the medication to take home, morphine, tramadol, diazapan and good old paracetomol!! and 4 crutches, 2 for upsatirs and 2 for downstairs!!

We brought her out at 4pm and she chose to go home alone (she is 44yrs) and we finally fell in the door at 6pm in time for Strictly and a lovely casserole.
Decided food daily can be mundane??? So here is my photo....every day we always have to provide food, I love cooking but at times I am so fed up of the daily routine! Thank goodness the casserole was made and cooking on a low heat all day and was ready forus tonight

The highlight of today is a photo sent of Xanthe going to a party am as a Christmas pudding dress, she is going to wear it again on Christmas day :)

Nite all off for the comfort of my bed :)

Day 342 - COMFORT

Sorry I went AWOL, Dstep D was taken to hospital and we had her and 2 DGC aged 16 and nearly 14 to sort out, s you all know they have a huge social life too!!

Too many things to tell you except an ambulance was called again this morning, and she went to hospital and was kept in tonight. They have kept her in A&E assessment ward to try and get her pain level acceptable so she can move and walk.

My comfort is putting on one of my fluffy dressing gowns and aslo going to bed. Here I am at 2 different retreats

With Shirley at the Crumblies retreat (we were known as the 365ers) I love this striped dressing gown, it has a hood too :)

 At my team the Dizzy Dots retreat with my Mr Blobby fluffy dressing gown (my favourite one :))

and our bed...my escape from life, love it!!

Day 341 - CURLY

I'll try not to say too much but our day didn't go as planned, me scrapping, helping a friend with poor movement to shop and Peter work and visit a sick friend. We left home at 8am and got home at 5pm!!

It started with the phone ringing and waking us up at 7.40.It was D step D's neighbour to say Jo was on the floor with her bad back and unable to move with the pain so by the time we arrived 30mins later the ambulance and their ambulance car was at her house and they were giving her gas and air to try and relieve the pain and to get her standing up. The short story was after more than an hour she had the choice to go to A&E and have a morphine injection which would take the pain away and get her moving or to lay where she was until the GP came after morning surgery to give her the same injection, she chose to stay on the floor! Her daughter was at home and her son went to school.
The GP came at 12.30 and after the injection left her on the floor to move when she was able. She managed to get up at 2pm and hobbled around, painful to sit down and should stay moving as much as possible. She has had back pain on and off for years and now I think she needs to have a referral to a consultant myself. Her daughter is 16 (17 in March) is capable of looking after her and her son 14 home from school is now being difficult at home but under threat to come and stay with us which he doesn't like as we are too strict!!!
I have shopped for food for them and Peter got money put on her gas for heating and been for more meds including oral morphine and diazapan and ???? At the mo she has taken herself back to bed, so hope she can get up again this evening!!

I must still have a sense of humour as this is my photo for today for curly. It came to mind as soon as I saw the word and I found them in the supermarket. For SW friends 1= 6 syns!!

Thank you for listening. It is 6pm and I have showered and sitting in PJ's and going to have a large G&T!

Day 340 - CORNER

A lovely day out with Peter being postie and delivering all local cards in Hastings, Bexhill and Eastbourne. We saved a lot of money and then had lunch out and spent it all!!
Look what I found in Bexhill, totally the wrong day LOL!!

Coming home at 3.40 we had the most glorious sunset behind us and this was the sky facing east

Here is a corner of my bible well worn!!

Just to show you I am burning the advent candle very carefully this year!!

Day 339 - COUPLE

I am busy adding the wedding photos to the minibooks I have made  ready to give Sue's girls when they come to stay on Dec 28th. There were plenty of couples photos to choose from.

 and plenty of dear Sue. She was so happy to see her daughter Michelle get married before she died.

Day 338 - CURVES

Xanthe's rucksack has Miss Chatterbox on the front, plenty of curves to see here!!

Day 337 - SOMETHING RANDOM AND ASYMMETRICAL

bee to an all day crop today and had to text Viv to find out what to photo! Thank you Viv xxx
Needless to say was so busy making 2 more mini books that I have only just taken a random photo!!
Our wall paper has an asymmetrical pattern!!

as has our furniture! Both photos are not the correct colours as they have been taken in electric light.

I remembered to blow out the candle last night and today I blew it out ready for day 3 tomorrow

Day 336 - AROUND THE HOME

Today is the 1st of Dec and we now only have 30 more days of this challenge left! It is the coldest day this year for us here so far this winter.
Today I am wrting cards and wrapping gifts for our Christmas crop tomorrow

 Our washing once again is drying indoors although it has dry and sunny today but these were from last night.

Tonight as I cook tea I will start to burn my advent candle and try to remember to blow it out!! One year I burnt down to day 11 on the first day!

Shimelle's Journal your Christmas has fallen in my mail box this am but I am trying to ignore it this year as I think I have enough to do!!