Plans!

I had planned to get back to blogging full time this week, but other things have yet again taken a higher priority!
Hubby is back in hospital again, taken by ambulance Monday evening with the same pains as the previous week. At the hospital they took blood, gave morphine and we sat and waited! 3hrs 20m and we saw our first doctor who said it was probably Gallstones and he would be discharging him, but would check his blood tests first. Being close to the nurses station I was able to 'earwig' in on conversations. He spoke in person to two doctors and one on the phone.
I said to hubby, your not coming home! Back came the doctor to say there where a few problems with his blood test and they where showing 'flags'(?) and as the hospital didn't know if they where going up or coming down he would have to be admitted.
We got home at 01.30. I didn't get to bed till well gone 0200 and was up at 0700!

When I phoned the hospital I was told he had had a comfortable night. 30 mins later hubby phoned to say the pain had returned and he'd been vomiting all night!!! Thats comfortable? The hospital have still not said in words what I overheard on them talking about in Accident and Emergency on the phone 'Pancreatitus'.
We where told on Monday evening once admitted he would be given a scan to confirm whether it was Gallstones. When I went to visit him yesterday, he didn't really want visitors, so I left and asked about the scan, nothing was booked for yesterday or as far as they could tell for today either!!!!

When I spoke to our private medical insurers, apparently, because he has an 'acute' problem he can't transfer over to the Private sector (on our insurance)and has to be discharged by the specialist not by himself. But once discharged and if this reoccurs we can then go private!

So now we wait!

We are all pretty bushed, but on the plus side T went and signed up as a volunteer at our local 'Scrapstore' we have had long discussions about her getting a job, but she really only feels confident working in a library and sadly there are not many of those jobs available here, so I suggested she became a volunteer somewhere and she chose here and went yesterday and had a ball!
I can't recommend 'Scrapstores' highly enough if you craft then do see if you have one in your locality and support them!

Chickens and Peas

This is just part of my neighbours paddock that my chooks are on holiday in



we had just moved them here from the top and next week we will move them to the other side of the workshop. They never use this area, he just sits on his ride on mower to keep the grass down



I really wish I had this as I can now see how much happier my hens are over here, I actually feel guilty already about bringing them back at the end of summer!



We bought the new plastic roosting bars for inside the Eglu, they are fantastic and so easy to keep clean compared to the wooden ones,another plus is theres now nowhere for the 'Red Mites' to hide!! I can't recommend these highly enough.
I have no idea the life span of a chicken, we have had them since May 2006, but when they go we shall either drop down to two big ones or four little bantams! Allotment Lady assures me that Bantams don't scratch, which means I would be able to let them out and about more!

Whilst we where moving the chickens, tango had found a lovely comfy spot on their bonfire pile!!




Everytime I go down to do my neighbours chickens at the same time as checking mine, he is there! He makes me chuckle!

I picked loads of peas yesterday, we have already eaten some



so we sat in the sunshine podding them. They make a very satisfying pop when you open them



and there are still more to come. Wonder if you can do anything with the pods? I'm sure you will tell me if there is!



all vacum packed and ready to freeze for that taste of summer in the winter! If they last that long!!!!!

Now for something beautiful



one of my Brugmansias has gone nuts flowering!!!

Holiday Happenings!

Well life sort of takes over when all children and hubby are home. I'm (currently) enjoying the chaos!

We where supposed to have been on holiday, this wet and windy week, having upgraded hoping to have something decent to sit on and sleep the caravan and site was lovely




but nothing decent to sit on or sleep in. The day we arrived was glorious



After the first night I was up at 0430, eldest 0500 and youngest who can sleep for england 0750!! We took a vote and came home. I was crippled.

then

on Friday whilst out for a walk hubby was rushed (blue lights and sirens) to hospital! It was quite traumatic as we had walked about 1.5 miles and he said he had to sit down, I said do you want me to go get the car, yes he did. So eldest and I power walked our way home leaving youngest with him. 400yds from home we heard sirens I flipped but K said T would have phoned, neither of us had recieved calls. So got to the car, drove back round and they where gone, a gentleman was waiting to say they had gone to Great Western. K phoned T and said we had got the message when she got off the phone she said they had the sirens going, so we knew it wasn't good. I broke every speed limit by double and arrived minutes after the ambulance, as they where from Bristol and had taken a MAJOR detour as they didn't know the direct route to hosp
Anyway when we arrived he was in major pain and they looked after him very well. T collapsed in my arms sobbing her heart out (she has learning difficulties and considering what she had been through coped remarkably well)/.
Anyway after the morphine everything calmed down, they kept him in overnight and he was discharge yesterday, they don't know whats wrong with him but has to go back for all sorts of scans etc, etc
Since his 50 birthday, he has been to hospital every year without fail for something, once he gets the morphine he's fine is this telling me something??

The advantage to being at home apart, from the above, was I got to see this






The chooks are on there holidays, in a neighbours huge garden, and he's happy for them to be there for a couple of weeks which rests my plot!
I will post more this week and hopefully get back up to speed again!!

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

Has five days passed since I last blogged???? I seem to have been so busy, yet I'm not quite sure what I've done?? We took T to visited Birmingham Uni and it was an exceptionally long day which we are all still recovering from. We have another Uni visit next week and one the week after too!

My garden is currently annoying me!!!!! Can you believe that! I seem to solve one problem and another occurs elsewhere! Which needs alot of thought and back breaking work to sort!!!! I don't mind weeding and double digging etc, but stuff that requires lifting slabs, digging out trees is now getting a bit beyond me! Which also annoys me to pieces!

So take alook across the patio


lots of growing going on here, I've moved all my Brugmansias up here so I can see the lovely flowera and benefit from the scent. Then turning round you can see how the patio has filled up

all mu indoor succulents are now outside enjoying the weather and growing like billy oh!!!
Through the arch to the veg part

the peas on the right are doing really well,behind them I have sweetcorn planted and they are underplanted with Gem Squash, I grew these for the first time last year for hubby. They where so delicious I have planted five plants this year so hopefully will be inundated with them! The climbing french beans on the right are coming along slowly, with courgettes and potatoes behind them.

Now we come to the part that is annoying me

my flower bed area in the veg patch! My neighbours hedge, which grows over continuously (well they do don't they)the top of there already enormous fence, but I have to cut my side all the time otherwise it makes all my plants lean and fall over, which is exactly what has happened, all the alliums are lying down, as did the poppies and now the lillies.

the tree in the middle of the bed with the yellow leaves is an Indian Bean tree, these are quite beautiful and the leaves are enormous so I think in the autumn I will move it so alittle bit more sun gets to this bed. The main reason I planted it here was that it needed shelter from the wind, which it has certainly got. So I think I will move it further up the bed towards the camera so it offers shelter to the seating area but the sun can get to the rest of the bed.
Further down the garden

then over to the pond


which since we fitted the new pond pump and filter and added some new fish is looking sensational!
In the greenhouse the tomatoes and cucumbers are growing well. I also have my first ever aubergine flower

I'm growing aubergines!!!
A beautiful pink

I can remember mum growing pinks, she always had them and lots of them too, this one reminds me of a clump of hers!!!

I hope you are all OK, I will try and get round to visit you this week, but to be honest, I'm not sure I can blog for a few weeks as our diary is so full. So I haven't popped my clogs, just taking a short break!!

Fruit & Veg!

As you may know I am always on a diet. K wanted to lose weight over the hols so joined me. Everyone was tucking into Choc Ices and we felt left out so here is my recipe for a slimming ice lollie!!!
Weigh and wash 1lb strawberries

Whizz them up

add some lowfat yoghurt of similar flavour, I used Muller Lite

Mix until a marble effect

Pour into lollie thingys

Freeze, then enjoy

I didn't add sweetner but you can do if you wish!!

We had some of my homegrown potatoes on Sunday



they where so scrummy, then I got the Dobies catalogue through, telling me about the winter crops I could be growing, late potatoes, cabbage, cauli etc. Now my small plot is normally empty over winter but I think I may have a go. They also mention autumn onion sets, would I have to cloche them? How successful have people been with any of these?
I wish I had an allotment, did I tell you I'm having another go at growing cauliflower, we are big eaters of cauli, its basically the only veg T eats apart from peas and sweetcorn!