22 October 2010
The nest worked. After a bit of a struggle Michael got me into it and after I had taken a grip on myself and calmed down. I relaxed by taking slow deep breaths and my breathing became more controlled. Perhaps it was Michael’s threat to send me to a hospital if I didn’t fxxxxxxx pull myself together that did the trick! As a result I had the best sleep for the past three nights.
Mid-morning Michael managed to drag me like a dray horse, through the  lush bushes and trees to our old sun bathing platform, across the lagoon. The hotel staff have been absolutely marvellous and put in a number of ramps and cut back the bushes to make the journey possible. I enjoyed just one hour as a first off not wishing to overdo it but it was pleasant to be back. John and Geraldine Barlow were there and we were able to have a good chat.
Back to our room it was then time for my box of fruit lunch and my daily call to, ‘my lovely’ (never willingly missed over the past 48 years). The call went straight through. Then I got stuck into “Sister,†written by Rosamund Lupton  the clever daughter of my friends, the Orde-Powlett’s. The book is causing  a sensation and already, within months, is in many foreign countries and has exceeded publishing records. I had downloaded it through Amazon using ‘Kindle’ software, before I left home. (£3.02 against Waterstones offer for the same
e-book for £7.54). Later, I will let the readers know my reaction
As I sit here, on our enclosed veranda, overlooking the lagoon, it is raining heavily — as it has done most afternoons about this time since we arrived — and we are probably in for another one of those phenomenal ‘Mother of all Storms’. What effect the noise of the storm will have on my dictation will be interesting to observe. Fortunately my Buddy Gooseneck microphone with Dragon Naturally Preferred 10 and the PC, still recognises my husky voice with a reasonable degree of accuracy.
Tonight is the night of  the weekly cocktail party. It  is usually held near the beach and  is followed by a sumptuous Thai buffet and entertainment . This year the hotel increased the cost of this buffet to 1300 baht (£70), the price to include ‘free-flowing beer’, which will, no doubt, appeal to the large contingent of Germans and others who are here. However it does not appeal to us
In any event, we sent our apologises to the management’s for their kind invitation. Apart from our lack of interest in the free-flowing beer there were two other reasons why we felt we could not participate.
One, was the problem of getting anywhere near the beach with the wheelchair and second, how I would survive such a long social gathering – I do get tired towards the end of the day, more so with my limited sleep. The irony, is that due to the rain, the whole event had to be switched, upstairs under cover to the restaurant adjacent to reception. There is no way we could have managed that without a phalanx of bearers
So, it was off to town for us as usual. Tonight to the Onn Onn, Corner Restaurant, for some of our favourite scallops.