23 June 2012

I forgot to mention yesterday, that I had visitors both morning and afternoon. Barton W-P came for coffee in the morning. Judith is away in London doing her granny bit, I think with daughter Katherine’s little ones. so Barton was on his own.

‘My lovely’ makes a point of joining into these little sojourns to spare my voice, which seems to be getting weaker as time goes by. Then, in the afternoon Paul ‘the computer’ came for three hours, but had strict instructions that I should not talk too much so I dozed while he messed about with my computer. He has now got a zoom lens camera and is just waiting for some other piece of equipment, which should be delivered in the next day or two, before working on the use of the Camera Mouse.

Today the Annual Clavering Fete was held on the Jubilee field. Inevitably the weather forecast is for strong winds with the occasional showers. This event has been so lucky over the years with the weather. You would think planned for late June the odds of getting a decent day should be pretty high, but, in this case, they seem to have struck unluckily. This fete, which attracts people from miles around, has an unhappy record so far as the weather is concerned.

I have written before about this fete and how disappointed we are over the changes which have occurred over the past 50 years. When we first came here. It was very much a genuine village fete. A small affair but one in which most of the village were involved either as stallholders or attendees. Now, a number of the traditional fete competitions have disappeared (Bowling for the Pig, for example, where if you won, it you would be given a small piglet, (not everyone’s ideal prize so there was the, alternative of £15) to be replaced by far less suitable activities stalls selling anything from garden furniture to homemade jewellery Having said that , maybe this year’s fete committee have taken these comments on board and resurrected a more traditional fete. Certainly from the publicity material for this fete, which lists the following activities, one could be excused for thinking that they have.

Scarecrow competition.

Dog show.

Maggott racing.

Feel-the-veg.

Taste the cake.

Coconut shy.

Hoopla.

Football shoot-out.

Stocks and Sponges.

Pound-in-the-bucket.

Crockery smash.

Wine or water?

‘Gin’ the Pig.

Tiger-of-War.

Pimms…. Beers…. Burgers

Raffle.

Bouncy Castle.

Live music…. and much more!

I could, no doubt, I could get to the Jubilee field myself in my electric wheelchair but have serious doubts as to how it would perform on a wet, muddy surface. This being so I think I’ll give the fete a miss this year.

I think I mentioned the other day that the district nurse called in to check me over, following that bad spell I had, asked if I wanted them to call in every day. I assured them that I had an excellent carer in Alice and we had best leave it that I gave them a ring if we had anything we were concerned about. The reason for the visit of the district nurse was to look at my toes on my swollen feet. Apparently two of them looked as though they might break into an open sore and as a result, the district nurse had ordered some special ointment. I shall a ring tomorrow to ask her to call in and start us off on using of the ointment and at the same time look at a rather nasty soreness that seems to have developed in my groin. The trouble with all such minor ailments is that I can no longer see them for myself and have to rely on others to keep an eye out and let me know if anything occurs that may require some attention.

From the mundane to the magnificent. From the small local village fete to finding yourself at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and observing the all-round panoramic view. Click here for this wonderful experience.

22 June 2012

Yesterday, I received a telephone call from a company, which I think call itself Love Films. The caller explained that she was making a film for television (Channel 4) on the assisted suicide controversy which has rumbled on in the media over the past two or three years every now and then a patient, with […]

21 June 2012

For some weeks now Alice and I had been trying to have our commode replaced. Now, in the normal way of things this would not warrant any comment. However, there is an enigma here that needs resolving. The commode with which we were initially supplied doubles up as a shower chair with a reasonably comfortable […]

20 June 2012

As the last few entries of this blog touch on the subject of sleep, I was very interested when’ ‘my lovely’ drew my attention to the’ body and soul health’ section of yesterday’s Times (19 June 2012) which dealt all about sleep. I have always been, what the experts would probably label as, an insomniac. […]

19 June 2012

A scary night! Sometime during the night I woke up with pain in my buttock. I reached out for the alarm button and no amount of waving my arms about could find it. So I called out, as loudly as I could, under the respirator, for my night carer. There was absolutely no response, no […]

18 June 2012

Our first visitor this morning was Neil, from Possum – the instrument people who set up a master control unit, in my office, which I could use for telephoning, switching the lights on or off, locking or unlocking doors, etc all using a simple switch, which can be operated by striking it with one’s hand. […]

17 June 2012

Father’s Day. A day set aside to celebrate the value of the father in the family. Although started in 1910 in America it did not really take root much before the Thirties and since then has been a source of commercial income mirroring Mother’s Day, which is taken more seriously. Anyway, Miles and Chloe did […]

16 June 2012

I had a particularly good night’s sleep, in fact the best yet since we have had the benefit of the night carers. We also had a new day carer from Ross Nursing, a second blonde Paula. She will have to be Paula number two (not Bert, as she suggested!) I must say. I am impressed […]

15. June 2012

For some reason I would have to classify this as a’ low day’. No particular reason, that I can think of, I just did not have my usual spark. Perhaps it was because it was another sunny morning, and it, the chilly side, I admit, but one that I could possibly have gone out into […]

14. June 2012

One of our district nurses, Sarah, turned up today with a package of dressings for the two suspect sore toes. In the event, we decided that as the skin and not broken , we would not .this dress them, but keep an eye on them. I have been very impressed with the attention and response […]