Our woodstove is a lot of entertainment for Jake. I'd rather just turn the temp up on the thermostat but he likes creating and fussing with the fire and he spends a lot of time in the recliner next to the woodstove so he gets the greatest benefit.

Jake saw the heart failure specialist yesterday and she said he is doing well. They can monitor his heart via his implanted defibrillator that sends data to them. Also he's lost weight and has a lot more energy. They changed some of his medications so we spent time changing the pills in the bags. I have pills organized for 2-3 weeks, so that's a lot of little bags.

Barbie

Lovely welcome news for Jake BARBIE.

We are waiting for the plumber to arrive soon to drag out the oak tree roots in the pipe. Marks doing a bit of work downstairs whilst we wait. Jilly's chicken is simmering on the stove and I've just put this weeks groceries away.

So far all is positive,
Anne.
Ha, I think the plumber has arrived the way the Bean is barking.

Hello All,

Thank you Anne and Lin for the welcome back. I love catching up with everyone.

Lin - chinooking here today - warm winds from the west melting the snow. Should be nice for a couple of days but snow forecast for Halloween. Darn it.

Barbie - great news about Jake 👍👍
Anne - hope your plumber fixes all.
Sandy - sounds like your Grands keep you busy. We love ours. All our grands are of school age except for Andrew who will be 3 in February. Enjoy your dinner with Bryanna.

Had a nice walk around the neighbourhood today despite the wind. I like to walk as much as I can before we get more snow. I still go out every day but not as far when the sidewalks aren’t clear. #walk365

Hope you all have a great evening.

Jeri

It seems some of us were waiting for people to arrive yesterday but annoyingly my delivery didn’t turn up! To ensure I didn’t miss it, the pooches didn’t get a walk and by mid afternoon we were all grouchy but by then it was too dark, plus it was raining so first thing this morning we walked up to the top of the moors and spent an hour walking in mild sunshine. A card with message has been taped to my door asking that if my shelf unit should arrive while I’m not here to please place it in my garden. I’m not holding my breath!
At least I caught up with housework while I waited so if it remains dry I will pick crabapples before the blackbirds eat them all, prune roses, sort through this year’s new strawberry runners and dig out the old plants then sort more wood for the stove. A coffee morning was planned with Linda but she phoned me yesterday to let me know she has caught a nasty gastric bug, probably from a friend she walked with on Wednesday who collapsed halfway feeling horribly sick. I was sympathetic but agreed I’d rather not see her just now!!

Lin, my local owl does hoot, hoot when I take George and Betty out for their late garden visit! 🦉 The most recent Art Deco tea set is gorgeous, just my sort of design. No horrible surprises from your furnace engineer I hope.

Did your plumber arrive Anne? What a per lava if those roots push their way in annually. My hairdresser told me about one of her clients that is similar age to you who asks her to buy items online for her because if she asks her daughter the response is ‘you don’t need that’. Tamsin says it’s not as if she is a hoarder but occasionally needs to restock items of makeup or maybe a pair of shoes. I mentioned you and your wonderful family that works hard to ensure your independence.

Sandy, that’s wonderful that Bryanna wants you to meet her boyfriend but then you two are very close. Linda told me a funny story about her grandson who has just been offered a scholarship with our local football team Plymouth Argyle. He’s apparently a talented goalkeeper although very young (about 11), so when he had a first meeting with the coaching team and his dad couldn’t go with him because of work commitments, she took him instead. She said the coaches looked surprised when she walked in but Oliver didn’t introduce her so she asked him in a grandma way, ‘and who am I?’ and he looked at his feet and mumbled so she explained to them and it turned out they were all very friendly. She thinks it will take him years to get over the embarrassment!

What a treat to hear from you Jeri but as I continue to enjoy warm weather I can only ask you keep your snow to yourself! 🫣. A long winter ahead for you unless it was a one off.

Must get out and busy especially as I see clouds appearing. Have we lost Patsy again or did I miss a post?

Happy Friday everyone.
Jackie 🥰

Hi JACKIE, I posted just before you about the beautiful oak tree. Yes it is an annual thing, roots in the pipe, but SANDY it would cost the earth to have it cut down because its huge and where would the squirrel live and have her babies, lol. Luckily for me if not for Mark who pays the plumber, our town won't let us cut young trees down and the oak is only about 10 years old. Its name reflects our town as well. I believe the oak trees here were once cut down to supply the Royal Navy with ships. Maybe Captain Cook sailed to Australia in one of our oaks. Neat!
Thats terrible news SANDY. I must admit I sometimes go to bed wondering if I will get up in the morning. So far so good as the above testifies. Its not so long ago I spent half my life at funerals and I finally threw out the black pants bought specially for them. Its a colour I never wear normally.
Just wondering if I should go out and rake but feeling lazy after a morning washing and ironing.
Mmm,
Anne.

Hello. I am not sure how the day became so busy while I stayed at home. 🙃

Long, and I mean long conversations with a number of people and emails with another friend.

The happiest news was the emails. A friend was letting me know that her daughter had her baby 3 weeks early. The baby was only home for a day when she had to go back to the hospital for those special light treatments. And a bit scarier, her daughter had to go back for blood transfusions and a surgical procedure. But she is doing better now as well. But the biggest thrill for her was a secret that her daughter and SIL kept, they gave the baby her middle name. She was excited by that. I answered her as I had no idea her new granddaughter had arrived!

The hours long call was with my friend who cannot get the medical profession to pay attention to her or her husband. He still does not have a pathologist report for the biopsy taken 3 weeks ago which his doctor thought was a sarcoma. She has received no help for the ankle tear, the fractured arm which is healing bent up or her blood pressure which sky rockets out of the blue. She pushed to get a referral to an oncologist for her husband but the oncologist will not make an appointment for him until the pathologist has submitted his report. Her son, who lives in California, pushes her to call people every day to get these tests results. The doctor’s office says the lab isn’t finished testing. I said maybe he should do the calling for his dad. Meanwhile, her husband is just being calm and says you cannot make things happen.

Clearly my friend is living on the edge, I am so afraid she will make herself sick.

Finally, a friend called and we had a number of things to chat about including her upcoming birthday. She has nothing planned but I wonder if her niece will suggest something. She seems to look after my friend quite well.

Oh, and last night, a friend told me that she and her family are moving out of town onto a little acreage in November. She is quite excited about finally getting out of town. I hope all goes well for them. They have a lot to do over the next few weeks

Patsy, good to hear from you. Sorry John is hurting. ❤️❤️

Jeri, good for you to walk even in the cold. Excellent.

Sandy, love the photo. Cute couple!

Jackie, I hope you received your order.

Anne, I have said it before, Mark is a handyman treasure! So happy he continues to work on the house.

Having problems. Going to try to post. The keyboard is going nuts.

Be safe everyone.

Lin🙋🏼‍♀️
❤️❤️

Halloween giggle

Hi JACKIE, just a comment on Betty who is in the dog house. We have loads of foxes and coyotes around here and many is the cat who get eaten by them. Jilly is cat size so I can't let her out at night without me in attendance. The dark mornings are our problem. Jilly wakes me up quite early wanting to pee. For me to totter through the house, down the stairs and then struggling into shoes and a coat is nigh impossible, so we have an early morning pee pad near the back door. Sometimes paper [getting expensive] and sometimes 1 of our cloth washable ones. With her happy and me happy having also visited the bathroom we totter back to bed to sleep another hour. Would this help with Betty and her occasional lapses, especially if they occur early in the morning?

It was 0 this morning so I was darn grateful for the pad today I can tell you! [Jilly as well I bet] However just like SANDYs weather we are gradually warming up again starting today.

LINS news of her friend is so sad. I think the problem's probably the same as here and also in the UK apparently. A big shortage of medical staff. A big shortage of hospital beds etc. Between the European war and the Pandemic causing food and fuel shortages what an unholy mess. Some dreadful stories of hardship, and yet, looking back it was just as bad in the nineteen forties. I think despite the creaky knees etc I am living the best time of my life. Now if only family, old friends and all the pets could reappear!

Anne [ maybe they will, lol. It being halloween!]

Anne, thank you, if only Betty was that trainable but like this morning, she sneaks off when least expected. Both she and George went into the garden as soon as I got up and did a pee, then I went to shower. It was during that time she snuck into the snug and that seems to be the pattern. Before I go out without them I always send them into the garden but when she was first adopted it was a regular occurrence as she would do it in the spare bedroom but it is rare these days. I always know because she looks guilty so knows she has done wrong! She gets lots of praise when she asks to go out and on our walks but sadly, her formative years, when she didn’t have to think about it, just go on the spot, have stayed with her so I think, as Sandy says, I’m going to have to live with her occasional etiquette slips!

I’ve picked a large bowlful of crab apples to make jelly but as we are supposed to get thunder storms tomorrow, I’ll save that job until then. I’m going to search Netflix for a decent movie instead.

Jackie 🥰

Thick fog outside. I can't see the houses across from me and the street isn't that wide. I must warn Michael. Maybe he shouldn't drive over today.
Anne.