WOYWW 771

 Well, what a fabulous weekend - it was my birthday and what a lovely day I had on Sunday.  My friend Jayne came around with her daughter, Alicia, and we had a little party.

The day before Jayne had been to the Extravaganza at Lavinia's and next door there is a lovely little bakery.  They had some boxes made up for Mother's Day and Jayne decided they would be the perfect way to celebrate my special day.  Sadly they had all been ordered but she got them to just make up another four.

Here they are

Inside were four different sandwiches. quiche, salad, sausage roll, a fresh cream meringue, three tiny cupcakes, a chocolate brownie, a scone with jam, cream and strawberry and a chocolate.  Everything was delicious and I could not eat all of mine so had some later for supper and finished off the cupcakes the next day.

She also brought a lemon drizzle cake complete with candles and they sang 'Happy Birthday' to me.

I had flowers, chocolates, toiletries, a pot plant, money and a new 'bee' necklace to replace the one I seem to have lost.  Now it won't get taken off, but if it has to it will be put back straight away,  Not to forget a lovely Facetime with my little sister and her hubby in Oz, and loads of messages from family and friends.

I must show you a rose that was in some of my flowers, it is so beautiful

isn't it a beauty.

I will share my cards next week when I take them down.  Here they are for now but you can't see them all

It's good news on the knee front.  Today we saw that the open wound had really started to shrink and the nurse said it was looking much better.  The new treatment is obviously working and I am walking around like a mummy.  Last week Katie decided that it needed some 1% hydrocortisone cream on the open wound and some felt to compress it all.  So here I am - a gauze dressing over the hydrocortisone, then two layers of felt, next a large waterproof dressing and then a stocking.  Not finished yet - then a cottonwool bandage, then another bandage, then another and finally another stocking.  Don't think I will be cold if my leg comes out of bed!  Today's nurse made a lovely job of it and tucked it all in around my toes and stuck some tape on so that it stands more chance of not moving.

She also put some barrier cream around the wound in case it leaks so it doesn't burn my skin, and then E45 all over my leg because the skin is so dry.  The lengths these District Nurses go to to look after their patients.  I didn't know until the other week that they provide the service 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  I certainly cannot say anything but praise for the NHS and they way they have looked after me with this injury.  Can't thank them enough.

So it's positive news all around and today the nurse does. not think it will tear any more now so I can start to bend my knee a little more but if I sit I must keep it up.  Hopefully I can do a bit of papercrafting in the week ahead and make some "thank you" cards ready to give out.  Watch this space!

WOYWW 770

Still no crafting done but I have done something with an old piece.  I found my tray full of dominoes in the spare room and I decided it needed a good tidying/cleaning so out they all came and the tray got a good old clean, each domino got wiped and put back.  I intend, when I am on my feet again, to put some kind of plaster or something on the tray and push each domino in so that they look like tiles with grouting between them.  They need reorganising as they do vary in size a little.  Maybe some new ones!

and

Whilst rummaging in the drawer I came across two Alice bracelets made of dominoes and a gorgeous domino brooch sent to me by my friend Snow in America - years ago (it's a napkin stuck on the domino but I love the wire work she did.).  It is such a long time since I did domino art, think I might do a bit again.

Well, last week I asked you WOYWW'ers what you would have done about the cheaper priced rollator.  I decided to go with the cheaper one but explain to the local store that I was not going with their one as I had found it cheaper elsewhere.  She looked on the internet, saw their price (same store, different branch) and said they would honour the price.  So all came good - I got it £50 cheaper from the local store.  Honesty is the best policy.

In my search for a rollator (there are so many) I had certain criteria to meet.  I didn't want brake cables showing on the outside, fear of catching them and breaking, and it had to accommodate a very tall person, namely me.  I didn't want to start slouching over the rollator.  I wanted a seat and I liked how my Dolomite folded in half so I could narrow it to get through tiny gaps.

The Dash seemed to be the one I wanted but imagine walking down the road using a rollator with the name "Dash" on it.  Just perfect for taking the 'mickey'.  Actually that was not the only reason, it was just that bit too small, by 4cm.  Great folding action though and so light.

I ended with a "Drive Nitro" as it followed the criteria but it is not like my Dolomite, I miss my Dolomite.  Why did they stop making it?  The seat on the Drive Nitro is too low for my liking and when I sit on it I am afraid to get up on my own.  Whether this is temporary or not with my knee not being able to bend we will have to wait and see.  In the meantime I need Chas to help me get up.  Think I have lost my confidence with the fall. It does have good points though, the seat when it gets wet wipes immediately with a cloth, the handle adjustment is easy - just once click, and the shopper has a zip cover.  Still miss my Dolomite though.

WOYWW 769

Another week and things are looking up.  Last Wednesday was spent all day more or less on the internet trying to track down a Dolomite Jazz Rollator to replace the one that had no brakes.  The phone call to Chessington was so disappointing, they no longer make the Dolomite!!!  And so began my day of internet searching.

Tracked a second hand one down (after much searching) that was only £90 (mine had cost £360 brand new years ago) but on reading lower down it was in Southampton and 'collection only'.  A little too far to travel from up north.  And so eventually I gave up and began looking for something similar.  Eventually narrowed it down to two, a Drive X and a Force Premium Luxury Lightweight.

By this time I had decided to buy locally in the hopes that they could help if anything went wrong but on ringing our local store I found they had the Drive Nitro (similar to the X) but had not heard of the other.  Price £249.95.  On looking to see the Nitro on the internet I found that the same company had this one in their showrooms for £50 less but at another branch.  Still not too far away.  What to do?

That is quite a substantial difference in price but the lady at our local branch had been so kind measuring the height of the handles on the two rollators they had.  I have such a soft heart I really was tied.  Fifty pounds is fifty pounds!  What would you have done?  

Well, I do have a little papercrafting to show you WOYWW members that is new.  A lovely friend sent me some images for me to colour in if I wanted to and I did.  And now I can show you a bit of what I did with my Inktense pencils.  It was done on my lap on one of those trays with a bag attached underneath full of polystyrene balls.  I balanced my pencils on the chair arm and then dribbled water from my straw in my drink onto the craft mat in order to wet the crayoning with a brush and turn it into watercolours.  Get the picture?

Sorry about the shadow

here's an old blog page from 2022

and here are some flowers I received this week

from a lovely friend

Aren't they lovely?  But there is a funny story goes with them which is why I am showing them to you,  Now as you may remember I am stuck in a chair most of the time with my leg up.  These flowers arrived in a cardboard box and I wanted to arrange them myself so I had the box balanced on one chair arm, a tray with a vase (no water) on my lap and a pair of secateurs.  Once I had the flowers arranged I sent them off for a much needed drink and began tidying up the tray when I felt a "nip" on my arm.  To my amazement I had a little brown beetle gnawing away at me.  A hasty flick with some paper and a shout for 'help' got him removed to the compost heap.  Talk about the flowers being fresh!  And they smell beautiful.

The crochet is not progressing as intended I am having problems turning a corner and going in the row already done.  I have tried and tried but it looks awful.  I just don't seem to be able to count the chains.  Any ideas you ladies who crochet?  This is me trying to go and do a second row:

Now be honest, my second attempt is worse than my first here.  I think I am one of those learners who needs the teacher sat at the side of her.  But I will persevere.  I cannot believe I once crocheted that mat I showed on here some time ago, but I know I did, and with no help.

Well, that had better be it for today, another good report from the District Nurses.  It doesn't look much different when you see the photos but the swelling is going down all the time, and the hole is shrinking.  They are pleased and so am I.  That spurred me on to go to the Podiatrist and get my feet sorted so that is happening on the 7th March - next step is the hairdressers.  I wonder if I could go with my hair newly washed at home and just have it cut and blown to cut down time sat with my leg down?

WOYWW 768

 Another Wednesday is nigh.  That means it is time to chat and see what the lovely WOYWW'ers have been up to and are planning to do.  This is my contact with the outside world at the moment except for my other friends who keep me sane with messages and phone calls and the wonderful DN's who I see Tuesdays and Fridays.  My WOYWW friends have been a Godsend.  Thanks for giving me a touch with the outside world, especially of crfafting.

I'm about to have a major spend!  My rollator brakes have gone and so I need to replace it with a new one as they do not seem to be able to repair them.   I desperately need to have my rollator at the moment and I love the one I first bought which is for people up to 6'4" tall.  It is as Dolomite Jazz 2 610 and I have tracked one down at a salesroom in Chessington.  A bit far for us to travel so I am hoping that a phone call later today will result in them getting one to me pronto.  At the moment I am managing to use it with DH putting his foot against the wheel so I can use it to get up into a standing position,

Monday night I went to bed for the first time since the accident but had a bad night as I could not lay flat because of the broken ribs.  But then it set my neck off again and the pain got too much for me.  Now my neck is what is giving me the most pain - go figure!  It's an old injury and my chiropractor usually puts it right but at the moment I cannot travel to see her.  What a pickle.  Gosh this is turning into a pity party, sorry, not meaning to.

So the crochet has not been growing, in fact nothing has.  Sorting out the hot and cold treatment on the various parts of the body, making sure I am doing all the things I am supposed to be doing and not doing what I have not to be doing means there has not been much time for recreation.

Sadly once more nothing to show you so in order to put something on my blog I searched through my old photos and decided to show you a couple of my blog pages from yonks ago.

and a card above and some tins below

Now to see what I can find to keep me busy and happy - searching WOYWW for inspiration.

WOYWW 767

 Here we are all again, our little happy band of WOYWW crafters.  One of the nicest groups of people I know.  If you feel like joining in all you need do is show us what your desk is like.  It doesn't even have to be a desk, it can be a table, the floor, a lap tray or, in my case, the arm of a chair.

Yes, I am still not crafting and I am not getting on very fast with my crochet.  The main reason is that I am falling asleep the whole time.  Even if I have a good night's sleep I drift off during the day as well.  I did some reasonable chains last week, was happy with my tension but kept on trying to improve.  This week my chains have not been that good, my reasonable tension has up and gone.  However, I have progressed in that I learned how to turn a corner and do a second row.  Now don't laugh

I am never going to be like the Lynne's of this world or any of our other crochet ladies.  But I am going to persist.

On the health front I finished my two courses of antibiotics and the nurse (and I) were absolutely delighted, over the moon in fact, with my knee yesterday at clinic.  It has started to clean up at last thanks to the second course of antibiotics and the type of dressing they use on the open wound each time I go to clinic.  Those District Nurses are worth their weight in gold.

Remember the cutaneous horn I had removed before Christmas?  Well, I started treatment on the site it had been removed from and my three weeks finish today.  Tonight will be the last application of the Efudix - hurrah!

So all is working well at the moment.  I might even do a bit of paper crafting one day soon.  Pretty basic as I can't bend my knee so it will have to be done on my lap as what I do.

Hope you all are having a lovely Valentine's Day if you celebrate it;  and if you are single, hope you got a load of cards from all your secret admirers. Ever practical I bought my other half a new Pinch of Nom cookbook.  He needs some new recipes to try out on me.  Now where did he put that package last week?

WOYWW 766

Today's nurse was one I have seen before and she said she could see a slight improvement on what she saw just over a week ago so that was good news.  Another week and my crochet has not proceeded as quickly as I first thought but I am hoping to get the tension right before I proceed with anything else.  So its chain, chain, chain.

So again there is nothing on my desk.  I am sleeping most of the time and find myself replying to an email or message and dropping off, waking to find a row of "c's" or some other letter as my finger has hit the key.  So that has kept me busy.

Healing has been helped with more antibiotics following an emergency dash from the District Nurses to my GP.  That was last Friday and it was the DN who rang the surgery to get an emergency face to face appointment.  The receptionist at the other end asked if I could make it within 25 minutes and I said I could only try, but it would be a push.  The DN's practically pushed me out quickly.

Well, teatime traffic going through the centre of town meant nothing but jams and it got to five minutes away from the appointment so being the considerate person I am (really am most of the time and certainly in situations like this) I decided to ring the surgery to explain the situation.  Do these receptionists get training by 'Adolf'?  I got a right ticking off and told how if I was late it would throw every other appointment out of line.  "I know that, I am not stupid and we are doing our best".

Arriving in the surgery only 5 minutes late I was surprised to find the place empty apart from the cleaners working down one of the corridors.  'Adolf' nowhere to be seen but then which receptionist it was I had no idea anyway.  Thank goodness the Advanced Practitioner Nurse (who was ex casualty/lovely) on seeng the photos said I needed more antibiotics and so she extended the Flucloxicillin and gave me Clarithromycin 500mg which works alongside it.

On a brighter note Chas made the stove top "mac n' cheese" again and this time it was delicious.  When asked he said it was easy to make and he was willing to do it again.  I think, even when this is all over, this will be one meal I can rely on him to make.  Anyone want the recipe for their WOYWW husband just shout.

Well as I can't show you a desk here's some flowers on the coffee table which I look at each day.  On the left from my son and his wife and the two rose bouquets are from dear friends.

Hopefully a bit of crafting next week

WOYWW 765

 Determined not to miss a post since joining WOYWW I am sat here in my chair with my leg in the air and my lap top balanced precariously on my lap.  I thought  I would make a start on my non existent desk.

Things are not progressing with the knee injury (bag of peas on it at moment) as hoped and on Saturday it was so bad they could not even see the stitches to take them out.  I was convinced there was one left in. Yesterday morning a new nurse found the stitch, it is now out.  It is infected so Saturday a doctor was called and he has put me on a strong dose of penicillin.  Fingers crossed and all prayers welcome.

The ribs are just the same and the mouth infection ever so slightly better today maybe.  Gosh I sound a whinge bag don't I? Sorry.  Nurse told me, this morning ribs flap about and then get sticky and start to stick to one another.  Roll on sticky ribs.

Anyway, life has been just a case of sitting in my chair 24/7, toilet trips and District nurse visits only, watching tv and falling asleep.  We did binge watch "After the Flood" enjoying watching as it was set in the next town to us, well part of it was there so it was a 'spot the building' but we didn't see much truth be told.

I am missing my paper crafting and despite sending for some of Lavinia's new stamps I don't know when they will get used.  Mind you, when they come I can enjoy looking and stroking them.  Just think, when I can sit down properly I will be able to get them catalogued and start using them.  Given another couple of days if the knee starts to feel better I might be able to do some colouring with my pencil crayons or even my watercolour ones.

Well, I am trying out a new hobby.  I can't imagine knitting with these ribs as I like needles to tuck under my arms so short needles are crochet hooks.  Aren't they?  I did once (and only once) crochet a mat.  So, rather than try with cotton I am setting off on my new adventure with wool in my old age.  Keep fingers crossed I manage something other than chain.  Got to get my tension right so this has been pulled back time and time again.  Tonight a chain - Next week a square?