Good news day!

For a while now a click of the mouse friend has been counting down the time left until retirement. That happy news has been boosted by an announcement today.

I friend I have known for a long, long time (since we were teenagers) has been Head of a Lancs. C. of E. Primary School. He's always been a very hard worker. Then, today brings the news that he's been granted early retirement! I am so pleased for him, he deserves to have a long, happy retirement. 

Taken from the school newsletter

Staff Changes in September – Retirements

I would like to let you know that there will be significant staff changes from September.

 After 38 years of teaching, 20 at this school, I have decided that it is time to change direction, so I am letting you know of my retirement as headteacher at the end of the Summer Term. The Governors were informed of my decision earlier this week and the process to find both short term cover for my role, and a permanent replacement headteacher has begun. I am sure that the Governors will work hard to find the right person for the job, with guidance from the local authority and the diocese. I am also sure that there will be time for goodbyes later in the term.

End of another era

This colourful set of new builds belongs to Liverpool University.

They are across from the original Archbishop Blanch school. I put 'original' as in time all things do pass. There's a brand new build further away from the city centre, a brown-field development.

The OU have been using ABHS for over a decade and both students and tutors have enjoyed going there. It was a better venue than the Arts College where not only were we not made welcome; parking was 'impossible'. 

Edited
Today 16th May was my final tutorial with 'my' tutor. Three of us turned up and were joined by the tutor.
Suffice it to say - I'm really glad I went to ABHS last Saturday (by mistake) as that tutor helped his students and I far more than the guy this week. Many thanks Dr. Pete you did a sterling job and allowed me to make a good start last Thursday. If I'd waited any longer I'd have been in a right pickle.

After all those happy years, it's all change. The OU asked places to tender bids to host tutorial sessions from Sept. 2015. ABHS lost out to Hope Uni which is a lot further out of town.

This is taken from the grounds of ABHS looking more towards the city's 'learning zone' Liverpool Uni and RLHT

The tower cranes in the background are where the massive modernisation of the hospitals is taking place. One large area containing the Royal Liverpool and incorporating St. Paul's Eye Hospital and the Linda McCartney Trust.

Goodbye ABHS, I've enjoyed going to tutorials there.

Hundreds

as in the Hundreds of Lancashire...

The 'red rose' county was composed from six Hundreds (areas of cultivable land).

From North to South they were
Lonsdale
Amounderness
Blackburn
Leyland
Salford
West Derby (largest area)

Fortunately, Lancashire Uni. have a website of Historic Lancashire Maps.
To someone like me, it makes good reading, looking at the changes over time. Some places kept the same name, others went thro' several versions.

Lancashire Day, (Nov. 27th) commemorates the day in 1295 when Lancashire sent its first representatives to Parliament in the time of King Edward I of England, 

The further back you go, the more complex it becomes. Not only are the names of the Hundreds taken from local places, they are also connected with church parishes and bishoprics. This can make genealogy 'interesting.'

Looking back thro' the Bleasdale family, the first problem being not only is it a surname, it's also a place name. As with other parts of the county, the area was designated a 'forest' meaning the King's hunting ground. The surname is still found mostly in Lancashire. 

Quote
 Bleasdale, 1228.

Although now in the parish of Lancaster, owing to its inclusion in the forest, Bleasdale has remained in the hundred of Amounderness, and was probably once within Garstang. It occupies a hilly country, divided into three main parts by the Rivers Calder and Brock, which rise near the Yorkshire border and flow south-west through it.

Take into consideration the seeming 'plethora' of Bleasdale men with the Christian name 'Thomas' and it becomes even more confusing. 

To begin with Thomas Bleasdale m Elizabeth Hannah Wilson 1912

Thomas born in the nearby village of Chipping. 

Looking on the Lancashire online parish clerks webpages for Chipping gave a number of Baptisms at St. Bartholomew, Chipping.

Now comes the next complication, unlike the Church of England, which has masses of parish records easily accessible online...

If the family were Roman Catholic, it requires using Census records instead as R.C. records are not freely available online.

1891
Thomas Bleasdale  Son Single 0 1891 - Chipping, Lancashire, England

Thomas Bleasdale      Head Married 32 1859         Farmer Chipping, 

See, here's the name problem already!

Assuming it's Thomas b 1891 that married Elizabeth Hannah Wilson.

The search continues...

Social media

Chatting this morning with a friend of 40 years, as in we have been friends that long. We began to reminisce about when we worked at the same place. Naming no names, but the place had ended up only scraping 1 star from OF$T£D long after we retired.

Today, I found out the place has been taken out of Local Government remit and as of Feb. 2014 became an 'academy'. This led to me having a look see online to find out more. Suffice it to say, only some half dozen of the present staff are folk I remember.

Next, by following a train of thought, I looked to see if I could find out anything about folk that I remembered. Social media led me to a page about LJB. Since the page is set to 'worldwide' it's freely accessible.

Here she is, and if I might opine - looking older than me, especially as she's 10 years younger.

Take a look at your own privacy settings on social media. Unless you want everything accessible by all and sundry? Might I suggest you alter the settings to make things a tad more private.

Of course, to keep truly private - never ever post anything online.

What is Truth?

Recently, thro' the good offices of social media, a reconnection was made with someone from schooldays.

Jenny was always fascinated by archaeology, myths and legends. Now, some hm 40+ years later, she's a published author and expert on myths and legends in Lancashire. She pursued her archaeological studies and apparently had a long, successful career as an archaeologist. 

Why write about her?

The reason being that a Lancashire paper has published a story including 'Dick Turpin'. This has upset my friend from an historical standpoint. There is no evidence that the highwayman was ever in that area.

Being a bit of a news story 'magpie' and as TMA avoidance, I looked into the story to find out if there was any truth to be had. Several websites later, some purporting 'authenticity', I turned to newspaper reports of the time, 1739.

What a treasure trove indeed!

The Newcastle Courant 21 April 1739 gives a full account of the trial in York Castle of one Richard Turpin, also known as John Palmer, or Paumer. There you can find not only the details such as him appearing before - 
The Hon. Sir William Chapple, Kt. Judge of the Assize, and one of his Majesty's Justices of the Court of the King's Bench.

The jurors - Calvert, Waddington, Popplewell, Lambert, Wiggin, Wade, Simpson, Smeaton, Thompson, Frank, Boyes and Clerke.

It also states that Turpin for five years past 'robb'd on Epping Forest'.

No connection the Lancashire at all! 

best intentions

We waited all day for the first visit from the District Nurse team but no-one came. That was last week.

Today ought to have been visit #2 but we had no idea fi or when. It was with great relief I opened to door to June, a lovely person.

Having reassured her that being dog owners for some 30+ years we'd keep our canine companions and her separate. 

Then came a nice surprize - the wound from the hip replacement op had healed well, so well that June said it looked more like 6 weeks post-op, not two.

Another surprize - we'd expected to see a raft of staples, but there were none. There were steri-strips that had done the job instead. 

Happy people! No bothering with staple remover.

We chatted about how well the recovering was progressing. I mentioned that we had 3 sets of unused staple removers and would June like them. Also, I showed her a couple of unused large dressings, so she happily took the dressings and scissor-like removers with her. I know dressings, especially hospital ones are dreadfully expensive, so it was good to know they'd be of use to June.

It's been a peculiar few years, with D being x-rayed and treated for osteoarthritis of the knees. He's had injections in both knees and tried all sorts of pain relief. Then, by chance he met a particular surgeon who noticed the problem was not in both knees but in one hip. 

Now it is a fortnight since the successful hip replacement, and the pain has altered totally. No longer the excruciating never rid of pain including referred pain leg-knee-hip. Now it's let's look forward to a much better way of life, free from referred pain, free from 24 hour pain. Counting down to when he can stop using crutches and when he can resume driving again.

The wonder of it

No, not yesterday's non-event, but something more close to home. Someone very near and dear to me has been suffering from osteoarthritis. For some three years various medicos have opined that the problem was one of his knees and he required a replacement.

Then, late last year he saw a different consultant, specialising in surgery for knees and hips. Mr. K. ordered a new set of x-rays. Result, not a knee op, but hip replacement was required. After much to-ing and fro-ing, letters arriving setting then cancelling / postponing the operation date...
Finally, a phone-call telling of a cancellation for someone else and would the 19th be okay? Rushed preparations putting together items from the hospital's please bring with you list. Then the early morning drive to reach the hospital before 7.30.

Hours spent by me on tenterhooks, then a phone-call. As his surname is in the latter half of the alphabet, he'd found himself last on the list. Hours of waiting, nil-by-mouth. A good chat with the anaesthetist to cover the options available. He opted to have a block and lighter anaesthesia on the promise of sooner recovery.

Imagine my surprise and happiness to receive a phone-call that evening! He was back on the ward and able to converse if a little tiredly. My sense of relief was palpable. 

Yesterday afternoon I drove to the hospital, managing to do some detours as my memory failed me. Driving until I was sure where I was, then navigating from there. Then, at last I parked up on the roof of the hospital car park as that was where there were spaces, the other levels being full. Next task - to find the ward and the bay. As it happens, the site is home to not one, but officially three hospitals! It took me some 25 minutes to find the right part of the rambling set of buildings.

Finally, arriving at the ward, someone pressed the button and let me in. Oh the relief to see him looking tired, but alert and sitting up in a chair.

Sunday 22nd March
More phone-calls to put my mind at ease. He's having daily physiotherapy, but today, there's only one to do the work of two.
Today is another waiting day, waiting for the next phone-call. 

When I was there, the whiteboard had today as 'go home' day. Typically, if my stay in hospital is anything to go by, you need as much patience as you can muster. So many things can delay departure.
Physiotherapist has to give the 'okay'.
Consultant has to 'okay' discharge, pharmacy need to get their act together. This can take hours. In my case, discharge was delayed until the next day because a doctor did not sign the requisite prescription until after the pharmacy had closed.

Time will tell, and as I said to him, just follow the system and let everything take its course. Easily said; not easy to do.

Thinking ahead and thinking about the past

Tomorrow there will be an eclipse, the first over the UK since 1999. Chatting online about it brought back memories.

Cornwall, 1999 we had a caravan at a campsite apparently on the 'best line' for the eclipse. It was somewhere we knew well, having 'escaped' there for holidays over several years. We'd got to know both the local area and quite a few of the local people who had become our friends. Evenings were spent at the new 'Geevor Club', and on Sundays we went to lunch with the Club Steward at her house.

In 'preparation' for the eclipse, the committee had decided to let folk camp around the football field in an attempt to get more revenue. As usually happened down there, it was left up to Shirley to cope and to run everything. 

We were at the campsite as the eclipse began, we strolled into the big field whist most folk climbed the Carn in an attempt to gain a better view. The famous astronomer, Sir Patrick Moore was with BBC outside broadcasting at Marazion. Unfortunately, the local weather failed to con-operate, it clouded over and local mist came in.

The air  became still as the breeze dropped away, everywhere became colder and silent.
Looking back up the Carn, we noticed lots of flashes as people made vain attempts to take photos. 

If 1999 was the good one; 2015 seemed a none event. The local press were in full cry about it, complete with photos. Here? Almost nothing apart from the various birds falling silent and returning to their nests or roosts. Was it totally silent? No, as the blues and twos did a merry 'chase' somewhere nearby. Probably yet another training session as this area forms part of on of their training grounds. There was even a plane that took off from a local airport. Memorable? Yes, but not for a celestial 'wonder', more like a damp squib.

Turtle amd elephants

Quote
'It is often said that before you die your life passes before your eyes. It is in fact true. It's called living'.

This is one of numerous quotes by a fascinating author. Today's news if now 'full of' his passing. 

At the age of 66, Terry Pratchett is no more. Details are sparse, just that one fact.

Tis a fair few years since I was introduced to the Discworld by my friend Helen. What started off as 'borrowing' became, look after them, please, as where we live, I've run out of space. Being a talented artist, living in comparatively small accommodation, space was needed for artwork. Hence, I became the curator of a collection of Discworld books. 

Recently, having treated myself to an ebook reader, I also have some of the books in that format. 

Whilst it is sad to find out that such a talented person (Pratchett) is no more, he had in recent years been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. That is a terrible 'complaint' which has been likened to 'death in life'.

Rest in peace, and heartfelt thanks for all your works.

To end with another quote...

'The baby boomers are getting older, and will stay older for longer. And they will run right into the dementia firing range. How will a society cope? Especially a society that can't so readily rely on those stable family relationships that traditionally provided the backbone of care?'

Folks

Here's where I change my mind and tell a bit about some of my ancestors.

The families included a few prominent people, mostly town councillors and businessmen. 

In the little village of Hayfield, Derbyshire you can still find a newsagents.
Hayfield News & Store the village newsagent, covering the villages of Hayfield, Little Hayfield and Birch Vale.

In the late 19th, early 20th century

Luke owned the newsagents

"In his very early boyhood he happened an accident to his leg, which rendered him permanently lame, and prevented him following any laborious employment." 

Quote

On Monday, at the District Council meeting, the Chairman (Mr. G. B. Chell) referred to the death of the late Mr. Luke. (1841-1913). 

He said he was one of the oldest and most esteemed public men in Hayfield. They regretted his death, and he moved a vote of condolence with the family. Mr. Osbaldeston seconded the resolution, Mr. Ryan supported, and said Mr. was one of the most worthy residents in the parish. Mr. Moseley added his appreciation. He had known Mr. for 33 or 34 years, and he had always taken a deep interest in public affairs. His death was la great loss to the village” The resolution was carried by the members standing. 

He appears to have been a well-known local character; although handicapped he roamed the area acquiring a wealth of local knowledge. Luke served on the Parish Council and was Secretary of Bethel Chapel.

A newspaper report tells of him helping a party of ramblers from Sheffield. 

13 October 1896 - Sheffield Daily Telegraph - Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England

Luke met the Party at the railway station; provided a guide to lead the way across Kinder Fells to help lessen the risk of trespassing. Later that day, the group got thoroughly soaked by the inclement weather; stopping at the Snake Inn for a change of clothes and a hearty meal.

The amusing part of it being that there were not sufficient male 'habiliments'  so one of the group ate his evening meal dressed in women's apparel. 

Slaithwaite

What a wonderful name! Don't ask how to pronounce it; I've already come across three totally different versions. 
Looking into family history, it would seem that several of my ancestors once lived there; in the Colne valley..

I have no intention of boring anyone with people; I'm confining myself to writing about places.

Looking thro' old newspapers online, I came across

GAS
On Thursday evening week Slaithwaite was lighted up with gas in the streets of the first time. The lamp-posts were erected by subscription, and a rate will be levied on the ratepayers to defray the expenses. 
Leeds Intelligence 23 January 1858

Nearby villages include Almondbury and this is where a coincidence can be found between the Yorks., Derbyshire and Lancs. sides of the family.

Almondbury has Castle Hill

which dominates the surrounding area. 

In the Middle Ages there was a castle on the hill, of which the well remains. The present tower was built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee of 1897. Although the erection of a tower had been discussed years earlier, to mark the achievements of the Duke of Wellington.

The Lancs. family lived in Clitheroe, Pendle Hill country. 

In Derbyshire the hill landmarks are Kinder and Lantern Pike. 

Former Clough Lane mill at the foot of Lantern Pike.

The next series of coincidences is occupations. 
All the branches of the family tree have some connection to mill work.
Lancs. cotton
Yorks. wool
Derbyshire cotton mill and paper mills

Three rabbits, an ox, and a rooster

the Chinese animals associated with birthdays...

Two friends are Gold Rabbits           Kind-hearted, conservative, lively and enthusiastic

One friend is a Water Rabbit          Gentle, amicable, able to adjust readily to different conditions
Another one - Wood Ox                Restless, decisive, straightforward, and always ready to defend the weak and helpless

and one - Wood Rooster Energetic, over-confident

Personal landmark

I am on a long, long road to recovery. The prognosis is good. This week I went for my post-op assessment at the hospital. At the back of my mind there were numerous 'what if' worries.

Good news, the doctor asked a few questions, then ticked the box on the form that said, Discharged!

It could take up to a year to feel and to be properly better, but...there has been a psychological boost...it feels as tho' a weight has been removed.

Therefore, another milestone for today, I went to Tai Chi for the first time since No. 24th 2014.

Drove myself, D obviously thought unless he took me, I wouldn't go. How wrong! I drove for the first time since Nov, and I'm pleased to say, 'all went well'.

White rabbits!

Remembering times past this exclamation heard regularly on the first day of the month. 

No idea why, nor the other exclamation 'and black kittens!'

February also came with the rhyme

February fill-dyke, fill dykes black or white!

The latter being an old weather saying, meaning that the land would be rained on or covered in in snow regularly throughout the month.

Known of but

not what I'd call a friend.

Imagine my surprise this afternoon to receive a phone-call from Cow Ark. Now, in case you think you are being had on, there is such a place. It is to the NE of Lancs in the county formerly known as the West Riding. It's in an area known as the Forest of Bowland, definitely rural and isolated.

M phoned, I do not want to sound cynical, but her husband had gone out and I got the impression she wanted someone to talk at. She lives where the views are 'stunning', but it is oh so isolated. Her husband Derek drives to the village of Slaidburn for the newspaper (nearest newsagents). 

A few years ago (2010), the villages round about got snowed in for over three weeks, they even made the national news.

The nearest place of any note is Browsholme Hall which is an impressive building (manor house) inhabited by generations of the Parker family since 1507 when the house was built..

Grid Reference: SD682451

© Copyright Hugh Chevallier and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Even the Gatehouse is impressive.

 © Copyright Jimmy Hill and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Harking back and looking forward

24th Nov 2014 - emergency op
4th Dec 2014 - discharged home
5th Dec 2014 - visit by District nurse and staples removed
11th Dec 2014 - discharged by District nurse service

22nd Jan 2015
Not having heard anything from the hospital, I decided to see my GP. Had to wait a week, but appt day was today. 

Now I know there was an Appendicular abscess that had formed and needed removal. I am apparently 'progressing well', and GP stressed how big the operation was...

It is okay to feel weary and to rest.
Take things easy, look after yourself, especially diet and mobility.
Not to worry if I sleep during the day.
Have some paracetamol if/when needed. 

Just been 'chatting' with friend in Australia who's in a similar situation. She's got some advantages tho'. Age is on her side, she's quite a few years younger, and they did keyhole surgery. 

Onward to Feb. 10th and my appt at the hospital. for a check-up.

The calendar is filling up with appts once more. D has a pre-op appt. 10 days after me, and at a more accessible hospital.

Icy conditions

January is living up to its reputation of being a cold month. Fortunately, we've only had hailstones, whereas other places at higher altitude have had snow. The charity fun run had to be postponed as conditions were too treacherous under foot and is being rescheduled.

Reading a friend's blog post stirred memories of childhood and junior school in particular. Living in a hilly town on the lower slopes of the Pennines, wintry weather was great fun for children. 

Rather than picking our way carefully, we used to try to slide as far as possible. There were always 'home-made' slides in the playground. It was great fun, kept us occupied and warm from the exertion.

Doubtless, today's youngsters would be discouraged from such exuberant behaviour, as the 'risk assessors' would have a fit at such an idea, let alone if put into practice. 

At the weekend I ordered another sack of sunflower seed hearts (wild bird food), all 25kg of it. The way our local budgies are feeding, it won't take too long before we need to order more. We have an upright pole holding two feeders and another two hanging from lower branches of the old pear tree. They are at opposite sides of the garden.The pole is next to a large fuchsia shrub, Even tho' it is deciduous, the birds are attracted to it. There are several pairs of blackbirds round and about, including one individual with splashes of white on it, almost as tho' someone had been flicking paint.

I'm becoming impatient, wanting to make more progress with recuperation, but I need to bide my time. No news from the hospital, so am off to see the GP, I have some niggles I need to discuss. Also, I'm keen to start driving again, being chauffeured is okay, but I want my independence. 

Mulling things over

I ought to be grateful the GP sent me to hospital for my emergency op. If I'd known earlier, maybe I could have had the op sooner. Never mind, it is over and progress is being made very slowly. 

I am grateful to one member of the tutorial group who got in touch with some brief yet useful notes from the Dec. tutorial. Frustratingly, it is the overwhelming tiredness that really 'gets to me', especially as I then have great difficulty sleeping at night. My DAB radio has become my friend helping me while away the hours and help me drift off to sleep. Being chauffeured by D is fine, but not for any great distance. I have my passenger seat with the back angled backwards so the seatbelt comes across my waist. Winter roads being what they are potholes are a nuisance, so are the many humps put to slow down traffic. They make for an unpleasant experience.

I must continue to be patient and ought at some time to ring the Broker about how long the insurance company recommends I abstain from driving. Apparently just now my vehicle insurance is null and void. I need to have recovered sufficiently to perform an emergency stop without difficulty.

On a brighter note, I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the number of tasks that can be accomplished without going anywhere. Hooray for being able to do tasks online.

That time again

Already have several appointments booked for 2015, some for D and others for me. Hoping we both have far fewer visits to various local hospitals next year.

D has been a regular at St. Helens, here's hoping after today he's discharged from outpatients. Don't get me wrong, the folk at the clinic have been very good, I just want all to be over and done with.

I know to expect a recall to assess my progress, but am not looking forward to it. Nearly a fortnight in a major teaching hospital was more than enough. 

D has assessment appts in Feb (osteoarthritis) with the possibility of an op in March. Luckily he's going to one of the smaller hospitals instead of the main teaching hospital. He mentioned it to our friendly chemist, who replied that given time he'd be much, much better after the op.

I still haven't found my way back to Tai Chi, but of course there have been no classes over the holidays. Nor will I be able to go when they start back as I have booked to have me hair cut. The hairdresser makes regular (weekly) visits to one of the neighbours, so I go there too from time to time (most convenient).

Recuperation slower than anticipated

It's no wonder everything is out of kilter in my personal world.

When you've spent several weeks losing interest in food / being unable to cope with the hospital food on offer, it should come as no surprise.

Having been discharged from hospital and the ministrations of the district nurses team, I am not suddenly 100%. 

It's not just a case of mending physically, there's some psychological mending to do as well. At the beginning of my stay in hospital, I seemed to spend countless time aiming to accomplish simple tasks. How to move and sit up in bed. How to manoeuvre from bed to chair. How long to stay sitting in the chair by the bed. How to cope with the hustle and bustle that accompanied each and every group of staff that came on the ward throughout the day. Taking meds (tablets) four times a day. That involved a lot of kerfuffle as the trolley was propelled from bed to bed. One particular nurse showed quite clearly how much she hated doing those rounds, either that or she could not have cared less. She propelled the meds trolley not caring where it went or what it bumped in to. It was as tho' she was doing her personal dodgems game.

Throughout my stay my worst nightmare was 'doctor god'. Okay, so he'd passed  his exams, but had plainly missed / failed the patient communications, bedside manner part. Some folk like me have 'floating veins', ones that can be seen (only just) but dodge out of the way of needles. After a few days my hands, arms in particular the inner elbows were a swollen mass of bumps and bruises. 

As for recuperation, it continues slowly, mind and body are taking their time. 

PJ days

Just read a post by a friend who has declared today to be a PJ day. That set me thinking, as my days have been PJ days since November 24th.

I have been out with D a few times, briefly to do some necessary shopping, then home to snooze once more.

A friend phoned today, unfortunately having lost track of time, I replied that I had only just woken up. The caller was most surprised - asleep in the daytime? I passed the phone across to D who explained the goings on since I went into hospital, had the op, came home and so on... Then he went on to relate the next series of appointments that are coming our way starting with Dec. 31st. Here's hoping to see the last of the regular appointments that have been the norm throughout 2014.

December

4th discharged from hospital complete with assorted meds and dressings.

5th a district nurse arrived to look at my surgery sites and redress the largest one.

12th I contacted the 'team' as it was a week since the dressing was changed. Someone left a message for me...

Had a phone-call followed by another district nurse. Now, there's no dressing, but an instruction to go carefully. Seems I have now been discharged from the care of the district nurses group, but I have a phone number, just in case.
asically
Problem being, I do not feel like 'me'. 

I've encountered and surmounted the various hurdles that count as progress on the way to recovery.

Right hemicolectomy - basically - began with keyhole surgery and camera for a look see. Widened to remove a large section of bowel including the mass they came across. Stuff sent to be tested to find out what's what. 

But in myself I am not 'right'. I spent about a fortnight learning the minutiae of being on the receiving end of treatment. English language / creativity scholars would have a 'field day'. 

Recitation of several phrases throughout the day. Pain? Score 1-10 with 10 being the worst. Have you kept your fluid levels / pulse ox levels up? I need to take your blood pressure, can you put this (probe) under your tongue / behind your teeth?

Tea, coffee?

Sit out in your chair.

Have you had a wash? Have your bowels opened (details). Any sickness?

Then there's the meds routines...
Odd how staff behaviour / personality changed with their uniforms.

Staff nurses in a terpsichorean spiral from shift to shirt and ward to ward. Brittly 'happy' and ready for the fray. 

The smooth running of the ward interrupted as the 'great and the good' i.e. Consultant made his rounds. 

It became easier to cope when fewer people paid attention to this patient. 

Fortnights

For a fortnight I gave myself time to get better. Then I gave in and asked for GP appt. 

25th Nov. saw the GP.
He told me to get myself to A and E (accident and emergency).

From then on I found myself at the Hub, which is what the teaching hospital has become.

Take in - assess - treat - send to ward (s)
Pass thro' the ward regimes
Send home.

Operation - right hemicolectomy

Came to, on Ward 5, in room 6

From then on I had one objective - to find out and do all that was required to be allowed home.

Staff
The Anaesthesiologists are amazing, followed closely by the Surgeons. Lets face it, we trust them with our lives.

There's something about this time of year...

that always seems to increase the bad news.

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave

Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;

Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.

I know.  But I do not approve.  And I am not resigned.

 

Stanza from 

Dirge Without Music

BY EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY

I've been fortunate to have belonged to the OU community for quite a long time. Over the years I have become friends with fellow OU students. At first we 'met' and chatted via the messaging service 'FirstClass'. From time to time, some were able to meet face to face, but that was but the icing on the gingerbread as the saying goes.

The OU finally decided to get rid of FirstClass, and reluctantly we tried to get used to Muddle as we named the replacement. Along came Facebook, and eventually we found our way their and communication was restored. Over the years we have laughed and cried, shared stories of hope, success and loss. We have celebrated and congratulated as folk earned their qualifications. 

Today, someone mentioned they had experienced a loss. Although the person doing the posting is not part of my friendship group, we have friends in common. Something else I read made me apprehensive, so I checked which people we both knew. That's when the blow struck. One person had gone into hospital last month, weeks had passed without much news. I looked up his page and found a post from his daughter. The dear man had died in hospital yesterday. This is no place for details. Suffice it to say a loving, kind, generous soul has departed this life.

R.I.P.

Catching up

No Tai Chi for me last Saturday, but an OU day school instead.

Venue
Manchester Uni Roscoe building

D took me to a quieter railway station, one with a large car park and a station I know well.
Anxiety is my constant companion, but if I'm lucky, slumbers in the background. Hence, not going to the nearest station which is near a very busy road junction and where car parking is awkward at best.

The train arrived on time and travel was uneventful apart from 'Tickets please!'.

Last time I was at a day school the venue was only a short walk from the station. I had a map with me, but no proper idea of how far to walk. It took half an hour as I had to keep checking street names.

All the events were on the first floor, but the number took some working out.
01 for First floor, followed by 10.10 turned out to be room 10 or 01.10.

Some presentation were better than others, the one on Stalin and Shostakovitch was particularly memorable.

One of my pet hates stems from having studied desktop publishing. The last speaker had some pages to make up a worksheet. Granted, I did not expect her to have stapled them together, but she had not even bothered to number the pages. Add on to that her use of Times New Roman, a font dating from 1929, and I was 'not a happy bunny'. Her choice of font and size mde the document challenging to read. Then, I noticed she was working her way word by word thro' the notes.

Once of a day, I would have suffered in silence, but not these days.

I made my apologies and left to catch my train. Boarding the 3.45 instead of the 4.15, I was home early and pleased with myself for catching the earlier train.

In the local news

From the online version of the Echo.

It's a sign of the times, that folk got themselves into a lather and thought some simple actions were a threat.

In comparison with larger nearby airports, John Lennon airport is less busy. Hence flight training know as 'Circuits and bumps'.  A number of pilots doing training in take-offs and landings. Hence the colloquial term for them flying round in 'circles' and then landing (bumps), only to take off again immediately.

Add on to the repeated 'circling' an appearance by a Hawk jet trainer aircraft and some of the local populace took to social media in distress.

Thursday threes...

Whilst it is often said that bad luck comes in threes, I wonder whether good luck might work that way too.

This week, I have successfully ordered two new pairs of glasses. Today, I went to my postponed GP appt. The new GP seems to have been getting to know his patients by asking them to return after two weeks, four weeks and 8 weeks. Today was my 8th week appt. 

The doctor went thro' my blood results thoroughly, I've never come across a GP who mentioned all the results, usually they focus on anything wrong. The good news, with the exception of cholesterol levels everything is fine. Although a little raised, he noted an improvement since 2012. Therefore his instruction 'more of the same' and he noted I appeared well aware of how to look after myself. Then instead of 'see you in six months' he changed his recommendation to 'see you in a year!'.

The chemists has been running a collection scheme and when your card is filled up you get £3 off your nest purchase. Today, the card was filled and I got my £3 discount.

What? Two posts?

Late last night an email arrived from the OU.

Another email arrived just now

"Thank you very much for volunteering. I will be in contact again by the end of the week with more information."

What's going on?

At the end of U214 the Art of English, I wrote a glowing report on the experience, heartily recommending that course, and full of praise for Course Team and Tutor.

The OU have folk developing new modules and it seems they'd like to involve some students. Hence my invite to take part in working thro' and assessing a preliminary version of part of a new module that's in the process of being written.

Scripts

as in prescriptions...

Tis a sign of aging when you find yourself on repeat prescriptions. Sounds easy at first - contact chemist who then dispenses prescription according to the list (6 monthly) received from the surgery.

Things went wrong for D when our local chemist was unable to fill part of the script. National shortage of a certain med. However, another local chemist still had some, cue replacement script and trip to other local chemist.

Scroll on another month...no prescription list is minus one item. Computer 'knew' item dispensed on different script, therefore had deleted it from repeats.

Similarly for me, surgery issued set of scripts to chemist, but they had not been updated. Therefore, when my prescription was collected, it came without one necessary item.

I have GP appt this Thursday, so hopefully GP will update his records.

Sorting Saturday

No Tai Chi, but time for an OU tutorial instead. The local venue has been a good place, all the time I've been there. Trust today to be the opposite.

Stuck away in the back of beyond on the top floor. Access via the kind of metal staircase that gives me the collywobbles. Stairs where there are treads but no risers, so perception problems have a field day. Give me a proper staircase where you cannot stare into empty space between each step. Followed by a walk the length of the corridor with several sets of fire doors to negociate. The room when I found it was pleasant, it was getting there that posed the problems.

Access was even more difficult for the tutor and a couple of other students, one in a large wheelchair and the other struggling to walk using a typical hospital supplied walking stick. She told us she'd asked for help, told the Centre of her problems but to no avail. The tutor also has mobility problems. Chatting beforehand, he told me he had problems with walking because of damage to one knee and other problems with the leg he broke whilst cycling in Finland 3 years ago. 

Hopefully, the tutor will do his best to ensure a ground floor room in future. 

Scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. students carried on arriving in dribs and drabs for the next half hour. Hence, the tutorial ran on for half an hour after the scheduled noon finish. 

Friday unusually

no Tai Chi, my excuse being I woke up too late. At least that's what I told B when she phoned up later to ask if everyone was okay here. In one sense it was true, if I'd pushed myself I could have squeaked in, but my get and go had got up and went. Also, as I told myself, the routines they do there, I can do by myself if need be.

Hence, the day progressed slowly, I even let D go to the chemist without me to pick up a delayed prescription.

Computers have a lot to answer for, if as happened the other month, the chemist could not get one item, and a new script has to be provided, everything from then on goes pear-shaped. It's going to take a couple of months and a meds review before D can have his list of items put back to normal. 

On a different tack, there's someone who has taken to social media to witter on solely about obscure 'folk' groups North of the border. When an open to interpretation statement is made asking about 'Idlewild' yours truly has an ancient memory-bank which obviously connects Idlewild + NY + airport and responds accordingly. 

Wordless Wednesday

2014

1970

1950s

1980s