Any cheerful news today? (Nothing negative please! šŸ™‚)

Just heard of the latest member of the family to arrive. Stanley Thomas Deluce, weight 6lb 10oz, born to my great niece. Although mother had to have an emergency caesarean, both mother and baby are fine. That makes me a great great uncle at the tender age of 59. I was an uncle at the age of 8 though. Stanley came hot on the heels of Alaister Henry Alker, weight 8lb 7oz, born to another niece a few weeks ago.
Itā€™s a shame that my mother didnā€™t live to see these two births. Stanley would have been her great great grandson. She died on Christmas day just gone aged 88. She always loved France but unfortunately couldnā€™t come to see us in our new house due to ill health.

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Itā€™s been a slightly difficult few weeks of ill health for my mother, but a quick rehydration at hospital yesterday made her perk up like a newly watered plant. Just wondering where weā€™re going from here.

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In my experience of much-loved elderly relativesā€¦ worrying about going to the loo too often during the day, or going at all in the nightā€¦ they would stop drinking ā€¦ thinking this was an easy solutionā€¦ aaaargh. Itā€™s very worrying when you think someone is ā€œlosing the plotā€¦ā€ such a relief when itā€™s just water-phobiaā€¦ :wink:
Hope your Mother stays perkyā€¦ and monitor the water/fluid intake (if you can)

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She has about 60 seconds of short term memory, though occasionally things do lodge there and remain for longer. Itā€™s even possible she doesnā€™t remember the hospital visit yesterday - last night she didnā€™t remember the weeks of intermittent pain and frequently retiring to bed during the daytime over the last 3 weeks.

I am grateful that she herself is still in there, rather than the dementia stripping away personality as happened with her father.

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Ahā€¦ I do understand something of what you are going through. Been in similar situations with 3 beloved oldies.

I learnt to take every day as a gift but, sadly, itā€™s not always what we hope to receiveā€¦ :wink:

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Yes @Stella @Ancient_Mariner Iā€™ve been through that with my father who kept his usual cantankerous self :slightly_smiling_face:over a period of several years with dementia until a few months before the end. At least with mother, she was sharp as a pin right until the end. It was her heart that was the problem.
Edit : I didnā€™t really mean to introduce such a maudlin aspect to the thread, but today Iā€™ve been musing on both life and death for obvious reasons and itā€™s the first time Iā€™ve been able to write something down about my mother.

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thatā€™s good news in itselfā€¦ :+1: :+1:
and Iā€™ll add a little cheerful news to all thisā€¦ Spanish Orange Cake is cooking gently in the oven.
the neighbours are licking their lips in anticipation and OH is planning how to keep a decent portion for himselfā€¦ :wink: :rofl: :rofl:

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Thereā€™s a lot of good in shared experiences when theyā€™re like this, even though they are often tinged with pain.

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Iā€™m getting much better at making my own bacon :pig2::bacon:

1.5Kg of my latest home cure. Itā€™s taken a while to improve the flavour but Iā€™m getting there. Itā€™s just drying at the moment, and will be ready to be thick cut tomorrow. Going to try adding some honey next.

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Happy, skippy dance!!

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I remember having theseā€¦

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Yepā€¦ sorely missed.

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A couple of days ago I gave assistance to a PelegrĆ­n and now my name is on YouTube thatā€™s touched me. thahttps://youtu.be/IDvvxOyB2d0

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Played my second Gospel Bell gig of the year last night.

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How exciting :grin: looks like the start of my tomatoes, recently planted :partying_face:

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Cheerful Newsā€¦ That which was lost has been found !!!
A friend told us (through her tears) about her young cat not returning home for 2 daysā€¦
Seems sheā€™d seen him playing with a mouse which might well have been poisonedā€¦ and her imagination was running riot.
As we have keys to several unattended properties, OH and I spent much of yesterday searching for ā€œa bodyā€, but hoping he was just trapped somewhereā€¦
Huhā€¦ wouldnā€™t you know itā€¦ the little chap wandered into his home this morning, without a word of apology. :wink:
His owner was so overjoyed and made such a fuss of him, the little beggar might think it worthwhile to play-hooky againā€¦ :rofl: :rofl:

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A pic from last night.

The lass in the red jacket is from Ukraine, and her family are staying with the couple to her left in the picture.

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Yes, mine have been outside for about 10 days now. Have quite a few flowers. Also, I have two small peppers about 1cm long and lots of flowers. Tomorrow, the chilli plants are going outside as it was 28C this afternoon here, and it seems to be set to continue for a while.

Gave up reading my pond thermometer some months ago as the inside of the tube within which it is gradually got so mucky as to make it unreadable. Yesterday I took it out and, with some fiddling, managed to extract it from the tube. All cleaned up inside (with a tightly rolled wash pad held tightly with long nosed pliers) and out with washing up liquid and it is just like new and clear as a bell.

Pond temp 18c air 22c and I will check it every day now. But keep it out of the water until I pass with Jules when I will put it in and then out again later when I go for my swim. :joy:

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Your plant looks great. You know about pinching out?

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