Nice evening listening to relaxed jazz, disappointing pub interlude

On Thursday I had to return to the hospital to talk with the specialist nurse as planned, and this was very useful and I came away feeling cheerful. The weather was warm, and people were sitting outside at the pavement cafes in Belsize Park.

Pete came over in the evening and we had a nice time sitting around and talking while listening to the good jazz compilations that Tobe made for me. Pete also bought lots of CDs to watch and we saw a couple of Frasiers before going off to bed.

The next day we had a relaxed breakfast, and a surprise package was delivered which came from Romy and Tobe and was filled with all manner of intriguing things including some birch knitting needles (as I had lost my other ones in hospital), Japanese wool and some hand dyed wool which it turns out is partly made from seaweed. Also a game called Carcasonne which is being played in Ontario and looks very intriguing.

We went to lunch at our pub in Stanmore, but were disappointed as the food was not good and the place seemed to be full of unpleasant people which was unusual, but I expect it will be a long time before we try it again.

Pete volunteered to do the vacuuming, and we all had a quick rest before having tea and I walked with Pete down to the station as he was off to meet a pal in Hampstead.

In the evening Mas and I watched some more I Claudius and some Frasiers as there was nothing of interest on TV.

St. Albans lunch and I Claudius

Today we went to St. Albans to have lunch with Tania and Robert and get fruit and vegetables from the market. The drive was lovely as all the trees are in leaf now and everything looked fresh and green; it seems a long time since we last did this customary drive.

Despite the gloomy overcast weather the market was busy and we got most of the shopping before going to Buai Thai restaurant.

We had a lot to catch up on as we had not seen each other for a while, and both Robert and I had been in hospital and we had a lot to talk about. We had a lovely lunch and as usual the friendly owner came to talk with us, she almost wants us to eat there for nothing, and we have to insist on leaving a tip as she tries to give it back to us, and kisses us when we leave.













This is part of a wall panel in the restaurant, the inlaid fish are all mother of pearl.

This evening we are planning to start watching reruns of 'I Claudius' which was an excellent historical production, even though it is now so old. There is so little of any interest shown on TV lately.

Man in the Moon lunch and illegal smoking

Mas and I did our usual chores and decided to go to The Man in the Moon pub for lunch just for a change of scene.

Pete phoned, and I told him we were going out for lunch and he said "I can't believe that Mas keeps making you go to the pub" which was really funny because Mas used to hate pubs and thought they were smelly dirty places, and the people who used them were the same, and would never go into one. And then there was the smoking ban and everything changed!

Some pubs have a bedraggled coterie of people who lurk in front of the door while they have a smoke, but this pub takes a firm position on this.



















After lunch I managed to do some gardening before it began to rain again, and did a little pruning. Everything is growong really fast because there has been so much rain.

During the night there were two enormous claps of thunder which caused me to unplug the phone and computers, having had a hi-fi system killed by lightening last year.

Blind Date and dusty fox

Last night we watched Blind Date which we have seen umpteen times, but it still makes us laugh; Blake Edwards films just have such good timing.

After breakfast Mas and I went for a shortish walk around the neighbourhhod as part of our getting healthy plan. As we came through the door the phone was ringing and it was Pete, who is planning to come to see us next week.

I managed to plant the hanging baskets and stuff more pansies into the window boxes. It felt really nice to be doing gardening again. There was no sign of the field mouse, but Mas thinks it has moved into the shed as someone had been eating the birds' fat balls.

A few days ago a big dusty looking fox came into the garden and was sniffing around under the bird feeder when he spotted a cat passing through the garden and gave chase. The cat however was much faster and got clear away.

Advice and garden flowers

Today I received a handmade card made by Milan from Monika, Oktay, Milan and Radovan. It was very sweet and funny. More emailing, and getting useful advice from Chris and Carol, and more phone calls.

I am feeling uncreative at the moment which always makes me feel bored, I hope it will pass soon. It does give me a lot of pleasure looking at plants in the garden. Mas has bought some flowers that need to be put into the window boxes and hanging baskets, I will try to get it done tomorrow.

Communications and shopping till you drop.

Since my last entry Pete returned home, and I have had two more hospital visits, and have had long conversations with Toby and Pete. I have caught up on most of my emails, and had lots of visits from friends and neighbours; the house rapidly filled with carnations and good wishes cards.

On Wednesday I went on the bus with Margaret to Watford's Harlequin shopping center with the idea of buying some new underwear. This bus ride is very scenic, passing through an area of very large expensive historic homes, woodland, Bushey and Old Bushey before arriving at Watford. I prefer taking the bus to driving along the motor way. Unfortunately I did not remember what a rough ride it was, the road surfaces are so uneven it feels like riding a horse and I felt exhausted by the jolting by the time we arrived. We had a fruit drink and Margaret had hot chocolate and I recovered somewhat and managed to get my new underwear, then we returned home, this time not sitting upstairs so it was not so jolting. I did think I had rather overdone it, so rested for a while.

Living in 'interesting times'

I am out of hospital now, and on the road to complete recovery, I hope, and feeling very happy to be alive and at home.

I believe the Chinese have a curse which says "may you live in interesting times." My time in hospital was very 'interesting' in several ways, but the strangest was my reaction to a pain drug that I was given. The effects of the drug built up and up until it became obvious that I had an allergy to it.

When I was a child I liked the stories of Sax Rhomer, one of them was called The Breath of Allah which was about the making of a very special perfume, and to protect the secret recipe drugs were burnt so that anyone spying could not read what was written in the book. My hallucinations began in a similar way:
If I tried to read anything the words moved around the page rather like insects, but at least they did not leave the paper and fly around. I thought that this effect was because of relaxed eye muscles. I noticed that the curtains around the bed were flowing upwards, like a river. If I looked into my cup of water it boiled and frothed as if an alka seltzer had been dropped into it, but tasted normal. My sense of perspective altered and I could not tell if things were as close as my nose or across the ward.

Then I began to have hallucinations which were peopled, and thought that crowds of hospital employees were sleeping between the beds on the floor at night because they could not afford to pay rent.

Things went from bad to worse and I woke in the night believing that we had all undergone rendition, and were not in a real hospital but being tortured, and we would all be dead before the morning. I pulled out all my drips, catheters,oxygen and tubes and began shouting to the other patients to escape. A very kind nurse tried to reassure me, so I thought she was doomed as well. None of the other patients had taken any notice, and as I could not move from my bed, so thought there was nothing more I could do.

The next morning I was put on morphine and things quickly returned to 'normal'. Mas visited me in hospital every day, and Pete came often as well, but I was so happy when I was discharged and could go home again. I noticed on the drive home how it seemed to have become summer while I was in hospital. The gardens were full of laburnum in flower and hanging bunches of wisteria, the air was full of light and it seemed as if I had entered heaven. Then home and peace and quiet!

Lonesome dove with fieldmouse and flowers

We spent most of the week feeling a great lack of energy and doing things that had to be done. I finished the final touches to the prints and prepared to post them off.

We had intended to go to the Chelsea Art Fair as usual, but could not muster up the energy to do it, but hopefully we will next year.

While having breakfast we discovered that a field mouse had moved into our window box and had made a small hole behind the geraniums. We watched it running about very fast for a while, and were pleased to see it.

As we have been feeling at a bit of a low ebb we have been watching old cowboy films, and one that we both really enjoy called Lonesome Dove which was serialised on TV. There is one amazing scene where steers are being driven through a storm, and the lightening travels through them, running along all their horns and lighting them up in the darkness.

Joan sent me these lovely pictures from Ontario woods; spring has come at last!

Biding my time with butterflies

On Saturday I received a parcel of prints from my printers which I did not have time to look at until later. We went off shopping, had a quick lunch.

On returning to the house I found I had received a piece of mail from the hospital which contained two letters; one said I had been placed on a waiting list, and I could be waiting for 20 weeks, and the other letter said I was to be admitted to hospital on the 29th, but would have to check on the day to see if there was an available bed. Feeling somewhat dispirited we spent the rest of the day moping about doing things to pass the time as well as possible till I could check with the hospital on Monday.

On Sunday I looked at the prints of my pictures as there were several that I needed to hand finish, adding gold and silver where appropriate. I also caught up with correspondence and household chores. Toby phoned and we had a long chat about things which was cheering.

On Monday the weather seemed very sunny. I confirmed with the hospital that I had received their letter offering an appointment for the 29th; I did not mention the other letter as I thought it would confuse them further. I spent more time finishing the prints. Mas finished making a support for the roses and clematis in the garden.

The Common Blue Butterfly

Later I went into the garden and saw one of our small trees which is in flower covered with a myriad of flies of various kinds feeding on the nectar. One type of fly I had not seen before; it looked rather like a wasp, but had a black shiny body. I also saw a Common Blue butterfly; the first this year.

On Tuesday we went shopping in the morning and had a quick pub lunch. Diane came over in the evening for dinner as planned, bringing a bottle of very nice French wine which complemented the chicken Mas had roasted, perfectly. Diane had a new hairstyle and was looking glamorous and healthy, but all of us were feeling rather tired and we made an early night of it.

An enjoyable evening out.

I received all the prints I had ordered from my printers which was a minor miracle as it had been so difficult to sen

On Friday Monika drove over with the children and Oktay's neice in law. Monika told me the children were asleep, so as she didn't want to wake them she would sit in the car with them till they woke up. Our next door neighbours found this rather odd and kept a careful eye on them.

After a while Oktay arrived, and the children woke up and we soon went off to a Turkish restaurant for dinner. This was a real treat, and we really enjoyed the meal and the conversations and we had some soft fruity Turkish wine that complemented the meal perfectly. We were taken home later, and were sad to see them all leave, but it had been great fun.

Thai lunch and walking with Pete

I spent a few days seeing a few friends and neighbours, but felt that I could not settle down and concentrate as I seem to be in waiting mode all the time.

On Tuesday for want of anything better to do I took a bus ride through Mill Hill and off to North Finchley and back again. Later I caught up with my emails and watched something on TV with Mas.














On wednesday we went as usual to St. Albans; the countryside is coming back to life and looking very fresh. We met Tania and Robert for lunch at the Thai restaurant, and caught up with all the news, our friendly restaurant owner gave us a huge dish of complimentary banana fritters on scoops of icecream. We were so full afterwards that we did not feel like buying much fruit and vegetables from the market.

Thursday morning I was lucky enough to be able to see a doctor as I had got an eye infection, and got some antibiotic drops. Before too long Pete arrived and we had lunch together before leaving Mas to do his tax returns.

We went off for a walk from Elstree across fields, round the golf course and eventually came out in Butterfly Lane. There was a cold wind, but the air was scented as lots of the trees were in blossom. We saw a stately Heron standing beside a small pool, but before I could photograph him he flew off into another field. We did not walk for too long as Pete had to go off to London for dinner.



















There are new paths on the golf couse which are made of sea shells instead of gravel. Bluebells are begining to flower too.

Resting , recharging and relaxing

Yesterday we were still feeling really tired. Mas went off and bought things to make an arch in the garden for our roses to hold onto. I spent time receiving phone calls, emails, cards, Woody Allan films, and will soon have a good book to read! In the evening we watched a new sitcom called Pushing Daisies, bur neither of us cared for this much.

Stand Alone socks.











Today Mas set about chaining back some other climbing roses, but was interrupted by heavy April showers which also contained hail and claps of thunder. I made some rock cakes, and finished another pair of 'stand alone' socks.

Royal Free hospital visit and relief

Mas and I went to the hospital in the morning, waited a short time, then saw the consultant. The news was good, however I will still need an operation soon.

We left the hospital, and went across the road to a cafe bar called Icons where we had a light lunch. This place has only been opened for two weeks. The first time Mas invited me out to dinner, this is the place we came to. It was called Bunny's at that time, and the restaurant was in the cellar; a candlelit place with classical music. Their speciality was a dessert called Refrigerator Cake, and I always wanted the recipe for this. Mas asked about the cook, thinking as he was so good he must be French, but in fact he came from Liverpool.

After lunch I returned to the hospital for pre admittance procedures, with blood tests, heart assessment and various health history questionnaires to go through. Everyone was very helpful and kind.

When finished with this I went back to Icons where Mas had been waiting for me, and we had a glass of wine to celebrate before going home.

Once home we had a quick nap, then Jana called from Czech, and Monika, then I set about telling people the good news. Afterwards Mas and I had an early night as we both felt exhausted by relief.

Gardening and Pan's Labyrinth

Yesterday was so spring like that we went out and got shopping, then had lunch at The Man in the Moon. Later I did a little tidying up in the garden, and looked at how all the plants were coming along; it is such a pleasure pottering in the garden.

In the evening we watched a very strange Spanish film called 'Pan's Labyrinth' which was very violent, interesting and rather disturbing, but at least we had not seen it before.

Looking like a cat

Today I had a phone call from Monika who was walking and going to pick up her son from nursery.

She told me that her mother had visited a hairdresser who had cut her hair very short( she has had long hair for years), styled it,and coloured it in a lighter colour. In Czech there is an expression that is used when someone looks pretty, they say "she looks like a cat."

Monika's mother had phoned and told them of the hair style, but when she spoke to her grandson, little Milan, she told him she had changed and looked like a cat. Milan began to cry, and said he wanted her the same as before; very confusing for a little chap that loves fairy stories!

I spoke to Diane who was just about to go to her cycle club, and Pete called too.

Mason had been shopping, and was trying to get another lock for the door when he realised that the lock measurements were now in metric measurements and that is why nothing would fit properly. Very frustrating! In the evening we watched a rerun of a TV series, Pie in the Sky.

Surprises and scans

On Monday morning the postman bought a surprise parcel from Romy and Toby which contained all kinds of pampering goodies, skin creams, chocolates and lots of special Yogi herbal teas. What a nice way to start the week!

I also received an order for eleven different prints of some of my paintings; the largest order I have had so far!

In the afternoon I went back to the hospital for a scan. The other ladies in the waiting room were all looking nervous and depressed, and some drinking orange liquid. My litre of orange drink was given to me; I asked the lady next to me what it was like, and she said it was OK. I began to drink mine and was surprised when it tasted like orange squash. The lady I had spoken to asked me what I thought of it, and when I replied I would rather have a G&T everyone laughed and agreed, and became more relaxed. I left the hospital feeling weirdly cheerful.

Mas had spent the day trying to change a mortise lock, but none of them seemed to fit properly, and what he had thought would be an easy job was not.

Flying visits, phone calls and snow.

Yesterday Poppy and Ben paid us a flying visit, sadly we could not spend much time together as they had been unexpectedly delayed. Poppy did have time to tell me her good news; she is expecting a baby! Mas took them off to the station in plenty of time for them to catch their plane, and we hope it will not be too long before we see them again.

Monika phoned and we spent almost an hour talking! I did some cooking and made a soup with broccoli, tomato, garlic and sweet potato which was very filling. By mistake we began to eat the nougat (which tastes rather too nice)that Poppy and Ben had given us, while we watched a spooky film (that made no sense at all) on TV. Later I spoke to Diane who has just spent a week away visiting her family.

This morning we woke up to find it snowing.

Spring cleaning and spring flowers

I have been doing some spring cleaning, which was very overdue, as well as the usual things. The weather has been lovely today, and for a break I took these pictures :













































Years ago we liked these Celandine flowers, and put a few into a strategic place in the garden, but they have spread and grow everywhere now, despite our efforts to control them. I always liked Laurel flowers when I was a child, because they can easily be overlooked, and I thought no one else saw them except me.
We saw bumble bees in our window boxes while we were having our morning coffee; they draw attention to themselves by bumping their heads on the window which seems to be one of the sounds of summer at our house. We also saw a pair of chaffinches in the garden, the female in much more subdued and modest colours.










It is hard to believe that the forecast for the weekend is snow showers.

St. Albans clock tower and shopping.

Today we went up to St. Albans as usual, but our friends could not meet us for lunch today. The weather was grey and dreary, but the market was bustling as usual. We were rather late so we went to Sazio's for a nice lunch before we collected the fruit and vegetables.

The Clock Tower, St. Albans.

Isis, an interesting shop that sells stones, crystals and fossils. Once we bought a fish, fruit and vegetables we drove home.

Cut grass, kindness and cat naps

Today has been bright and sunny, and I cut the grass for the first time this year. It is really nice to be able to potter about in the garden again.

I am so lucky with friends and family who have been in touch; it feels as if it is my birthday
I have been getting so much attention! With so many phone calls, flowers, cards, advice and emails I will soon need a secretary! Thank you all.

Joan sent me this picture of Baxter who is soaking up heat on the mantelpiece above the fire; I have adopted him as my guru and will try to be this relaxed.

Catching up with friends and mud walking.

Jana, Monika, Olga and children, Milan and Radovan arrived in the morning. We have not seen each other for a while so there was a lot of chatting to catch up on. Jana had been on a short holiday to Spain and bought some wine, a huge spanish pineapple and a large box of coconut cakes she had made at Monika's which were delicious. Little Radovan is sweet; this was the first time we had seen him as he is about ten weeks old.

All too soon Monika and Olga had to leave ,and go home with the children.

The weather was grey, windy and raining from time to time. Jana and I set off for our planned walk. From Elstree we squelched across the sodden fields, then as it began to rain heavily we went into the Waggon and Horses and had a coffee sitting in front of the fire. It is a very cozy pub, and was built in the 15th centuary. We talked for a long time until the rain became lighter, and we left. We crossed the road and walked across the fields for hours, still talking. Eventually we came across Battlers Green Farm.

The fire at the Waggon and Horses Pub

The farmyard is now a horseshoe shaped area with shops of various kinds, including a farmers' produce shop. Luckily the cafe was still open and we had a very strong and aromatic pot of coffee and warmed up. When we were leaving the waiter remarked that we must have really needed the coffee as we looked so wet and bedraggled.

Battlers green Farm

We walked back through Letchmore Heath, Jana pointing out my favourite house, then headed off to Elstree across fields and through woods. We were trying to get home by 7.00pm as Mas would be making a meal for us, also it was getting dark. This is the most dreary weather we had walked in, and somehow we had walked further than we usually do which is odd when all the fields and woods were so waterlogged.

We arrived home around 7.00pm. We sat in front of the fire, Jana stretching out to dry her rolled up trousers. We both had mud plastered up our legs to well past our knees, and we talked with Mas while we waited for Oktay to arrive. Eventually we went and had dinner as we thought he must have got held up. Mas had made a really tasty turkey dinner which we soon made short work of, and we had a glass of red wine with it.

There had been a muddle with communications, so Oktay had already eaten by the time he arrived. We sat in front of the fire and chatted till we all became really tired, and Oktay and Jana went home to Monikas, and we were sad to see them go.

It had been a very nice and eventful day. It is a shame we do not all live closer to each other.

Royal Free Hospital visit

On Friday Mas and I went to the hospital and after waiting for a while got the results of my tests from the doctor. We went straight home afterwards as it was raining. Diane and I spoke on the phone for a while; she is going to Kent for a week for a change of scene. Jana phoned and we made plans for tomorrow. Robert sent a cheering e-mail too. Mas and I watched TV, doing familiar low key things.

Art at the Radlett Centr and soup in the Art Cafe

Yesterday Diane phoned and we exchanged news and talked for a while, and I heard from Betty too which was nice.

Mas and I decided we needed a break from our usual routine, so we drove to Radlett, a village close to us which is built on either side of the old Roman road that runs from London to St.Albans (Watling Street). It began to rain so we went into the Radlett Cente to look at the art.

They have a theatre, two art galleries and a cafe, with the library next door.
Zoë Bennett was exhibiting her Funky Florals in the Apthorpe Gallery, and Martyn Cohen's photographic art was displayed in the Ground floor gallery. His was unusual work as he had taken woodland photographs, and made pictures of a single shot and a reversed one attached, and again one shown upside down and another reversed upside down one, making one large picture. From a distance the pictures made a curious designs.


Mas and I had a light lunch of soup in the Art Cafe,and afterwards we did a little shopping, and bought a few bargains in a sale where everything cost £1.50 before coming home again.














The Radlett Centre

Emergency tree felling followed by snow and cookies

On Good Friday we discovered that an elderberry tree close to the house had lurched sideways due to the roots having lifted because of the blustery strong winds we have been having recently. We decided the only course of action was to cut the tree in half as it has a divided trunk. A lot of the day was spent cutting it down and chopping up the pieces; just as we finished the sky darkened ominously, and it began to hail ferociously.

As soon as the hail turned into rain we heard a loud clap of thunder, so I rushed around the house unplugging TV and computers (thinking of the Hi Fi system we lost to lightening previously!) After this we had a cup of tea and waited for the storm to pass so that we could get on with the things we usually do.

On Saturday we went off to get shopping, and had a breakfast and change of scene at The Man in the Moon, as we drove home it began a thick snow shower, and became cold so we stayed

home for the rest of the day, lurking around and doing our usual things; Mas on the computer, and me trying to paint a particular picture.

On Easter Sunday we woke to a white world as it had snowed overnight, and was still snowing. Sadly by the time I had drunk my second coffee, the thaw set in, and the snow had almost melted before I took these pictures. So there was to be no snowballing for Mas and I !

As the house felt cold, despite the heating being on, I made some leek and potato soup. I also decided to make some of Romy's cookies, despite my deep misgivings about my ability to divide 1¼ cups of sugar by ⅔ . Luckily it was possible, using the cooking tools that Romy had given me previosly. I made half the batch with ginger chopped into it, and used hazle nuts too.

Mas strolled by as I was putting them on the rack to cool, and said "Flapjacks....mmm." I said "No," so he took a bite and as he was walking past and said "Interesting" The house was warmer, and it smelled good as well! I had better not make them again as we will just eat them!

We watched The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency in the evening which we both liked. Luckily they are making a series of this which will be shown next year.

Chatty lunch at Sazios and exotic lizard face.

We drove up to St. Albans as usual to visit the market, and to have lunch with our friends. Robert, having recently been discharged from hospital has been invited to attend hospital for tests similar to mine. Despite these hideous medical thingys we had some red wine and a nice lunch and a good time, exchanging opinions and bringing each other up to date with what has been going on since we last met.










The weather was not good, and we watched TV for a while before going to bed.

Mas has recently bought some special blue mouth rinse which he has been using, so I thought I would use it too, as it smells very nice. Having rinsed my mouth, swishing it about for 30 seconds I discovered that my mouth and tongue had been stained bright blue, and if I stuck my tongue out I looked like an exotic lizard. This cannot be right! I still had a blue mouth the following morning! The odd thing is that it does not do it to Mas.

Visit to the Affordable Art Fair

Toby phoned briefly to say he had arrived home safely. After doing a few chores Mas and I went off to the Affordable Art Fair as usual, and as usual we called into the Oriel and had a white wine in the downstairs bar before taking the courtesy bus from Sloane Square.


















The Oriel

We thought that the displayed art was better this year, and it was being well attended despite it being the last day of the exhibition.

Wellington boot dogs!

A bark jewel

We returned home exhausted after this outing!