An Up and Down Day!

Yesterday, some things went right but most everything else went WRONG!

I'll start with the right stuff! I had posted messages on several genealogy sites last springtime, regarding a postcard photo that I had acquired of a lovely baby girl with the name Georgie Anne Hildreth written on the back. The photo was taken around 1890ish (I'm guessing) and was purchased for $1 at an antique store in Montana! Well, yesterday I got a reply from a lady whose grandmother was a half-sister to Georgie Anne. Yeah! So, the sweet little girl will be going home to her family - and she won't be going very far either. The lady lives in California - about 400 miles from me!

I decided to go to the mall and get some new make up as I had been scraping the bottom of the bottle for several days and I really can't go out without my war paint on any more - at 65, I need lots of pollyfiller! Mr. Indi wanted to come too, so - off we went. I had to get him into the transporter chair but he had a terrible time with pain in his backside and hip joint. He couldn't get comfortable and kept wriggling around like a two year old! Grrr. It made it very difficult for me to push him around - imagine a stick woman trying to push a revolving beached whale in a push chair! So, we ended up having a row and left the mall! (I did get my make-up and a nice bottle of smelly though.)

Next we stopped to get something to eat - and I had fish in a tomatillo type of sauce. The waitress tipped the sauce all down my sweater and leg! Ahhhh! The sweater was lime green and the sauce was red! She felt terrible about the accident - but not as terrible as me!

When we got home, the Fed-Ex man showed up with my new laptop. It's booooooootiful! A lovely pink color that is almost the same shade as the cardigan that I am knitting! Mr. Indi had a nap and then started work on setting the computer up. All went well until we came to the part about getting on the internet. Mr. Indi has set up a wireless network in the house so that I can access the internet from any room and even the garden. But, he made it all very safe and secure and it requires a 10 character password to get on the wireless modem. AND, of course, he doesn't remember where the paper is with the password written on it. AND, of course, that is MY fault!

I spent over an hour going through all the files and boxes and every place else I could think of to try and find the blasted password - but no good. So, I don't know what we shall do next.

It's off to chemo at 9:00 a.m. this morning. I hope Mr. Indi will be OK and not have any horrible reactions. When we get back home, I shall, once again, start tearing the house apart looking for the password. And when I've had enough of that, I shall start on the Baileys!

The picture is of a succulent growing in a pot on the back patio. It really liked the rain that we had last week and now has a happy face - can't remember what it's called!

Here We Go Again!

Yesterday, Mr. Indi got the OK from the insurance company to start on his new chemo regimen. He will have his first infusion tomorrow - New Years Eve! - at 9:00a.m. He talked to Tracy, one of the chemo nurses, and she said he should be through with his IV in little over an hour - so I suppose that's not too bad. At least compared to the last lot that used to take 6-7 hours! The drug, Cytoxan, is usually given for breast cancer but can be used for other cancers - at the oncologist's discretion. He will also start on the chemo pills - VP16 (Etoposide) tomorrow. Larry has ordered them and they should be ready for me to pick up this afternoon.

So, that has buggered up our New Years Eve. We were going to go out dancing and drinking and staying up till 4 in the morning - NOT! Hehehe! We shall be doing what old farts usually do on NYE. Staying off the road away from all the crazies - having some warm milk and going to bed at 8:00p.m.! Well, I might be tempted to have a glass or three of that wonderful Marzipan Dream.

His Lordship is feeling much better in the queasy department and so we will go out and have a really nice lunch today and that will be our NYE celebration - maybe some good Mexican or yummy Indian. I'll see what he fancies. I don't mind the drive as long as he enjoys his food.

My new laptop is scheduled to be delivered today! Yeah! Mr. Indi is real excited as he is the one that wants to set it all up and play with it! That's OK - I shall be knitting the last bits of the dreaded cardigan. I am sick of the sight of it and if I don't finish it within the next few days it will end up in the rubbish! Grrrrr. I do this all the time - run out of patience on the last lap of a project. Stay cool Mrs. I - stay cool!

I took the picture above yesterday afternoon - with the new fangled - much too complicated - beyond me - camera. It's a little rose growing in the front garden. I played around with the image in Paint Shop Pro. I like the result.

Oysters and Jade!

Poor Mr. Indi had another horrible day. He has no appetite, is still feeling queasy and it is getting more and more difficult for him to move around. He spent most of the morning in bed while I got on with a bit of skivvying. I don't know what this week will bring so I am trying to keep everything caught up as far as chores are concerned.

We did manage to go out to lunch to our favorite seafood restaurant. He had his usual tuna salad, which he picked at, and I had my fix of fried oysters. Everything was yummy but I do wish they would stop playing that horrible modern jazz music in the background. It's most annoying. I like jazz but not that off the wall rubbish.

There is no handicapped parking close to the restaurant and it was a real struggle for his Lordship to make it (about 100 yds) with his walker. Next time, I shall put him in the push chair whether he likes it or not! It breaks my heart to see what was once a big strong chap struggling along like an eighty year old - remember - he is only 58!

After lunch, Mr. Indi went back to bed and I lay on the chaise in the garden - it was a lovely day - about 70F and I even dozed off for a few minutes - I was startled when I woke up because I didn't know where I was ! And - why was I outside?

I'm still messing about with the new camera and today's picture is of the jade plant in the back garden that has just begun to flower.

Once in a Blue Moon.

I don't know what is happening to Mr. Indi but he has been very nauseated for the past couple of days. I have started to give him Compazine every 8 hours and it seems to be helping although he's still a bit queasy round the edges. I wonder if it might be because his body is getting saturated with morphine. The Compazine is one of the anti-nausea drugs that they gave him when he was on chemo - I hope it's OK to give it to him but I can't get hold of anyone until tomorrow - so will keep fingers crossed that I'm not doing more harm than good!

We didn't venture far yesterday - just down to the mega-drug store to stock up on meds to make Mr. Indi go to the lavatory - and other drugs to stop him from going to the lavatory in case the first lot start working too well! I am becoming an expert on the human bowel system and what to take /or not to take depending on the situation! I shall write a book - "To Go or Not to Go!"

We also swung by the mega DIY store so that I could stock up on bundles of wood that I can chop up for kindling. A very kind couple - young people with two sweet little kids - where kind enough to help me load the wood into the back of the van and helped Mr. Indi into the front. There are some very lovely people in the world.

The rest of my day was spent chopping wood, lighting the fire, cooking pork loin with stuffing and veg, knitting the button border on the dreaded cardigan and putting Mr. Indi to bed - in other words - just lying around! I also wandered round the back garden with my new fangled camera and took a few pics of the last of the roses. The one shown is called Blue Moon - although I think the cold weather has made it more of a Violet Moon. As soon as the weather gets a bit warmer, I shall prune them all down. Ta ta roses!

Brrrrrr!

Yesterday was a really cold day - and that causes a lot of consternation in this household. Mr. Indi is always warm and because he takes large doses of female hormones (to block the manufacture of testosterone) he has awful hot spells where the sweat rolls out of him - even on a day like yesterday. I, on the other hand, feel the cold and my hands are always like ice. I turn up the central heating to 70F and I light the fire in the living room - and that's when the fighting starts - sigh! I feel so bad for Him but I can't stand being cold - what to do?

Luckily, we didn't need to go far at all and we just popped down to the store to get milk and bread and then to the Italian joint for lunch. There was lots of traffic around as people went out looking for bargains. I'm going to wait for a few days before checking out a flat screen telly for the family room - I hear they are almost giving them away.

Mr. Indi learned - via an email from work - that he and his crew have been given an award of merit for the outstanding engineering work that they have done in the past year. No money involved but he can choose a gift from the award catalogue! PLEASE - no more clocks or GPS devices! I had to laugh - my husband really is a very clever engineer - but he can't figure out how to fly the miniature helicopter that Santa gave him and has almost decapitated me twice and I am expecting the dining room light to end up shattered into bits before much longer!

I spent the afternoon putting my new camera together and getting it fired up - what a palaver! One needs an advanced PhD degree in cameraology in order to get it to take a blinding picture! I'm sure it will be fabulous once I get the hang of it - should I live long enough!

Mr. Indi's back is not getting any better and I don't believe that the radiation did him any good. He was in lots of pain yesterday and spent most of the afternoon in bed. He can't sit for long periods and he can only stand for a few minutes at a time - so he is most comfortable in bed with a book. The morphine is now making him nauseated and so roll on the New Year when, hopefully, we can see a doctor who can help with the pain and make him a little more comfortable.

Today's picture is one I took yesterday morning - with the old camera. It's a shot of snow covered Mt. Baldy that I took from behind our local grocery store. Pity that the clouds got in the way - but you can see that there is plenty of snow up there. I heard that there was a traffic jam 20 miles long with people trying to get up to the ski areas - Must need something to do!

Per Popular Request - A Camel!

Grrrr - These pictures have posted in the upside down order of how I wanted them - so I will have to tell the story of Mr. Indi's beloved Camel backwards! In the first picture you can see that the pilot has fallen out of the cockpit with his legs crossed and holding his nether regions - he needs the loo! The Sopwith Camel took about 9 months to build so it's no wonder that the pilot was breaking his neck for a wee!

This is the pilot's view looking down the crosshairs of the gun sight as he lines up the two machine guns. The rigging is actually crochet thread and doing the rigging was the worst part for Mr. Indi. He made up new swear words because he ran out of old ones! Some of them had to do with my ancestry!

The Camel was made from a kit - but Mr. Indi did what is known as kit bashing. This is where you use the kit as an outline but buy or make most of your own parts. The propeller in the kit was a horrible piece of plastic junk. Mr. Indi bought the propeller shown at a proper model airplane shop - it was raw wood and he applied several coats of varnish. The engine ( A Clerget Rotary Engine - France) actually turns when the propeller turns. This is one of the reasons that the pilots wore scarves over their face to stop the oil from the engine flying into their mouth and nose. Yum!

Mr. Indi threw away the dashboard that came with the kit and made his own. He found pictures of gauges on the Internet - shrank them to the correct scale and printed them out. Then he got little silver colored rings from the jewelry section of the craft store and made bezels. He cut the dashboard out of wood and applied varnish. The brown leather things are for the pilot to lean into as he fires the machine guns.

This is the Camel next to the coffee table and you can see the scale - it is quite large. The whole thing is covered in a special kind of paper and some horrible stuff called dope. Mr. Indi would spend hours in the garage doping his Camel! Or that's what he said, anyway! The kit only just contained exactly enough paper and of course Mr. Indi had several mishaps where he stuck his thumb or god knows what through it and had to order more paper. This, of course was my fault and consequentially, the legitimacy of my birth was, once again, bought into question!

These pictures are for my bruvver, Wayne and now I hope he shuts up about the bloody things!

xxxxxxxxx

Beer, Glorious Beer!

It's gone - it's finished - it's over. Now, we can have a nice laid back day munching on leftovers and playing with our toys! Perfect! One of the lovely gifts that we received was the book, Beers of the World. It was given to us by Mr. Indi's sister and her hubby who obviously know us too well! Actually, I was having a little look through it and it is very interesting - there is a beer listed that is made from fermented bananas! Hmmmm! Probably quite good if one is constipated!

We had a nice visit with son and daughter in law who gave us smashing presents and we munched on lots of goodies and had a little Bailey's before it was time for them to move on to D's Mom's house so that they could help with the dinner. Mr. Indi went down for a nap and I also had a little rest.

We left the house at about 3:00 pm and Wow! It was cold - really cold and squally showers and quite an ugly day to be on the road. But, off I went and decided to avoid the freeway and take the back roads. I had gone 7-8 miles when Mr. Indi asked me where I was going! Stupid question - I was going to son's house. Ahhhhh! The dinner was at daughter in laws parent's house - 10 miles in the opposite direction! Duh! That's it - I've gone senile! Stupid old woman! I finally arrived at Rose and Bill's place - half an hour late - and feeling like a dufus! Dinner was just being set on the table - boy - we just made it in time!

We had a lovely time - good food and lots to drink. I started with a glass of beer - then had a glass of white zinfandel followed by a nice rose - then Bill introduced me to German after-dinner drink called Marzipan Dream by Sebastiani. I am a marzipan freak and could have drunk the entire bottle but as it is 17% alcohol, I was a good girl and only had one glass - DELISH. We ended up sitting around a beautiful table eating chocolates and drinking port! Poor old Mr. Indi was feeling nauseated (probably from watching us!) and stuck to one glass of non-alcoholic beer and several glasses of water. Poor chap!

We arrived home at about 7:00 pm - Me with a bottle of Marzipan Dream under my arm and Him wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed. We are both glad that it's over. I just hope that they will have stopped playing that annoying Christmas music in the shops - if I hear "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" one more time - I shall go on a rampage!

He's Been!

Well, here we are again - another Christmas Day but this one will be a little different. I am not cooking Christmas dinner, which is kind of sad, but there again, it will give me a rest from what is usually a very hectic day in the kitchen. Instead, we shall be going to dinner at the home of my daughter-in-laws parents. My contribution will be the "World Famous Indi's Green Bean and Onion Ring Casserole." The same one that everyone in California makes! Hmmmm! I wonder how they know MY recipe?

We didn't go very far yesterday - the traffic was horrendous. We just had to stop at the gigantic liquor store and get some non-alcoholic beer for Mr. Indi and a bottle of good port (as opposed to that bad port!) to take to our hosts. I could spend days in that store just looking at all of the stuff in there - most of it I've never heard of! Who would pay $350 for a bottle of tequila? I bet it makes good margaritas.

The horrible rain storm with 1 to 3 inches of rain per hour that had been forecast, failed to appear - do weather people make stuff up? But, I'm glad as I hate driving in the rain.

My son and his wife will be here this morning to exchange gifts. I shall light the fire and we shall have salami and cheese and a box of chocolates and latte and chocolate cookies and maybe a Baileys for breakfast! Well, brunch really! And - I shall try out my new camera - if I can figure out how to work it - it's a bit complicated! - and will get more complicated if I start on the Baileys!

I managed to get a picture of Jolly Old Santa going down the chimney at the Mission Inn.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Love from Me and Him

A Very Small World!

A few days ago, I got a note from a very nice friend and Internet buddy who happened to be visiting the cemetery where Ma's remains (she was cremated) are buried in a lovely little box and covered with a nice black marble slab. I told my friend that if she had the time, could she just stop by and say "Hello" to Ma and tell her that I think of her often. I also gave instructions as to the approximate site of the stone.

My friend went with her hubby and mother in law to visit the grave of her father in law, who had grown up in the town and lived there most of his life - although the family no longer lives in the area. While my friend's hubby and MIL did a little housekeeping on FIL's grave, my friend went to look for Ma. Not having any luck, she went back to check on hubby and MIL and that is when she spotted Ma's grave. It's right NEXT to the grave of her FIL! Is this a coincidence or what! You could have knocked my friend down with a feather! AND - me too - when she wrote to me last night! So - here is the story - Me (a lady in California) has a friend (living in Gloucestershire) who is checking on a grave (in Herefordshire) and finds my Ma buried next to her father in law! Is it a small world ? Anyway, a big Thank You to my friend - what a nice Christmas present!

Mr. Indi had a very bad day yesterday. He didn't want to stay home alone so came with me as I ran around like a mad woman - putting gas in the car - getting money from the bank - doing last minute shopping at the grocery market - and going to the Auto Club and getting the paperwork done on both cars - and - by the time I was through and it was time for lunch - he just couldn't go on. I bought him home and put him in bed. So - no steak lunch for him - or me! He was having awful pains in his ribs and torso and was feeling quite nauseated for most of the day. I was afraid he had a fever - but no - so I just left him in bed to rest. He is feeling a bit better this morning. I'm hoping he doesn't get ill over Christmas - and in fact I just wish that Christmas would hurry up and go away! Bah Humbug!

I want to send lots of love and hugs and kisses to my 2 sisters in law who have both been in the hospital during the past week. They are both back home now and I wish them better health in the New Year. Hope to see you soon xxx

Today's picture is another one from the Mission Inn - this snowguy is about 7 feet tall and quite lovely! I suspect he is a football (soccer in the USA) supporter - but can't figure out what team the scarf represents. Any ideas?

Merry Christmas to New Zealand.

Today's picture is of the Pohutukawa Tree and is a special Christmas symbol in New Zealand. The New Zealand Christmas Tree - how beautiful. Thanks to all of my friends from NZ who sent me and him all those lovely Christmas wishes. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and get plenty of egg nog down yer neck! (For reasons known only to the scientific community! - New Zealand will get Christmas before we do! Something to do with the twirling of the sky or wobbling of the latitudes! But, I will not be left out and shall start my Christmas sampling of the Taylor's port tonight!)

Mr. Indi didn't feel too good again yesterday and spent most of the morning resting in bed. The doctor appointment was at 3 p.m so I had plenty of time to catch up on a bit of skivvying and an hour or so of wood gathering and kindle chopping. Between all this manual labour and pushing Mr. Indi in the transport chair - I shall soon have bazooms like Dolly Parton! Which will look rather odd on a woman who has the profile of a stick insect.

Dr. J was busy so we met with Dina - which is OK. Mr. Indi's blood test numbers were not much different from the previous month. His PSA has remained virtually the same at 87.7 - so at least it hasn't got worse. His hematocrit is 31.2 and hemoglobin is 10.6. So his red cell count is in fairly good shape and he doesn't need to do any more Procrit injections for the time being. As far as treatment - they are going to start him on yet another regimen of chemo. He will be receiving an IV of Cytoxan - once every 21 days and he will be taking VP-16 (Etopophos) capsules - one a day for 21 days beginning on the day of the Cytoxan infusion. The chemo has to be approved by our insurance so he probably won't start until next week as I'm sure all the health insurance office staff are attending important Christmas functions and conducting tests on the side effects of too much mulled wine combined with Brie on sesame crackers! Good for them!

Every time I think I'm going to have a day off - I'm WRONG! Today, I must go down to the Auto Club office and get the Pontiac registered for 2009. The tags are due by December 28th! Oh Joy of joys! Just what I feel like doing - but - I'm going to presume that there won't be too many people doing the same thing so should be in and out in a half hour or less - (Always the optimist!)While over on that side of town, I think I shall take Mr. Indi to his favorite steak place for lunch.

I was woken, very rudely, at 3:00 am today by a couple of putty tats who were expressing their love for each other under my bedroom window. It was too cold to go out and chuck a bucket of water over them - so I made a cup of tea - put the electric fire on and have done quite a bit of knitting - sweater all but finished! Everything has a good side!

Slipping off the Runway!

Yesterday was a slow and easy kind of a day although it had to be that way because Mr. Indi was not feeling up to par and had to spend more time than usual resting on the bed. He had had an unfortunate experience in the middle of the night when (in the dark) he went to sit on the toilet and came up short of the runway by about 6 inches and slid down the side of the loo and onto the floor. He managed to push his walker out of the way and hang on to the sides of the loo and pull himself up! I bet that's the first time he's ever done that - sober! I slept through the whole performance.

We went to the grocery store just before lunch and I made my rounds of the veg, milk and bakery departments while he left a trail of destruction behind him driving one of those electric carts for the disabled. He knocked over at least 3 displays in the aisles and backed into a woman with two small children, who, according to his Lordship, should watch where they are walking! And, while I was buying the essentials needed for life itself - he was buying himself a miniature helicopter to fly around the living room! Well, we each have our own priorities!

In the afternoon, we watched the movie High Anxiety. It is donkey's years old but still as funny and clever as before. It's a spoof on all the Alfred Hitchcock thrillers, including Vertigo, The Birds, North by Northwest and others. The shower scene from Psycho is hysterical! What a good laugh we had.

This afternoon, Mr. Indi has an appointment with Dr. J. He will learn the results of his last round of blood tests and whether or not it is worth trying another regimen of chemo. We know that the last combo of Taxotere and Cisplatin was no longer effective and his PSA numbers were climbing again. It will be interesting to see what Dr. J recommends next - maybe nothing!

Rain is on the way - Yahooooo! and I have chopped enough wood and bought in enough logs to last us for a few days. We should be snug. All of my Christmas shopping is done - that's because I haven't done any! I have sent out money. I think that people always like money and if not - Sigh! And - I have enough food in the freezer to feed anyone and everyone who might stop by.

After I posted my blog yesterday and included greetings to my addressless friends - I remembered 2 more very special people. Dear Lexi - Love you babe, have a wonderful Christmas - stay warm! And, Dear Brenda, May the New Year bring you lots of good things, I'm thinking of you. xxxx

Today's picture is another one from the Mission Inn - he is about 4 feet high and kinda looks like Mr. Indi!

A Trip to Borders

Borders is a very large and very wonderful book store that also sells DVDs and Mr. Indi and I went with the express purpose of buying him the collector's edition of Lawrence of Arabia. We got that - and the collector's edition of Monty Python films - including The Life of Brian and a couple of Mel Brooks films including High Anxiety! AND, that was before we looked at any of the books that we wanted! Cor Struth - They must love us!

I have finished my latest read The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille and even though it was all about murder and sex and the Mafia and crooks and thugs and other basic New York life! - I loved it. It is so well written, witty and believable - I was sorry to finish it. But that is enough excitement for a while so I bought Eric Clapton's autobiography to read next. I know that there will be parts of it that are very sad - but I am interested to read about his life. Will post a review on the blog when I get finished.

Mr. Indi decided that he wanted a different kind of walker and insisted on going down to Payless Drug and getting a 4 wheel drive thing. See link:

http://www.apexmedical.com/products/Carex

It's the one in the picture labeled Mobility. I am very apprehensive about him using this contraption as I am afraid that it will run out from under him and he will plant his face on the ground. But, he is a stubborn old fart and won't listen to me. Anyway, we now have 3 different walkers littering the house - I shall trip over one of them - break my leg and that will be that! His Lordship is going to try the new one out today when we go down to the grocery store. (Between you, me and the gate post - I bet it will be the only time he uses it!)

I want to take a minute to wish a Merry Christmas to some of my friends for whom I don't have postal addresses. To Dear Jan and Tony, You are in my heart. To Dear Annie, Wishing you a Wonderful White Christmas. To Dear Joseph, Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful bride in Japan and thank you for your kind thoughts. To Dear Daria, May the New Year bring good things to you; you are in my heart. To Dear GAR, keep playing those happy tunes and have a wonderful Christmas. To my Little Bruvver, Wayne and his lovely new bride, "Ave one fer me!

Hope I haven't forgotten anyone.

Today's picture is of a gigantic toy soldier at the entrance to the Mission Inn - he is about 15 feet tall - I love him!

Snow People - and Other Adventures!

Yesterday, apart from being cold, was a lovely day - that is - until later in the afternoon when things went wrong! But, I'll get to that later.

Mr. Indi got hold of the office of the surgeon, a Dr. Clark, and, sure enough, they had the authorization for a consultation - Will wonders never cease? However, Dr. Clark will not be seeing any new patients until after the New Year! (Must be out on a bender!) So, we must call back for an appointment during the 2nd. week of January. Still, tis progress - however small!

I have had a bit of a struggle with my mouth but am trying hard to ignore the problem. Ever since I quit smoking - will be 3 years in May - I have flare ups with mouth ulcers. I had them as a child but never had any trouble with them as an adult. There is a known link between nicotine and the suppression of mouth ulcers (a virus) but very little research has been done in the area. Many people who give up the smokes are plagued with mouth sores. I have asked Dr. K (my throat specialist) about the problem and he is not aware of any medicine that will get rid of them - it's a case of put up with it! I suppose I could take up smoking again - NOT. This has been a particularly painful flare up but I only have myself to blame because 2 nights ago I made a lovely fry up for dinner that included fried tomatoes and chips with HP sauce on them! Duh! Silly me.

Anyway, we decided to go to Mario's Place for lunch. (Even though I can barely eat anything because of the pain - but I figured I could do a cold liquid diet) I also wanted to go to the Mission Inn and look at the Christmas decorations - they are spectacular. Mario's was booked solid (lots of work's parties) so me and him sat in the bar. It was quite fun really as we were on a higher level than the main dining area and could watch the marauding masses drinking their champers and playing a little grab ass! It bought back memories of the many works parties that have passed through my life! Some good - some even better!

After a lovely meal, (I managed the chicken breast with polenta) we walked, very slowly - Mr. Indi didn't want to do the transport chair thing - across the road and I got lots of lovely pictures of the Christmas decorations at the Mission Inn - one of which you see above. Isn't that just a lovely family of snowman, woman and children? I would love to see the displays at night when everything is lit up but I hear that parking is a nightmare so will have to pass on that idea.

We got home and Mr. Indi went to hang up his overcoat in the coat closet in the hallway - I went to put the kettle on when I heard him go down - KERBANG! He fell with his legs buckled underneath him. I was so scared but we managed to get him up on his hands and knees and he crawled into the living room where he was able to pull himself up on the couch! He had a nasty cut on his hand but no other damage that I could see. He was crying in frustration and I was crying because I can't stand to see him like this. So we sat on the couch and had some hugs and suddenly he saw that he had dripped blood on his nice trousers and wanted me to wash them right away so that they didn't get stained! MEN!

A Beautiful Bear!

Yesterday, when we got back from shopping, the postman had been and left me a lovely card from New Zealand - and inside the card was this beautiful little bear, who was handmade by my friend, Maryanne. The little bear is hand knitted and less that 3/4" tall - an amazing piece of work. What a treasure he is and I promise he will be well loved!

Yesterday was sooooooo cold - it never got above 48F (9C) I know that all of my friends in Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton will think I am a big whinging baby - and, of course, they would be correct! But, I really don't have much in the way of cold weather clothes - Mr. Indi and I stay away from the mountains and our wardrobes don't include ski jackets or other such snow clobber and I can usually manage with a sweater or two but with that cold wind coming down from Canada, I was freezing my patooty off! Remember that I had bought a pair of fingerless gloves? Well, they have been working out super for driving but because they are white (daft choice) they are now grey! So - off we went in search of more fingerless gloves.

Our first stop was the Macy's store at the mall, where I pushed Mr. Indi around in the transport chair and managed to maneuver the entire first floor without hitting any shoppers, clothing displays or glass show cases. I am getting very good at this! I should be able to get a license within another week or two! They had some very good deals and I got a couple of $69 sweaters for $22. I also got a fabulous tie-dye doper weirdo shirt with a huge multi colored peace sign on the front of it! Mr. Indi says that the pills are making me too weird! Anyway - no luck with the gloves so after I shoved him and his blinkin chair back in the car, it was off another 15 miles to the shop where I got the first pair - and Viola! They had several to choose from so I got a pair of brown - a bit more sensible, I'd say!

We arrived back home, expecting to find a phone message from the doctor's office re: the approval for the neuro-surgeon. But, of course, there was nothing! Pffft! How silly of us to expect people to keep their word! Mr. Indi waited until about 3:30 p.m. and called the office and asked for the status of this ongoing saga. Daisy, the lady who is working on the case, assured us that it has all been sorted out and that Mr. Indi can call the neuro-surgeon's office today and set up an appointment to see him! She also said that if there is any problem - just call her back! Ha! If it's all been sorted - then there won't be a problem - right??? We shall see.

This morning it is 30F (-1C) outside and so I can probably kiss my hibiscus and bougainvillea goodbye. They don't do frost - and for that matter - neither do I! I will try to get some snow pictures today.

Fit For Neither Man Nor Beast!

Yesterday was a corker of a weather day. The rain started at about 6:00 a.m. and didn't let up for at least 12 hours - it came down in torrents and as the day wore on, the temperature dropped to almost freezing. The snow level dropped to 1200 feet - we are at 900 feet- and all of the mountain roads were closed. People who work in Los Angeles and had managed to get to work in the morning had no way to get home to Palmdale, Victorville or anywhere up in the high desert. Hundreds of trucks are stuck at the side of the road and, as of 5:00 this morning, the roads are still closed. Many people slept in their cars in the freezing cold. Brrrr!

I am so glad that I had spent the time chopping wood and dragging logs up to the side porch as I was able to light a lovely fire in the afternoon without venturing into the rain. As we didn't go anywhere, I had a chance to work on the granddaughters sweater but still am not finished! The harder I try, the slower I go! I spent at least an hour watching the lovely dancing flames going up the chimney!

Mr. Indi spent half the day on the phone with the doctor's office and the insurance company trying to find out why there is a hold up in the authorization. One person refers him to another who refers him back to the first person he spoke to - Grrrr! Typical! He has come to the conclusion that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. AND - they couldn't find their bum with BOTH hands!

He also spent some time on his computer looking for just the right laptop for me, from Santa. I think he has finally decided on a very nice Dell and, as I had a choice of colors, I have picked Flamingo Pink! I'm real anxious to get it as it is a pain in the rear having to come back in the family room to use my big computer when I could be snuggled up by the fire using a lovely pink Dell! Roll on Santa!

We received a lovely present in the post from Mr. Indi's relatives - it was a large freezer type box and said OPEN IMMEDIATELY. So I did! It was full of frozen meat, chicken and fish from a very well known distributor. Wow! What a neat present. The trouble is that I don't have a freezer - just 2 old refrigerators with small freezer compartments. Both freezers had food of dubious origin in them so it was a good time for me to have a good clear out! I knew that there was a leg of New Zealand lamb at the back of one of the freezers - and I knew it had been there quite a while - so I thought that it was time to check the date and maybe throw it out. It said 'Best before Sept 12 1999' WHAT! That lamb had been there for 9 years! It is now mutton! So, it was with a heavy heart that I threw it in the rubbish. I felt like I was throwing away a member of the family! After all, it was almost a teenager!

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Today's picture is one I took off the internet. That was our weather at 2:20 yesterday afternoon - you can see that the snow reached all the way to Las Vegas. I'm happy to say that it has now cleared out of here and is on it's way to my dear friend, A, in Colorado! Bring in your brass monkeys tonight!

Chocolate and Wine! Yum

Yesterday was a very chilly but very pretty day. The snow on the mountains (which I can see from my kitchen window) was sparkling in the sunlight and I'll bet that many people played hooky from school and/or work to get up on the slopes and ski. And - as far as I am concerned, they are welcome to it! I lived in Chicago for 5 years and have no desire to ever play in the snow again! T'aint no fun when you have to shovel it in order to get out to the street! Grrr! I hate snow. But - I will try and get a few pictures before it melts.

We went to the doctors office to get the authorization paper for Mr. Indi's visit to the specialist but it turns out that we don't have the authorization yet because they (the big THEY) need more information. The woman at the doctor's office was unable to tell us what information THEY need but she did promise to make a couple of phone calls and get back to us! How generous of her! As of 5 p.m., we had not heard a word. What a crock!

After our disappointing visit to Lord Nelson's abode, we took a trip down to the World Market because I needed some tea bags. Mr. Indi wouldn't let me push him in the transport chair as he doesn't trust me in the World Market! (You will remember the unfortunate incident where I squashed his leg between the racks of beer and cases of wine!) Tis a good thing too! The place was jam packed with even more cases of wine AND, although I'm not a big wine connoisseur, I had to buy a bottle of a German Reisling called Moselland Landmark - BECAUSE - it has a lovely picture on the bottle! See the bottle on this web site:

http://www.wineetc.com/Riesling.htm

Now, how could I resist? I got the one called Hollywood - but would also like to get the Golden Gate Bridge. Interesting - No? Well, how else do you choose wine?

Mr. Indi had another good night last night - thanks to the Benadryl - and he is going to start back up on his model Spitfire that has been sitting in the garage for weeks. I'm going to have to bring all the clobber into the house as it is colder than a grave diggers bum at midnight in the garage. But I don't mind the mess; I'm happy to see him with enough energy to want to start up again with his projects.

Today's picture is the box of yummy Russian chocolates that Anatoliy kindly gave to me last Saturday - and which my guests got their grubby little hands into!

OK - That's Enough! Sun Please!

Boy, did it rain? It came down in buckets and when I went to the grocery store, the bridge across the river was flooded and water was flying everywhere. We stopped in at Applebees for lunch and they had just recovered from a 2 hour power outage - an electrical transformer had flooded, shorted out and gone Kaboom! I kept my fingers crossed all day that we wouldn't have a similar experience. But, the rain finally stopped at about 4:00 p.m, although it was still mighty cold - (for us!) I lit the fire and made a nice roast chicken dinner so we were snug as a bug in a rug!

Mr. Indi had an OK day. He had been taking Decadron - a rather nasty cortisone-steroid type of drug - while he was on radiation. I think they prescribed it to help with any pain and/or discomfort that he might suffer from the radiation. He now has to be weaned off it and while it has many side affects, he seems to be suffering from the sleeplessness and mood swings more than anything else. So, last night after about 4 hours of tossing and turning he finally called me and asked for a Benadryl. I'm not sure why the anti-allergy medicine helps him sleep - but it does. The doctor has already said that it is OK to take a Benadryl before bedtime so I will continue to give him one for the next few days until the Decadron wears off. Just call me Nurse Ratched!

Today, we have to go down to Lord Nelson's office to pick up some paper work (whatever that means!) that will give us information re: the authorization for Mr. Indi to see the neuro-surgeon chap. Talk about a bloody performance. The only information that we could get over the phone was that the request is in the system! Sounds like a cop-out - but we shall see.

We also went to the camera shop and I got the camera that I want for Christmas. I'm very tempted to try it out - but must wait until Santa has been before I can start playing. It was a great deal as I got an extra lens plus 3 filters and a camera case all included in the sale price! Watch for better pictures after December 25.

Today's picture is one I took a couple of weeks ago. It's a humongous band saw - maybe 25 - 30 feet high, that stands outside of a large lumber plant opposite Brian's Pizza joint. I have been seeing it for years and years and finally snapped it! I imagine it came from an old saw mill and must have been used for sawing trees. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, I think it's a great old piece of machinery.

Rain and Roses!

Well, the rain has arrived and, as you might expect, this means that the Greater Los Angeles area will grind to a halt! There will be hundreds of accidents on the freeways - people will be filling sandbags as though the Great Flood was about to arrive - the weather service will put out storm watches, warnings and other dire messages - AND if there is more than one clap of thunder, the world will end! Of course the problem is that people here just don't understand that rain is wet and that one cannot drive at 90 mph on a slick road and expect to stop within any reasonable distance! So, I shall limit my driving to the local market today. We only need fresh bread and some milk. The rest of them can get on with it!

Yesterday was a nice quiet day - once I had cleaned up the shambles in the kitchen and living room. I was really surprised that so little of the booze was downed. Everyone was being very good about drinking and driving. So, I have moved all of the bottles onto the sideboard in the family room which will give ME easy access to a glass of port or sherry - or rum or brandy - or vodka or Bailey's. Well, somebody has to drink it!

Mr. Indi was feeling quite good although his legs still won't do as they are told! He can't let go of the walker for fear of falling. He spent most of the morning going through the hundreds of ads in the Sunday paper. He was looking for a new camera that he is going to buy me for Christmas: a new flat screen 32" TV that he is going to buy me for Christmas; a new laptop that he is going to buy me for Christmas AND anything else I might fancy! I'm going to get him some new socks!

I talked to my sister in England who convinced me that I don't really need to wait for the chimney sweep; just go ahead and light a nice fire - nothing dire will happen. I took her advice, HOWEVER, this meant that I had to spend an hour carting logs in from the woodpile and then chopping up enough kindling to last a few days. By the time I got everything ready to light the fire - I was too knackered to strike a match! But I did get the fire going in the end - and it was lovely!

We have no appointments today but Mr. Indi will be phoning the doctor to find out what happened with the referral to the neuro-surgeon! We should have heard something by last Friday but this is always a difficult time of the year to get things moving. Don't get ill at Christmas time - you may not get treated until the middle of January after everyone has sobered up!

I took today's picture last week - we still have a few roses blooming in the garden but I think they will look pretty sad by the time the rain moves through!

And A Good Time Was Had...

Our little Christmas get together turned out to be most enjoyable. And my fears of hundreds of people rushing through the front door were unfounded! But, I was so happy that some of Mr. Indi's work mates were able to make it and I really enjoyed meeting them. Although, when they started to talk about the upcoming projects and year-end reviews, I kicked Mr. Indi in the shins and told him to put a sock in it!

One of his engineers, a lovely man from Russia, who got his degree from the University of Leningrad, bought us a fabulous box of Russian chocolates. They were all dark chocolate (my fave) and I wanted to keep them to myself - but being the good little hostess that I am, ahem, I passed them around with the port and now half of them are gone! He also gave us a Russian tea service as a Christmas gift - he knows that we are big tea drinkers. What a charming and interesting chap. All of the blokes were very interested in Mr. Indi's model making - particularly the Sopwith Camel - which is quite large and takes up the entire coffee table in the family room. It really is lovely - I must post a picture one of these days! And - they all ended up in the garage (workshop) looking at saws and lathes! How interesting - NOT!

Some of our friends and family stopped by too - and everyone enjoyed the food. We had a few laughs and downed a few brewskis and by 8:00 p.m. I was dead on my feet! I took the advice of Julia Child (famous American Chef - now dead - sadly) who once said, "Why ruin a perfectly lovely evening by doing the washing up? - Close the kitchen door, have a nightcap and go to bed!" So that's what I did. I now face a mell of a hess in the kitchen but it won't take long to tidy - once I've had a few cups of tea.

Today will be a quiet one - we hope! It's very cold outside and rain is on the way so tomorrow, I shall call a chimney sweep to do my chimney so that I can start burning a log fire. I look forward to that. Burning the fire - not having the sweep!

The picture is one I took just before the first guests arrived. I was going to do a before and after but there isn't much after!

Party Time!

Well, I'm ready! All the food is prepared - all the booze is in a big box in the garage - my lovely green Christmas tablecloth is ironed - so, I await the hoards! Then why do I feel so sad? I think it's because there are so few Christmas decorations up in the house. Mr. Indi can't possibly get anything down out of the attic above the garage and so this will be the first time since we have lived in this house (21 years!) that there is no Christmas tree - no wreath on the door and yes, believe it or not - no Nativity creche! I know that me having such an item will come as a surprise to some of my friends - BUT - while I don't do the god thing - I do believe there was a man named Jesus - a kind and good man - and I love the story of his birth - embellished as it may be! So, I miss my lovely stable with my lovely ceramic camel and cow and sheep and the sweet little baby with his Mom and Dad!

Yesterday was all go - in fact I didn't have time to go and pick up Mr. Indi's prescription - so must do that this morning. I had to go back to the party store because I had forgotten cocktail napkins - so I picked up another couple of flashing light necklaces to give to a couple of friends. I wore mine all day yesterday and received many compliments (and a few snickers!) The lights are actually tiny lasers and I think I almost blinded the old woman standing in the line behind me at the grocery store. Serves her right - doesn't she know it's rude to stare at people!

I am now begining to worry that, while I have enough food for half the population of California, only 3 of them will show up! Mr. Indi and I will be eating salami, cheese, grapes and sausage rolls for breakfast, lunch and dinner! I will take a photo of the party table before anyone touches anything - it will probably look the same 3 hours later! Except the cheese will have curled up at the edges! I'll be glad when tomorrow comes! I have promised myself that I will knit tomorrow!

The picture is of last night's full moon. In case you didn't read about it - the moon was the closest it has been to Earth in the last 15 years. It was pretty but I've seen better! And, my camera doesn't do night very well. I have a lovely telescope that Mr. Indi bought me last year - but haven't figured out how to take a picture through it yet. One day - when I have time!

Sunrise - December 11

So, I went out to get the newspaper from the end of the driveway and as I turned back towards the house I saw this beautiful sunrise. I ran back and got my camera and I'm sure the neighbors must think I'm barmy taking pictures at 5:45 a.m. but I think It's lovely.

Yesterday was a silly day! I got the giggles and laughed most of the day. Mr. Indi wasn't feeling too bad but got sick of my giggling and said that if I didn't shurrup he was going to get me a new broomstick! And it wouldn't be to fly on! Wonder what he meant?

It all started when I came in from my early morning photography. I remarked that it was a bit parky outside - only 32F (0C) and there was frost on the cars. He responded that it will be nice to get a bit of cool, wintry weather. I had just seen the early morning weather report and said, " Don't worry, next week they are forecasting coal down to 2000 feet." Coal? I guess my brain got in a bit of a jumble and I couldn't decide whether to say snow or cold - so my mouth said COAL!

Well, I started laughing and couldn't stop. I could see the headlines - Road closed due to Nutty Slack on the Highway - Anthracite drifts 5 feet high close mountain pass - Huge pile up on Highway 18 as cars run into pile of Baddesley Best! I suppose it's only funny if you are a coal merchant's daughter - but the visions provided me with hours of entertainment! It got on Mr. Indi's nerves after about 30 minutes! Hehehe!

As we had no appointments, we had a slow and easy morning and took a trip to the party shop to get some supplies for our Saturday do! Mr. Indi - who would not wear a funny hat if his life depended on it - went straight to the funny hat section and picked one out for me - I'm going to be an elf. He also found me a necklace of battery operated twinkly Christmas lights - how kind of him! I shall look like a right wally when perfect strangers show up at the door on Saturday! Ah Well! It's all in the spirit of Christmas. While Mr. Indi was being a big kid, I did the serious shopping for paper plates, plastic knives and forks, and napkins decorated with Christmas trees. You don't think I'm washing up on Saturday, do you? That's why the council gives us large rubbish bins!

Today we are going to BEVMO - the biggest liquor store (off license in the UK) that you have ever seen. I need to get a bit of gin, a tad of bourbon, a dribble of rum and some brandy. I will also get a half a dozen bottles of vino. That should keep 'em happy for a while. This afternoon, I will be slaving over a hot stove making about 5 dozen sausage rolls - plus a few extra for us. I might have to start a quality control sample of the wine as I'm cooking! One must be certain that the guests will be satisfied with my choices of reds, whites and zins! It's my hostly duty.

Thank you to yor for the suggestion of grapes as a desert item. I'm not sure if I will have time to do the chocolate dip but I have a lovely red platter that will look great piled with green and red grapes - Yum!

If anyone needs the address to come to the party - please send me an email. I will send you a google map! After you have convinced me that you are not some wierdo looking for free sausage rolls!

How Much? $4.79!

I was up at o'dark thirty so that I could get all of the household chores done before we had to leave the house at 7:30. And, at 7:25 on the dot , we were ready - beds made - bathroom tidied - dishes done - blog written and Mr. Indi all clean and scrubbed up for his scheduled medical procedures.

Our first stop was the lab where we had an 8:am appointment for a blood draw. Most people don't know that you can make an appointment either on line or on the phone and so we got lots of sneers and jeers as we went to the head of the queue. But, there were a few nice souls around who fell in love with Mr. Indi's walker with the Christmas lights and wished us Happy Christmas! The blood draw took a little while as Mr. Indi's veins are very difficult for the lab techs to find - the result of years of chemo. But, the lab lady was very kind - and after digging around for a little while she finally got a stream going. By the time we left, the line had grown even longer and so I waved and wished everyone Happy Holidays! I wasn't trying to be cruel - honest.

We had 1/2 hour to kill before the 9 a.m. appointment for Aredia so we stopped in at a nearby coffee shop for a quick cup of coffee and a bite to eat. I had the most delicious coffee cake that was topped with crusty cinnamon flavored brown sugar while Mr. Indi had a sausage and egg burger! Healthy, no? Well, maybe not.

We were the first to arrive at the cancer center and Jen got Mr. Indi hooked up to his IV in double quick time - I told her I don't have all day! She laughed! Mr. Indi worked on the daily crossword while I wrote some Christmas cards AND drank some more coffee - Yikes - no wonder I was wired all day! The chemo room became very somber with the arrival of a young chap - maybe 25ish - who had just started a 7 day course of chem0 and was very sick. He had been up all night with nausea and was crying and begging them not to do any more chemo as he couldn't carry on. Oh dear, I wanted to take him in my arms. The kind chemo ladies got one of the docs to give him an injection of something that made him drowsy and they covered him with a warm blanket and let him rest. Imagine! Cancer at 25.

We left the cancer center at 10:30 and headed out on the freeway toward Los Angeles and the imported British shop - about 20 miles down the road. Man, that shop is a total rip off but it's the only place that I can get certain things. I went to buy some imported Irish sausages for my sausage rolls that I'm going to make on Friday - and while I was doing that Mr. Indi picked up a bag of Blackcurrant and Liquorice sweets - Wow! I haven't seen them for years - so I just HAD to have them. I didn't notice the price until I got home. I paid $4.79 (that's 3 pound 50 p) for a packet of sweets that sells in the UK for 79p! They had better taste good!

Our next stop was at the Indian joint (the one with the waiter from Nepal) where we had the delicious lunch buffet. Mr. Indi really enjoyed his food and washed it down with a lovely cup of Indian tea. We got back home at 1:00 p.m. and had a little rest before I tackled the job of getting the Pontiac back from the mechanic 3 miles away! After a couple of phone calls, they sent a chap to pick me up and take me to the auto repair place. Well, this chap (about 19) came in a MONSTER truck and I needed a step ladder to climb up the side of it! Good thing I had jeans on! I finally got in - I was so far above the rest of the traffic that I felt like I needed an oxygen mask and off we went at about 90 mph down the freeway! The kid was so cute - the first thing he said to me was "You have the most amazing blue eyes - are they real?" I was going to say "No. I take them out every night and put them in a glass of water with my teeth!" His next question was, "How old are you?' (Cheeky!) I said 65 and he said that that was the year that his mother was born! OK - I think I get the connection! Anyway, I got the Pontiac back home by 4:30 p.m. and was thoroughly knackered!

Today's picture is one I took the other day outside a shopping center in Riverside. The Orange is the official symbol of Riverside (I think) There used to be nothing but orange groves here - now it's mostly repossessed houses! I like this big round thing; it's similar to the one outside the Riverside museum.

I'm Ready For Another Day!

Sorry about that moan - had a long day and was tired. I took the car down to the mechanic and he will have it ready for me sometime today. It will have to wait until this afternoon before I can pick it up as I have to take his Lordship to the lab for blood tests at 8a.m and the to the chemo center for Aredia at 9 a.m. I will stay at the chemo center this time as it will give me an hour and a half in which I can sit still and write some Christmas cards! AND , yes! The cards to England are in the mail! I did manage to get to the Post Office yesterday.

Yesterday, the wind was terrible and my poor potted plants are looking very sad - I hope it will die down today so that I can get out there and give them a drink.

I did plenty of driving around in the wind - hither and yon - looking for this and that. We found Mr. Indi a new set of balls for his walker. We also found the little wreath that you can see on the front of his walker. The bag on the front of the walker is his male handbag/mail bag/saddlebag/whatever you call it bag. He also has a water jug holder strapped to the side of the walker and NOW the christmas lights! What a spectacle, ain't it? The lights are really pretty but only the green ones are showing up in the photo - must be too much light coming in through the window. I'll try and get a better picture when we don't have sun - fat chance!

Mr. Indi's legs and back don't seem to be getting any better - at least to me - but he keeps talking about going back to work - I just can't see it happening but don't want to stop his positive thoughts - but I think that this is part of my frustration.

OK -one of the things on my TTD list today is to make a list of food for the party on Saturday. I already have minature meat balls in chili sauce, home made sausage rolls, lots of cheeses and salami and 3 different types of cheese biscuits - but I need something sweet - I suppose it will be Christmas cookies from the bakery (I don't have time to make them) Any other suggestions?

Off down the mine!

A Moan - Skip It If you Want!

Nothing important - I just want to have a moan! Please ignore me if moaning gets on your nerves - it does mine!

I have been married to John for 27 years - we have been together for 31 years - we have been through a lot: The death of my daughter, the long illness and treatment of my son, the other calamities that befall families. John has always been a strong guy. He's the one that carried all the heavy crap - 10 lbs of spuds - large bottles of water - tree limbs that broke off the ash tree in the wind. He took out the big garbage cans - He took care of car repairs - He washed the dishes every night. He bought me a cup of tea and gave me a kiss every day before he went to work. Now he cannot do any of these things. He can barely manage taking a shower and I have to do everything for him (willingly - because I love him!) But some days I am so tired - and today is one of those days! Life is hard - and then you die!

Tomorrow will be better! Maybe!

Mr. and Mrs. Indi 1 - Medical Insurance 0

We won - we won! We met with Admiral Lord Nelson and he was very sympathetic to Mr. Indi's plight and, even though he doesn't think that a neuro surgeon will be able to do much because the cancer has invaded all of the bones in Mr. Indi's spine, he has given the OK for us to see a neuro surgeon in the hopes that said surgeon can help relieve Mr. Indi's pain. We should hear about an appointment time and date by the end of this week!

After the doctor visit, we went to one of the local mega drug stores that sell everything except the kitchen sink and got a laptop table for his Lordship. It was advertised for $24.99 and we got it for $14.99 - hell of a deal. It's real handy for him as he is doing lots of work from home. We also found some battery operated Christmas twinkly lights for Mr. Indi to put on his walker! HA! People will think we are quite mad - and, of course, they would be correct! We also looked for some replacements for his walking balls as they are almost worn out from dragging them along the floor! What are you laughing at? Anyway, they didn't have the right size - too small - so will have to look elsewhere. I also bought the really hokey Christmas poinsettia sprayed with sparkles that you see in today's picture. Who says I don't like Christmas!

Today I have to take Mr. Indi's junky old Pontiac down to the mechanic who is going to take it to the Smog Check Station for me - what a nice chap. He will bring me home and pick me up later today or tomorrow. Saves me sitting and waiting for a couple of hours - especially as the wind is back Grrrrr! and blowing at 60 mph this morning.

I still don't have the cards to England in the post. I promise that I will do them today - maybe!

Maybe...One Day....!

I might just be able to squeeze in a couple of hours to do some things on my to-do list! Including finding the time to sew together the pieces of cardigan that I have knitted for my granddaughter. At the rate I'm going, she will be 23 by the time it's finished! Yesterday, I picked it up at least 3 times but put it down before I even got the needle threaded - more important matters were calling!

While my visitors was here on Saturday, I had them load our old telly into the back of the van - it actually works well and has a very nice picture so I was taking it to Goodwill (charity shop) Mr. Indi suggested that I get a few more things together to donate. (Mr. Indi thinks I don't have enough to do!) I did find some clothes from my super-skinny days (I've gained a few lbs from stuffing my face with ice cream!) and his Lordship also suggest that we get rid of an old set of suitcases. Cor struth! The cases weighed a ton and by the time I got the van loaded with all that old clobber AND Mr. Indi's transport chair AND Mr. Indi and his walker, I was too tired to drive anywhere! But, we made it over to the Goodwill store (about 10 miles) and luckily, the man had a cart and unloaded everything for me and rolled it away! Goodbye telly!

"Right!" I said. "I'm on strike until I get some lunch." We were just down the road from the Elephant Bar and that was Mr. Indi's suggestion. I wasn't real keen in light of my last experience at that place - you do remember the lamb shank that was more like poached elephant? (as suggested by Mandy Moo!) but I was too weary to argue - so off we went -and it was surprisingly good - I had Chicken Marsala and he had Sweet and Sour Thai Chicken. Between the food and a large cold beer, I had regained all of my strength and was ready to tackle the next item on the agenda - the supermarket!

We arrived back home at about 3:00 pm and had a little rest before deciding to spend the rest of our afternoon watching a movie - and a darn good movie it was too! I highly recommend "The Bank Job" a British film starring Jason Statham. It's based on a true story and is a ripping good yarn. Don't watch it if you are offended by swearing and a bit of blood and gore - but the violence and bad language are only a small part of a very good story and it's very well acted. I'll give it 4 stars!

Today is another day filled with TTD (Things To Do) The most important of which is to take Mr. Indi to see Dr. Nelson at 10:00 a.m. to try and get the OK to see a neuro-surgeon. I call him Lord Nelson but I think he's got 2 eyes! I also have to get the Christmas cards to England in the mail - AND - work on the cardigan! Ha Ha!

Today's picture is one that I took at the Mission San Buenaventura in 2005. Hope you like it.

A Pleasant Day

Yesterday was very nice. Mr. Indi didn't feel too bad and in fact has cut back a little bit on his painkillers. He's still on the same dosage of morphine but is taking less Vicadin. This is a good thing, I think. Too many drugs make him sleepy all day.

I did a bit of moving dust around and in the process found a book that I have been looking for for about 2 years! Shows how often I get down to the bottom of the bookcases! The trouble with dusting is that once you start - you have to keep going! If you never move anything, nobody notices the dust - until they turn into dust bunnies and start flying around the room! Ma always used to say that the dust balls under the bed were dead people! You know - dust to dust and all that! That is how she got us to clean our bedrooms - I didn't want any of those under my bed - ta very much!

In the afternoon, we had visitors and went out for a leisurely lunch and a good old yack. Our visitors had not been to the house for about 2 years and I was happy to show off Mr. Indi's Sopwith Camel - also the almost finished pub doll house. They were duly impressed! It's good to show off sometimes!

Today will be another quiet day (we hope) and we are going to go and mow around the shops looking for a small flat screen telly for the family room where I have this here computer. The big telly has got me spoiled so I HAVE to have a flat screen to watch as I type! We shall definitely buy another Samsung and we can get one for less than $500 - 32 inch. So, we shall be out doing our bit for the world economy! I hope the world appreciates it!

Today's picture is one that I took on Friday. Lovely ivy geraniums at the shopping center.

Deck the Palms!

Yesterday was a day free from doctor visits or any other visits! I didn't even need to go to the store as we had everything we needed for dinner with left overs from the delicious roast chicken and stuffing that I made on Thursday - Ah! Joy

So, Mr. Indi got up feeling quite good and made his way into the kitchen to fix a bowl of cereal and while standing next to the counter, he lost his footing and fell! BANG! Down he went like a ton of bricks with his walker underneath his legs. Scared me half to death! He was able to pull himself upright and the only damage that we could find was a nasty cut on his elbow. What a big oaf! Grrrr! I warned him not to do that again or I'd give him what for!

After doing a bit of scrubbing and cleaning, I decided that I was worthy of a much better life, so put away the dusters and brooms and off we went to a local shopping center to see what they were giving away! Well, we didn't find much although Mr. Indi did come across a nice pair of slippers with good rubber soles that he can wear outdoors and I found something I have been looking for for ages; a pair of really cute gloves with no ends on the fingers. I have a hard time driving in gloves but I think the ones with no fingers will be perfect for when we get that cold weather - OK-OK, I know - I'm a big titty-baby because it doesn't get cold in California. Ma used to knit those fingertip-free gloves for all of her sons in law - wish I had her pattern.

I took today's picture while at the shopping center. It's strange to see men decorating the palm trees with Christmas lights!

Here are a few more things that you don't know about Mr. Indi:

41) I met him at work - I was his boss! (Still am!)

42) He is 7 years younger than me! My toy boy!

43) He dislikes men who wear jewelry and only started wearing a watch about a year ago

44) The favorite part of his job is problem solving

45) He is a Taurus

46) His favorite way to relax is to read - he usually has 2-3 books on the go

47) One side of his father's ancestors came from England in 1719; the other side from Alsace in 1870

48) His mother's ancestors are from Dorset and Shropshire, England

49) He wants to visit New Zealand

50) He is afraid of heights

Note to Daria - How on earth did you get to 100 things? It's been hard to get to 50!

On The Rocks!

As many of my friends and family in England, Wales, and Canada are now suffering the force of Mother Nature's winter cycle, I thought I would make you all feel better by posting a picture of me and him at one of our beautiful beaches last October. Now, doesn't that make you feel warmer?

You can also see from this picture (taken by my lovely friend S) that it is a miracle that such a scrawny old woman can push a big gorilla like him around in a transport chair! Just goes to show what you can do when you put a bit of elbow grease into it! Also, how strong people are when they have no brains!

Yesterday was Mr. Indi's last visit to the radiation center. Dr. R was mildly optimistic regarding the success of the 10 day treatment. I think she had hoped to see a bit more movement in his legs but was happy that his pain level has decreased. She explained that radiation keeps on working for many weeks after treatment has ceased and he should see further improvement. He has a follow up appointment in 30 days. I was also able to get the CD of Mr. Indi's MRI scan to take to the neuro-surgeon, when we get the appointment.

So, we now have a few days off before Mr Indi's next Dr. visit on Monday. Just enough time to do a bit of skivvying and maybe catch up on some knitting. Mr. Indi has talked to his boss and will be working from home at least until the end of the year when we shall have to start looking at some retirement or disability options. The problem with him taking retirement is that in the last couple of months we have lost 1/3 of his retirement savings (a whole heap of money) He has been saving into his retirement account for 21 years - so that means that 7 years worth of savings have disappeared with the stock market crash! Might as well have stuffed it under the mattress! or spent it on lunch!

I have sent out invitations for our little nibbles and sips get-together on December 13. Mr. Indi's boss has emailed it to EVERYONE in the department and beyond! ARGH! What shall I do if 150 people show up and all I have is a bowl of chips and dip and 2 bottles of wine? Blame it on the maid! You can't get good help these days!

I told you that there would be no Christmas decorations this year - well - I have gone back on my word and, against my better judgement, purchased a very sweet Santa and some elves to put on the mantle above the fireplace. More tat to put away in January!

Last Day for a Zap!

Today's picture is of the orange tree that is growing right outside the front door of the radiation center in Riverside. I took the picture yesterday - just imagine oranges off the tree for Christmas. Today will be our last day for an early morning drive for his Lordship to get a zapping.

Yesterday was all go! But, I think we got a lot done. Radiation went well and we were in and out in 15 mins. After today's session, we shall meet with Dr. R and she will tell us how things are looking. The radiation clinic was the first stop on a trip that took us to the gas station (I am putting a few miles on this car!) the drug store (I'm keeping Larry in business) the grocery store and the post office (I just shoved stuff in the box this time!) We were back home in time for Mr. Indi to have a little bit of a rest before going to see Dr. J - but on the way we stopped in to see Sharon - the best hugger in the whole world - and she gave me lots of extra squeezes. I also saw my throat specialist, Dr. K who asked how I was doing and why was I so hoarse! I said it's because I talk too much but am taking Bailey's on ice and it's helping! He shook his head and walked away! Can't understand why!

Dr. J was somewhat pleased that Mr. Indi is able to move his legs a bit better than 2 weeks ago and he is hopeful that radiation was started soon enough to avoid paralysis - he was, however, very cautious because he had hoped to see Mr. Indi walking without a walking frame. Still, he thinks the tumor may have been zapped in the nick of time. We shall see! Regarding the letter of rejection, he said we must go to our Primary Care Physician and allow him to examine Mr. Indi and for him to give the OK to the insurance company! What a load of tripe - our PCP is a General MD - a mumps and measles kind of bloke so how does he know more about cancer of the spine than an oncologist? Doesn't make sense to me! But, what the hey! I just do as I'm told. BUT, the next hurdle would be getting an appointment with Dr. Nelson (the PCP) who needs an Act of Congress signed by God before you can grace his presence.

We went to lunch and worked on a strategy while munching on chicken wings and cheesy french fries. I then stopped by the house and picked up all the paperwork from the MRI place, the radiation center with all of Dr. R's notes and the letter of rejection from the insurance co. I put them in a very smart looking folder and made a label for it - Rejection Documentation. It all looked very official and gave the impression that I know what I'm talking about! Off we went to Dr. N's office. I plonked the file folder on the reception desk and began to explain the issue to the lady who makes appointments. I didn't get very far - I think she knew where I was going with this - "Give me an appointment for Mr. Indi - or else!" She said,"Dr can see John on Monday at 10 a.m." Ta very much - mission accomplished. I fully expect that Dr. Nelson will give the OK for Mr. Indi to see a neuro-surgeon and we shall be back on track to define the next avenue of treatment!

After our success with Dr. N's office, Mr. Indi wanted to go to Radio Shack to look at more electronic gadgets! It must be a man thing! AND after that, we went to Brian's where I finally sat down with a large, tall, cold beer! It was during this time that I missed a few phone calls including one from my sissy - Mrs. Banjo! Sorry - hope to catch you today.

So - all in all, it was a pretty good day expect I think I lost the lovely silk scarf that I was wearing! Grrrrrrr! I hope it shows up somewhere.

UPDATE - I found the scarf! It was folded up and put away in the drawer where I keep my scarves! That's it - I've gone mental!