Catching up with friends

I've had a tour around the countryside this afternoon, visiting.  It's been good.  I started off close to home with my sister and another very good friend in the local town, and then went a little further afield and went to the FHS's flat, where I gave him some veg and eggs, and pickles and potatoes [like Harvest festival!] and he gave me the casket he has made for the FH's ashes.  It is made of cherry veneer and will eventually darken in to a beautiful rich red wood, and I am told I need to polish it properly with wax polish....have to get some!  We had a chat whilst he had his lunch and then he went back to work and I went on my way.  I eventually got to my friend, B's house at about 3.20pm, much later than I had intended, but she didn't mind.

We have been friends for so long, and used to see each other and talk all the time but then our paths diversified and she has become a HLTA in a secondary school, working with SEN children and low ability English groups - she is fantastic and even has her own classroom come September!  The school really appreciate her, and she is just lovely.  Even though we keep in touch, it had been some years since I had seen her in the flesh, so to speak, until she came to the funeral last week, so we determined to meet up this week, and I think we will do so again before school relaunches.  She knows me so well that she said that she had imagined me watching a DVD of Monarch of the Glen, and enjoying the peace and quiet - she was so right as I watched three or four episodes Sunday afternoon whilst trimming beans.  We both had a bit of a thing for Lloyd Owen back then when MOTG was on TV every Sunday night!

(image from en.wikipedia.org)

A good friend is to be cherished, and I have been doing just that this week - I have written several letters to people and enjoyed the therapeutic nature of putting pen to paper and writing my thoughts down.  I'm not sure what the recipients will think, but the thought is there.  Friends and family have been our lifelines in the past weeks, and I am sure that they will continue to be - we just have to be careful not to overload any particular friends, I think.  I am pretty sure that I made a new friend tonight as well - a lovely lady, E, is looking after my sister's farm on FB, and I started chatting away, knowing that my sister is away camping at Carfest this weekend but thinking that she was using her mobile to connect to FB.  It was actually a kind soul in the USA who met my sister through the farming game about 5 years ago, she was telling me, and they have chatted near on daily ever since......the wonders of the internet, eh?!  Anyway, I had a good chat with E tonight - she's near Goshen, I think.

I'm away to my bed now with my heap of library books......I'll let you know about that knitting book when I have had a good look through it, Vee.  Night, all xx

It's back...

My baking mojo, that's what.

It had rather a forced return today when I dropped a carton of eggs on the kitchen floor and four of them smashed....so I had to rescue them and make the first sponge in my new oven.  The oven has been in at least two months now, probably longer than that, and I hadn't made a sponge in it!  The ladies at the chapel were wondering, the head coach at gym was wondering - has she stopped baking?!

I suppose I had - the FH and the EFG were supposed to be losing weight, and that meant that it seemed mean to bake lovely cakes and scones and biscuits and then not let them eat them!  However, today, I made a coffee sponge, and UJ has taken half home with him, and the other half is going to the jigsaw club at the chapel for their afternoon tea tomorrow.  It does look rather good - I'll edit in a photo tomorrow.

My Skoda has just passed its MOT this afternoon, so it is good for another year, and UJ and I went shopping at Lidl to spend the £5 voucher I had, and to get some food for the week ahead.  He came armed with a list, and we managed to get all that he needed, as well as bits and pieces that I had run out of, and between us we spent the requisite £40.  He was very pleased with the prices in there, and think he may be back!

I have also been to the library this afternoon, and luckily found a copy of a knitting book that I have been looking at on The Book People's site for a month or two.  I can have a look at it for free now, and see whether it is worth buying - I suspect I won't buy it now anyway.  There are SO many patterns available cheaply and for free on the internet that books are almost outdated for some subjects.  I can't get to grips with reading novels on the computer at all, I still want a real book for that - but printing off a knitting pattern is simple and easy to file.  I have downloaded one from Ravelry to make myself a wee short sleeved cardigan for next summer - the challenge is that it is knitted on circular needles and I have never done that before, so I shall be on a steep learning curve there.  Just a few more hats to knit for the OCC boxes yet, before I start any thing new!

Tuesday's top tips for our holidays

Back to moneysaving today and delighted to report that I have discovered that Tesco Clubcard are offering Cineworld vouchers for just £2.50 in Clubcard points for adult or child tickets.  They are now usually £4/adult and £3/child, so this does represent a saving on the usual Clubcard charge, and could save us a packet on the full cost of a trip to the cinema.

Once the girls are home from the cruise, they are going to have to come back down to earth with a bump - no waiters in the dining room or stewards to tidy the cabin...but I am planning a few wee treats for them, and finding a deal like this makes it all the easier.  I hope that they can agree on something that we can all watch!

One I took on a past visit to Oxburgh Hall

I renewed my National Trust membership in May, so we will be able to make use of that in the holidays as well; I feel a trip to Oxburgh Hall coming on - I love it there, as it is so peaceful and relaxing.  I may not be able to afford to renew the membership next year, so I am hoping to fit in a trip to Blickling Hall as well in August, as I haven't been there before and it is somewhere I have long wanted to visit - it is a bit further afield though.

We shall, no doubt, do a fair bit of mooching around locally with friends, and I dare say that each of the girls will have a shopping trip to Cambridge or Peterborough before the end of the holiday, as their birthday money will probably be burning holes in their pockets - both have birthdays in August.  There will be some shopping to do for the EFG's new life at uni, although my sister has bought her a bale of towels, and I bought a set of crockery from a charity shop in Ely last week, from which she will be able to take some plates and dishes, as she won't need the whole set.

We are helping to run a gymnastics holiday club every morning next week, which will definitely keep us occupied - busy in the mornings with the children and shattered from the experience in the afternoons!

I don't think that the three of us will be going away for a holiday, so we will be having a break at home.  We need time at the moment to come together and enjoy one another's company whilst we can, but try telling that to two teenage girls - I have been refereeing them today via text and I am probably 700+ miles away as the crow flies!

Thanks for all your comments - it is always lovely to hear your thoughts xx

Influencing others

I had a wee cheer to myself this afternoon whilst chatting with my aunt.  She had visited in the week before the funeral with my cousin and cousin's husband and I had sent her away with some pickles for my uncle, from the FH's stash in the garage.  She came out there with me to see which pickles he might like and was impressed with my two back-to-back wardrobe store cupboards.  She came back today with my cousin and in the conversation over a cup of tea, we were chatting about shopping.  I have been encouraging her to try Aldi, and asked her if she had been yet.  She shared some of the bargains she regularly picks up in Farmfoods and encouraged me to have a look in there too!  Then she said it - she has been inspired by my storecupboard and has started her own wee stash in a little cupboard in her bedroom - woo hoo!!!

Thanks to our cupboards, and stashes, I still haven't done a "big shop" since the FH died.  We have veggies aplenty in the garden, and it is no hardship to get our five-a-day from the variety we have there.  The two fruit baskets we have received have kept us well supplied in that respect, and I am going to have to make apple sauce with the last of the apples so that they don't go to waste.  I am going to go to Lidl this week, as there are a couple of things we are running out of, but we don't need an awful lot.  There was a £5 voucher for when you spend £40 last week in a newspaper which I saw quite by chance, so I shall endeavour to make use of that, but I may go on Wednesday afternoon and take UJ along for the ride in case he wants anything too.

Azura

[image from simplonpc.co.uk]

Life without the girls here is definitely quieter, but I am doing OK.  I have had lots of phone calls and texts from them, and they are having a lovely time - they were in Stavanger today and it was HOT they reported!
Life on the ocean wave seems to suit them, and they are doing their own thing a lot of the time and just meeting up with my dad and MB for meals.  Dad is happy that they are having a holiday and he gets to see them often, but he isn't actually having to take them places or amuse them, thank goodness!

We are sailing, we are sailing!

The boat has set sail and they are heading into the straits of wherever, out in to the North Sea tonight.  I have had photos of the cabin on Google Hangout tonight, and they have had dinner - I have had several phone calls from them too!  Good to know that they are settled in to the cabin, and I have told them to be nice to the steward, who has already tidied up after them whilst they were at dinner - I told them to leave the place tidy so that he doesn't have any tidying to do!

I would say that I have had a quiet time, but I haven't - between answering the phone to them about four times, I have also had my sister on the phone!  I called in to see UJ on the way home this morning, and have had a mooch around the interwebs tonight so I haven't had time to be lonely.  I like my own company, and I am looking forward to reading for a while now, in peace and quiet.

Church in the morning, and then I may tackle sorting out my bedroom - I am concentrating on the north facing rooms whilst it is hot, and then I can do things in the south facing rooms later on - I do have to do the washing up now before I go to bed, but the sitting room is nearly sorted.  I have also picked a big colander full of dwarf beans tonight, from just one short row of plants, and must pick the other two rows in the morning before it gets hot again.  This variety is called Ferrari, and they are rather prolific!

Scandi adventure beckons

I'm about to wake the girls up!  They are off on their travels this morning - 0830 in Cambridge is the first stop to catch the bus down to Southampton.  We have suitcases packed, krone stashed in purses and Graze boxes [courtesy of the EFG's generosity] for the journey.  They are a wee bit excited!

Staying home

The school to which I applied for the job sent me an email on Tuesday, which I found when we got home from the funeral.  I wasn't successful in the application, which didn't surprise me - but they did like the wee advert I designed as part of the process.  There were some very "strong candidates" apparently.  But, do you know what, I was very enthusiastic about the job in the application and interview process, but when I got home and I was mulling over the tiny office that I would be working in, looking out over a boring fence, and the restrictive hours of work, I realised that actually, I wasn't that keen any longer!  I would have done the job if I had been offered it, but it has made me think about what I am doing......

I'm looking for a temporary job, one that will see me through a little while.  I need to get Faith&Worship finished, ideally for submission at the end of September, and then I will be able to talk to people about candidating for the Methodist ministry.  I may need a job whilst I train, to support the YFG and myself, depending on the training pathway that the church choose for me, if I get that far.  IF I get that far, indeed, but I have to try, because that is what I am convinced and convicted that I am asked to do.  God can be a right old nag at times, as He keeps reminding me what He wants me to do, and as much as I have realised that this is His plan since a time about 17 years ago, occasionally I get a giant prod from Him, and He says, "Are you going to do this NOW?" and yes, now is the time to get started.  We continue to grow here, and this will be a step along the journey.  How quickly this will take us from the Fens, we have to wait to find out. I suspect that it might not be for some time, a few years, perhaps.  Time to adjust.

Today I am off to the undertaker's early on to collect odd items like the beekeeper's veil we put on the coffin, the memory stick that has the slideshow on it, and some CDs.  This lunchtime we are travelling to Ely to spend some time with the YFG's godmother before she wings her way back to Fife this evening on a plane from Stansted.  We are planning a picnic by the river, so the weather forecast looks just great.

The girls have got suitcases and heaps of clothes all over the sitting room floor as they begin their packing for their trip away on Saturday with my dad and MB.

The final journey

The FH's last journey was made today, and it was peaceful and beautiful, in its own way.

The FH's son, let's call him FHS, and his partner, M, arrived here early and we went to the chapel together. When we got there, there was plenty to do, getting more chairs out, putting out cards on the seats for folk to jot down memories for us, and meeting the various friends who were going to do readings for us.  And then we began to greet people - and we greeted people for the whole of the next hour!

We had the slideshow of the photos of the FH playing as people were settling into their seats, and I thought that the undertaker's chap would turn it off when the coffin entered and the service began, but he didn't, and I was really glad that he didn't, because it gave me and FHS something to focus on.  We both looked at the photos and thought about those, rather than looking at the coffin so much.

It was better for us to be able to greet people as they arrived, and to share a few words before the stewards seated them in the right places - we had family in one section, the lunch club in another section so they were all together, and the younger, fitter folk we sent upstairs to the gallery!  The rest had to slot in where they could find a space.

When the five bikers arrived, escorting the hearse, the coffin looked magnificent.  The six bearers took a few minutes to shoulder it, but they managed, and I walked in behind it, followed by the girls and FHS and M. We moved to our seats at the front of the chapel and the service began.

The hymns were lovely, and the organist is a friend who plays each week in a chapel in the circuit, so she knew exactly what she was doing, and they were all good hymns that we loved.  The prayers were carefully worded, as well as being traditional, and the FH's heart donor and their family were also mentioned in the prayers.

The YFG and I read the eulogy, which went on for nearly 20 minutes, as it was interspersed with the tributes of others - one from a teacher who taught with the FH in the 60s to 80s, one from a policeman who served with him when the FH was a special constable, and one from friends in Cupar.  The slideshow continued, as I said, and it was good to have it whilst we spoke.

Moving from the chapel to the crematorium took a little while, but the service there was short and to the point.  The committal there was touching, but it was the Last Post which I can still hear, echoing through the chapel there.  It was a really fitting piece to have, but still heart wrenching too.

Afterwards, we went to a local hotel for a wake, a celebration over tea and cake.  It gave us a chance to catch up with people who had travelled for miles to come to the service, and to have a chat with more local friends too.  We realised that we had people there from Leicestershire [Ang], Lincolnshire [my aunt and uncle, and the EFG's godfather], Norfolk [the FH's sister], Derbyshire [the FH's other sister's husband and daughter], Surrey [cousins], Hertfordshire [old neighbours who moved away], London [his nephew], Edinburgh [our old lodger], and Fife [YFG's godmother]. There were various people who we thought were coming but who were prevented from coming for various reasons, but mostly illness [Sweetblondieblueeyes and her husband, and one of our neighbours] and work-related things.

People kept saying how well I was holding it together, and seemed amazed.  They don't realise that I have been grateful for every single day of the 22 years we have been together, and at the moment, my heart is full of gratitude.  He hasn't left me, abandoned me or walked away from me - he stayed for as long as he possibly could, and we were both happy that we had as long as we did.  I have cried, and still do, but I am afraid I don't agree with the little old lady who came up to me as she was leaving the wake, and told me, "It won't get any better, my dear; you'll learn to live without him, but it won't get any better." We always knew that our lives would only overlap - he was 35 when I was born and had another life before the life we shared, and he realised that I would eventually have to carry on without him, and that is what I shall do, and do him proud in all that he has taught me, shown me and encouraged me to be.

Have I Got News for you.......?

No, in a word.  The interview seemed to go well at the time and I answered all the questions to the best of my ability, and then I was taken off to do a task, which involved designing a wee advert for a parish magazine to promote the adult education classes.  This I did and managed to print it off as well.

But I have heard nothing either way so far.

Whenever we interview at the school here, we always let people know the same day whether they have been successful or not, so I was naively expecting to hear this afternoon.  I am a little disappointed, I suppose.

However, I have had my first interview in over 20 years, so I am pleased to have survived that experience, and will be able to prepare for the next one with a little less trepidation.

Thank you for all your kind messages, and we are probably as ready as we will ever be for the funeral tomorrow.  I know that many of you will be thinking of us and there will be a good few candles burning in our names across the world, and for that I sincerely thank you.  It is good to be held in such love.

Time

The days are passing so quickly, and yet it feels like it has been an age since the FH died already.  It has been nearly two weeks, and so much has happened, so many people have come into our lives from his past, and we have reconnected with people from our past.

A wonderful coffin has been made for the FH, and I have seen it and wondered at the love which has been poured into the construction and engraving of it.  Cards are still coming, but the visitors have slowed up a bit this week, which is a good thing, because I still have to finish writing the eulogy.  The YFG has been at school and had support from her closest friends.

I have been touched by the willingness and determination of people to come to the funeral, and sorry that I am not going to be able to spend the time with each one of them that I would want to, just through the pressures of time.  People are travelling from Leicestershire, Edinburgh, Norfolk, London, Northamptonshire, London, Lincolnshire, and those are just the ones that I know about.  The girls are a little bewildered at the outpouring of people from the FH's past who are coming forward.

And, friends, I have applied for a job.  Just 18.5 hours a week in a local secondary school adult education office, to start in September.  I think it would be perfect, so I am hoping that I get through the interviews on Monday.  It is not the best timing in the world for now, but the job commences in September, which will be good for me.  The EFG will be at uni, the YFG will be going back to school, and it will be good for me to have some structure in my life - it is a temporary fixed term contract for a year, so it would help to get me started for now.  If I am unsuccessful with this particular application, I shall keep looking, and be glad of the practise with the application forms and letters!

Give thanks

The FH spent a lot of time in the last days listening to a CD of hymns, played mostly on a guitar, that I had bought when I attended the Methodist Big Pray earlier in the year.  Number 14 on the CD quickly became his favourite track, and if I ever left him in the car whilst I popped into a shop, he always asked for that track to be loaded on to the car stereo so that he could enjoy it whilst I was away.

The track is called "Give thanks, with a grateful heart" which says it all for me.  We have so much to give thanks for right now, starting with a very happy 22 year relationship.  People are coming forward with memories of the FH which they are sharing with us now, and we are grateful for their remembering.  We have two lovely daughters, and lots of caring friends, both in real life and on the internet, supporting and encouraging us through this challenging time.

On a very practical note, I am grateful for the stores we have built up, for the vegetables I am growing in the garden, and for the food in the freezers!  We are able to conserve our ready cash at the moment whilst our immediate future income is sorted out, as we look into bereavement benefits and I begin to look around for a new way of making ends meet.  I've had delicious new potatoes, runner beans and courgette from the garden tonight.

The paperwork and organisation is occupying my time, but I had time to cut the lawns today and do some washing, as well as going to gymnastics for a while this afternoon.  I am also having some interesting times looking on the internet to contact some of the FH's old mates from his teaching and special constable days. One of his old friends has helpfully written a book, so his website was easily found!

Days pass

Dear Friends

Thank you for all your kind words for the YFG, and indeed for all of us here.  The last few days have passed in a bit of a blur, with people coming here to see us, sending us cards and gifts, and all the arrangements to make, as well as a mountain of paperwork to get through.

The funeral is set for Tuesday 22nd in the early afternoon.  We cannot have it in the little chapel here because of the number of people we think may attend, so we are going to a larger one in the town.  We have had choices to make about so many things, but we are getting through it all slowly, and making decisions together.

There are some hard days ahead, but I am confident that we will get through them with the support of our friends, both in real life and on the internet, and that my faith will strengthen me.  The FH would not have wanted us to stop for too long - the fact that the church will be full is a testament to the kind of life he lived and he would want us to do the same.

We will pop in here now and again and gradually come back more often.  Blogging fascinated the FH and he was always amazed at how I had managed to connect with people all over the world, and the fact that blogging friends will be at his funeral would have just thrilled him.  We still have a lot of growing to do here in the Fens - it isn't over yet.

Much love to you all xxx

Fish and Chips

Hello YFG here,

Our family is going through a rough spot and we are all very emotional at the moment.

My dad, and a very well known man around this area died this morning and it is especially hard on my mother, who can't bear to tell you without giving the laptop water damage with all her tears, bless her. We all miss him, he was such a character! He had recently been very poorly and was looking forward to coming home. However, this morning we got an urgent call to come into the hospital. One of mum's friends had to take us as she was too shaken up and worried. They sat us in a room and the very nice doctor who had been looking after him broke the news and said that he was out of breath and passed away very quickly and peacefully. There was no suffering at all.

There were many times when he would be quite frustrating and others where he would be very funny. We went through a list today of the people we need to inform about the funeral and we have thought of so many people, it will be hard for us to fit them into the chapel in the village. Some people are even coming from as far as Scotland. We have got so much support and so many people who are going to help us through this. But mainly we have each other. We are going to take it one step at a time. I am currently on work experience and I think I will go back on Wednesday. EFG and mum are going to sort the house out while I am at school/work and I will help when I'm home.

For the funeral, we are going to put together a slideshow with a load of pictures of him and project it up on the chapel wall while people come in. We will also play Apache by the Hank Marvin as he always liked that song. Mum thought that it would be a great idea to get four BMW or other old English motorbikes to accompany the hearse through the village as my dad loved motorbikes. Last year, while my dad was still fit and well, he decided he wanted to make his own coffin. Now that certain circumstances have arisen, his son is now going to take that challenge on and is privileged to do that as it will mean a lot to him.

The title originates from a church service. Once, the congregation was told to write down something that they were thankful for. My dad was sitting next to a very elderly woman who had no idea what to write. Being his usual self, he leaned over and said to the lady "Put fish and chips". So this is what I feel like, I don't know what to call news like this. I could have called it "Tragedy in the family" or something along those lines but I thought that this title was more creative and reminds me of my father.

Now that he is gone, there is a big part of our lives missing. We are all staying strong and the three of us are coping well. Hopefully, mum will find strength to write more soon.

Love YFG x

Hope

Seems like plans are being put in place and the FH might be coming home this week - but I think family privacy has just gone right out of the window and our front door might as well be replaced with a revolving door.  We are looking forward to care packages involving visits three or four times a day, physios, OT, heart failure nurses and oxygen teams.......

Don't get me wrong - it will be worth it to have him home, but blimey, it feels like it will be like living in public.  Any carers who have any tips to cope with this sort of "exposure", I am open to hearing them, as we have been quite a private family group over the last few years!

Much love to you all - sorry I haven't updated properly, but have to rest too.  Thanks for the prayers xxx

Grateful thanks again

Thank you for all the supportive comments, love and prayers that you are sending - you can't imagine how humbling it is, and how astounded the FH is that people all over are praying for him.  I'm too tired right now to say much, but I will just share that he has had a pacemaker fitted at PCH this afternoon, and is looking more stable than he was earlier.  Full story coming up soon.  Night all xx

One step back again

The FH was blue lighted away to PCH again last night after having some kind of episode of losing consciousness in the front of the car as I drove along - we were just leaving the village to go to pick the YFG up from her piano lesson, but luckily were still close to home so I turned around and came home, left him in the car and called for help.  The heart rate and BP were very low again, and the paramedics wasted no time in getting him to the hospital.  He spent quite a few hours in resus again before they found him a bed on the Coronary Care Unit at about midnight.  He was confused and agitated last night, and not at all happy to be there; I have rung this morning and they say that he has been unsettled a lot in the night but has had a few lucid moments this morning - it reminds me so much of how my dad was at Christmas, when he was in ICU and seeing things, away with the fairies.  The FH wasn't as bad last night as my dad was that day, but it remains to be seen how he will recover.  The consultant will be round at about 10 and I am to ring back after that to see what plans have been formulated in conjunction with Papworth this morning.  A pacemaker was being spoken of last night, which would mean a transfer to Papworth, I think. 

The EFG was out babysitting so had to complete her job as the people were too far away to get back quickly, so she had to come home to an empty house; the YFG was with me at the hospital, and we got home at 2am so she is still asleep and I have phoned her work experience placement so that they don't expect her in at 9am.

I'll let you know how he is getting on later.

[Apologies to Sweetblondieblueeyes for copying and pasting - this is the email I sent her earlier this morning and I can't type it all out again!]

The world of work

The YFG is doing work experience this week in our local optician's practice.  We have been attending there for about 10 years, since long before the new owner took over from our old friend, who retired.  The YFG arranged this placement herself as it was not one of the ones on offer from the school, and she has enjoyed it so far.

She's finding that the ladies drink an awful lot of tea, but that they are really kind and chat with her and generally treat her very well.  She feels welcome and part of the gang, I think, from the way she is discussing it at home.

It has been interesting so far to see how she wants to fit in, spending time working out what to wear and how to spend her lunch hour.  So far she has taken sandwiches and sat and read a book, but today she thinks she might walk round to the library.  An hour is quite a long time in a 14y old's day, and she wants a bit of fresh air as well.  She is enjoying the freedom from the school rules, too, and the ability to have a cup of tea when she wants one, to go out in her lunch break, and to get up that teeny bit later in the morning - we leave here at 8.35am instead of her catching the bus to school at 8am.

It will be interesting to hear her thoughts at the end of the two week period.  I have already heard some observations on the morality of selling designer glasses to old ladies who aren't interested in designer goods!  Good to know that she can think for herself.

Moving on

I had hoped that we were going to have a positive visit to Papworth yesterday....it wasn't too bad whilst we were actually there in that we saw a new consultant, who was lovely, and very thorough in getting to know the FH but then it all got a bit complicated when the blood results came in and the nurse phoned here at 5pm with changes to the medications.

And I wasn't here, so the FH got in a bit of a stew.

Apparently, he is neutropenic at the moment, so we have a change of immunosuppressant drug and a doubling of the steroid treatment he has been on for a while.  However, that is not as simple as it sounds.  He has been taking Cellcept for 15 years now, and this has been stopped completely for the time being.  A drug that was stopped early last year, Neoral, has been re-instated in a low dose.  However, we didn't have any of those here [well, you wouldn't, would you?!] and I didn't think that the village surgery would have any in stock either.  The Cellcept was stopped yesterday with immediate effect, and we were instructed to acquire the Neoral and start that this morning.  Mmmm.  Easier said than done.

I was at the surgery at 8.30am when it opened, and I spoke to the dispenser who confirmed that there was none to be had there.  So I asked for a prescription for some, and she said it would be ready tomorrow....No, I need it now!  So I had to ask for an appointment for the doctor, who starts seeing patients at 9am.  There were three in front of me, so the dispenser and I agreed that I had time to bomb off into town to deliver the YFG at her work experience placement and get back in time.  This I did.

However, my place in the queue was not held, and when I got back, I had dropped to 7th or 8th, and I sat in the waiting room for an hour - can't complain about that when the air con was on and it was lovely and cool in there!  It has been rather muggy here today.  I eventually saw the doctor, who was sympathetic and did ring through to the dispenser to see if there was any other way of getting the meds.  Realising that there wasn't, I acquired the precious prescription and came home.

The EFG went on the internet and called up all the phone numbers of local pharmacies in the towns nearby, and I started ringing round to see who had got some of the stuff.  Luck was on our side and the first one I called had one box so I gave the lady our name and told her I was On My Way!

The FH finally got the first dose at 11.40am, and then went off to the lunch club.  I had a well earned sit down with a cup of tea.  

I did three loads of washing this afternoon, had a sleep and then returned to town to pick up the YFG at 5pm.  We also went to a different SW club tonight to get weighed as the EFG has a babysitting job tomorrow that means our usual meeting wouldn't work this week.  She's lost half a pound and I have lost 3.5 with all this rushing around!