I am 80 and have totally lost my appetite .

 What to do?Is this a sign I am going downhill?

Barbarax

Glasfryn.

 I am so envious of you going to Glasfryn.we lived in Mold for 49 years.Life in Cheshire is not the same.Barbarax 

Happy Christmas to everyone!!!

 I grew up in a very strict Methodist Church home.We were not allowed to say “Merry Christmas “ as it implied you had been drinking!!

How times change.

We shall be with our daughter and ex husband and our two granddaughters.Looking forward to lots of fun and laughter and making some lovely memories.Hope everyone has a lovely day tomorrow.

Lots of love 

Barbara aka busybeejay

Where do you live?

 After 49 years living in Wales we have now moved to England to be near our daughter.

Barbarax 

Busy times.

 I haven’t been on here for a while.I never feel I have anything of value to say but anyway here goes.

Today has been the only day this week I have nothing organised.I have been retired for almost thirty years and it has just flashed by.

Tomorrow I go to an Art Appreciation group.There will be an illustrated talk and a cup of tea and a chat.Wednesday there is a general group meeting.The topic Birds and their songs.Thursday is Social History planning meeting.My OH is doing a couple of sessions on WW1 and is asking for volunteer to add to it.I am doing a bit about Belgian refugees who came to our town.

Friday I meet my best friend in the town where I lived until two years ago having lived there for 49 years.It is a 40 minute away.

So it is another busy  week.

Barbarax 

Over a month later…..

 Over a month after having Covid I am finally feeling a bit better.I have been so so tired.I lost my appetite but no weight!!!

Normally in the evening when I am sat watching TV I would knit or crochet.Nothing since then until last night and I made the effort to do some simple knitting (trying not to let it distract me from Happy Valley).

Our daughter dropped a bombshell last week telling us that she and her OH are splitting up.Not what we wanted to hear.They have been married for nearly 20 years and have two daughters aged 15 and 17.They are putting their house up for sale.It will sell quickly because they are very close to a popular local primary school.We moved here from our beloved market town of fifty years and now they are moving!!It won’t be very far because they won’t want R to change schools.E is off to Uni in September so is less affected.We suspected nothing.

We went to U3A Social History this morning.It was a talk on The Sixties.So many memories stirred.Fashion.Mini skirts.I wore mini skirts,very short and I was teaching in a Primary school.I don’t think I would get away with it now.The Beatles,Gerry and the Pacemakers etc.Films.TV.Dads Army,Cathy come Home.Hattie Jaqueline and Eric Sykes.Harry Worth etc.

How things have moved on.The speaker was saying that before these times change was slow but more recently it has obviously speeded up.

Good night on the TV tonight.I love quiz series.Fingers crossed I get some knitting done.

Back soon.

Barbarax 

I have tested positive for COVID.

 Yes.I have tested positive for COVID. That is NOT a good start to the year.We were down in Cambridge for Xmas.Angus ,our sixteen year old grandson,had a cold and we thought nothing of it.He had just come back from a school skiing trip to Austria on a coach non stop.Looking back at the photos I am either sat opposite him or next to him.I havn’t been well since the 28th so should be over the worst of it now.Fingers crossed.I had cold symptoms now I just feel washed out.It means I can’t see my grandchildren who live around the corner.Very frustrating.Onwards and upwards.

Barbarax 

Happy New Year from Barbara

 Happy New Year.

Hope it a happy and healthy year for everyone.

Lots of love 

Barbarax 

What a state the country is in!

 I have been been reading a blog which was telling us about an elderly man falling in his house.A neighbour managed to get in and phoned for an ambulance.He waited six hours!!!!

This is just not good enough.If things are that bad bring in the army,pay carers more.

Would you want the job that they do?I dread getting ill.

A lovely day today.

 My brother is five years older than me and lives about an hour and a quarter away.Because of COVID we have not seen a lot of each other but today we went to visit him and his wife.He will be 83 next week.Both  C and I were shocked to see how he had aged.Fine mentally but obviously not as good with mobility.

It was great to have a catch up.It involves us visiting them as P does not want to drive on motorways anymore.P’s wife died aged 32 .They had three children aged 9,6 and 4.He was lucky enough to meet J,14 years younger than him.They married and she has been an amazing stepmother to those children.

J is really into crafts so we always have a great chinwag about .We inspire each other,!

C and P put the world to rights!

On the way back we called in on our daughter (only ten minutes away from home).Both our granddaughters were home from school(14 and 17) and it is such a tonic to be in their company.Lots of laughter etc.This all with a background of waiting for their father to get the results of his latest brain scan.

Keep you fingers crossed for good news.

Back soon.

Barbarax 

H

Has anyone heard from Pat/Weaver?

 I haven’t blogged for a while. I read other people’s blogs but feel I have nothing much to say about my everyday life.

Is anyone interested in my day to day things,my crafts,my family ?

Feel free to be honest(but not rude)

Barbarax 

Teapots

 Do you use a teapot when you make a cuppa or am I the only one?

Barbarax 

A week away on Anglesey

This is the cottage we have rented for a week here on the Island of Anglesey in North West Wales.It is over 150 years old.Quite small but ok for a week.

I have brought some things to do if the weather is bad but so far so good.

This is the book I am currently reading. The blurb says it is funny.It isn’t so far.

 A Bargello kit half completed already before we came.

Today we have been onto the mainland on the Lleyn Peninsula 

.

Nefyn and Portdinllaen are the beaches.I had some lovely family holidays here as a child.Just look at those beautiful beaches.Hardlyanyone there today.

Barbarax 

It has been a busy week but not much cooking!

 This last we have been quite busy.

Art Appreciation Tuesday.Great to meet a lot of our old friends.

Our closest friends who moved 200 miles away were up for a few days.We gathered as many of our old “gang” together for a meal out.Seven out of the eleven made it.Another couple have moved away also,another had dementia and is in home.The last one did not want to risk catching COVID.

Thursday it was Social History here and we were doing a bit about Great Budworth church(previous post).

Friday Chris (one half of the couple who were visiting arranged a college get together lunch.Six of us were great friends in college many,many years ago but have still managed to meet up twice a year for lunch.It used to be in the evening but now we prefer lunch!!! Partners are also included.Naturally we haven’t met for two years because of the pandemic.It was great getting together again.The good thing about old friends is that you take up where you left off.Sadly,one of the husbands has died and another wasn’t well enough to come.

Saturday our daughter and OH wanted to go and buy plants and wanted our advice and also suggested lunch out.So we ate out three days out of four last week but no cooking.

I got up this morning and said I am not going anywhere today!

Ignore this photo .It is my tomato seedlings I have shown you before.

I have been busy making mandalas again.This time to hang on the fence.They just add another feature to look at and they only take one evening to make.

Barbarax 

I can’t “sign in with google”.Help!

 I have just been readings posts and a couple (Through the keyhole and A bracelet of days) won’t let me comment.It just says sign in with google but when I try to nothing happens.

Any else had this problem?

Barbarax 

Tomato seedlings for free!

 

This is how many seedlings I have got from two slices of tomato on some damp compost.I did this last year and it was very successful.Tomato plants for free.

Great Budworth,Cheshire.

 We did a quick visit to Great Budworth today.This is a pretty English village which has been used many times on film sets.It is only about ten minutes from where we live now in Cheshire(I still missNorth Wales).We are part of a social history group here and for our next meeting we are looking at churches in the area.C and I have got this one.

It was mentioned in the Domesday Book and there are records that show there has been a school here since 1578.C is doing the history and I am going to talk about the items in the church.The font is over 500 years old.

There are two old chests.The older one was made in the Middle Ages.They were a kind of safe, housing silver,vestments,parish records etc.

There is a stone carving of Sir John Warburton who died in 1575(Elizabeth was queen of England and Sir Francis Drake was planning to sail around the world..

Lots of other interesting things so lots to talk about.

Cambridge again.

Our daughter in law ( and son but he has a day job too)has two coffee shops in Cambridge,one in CB24 and one in the village of Histon just outside Cambridge.They also have the above,a coffee van.How great is that.

Matt has had an annexe built in his back garden.This is where we stayed.It is really for their 22 year old daughter who is at University in Manchester.There is a bedroom and a lounge with a sofa bed and shower room.

While we were there we visited Kettles Yard Art Gallery.There is an exhibition by Ai Weiwei.He was born in 1957 in Beijing in China.Some of the antiquities are genuine some not.He normally does huge installations.

These were made out of marble.His point being that everyday objects can be works of art.

This chair represents a conference he was not allowed to go to.

Finally, pictures of the artist made out of Lego.

 It was interesting but not spectacular.

A visit to Cambridge to see our son.

 Last Thursday we went down to Cambridge to see our son and family who live there.Our grandson ,Finlay(18) ,was flying to Thailand on Friday morning to go travelling for 8 weeks with friends.It was lovely to see him and enjoy a family meal with him ,his younger brother Angus(15) and his Mum and Dad.This is a shot of Kings College taken from the Backs.

Friday morning Matt and Jude were working and Angus was in school.We had arranged to meet our oldest friends for lunch so we decided we would go to the Orchard Tea Rooms in Grantchester for a coffee/tea.

These are some pretty cottages in Grantchester.

The church in Grantchester.

The tea rooms are famous because they were visited by so many famous people .They are just a punt away from Cambridge.Famoue people who came here were Rupert Brooke(above),VirginiaWoolf,Maynard  Keynes,EMForster,Bertrand Russell and others.You sit in the orchard and drink tea sitting on deckchairs like they did so many years ago. 

I will continue the story tomorrow but it has been a great weekend.After two years of lockdown it was a pleasure to escape it.Masks worn all the time.!,,

Which should I do?

 

It is my daughter’s birthday in two weeks time  and I thought I would do her a little cross stitch kit.Her surname is Peacock  but the other one says love.I havn’t time to do both.Excuse the rubbish photos but I shake.

Tomorrow we are off to Cambridge to stay with our son and family for the weekend.We havn’t been down for two years.We are going tomorrow because our eldest grandson,Finlay,Whois 18 is going off travelling for 8 weeks.They are starting off in Thailand.l must admit to being a bit anxious about going.My OH is in the vulnerable category but has had his fourth jab.We will off course wear masks when appropriate.

Our daughter has just come from 3 days in London with her two daughters (our granddaughters )who are 14 and 16.Grandpa(my OH) gave them each £100 to spend .They packed so much in and had a wonderful girlie time and walked 5 or 6 miles each day shopping and sightseeing.

Now going to watch the final of Landscape Artist of the year.

Bye for now.

Barbarax