Thursday 21 February 2008

Beautiful Barn Owls


I have just come back from my afternoon dog walk. What a wonderful walk it was. First I saw the Buzzard, then as I came back through the meadow I spied the Barn Owl, flying low over the grass, as I watched he came nearer and then perched on a post. It's only 3.15pm, rather early for owls to be out. Then as I stood and watched another owl appeared and flew across the meadow. They seemed oblivious to me as they flew in tandem over the grass searching for prey. it was such a beautiful sight and such a lovely surprise. I've not seen 2 together ever before. Maybe it was an Anniversary Present from nature. Better than any flowers !




Ps No I didn't take the photos, but found 2 very similar to those I saw.

Tuesday 19 February 2008

A day out to London


Yesterday Lucy and I had a trip up to London. After my last unfortunate experience with trains I was very anxious to arrive early at the local station to secure our tickets to travel.
Fortunately for us, we were able to park easily and the ticket office was open.
It's actually very good value taking a child out for the day to London. I bought a One day Travel card for £14.20 and Lucy's ticket was just £1.

A couple of days earlier I'd been wondering what we should do in London, all very well saying lets have a day out but thinking of something that would might both mine and Lucy's approval is another thing.

If it had just been me, I'd have loved to have gone to the Royal Academy to see the Russian collection, the Matisse etc, but when I suggested that to Lucy, she gave me that look of horror, "no, not an art gallery, please!"

I was browsing the Saturday Timesand saw a section of what to do in Half term, it's mentioned an exhibition of Space age travel at the V & A 's Museum of Childhood.
I thought that sounded interesting and to be honest I'd always wanted to go to the Museum of Childhood, so looked on the website:
www.vam.ac.uk/moc

It looked good, so told Lucy and she seemed quite keen.

So we took a packed lunch and headed up to London Victoria and on the Underground to Bethnal Green. Found the Museum very easily, it is very close to the station, we had our sandwiches sitting in the park next door to museum. There were a couple of pigeons pottering about so I throw a piece of crust, and suddenly we were engulfed with pigeons, where had they all come from? How did they know a little piece of bread had been dropped? Lucy was in a panic as they came so close , flapping and fluttering at us. decided it was time to move on, gave rest of crusts and darted off towards the exit!

The Museum is FREE, that was a big bonus, to actaully go somewhere for nothing.
It was fascinating, full of old toys of all sorts and all ages.
My favourites were the Old Dolls Houses, some were massive, copies of real mansions, made for the children of the house.
Lots of Teddies,including Paddington Bear,



Other Dolls,cars and games, it was packed with interesting things to see and do. Lucy wasn't that bothered about the Space Age stuff, probably more for boys, but she still enjoyed all the other things.
We stayed for about 2 hours and then headed back to Oxford Street and hit the shops . I needed to find an outfit for Lucy to wear to her Grandparents Golden Wedding Lunch. Gosh, she is soooooooo fussy, won't wear pretty dresses, I found so many lovely dresses and tops but "no way!" was she going to even try them on! Which was a great disappointment to me. Eventually she settled for a checked skirt and top with a little matching waistcoat, very nice in it's own way, but not really dressy enough, I don't think. This is what comes of having Fashion conscious elder sisters. When they were her age they would still wear what I suggested, Just about anyway!!

We headed back to station and back home to sussex, it had been a good day , tiring and we both had head aches, ( What is it about going to London? Always end up with a headache!)but most enjoyable.

Monday 18 February 2008

"Have a nice Trip, see you next fall".....................

Once was careless, but twice was just humiliating!
What am I talking about? you ask, I'm talking about tripping up, falling over, slipping down.
As a child I was constantly grazing knees and elbows, falling off my bike, running on gravel and slipping over, the worst was when the tarmac was hot and I fell on the road, I'd get covered in tar and road chippings in my cut, the agony of having Dettol rubbed into the wound and Mum having to pick out the grit! As an adult it doesn't normally happen very often, but isn't it so humiliating and we have further to fall.
Twice in this last week I've taken a tumble. This is just ridiculous. I'm I just clumsy? Or is it something more serious? I think the former.

The first time was on Wednesday morning as I walked back through the garden with the dogs, we have a grassy slope, I usually take the lower path to avoid it, but today the dogs took me through the slope way, it was damp and very slippery, I lost my footing and slid down the bank, landing on my posterior, really jarred my hip . I looked up to see the dogs just standing over me, looking at me in that starnge way, "What are you doing down there" they seemed to say. I got up, shook myself down and wadddled in with very wet trousers, yuk! Had to change.
That was ok, no harm done, and no one except the dogs saw me.

Then on Saturday I'm in my local village , getting a few bits of shopping, going to the library and getting a DVD for Lucy from the rental shop.
We are just walking back to the car, I'm wearing a pair of boots with a small heel, I step off the curb, the next thing I realise is I'm falling, I cannot stop my self, my heel has caught in the paving and I can see myself in slow motion falling forward on to my knees and I put my hand out to break the fall, I land heavily. I'm shocked. I sit in this position for a few seconds, a woman comes over and kindly asks if I'm ok, I say I'll be fine. Lucy is with me and looks worried, but i really am fine, just feeling very silly, the woman stands by me and says she will stay until i've got up. She's sees my elephant keyring has fallen off my keys so she picks it up for me. I get up, I've grazed my hand and it's bleeding, my knee is throbbing, but i'm ok so I gingerly walk to the car, I thank the woman for her concern. I get into the car and feel quite sick and shook up.

Last time I wear those boots! I must be more careful!

Has anyone else fallen lately? Any stories to tell?

Thursday 14 February 2008

Valentine's Tradition



Valentine's day was always something to look forward to as a child growing up in North Norfolk. I didn't think of it in terms of "Love" and Boyfriends or Girlfriends, no it was far more exciting than that.

It was the night that Valentine would call at the house and leave little gifts.
My sister & I couldn't wait for it to get dark, because Valentine wouldn't come if it was still day light as he didn't want to be seen.
We'd keep pearing out of the window, watching the sun set and the dusk coming down.
Then at last it'd be dark.
We'd wait.
We'd wait a bit more, then a "Knock, Knock" at the door, we'd stumble over each other to get to the door first.
Look down on the mat and see 2 small packages, one named "E" ,the other "A", we'd pick them up and excitedly take them into the living room. We'd quickly undo the packages, and find a colouring book and pencils.We'd rush to show Mum or dad who ever was in the kitchen.

A few minutes later there is another knock at the door, again we rush off, this time there was 3 packages, one for me, one for my siaster and one for Mum!
Dad had gone to the shed, so mum was in the kitchen and we took our packages to her.
Boxes of smarties for my sister and I, Box of Black Magic for Mum!




This knocking at the door and finding little parcels would happen 5-6 times and we'd end up with a delightful pile of little pressies.

Such a joy!
It was many yeasr before I realised who was "being" Valentine, it was so cleverly done, that i didn't miss the parent who was out side doing the knocking, and in fact sometimes my grandad would join in too, he lived next door, so Mum and dad would be with us and Valentine would still knock!!

I have carried this tradition on with my children and they love it.

I think it is a Norfolk thing, My mum says valentine came to her as a child, but many people have never ever heard of it. Have you?

Wednesday 13 February 2008

A surprise Visitor!


A Long Tailed Tit.
As some of you will know I am a keen bird watcher and get very excited to see certain species.

At my old house in Reigate I saw flocks of Long Tailed Tits on a regular basis, they were always such a delight to watch but we've lived in this house for over 6 years now and I'd never seen one at all. Seen lots of other beautiful birds, Nuthatches, Goldfinches, Chaffinches,Marsh tits, Great Tits, Blue Tits to name but a few.

Then 10 Minutes ago, just as i was sitting here at the computer, a bird flew across my window and landed on the BT box just on the window ledge, it was a Long tailed Tit!
What a lovely surprise! It looked at me. I looked at it. Just for a few seconds we were just inches apart and then it flew off.

That has made my day!!

Monday 11 February 2008

Mwah! I've been awarded an "Mwah!" Award!!



This is so exciting, DJKirkby has sent me an Air Kiss "Mwah"!
This is a good time of the year for awards. What with the BAFTAs, happening yesterday, Congratulations to Daniel Day-Lewis and Marion Cotillard for their Best Actor/Actress and to the wonderful Anthony Hopkins for his Academy Fellowship Award.

Soon it will be the Brits, Live, again I believe!

So It is my understanding that I must now pass on this "Mwah" award to other wonderfully outstanding bloggers. I find this so very hard as you all have such talents and what came to my mind was that i would like to make the award to all of you who have contributed by posting your "Day in the life of..........." in the Purple coo forum, because they have been such a joy to read and it's so good to get to know more about our varied lives and of course the similarities we all share!
This award therefore goes to Grouse ( for having the idea in the first place)
and all those who have written so far:
Cait
Bodran
Blossom
Cowgirl
Camilla
Elizabethd
Casdok
@the Mill
Elizabethm
CountryCraft Angel
Crystal Jigsaw, (I think DjKirkby has already given you one)
Ivy
ChrisH
Bradan
Lampworkbeader
Kat
Fennie
Faith ( A Big Thank You for keeping the ball rolling by putting up the post of names)
Grouse
Himalayan Blue
Happy Snapper
Fern
Frances
& Last but not least The one and only Glamouros Kitty!!

Sounds like my old School Prize Givings, as we used to queue to collect our prizes for all subjects, it went on and on and on!! But it was worth it for the £5 book token.
I'm afraid you only get the "Mwah" But Congratulations to you all , well deserved for allowing us into your lives. Do collect it and take it to your blog site.

Muddie XX
PS If you've completed your "Day in the life of.. " after this list you are still entitled to collect your "Mwah", so in case I forget to tell you, just come and collect it!!

Sunday 10 February 2008

Book Meme Tag

This one is a Book Meme, and I've been tagged by Mary at the Dear Little Red House! It sounds like fun, so here goes:
Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.
Drum roll, please...

I've picked up : MAEVE BINCHY's SCARLET FEATHER

This is page 123
I found The fifth sentence which says:
" Absolutely not,I think we'll end it like this; we can't expect to think that you'd ask me to give up my whole life's work and dream anymore than I would ever expect you to. Was it something like that?"
The following 3 sentences:
"It needs a lot more though and discussion," he said
"You're right, " she said and they went to bed, where they slept so far from each other that not even a toe touched, and cathy pretended to be asleep when he left Waterview early next morning having totally ignored his promise to take the twins to school.

If you haven't read this book, you must , it is a joy to read. Full of love, heartbreak and laughter set in Ireland .

Now I have to tag 5 other people.
Just to change the rules slightly I will say that if you have arrived here at my blog you are duly tagged.
Well, that worked for three of you, but as we are into a new day now I am going to tag 2 others........wait for it .........
Lampworkbeader
CamillaIt's a fun one! Enjoy!

Friday 8 February 2008

Morning Glory

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word
Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day



What a glorious morning it is out there today! West Sussex is sunny and bright and the birds are feeling excited , they are singing loud and clear.



As I stood by the back door I could see the sun shining through the trees and the sprectrum of light giving a specticle of rays, lighting up the dust and mistiness. I had hoped the above photo would be able to portray the beauty of what I could see, but it is no where near as impressive in the photo sadly.



Just as I stood there looking at the sky I could see an aeroplane going over and it's misty passage across the sky was shining bright against the blueness, another plane had left a trail going the other way. I can't remember when the sky was last so blue. Must be way back in October now.



I didn't feel at all well yesterday, I have no idea why. I woke with a bad head and then I felt nauseous for the whole day, which was very annoying, having been feeling so good since the operation. Somehow, I think maybe yesterday was nothing to do with the op, but was a viral thingy. So I lay very still for most of the day and dearest Lucy cooked dinner for the 2 of us. She did me Fish Fingers , Chips and beans, real nursey supper and it was lovely! Stan was away in his lorry and will not be home until tonight.

So I had the TV to myself and enjoyed the great plessure of watching "Waterloo Road " and the new "Ashes to Ashes" on my own with the log fire roaring away. Anyone else see Ashes to Ashes? What did you think? I'd been a great fan of "Life on Mars", felt it was a clever new concept, this new version is sadly lacking, they are trying to repeat what they had but this is quite weird. I will watch , I will enjoy it for what it is, but it's not John Simm.

I'm waiting for Waitrose to deliver my shopping. Not being able to drive this week, I thought I know I'll get Tesco's to deliver, I tend to be a Tesco Shopper, but could I get registered , no I could not, several times over 2 days i tried, and it kept coming up with "Sorry, Error, technical problems , cannot register your details, try again later".................. I did , to no avail.

So I went back to Waitrose, whom I've used before and they remembered me down to every last item I'd ordered way back in 2004, so I made my selections and it is all coming this morning. Just costs a wee bit more than Tescos, but I did manage to find a £15 off voucher on google!

Oh well, Back to watching "Homes under the hammer", they're in Norwich, so I must watch!

Wednesday 6 February 2008

The Three Bears






Once upon a time there were 3 bears. Daddy Bear, Mummy Bear and Baby Bear. They lived in a cottage in the woods.
The three bears lived very happily together until one day at breakfast time mummy bear said " I've made the porridge but it's very hot, lets have a walk in the woods whilst it cools"

So off they went.
Whilst they were gone a little girl called Goldilocks came upon the cottage. She was lost, cold and tired and hungry. She knocked at the door , but there was no reply, but the door was ajar, she went in. She saw the porridge bowls on the table she was very hungry, so first she sat in Big chair and tried daddy bears porridge, "oh too hot!", then she sat in the middle sized chair and tried that porridge, " oh too cold!", the she sat in the small chair and tried the baby bears porridge "Yummy, not too hot or too cold! Just right " she said and ate it all up!
Goldilocks was very tired now , so she went upstairs to find a bed. First she found Daddy bear's bed, "Too hard"; then she tried Mummy Bear's bed, "Too soft"; Then she found baby bear's " Not too hard or too soft, Just right" so she lay down and went to sleep.
The bears returned from their walk. Daddy bear felt something was wrong as he walked through the door. "Who's been sitting in my chair? Who's been eating my porridge? He said.
Mummy Bear could see something was wrong too " who's been sitting in my chair ? and who's been eating my porridge? She said
Baby Bear looked at his place at table..." Oh no, Who's been sitting in my chair and look they 've eaten up all my porridge? He burst into tears. Mummy hugged him.
Daddy Bear said I'm going to look around, he went upstairs. Mummy followed with baby Bear.
"Who's been sleeping in my bed?" he said, "Who's been sleeping in my bed?" said Mummy Bear, the Baby Bear looked at his bed, "Look ! He shouted "who's been sleeping in my bed and she's still there!!"
The shouting woke Goldilocks. She junped up with fright and ran down the stairs and out of the door, and was never seen again!
Sorry I just couldn't resist, once I'd posted the photo of our family bears, the story just happened to come through my fingers and onto the keyboard! Forgive me!


The three bears are mine and Stan's from our childhood, they now sit as a family on a chair in our bedroom and are the first thing i notice as I sit up in bed in the morning.







This bear is one of mine. He's called Growley, which is a bit of a misnomer as he never did growl, even though he was supposed too. I had him on my first birthday , so that makes him 45 years old. As you can see he is well worn and well loved. But I think he was stuffed too tight with starw and so the growl mechnism was faulty. I used to get so frustrated. The idea was that you turned him upside down and as you raised him up , he was supposed to growl deep and low, but all I got out of him was a grunt!! Don't think it helped with me leaving him out in the garden in the rain!







That reminds me of the wonderful "Teddy Robinson" stories, anyone remember them? lovely stories, by Joan G Robinson..



Just for a short time, he started growling properly, don't know why but then it stopped again. Growley has travelled with me through life and now he's found a Partner in Stan's Bear.











Stan didn't tell me he had a bear for some years. It was when his mum and dad were moving house and they brought over a box of Stan's old things, which had been in their attic. In the box was Bear, this bear has no name. Boy's apparently don't name toys! So to me he is Stan Bear. As you can see he is older than my bear, much more worn out and weary looking, hardly any fur left on him and his head's a bit wobbly. Stan got him on his first birthday too, so that makes Stan Bear 50!







And so to Baby Bear, this little bear is mine . He is known as Baby Bear. I received him on my first Christmas from my very special Godmother, who lives in Switzerland. He is such a cute little bear but not cuddly, very hard stuffing, but I used to carry him around with me a lot. Now he had a squeaker and it did squeak very well, not so now though!

I didn't save many of my childhood toys, unlike my sister who kept all her Sindy's and Baby dolls and her pram, which my mum brought out for our children to play with, so it's really quite special that we have our bears.

What bears or toys have you kept?

Monday 4 February 2008

Day in the Life -INTHEMUD





Day in the life of INTHEMUD

High pitched barks wake me from my slumber, I glance at the clock , it 5.30am.
I wait to see if barking subsides, it doesn’t, so rather than have the whole household disturbed, I slide out of bed and trip over a dog bone on the carpet and I walk along the corridor to my daughter Bex’s room.
Beth, our big German Shepard /Leonburger, follows me.
I open Bex’s door, out rushes Molly, our Lhasso Apso puppy, she is so excited to see me, her whole body wags with her tail. Beth greets her and they rush around a bit.
I go back to bed but can’t sleep as they are playing chase in the passage way.
I snuggle in to Stan’s back and wait for the alarm to go off. He’s sleeping soundly, not at all disturbed by the caffuffle going on with the dogs around him!

6.10am the teasmade starts up , warming the water until it boils, then the gentle glugging noise as it boils and pours it self into the tea pot, a loud buzzer goes off to announce TEA IS MADE! I lean over and turn it off , turn on the radio to hear Joanne Good’s dulcet tones coming over the airwaves from BBC Radio London. Although we are in the heart of the Sussex countryside we can still pick up BBC London, which is a light hearted talk show in the morning, we’ve been enjoying this for many years, started back in the days when Danny Baker hosted the breakfast show. He now does the afternoon slot, which I never hear . Jo Good is an old actress who used to have a big role in the original Crossroads, very cynical about marriage and quite opinionated, which makes for a good show.

So I pour out the tea and we drink whilst listening, then lay back down till 7am, then have to think about getting up. I usually just pull on my old clothes for dog walking, trackie bottoms and a jumper. Peep out of the window……….

What’s weather like? Dark so can’t really tell, wait 10 mins and look again, it’s been raining, but there’s a slight frost now, so need to wrap up warm. I go down stairs followed closely by Beth and Molly, eager to go out. Thick coat, scarf, gloves, my faux fur hat, (Lucy hates it she is embarrassed when I collect her from school in it!) and welly boots. I wear old riding boots these days, so many problems with getting splits and tears in standard wellies, these riding boots I got from Ebay for 99p. Well worth it!

Before going out I take all my tablets, washed down with soluble Vitamin C & Zinc, I swear by it for warding of colds.

Into Utility, get the leads, the dogs are going frantic around my legs, leads on OFF WE GO ! Through the garden, through the edge of the wood over the stile and into the paddock next door. It is still empty, over 18 months now since the horses moved out, it’s been for sale but no one has taken it on. The foot path goes through it which is perfect for me as I try to control 2 dogs. Beth has to stay on her lead as there are sheep in the next section of fields, Molly just runs along behind!
If I’m lucky I may see the Barn owl, she flies low over the field searching for prey and then sits on a post, just watching and listening.
I love Barn Owls, something so beautiful about there whiteness and the silence as they fly in the dusky dawn. I stand and watch for a while, then on through the fields for about 20 minutes.

Back home. Stan has just gone off to his work. Wake Lucy. Feed dogs. Feed cat, get cat in doors away from dogs. Cat hates dogs. Cat was with us first. Cat’s nose out of joint. Cat chased puppy Beth and scratched her nose. Beth remembers. Beth chases cat. Molly would like to make friends with cat. Cat having none of it.
Feed rabbits, feed wild birds. I love watching the birds through the kitchen window, get so many different birds, will stand watching them for some time.

Must get on: Make Lucy’s lunch. Pack her school bag, make her breakfast.
Lucy comes downstairs moaning. Molly has weed on her floor. Molly still in very early stages of toilet training. Goes for walk comes in for toilet!


8.30am Take Lucy to school.

Come back to house and start work for the day.
I’m very fortunate these days to work for a Family Support Charity and I work from home. So I will start by turning on my mobile, listening to any messages, check emails.
Write up any contacts from yesterday not done. Then I will go out on my visits. I travel the length and breadth of West Sussex visiting parents, offering emotional and practical support. I may go to my head office in Brighton to supervise another worker. I aim to get back in time to collect Lucy from school .
Depending what shift Bex is on I may have to take her into work, sometimes she starts at 6.45am which is an early, sometimes 2.30pm whaich is a late and sometimes one in the middle. I try to be available to take her and pick her up, but if I can’t she has plenty of male friends willing to take her.

3.45pm Back home, walk dogs again, continue admin for work. Lucy has snack and watches TV.
I usually finish work at 5.30pm, just in time for Neighbours, yes , I admit it I’m a long standing fan of Neighbours, ever since I was off on maternity leave with my eldest in 1987. Now the BBC are stopping it, and it’s going to channel 5. BBC loss, 5’s gain!

Neighbours over. Time to prepare dinner. Always a challenge, as Lucy very fussy, so end up doing something separate for her and never sure if Bex eating with us or not. So concentrate on what Stan and I will have.

7pm Stan comes home, I make him a cup of tea, we talk about our days. He goes out to his workshop to do some fiddling on his cars, we have 20 + cars in drive!
I eat my dinner without waiting for Stan, as he will be ages sometimes. Help Lucy with any homework.
When he comes in , he takes up residence in “his” chair in the sitting room. I heat up his dinner and take it to him. He eats. I do his puddings, he eats, I make his coffee and my tea. We sit and watch TV. Stan usually wants to watch Car or truck programmes, so I go up to our bedroom and watch my favourite programmes.
9pm Lucy goes to bed.


9.30pm Take dogs out for final wee.
More cups of tea .
10pm Bath and bed for me. Stan usually comes up about half hour later, so I get to read for a while, though recently been too tired

If Bex is at home usually a string of friends start to arrive around 8pm, cars come and go, they go out they come back. Music blearing from her room. Try to get them to be quiet when I’m ready for bed. Sometimes comings and goings carry on past midnight, I get cross and march in to Bex room and send friends home. I’m a light sleeper any noise wakes me, so I do get annoyed if they won’t be quiet.

And so to sleep and it starts again tomorrow…………………

Not very exciting really, but that’s my life!

Saturday 2 February 2008

Nil by mouth


The letter said " Do not eat after 3am and do not drink after 6am. Arrive at the hospital at 7.30am. Do not arrive before 7.20am as staff will be in the middle of change over."

I duly did as I was told , I ate my dinner at 7pm on Monday evening and had a biscuit at some point before going to bed. I had my bath and "prepared" myself for theatre, removing all make up, nail polish and jewellry. Actually I didn't; I totally forgot to remove my rings and cross necklace. So I had to declare them to the nurse when they admitted me.
I went to bed and slept reasonably well, a little anxious but not enough to prevent me from sleeping.
I awoke to the sound of the teasmade going off at 6.10am, but I thought " It's too late I can't have a cup, it's gone 6am". So I just made a cup for Stan and got up to see to the dogs and get my final things ready.
At 7am we set off on the 20 mile journey to the hospital, it was a damp , misty morning, so no frost the scrap, just jumped in the van, ( Yes, I had to travel in my Stan's van, as he was going straight on to work).
Arrived at the hospital at 7.40am, not too early and maybe a tad too late, but it didn't seem to matter. I kissed Stan "Goodbye", He said "Good Luck and call me later, Love you!" He drove off.
I walked into reception and was greeted by a kindly receptionist, who quickly told me which way to go and to report to the Nurses desk on the ward.

A young student nurse was asked to show me to my bed, it was in a room with 3 other beds. 2 for my consultant and 2 for another. One other woman was already at her bed, her husband was with us. We were asked to do a "sample", she nurse said they do a pregnancy test, just in case...
totally unnecessary as far as I was concerned I knew I couldn't be pregnant...............even so i was relieved when she came back and told me it was negative! So was the other woman as she had long gone through the menopause!

So we sat and waited, I sat and read, the other woman sat and talked quietly with her husband.
Time ticked on and at 10am, the group of doctors came by and did various tests and filled in bits of paper. First they spoke to the other woman, I overheard them say " It's a long list today and you won't go down until the afternoon", then they came over to me and I asked what time i'd be seen, he repeated "It's a long list today and you are last on the list!" "LAST on the list! Why , then was I asked to come in at 7.30am!" I exclaim " Can I have a drink then?"
"Maybe , we'll have to see" he replied.
"I was told that if I was on the morning list I'd be asked to come in at 7.30am , but if I was to be seen in the afternoon, it would mean coming in at 11.30am and being able to have some breakfast, why were we all told to come in early? " I ask
"I can't answer that, " He said, " I'll see if I can get you a drink"
They left, soon a nurse came in, I remembered her from last time, she recognised me too. I explained what had just been said. She agreed that the other woman and I could have a glass of water to drink up to 11am.

So we had our drops of water, we sat and read . The other woman's husband decided to leave, no point wasting a whole day.

At 11.30am 2 new patients arrived for the other consultant, by 12.30pm one had already gone for surgery. We sat and waited and read.
The 12.30pm patient came back, the other one went down at 2pm.
We sat and waited and read some more.
The anestheitist came to see us, cheked us over, no loose crowns etc.
2.30pm came and the other woman went down for her operation. She was gone a long time.
So I just sat and waited and read some more, it was a good book, so good to have plenty of time to read: James Frey's " A million little pieces" about drug and alcohol dependency and his rehabilitation. My client lent it to me, she is about to go to rehab, all thanks to this book.
4.45pm AT LAST they came for me.

The next thing i know I'm back on the ward, it's 6pm, sleep on and off till 8pm, then have a cup of tea, I'm sick............
11pm I'm so hungry, I try a sandwich, I sleep till 4am, I'm awoken by someones buzzer going off, and then can't get back to sleep.
5.45am Have another cup of tea, I'm sick again.
They give me an anti sickness tablet, I'm sick again.
I had anti sickness drugs whilst in theatre but I still get sick.
12 noon I'm not in much discomfort. My new boob is looking good!
I'm really staving now, I've not eaten for 36 hours
Lunch comes,Start with Melon and then a lovely dish of Mushroom Ragout and Rice, I eat it with relish and follow it with Ice cream . It stays down.
2pm I GO HOME. My daughter Emma collected me.