Walking shoe!

The leg pot has gone, replaced by a foot pot and this elegant walking boot! As you can see my left foot is still swollen but at least I can get about a bit without having to bother Graham too much.
Sheila x

Black pot

I choose a black pot as I thought it was more of a fashion statement
sheila

Just like Ravenscroft !

I have spent another day being wheeled around by Graham in between having visitors and phone calls. We have had to laugh. He tries to run with the wheelchair as we used to do at Ravenscroft but I have to say that I have put a bit of weight on since then.! I also keep falling over and am not to be trusted. I have just hurt my back in the bathroom when I fell backwards!
I shall be so glad if I get a walking pot on Friday. Maybe then I can try getting about on my own a bit.The W.I have sent me a lovely plant and cards and loads of people have phoned to see if I need anything.
Am off to watch football now. Chelsea and Everton.
Sheila x

back in mablethorpe.

We had a lovely weekend in Preston with Gina and Andrew, looking for a new computer and shopping at Macro etc. Then we went for a walk down by the canal on Saturday tea time to look at the baby ducks, of which there were a great many. We hadn't yet decided which restaurant we were going to but thought we would meander home to get changed ready for the big night out. We were only two streets away from the house when I went over stepping off the curb. It hurt like hell and when it started to swell it was decided that I ought to go to A&E. In an just over an hour I had been X- Rayed and had an up to the knee pot put on my right foot. I was given crutches to walk with. I have never used crutches before and was totally useless on them. To make matters worse I needed to go upstairs after a while. That was easier said then done! In the end we all went upstairs and lay on Gina's bed to watch "Britains got talent".And we never got to go to a restaurant.! We had horrible fish and chips instead!
It wasn't until 3.30 in the morning that I really needed to go! Thats when I fell off the crutches and broke a toe on my other foot! Now I was expected to put all my weight on a broken toe. How I got out of Gina's house and into the car I will never know but I was glad to be coming home. They were also glad to see the back of me judging by their faces as they waved us off!
Thats not the worst part though. I bought the nicest pair of high heel shoes about two hours before all this happened. When am I ever going to get to wear them?
After arriving home my neighbour took Graham to her friends house, They had a brand new wheelchair that I could have.
This morning I went to the G.P. about my bloodpressure. He wanted to prescribe diuretics and couldn't understand why I refused. I had to explain to him that I couldn't stand up, let alone keep rushing to the toilet to pee!
Then it was two hours at A&E in Louth where they X-Rayed my left foot and pronounced it broken. I was given a zimmer frame to walk with as the crutches were deemed too dangerous! I never thought that I would be on a zimmer frame at the age of 63!
Anyway I keep having a little weep and feeling sorry for myself but I expect things will improve as time ( 6 weeks ) goes by.
Sheila xx

back in mablethorpe.

our own ducks!

unlike my daughter who has to go down the canal to see ducks, we have our own in the front garden. They will even talk to you for a crust of bread.
Sheila x

gone to glory!

On Saturday Norman and Jean came. We took them to the famous coffee morning at which Jean bought a pair of designer shoes for £5 and which we all had a good two hours of chat with various friends.
When we got back we noticed that my poorly hen was being sick again so Norman said it was time to put it out of it's misery. I agreed, so Norman necked it. As it was still flapping about, Graham put a bullet in it's head as well just to be sure. I was sorry,but glad that I had tried my best for it and apart from the last few weeks it has had a happy life.
Spoke to Pat on the phone. She sounded quite chirpy.
Ate half an easter egg and then wished I hadn't. It wasn't worth 330 calories!
More later Sheila x

Sonia's cottage

Remember this?

The view from the bridge

This is where Montana Mike used to try to catch Swans etc.

Three bridge lane

I am posting some views of Sonia's house in Saltfleetby Lincolnshire.

diabetes

Well I have just returned from seeing the specialist doctor, specialist nurse and the dietician. Two hours of lecturing the upshot of which was that if I don't lose weight I will die!
I am having my insulin changed again and have to go on a diet. Lets hope I can stick to it!
The poorly hen has somehow removed her collar and is now indistinguishable from the rest of the girls. lets hope that this is going to have a happy ending after all.
more later. Sheila x

Further news.

The patient is back with it comrades and is eating and drinking as though there is no tomorrow. The problem is that it's crop is looking big again. Well if it stuffs itself again then there will be nothing else for it but to neck it! I have left the neck ruff on and it seems to be working. i.e. she or the others cannot get to the wound to peck at it. well we will see!
I am still laughing about Michael and the bus yesterday, in fact I was laughing at five o'clock this morning and then I couldn't get back to sleep!
Tonight it is W.I. committee which means I am going to miss the Liverpool V Chelsea match on tv. We enjoyed the Man U. game last night. We like the look on Fergersons face when they lose!
Later Sheila x

mmmm Chocolate!

I'm ready for easter!

sheila x

We went to Market Raisen

This morning we went to market raisen and we couldn't resist taking photos of the Labour Ward. All the baby lambs are just being born.

Click on this picture to see why the shepherd should have gone to specsavers

sheila x

The latest from emergency ward ten!

The patient looked so good this morning that I decided to put her in with the others when I let them out. She went straight for the food and everyone just ignored her. I have left the collar on and apart from a few desultary pecks at the collar from Tina who always wants to know whats going on anyway, she seems to have blended back in with the crowd o.k.
The test will be when they go to bed tonight. Will there be room on the perch for a collar?
sheila x

4th day on the surgical ward

Today's bulletin is more of the same i'm afraid. I'm still very surprised that she has survived the surgery and is more chirpy than she has been for weeks. The wound is not looking too good as I don't have any antibiotics so I won't count my chickens before they are hatched. ( no pun intended) She has been sick again and it's bright green although she hasn't eaten anything of that colour. It's a bit like humans and carrots!
The neck collar was a stroke of genius on my part. She hates it but it has kept her away from the chest area whilst still allowing her to eat etc.
I am only feeding her mush so that it will go through the crop.
More later Sheila X

she doesn't like it!

I have fashioned a collar to try to stop the patient from pecking her wound. Oh she doesn't like it one little bit.

The patient

Ward round

Oh well I don't know what to do next. I have been feeding the patient with little titbits of soft food but she has been sick and will not leave the wound alone. I have just swabbed it down with Dettol and put some powder on it. now I'm wondering if I could fashion one of those plastic funnel things that dogs have on when they have had something done.
i will put a photo on as soon as I get around to it.
sheila x

Continuing hen saga

So first thing this morning I visited the patient who has overnighted in a box in the garage. I was pleased to see that she was quite chirpy and put a dish of water and a dish of yoghurt into the box. I also found the asprin that I gave her last night so she obviously hadn't taken it.
I went next door to feed the rest of the girls. When I turned around there was the patient eating some of their food. I had to chase her to put her back in the box as I don't want her to eat anything yet. A little while later, Graham called me to come to the garage. I must confess I expected the worst. However there was the hen roosting on the handle of the lawnmower, having knocked all the things off a shelf etc. She is now back in the box with a wire netting over the top. I must say that her spirit has given me hope that she will pull through.
Sheila x

operating theatre

On letting the hens out this morning I took the poorly one and put her in a box in the garage so that she couldn't eat or drink anything.
At ten o'clock Ann and I moved into the operating theatre and prepared the hen for surgery. We hypnotised her first before tying her legs together. We then more or less wrapped her in an old towel and taking a scalpel I cut a three inch slice into her crop. There was very little blood but we were amazed about the amount of what seemed like long matted grass that was contained in the crop. It took ages to get it all out and the smell was vile! Then we tried to superglue the wound but it wouldn't stick due to the wetness so I had to stitch it with purple cotton. I then clarted the wound with anti biotic cream and prising open her beak gave her a small asprin. She was very quiet and seemed to know that we were trying to help her.
she is now asleep in the box but seems to be o.k. Only time will tell now, as the wound needs to heal. She cannot have food or drink for twenty four hours and then only yoghurt and soft things etc,
I have told Ann that she should give a talk to the W.I entitled " My time as a theatre nurse in Grahams garage"
must go. Am making curry.
Sheila x

Sour crop.

I have been reading up on my poorly hen. Apparently she has a condition called Sour Crop which , if nothing is done about it, will eventually kill her. She keeps eating and drinking but as she is not digesting anything she is not getting any nourishment. So the only solution is surgery. Tomorrow my neighbour Ann and I will operate on her to remove the contents of her crop. She has to be isolated from the others so that they don't peck her stitches out etc ( although I might use super glue) and she has to starve for 24 hours. Then she can have some yoghurt and soft food etc.
If it doesn't work she will die anyway so it will ease my conscience knowing that I did what I could!
We seem to have solved the "laying away" problem but I will continue to keep an eye on proceedings.
About two months ago a policewoman drove at speed into my neighbours garden, demolishing a 50 year old hawthorne hedge and a fence.
She was told that she would hear from someone with regard to compensation etc. Well just as she was getting a bit impatient and was going to send them a letter, she recieved a letter this morning from the police authority to say that they would be taking no further action in the case and that if she wanted to bring a civil action she could but it was unlikely to succeed!!!
What a nerve. no apology no nothing and she's the innocent party in all of this!
Sheila x

Tree's blossom

hooray it's April and the tree's are starting to blossom. It's not a very good picture but it shows the drive at the front of the house.

Sheila x

Pesky Tina the chicken!

What a performance every morning in an effort to stop the hens laying other then in the nest box! I let them out, but only into the compound until they have laid their eggs. This is turning out to be counter productive because the other hens are getting confused. Tina and A.N. Other are the main culprits and I don't want them to set a bad example so if I think those two have laid then I let them out into the field but follow them to watch where they go. Yesterday they still tried to get to where they had made a lovely nest, (which Graham has destroyed) so I locked the two culprits in the hen hut to teach them a lesson!
Anyway today the Tiresome Two had laid before I let them out so hopefully they have got the idea. Because they are truly free range now, they have gone wild and I hardly have to feed them at all.
I have been asked to be a cake judge at the Alford Horticultural Show which I did last year. I have never eaten as much cake, or felt as sick afterwards. I shall have to try and do it differently this year and save myself for the splendid lunch which I was unable to face last year!
I have also been asked to organise a village fete for August 2010. This is to be a massive undertaking so I need to have discussions before I commit myself.
Must go. I have a tray apple bakewell in the oven.
Sheila x