BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

Jo, the lady who is presiding over Mick's service was lovely. The first thing she asked was whether we had any photos of Mick; I think it was lovely that she wanted to be able to picture Mick when we were talking about him. The photos we showed her really showed the sort of fun loving, family man Mick was. There was a lot of ooohing and ahhhing when she saw some of Mick with the grandchildren especially the one of him with Melissa at only 4 hours old! And we proved Mick's sporting abilities with the photo of him doing a headstand.....
She really laughed at this shot of Mick playing Pictionary; it reminded us of the time Mick was trying to draw a coconut........let's just say that it rather resembled a ladies private parts!!!!!

She stayed for a full two hours; we chatted about the actual service itself; the readings and the music and other details. Some of the grandchildren will light a candle as the service starts and as a single photo of Mick would not do him justice we are going to make up a collage to stand at the front of the chapel. Although Manda and I shed a few tears as we talked we were mainly laughing, with Jo joining in, as we described Mick and some of his antics....and I told her all about my blogfriends and how wonderful you all are. I'm pretty sure Jo will do Mick proud. She will phone me on Friday and read to me what she will say herself; just in case I want any adjustments made. I had one nice surprise...the plugs of geraniums I'd ordered online turned up...it seems to be the way at the moment that when something "difficult" has happened, something nice follows......(I whispered a quiet Thank You to Mick).

This afternoon has been an endless stream of phone hanging on and filling in forms. It's got to the stage that I've had to bring the kitchen table into the living room so that I can keep the paperwork in order. I have to do piles, done piles, to mail piles, to phone piles, to email piles etc etc. Any one fancy a job as a secretary? The pay is lousy but the food is good!!!!!

Every now and then I gazed longingly at the sun in the garden......but these jobs have to be done sometime...and as I've still lots left to do.... I'm glad at least I've made a start!

Leanne was back at work today as the children are all back at school. She didn't feel up to facing customers so her boss at Argos let her work in the stock room all day. She said everyone at work has been very kind. Sadly the local "yobos" around her way are not so nice and during one of their "stone fights" two of her windows were smashed. She could have done without that! She has "sorted" her hours so that she can pop over tomorrow while the children are at school; Ron and Brenda are coming for a couple of hours too....I suddenly realised about an hour ago that I'd not even thought what to give them for lunch. I quickly threw together a cheesecake, a can of tinned cherries over it and it'll do as a dessert. I think the savoury may have to be good old fashioned Bread and Cheese...a bit of chutney on the plate and I can call it a Ploughman's Lunch!!!
I did have a quick 10 minutes in the garden as the sun was going down......and now I must download some more forms which I have to fill in....it'll save me waiting for them to be posted to me. I must also run off a few Donation Forms for the Clatterbridge Campaign; I promised Ron I'd give him some tomorrow...............................then I must get myself some beauty sleep...being another year older tomorrow I think I need it!!!!!...............LOL

PIPS AT THE POST!!!!!

I've had a wonderful day in the garden today. I've "pottered" about like I've never "pottered" before. What the neighbours think I don't know as I've been chatting away to Mick all the time....OUT LOUD.....watch out for the men in white coats...LOL.

I had lots of things I was going to tell you all about today but something exciting happened and the other things can wait until tomorrow. I think the easiest and quickest way for me to relate my "exciting" story (especially as I'm starving and there's a lovely kipper waiting for me to cook) is just to copy the email I sent to Talj this afternoon.

Hi Talj
Wouldn't say anything before (in case we were losers) but Mick was a great horse racing fan. Every week he would have a 20p each way Yankee and on special races like the Gold Cup or Derby etc he would have some single bets. In his memory as today was The Grand national we chose a few horses and put them on at £1 to win. One horse I asked Lynn to do each way...their bookie wouldn't do £1 so I did £2 each way. The horse I picked especially for Mick was PHILSON....in his single bets Mick would always go by name rather than form and always picked something to do with the garden or our names or the grandchildren's names etc. Well with PHIL being our grandSON I just had to pick it and as it was a bit of an outsider I knew Mick would have done it each way. We had all decided that if any of our horses won the money would go to the Rose Tribute Fund.
Well guess what.............
PHILSON CAME 4TH AT 100-1 WHICH MEANS WE MADE £52 !!!!
This has made me so happy as I know that Mick had his hand in this and it's proof to me that he agrees with all the efforts I'm making to raise money.

Happy {{{HUGS}}}
Ruth
XXXXX

Isn't that just wonderful; not that I had any doubts...but if I had...I would know now that Mick is behind me every step of the way as I endeavour to help Andi and Talj reach that magic £5000 goal.

I'M NOT COMPLAINING...I'M COMPLANING

At last!!!!! IE has been playing me up and I haven't been able to get on the Internet all morning. Not that I'd intended to do a blogging; the weather though windy has been too mild to stay indoors; I just like to at least get into my mailbox first thing in the morning just in case Camelot are trying to let us know that we've won the lottery! LOL

As I've just said, this morning was really mild...(sign of old age repeating myself)....and I wanted to get over to the chemists to see if they had any Complan. I want to try Mick on it. Although at times he can eat very well, because of the time it takes (meaning he often falls asleep before he's finished) I want to try and boost his protein and mineral intake. Mick likes strawberry milkshake so I that was the flavour I bought. From the blurb on the box I reckon I should try some myself;

"designed to help keep your body and mind firing on all cylinders. Remember how young you really are, and feel as youthful on the outside as you do on the inside. "

and the box has pictures of people doing break dancing, golfing, driving dumper trucks and roller skating on it. Wow! what with this and Tena Lady I could feel 21 again. LOL

One of Mick's little quotes here.." I felt like a 21 year old yesterday...but she slapped my face!"

Mick had slept very well last night,....Manda and I gave him his kitchenshower yesterday afternoon and we could feel that he felt more comfortable after it; so as it was so pleasant out instead of coming straight back indoors, and putting Mick onto his bed, we stayed in the garden for about 2 hours; me pottering about, telling Mick all about my ideas for the garden during the coming year and Mick listening and taking the occasional peek at what I was doing. I think it did him good getting a long spell of fresh air because when lunchtime came round he managed to eat a whole bowl of rice pudding; whereas lately he's not been interested in eating lunch at all.

There's some darts on the TV this afternoon and with Mick being an ex darts player and me being a darts fan I'm going to go and put it on and we can have a nice snuggle up.

Nearly forgot......Analia please take two teaspoons of this so that you will feel better soon.

SECS (secateurs), (grey) SKIES AND VIDEOTAPES!

All my good intentions of Mick and I taking a trip to the Dairy Stores and posting my Dads and Sisters Christmas parcels faded when I looked outside at the weather. Although Mick has a waterproof cape it's not long enough to cover his legs and I knew he would have got soaked if we had ventured out. Once again Superheroes Manda and Chris came to the rescue. Before she started work Manda popped over to the cash point (needed money for postage and also haircuts tonight) and got me some money out. I THINK it may have made her a few minutes late. I did offer to write a note to her Headmistress but Manda reckoned she was a bit old for "Notes from her Mum".

The impending cloud.

Chris (my hero) then popped round to collect the parcels to trek down to the post office. It was starting to rain quite heavily by then and I told him to leave it but in true HERO style he insisted on going.


Now tomorrow is Brown Bin (garden rubbish) day and the bin was only half full (or should that be half empty) and seeing how the wind was blowing about the remaining cannas in the garden and the carpet rose which I had not pruned; I thought I would brave the elements and get outside to do some more pruning. Donning my sou'wester (light raincoat actually) and wellies (would you believe flip-flops!); intercom in my pocket (so I can hear if Mick coughs or anything); Mick safely snuggled in front of the TV (Bobby Charlton Story video - more about that later) and secateurs in hand I went outside. No Fairweather Gardener am I! It was actually quite warm; just very wet and windy. Well to cut a long story short - makes a change eh! - I got the job done. A few people did go by and I had comments ranging from "Good weather for ducks!" to "Are you f....ing MAD!". I smiled sweetly, singing to myself "Raindrops are falling off my nose; Wind's blown my hair; I look like a scarecrow"

I put the bin out ready for collection and came inside; changed my clothes and made Mick and I a nice hot chocolate drink. Typing that has reminded me of something I must tell you. Mick has/had a great singing voice but sometimes he would get the words a little wrong. Whenever he sang Hot Chocolates' "I believe in miracles" he would always sing the next line as "Where's your bra, you sexy thing!". It took years and much family persuasion for him to admit that he had got the words wrong. Secretly though I think HIS words were more fun!!!!!

Now I did say I'd come back to the Bobby Charlton tape. Now my Dad often scours the church jumble sales for football related video tapes for Mick too watch/listen too. It is really sweet of him to do it and we often get a parcel through the post with 2 or 3 tapes in. I'm going to have to tell you a little about my Dad's character for you to fully appreciate this story. He is Ex-army - old school Sargent Major type. Very Victorian strict; very upright and religious (to the point of hypocrisy); always right; farting and smutty humour is only alright if HE does it and very much a "DO AS I TELL YOU; NOT AS I DO" sort of person. Lat week I got a phone call from him. He was in a state of panic. "Are those videos ok I sent you" he said. "Sure Dad" I replied "Why do you ask?". He said "Well I'd got myself one about the history of the S.A.S. and when I went to watch it someone must have taped over it because it was a PORN FILM!" I tried not to snigger; the idea of my Dad buying a porn film from the CHURCH jumble sale somehow appealed to my sense of humour. "Oh dear" I responded, stuffing a handkerchief in my mouth to stop me from laughing "What the WHOLE TAPE was porn?". "Oh yes " he said "I watched it all to make sure!", (more tissues stuffed in my mouth). Being a dutiful daughter I mumbled "Oh dear what a terrible shock; I hope you've got rid of it". He replied "Well No that's why I'm ringing you. Do you think I should phone the VICE SQUAD. I mean something's got to be done about it but I'm in a quandary because I don't want the church RAIDED by squads of policemen!!! It would be in all the newspapers!!!!". I suggested that maybe it would be an idea to have a quiet word with the vicar as he would probably know how to deal with the situation. This seemed to appease dad and I've heard from him since and this is what he did. The vicar is going to keep close eye on any future videos that are sent into the church sales and has asked my Dad if he would be willing to VET them for a while as it possibly was just a "one off" and the donator may have bought the tape second hand and sent it to the church without watching it first.

Mick actually fell asleep watching this so I am assuming that there was nothing "spicy" on this one.

GREAT WEEKEND!

Lynn, Steve and Max turned up bright and early Saturday morning. They had a good journey and made it before Mick woke up. Lynn was really pleased because during the course of the weekend she got to hear her Dad's voice a couple of times. Max behaved impeccably; no loud barking or little accidents and as Leanne and the girls came round in the afternoon and Manda and co came round after dinner we all had a jolly day and evening.

This morning was really bright and sunny and so we went for a walk down to the rec. There was a game of football going on so we watched for a while, enjoying the warmth of the sun. It's so good to get out into the fresh air, and Mick was wake for most of the trip.

Lynn and Steve have left now and as I'm now all up to date blogwise; think I may join Mick in a little afternoon siesta.

FOOTBALL LATEST!

P.S. Just heard on the radio that Spurs are drawn to play Southend in the next round of the Carling Cup. I know I sang the praises of Southend the other day but for Milestones (just in case I forget when the time comes) -

"Come On You SPURS"

SPORT AND LEISURE

Seeing Mick take his little peeks at the World Cup DVD yesterday reminded me of what a sporting guy Mick used to be. OK the last few years he has been more of a watcher but in his youth he played football and cricket; did some boxing; played pool for his local pub and was captain of one of the local darts teams. I remember a few months after we first met I was watching him play darts at one of the local pubs and he had a bit of an upset stomach. He wasn't sure that he was going to be able to play so I advised him to have a Port and Brandy to see if that would settle his tum. Well, six port and brandies later Micks stomach ache had gone but his speech was getting very slurred and he was getting slightly unsteady on his feet. The Port and brandies had been DOUBLES! and he still had his darts game to play! "Don't worry" he slurred "at the moment treble twenty looks a foot wide. You watch I'll get Man Of The Match for you." Secretly thinking that the chances of him getting through the match without falling over would be a feat in itself I just said "Oh that would nice darling" You may not believe this but here's a photo of the certificate to prove it - Mick DID get Man of the Match. Even managed a 170 finish! He did rather rest on his laurels the next day - in fact he spent the whole morning in bed with a raging hangover. Sweet memories though.

As I said previously the last few years Mick has given up active sport; especially since we have taken such an interest in gardening. Even now though he gives me moral support when I'm gardening and I always chat away to him when I'm doing anything. This morning it was cutting back and mulching roses. I so enjoy it when the weather is warm enough to have him outside with me. It seems to make the work so much easier.

P.S. A public thank you to Mousie for the flowers for Mick and I on her blog.

1966 RE-LIVED

A very foggy,cold,damp day today so no trips out. Mick managed breakfast well and I got him into his armchair. We've only had his armchair for a few months; we went on a long walk to Homebase with Manda and co. and it was on sale there - HALF PRICE! Previously if Mick was out of bed he had to sit in his wheelchair, which isn't very comfortable for long periods. We only have sofas and they are too close to the floor to get the hoist under. I did try putting bricks under one to raise it off the ground but it didn't seem very safe and when I did get Mick sitting on it,it was awkward to keep him propped upright. Anyway, when I saw this chair I immediately realised that I would be able to get the hoist feet around the central leg of the chair. Needless to say out came the credit card and the deal was done. The only problem was 'HOW do we get it home?' Although it came flat packed it was far too large and heavy to carry for any distance - though Chris (bless him) did offer to try. Homebase said they could deliver but it could take 10 days. I know it sounds morbid but from day to day we never know if Mick has 10 more days. Homebase were very helpful though and phoned a cab, and Manda and the cab driver took the chair home and then Manda met us back at McDonalds (Mick does love a McFlurry). Then it was just a case of walking back home, popping Mick back into bed, having a fun time assembling the chair and HEY PRESTO mission accomplished. The chair is sooooo comfortable and as it can lean back at different angles it is nice for Mick to have a little doze in but still feel involved when we have visitors, as he is not stuck up the end of the room in bed.
All that explained I'll get back to what I was started saying. I got Mick out of bed this morning and put him in his chair, put a DVD of the 1966 World Cup on the computer and placed it on a small table in front of him.
Well as soon as he heard the commentator say "Bobby Charlton" his head lifted and his eyes opened! He dozed in and out whilst the match was playing but every time the crowed roared he would take a peek and watch for a few moments. I really think he has had a nice morning and it makes my heart sing.