The Wedding

Just back from my Brothers wedding in Bromsgrove.
I drove down on Thursday and picked up 'im indoors from Birmingham airport as he had cut his Bridge and Bowling holiday in Spain short to come for the wedding. My brother and his wife have been an item for many years now - almost as long as me and 'im! But because of one thing and another they were not able to get married until now. I was asked to be a bridesmaid (one of 5) along with my 2 new nieces and my great niece! The colour theme for the day was coffee and cream- the only one wearing white was my new great niece (aged 18 months!). The wedding took place at the Bromsgrove Hilton where my brother and my new SIL first met. It was a lovely day and we partied well into the night -the only problem was that a glass of wine cost £7.45 and a coke cost £2.50! so we were restrained on our drinking which was probably a good thing as we were both fine to drive back today.
I even managed to fit in 3 swims during my stay which was great.

here is a pic of me and 'im indoors with the bride and groom...

What a busy 5 weeks

Forgive me purple folk for it is 5 weeks since my last blog.

what a lot has happened in the last 5 weeks.

My Aunt fell and broke her hip - not a nice experience for someone of 75ish. She was taken into hospital on the Monday and did not get operated on until the Wednesday - she had a pin put in as the break was below the hip joint. We were travelling down to Northhamptonshire for our Nephew's 18th birthday party, so we set off a day early so that we could call in to Birmingham to see Auntie. Thank goodness for Sat Nav - I dont think we would have found Heartlands Hospital without it! We stayed overnight with Mum and Dad which was nice, and it was great to see how Mum was improving.

The next day we travelled to Daventry where we were staying. The hotel was on a golf course, free internet, free coffee, free fruit, swimming pool, sauna, steam room & jacusi - and all for £50 including breakfast for the 2 of us!

The party was something else - I have never felt so old! It was actually our other nephew's 16th birthday on the day, so there were crowds of 16yr old and 18 yr olds! Most of them were hanging around outside the venue, until the music went louder and the lights went lower! We made our excuses by 10pm and went back to the hotel for a decent drink and an early night.

I have managed to play a fair amount of golf during the last few weeks - this has been good for me health wise as well as helping me to relax.

me and my pal Olive (her nickname) have booked for a trip to Stobo Castle on 22nd for 2 nights - she has been to the wedding of her son this weekend, so the two of us will enjoy the break.

So, last weekend whilst playing golf I was discussing the problems I had been having with my contact lenses and that I was considering the laser surgery. Her pal had had it done 2 1/2 years ago and had not looked back since. So I made an appointment to see if I was suitable. That was yesterday.

First I had to wear my glasses for at least 48 hours prior to the treatment - that is a struggle for me as I find it difficult to see with them on and feel very trapped when I wear them. The appointment started with the puff of air in the eye routine, then a check of the prescription. After this I had a chat with one of the girls who was very informative about the whole procedure and explained all the different options that MIGHT be available to me. Then followed the more rigourous tests. I had drops of anasthetic put in my eyes - stingy or what! Then she measured the thickness of my corneas using a probe against the eye - weird or what! Then she put some other drops in which relaxed my eye muscles so that I could not focus - I couldnt even see my watch! Finally she gave me the news that I was very suitable for the treatment, and I could have a choice of every option.

I decided that the Lasik method was preferred as it has the fastest healing time, and did not require a dressing on the cornea. then I had a choice of which method was used to cut the flap in the cornea to give the laser the required access. There is a mechanical method where a gadget is put against the eyeball and suckers onto it. Then this is rotated to cut a flap - a bit like taking the foil off a bottle of wine. The more modern method is to use the laser to cut the flap, a series of dots are made on the eye ball which causes bubbles under the cornea, then alcohol is put on which raises the flap for the surgeon to peel back. The downside of the mechanical method is that the incision is deeper and therefore takes longer to heal - so I decided on the Ultralase method.

The next decision was whether to have a standard treatment which basically gives you off the shelf laser treatment for a standard prescription. This gives you the vision you have with your lenses or glasses, but no better. The Wavefront option gives you a treatment that is specific to you. Your eyes are scanned and any inperfections are noted - these can give you problems with night vision - halos, glare etc when driving. I decided that I might as well go for the top treatment.

So the next stage was to book all the appointments. I have to go without lenses for 7 days before a further check with the optician in Stirling (again with the possibility of the relaxing drops so no driving), the following day I have to get the Wavefront scan in Glasgow, and the following day the surgery also in Glasgow! My pal also has a house in Glasgow, so I will be staying with her the night before and she will bring me home after surgery.

So all booked up after a 2 hour appointment - boy was I exhausted! I went to meet my pal who had driven me down as I knew that I would not be able to drive. She was in fits of laughter as I could not see a thing. Because my eyes were dilated I was suffering from the bright lights in the shopping mall, and I could not control the vision in them. Trying to read labels in M&S was impossible - so she had to read them to me!

I got home and could not turn the PC on as I knew that I would not be able to see it anyway.

This morning my eyes were still quite dilated, but I could put my contact lenses in and I can see - what freedom.

I am so pleased that I have made the decision, even though it is costing mega bucks, but Mum and Dad have offered me a huge sum towards it. I just look forward to being able to swim and use a spa without being worried about water getting into my eyes and lifting my lenses.

Played golf today - not brilliant, but happy with my game. Off to play at a different course tomorrow as a guest of a couple of male pals of mine.

Hopefully it will not be so long before my next blog.

Where has the time gone?

I cannot believe that it is now 2 months since I blogged. It was also 2 months ago that my Mum had a stroke. She had had a minor stroke 9 months earlier whilst she and Dad were on the boat. Paramedics were called and they carried Mum down the towpath to the nearest hospital, after a few hours she was released and returned to the boat. She could not speak properly, but after a few days resting on the boat her speech returned. This time my Dad returned from a meeting to find Mum speaking gobbledy-gook - he immediately knew what had happened and took her to the doctor the following morning. My brother still does not understand why Dad did not call 999 and get Mum into hospital, but I think he was scared that she would be admitted and not allowed home. I was in a meeting at work the day Dad phoned me on my mobile, so when I saw the missed call I knew something was up. I drove down to see them the following day - the M6 on a Friday is not the fastest of roads, but I just wanted to be there for Mum. It was a long journey, but Dad was so pleased to see me for some support that it was really worth it. Mum really could not speak - we had to guess what she was trying to say, she was not really aware of what was happening, and she slept a lot. My Dad has never run the house, Mum always did it. He did not know how to operate the washing machine, had no idea about cooking and has never had to plan meals, shop or clean the house. Unfortunately my Nan always felt that men/boys were there to do the earning and manual tasks and that was how Dad was brought up. Now he had to take control. I showed him how to cook some simple and healthy meals - if he had his way it would be versions of pie and chips! I was pleased that I made the journey and when I returned home I made sure that I kept in touch with them daily and then slowly returned to weekly so that I could hear the difference in Mum as she progressed. A month after the stroke she managed to see a specialist and get scans etc. During this time Dad contacted the Stroke Association and through their help and support Mum has managed to improve in her speech. She still gets very frustrated when she cant get the words out, she is fully aware of what we are saying, and is very observant, but the words cannot get out.

'im indoors has been made redundant so now only has a few weeks to get a new job before his last pay packet. Very stressful, and to top it all he has to sell his flat which is nearer Glasgow than here as he cannot afford to keep it on without a job. Thing is that having the flat opens up job opportunities in Glasgow, without it there is a lot of commuting to do - horrid situation really.

My brother and his fiancee brought Mum and Dad up to visit on Saturday and we have spent the last few days together until they left this morning for the long drive down south. Mum thoroughly enjoyed her visit and I think it did her the world of good. She managed to do some gently walking, each day managing a little bit more - after all she has been more or less immobile for 2 months. I would have loved to have spent more time with my brother and his fiancee, but it was good for Mum and Dad to spend time with me. My brother has a lovely Boxer called Bruce who is 3 years old and worth a small fortune apparantly - they insisted that he is my nephew!
What a gorgeous brute he is.......

My brother is getting married in November and I have been asked to be a bridesmaid - never in my life have I been asked to be a bridesmaid. She has her best friend, her two daughters and her 14 month granddaughter as well, and the theme is coffee and cream. So I have now bought a dress - which she loves, and now have to buy shoes, pashmina and a bag!

All is quiet now that they have all gone home, so I spent the afternoon digging up roots of shrubs that have got past it and some brooms that have self seeded where they were not wanted. I am now exhausted and am sitting with my feet up watching Beechgrove Garden (a brilliant Scottish gardening programme - much better than Gardener's World in my opinion).

On Sunday, my neighbours decided to cut 2 rather large trees down that were planted on the boundary of our two gardens - they were far too close to the houses and actually touched my roof, so down they came. We had my neighbour and my pal on chain saws, the youngest son of my neighbour (age 12) scooting up and down trees putting on the line for us to guide the trees down to the ground, and then some of his pals and his older brother on wheelbarrow duty clearing the logs. My neighbour's wife provided us with bacon rolls after she returned from church and then helped us to clear the fallen branches and later burnt them in the field. It is so amazing what a difference these trees have made to the amount of light coming into both of our gardens.

Last friday was the last junior golf session of the year, so we had our prize giving. We had 41 children between the ages of 8 and 17 playing golf, these were later joined by parents and siblings so you can imagine what the noise level would be like. They were very well behaved, and enjoyed the meal provided for them. It was great handing out the prizes to the kids and seeing their response. After the prizes "the oldest junior" (now no longer playing with the juniors, but working behind the bar at the clubhouse) presented me with a card and golf gift voucher from all the parents - this was a total surprise and totally not expected - to me it is just great to see how well the kids have improved over the year - that is the biggest present of all.

Now to start turning my mind to winter activities - drama, curling, living!

Lets hope it is not another 2 months before I blog again!

Morning sun over the hills

More about Stobo

I thought that I would share a little more about Stobo with you.
I first went to Stobo about 4 years ago when him indoors won a voucher for a day including 4 treatments. He very kindly gave it to me (aaahhhh – wasn’t that kind of him?) Anyway, we decided that we would meet up and spend the night in a B&B about 5 miles away and make an evening of it, so I duly set off really early in the morning to be at Stobo for 9am (might as well get the most out of my day!). As soon as I set foot in the Spa Reception I could feel the relaxing vibes in the place and I was hooked. That first day was packed with treatments which did mean that I could not spend as much time in the pool as I would have liked, but that too was good because I then learnt that I didn’t need all the treatments to feel relaxed.
The following year I persuaded 3 of my friends to come with me and stay overnight for 2 nights – if you only stay one night I felt that you did not get as much benefit as you are not allowed to check in until 3pm and have to check out at 12 the next day (you do get lunch though!). We stayed in the castle lodge which is new and costs £99 pppn Mon- thur and an extra £15 pppn over the weekend, the only disadvantage is that you have to walk across the car park to the spa, but you do get a mini-bar & fridge in the room, plus 2 double beds in a twin room & lcd tv on the wall. Although this sounds expensive you do get 3 meals (and big ones!) a day plus the use of the spa facilities, well-being classes (yoga, tai chi, aqua-fit etc), gym, walks round the grounds and bikes(I think). What is nice is that everyone walks around in robes (supplied) all day, so there is no keeping up on fashion/style etc. (not that I do – clothes are just there to cover my body!).
The following year we could not get into the lodge, so we took standard rooms in the castle. This costs an extra £20pppn, but we were so desperate to go and my friend had arranged respite care for her husband, so we paid. The rooms were nice, but no mini-bar or fridge and the beds were singles. The advantage was that we did not have to cross the car park – esp good as it rained the whole time! This time we got upgraded to a classic room in the castle for no extra charge. The room was lovely and the beds were big, but again no fridge!

OK, so you might have got my drift with the fridge? It is common practice to take your own drink for your room, so as I thought we were going to be in the lodge I took white wine, and my pal took G&T (doesn’t drink wine!), so what to do – unchilled wine and G&T would not do!! My pal is so resourceful – in the Ladies Health suite there is an ice fountain which spews out crushed ice for you to rub over your body when you come out of the steam room (lovely), there is also a spin drier for your cossie and a roll of bags to put your cossie in. So what does she do? She fills a bag with crushed ice and hides it under her robe, unfortunately it becomes too cold against her skin, so she takes a towel (always on hand) and wraps it up in that and brings it to the room to fill the sink so we can chill our drinks! The next night she borrows my shoe bag style rucksack and fills that! She even had the cheek to ask for a lemon from the spa coffee shop - although the first night she did use her nail scissors to slice it!

What I really love about Stobo is the atmosphere. It is so calming. In the hydrotherapy bath there is a jaccuzi at one end, big water jets in the middle to massage your back and shoulders, and relaxing bed things at the other where you can lie and be gently massaged by water bubbles around you. If you lie there holding onto the bar (metal not drink) behind your head you can float looking up at the starry lit ceiling. There are 3 ladies steam rooms and one mixed by the pool side (there is a gents health suite, but I haven’t been in there so I don’t know what is in there), each steam room has different settings, the first is not really steam but more gentle warm heat – you could read a book in there, the next one is steamier, and the last is very steamy. There are also showers where you can have different settings – tropical rain for example. Then the pool – my favourite. Ozone treated, all one depth (which is good for the aqua fit) and one side of the pool area is glass which looks out over the grounds. Fantastic.

No, before you ask! I don’t get commission for Stobo, but I just thought I would share with you my experiences and explain that it really is good value for money and you feel so relaxed all the time. I can just lie on my back in the pool, eyes closed and I feel totally at one with myself – what is that worth?

Stobo - The Pictures

I have been back from Stobo for just a few days but the wonderful memory is still there. I thought I would put some of the pictures I took here.
The above image is the main entrance to the castle, followed by a view from the front door.

And then the hallway...

..... looking up and...

...looking back.

The back lawns for Mousie..

The stairs in the above picture are above the Cashmere Suite with it's private terrace. We got a tour of the Suite - WOW is all I can say!!!

The next picture is the Spa entrance - if you are not staying in the castle this is where you get in.

Through the doors and you enter the glass roofed courtyard that is the Spa Lounge where you can sit and relax. There is even a coffee shop if you are feeling the need for a drink (including wine) or a piece of cake.

And finally, my favourite place - the 25m ozone treated swimming pool!I had a great time. The mud room was a hoot! We were shown into a room where we stripped off and put on paper knickers! Now Wizzard is not all skin and bone - there is a fair amount of the wobbly stuff, as I pulled the lovely garment up they ripped! Well that had us both in fits of giggles! We then went into a huge cubicle with 2 sitting alcoves and covered ourselves from head to toe in sulpher smelling mud. We helped each other out on the places we could not reach ourselves, then sat in our alcoves as the heat dried the mud on us. All we could see of each other was the whites of our eyes and our teeth! Then the steam came - it must have lasted for at least 20mins! it was very very hot and the mud started to melt so we rubbed it in and the grittiness exfoliated our skin. Eventually the steam stopped and we were told to shower off - there were 5 shower nozzles in each alcove, but it must have taken 15 minutes to get it off - even so it was still engrained in my feet! Then we dried ourselves off and moisturised before putting on our robes again and going back to the spa reception. My skin was as smooth as silk!
I really cant wait until my next visit, so I am saving up any £2 coins that I get in change!

Stobo

So many people would like to come along with me to Stobo next week that I thought I would post a picture of the swimming pool to make you even more jealous! Yes WW - you can come next time!!

and the above image is of me (she jokes!) in the mud room!

June

I thought I would put up some pictures I took on my way to work at 5.30 one morning.

Same spot, just different zooms!

What a strange month this has been. The first Saturday was our Ladies Open, I narrowly missed winning the best local handicap by one point to a lady who only just rejoined our club after a few years absence! It was a great day though and the rain stayed off until the prizegiving.
Last weekend I played golf on Saturday morning and got a sunburned neck because I missed a spot with the sun cream! Got eaten alive by the midges. Sunday was day 2 of a motorcycle trial. I went along to take some pictures for our village magazine. Unfortunately the stage I was taking photos at was under trees and I got eaten alive again! Still suffering from the itchy bites now - that is one thing I dont like about living here!
One of my pals and I have booked 2 nights at Stobo Castle Health Spa near Peebles. It is total luxury and pampering. the 25 metre pool is ozone treated - no chlorine smell. I just love spending hours swimming around. The hydrospa is so relaxing and there are 3 different levels of steam room. The food is fantastic - not just lettuce leaves! Rich chocolate and wine! We are going for the mud room where you both sit there in paper knickers and smother each other with mud. She has done it before and says that she had adverse reactions in the wind department the next day - maybe I should take a clothes peg for my nose! LOL. We managed to get a summer deal which gives us a free back massage each as well, and then I am also having a full body massage. I am so looking forward to it.
On those thoughts I will sign off for now.