Monday 30th December

My how time flies when you're enjoying yourself , and it certainly has flown in the last 10 days. AB is off home tomorrow, much to her relief ( she needs a rest from the daily chores, dog walking and tennis matches) , but we will be bereft of her companionship, humour and general battiness . Steve will miss being slaughtered at Canasta, and the homemade macaroons. The boys will miss the board games/crossword puzzles and ironed shirts. Bex will miss the hugs and girlie talks.

Boxing Day we went for a lovely stroll on St Aubins beach, the sun was out and there were lots of dogs for Jessie to play with, we did get a heavy shower of rain but battled through it. However on our return the tide was coming in and as we neared the steps to come off the beach we had to make a decision whether to back track and get off the beach earlier or risk it and make for the closer steps. Foolishly as it turned out we followed the man, who repeatedly assured us that we had plenty of time to get up the steps before the tide was up.......
Need I go on? A chap ahead of us executed his departure from the beach perfectly, we on the other hand got well and truly caught. I just managed to hop up on to the lip of the wall as the surge washed over not only his boots and trousers but those of my aunt. Needless to say she ( and I ) were not impressed, and berated ourselves for following ' he who knew everything' !


Photo of the beautiful trophy that I won in tennis doubles, #wellchuffed





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Thursday 26th December

Super duper fun and frivolities was had by one and all over the last two days, despite the fact the fireman has a heavy cold, and the business man had celebrated early and was feeling a little 'worse for wear'!!!

The females of the house thoroughly enjoyed the crib service at church on Christmas Eve, the church was packed, and we were lucky to get a seat on the last pew. During the service Mary and Joseph walked around the aisles before settling in the 'stable' whereupon they scooped a small baby out from its carrycot and put 'her' in the manager next to them! Such a well behaved and gorgeous 'Jesus' it made the whole service.

As I was the first up on Christmas Day I gave Jessie her present, of which only a small part now resembles Father Christmas...........





It was a beautiful morning with the sun shinning, so after breakfast and before the general hurly burly of preparing the lunch AB and i enjoyed a long dog walk. i had noticed on the table before we left the service sheet for midnight mass and wondered which family member had gone.... when we arrived back home we found out it was our youngest son. Apparently him and a few good friends had been enjoying the refreshments at a local establishment and one of their group suggested that it would be a good idea to go along to midnight mass. Nobody had eaten supper and they thought that there would be mince pies and at the very least a chunk of bread and a slurp of wine!! However it quickly became obvious that not only was the church full (so little hope of escape once they'd entered) but it was a long service with communion. Furthermore Dan discovered that the bread that he had been eagerly awaiting, was nothing more than a dry wafer and certainly the wine wasn't quite what he expected!! Actually I'm not sure what he was doing anyway as he hasn't been confirmed so shouldn't have been there in the first place!
By the end of the service (think they struggled to stay awake during the prayers) they were 'rewriting' the carols and making up verses. I apologise to the Rector and the wardens, and i really hope they weren't too shameless at ogling the 'fit ' girls in the choir.....

Christmas Day lunch, with the table settings lovingly laid by AB ;-)







We started the first Christmas cake, beautifully iced by the dweeb!



Our Boxing Day exploits will now have to wait until a later blog.....





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Monday 23rd December

News from the Luce household so far .... AB arrived last Friday and has got stuck into the hurley burley of the festivities straight away, although the weather isn't very festive. We have taken to asking Bex to view the hourly weather forecast and try and time the dog walking In between the heavier showers of rain!
Fortunately being the smart aunt that she is, she packed all her wet weather gear, this includes her boots. However when she went to collect her footwear from the utility room and discovered the muddy damp condition they were in she had the audacity to blame a member of the family, accusing one of the boys of wearing them! Considering her feet are size 8 and the boys range from 10 to 12, it would be difficult, and anyway why would they want too!!




The boots are now drying by the aga, being ' guarded' by the cat.....

Moving swiftly on from boots to trainers, tennis trainers, and mine were a winning pair last week. I was delighted to win the SB-S memorial tennis trophy with my partner last week, I couldn't quite believe I got as far as the final and then going on to win it, I was made up. MrB-S presented the beautiful rose bowl and also an engraved wine glass to keep.






We were lucky enough to have a couple of games of tennis on Sunday , and actually saw a bit of blue sky, and also pleased to have two hours playing inside today at les Ormes with great friends AH and SC.

I think hubby has had the last official meeting this morning, and while he has plenty to do (?) at least no more ' town' visits, Tom is still working although slightly shorter days, the fireman is safely back from his skiing holiday but feeling rough with a heavy cold and cough....too much burning the candle at both ends me thinks.

Two Christmas cakes have been made and the minion has put marzipan on and iced both of them today, they do look lovely, just hope they taste as good as they look.

We are accumulating lots of presents under the tree, virtually all of which have been wrapped by Bex, which is fine except as we haven't been wrapping our own presents, some of us have forgotten what we've bought whom! Especially so as Jack went out on a shopping mission today and realised halfway round that actually he already had a gift for that person.... A fact his sister kindly pointed out ( he does have a cold...)

We have decided not to attempt the three bells walk tomorrow, it was a possibility but thought better of it , not because 6 miles is too far, more the bad weather forecast.
This was a smiley albeit wet aunt on Grouville beach yesterday, and the little bit of double rainbow.....




In case this is the last blog before the big day, Happy Christmas to you all, and wishing everyone a Happy & Healthy New Year


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Wednesday 18th December

A festive Yuletide 'log' (non edible) !! Made by Becky and I last week....






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A beautiful sunset viewed from The Grand Hotel

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Sunday 16th December

I'm hoping to avert a fairly major crisis on Christmas Day, it will be tricky and require on my part a good deal of skill and forward planning, but it is achievable. You see son no 3 has an ongoing worry that come the big day, and looking forward to his Christmas Day lunch( although let's be realistic, it'll be his breakfast ) he may, whilst happily munching his roast potatoes which incidentally he loves, he will inadvertently bite into a roast parsnip! Shock, horror the very thought of this happening has filled him with foreboding.

In order to calm his frayed nerves, I have sworn that I will separately cook the vegetables to prevent this happening, and make a point of not putting a parsnip anywhere near his plate, on the other hand I have son no 2 requesting the aforementioned vegetable baked in honey, believe me it's not easy!

Super exciting news, the infamous AB is coming over for Christmas, she still refers to the visit as a 'holiday' but we both know that's not true. I am the boss and she is my minion, so she is fully expected to undertake any duties I demand of her,like .........
Weeding the garden
Emptying the bins
Washing the windows
Ironing
Cleaning toilets
Washing up
Scrubbing floors
Dusting etc .........

The Rising Voices choir sung again at Durrell this evening, a busy night with lots of carols and mince pies, great fun and thanks to Nan and Pops who came to listen and join in.

Can't write anymore this evening, having just watched the penultimate episode of Homeland , ( never mind Mr Grumpy Murray) there is far too much to process In my small brain, in order to sense of it all!


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Thursday 5th December

I've learnt a new word this week 'Cornucopia' , not entirely sure how you pronounce it, and so far have not found an occasion in my verbal ramblings to friends that I feel I could have used it; but right at this moment in time I too am 'overflowing' with LIFE !!!

My CT scan was ALL CLEAR of the dreaded cancer tumours, and my blood test (CA 125 ) was still in single figures 9 . With kidney and liver function all appearing normal , a huge relief all around, and so I really do feel very blessed.

The cornucopia (from Latin cornu copiae) or horn of plenty is a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, nuts, other edibles, or wealth in some form. Originating inclassical antiquity, it has continued as a symbol in Western art, and it is particularly associated with the Thanksgiving holiday in North America.

Monday 2nd December

Latest update on the animal situation; the cat is doing well, and getting quite accustomed to his enforced house arrest. Due back to the vet tomorrow to have his bandage removed, but still has to remain indoors.

Jess had a lovely playtime on Sunday with another springer puppy called Woody, a romp in the woods and fields suited them both, but she wasn't exactly a great role model, as at one point she disappeared into the depths of the undergrowth chasing pheasants and got 'lost' for 5 minutes.

I had my CT scan and two blood tests on Monday at the hospital, I go back in on Wednesday this week for the results. It has been a tough week mentally, swinging from negative to positive thoughts on an hourly basis.

The busy life at home and the sport activities/yoga etc has helped me enormously, there is always lots going on, and so much that I am truly grateful for.

The family had a birthday meal last Friday , lovely to get all of us together at one sitting.










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Friday 22nd November

Raining cats and dogs....think that must be the title of tonight's blog as all three have featured quite heavily over this last week.

OnSaturday morning Billy the cat stumbled into the house from his late night foray, and usually he relishes his breakfast before slumping down on a sofa for the rest of the day. Sorry I did say Billy didn't I ? As it sounded a bit like one of our sons.....anyway this particular morning he was not a happy cat, almost unable to take the weight on one of his back legs. As usual with these matters a general family discussion took place, and as usual I went against all of them and called the vet. It turns out that Billy has ( after consultation and x-Ray later on in the week ) damaged a tendon . Fortunately not needing an operation but still requiring ' treatment' with mounting costs .... He is currently under ' house arrest' certainly while he has his leg bandaged up, an estimated 4 weeks.


Being stuck inside all day when he is used to hunting small furry rodents and such like is really, really tough, and not only for him!

When his miaows at the closed door as he needs to go and relieve himself reach a certain pitch, and we can take no more he gets put in the conservatory, and eventually when we' re not looking he will use the litter tray.




- We've had plenty of wind and rain over the last week , and I for one am getting pretty fed up with it, especially walking jess twice a day. It takes a good five minutes to get all the wet weather gear on, and even longer to take it all off and dry it, and that's just me never mind the dog!!
Still, I was pleased to find that one son had very cleverly arranged outside bathing facilities for our four legged friend.






As you can see from the photos, she doesn't look that impressed, and has to be lifted in, but is very quick to jump out! The first time I used it I got prepared with the towel, dog shampoo and cloth, and carefully went into the utility room and collected a bucket of what I thought was hot water, but it turned out to be cool as the heating wasn't turned on! Anyway I persevered and putting the plug in went to turn the tap on ............... Oh dear, a very blonde moment.

Lots of action in our woods with 'men of the trees' busy at conservation work, lots of chainsaws, diggers and bonfires, all the things that boys love! It does mean though that there is not ONE pheasant left in a mile radius, much to Jessie's chagrin!!!










Enough of nature, dogs and cats, onto hospitals...... One of the boys looked at the family pin board and counted about six different Health and Social services letters!! Not all mine I hasten to add, although there seems to be a bit of a blip in the system. I was supposed to go to see about my three month check up on Monday 25th , this was changed to 18th, but I only knew about it on the 15th and hadn't had a blood test, so that was void.

I then received a phone call from a very nice man in the CT dept who told me that I would be getting a letter about a head scan but it wasn't supposed to be for me!! And apparently my appointment for the scan is now on Monday but instead of coming in at 3:15 like the letter says please could I come in at 2 and have a blood test before hand!!!

So, today I get yet another letter in the post telling me that a new appointment to see consultant is made on 23rd December , that's an awfully long wait from my scan on 25th , I can't go a whole month not knowing the results.

Hubby and I have got a very big day tomorrow , we are singing ( well, he is I'm trying to sing) at the town church hall at a Christmas charity fair, with our choir Rising Voices, at about 12 o'clock, so if you are in town.......... Best if you avoid the area!!!



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Thursday 14th November

Never did finish the last blog,well, I don't like ending or beginning on a sad note, but then life is full of ups and downs and you have to ride the rough with the smooth.

We had a pretty tough week with the funeral of a child, it was as you would expect very emotional, and was incredibly lovely but equally hugely sad. This was followed by news that a colleague had just been diagnosed with breast cancer, and was shortly due an operation. As if that wasn't enough another colleague who has been instrumental in setting up the gynae support group and somebody who I aspire to, has, after three years as 'long time survivor' just had a reoccurrence. She is already on the journey of operations with chemo/radiotherapy to follow.

It goes without saying that is has rocked my world to learn this news, really taken the wind out of my sails. Certainly it opens up all those feelings you so carefully bury, while feeling utterly useless you can't make things better.

Now for more general news, on my various dog walking exploits I was lucky enough to see a family of six egrets fly across the bay of Bel Val, that was amazing. And I tried to capture footage of a heron swooping low over St Catherine's beach.....but my filming and photographic skills leave a lot to be desired.






Not impressed folks think she's a boy so gone for the ' pink look' .....

I went into nursery to do some supply cover just for the morning, I'd forgotten what fun (and hard work) it is with the three year olds. I only managed to reduce one child to tears, and got told in no uncertain terms by a little girl that it might be a good idea to "wash the make up off my face because it didn't look very nice " !!!!

With my ego somewhat bruised it was with a degree of trepidation that I entered into our local school to do a few days supply this week. This time with a reception class of four and five year olds, all 28 of them! I have to say they were generally very well behaved ( excellent teacher!) and once again enjoyed myself, particularly so when told by one little lad that "I was beautiful" !! Never mind that he actually tells every teacher they are beautiful!!!

The rest of the family are as busy as myself each in their own line of work, but we still manage to congregate around the kitchen table for supper each evening, with the conversation usually varied and diverse .

Only the one small breakage this week, with an accompanying note....






In case you can't read my sideways photo, it reads
Mum
I smashed this!
Unlucky
Dan x





My official certificate from Macmillan, the grand sum of £359.00 , enormous THANK YOU !!


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Thursday 7th November

10pm and instead of heading to bed I'm sat up watching a scary film with two of my sons and attempting to put a semblance of blog together. Probably not a good combination!

It's been a week of highs and lows, so not entirely sure where to start, I think with a bit of good stuff first. We had the tennis AGM on Sunday and much to my surprise I won a cup! It's labelled Player of the Year, but I'm sure that's a mistake, anyway I was very humbled to receive it as I am sure there are far more worthy candidates. My children weren't impressed, they just made random jokes about my tennis abilities.




I've been having some excellent racquetball games , ( well if you can call being repeatedly beaten but enjoying it In a funny kind of way!

Our dog has a new title ' Jessie the Great Rat Catcher' , it has sort of ring to it don't you think? There I was on Monday doing a spot of gardening , as it was the only dry and sunny day this week, Jess of course was helping in her own interminable way. Anyway, she was sniffing around the compost heaps so I obliging pulled a few things out of the way and suddenly there was a squealing and squeaking and she pulled a rat out! I didn't know whether to praise her or tell her to leave it! What with the rat squealing and trying to escape and jess excitedly barking and me in a mild state of panic, we must have been a sight. I knew that I had to kill the rat before it bit Jess but I also knew that I couldn't actually bring myself to do the deed! So I rushed to the house screeching for Steve to come quickly (!) fortunately for me he was home!!

Anyway he appeared as quickly as a man with a bad back and of certain years could appear, by which time I had remembered that there was a shovel with a broken handle in the greenhouse that would a good tool for the job, so thrusting it in his hand I pushed him towards the still squeaking rat and excitable dog!!

Without going into too much detail the rat was dealt with, but then what to do with the body? We couldn't leave it for the dog to play around with, so I suggested lobbing it over the wall and into the field. A good plan, so hubby swung the shovel which promptly parted from the handle dropping the rat by his feet and flying the metal blade into the field!!

I think I'll leave the rest of the story telling for another day.......



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Saturday 26th October

Finally got around to posting a blog this week, and realised that it's been a while since the last one was written!

I will start with the week I was away enjoying myself in the uk, leaving the family to cope 'on their own'. The fridge was stocked, the house clean, washing up to date and pet food bought ....

A son took the dog for a walk in the woods, and as is his want he diverted off the beaten track to explore. Half way up a steep bank the dog who had been scouring the woods for pheasants came racing back to him. Now, she does this sometimes if she has lots of ' burrs' stuck in her tail, and wants you to remove them, however as the boy found out this was not the case.

Jess was rubbing her nose in the ground and pawing her face, and he quickly realised she had a wasp on her head, which he flicked off, simultaneously aware that he was being stung through his jeans in his leg. Dispatching that wasp he saw that the dog had yet another wasp on her back, within seconds another had stung him......without further ado he did what anyone else would have done in that situation, he ran!! Boy and dog hurled themselves down the embankment and I believe ran all the way home. Jess was a very subdued dog for the rest of the afternoon, goodness know how many times she was actually stung, fortunately the boy is 'hardcore' and recovered his injuries without any need for first aid.

A few days later hubby, after being out at meetings all morning arrived home at lunchtime with the intention to visit a parishioner who lives down the road. This as it turned out was just as well, because if he hadn't things could have been far worse.....

He went into the downstairs bathroom to ' freshen up' and was fairly quickly aware of there being water on the floor. Upon further investigation he discovered that not only was there water in the bathroom it was also in the hall and the toilet. The source of the major 'leak' was the boiler in the utility room that had blown its cap. The entire tank had then emptied emptied itself all over the floor. Fortunately there were three children at home who downed tools ( ok, so they got off their phones/lap tops) and rushed (ambled) to help their father in his hour of need! Luckily for us we have a tiled floor , and underfloor heating, so there was plenty of mopping and the heating got put on full blast!!

This week has been relatively uneventful, the usual round of meetings for the politician, (with a few radio /tv interviews ), the eldest son (now in his third week of a 'daytime' job) seems to be coping with both jobs. The middle son has had an average week at the fire station after his 'hot fire' training at Gatwick last week . The youngest son appears to be studying hard for his 'boating exams' I should really find out the official name of these exams, and the daughter has been back in college for a two week spell, returning to work placement next week.

We have been in the garden this afternoon, battening down the hatches ready for the storm tonight/tomorrow, let's hope it's not as bad as they seem to be predicting. I have been enjoying the mild weather and the outside tennis matches.
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Saturday 19th October

Well, what a week, cumulating in our 28th wedding anniversary today! I had such a good time in Lowestoft visiting family and seeing a few friends. The time passed so quickly as it always seems to when your having fun. Must say an enormous thank you to my crazy aunt, sensible sister (and brother-in-law) and dweeb younger brother. I miss them all , once a year visit never seems to be enough, but we are lucky to have skype and FaceTime so do keep in fairly regular contact.

A few photos of some 'happy days' ......




Me and my best friend .......


Her and husband.....


Dweeb boy....





Tennis players!!!




JW and bro....


Nephew and girlfriend...


A selfie, with sister and aunt.....


Lowestoft beach.....


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Monday 14th October

Walking out of the airport in Norwich on Saturday set the tone for the rest of the week, I did think that maybe I had inadvertently got myself on a 'saga' holiday by mistake, ( yes , I know I do qualify )as the rest of the passengers were all an average age of 60+. I had arranged to meet my sister in the car park but such was her eagerness to see me she thought she would wait for me in the arrivals hall. Therefore as I passed through the automatic doors I was greeted by the sight of her in the distance, barely able to conceal her mirth. It took me a few minutes to wend my way through the sea of grey haired shuffling holidaymakers, so by the time I reached her she was convulsed with laughter, so much for sisterhood!!




Yesterday we went to a cafe and met up with more family members, my niece, nephew and their baby, it was a shame the weather was damp and wet, this however didn't stop my aunt and I from walking there and back- well we needed the exercise!



So far back home I believe it's done nothing but rain, and last night most of the island was in blackout with a power cut, so don't feel I'm missing out.

Had two requests to sub for our other netball teams, sorry that I can't help out but pleased I was asked ( unless of course I was on the ' last resort ' list, which is highly probable!!)

On a totally different subject I have been told verbally how much we/you all raised on the Macmillan coffee morning, and I think she said £300 + ,
So well done and a very big THANK YOU!!!


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Wednesday 9th October

I had a feeling yesterday was the last good day for a sea swim, and listening to the wind and rain outside this evening, guess I was right. It has been such a brilliant summer and with the sea still at 17.6 degrees it has been lovely to be able to swim as long as I have.



I still haven't heard how much money was raised at the Macmillan coffee morning I had at home, I'll have to chase them up. I am manning the Outreach Stand again at liberty wharf on Friday morning, so if you're in town , look me up!

It was JV's 5th birthday on Monday and as his godmother was over we went out to La Fontaine for a celebratory meal, it was very good for a £10 tenerfest menu.













I am getting excited about my trip to the uk on Saturday, seeing my aunt/sister and little brother in a week long 'family fix' is just what the doctor ordered. I am starting to stockpile provisions here at home, but as fast as I buy extra food in, they eat it!!!

I had a bit of a faux pas on Saturday, arrived at the tennis court ready to play, until I went to collect my racquet and realised that I'd bought my badminton bag..... Not I hasten to add was this the first time I have made such an error. Fortunately the 'coach' was there and he lent me a spare one and so the match went ahead.

Whilst on the subject of sport, on Monday I had to fill in for our B team on the netball court, they are up in first division so that was a bit of a culture shock, and then Tuesday we had our match, and though we lost sadly I once again got player of the match!!! How brilliant is that ? Never thought I stood a chance of picking up that accolade last week, so to get it again this week was a real surprise, and I was thrilled!

Lots happening with the rest of the Jersey family, but saving that for another day as too many midnight bedtimes!!

Thursday 3rd October

You know it's really time to book an eye test when you mess up the scratch card thinking 1 is 11- well it was a bit dark in the car park!

It was hard to believe I was swimming in the sea yesterday afternoon, as this morning I mistimed the dog walk to coincide with a mini storm of hail, rain and strong winds. Jess didn't mind a bit and loved the waves, surprisingly there were very few dog walkers braving the elements, the wise ones had obviously looked at the forecast.

The Italian party have returned complete with a bronze medal and very sore rib cages, you may think that it was a side effect of all that singing but you would be totally wrong, too much LAUGHING!!!!

Excellent news from the parish of Grouville, they have a new constable, who just happens to be a great friend, so very chuffed for the whole family.

On the food front, we have plenty of cooking and eating apples, I have made crumbles and cakes, and that's just with the windfalls, not had a chance to pick many off the trees yet, so if you're in the area come and pick up a bagful!!!!

I had a good start to the week , at the netball match on Monday I was very honoured to be voted player of the match for our team, a huge surprise. I did check that it wasn't 'oap' day or 'help the aged'!!

Another week of successful racquetball, winning all my matches, although some of the drills we did have taken its toll, particularly as I tried badminton last night and struggled, losing more than I won!!!! I will not let that deter me though, as I am away off to the Uk in a few weeks and will easily thrash my puny younger brother at any racquet sport..........

I have had my 'health and fitness' doctors visit this week , part of the process to get me on the education supply list, I think I passed......!

Tomorrow I am manning the Macmillan Outreach stand at Liberty Wharf between 12:30 and 4 pm, so if you are in town, come over and talk to me, I will be the one on her own surrounded by green posters etc, as opposed to the breast cancer pink that dominates the area this week!!!

We have our monthly gynae meeting tonight, this one is just an open meeting so no speaker, can't believe we have been going since May. Also the choir Rising Voices is still going strong, open to anyone affected by cancer (including their partners, friends etc). It's at 6:30 to 8pm on Wednesday at Trinity church, come and join us!!!


The lovely Grouville constable and his wife.

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Sunday 29th September

Brilliant coffee morning yesterday , thirty people came and enjoyed coffee/tea and plenty of home made cakes, huge thank you to all those who helped by either bringing cakes or helped to make the drinks, and a very big thank you to all of you who donated to Macmillan. I am taking the tins in tomorrow to see how much was raised and will let you know.






























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