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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Friday 27th September

Did I tell you about the friend who arriving late for the Pilates class (actually the same time as me-we were both late!) and realising that her leggings were on inside out, just scrambled to the back of the room and promptly stripped before changing them over?!!


Read in the paper this week a couple of interesting facts, for instance did you know that the 'average person' ( how do you know if you are average?) forgets things on 1,460 occasions every year....apparently. " we typically fail to remember four facts, items or events EVERY DAY" Only four?

Another very random fact that caught my eye was about woodlice, also called cheeselogs and pill bugs!! Anyway they are not insects but crustaceans,they breathe through gills which are attached to the swimming legs on their abdomen; moist tubes extract oxygen from the air but if submerged in water they can survive for about an hour. I can tell you are all riveted by this information so I shall go on....
Woodlice don't urinate, but expel waste through their shell in the form of ammonia vapour, and the best bit is they drink through their bottoms and eat anything from rotting vegetation to their own faeces !!!!

Now when the crossword clue comes up about woodlice you will retain that valuable info and be able to answer it, unless of course it's one of the four 'facts' that you've forgotten!

On a totally different subject, all of the in-laws (mum, dad and sister) are away in Italy , the choir are in a big singing competition , and I think so far have come 6th and third in their various categories. They are not back until Sunday so more singing tomorrow, I am sure they are also enjoying the delights of the Italian cuisine.

Lastly, I nearly had what turned out to be a very expensive sea swim today...jess and I went off to Bel Val, but it was too rough so I went to St Catherine's and had a lovely time splashing about in the waves. Duly got changed and came back home for lunch , made another cake this afternoon ready for the coffee morning I am hosting tomorrow here in aid of Macmillan. (Between 10-12, all welcome!!!!) it wasn't until I drove out later to meet a friend and walk the dog that I realised I did not have my sunglasses, they are very nice, old but quite expensive glasses so I panicked as couldn't remember bringing them back off the beach! Frantic call to son no 3, searched house couldn't see them, son no 2 drives up, I relayed my story, he kindly offers to go to beach ( fortunately tide was going out , not coming in!)and ......he found them, phew!! Ok so there is plenty of other things to stress over, but I was pretty upset about losing my glasses, guess that falls into the 'average losing stuff forgetting things group'!!


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Thursday 19th September

Just looking back at the photos I have taken over this last week, and its a bit of a mixed bag, obviously there are the standard photos of the dog (actually a few) and included are some landscape views from various parts of our beautiful island.


However the really exciting news is of our lovely friend getting engaged, and a huge congratulations to them both, she had no idea he was going to propose and so there were a quite a few happy tears!!




I had a lovely swim at la coupe on Sunday and managed a swim this morning at Bel Val, but unfortunately on my way into the water I stumbled on a large stone and badly bruised my toe! How can such a minor thing be so painful!

Steve must be either very boring or highly skilled at getting small babies to sleep, because little WV looks very comfortable!












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Saturday 14th September

I have decided that at the moment it feels like I am sharing my bed with a Tourette's sufferer, only without the swearing! I can only think that it's the strong drugs that keep making hubby blurt out random statements and name calling in the middle of the night. Most of the time I can't make any sense of it, but I do catch the odd word, "Papa" featured quite strongly in last nights recital.

At least the pain is diminishing from being unbearable to a dull ache, and he is managing to get back to being "normal".

Jess and I started the day with ensuring that the pheasant population left Flicquet and made their way to Guernsey/Sark. I directed the attack and she carried out the orders, with her usual enthusiasm and swiftness . (One day she may actually even catch one). We followed that up with a cheeky early morning swim at Bel Val, it was lovely and surprisingly at 9am we had the beach to ourselves, (!)

Attended a badminton coaching session led by Mark Constable and Nathan Robertson, Mark is a former British no 1 badminton player and is formally 21st in the world in Men’s Singles. He gained bronze at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and 2002 and has been the Island Champion for the last 8 years. Mark is also the 2010 & 2012 Jersey Open Men’s Singles Champion.


Mark is a voluntary coach and the manager of the Jersey County Badminton Team and gives a lot of time to the Jersey Badminton Association too. The Jersey Badminton Association (JBA) described him as an asset to the JBA and that they are lucky to have him in the Island.

It was such a great opportunity to have some top class coaching from Nathan
His best results include winning gold at the 2004 European Championships in Geneva, and a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, both partnering Gail Emms in the mixed doubles. He has won six medals at the Commonwealth Games, and has won the last four men's doubles (with Anthony Clark) and the last two mixed doubles (with Gail Emms) at the English National Badminton Championships.

So of course I had to have a photo after the session....







Nathan was pretending to pull his hair out at my terrible serving technique, all posed of course!!!

Whizzing home Steve and I spent the afternoon at the waterfront at the launch of " Wet Wheels".
Welcome Aboard!

Wetwheels is a new catamaran that will allow disabled people in Jersey to experience the sheer thrill of being at sea whilst being on a safe and reliable vessel that can be used for fishing trips, exploring the coast or learning how to pilot the craft.

She will bring pleasure to many thousands of wheelchair users and other disabled children and adults.









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Steve dropped me a friends home so I could play tennis, we had an excellent ladies double and won 2-1, so a good day all round.

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Friday 13th September

Since my good news on Monday I have floated through this week on a bit of a high, only tempered by the sad state of my husbands back problems. He has been suffering all week, and the constant pain has left him tired, grumpy and unable to concentrate. We have had two visits to the doctor and two trips to the osteopath , and finally through a heavy dose of painkillers that would put an elephant to sleep for a day, and some gentle manipulation he is feeling a bit better .
We have just come back from the opening of the new St Martins rectory and its the first time that I think he has really been out and about and worn a suit ( we did go to a family supper last night to celebrate mum-in-laws birthday).
I did not get a sea swim today, just not enough time between walking the dog, check up at the vet, town trip to try and sort out me going on the supply list to be able to work in schools (don't even go there, the paperwork is so confusing and complicated, and it will take about 8 weeks to process).
Bex had a visit to the dentist and I met the two SC's on Grouville beach this afternoon, walked the dogs and had a BIG catch up!!!







Jess with her new bandana......she does love it really!!!!

Monday 9th September

Thought that I would be brave today and go to the hospital on my own and wear my Big girl pants , but......
I have to confess I did hug the nurse that came in with the news that my ca125 blood results were ......7. ........!!!!! This means that i am clear of any cancers so To all you novices out there that is REALLY GOOD and the best I could have hoped for, so I am feeling incredibly happy and lucky and really good about myself. A huge relief as its being hanging over me since receiving the letter requiring me to have a blood test and visit to the hospital last week. A neighbour did tell me that no matter if you've been clear three months or three years, the same stomach churning anxieties surface . She's right .




This afternoon I harvested veg and fruit and we opened champagne and had a lovely family supper, with everyone chipping in to help, it was perfect.






Had a pretty difficult weekend , my anxieties aside , steve has had awful crippling back pain and had to cancel a charter he had planned on Saturday , unheard of, then jack had to hobble his way through Sunday with a very painful knee. So most of the time has been spent dosing them up with painkillers, tripping over a prostrate husband who felt it more comfortable to periodically lie prone on the sitting room rug, or encountering a wan looking son looking lack lustre across one of the sofas....
I have managed to carry on swimming in the sea and march off down the beach with the dog in tow as often as I can, two swims yesterday at la coupe and bel val, and a 9:30 swim this morning.
Thanks to sw this morning who met me after the appointment and in a conversation' post results ' said how happy she was, " not as happy as me "I replied to which she said," actually I think I am"!!!!!




Spent sometime this afternoon with my 'girls' at St Ouen,, bless them.
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Friday 6th September

As you could see by the earlier blog, I had a few hiccups with the blog/photo upload, hence started on Wednesday and not posted until Thursday!

I was invited to a lunch invitation on Wednesday, that not only included a delicious lunch but was also a fund raiser for Macmillan, and from the twenty or so ladies that attended £405 was raised, a fantastic amount!

Thursday was a strange day, not going into work on the first day of term was a bit unsettling, but I was told I'd get used to it!

I also had to go to hospital for a blood test, I have my next three month checkup due on Monday morning.




Bex and Andre enjoying tea at le Quesne today.


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Wednesday 4th September

A blog mid week? A rare occurrence indeed, but this is just to see if I can upload a few photos .
A big thank you to my daughter for helping me and also for searching the Internet and buying me a v large blue rubber 'leg' casing which enables me to go swimming in the sea!!!!!!!!!

Monday September 2nd

Whoa, suddenly it's September !
I have been on house arrest this week, well, not exactly but it feels like it! I had a minor op in my leg , a vein stab avulsion to be exact at the hospital last Tuesday, it wasn't as painful as it sounds but the post op care is catastrophic (slight exaggeration ) as it basically involves walking as the only form of exercise for 2 weeks!!!! Explaining this to the folks I've bumped into this last week has met with the same horrified face that I had when informed of the news, people do know me well!!
It could be far worse I tell myself as I march along the beach in the warming sun and high tide unable to swim (risk of infection even in our clear, clean waters). I have been steering clear of the beaches as much as I can as its so frustrating!! Of course it is only for a few weeks but I should have thought this through a bit better and had it done in the winter......

This week we celebrated our youngest nephews 21st birthday and today is my eldest nephews 38th birthday, a bit of a contrast! We had a lovely party with hog roast down at Rozel for the former, and a good time was had by all, so pleased the weather stayed warm and dry.


Moving quickly on, we have just had a brilliant weekend at Jersey Live, ended up going onSaturday and   Sunday, but not all day, Becky even got a tour backstage, bought myself a festival hat and generally talked , ate, drank and listened to lots of good music!

This blog is being written on my iPad, usually I write on my laptop and can upload photos, however I have not been told how to transfer picures from my phone to iPad, so sadly cannot show you any photographic evidence .

To make matters worse my laptop is very very sick, it has an extremely bad virus and crashed, and of course I hadn't backed anything up because nobody has shown me how to do that either!! Bit poor really with a house fufll of IT experts!!