last Tuesday of the year......

It's been a good day on the whole....if only because Jill had a successful transfusion....but other good news is that Jack is still skiing without injury, Dan has found (unscheduled) things to do in London and Bex and Tom have helped out with dog walking and shopping. In no particular order, the sordid details are as follows....

Jack's skiing party is another one down.....they lost one before the plane took off on Saturday and yesterday they lost another to a rather nasty sounding skiing injury. JW has done something naughty to the cruciate ligament in one of her knees.....that's really tough luck Jords....we're thinking about you, but (on the bright side) you'll always be the first to start the apres ski for the rest of the holiday. Jack sent us a photo of the hot tub "shed" outside their chalet this evening, just before he jumped in.... I told him, over the internet, that it looked more like an outside privy to me.....but I guess I'm just a little jealous....the snow looks fantastic.

Our reader may remember that Dan was still in Gatwick at the beginning of yesterday evening after the runway was closed for an emergency landing. He spent his night at a friends flat in the City, and has spent today taking in some of the sights and sounds in and around the Metropolis. The bad news is that the (not so) Easyjet jet to Munich was fully booked and there was no space for any of Dan's party to fly there today. The good news is that there was plenty of space on the (quite a bit easier) Easyjet jet to Copenhagen......so, guess what? Yep...Dan and his entourage are now spending their New Year in Denmark. As Her Majesty might say, "one is speechless"......but, to be fair to Dan, Denmark is a place he's always wanted to visit.

Other less important news in brief is as follows.....Tom walked the dog this afternoon, conveniently ending up at The Hungry Man....how fortuitous was that....loads of different routes that the dog might have taken, but she ended up pulling Tom all the way to Rozel! Bex took Jill to Hospital this morning...and did a big "shop" on her way home at lunchtime....returning to get Jill at around 6pm. I started the morning with yet another run to the Airport, this time with AB....we were all sad to see her go....and then worked for a while in the office at South Hill before doing a very long interview for BBC (which ended up as a very short interview by the time it got on this evening's news)....and then back home for another short dog walk and "woodins" (the word we use "in house" for the bringing in the wood for the fire).

The main event of the day, however, concerns she who should be obeyed.....although that doesn't happen very often. Anyway, in true form, she started the day with a dog walk....just to make sure she was properly exhausted before the trip to hospital. I have to say that I think we both knew that it was time for some new blood....Jilly was pretty out of breath before leaving. I don't know too many details, but I do know that the needle used for the transfusion was about the size of a Hoover nozzle....and about as easy to insert....but at least once it was "plugged in" things were speedy enough....having said that, it was still six thirty before Jill got back home this evening. Can I, at this point, say a very big "Thank You" to AH for tonight's supper....fantastic.....I felt totally inadequate as it was being delivered...but did manage to sort out the vegetables, dishes, table etc. in time for Jill's and Bex's return from town. Jill is noticeably quite a bit sparkier this evening....and not feeling the cold anywhere like as badly....that'll be the new blood....maybe we could find out if Andy Murray gives blood...if he does (and we could arrange some for Jill's next transfusion) then we could improve her health and her tennis at the same time?....maybe not....I don't know if I could live with someone as charismatic as Andy Murray. I'm going to stop now and hand over to the recently rejuvenated one....no doubt she has photos to post of her "day out in town".

How can I possibly be tired when i've done nothing but sit in a chair for nine hours! Luckily for me MDU had three cancellations so they could fit me in rather than going onto a ward. So the larger needle and a nurse specifically to do transfusions speeded up the whole process. Ive been given three units of 0- blood, that should make a big difference. I'm even typing in blood now..........