An Update and Garden Things

 Thank you for all your lovely comments and best wishes for my family, it's been a tricky few months but thankfully it's all behind us now.

My son-in law (he's only 43) underwent open heart surgery to repair a heart valve, he was in surgery for ten hours and his initial recovery was quite slow, he spent longer than was expected on life support but thankfully was weaned off it and was discharged just seven days after his surgery. However the next day his temperature soared and my daughter called the ward to be told to phone 111. Eventually he was seen by a paramedic who learnt after calling the ward that the patient who had been in the next bed to my son-in-law had Covid, they had discharged him without imparting that news and yes after being tested he was found to have Covid too. 

I'm sure you can imagine how difficult it has been, he didn't need that added complication, but now thankfully he is healing well and we are hopeful that he'll make a full recovery.

My daughter-in law had eye surgery for a detached retina and little Louis was just two months old at the time so you can imagine the challenges she faced. She still has some blurred vision but thankfully she's healing well.

Now I feel (after having an awful bad cold for a week) we can take a deep breath and move on, although my other daughter-in-law (Julians mummy) may have to undergo surgery for an overactive thyroid gland. It's amazing how everything seems to come at once.

How are you lovely people I have had little time to pop around and visit you all just lately what with family stuff and u3a admin taking up so much of my time.

Craft wise I am doing well on the sock front, three pairs made this year so far and another pair nearly finished and once they are done, I will reveal them all in all their full glory. Apart from socks and the crocheting of hearts I haven't had much time for anything else.

My garden is beautiful right now but the weather has been a huge disappointment and I haven't been out in it as much as I would have liked.  

I will leave you with another little video this time, Scampston Hall and gardens which the u3a Garden Outings group visited last month and a few photos of my garden.

My Garden

My Latest purchase I can't stop myself from buying plants! 

A friend dug up this agapanthus from her garden for me (she has huge clumps) and I've planted it in this pot and surrounded it with Cosmos, it has two buds and I'm hoping that it will flower, she did the same for me last year but the plant died through the winter, I'm going to keep my eye on this one and hope that it will survive. 

Hope to be back soon! have a great week. xx

A Visit To RHS Harlow Carr

 Our u3a Garden Group have visited three different venues so far this year and each have been lovely, the weather could have been better but although we had intermittent showers it didn't spoil our enjoyment.

We visited RHS Harlow Carr earlier month I hope that you enjoy the photos, it is well worth a visit if you are able to go. 😊 

Looking around the gardens is tiring work so it's an added bonus that there happens to be a Betty's tea rooms on the site. 

Have a great Sunday and stay cool in this heat. 😘😘

The Queen Finds Her Home At Last.

 Thank you for all the lovely comments about the Twelve days of Christmas Sampler. I still haven't framed it but have learnt that a friend of a friend makes frames for a hobby and we are planning to meet up soon, I just want something very simple so it should be easy enough for him.

I know it's a bit late but I hope that you all had a wonderful festive season it seems like a long time ago doesn't it. I always have mixed feelings about the whole thing I do enjoy the build up, but Christians Day is always quite stressful and I'm always glad when it's over.

I did enjoy son number three and daughter in law's visit they stayed with me for five days before going back to Qatar. It was lovely to have them here with me because it was two years since I had seen them.

At last I can reveal who the Queen Blanket was for two years after it's completion, where did those two years go! I was able to give Minju the blanket I made for her at last on Christmas Day. There was always the chance that she would read my blog and I wanted it to be a surprise for her so I could never reveal who who it was for.

I could tell she loved it and was quite touched, she wrote that it was the most thoughtful gift she had ever received on her Instagram account. It quite brought tears to my eyes, she has even taken it with her although I'd said she could leave it to use when she's here as weather in Qatar doesn't actually warrant the need for blankets but she insisted it was going with her.😊

It's lovely when you gift someone something  handmade and they genuinely love it and appreciate the time, work and love that has gone into it.

 They stayed in the UK for two weeks and divided their time between London, Durham and with me.  Everyone wanted a peace of them and I think they were quite worn out in the end. 

One of the places  they decided to visit was Cragside in Northumberland, my daughter and I tagged along with some misgivings as the weather was freezing, misty and very dull. I had never been before but what a fabulous place.

I would love to go back for a visit in the warmer months and spend more time there, much of it was closed off possibly for the winter and maybe because of the huge rise in Covid cases.  I'm so glad that we went along with them it was a lovely memorable day.

My son now has Covid it's day two for him and he's feeling quite poorly, I'm hoping that it soon passes and he won't be too ill, it's his 33rd birthday on Saturday, this is one gift he could have done without. We will be having a video chat I can't remember when I last spent time with him on his birthday, probably before his eighteenth he has packed so much into his life it's unreal but I'm so proud of what he has achieved. 😊

Take Care until next time. 😘😘