Mini kind of holidayish

My best mate was coming to visit tomorrow but as Fahed is working all day at his second job then we stumbled on a brilliant idea of her coming over today and staying. And we get to feel virtuous as she gets to days on the mainland for the cost of one ferry ticket. So its a bargain. Honest!

We have plans

• Ikea - Eves needs a can opener and I need some of their extremely reasonably price clip top jars
• Asian Supermarket - I need a couple of kilo of chillies and I think Eve might want spices.
• Greekville - we are going to a little and very authentically Greek souvlaki shop which we have found locally. Early evening for a light meal as its Eves birthday next week
• Feta - we have the book and soon will have the milk. Lets hope we get as far as making the cheese!
• Planning - We started off by thinking we would like to fly to Istanbul for a city break in the spring.  No we have added airbnb ibto the mix as it means we can stay with a Turkish family. We are also seeing whether we can inter rail to get there. 3 days on the train if we dont get off anywhere. I guess we had better fly back or we making this into a full scale holiday (sssshhh!)
• Etsy - setting up the Etsy shop for our Greek sandals. We bought some sandals in Crete and brought them back with us to pass on to friends. We have been selling them virtually at cost (plus transport) for £25 but friends have come back with ads from the internet where they are selling for £125!!  So we thought maybe an Etsy shop for us. The Greek economy needs our efforts
• Greek lessons - ready for the holiday. Must improve vocab!
• Foraging - we like a bit of foraging! There is a large tree behind our house which is covered in something like yellow plums. They might be golden bullaces. We have our eye on those!

To me this all sounds rather blissful

Feel good Friday

I feel a feel good Friday post is in order

• Mum is home and looking good after scaring us all to bits
• Jamal is in rough seas between Africa and Brazil however his only complaint is that they are running out of salad vegetables in the kitchen.
• And he has confirmed he doesn't get sea sick even when rough seas go on for five days and are enough to throw you out of your bunk.
• Ahdel may have the opportunity for something approaching a dream job coming up. The organisation want him but they have to get the contract before they need him. I am forbidden from saying anything concrete in case I jinx matters
• My sister and BIl aer coming on holiday with us. Their first time to our house. My sister was nervous of flying after a bad experience in Hawaii but has now flown to Ireland and portugal and seems okay with it.
• My best friend is also coming on hols :)
• In fact she is also coming over from the island on Monday when we try to make feta cheese.
• My cats dislike my kittens but this is a stage better than when they hated them last week. It is progress. Honest!
• I recycled my filing cabinet, my bookcase and 3 blinds are currently on freecycle and receiving enquiries
• I gifted 5 boxes of books to the station. Yes, you read that right, our station and apparently 5 others sells books for charity in the actual stations. Helps to get people reading, makes the trip to the station a bit more interesting, raises money for charity and helps empty my house.
• I am finishing at four today to go buy myself a vacuum cleaner, a plastic box to send to Crete, some fabric dye for my curtains and maybe do my food shopping. Who needs more fun than this???

Helloo! Anyone there

Such a time. My lovely mum has been poorly and my mind is nowhere else.

She had a series of mini strokes but in the end I managed to get them to see a doctor and mum was sent straight to the hospital. Checked out, kept in for some days and then onto new drugs. But then her scan didn't look so good so back into hospital for a kind of flushing out of her carotid artery. She was more cool about it than we were. She is 86 and I think too old for anaesthetic really. After some time in ICU she was allowed back to her ward and finally home to us. Now she looks amazing.  Mum & Dad have been married for 65 years come September and I notice that my dad wasn't scared like I was. I think it was because he couldn't quite conceive of ever losing her. Very beautiful. My sister and I had more an idea of reality though, so it was more scary. Anyway now we are back to normalish.

Combined with my diabetes diagnosis I find myself even more aware than usual that life in finite and I should fit in as much as I can.

Action packed (but on a budget of course) Part 1

We are in the middle of a heatwave, or so the TV tells us. Some days it is 36c and the next day bacl to 20c. I must have the sense to plan that I don't work at home on the really hot ones as I did miss the aircon in my office, which I moaned about when they fitted it!

Such a busy time since Indian Friday, which by the way is now a permanent fixture at work. Last Friday of every month those who wish bring in home made Indian food, must be cooked from scratch and no cheating as Meera can tell! As we also have dress down Friday there is talk of all wearing sari's on that day too, kind of cute but a bit more hassle than cooking. It feels like a big expensive buffet lunch out somewhere but you costs very little to make.

The following day we went of to a 80th birthday party. Held in the garden during a sunny afternoon, there were homemade cakes and rolls, soft drink and some wine and beers. Most of the visitors were oldies so although there wasn't much I think it seemed enough for everyone. Entertainment was some singing of old songs and a quiz themed on the birthday boys life. Decoration was homemade bunting with old photos from various times in his life too.  I wasn't involved in catering or decor but pretty sure it didn't break the bank and the birthday boy appeared to have a great time.

Single show tunes with all of his kids

On the Monday I had a day off to visit my best friend on the Island for her mums 94th birthday. We had lunch at her house before leaving. She got us into Osborne House free, something to do with an NHS club.. We took a bottle of fizzy wine (on special offer at asda), some strawberries and a home made birthday cake. With a flask of coffee for when we started to flag. The people at the venue were so good at helping with the wheelchair that it was like being a really special guest. We even had a mini bus ride down tot he beach for our picnic. Mrs P had a lovely time and said it was worth waiting 94 years for!

I feel so much better on my medication that maybe I am only 40 after all.