Long overdue update of things chez Nanny

A long hiatus in posting due to many things.

Firstly Beloved Husband after many trials and tribulations discovered to be suffering from severe anaemia (GP said he had lost equivalent of 11 pints of blood which is puzzling; thought 8 pints was the normal quota and had visions of BH being victim of Dracula) so whizzed into hospital for several blood transfusions, iron infusions, scans and camera down gullet to discover source of leakage.  After prolonged stay with BH in varying states of confusion and weakness, he was sent home with thousands of iron pills, Fortisips and firm admonitions to stop behaving like an anorexic teenage model and to eat a healthy diet with a camera up the bum in due course to see if leakage down below rather than up above.  Bum camera achieved a couple of weeks ago and now await results of that.  The iron appears to have worked a minor miracle in that he is much perkier than he was at Christmas, for example, and has even taken the dog out on a couple of occasions.  Only to the nearest lamp-post, it's true, but better than he could have achieved before.

Secondly, Beloved Daughter also suffering from anaemia so she too is on iron tablets but without necessity for bum camera, thank goodness.  Perhaps we should just become blacksmiths....  Poor sweetie, she is working in very busy, very high-powered job, travelling all over the country and in addition she worries about me and BH, and tries to arrange to  Dad-sit so that I can get out of the house before I go demented and run off to be a hobo with my flatulent dog...  While BH in hospital and she visiting him almost every day in between up and down to London and Southampton on work business, their house was burgled.  Very stressful for my baby.   She has also been asked to submit a huge number of paintings in an exhibition in Northumberland which was hectic and unnerving for her to deal with.   She is due a holiday very soon and I hope it is relaxing for her.  But she'd better take her sketchbook with her...

Thirdly, me now in pre-diabetic range and having to revert to a sensible diet.  Why do these words strike despondency in the heart?  Eating way too much sugar and stupid junk food over past months which inevitably makes me fat and sluggish.  And recalcitrant.

Fourthly, Beloved Sister stressed out with opening new shop and with recurring neck and rib pains which seem to be difficult to diagnose.  Scans and so on for her, too.  My goodness, we are keeping NHS very busy.  Cannot praise Manchester Royal Infirmary too highly though - they have been superb treating husband and me over past year or so.

Fifthly, went to Jonathan's party in mid-June which coincided with Beloved Sister's 60th birthday.  Even though the cheeky and well-loved Jonathan not able to attend in body (he was assuredly there in spirit), we all had a great time remembering him and laughing at past events and enjoying the super spread put on by Denise and the ultra-gorgeous cocktails assembled by Jonathan's mixologists.  And we rummaged through his books and CDs etc and made our selections and made donations to Cancer Research UK.  There must have been an enormous sum made over to them in Jonathan's name over the past few months so let's hope it does some good.

Weather great so sat out on terrace wearing flowery head-dresses assembled by Lisa's mum and some of us were wearing one of Jonathan's extra special brand name woolly ponchos to keep out the evening chill - very Clint Eastwood.  Just lacking the cheroot and the guns.  and the spurs, of course.  Lovely evening.  Sad to think will never sit there again enjoying the company of so many interesting and lovely people.  A fitting memorial anyway, and less taxing on the emotions than his funeral.

And what other general tripe has been going on over the last months?  More art, more organising workshops, sketching trips, and the annual exhibition! OMG, not long off now and not one thing framed.

Was going to take Beloved Sister for a weekend in Edinburgh as part of her birthday celebrations but Beloved Husband's prolonged hospital stay put paid to that.  Instead got her some very yummy gin and am going to take her to London for a weekend instead.  Next month.  Looking at hotels and rail fares.

Still trying to keep up with my COPD gym sessions; I can squat with the best of them but dragging myself up from the floor is a comedy in itself.

Wonder sometimes if I have a neon sign flashing on the top of my head.  Even a trip to the supermarket produces startling events.  A recent trip to Asda was highlighted by a Mongolian (yes, Mongolian) man wanting to buy my Mitsubishi L200 to ship back to Mongolia because he loved the look of it and the lucky colours it is painted in (!).  On way back to car post-shopping, almost run over by a car full of nuns.  Nearer my God to thee.  They apologised and explained in rush to get back for supper.  Fast food, eh? Does this happen to others?

Didn't even manage to get into Sainsburys recently before I was accosted by an older lady (older than me anyway, but not as old as God) who told me she had 6 cats and had once had a pigeon she had rescued whose legs had fallen off as a result of those wicked spike things on windowsills etc.  She said she had kept him for 17 years in a bedroom covered with old duvets and sheets so he didn't hurt himself and she took him to bed with her at night.  (That sounded very bad like some monstrous Mills & Boon story).  Apparently she believed the pigeon to be immensely intelligent....  Can this really be true?  Do pigeons live so long?  Can they live without legs?  What happened to the pigeon shit?  AM I GULLIBLE?  And what did they talk about in bed?