A new 'tougher' thread... and so it continues

shegar

SMILEY T..... Sounds like you had a real good day doing your "bird watch", you seem to have done very well indeed.........Im doing mine Sunday although today would have been a good day cos the garden feeders were a hive of activity, beings the frosty start we had loads..........
In my wildlife pond I have ; great crested newts,palmate newts , and smooth newts, and im so pleased that they are all in there, last year we noticed quite a few young ones so Im hoping this spring more spawn will be in the pond........Also got loads of frogs and toads,water boatman,water beetles, etc...........We have a little pond dip in the summer a couple of times to see whats lurking about, my grandson just loves it........................:D...Plus we love to see the birds taking a bath..............When you get nice sunny days at this time of year you can hear the garden full of bird song, and the blue tits are now checking out the nestboxes, I hope I get some in one of my boxes this year as I have a camera set up and plugged into the TV, my son and DIL bouight it for me for xmas. lovely pressie......Take care all.....

JIL

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I have to share my high spot of the day with you all - a friend came to visit unexpectedly with her 3 year old Grandaughter because little one loves the dog as much as he loves her. We are currently looking after my younger daughters tortoise as Douglas isnt quite the right size to hibernate yet and DD's house is quite cold. Little one had never seen a tortoise before and I will never forget the look of absolute wonder on her face when the 'Rock' in the corner of the cage sprouted legs and a head and walked towards her. She was enchanted and spent the next 20 minutes on her tummy nose to nose with him. She was even brave enough to hold him and said he felt just like a Seashell! It was just one of those moments........

What a lovely story, its funny reading things like this bring back memories from when my children were small. I remember taking my 2 year old son to the zoo he was in his pushchair and his chin was slumped on his chest.
We walked towards the giraffe enclosure and his head literally lifted from his chest and lifted and lifted as he looked all the way up to the top of the giraffe, all the time making an awwww noise. It was lovely.

Rosanna79

Smileyt
So sorry to hear about your dog and yes having pets does set us up for grief. However the pawprints they leave on our hearts are something that I for one would not be without. Grief is the price we pay for loving. Hope you have some good times yet with your pet.

We bought a collar for Henry Hoover today so we could put our contact details on it. He's obviously unused to collars and if he gets to adopt us as his 'staff' he's so big we're going to need a small dog collar! After all the heartbreak we had losing Jennicat we're probably mad taking on another pet. Thankfully he's so different and makes us laugh our heads off at his antics. We'll never forget Jennicat and I like Terry Pratchett's theory about a cat agency. HH certainly put his name down on our waiting list!

3V3
That was a thought provoking post.

Recently a friend said I was an inspiration , having lost 4 stone in weight and gone from walking with 2 sticks around the house in October 2009 to walking up to 5 miles as I am managing at present ( with breaks) I had to reply that she was surely an inspiration herself having survived breast cancer 5 years ago and now has only just beern cleared of bowel cancer for which she has has to have a permanent colostomy. She's just getting on with it like so many wonderful, brave people one meets every day.

Life is always a struggle of some sort it seems and I am so thankful even when I DON'T feel like going out walking- which I've been told I must do daily for my bone density. ....I just keep an image of the wheelchair I nearly ended up in 2 years ago and visualise that every step I take is taking me away from that scenario. I feel so much better for making myself go out especially when I get back.

Today was beautiful if cold for going out but at least being in the sunlight does increase the vitamin D levels. I'm unlucky in being unable to take ANY form of food supplement or vitamins. So if it ain't in my diet or the sunlight I just don't get it- This really is an incentive to get up and go I guess.

So 3V3 I hope you sleep well and wake up finding tomorrow to be a better day
Hugs((()))
Rosanna

markdebby

I am really enjoying this site and I love the long chatty posts.
I wish to retire next year and i am trying my best to get into the mode of being careful with my money as i won't have as much next year. My biggest thing was not having a budget or keeping a record of my spending:eek: so that is where I have started and it is surprising how well I have done this month. Its not payday until Tuesday.

Rosanna79

MarkDebby
Welcome! You'll find lots of help and support on this thread.

You'll find with retiring that it's a case of gradually adapting to the changes. You may have heard that you don't need to spend as much when you're retired and in some ways that is true .

I found the thought of retirement daunting but whilst income is certainly reduced there are quite a few reductions on things, free bus pass etc AND you've so much more time (which is a form of currency in itself) to shop around for bargains.

Provided you plan and ensure that you have other absorbing interests/ groups etc you'll get to a point where you really will wonder where you found time to go to work!

Good luck with your plans
Rosanna

Winchelsea

Haven't been on here lately for various reasons - can't believe we're on page 194 already - what a chatty lot!

Some of you may have seen on another thread that I, like some others, have not had a good month. My DH, who some may remember was in a nursing home with dementia, died of bronchopneumonia 3 weeks ago. He had a good Christmas, but went down with a chest infection on Dec. 28th, and gradually got worse.

We are a very strong family, and he had all of us around him for pretty much all of his last three days. He was unconscious, but I'm sure he knew we were there. The staff kept wheeling in trolleys of tea and biscuits night and day to keep us going. We did get some sleep each night - DD4 (who lives in Bath) and I had all our beds full, and more made up on floors with sofa cushions etc.

The funeral was last week, so we're getting back to normal now. It all seems unreal - I've visited that home nearly every day for the last year and a half, and still find myself planning all my jobs etc round the visit I'm expecting to make.

On the whole though I'm fine. At least he's not suffering any more, and I at least have got used to living here by myself - it must be a lot harder for widows whose husbands have always been at home with them.

Now have to get to grips with the finances - still not clear how it's all going to pan out, but don't expect to be much worse off, as have been paying nursing home fees with most of DH's pension.

kidcat

Oh winchelsea I am so sorry for your loss ((hugs)).

ifonlyitwaseasier

3v3 & winchelsea, i hope you can rest and think on the good times.

i'll light a candle for you both

eta - with ioiwe as initials for you both

Pitlanepiglet

So sorry to hear your news Winchelsea, take care of yourself xxx

scrabbles_2

Winchelsea - I've not met you before but I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. ((((hug))))