Flying solo

*Robin*

Just a quick note now as probably won't have leisure to post later.

LAM2011 wrote: »

Good to hear you phoned THEM - I deal with them a lot in my line of work. Best thing is communication

Possibly not always. Apparently the arrangement I had with 'EM was working fine, but the [STRIKE]muppet[/STRIKE] young assistant on the 'phone yesterday found lots of gaps in the information he wanted from me. Result: £10 call trying to reach mutual understanding.

LAM2011 wrote: »

Also dont delay the PPI form - once you print it off and sit down and read it its easier than you think.

..There's the rub.

dorothy52 wrote:

Hi Robin. I know that you know why I was unable to post last night, having made a rash and impulsive decision to go out on Valentines for goodness knows how many years. We had such a lovely evening and we have you to thank for that. Reading your post yesterday literally stopped me in my tracks, I simply can't tell you how profoundly it affected me. What I find so heartbreakingly poignant is knowing that you losing your darling, beloved PC and talking to us about it has without doubt changed my life for the better, mine and Mr D's, he was so surprised so be invited out, and utterly delighted. As you know I told him the story of PC dog, however I had to tell him about your journey first. As you can imagine, he listened politely at first, then intently and by the time I'd finished he was hanging on to my every word. When I told him about the return of PC dog his mouth was shaped in a perfect O

Please don't ever apologise to me for evoking such strong emotions.
We love our pets and we should mourn them, and hearing of the loss of a dear friends much loved pet is bound to affect one. I have to say, though Robin, that as much as the events themselves, it is the way you write, it's beautiful, almost like poetry, that moves us all so much.

I hope you have a lovely weekend with DGD, is the one that recently celebrated her birthday? I too will be having my DGD to stay on Saturday and we shall have a lovely time no doubt, her making me endless cups of imaginary tea with her Peppa Pig tea set and me drinking them.

Dot your eloquent post moved me to tears.. It is truly humbling to know that my words have made a positive difference in your life - thank you.
I would write more, but - as you can see from the time of this post - am not sleeping well tonight, and really should try again as an excited young lady will be wanting her breakfast in about four hours, then we're all going out for an excursion - her choice.

Hope you have a lovely time with your DGD tomorrow too, Dot - it will be Granny's Day.

Hello Missrlr, thank you for popping in, and for being so kind - you're a fellow insomniac tonight, eh?

grannyx2

Hope you have a fantastic day with DGD today Robin and that you are not too tired after your disturbed night

Granny x

*Robin*

grannyx2 wrote: »

Hope you have a fantastic day with DGD today Robin and that you are not too tired after your disturbed night

Well, DGD loves the caravan; she's already planning holidays away in it, although DS2 looked a bit alarmed when told he would have to be in charge as it's beyond me now. Don't think DS has ever towed anything in his life, and is not the most practical chap (unless your website has fallen over - that he can tackle with ease ).

DGD has been given so much birthday money that she changed her mind about today's excursion; rather than go for a walk and lunch at the lake, she decided to buy herself an MP3 player* before putting the rest of her funds into her savings account next week. As this involves a trip to the shopping centre that I hate and avoid, DGD and DS have gone off by themselves - giving me a couple of hours to catch up with myself, for which am rather grateful - it was a short night for me.
(*Mum approves, thank goodness; DGD borrowed Dad's 'phone and called her Mum this morning to check, before mentioning the plan to us. For a nine year old, in many ways DGD shows remarkable maturity :T).

:think: I wonder if she's old enough to be introduced to the delights of Mah Jong? As DGD watches movies during the journey to get here, DS prefers that the TV stays off in the evening. Last night they played cards while I cooked, but it would be lovely to introduce a slightly more challenging alternative to "Cheat" which is DGD's current favourite card-game. :cool:

bast

Wow that is one story... lovely... Memories are always mixed good, sad and just bad... But you seem to have so many lovely ones... x
Dot: that was really nice that it had such a profound effect on you.... x

NewLeaf_2

Robin. I am an excellent mah jongg player as you know and I think it is a great game to teach kids and keeps the mind active.

So nice you were able to treat you DGD to such a lovely gift. Thinking of you xx

chevalier

Oh wow Robin, I go MIA and so much happens. So sorry for the loss of your 4 footed family. That is so hard to bear. Thank you for sharing the stories of them. And your Valentines. I wish we did more but OH is not very empathetic about such things, and we have had bad news over the weekend, so not feeling very bright anyway.

I hope you have had a lovely day with DGD.
chev

*Robin*

Good morning Diary and Dear Friends, :hello:

This morning is one of those hazy cotton-wool days, when everything is muffled due to drifting mist. Mr Song-Thrush is at his post in Almond One, singing cheerfully, but I doubt any females further away than the bottom of the garden can hear him.

NewLeaf wrote: »

I am an excellent mah jongg player as you know and I think it is a great game to teach kids and keeps the mind active.

We had a very late night because the Mah Jong was a roaring success. DGD got the hang of it after playing just a couple of 'open' hands where she could see everyone's tiles, and having only three players gave us all a chance to try for high scores which did make it more interesting. DGD also volunteered to do the maths - she's come on a long way since having extra tuition after school.

Dot here is a lengthy but fairly good introduction to the western theory if you want an idea of the Mah Jong game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooY4Ylz0WNQ
..Although anyone shouting "mine mine mine!" at my table when they meant "pung" or "kong" would quickly be relegated to doing the washing up!
There is a saying: The Chinese have played Mah Jong the same way for over a thousand years, whereas Westerners invented a thousand ways of playing it in a year. ..This is true; there are differences between the way we learned to play in the UK and the American variant shown in the video. This isn't a problem as seasoned players will discuss their preferred rules before starting.

Oops - RL intrudes..

missrlr

Mahjong - one of the few ways I can get the brain to stop buzzing on really bad days.
So pleased the DGC are enjoying themselves with this and exhibiting such sterling MSE traits already!
The caravan hopefully will provide fantastic memories for a whole new generation.
I also like the symmetry of the family, although it is of course the least preferred option.
I hope you have a lovely walk with Daft Dogs. My Doglet is currently ignoring any attempts to move from his chair .....

*Robin*

Hello Diary and MSE Friends, :hello:

Be Lucky is hopefully enjoying the sunshine today, we have dour grey clouds again. Waiting for the bangs when they fire off silver iodide rockets to try and make it rain (doesn't usually work ).
Thought I'd done it yesterday evening - watered everything in the garden - a few drops of rain fell just as I finished but it was dry again by the time the stove was lit.

chevalier wrote: »

Oh wow Robin, I go MIA and so much happens. So sorry for the loss of your 4 footed family. That is so hard to bear. Thank you for sharing the stories of them. And your Valentines. I wish we did more but OH is not very empathetic about such things, and we have had bad news over the weekend, so not feeling very bright anyway.

Hello Chev, good to see you posting but am so sorry about your niece - it must be heart-breaking to be so far away from your family at the moment (((hugs))).

Still feels very odd just having two Daft Dogs around me..
After DS and DGD departed yesterday I sat by the graves of BD and PCD for a while. They are beneath an olive tree at the bottom of the garden; PC had his hammock strung in that tree and enjoyed a siesta there, with his Daft Dog lying in the shade nearby. On that spot PCD and BD are buried; it's lovely and peaceful, (might even see if I can put up the hammock again ).

bast wrote: »

Wow that is one story... lovely... Memories are always mixed good, sad and just bad... But you seem to have so many lovely ones...

Bast I'm trying to concentrate on the good memories - need as many positives as possible..
Sounds like you're not having the easiest time either at the moment, so (((hugs))) we'll be ok - all have a great support network here. :beer:

missrlr wrote:

Mahjong - one of the few ways I can get the brain to stop buzzing on really bad days.
So pleased the DGC are enjoying themselves with this and exhibiting such sterling MSE traits already!

It was wonderful that DGD picked up the game so quickly - in the last hand we played before they had to leave, she actually went Mah Jong with the ultimate [playable] tile in the Wall. That gave her a limit of course, so she won the whole thing - which is the best way to guarantee her enthusiasm next time!

missrlr wrote:

The caravan hopefully will provide fantastic memories for a whole new generation.

Hmm, maybe not. It's a lot of money to have tied up in something I can no longer use myself. Handy as a spare bedroom, but could be replaced with a much cheaper one if it's never going to move - can't see DS agreeing to tow it. The balance of it's sale value would pay off THEIR bill. :think:


Seem to have moved two steps backwards re. PC's estate:
1) The lease-holder of his flat is still writing to him despite confirming last August that they'd received the Death Cert and accepted me as PC's Executor. <sigh>
2) The chap who was supposed to sort out the Spanish side appears to have dropped out.

As for the PPI forms; still stuck - might have to buy another printer as am getting no-where with the ones I've got here. :mad:

..Oh, FD is complaining her lunch is late again - better get on with RL; feed Daft Dogs and find myself something to do which has a chance of success - shouldn't be that hard to avoid thinking about PPI a bit longer! :rotfl:

missrlr

*Robin* wrote: »

might even see if I can put up the hammock again.

Hmm, maybe not. It's a lot of money to have tied up in something I can no longer use myself. Handy as a spare bedroom, but could be replaced with a much cheaper one if it's never going to move - can't see DS agreeing to tow it. The balance of it's sale value would pay off THEIR bill. ::rotfl:

THe hammock sounds lovely.

And yes well that does put quite a different complexion on the whole matter doesn't it?