Old Style Ways and Poor Health part 2.

beanielou

Where is your Frugal fortnights thread please dustydigger?

dustydigger

beanielou said:

Where is your Frugal fortnights thread please dustydigger?

Oops.never saw this post. Too late,you already found me.

I somehow posted on Old Style Moneysavers board,had meant to do a debt free diary. Dont know how I got mixed up. But checking on debt free diaries my thread is rubbish,I have no debt,I am doing nothing frugal,or budgeting or anything,so I dont belong there. I am much more an oldstyler,and have the wrinkles  and the ''I remember when'' to show my suitability!

dustydigger

''Is there anyone there?'' said the traveler,

Knocking on the moonlit door.

No one been here since I was here on 10th. Hope you are all OK,and dont have any illnesses 

(Excuse me while I laugh like an hyena)

I know Pollyanna is very familiar with brain fog. I've had a doozy of a few days.Its bad enough having the weakness,inability to focus,having to ask for simple things to be repeated before they go in etc etc etc. For me one of the nastiest things is that I KNOW what is happening but just cant bring myself to care,or do anything at all.   So glad its blown away again for now.

Bad family news for Mr Dusty,my stepdaughter back home in Africa is having treatment for breast cancer. He's barely functioned for days since we heard on Saturday. He doesnt cope well with stress these days,at 82,some cognitive functions have faded a little,not fully,but memory loss is quite a problem and he gets anxious.My daughter fell and broke her elbow and nose a couple of weeks ago,we didnt tell him,so when he saw her with her cast on Saturday he was upset,took a while to accept she was feeling  much better,just inconvenienced by the cast

So glad I havent told him of my health problems.

I have been given a CT scan appointment for next Monday 6.30 pm of all times. He remembers us going to search out  the hospital for a scan for my knee before,so as my knee is troubling me he assumes its for the reason.

Will put off any  bad news as long as possible.

Did you all recognize the poem? So popular back in my school days,dont know if its forgotten now.

The Listeners

By Walter de La Mare

‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller,   

   Knocking on the moonlit door;

And his horse in the silence champed the grasses   

   Of the forest’s ferny floor:

And a bird flew up out of the turret,   

   Above the Traveller’s head:

And he smote upon the door again a second time;   

   ‘Is there anybody there?’ he said.

But no one descended to the Traveller;   

   No head from the leaf-fringed sill

Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,   

   Where he stood perplexed and still.

But only a host of phantom listeners   

   That dwelt in the lone house then

Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight   

   To that voice from the world of men:

Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair,   

   That goes down to the empty hall,

Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken   

   By the lonely Traveller’s call.

And he felt in his heart their strangeness,   

   Their stillness answering his cry,

While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf,   

   ’Neath the starred and leafy sky;

For he suddenly smote on the door, even   

   Louder, and lifted his head:—

‘Tell them I came, and no one answered,   

   That I kept my word,’ he said.

Never the least stir made the listeners,   

   Though every word he spake

Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house   

   From the one man left awake:

Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,   

   And the sound of iron on stone,

And how the silence surged softly backward,   

   When the plunging hoofs were gone.

.......................................................................

beanielou

I love that poem at school.
Used to recite it at elecution lessons!

dustydigger

Its wonderful De La Mae was extremely popular back then. His children's  poem ''Silver'' is a lifetime favourite, We read it in class in junior school and I have loved it ever since

Slowly, silently, now the moon

Walks the night in her silver shoon;

This way, and that, she peers, and sees

Silver fruit upon silver trees;

One by one the casements catch

Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;

Couched in his kennel, like a log,

With paws of silver sleeps the dog;

From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep

Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;

A harvest mouse goes scampering by,

With silver claws and a silver eye;

And moveless fish in the water gleam,

By silver reeds in a silver stream.

____________________________________

Awesome!

pollyanna_26

Sorry I 've been missing. Too many flares, sleepless nights and too much headspace to dwell on things like abusive 2nd hosband

finally sent away years ago by the courts.

I have a lot to catch up on but Silver  was always a favourite of mine along with The rain the welcome rain. I used to say that after hot thundery weather as I lay in bed listening to heavy rain beginning to lash the windows.

One favourite has always been Blue Remembered Hills. In the last few not normal years  my mind  has returned over and over again  to the good times  of the past and the fact youngsters have been denied many positive memories we had to balance difficult times.

Seem to tire easily  but will catch up on posts I've missed;

Take care

Pollyx

grandmanerd

I get tired very easily and end the day with only part of my list done. However I became a grandma today so nothing else really matters.

beanielou

Take care polly  xx

Lovely news grandmanerd  xx

grandmanerd

The DWP capitulated under the onslaught of my evidence (marathon trek from my bathroom across the car park to the Town Hall with distances, step taken, how many times I had to stop and sit down) they have now awarded me the higher rate of PIP for my mobility needs when they previously gave me nothing.

Arrears from April have already gone into my bank account. 

pollyanna_26

Well I've been missing in action a lot. I can't remember if the last posts were this year or a previous one. I did know GMN was able to have the PIP descision overturned.

I hope Beanie has recieved her back payments and managed to get the current flu jab somewhere she was able to access. Your recent weather sounded extreme.I love snow but not the amounts you've had North of the Border.

I've mostley been very quiet as I stupidly thought I would be able to move a new very big and heavy on my own. Big mistake I heaved it onto the bed and collapsed groaning.I've never hurt my ribs until then but it's taken until now to able to move it triggered the Rotator Cuff damage on both sides so I've been pretyy useless.

I saved a lot of money by not going shopping.

 I was so glad I'd colected al the fruit , veg , herbs etc on the first day of the heatwave then did a mass cook in which has kept me well fed considering it's over 20 years old that freezer has saved me a fortune both when all the children were at home and since.

I did find a few of the big tubs of Kelly's Ice Cream in there and they really cheered me up.

Last Christmas and the one before it was so difficult finding a shop with nice Christmas Cards.  The one in the village was closed due to lockdowns. Trawling the big river site I found Instead of a card. One in particular was lovely. The Christmas Wren by National Poet for Wales Gillian Clarke responding to a request  by the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea to write her version of A Childs Christmas in Wales.

I was very young when I read The Dylan Thomas version and thought it very bleak  and boring. Nowadays I can appreciate his descriptions of a very bleak landscape and trudge to school.

Family and friends got one of those cards last Christmas as post was ok then . No strikes. This year I wasn't able to post them. Postboxes sealed due to a large back log.

I went on to a seller I used to get a lot of my Brambley Hedge Things from Books, China , Stationary etc. Pretty well anyone who knows me will know a Brambly Hefge  or Wind in the Willows card although unsigned . I just ordered then and had the seller send them direct to the recipient unsigned.

Youngest guessed straight away as the picture was the Brambly Hedge couple high above the corn stalks in their winter quarters with a roaring fire and nice and snug;

I was very impressed with the speed of the Postal Service North of the Border considering what the weather has been like.

I'd ordered the cards early evening and in a couple of hours had an email from Royal Mail Edinburgh and very early next morning one from the vllage PO order about to be delivered .

I did realise later I ought to email who they were from no  problem she thought she'd maybe ordered that one  and forgotten.

Well I've wittered on . Things aren't the normal type of Christmas and the focus here has been keeping youngest free from infection and luckily she's avoided all the bugs.

KxMx I hope you've settled in to your new home and are managing to stay warm in these tough times. The increase in food prices has made me glad I did all the growing , cooking and freezing. The freezer wasn't expensive back around 2000 when the garage was built but it's saved me a fortune over the years.

It will be a simple Cfristmas here. I'm not going to be out and about shopping I've saved a lot over the last few years because there isn't anything I need.

I hope DS1 will be colecting you to take you to his GMND.Public transport -what little there is isn't a good idea. Last winter you weren't feeling well and you don't want to miss seeing your little grandaughter.

Tink I hope you're coping well and things aren't so tight now.

Does anyone ever notice Prepare at Home on the threads ? She began the first ever Poor Health thread and I often wonder if she is ok.

Whatever Christmas you may or not be planning I hope you and Miss Summer stay cosy Beanie and the snow has cleared.

Although the world cup is over I hope you are spared the football Dusty. I watched every moment of the World Cup and the right team lifted the trophy.

Meanwhile I'm very glad Ronaldo was given his marching orders from Man Utd. He's way beyond the acting like a sulky teenager age. I believe he let Sir Alex down very badly when he suggested the club bring back Ronaldo when Ole Solksjaer was no longer manager. Christiano had developed a very bad attitude and it's a pity it took until Ten Hag became manager the Special One was shown the exit.

Hope everyone has a peaceful Christmas whatever you are doing.Looking at the forecast I may hibernate. Just been distracted by Meatloaf singing Bat out of Hell. BBC are showing those lost from music over the past year.

Think I will rewatch my David Tennant Dr Who Christmas Specials  and Hannah Hauxwells Winter Tales  in the Yorkshire Dales ,  they are  all part of the Christmas Traditions.

Returning to The Christmas Wren ( Not  a Christmas Card) what caught my eye was a paragraph inside the first page. "Inside the box,wrapped and stored in the dark, are all the Christmases that have ever been.....

All the Christmases are still here some wrapped carefuly  in the loft or cupboards

Lots of scented candles and tealights.Lanterns , Hearts Seem to be a real obsession .Fabric, China, Whicker all sorts.

As a child decorations were mainly paper and mum would have us folding crepe paper to make streamers to hang across the ceilings.When young US airmen who'd served with the RAF  near where we lived during WW2( younger sisters and I weren'tborn until after the war) They were allowed to visit families who invited them to while they waited to go back to the US. They somehow laid their hands on lovely Christmas decorations which my mum  and aunties treasured.

They also introduced us to frozen food fish fingers . desserts ans lots of interesting things. they always brought lots of things. They were told the Brits had suffered rationing during WW2 - before myself and younger sisters were born but their commander said we needed help so each weekend mum was knocking on doors handing out supplies.. No one owned a fridge then or a freezer and the Manager of the local Coop where mum did her shopping. would  store frozzen items.

We didn't mind fish fingers but weren't keen on burgers. I used to make my own burgers when the children were growing up  just like the ones mum used to make.Mum had a cold slab in the larder and it kept perishable food nice and cool.

TBH I've never been a takeaway or fast food person. With dad retraining as a chef when he left the Royal Navy after wartime convoy duty and mum having been a confectioner before marriage we had really good home made food and fish and chips was the only shop bought thing we had when young. There's an award winning fish and chip shop minutes walk from here but we've only eaten there a few times.

Think I'll start keeping count of how many times the BBC weatherman mentions North West coast and Irish sea in his forecasts.

pollyx