SKI-er or Sk-ater. We know how to enjoy ourselves

pollypenny

That's great thanks, SDW.

We'd probably get takers of our sort of age to visit the mountains and historic sites.

DiggerUK

Well we have been away to Bruges and Madrid....again, we had to. The builders have tipped the place upside down, and I keep playing the Little Britain charachter saying "dust" in my head....aaaaaargh.

Still you hate builders when they are in, and love them for what they have done when they are gone.
And it does reduce the ammount of inheritance to pass on .
..._

pollypenny

We've been home a week now - desperately catching up on jobs!

I admit to finding 2 months in Florida somewhat boring - was desperate for my activities , friends, the handy theatre etc.

Now I'm sitting in the living room with a blanket over my knee, as well as a warm laptop!

DiggerUK

pollypenny wrote: »

.......Now I'm sitting in the living room with a blanket over my knee, as well as a warm laptop!

One of our little treats, a multi fuel burner in the front room. Very handy as we don't have the central heating up and running at the moment.

Also glad we were too busy to take the electric underblankets off. Aren't they supposed to come off when May is out???
..._

pollypenny

Actually put fire on, even OH is cold! It's almost 20 degrees colder than last Sunday, when we had to move the garden furniture into the shade!

Still, we spent nothing no heating for two months while we were away, so I can blow it!!!!

margaretclare

Life is gradually getting back to normal for DH and me after a quite worrying few weeks. He had spinal surgery on 10th May and the implications were worrying to say the least. Worst case scenario, he might have come home in a wheelchair, or not come home at all. Thank God it all went well and heartfelt gratitude for modern surgery, technology, advances and skills. We have never heard the 'not worth treating you because of age' - just never heard it at all.

He still walks with crutches and can't stand for too long, but he's improving by the day. We now get peaceful restful nights - before, he could neither lie comfortably nor sit unless well-supported. He probably started driving again sooner than recommended, but that's because the driving-seat is so supportive of his back. Because of his left knee (replaced 4 times in just a few years) he still can't get into the passenger seat.

We're away from here Thursday morning, going to a function in Southwell in the Midlands on Friday. We get invited every year but we really weren't certain whether we'd be able to do it at all this year. We've decided we can.

BTW online grocery shopping is an absolute godsend, I don't know what we'd do without it. Online banking, shopping, the lot, is just part of our normal life, but we hear so many older people say 'oh I wouldn't like doing that...' whyever not?

We're going for a 4-night stay to the Novotel, Amiens, first week in September. This has been a bit of a saga. We were meant to be going the week before Easter, DH had booked and paid for it (non-returnable) but the surgeon he saw said 'oh you can't possibly go on holiday, you need urgent surgery...' Urgent surgery didn't happen, instead he had MRI scan x 2 and biopsy, all this took time. Thankfully, we were able to re-book the Novotel stay rather than get our money back. Something to look forward to.

[Deleted User]

Much to our relief, dd and her family have changed their minds about going to live in australia. We have been feeling in a bit of a bubble while they were making plans and selling `clutter` but no longer have that to factor in. The right decision imho but we have stayed completely neutral and supportive all the way through, all the time wondering how on earth we would get to see the little ones growing up.

We can get back to `normal` now and dh and I have already spoken about giving ds a few £000 to help when they get a new house. They don`t know, as we felt that they should get to the buying stage themselves. They are re-locating to scotland away from the hurly burly of the SE. He starts work up there next month and they have a buyer for their first and tiny house, which they bought at the peak and they will rent for 6 months. A few £ will help to smooth the bump for them when they get to buy another house

Dh and I don`t need much at all, we are very comfortable where we live and have almost been here two years. It is a lovely area in a beautiful county, however at long last I have booked us on a short holiday. The best one we ever had was on a luxury coach, although we have done super duper titan tours. We are trying out the local coach company and if good then we will be having two or three holidays a year again. I am no good at flying as the poor air quality affects my sinuses and my ears don`t cope either. We loved not having to handle baggage and not having to wait at airports.

MC I am very glad things are going pretty well for you now. It was a scary time

lol, we swapped houses once when the children were small. I didn`t like it, too much to do before we left. We always leave the house spotless when we go away but I could not cope with strangers in our bed. Anyway being an eco house, we have water management systems, pellet stove and so on and wouldn`t want anyone `messing` with controls

MC how do you manage with travel insurance for overseas holidays? Mine would be ok but dh, two hip replacements, asthma and now they are calling his condition copd, although he is fit and not apparently breathless

NAR

margaretclare wrote: »

L
He still walks with crutches and can't stand for too long, but he's improving by the day. We now get peaceful restful nights - before, he could neither lie comfortably nor sit unless well-supported. He probably started driving again sooner than recommended, but that's because the driving-seat is so supportive of his back.

Gosh Margaret hope he doesn't have to do an emergency stop, otherwise he could do his back terrible damage.

But glad to hear that the surgery was so successful.

margaretclare

NAR wrote: »

Gosh Margaret hope he doesn't have to do an emergency stop, otherwise he could do his back terrible damage.

But glad to hear that the surgery was so successful.

He drives very smoothly, anticipates, is aware, and always drives within the legal speed limits. I'd trust his driving, even with his physical difficulties, against many other people's I've experienced.

About travel insurance, some of it comes within our home insurance and car insurance. It's been a few years now since we went anywhere outside of Europe. We've been to Germany, Ireland, France, and always relied on the reciprocal arrangements between their countries and ours. Going across the pond would be a different matter, but our last trip to North America was in 2003. We always set the alarms going by our replaced joints!!

NAR

margaretclare wrote: »

He drives very smoothly, anticipates, is aware, and always drives within the legal speed limits. I'd trust his driving, even with his physical difficulties, against many other people's I've experienced.

Margaret, I don't doubt his driving skills, but unfortunately that might not stop some idiot pulling out on him unexpectedly. I'm sure we have all seen drivers that do daft things on the road!