We will miss you but I'm sure you will have a good time. Nice to have memories of your grandparents. Enjoy your camping. See you when you get back.

I supposed it has been a mixed week.

My daughter, son-in-law and grandson arrived on Monday. Next I received a tax refund on some tax I overpaid last year, a whopping £5.14 , then on Wednesday I probably had mild food poisoning from a cream cake, I ended up spending over £70 on doctors! As a result of feeling ill I wasn't able to go for a fish supper with my daughter at one of our favourite restaurants on Friday. Today Sara arrives so you can decide for yourselves as to whether that should be high or low!

Quote:

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I probably had mild food poisoning from a cream cake,

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Food poisoning is unfair at any time but from a cream cake ...
I am sure you will have a great time with Ren!
No particular high or low, in Jane's world, life is going swimmingly

At least the tax refund helped with the lobster purchase Sue - that would be a Hi.

Hi - It's getting closer to the day i see my sweetheart, for all the bookings and reservations for hotels, restaurants, and sights we did online are finished, just now to plan the packing and daydream about how nice it will be to see each other again.

Oh my...... I just googled some information on my friend Ken Danby, and found out that he died last September. Ken was not only an acclaimed Canadian artist with an international reputation, but also a great and humble man who never let fame change who he was. I will cherish the memories of pleasant afternoons that turned into evenings out at the Mill, with him and Gillian.

For Christmas one year I received a signed limited copy of his "Figure Skater at Sarajevo" one in a series of watercolours that he did of the '84 Winter Olympics. Last year I emigrated from Canada to Costa Rica and, taking only bare minimum belongings, gave the painting to my son, this only two months before Ken's death. Man, I am shook up by this news, think I will spend some time outside in the hammock, and reminisce....... and am again reminded that life is samsara......

I had to google to find out who Ken Danby was . Jeesh, MadMags - what a talent! So sorry to hear of his passing (how lucky for you, though, that you knew him).
For those as unfamiliar as I was, here's a link. Awesome stuff, indeed!

Thanks for your kind words Gats. Yes, he was very talented indeed, but more importantly he was a lovely human being, smart, friendly to all, compassionate, a 'regular guy' who left this world a better place for having passed through it.

My deepest condolences Mags. What a sad way to find out about your friends passing.

And I second what Gats said. "What a talent!"

May I add my condolences to the others Mags. It certainly was an unhappy way to find out about the death of your friend.

Thank you lady and Martha. Yes, talented indeed. I was not aware of all the awards and honours given him until I read his site thoroughly after finding out the news. Holy carumba! Thank you too Gats, for posting the link.. I guess I was so rattled, my post was more of a ramble than anything else.
Thanks Ken, for everything!

I'll add my condolences Lady; 51 years of age is too young to die, and his family must be devastated.
My highs were the Adriatic cruise, which my wife and I took last week, and the three days we spent in Venice afterwards. Venice is a fascinating place, and we'd like to visit again during the famous Venice Carnival
My low of the week was finding the share price of Barclays Bank had crashed while we've been away. Still it's only money, as they say

High of the week is that I'm back from my grandparents' house, and now I have internet again!

I was missing FT.

I wondered where you were, lioness. Good to have you back!

Welcome back lioness, good to see you again. When do you go on holiday with your boyfriends family?

Thank you picqero. It still seems unbelievable but we are getting over it now.

Lady, I went camping with them last weekend. It was much better than when I go camping with my family. It was more social and fun.

A low for my week is that my dad has got someone in to share the house with, and he's being overly nice so she stays. Us kids can't talk above a library voice, I've lost my room, and we generally have to be exceedingly nice to her (more nice than we would be to any other person we don't know)

I wouldn't have a problem with it usually, but she doesn't appear to like children at all, she hates music, and she likes things very quiet. It's completely different to what our house is normally like. We have music going all the time.

Oh dear. So sorry to hear that lioness. Sad you have to change your lives for someone else especially when you are used to having fun. Perhaps she does not like kids and will go away soon.

Lioness, I was saddened to read your post. Home should be a refuge where you can be yourself, do what you want, when you want. (I too, have music on all the time.) What about if you kids took your Dad aside, and spoke with him? I understand about having someone in to share the costs of rent, etc, but surely she is not the only one? When I was younger and 'shared' a house, we always interviewed the prospective rentors and only agreed to those who seemed like they would fit in.

It's not right for an 'outsider' to come in and change what your home used to be...... and in my book, family comes first....

Good luck, hon. Let us know what happens.

Thanks lady and MM, I've thought about giving it a couple of weeks to get used to her, and then deciding not to stay at dad's over the weekend. We have to have her because dad doesn't earn much money, so she's extra money to do fun things.

High for my week (I'm having a very up and down week ) is that today I demonstrated ballroom dancing at an old folks' home, and I had a great time (I think they did as well). We didn't get one complaint about not doing enough waltzes
Another high is that this Sunday at archery I'm shooting with the seniors, and I'm going to be shooting a distance I've never shot before. I'm pretty excited, because there are 30 arrows at 40m, 30 at 30m, and 30 at 20m, so even if I make a complete botch of the 40m, the 30 and 20 will hopefully make up for it.

Good luck for Sunday lioness. I am sure you will do just fine.

Is the lady home all the time? You could make lots of noise while she is out if not.

The ballroom dancing sounds like it was a blast! I'm sure the seniors enjoyed it.

Good luck with your archery on Sunday!

Hang in there lioness, life changes really fast and one of my 'comfort' sayings when things aren't going too well is, "This too shall pass!" Believe me, it will!

Hi everyone - haven't been able to pop in much but thought I'd try and catch up in here. Sorry to hear about troubles some of you are having.

Low for me was finding out that the three year old girl of a friend of mine has an agressive brain tumour. It has been removed and she now has to undergo six months of chemo. THey life in Glasgo but the treatment is in Edinburgh .. and they have a three month old baby also. Can't imagine what they are going through.

Otherwise life is going good for me. Currently having my kitchen renovated. Actually it's more than a renovation, it's all been striped down including ceiling and floors and an outdoor area being put up also. There's four blokes here who I have to cook for. We have a set of huts for the shearer's accommodation so the builders are staying there and we're all using the kitchen down there. Been busy but they've gone away for the weekend so it's nice and quiet here today. Yay!

Sorry to hear the Jillian, that is so awful. Mind you, the idea of four nice builders sounds good even if they are making more work for you.