Cowell Family Portrait

This photo is the first family group we have ever had taken. Chris took it with his new camera just before the end of their two week stay:0)

Jo

This is Jo, our two year old grandson on a recent visit to us.

I just did a lovely long blog, with lots of photographs, but when I clicked Publish Post, it said there was an error, and I lost the lot! I will now try again, but it will be much shorter!

As it was such a lovely day on Sunday, we decided to take Livvie out for a walk around the grounds of Wortley Hall. As usual, our first stop was the Wortley Tearooms. Livvie had a nice big slice of chocolate cake, with a drink of orange juice, and Lennie and I had a cappuccino. ‘Would you like cream and marshmallows’? the waitress asked us. I immediately said yes, despite my diet, but Lennie declined. ‘Grandpa would like marshmallows’ Livvie said quickly. A little later the waitress returned with our drinks and the cake. Much to Livvies delight she had put Lennies marshmallows on the saucer and said to Livvie ‘ I thought this would make it much easier for you to pinch them’!!

After we had finished our little treat, we took a nice stroll round the grounds of Wortley Hall. I had loaned Livvie my spare camera, and she spent a long time happily snapping away with it! It was a beautiful sunny, warm day.

On the way home Livvie said that she wanted to go to Sheffield to meet her friends, so I told her that if she would like to vacuum the inside of the car, and dust it, we would give her five pounds to take with her. She jumped at the chance, and made a very good job of it too!

Here are some of the photo’s of our very pleasant day.

SPIDER REPELLENT UPDATE

Look what my son Chris just sent to me. He took this photo in his garage. I am gutted!! It looks as if they are even living behind it:0(

SPIDER REPELLENT!!

Spider Repellent


Those of you who know me, will be aware that I am absolutely petrified of spiders! I feel sick with dread everytime August/September comes around, because that is the spiders mating season, and the time the huge ones all appear at different times, crawling through different rooms in the house.

The ones that freak me out the most, are the ones that appear in my bedroom! The thought that they could have been crawling over the bed while I am in it makes me feel sick. Anyway.......I saw an advertisement in a magazine advertising this 4 in 1 Pest Repellent machine. It works by emitting ultrasonic pulses which create a 'noisy and hostile' environment which repels pests, whilst remaining absolutely safe for humans and household animals (cats, dogs and goldfish). The appliance is not safe to use if you have the following household pets: Mice, rats, gerbils, guinea pigs, chinchillad, minks and TARANTULAS!!!

It also emits Electromagnetic Waves. Pests hiding in the cracks and walls are repelled by the use of these waves, safely emitted from the appliance throughout the wiring of your house. It also has a clean air ioniser, and an automatic night light. It is effective in an area of 250 square meters (average three bedroom home). Now as I have a larger 4 bedroom house, once I have proved this works, then I shall need to buy another one for downstairs I think!

Now this is the part of the instructions that has really freaked me out!!

'Soon after the appliance is installed, you will probably notice more pests than usual as they are repelled from their hiding places!!! This is normal, and after a period of time will disappear.'

I am now totally on edge, waiting to see all these spiders evacuating their homes and looking for other houses to invade that don't have this super duper pest repellent!! My sister Leeta has said that this is probably the best time to install it, because the large spiders haven't come in yet for mating, and by the time they are ready, they will be put off because of these pulses and waves.

I just had to share this with any other spider hating people. For those that love them, this won't harm them but will make them scamper away quickly from whence they came!

I have naturally plugged it in in my bedroom to ensure that they go first, but when the light comes on at night it is very spooky, and has me scouring the carpet for spiders wishing to evacuate during the night, unseen!!

This is the best picture of the light I could manage, because without a flash it was just a bright blue light.





So come on then, I am dying to hear all your witty comments:0)

Well, it's over!

I have at last had my tooth out! I have had an abcess caused by a broken root, and the hospital insisted I had to have it out. About a week before I went to the hospital for the dental surgery, I visited my dentist to ask about having a bridge, as it was the tooth next to my front one, and I have a tooth both sides of the one that had to come out so could support a bridge. He told me that I couldn't have a bridge for three months, to let my gum shape settle down, but as he was talking to me I noticed he was getting the blue gungy stuff that they use for impressions, ready. You will have to wear a denture immediately after the tooth is pulled, he said. A denture!! I was horrified!

Anyway, a couple of hours before I was due to have my tooth pulled, I went to collect 'the denture'. It was such a diddy little thing that I didn't mind.

At the hospital I had to have a blood test as I am on Warfarin, the blood thinning drug, and they wanted to make sure that my blood was thick enough to stop me making a mess of their floor! I had to wait for an hour in the dentist chair until the machine was available, getting more and more nervous by the minute. The tutor came over to me and said that it would be a difficult extraction because the root was in two or three peices, and they would have to 'dig around' to make sure that they were all out. She also said that it was going to be hard to actually extract the tooth because the crown was loose so they didn't have a 'guide' for their tools:0( I would also need packing and stitches.

By this time I was very nervous indeed, as I am petrified of dentists anyway! I then found out that a student was going to do this 'difficult' work. He seemed very nice, and finally started work. After the injections he proceeded to try and guide the tools correctly into the socket, and when at last he got a grip he started to pull. The pain!! I yelled out and the tutor said 'Poor you, did that hurt up inside your nose'? (It sure did)! 'I am sorry' she said 'you have such a lot of infection around the root that the anaesthetic doesn't always work first time, we will give you some more'. Fancy having my tooth pulled out without anaesthetic:0( I was now shaking quite violently and unable to stop myself. They had called Lennie in for moral support, and I heard him telling them that I had a history of dry sockets, and of going into shock. (All very true!)

Anyhow, he eventually pulled it out, dug around a lot to make sure all the bits of root were out, packed it out and stitched it up. They couldn't fit the little denture in so sent me to another department to have it altered a bit. It was no joke putting the thing in and out with blood pouring all over the place, and stitches getting caught, I can tell you. I was then sent on my way, with the denture firmly in place, after being told to take it out before I went to bed, then put it back in the morning. Easier said than done!!

When I woke the next morning, my face was swollen, and my top lip was huge! My son in law Gary had been warned not to poke fun of me over my swollen face because I was embarrassed. As I walked into the kitched he said 'You look like a turtle'!! I couldn't help laughing though!

It took a couple of days for my face to get back to it's normal shape, and after regularly using a special mouth wash for a week, I now feel completely fine! I thought I would never be able to tolerate a denture, however small, but I am getting along fine with it. After the three months of wearing it in preparation for a bridge, I may well decide to keep it instead. This one tooth tiny denture cost £200.00 on the NHS, and if I want a bridge, that will be another £200.00. The teeth either side of the gap are crowned, and I am afraid that once they start messing with them to make a bridge, I may have further trouble.

I hope I have not made anyone nervous about visiting the dentist, because this was not a straight forward extraction. The extraction I had about a year ago, again in the dental hospital, was very straight forward, and I had no problems at all!

Our Thai Meal

What a lovely evening we had!

Everyone arrived from their far flung destinations, and it was so lovely to be all together again. When we went into the dining room we saw that Anne had given all the females a lovely box of chocolate truffles, beautifully presented. You can see them in the photo of Sindie and I. I thought that was such a nice touch:0)

Bill and Anne treated us all to this meal, and I have never seen so much food on one table! It was beautifully cooked and presented, and the proprietors are such lovely people. Nothing is too much trouble for them. They even offered to take Lennie and I and Tina and Leeta home, so that Lennie could gave a drink. Of course we declined, but it was very nice of her. Last year when we had our meal, the proprietors wife was expecting a baby, and it was so nice to see this little one year old girl running around! What a sweet little girl she was. She seemed to attach herself to Lennie for some reason:0)

As we sat around the table, I couldn't help noticing how young and healthy my whole family looked, even though they are all getting on in years now. Everybody was laughing and chatting so much, that when we all started to eat the gorgeous sweets that were on offer, it fell a little silent obviously. The proprietor came in and stated how quiet we all were!!! We were all busy eating, but the silence didn't last long I can tell you! I loved it so much being surrounded by my happy family, and even Sindie's hubby Gary and Tina's daughter Leeta were here this time, as it was held in the evening instead of the afternoon.I am sure mum and dad were looking down very proudly at their family!

I have put a lot of photos on this blog just to give those of you who weren't there some idea of the lovely time we had. All my photos can be enlarged by clicking on them individually:0) (By the way, Leeta blogs as Grannygrimble, Babs as Beetle, Tina as Spider and me as Weechuff).

My sister Babs

My sister Mo

My sister Leeta with hubby Arthur

Me with my hubby Len

All of us!

Bill's wife Anne

Billie

Tina Mo and Babs

Sindie and Gary

Billie Arthur and Leeta

Tina's daughter, Leeta

Sindie

Me and Sindie with the chocolates

The little Thai girl

Everyone had a really smashing evening, all thanks to Billie and Anne, and we all look forward to the next family gathering:0)