I have just realised Nicky's head is too big for all his hats;
cos of course when I was using said hats the first time round it was coming into Spring so I didn't really use them for that long and never bought any bigger ones.
I think, however, this time round more will be needed. 0-3 months probly best.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Xmas ideas for the K-Ms
If it's not too late cos I was alarmingly informed today that Christmas is now just 4 weeks away ... really...?!
Anyway. Let's start with the easy ones
Daniel
Anything that involves the alphabet or numbers. He's just starting to recognise and learn them.
Extra pieces for his wooden train track (this is the Tesco one which is now readily available anywhere)
A Scooter - fold-up if poss but not essential.
Pyjamas: age 2-3 or 3.
Clothes generally. Tops age 3; trousers aged 2-3
Wall calendar - hopefully this link will explain what we mean!
http://www.bloomingmarvellous.co.uk/product.aspx?CategoryID=toys&ProductID=44459_BLU&language=en-GB
Nicky
He's so young, it's difficult to say....
Anything you think appropriate will probably be fine :-)
If you want to get clothes I'm guessing he'll still be in 0-3 months come Crimbo.
He would probably like something new to look at on his activity mat
Rik n me
Okay, the only thing I have from R at the moment is wine glasses (we seem to have a lost a few recently!) and port glasses (both broken). Port also good :-)
For me, to be really boring I could do with some new bath towels (the big ones) - you know the colours I like. And given that our bedroom is a bit chilly I'd really like to satisfy a long-running wish and have a bedspread. Either a plain satiny one or one of those floral ones that places like the Radio Times does. (I know I said Mum was boring asking for sheets - sorry!)
One of those protectors you put on the back of car seats - I've just realised Dan has covered the back of my passenger seat in footprints .... thanks hon!
Other than that, Homebase or Focus vouchers good since we're still getting the house sorted.
The new Michael McIntyre DVD
Cranford DVD
Sex & The City DVD
Anything from Bravissimo
Anyway. Let's start with the easy ones
Daniel
Anything that involves the alphabet or numbers. He's just starting to recognise and learn them.
Extra pieces for his wooden train track (this is the Tesco one which is now readily available anywhere)
A Scooter - fold-up if poss but not essential.
Pyjamas: age 2-3 or 3.
Clothes generally. Tops age 3; trousers aged 2-3
Wall calendar - hopefully this link will explain what we mean!
http://www.bloomingmarvellous.co.uk/product.aspx?CategoryID=toys&ProductID=44459_BLU&language=en-GB
Nicky
He's so young, it's difficult to say....
Anything you think appropriate will probably be fine :-)
If you want to get clothes I'm guessing he'll still be in 0-3 months come Crimbo.
He would probably like something new to look at on his activity mat
Rik n me
Okay, the only thing I have from R at the moment is wine glasses (we seem to have a lost a few recently!) and port glasses (both broken). Port also good :-)
For me, to be really boring I could do with some new bath towels (the big ones) - you know the colours I like. And given that our bedroom is a bit chilly I'd really like to satisfy a long-running wish and have a bedspread. Either a plain satiny one or one of those floral ones that places like the Radio Times does. (I know I said Mum was boring asking for sheets - sorry!)
One of those protectors you put on the back of car seats - I've just realised Dan has covered the back of my passenger seat in footprints .... thanks hon!
Other than that, Homebase or Focus vouchers good since we're still getting the house sorted.
The new Michael McIntyre DVD
Cranford DVD
Sex & The City DVD
Anything from Bravissimo
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Sunday, October 04, 2009
That was the week that was
For those of you that want the detail of the somewhat traumatic events of last week.
Monday
as planned, booked into St Michaels for the Section. The hours of waiting we were expecting to go into theatre never materialised; we were first on the list (perhaps this is the advantage of booking early??) and shortly after 9am I was walked to theatre by a fairly cute(ish) anaesthetist's assistant called Mike. [Unfortunately there was a general lack of cute anaesthetists - mine was a woman. As was the surgeon doing the section; and most of her SHOs...... in fact of the five consultants I saw over the next two days, two of them were women. Maybe obstetrics is where women are getting in .....anyway] Everything went pretty much as planned. Getting the spinal in not quite as easy this time round (maybe this was to do with lack of cute anaesthetist?) but off we went to the strains of Sgt Pepper on the CD Player. Seemed to take a long time to get the wee man out - though according to the notes it took 3 minutes so maybe it was just me! A few minutes of tension waiting for the wail (his initial Apgar was only 5 and he needed a bit of air) but then things improved and Nicholas Lloyd made his presence felt. Then things seemed to go a bit awry. Apparently my womb was just not behaving and wouldn't accept that it's job was done and it was time to come down. I think I was first aware (still being awake obviously) that things not going smoothly when I heard slightly urgent questions from the registrar: "Can we get Mr Mills?" and then "Is Mr Mills on his way?". The next significant step was being told that my womb was not contracting and they wanted to put me under general anaesthetic to try and sort it out. Obviously at this point, Nicky was taken away from me and, as Rik put it, they were both "shooed out of theatre". I do remember feeling rather disappointed at being put under if we were so close to finishing but on reflection, they weren't at the sowing up stage yet so they weren't that close at all! And all this before 10.15 in the morning ........ Next thing I know I'm in recovery ( i think). It's all going to get a bit hazy from here on in. I don't remember much from this stage except having the general disorientating feeling of just waking up from anaesthetic and being aware that there were lots of people around - and none of them were Rik. Where is Rik? Who is looking after Rik cos he's going to be on the verge of collapse. And I seem to have extra needles sticking into me - where did they come from? There was a conversation with a doctor about bleeding (assumably mine) and suddenly I'm being asked to sign consents to back into theatre for "another go". The word hysterectomy is mentioned: my only reaction is to think well I have two kids and at least I wouldn't have to worry about getting Rik a vasectomy. Not so bad ....... Rik appears. He's not wearing theatre scrubs anymore :-( He seems to know what's going on: apparently Mum is on her way from Frome to add support. This seems to be a good idea. I tell him it'll be okay. I'm okay. I'm not sure he's convinced. He tells me the baby is fine. I realise I haven't seen him for ages but there's not much I can do ........ Back into theatre for general anaesthetic number two. Is that another line going into my hand/wrist/arm? For heavens sake; how many do you need??? More hours lost. More feeling of disorientation, sore throat and an oxygen mask that keeps getting all steamed up and clammy. I'm told that the bleeding has been stopped, no hysterectomy was performed. Great can someone tell Rik please. Can I tell Rik I'm okay. He needs to know I'm okay. Can someone GET HIM please??!! You understand I can't actually say any of this - talking v difficult in these situations cos the throat is soooo dry - but it's what's going through my head. It seems to be an awfully long time before Rik is allowed in. And can I see my son now please?? Time probably passes. I'm wheeled off somewhere; to a room all to myself - things are looking up! Its got it's own bathroom and everything. However I now seem to have drips and "entry points" everywhere and everytime someone asks me how I am I say I feel like a human pincushion. Was it really necessary?? Not only do we have our own room but we seem to have our own nurse too - who's here all the time. Nicky is back with us though Rik is doing most, well all, of the care there. This annoys me. This child has been in the world for nearly a day and so far only Rik has done nappies and feeds - he's cup feeding formula. But hey the hospital now stock Aptamil (they didn't in 2006) so it's not all bad. When is it my turn? Various people come in and out; doctors and anaesthetists visit - in fact one anaesthetist was there several times. I'm sure I knew why at the time .... but I wonder now what he was doing. More drugs are pushed in through the various holes which have been opened up and I think some blood as well: medical staff don't seem to believe this HURTS! I've been given a morphine drip thingy which I am supposed to control myself. It gives doses every 5 minutes. Is this is a good thing for morphine? I try a couple of shots. After all my abdomen is feeling decidedly pummelled. Doesn't seem to make much difference so I stop using it and get told off by my nurse! There are various conversations between people in blue about what was or was not done in theatre which I find distinctly frustrating. Who cares what happened this morning?? That was then. Let's get on with now and can I have these drips out so that I can move and look after my baby??! I'm aware that Rik is sitting in a rocking chair and catching a few moments sleep every now and again. Poor love. He was supposed to be spending tonight in the hotel we'd been at on Sunday. Still I'm worried whether someone is looking after him? Are they? I think one the nurses offers to find him a bed or mattress or something but he says no. I keep asking if he's okay. After all I seem to have a flotilla of people checking up on me but he's got no-one.
Tuesday/Wednesday It's difficult to distinguish the next two days from each other as my recollections are all kind of jumbled up. Mostly we continue in the same vein (no pun!) as from Monday. People coming in and out. I think at least three consultants came to tell me what had happened on Monday - one of them was even my own! More intra-venous things including an iron-laden infusion which flippin killed in one hand; so they tried the other. Rik tells me that Mum, Dad and Dan are intending to come in on Tuesday afternoon and my sense of urgency to get some of these needles OUT increases. Dan is going to freak enough at my lying immobile without seeing these things sticking out of my hand, wrist and, yes neck. (incidentally that means I can hardly move said neck without painful pulling feeling). I am getting decidedly fed up with all this. Apparently I am impressing the staff at the amount of water I want to drink. Mostly this is just to try and keep my throat lubricated. Water is wonderful stuff! Hurray the needle in my neck is coming out and the arterial line. It's a start. Now how about the ones in each hand.....? Cos it's very hard to breastfeed with these venflons, particularly the ones attached to drips. Bored of that now!
Visitors arrive. Fab to see Dan. Understandable that he's a little freaked and doesn't want to sit beside me on the bed. Apparently he's already met Nick and thinks he's delightful. Mum and Dad look quite worried. I'm okay. I'm still here and not planning on going anywhere so can we just get on please. Rik asks if it's okay to leave. I say of course. He disappears off to the Premier Inn down the road for sleep. Nurses will bring me Nicky as and when I can cope. I just want these tubes out!!! Though now we have an interesting scenario. Everytime Rik goes away, another tube is removed. Maybe I should encourage him to keep going .. .and coming back obviously.
I try standing up and sitting in a chair. The chair is incredibly uncomfortable and makes my bum go numb. Is this most appropriate for a delivery suite room? Midwife agrees that the supply of such chairs was not St Michael's best decision ever! Amazing how knackering standing up and moving 5 feet is so I go back to bed and have a sleep. At some point enough tubes must have been removed as I try walking over to bathroom; with help. In itself the help is confusing. The first couple of times I move I have two midwives/nurses supporting me. The third time I try there is one nurse I've not seen before who says she is unable to support me for health and safety reasons. Well not sure I can do it by myself love! I realise that if I'm to get back to bed I'd better just get on with it.
Another night passes. I think Nicky was taken away at some point to allow me to sleep. Nurses and midwives all seem completely dippy about him but I suppose if you're working on delivery suite you don't see the little ones much after the initial arrival so it's probably quite novel for them. There are more discussions about what drugs I've had, what I should have and more doctors come to make sure I know what happened on Monday. Are they worried I'm going to sue for lack of information?? I even get a "social call" from Mr Mills just to see how I'm doing! He kind of reminds me of someone but I don't know who....... Discussions centre around whether or not I still need intra-venous drugs. The one remaining venflon kind of decides this for everyone when it refuses to accept any more liquid antibiotics and someone says I think we can move to oral drugs. I whole-heartedly agree!! One consultant has an idea that in order to avoid potential blood clots I should be self-injecting a blood thinner once I go home. I think I'd rather work on my mobility thanks all the same! I'll keep quiet and we'll see how we go......
Rik returns from the Premier Inn on Wednesday morning with a story about booking in, asking for a quiet room, getting one on the top floor, putting his bag down and then waking up on the floor 7 hours later. We may never know why his body didn't consider waiting for him to get to bed.....poor love. He's looking a little brighter though, perhaps spurred by the knowledge that I'm going up to the post-natal ward today. This must mean we're getting back on track. And indeed by Wednesday afternoon we're up on Ward 71 just round the corner from where I was when I had Dan. This is much more familiar though of course now I'm expected to be mobile, get my own dinner (and god lord the dining room is a long way away) and feed Nicky. The good news is no-one is hassling me about the fact that Nicky is still having some formula feeds. In fact everyone is quite positive about the whole thing.
And then it all gets quite pedestrian. the more I move, the easier it becomes. I'm missing my single room, particularly as the woman next to me seems to have given birth to the hell-child who can scream for England and does so on a regular basis. I wouldn't mind but this is woman's third child; surely she knows about these things by now! She does seem a little fazed by the whole thing though. The hospital dining room is producing some fabulous comfort food; beef casserole, meat pie, chips, mashed potato, rice pudding etc and joy of joys my breast milk seems to be working: and Nicky seems to have the hang of all the whole sucking thing much more than Dan did at that stage.
And if you're still reading this at this stage then you're incredibly dedicated or incredibly bored since it's gone on for ages. Friday afternoon they allowed me to come home and we really are back in the reality of new baby post-section recovery. The drugs I have been discharged with seem to bear no relation to the drugs which, according to my discharge summary, I'm supposed to be discharged with but hey, the extra injections thing seems to have gone by the wayside (apart from one which the midwife will do for me) so I'm not complaining. It would have been nice to actually get the codeine I'm supposed to be prescribed: not that I feel I need it but I do remember it is great for migraines and much better by itself than mixed with paracetamol. But hey.
So yes it was a traumatic week and yes it got a bit scary for a while there. But we got through it. It was just one of those things and I don't think I was ever at the point of being life-threatening. We go on from here ............
a reward for getting this far :-)
Monday
as planned, booked into St Michaels for the Section. The hours of waiting we were expecting to go into theatre never materialised; we were first on the list (perhaps this is the advantage of booking early??) and shortly after 9am I was walked to theatre by a fairly cute(ish) anaesthetist's assistant called Mike. [Unfortunately there was a general lack of cute anaesthetists - mine was a woman. As was the surgeon doing the section; and most of her SHOs...... in fact of the five consultants I saw over the next two days, two of them were women. Maybe obstetrics is where women are getting in .....anyway] Everything went pretty much as planned. Getting the spinal in not quite as easy this time round (maybe this was to do with lack of cute anaesthetist?) but off we went to the strains of Sgt Pepper on the CD Player. Seemed to take a long time to get the wee man out - though according to the notes it took 3 minutes so maybe it was just me! A few minutes of tension waiting for the wail (his initial Apgar was only 5 and he needed a bit of air) but then things improved and Nicholas Lloyd made his presence felt. Then things seemed to go a bit awry. Apparently my womb was just not behaving and wouldn't accept that it's job was done and it was time to come down. I think I was first aware (still being awake obviously) that things not going smoothly when I heard slightly urgent questions from the registrar: "Can we get Mr Mills?" and then "Is Mr Mills on his way?". The next significant step was being told that my womb was not contracting and they wanted to put me under general anaesthetic to try and sort it out. Obviously at this point, Nicky was taken away from me and, as Rik put it, they were both "shooed out of theatre". I do remember feeling rather disappointed at being put under if we were so close to finishing but on reflection, they weren't at the sowing up stage yet so they weren't that close at all! And all this before 10.15 in the morning ........ Next thing I know I'm in recovery ( i think). It's all going to get a bit hazy from here on in. I don't remember much from this stage except having the general disorientating feeling of just waking up from anaesthetic and being aware that there were lots of people around - and none of them were Rik. Where is Rik? Who is looking after Rik cos he's going to be on the verge of collapse. And I seem to have extra needles sticking into me - where did they come from? There was a conversation with a doctor about bleeding (assumably mine) and suddenly I'm being asked to sign consents to back into theatre for "another go". The word hysterectomy is mentioned: my only reaction is to think well I have two kids and at least I wouldn't have to worry about getting Rik a vasectomy. Not so bad ....... Rik appears. He's not wearing theatre scrubs anymore :-( He seems to know what's going on: apparently Mum is on her way from Frome to add support. This seems to be a good idea. I tell him it'll be okay. I'm okay. I'm not sure he's convinced. He tells me the baby is fine. I realise I haven't seen him for ages but there's not much I can do ........ Back into theatre for general anaesthetic number two. Is that another line going into my hand/wrist/arm? For heavens sake; how many do you need??? More hours lost. More feeling of disorientation, sore throat and an oxygen mask that keeps getting all steamed up and clammy. I'm told that the bleeding has been stopped, no hysterectomy was performed. Great can someone tell Rik please. Can I tell Rik I'm okay. He needs to know I'm okay. Can someone GET HIM please??!! You understand I can't actually say any of this - talking v difficult in these situations cos the throat is soooo dry - but it's what's going through my head. It seems to be an awfully long time before Rik is allowed in. And can I see my son now please?? Time probably passes. I'm wheeled off somewhere; to a room all to myself - things are looking up! Its got it's own bathroom and everything. However I now seem to have drips and "entry points" everywhere and everytime someone asks me how I am I say I feel like a human pincushion. Was it really necessary?? Not only do we have our own room but we seem to have our own nurse too - who's here all the time. Nicky is back with us though Rik is doing most, well all, of the care there. This annoys me. This child has been in the world for nearly a day and so far only Rik has done nappies and feeds - he's cup feeding formula. But hey the hospital now stock Aptamil (they didn't in 2006) so it's not all bad. When is it my turn? Various people come in and out; doctors and anaesthetists visit - in fact one anaesthetist was there several times. I'm sure I knew why at the time .... but I wonder now what he was doing. More drugs are pushed in through the various holes which have been opened up and I think some blood as well: medical staff don't seem to believe this HURTS! I've been given a morphine drip thingy which I am supposed to control myself. It gives doses every 5 minutes. Is this is a good thing for morphine? I try a couple of shots. After all my abdomen is feeling decidedly pummelled. Doesn't seem to make much difference so I stop using it and get told off by my nurse! There are various conversations between people in blue about what was or was not done in theatre which I find distinctly frustrating. Who cares what happened this morning?? That was then. Let's get on with now and can I have these drips out so that I can move and look after my baby??! I'm aware that Rik is sitting in a rocking chair and catching a few moments sleep every now and again. Poor love. He was supposed to be spending tonight in the hotel we'd been at on Sunday. Still I'm worried whether someone is looking after him? Are they? I think one the nurses offers to find him a bed or mattress or something but he says no. I keep asking if he's okay. After all I seem to have a flotilla of people checking up on me but he's got no-one.
Tuesday/Wednesday It's difficult to distinguish the next two days from each other as my recollections are all kind of jumbled up. Mostly we continue in the same vein (no pun!) as from Monday. People coming in and out. I think at least three consultants came to tell me what had happened on Monday - one of them was even my own! More intra-venous things including an iron-laden infusion which flippin killed in one hand; so they tried the other. Rik tells me that Mum, Dad and Dan are intending to come in on Tuesday afternoon and my sense of urgency to get some of these needles OUT increases. Dan is going to freak enough at my lying immobile without seeing these things sticking out of my hand, wrist and, yes neck. (incidentally that means I can hardly move said neck without painful pulling feeling). I am getting decidedly fed up with all this. Apparently I am impressing the staff at the amount of water I want to drink. Mostly this is just to try and keep my throat lubricated. Water is wonderful stuff! Hurray the needle in my neck is coming out and the arterial line. It's a start. Now how about the ones in each hand.....? Cos it's very hard to breastfeed with these venflons, particularly the ones attached to drips. Bored of that now!
Visitors arrive. Fab to see Dan. Understandable that he's a little freaked and doesn't want to sit beside me on the bed. Apparently he's already met Nick and thinks he's delightful. Mum and Dad look quite worried. I'm okay. I'm still here and not planning on going anywhere so can we just get on please. Rik asks if it's okay to leave. I say of course. He disappears off to the Premier Inn down the road for sleep. Nurses will bring me Nicky as and when I can cope. I just want these tubes out!!! Though now we have an interesting scenario. Everytime Rik goes away, another tube is removed. Maybe I should encourage him to keep going .. .and coming back obviously.
I try standing up and sitting in a chair. The chair is incredibly uncomfortable and makes my bum go numb. Is this most appropriate for a delivery suite room? Midwife agrees that the supply of such chairs was not St Michael's best decision ever! Amazing how knackering standing up and moving 5 feet is so I go back to bed and have a sleep. At some point enough tubes must have been removed as I try walking over to bathroom; with help. In itself the help is confusing. The first couple of times I move I have two midwives/nurses supporting me. The third time I try there is one nurse I've not seen before who says she is unable to support me for health and safety reasons. Well not sure I can do it by myself love! I realise that if I'm to get back to bed I'd better just get on with it.
Another night passes. I think Nicky was taken away at some point to allow me to sleep. Nurses and midwives all seem completely dippy about him but I suppose if you're working on delivery suite you don't see the little ones much after the initial arrival so it's probably quite novel for them. There are more discussions about what drugs I've had, what I should have and more doctors come to make sure I know what happened on Monday. Are they worried I'm going to sue for lack of information?? I even get a "social call" from Mr Mills just to see how I'm doing! He kind of reminds me of someone but I don't know who....... Discussions centre around whether or not I still need intra-venous drugs. The one remaining venflon kind of decides this for everyone when it refuses to accept any more liquid antibiotics and someone says I think we can move to oral drugs. I whole-heartedly agree!! One consultant has an idea that in order to avoid potential blood clots I should be self-injecting a blood thinner once I go home. I think I'd rather work on my mobility thanks all the same! I'll keep quiet and we'll see how we go......
Rik returns from the Premier Inn on Wednesday morning with a story about booking in, asking for a quiet room, getting one on the top floor, putting his bag down and then waking up on the floor 7 hours later. We may never know why his body didn't consider waiting for him to get to bed.....poor love. He's looking a little brighter though, perhaps spurred by the knowledge that I'm going up to the post-natal ward today. This must mean we're getting back on track. And indeed by Wednesday afternoon we're up on Ward 71 just round the corner from where I was when I had Dan. This is much more familiar though of course now I'm expected to be mobile, get my own dinner (and god lord the dining room is a long way away) and feed Nicky. The good news is no-one is hassling me about the fact that Nicky is still having some formula feeds. In fact everyone is quite positive about the whole thing.
And then it all gets quite pedestrian. the more I move, the easier it becomes. I'm missing my single room, particularly as the woman next to me seems to have given birth to the hell-child who can scream for England and does so on a regular basis. I wouldn't mind but this is woman's third child; surely she knows about these things by now! She does seem a little fazed by the whole thing though. The hospital dining room is producing some fabulous comfort food; beef casserole, meat pie, chips, mashed potato, rice pudding etc and joy of joys my breast milk seems to be working: and Nicky seems to have the hang of all the whole sucking thing much more than Dan did at that stage.
And if you're still reading this at this stage then you're incredibly dedicated or incredibly bored since it's gone on for ages. Friday afternoon they allowed me to come home and we really are back in the reality of new baby post-section recovery. The drugs I have been discharged with seem to bear no relation to the drugs which, according to my discharge summary, I'm supposed to be discharged with but hey, the extra injections thing seems to have gone by the wayside (apart from one which the midwife will do for me) so I'm not complaining. It would have been nice to actually get the codeine I'm supposed to be prescribed: not that I feel I need it but I do remember it is great for migraines and much better by itself than mixed with paracetamol. But hey.
So yes it was a traumatic week and yes it got a bit scary for a while there. But we got through it. It was just one of those things and I don't think I was ever at the point of being life-threatening. We go on from here ............a reward for getting this far :-)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Our new Pad
For photos of the new house check out Facebook; in the meantime
check out this cool dude! (and the fabulous roses behind which overhang our pond ... complete with frogs - large and small!)
Friday, June 05, 2009
Week One @ Fletchings House
well here we are. We've officially been here just over a week and so far everything seems to be going okay. There is some serious re-decorating that needs doing (why do you never notice these things until you move in??) and some emerging peculiar features that might need altering - a door at the bottom of the stairs; great we thought one less stairgate needed when the time comes; actually its a pain!
Not everything is quite where we want it to be; the guest room doesn't really exist at the moment and the box full of the "kitchen drawer" hasn't been sorted yet. Oh and we need to decide what Dan's toy storage is going to be. But other than that we seem to be in and have a working house.
The garden is amazing: though slightly overwhelming and there's even a pond with frogs and newts in.
Our removal guys were fabulous and didn't leave until they had everything the way we wanted it. They re-built furniture, moved things around and were generally 110% helpful. There is one picture missing which I wonder whether has been left on a van somewhere but we'll deal with that when they come to pick up the boxes!
And we've given the house a name - well it needs one really. Fletchings House refers to the fact that we're living on The Butts .... does that make sense? It may if you know your military history. If not, ask and I might tell you ;-)
Not everything is quite where we want it to be; the guest room doesn't really exist at the moment and the box full of the "kitchen drawer" hasn't been sorted yet. Oh and we need to decide what Dan's toy storage is going to be. But other than that we seem to be in and have a working house.
The garden is amazing: though slightly overwhelming and there's even a pond with frogs and newts in.
Our removal guys were fabulous and didn't leave until they had everything the way we wanted it. They re-built furniture, moved things around and were generally 110% helpful. There is one picture missing which I wonder whether has been left on a van somewhere but we'll deal with that when they come to pick up the boxes!
And we've given the house a name - well it needs one really. Fletchings House refers to the fact that we're living on The Butts .... does that make sense? It may if you know your military history. If not, ask and I might tell you ;-)
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Moving day approaches
Well here I sit at 6.55pm on Wednesday in a house stripped of pretty much everything except the kitchen, the sofa and our beds (we won't mention the front room being full of boxes and the piano). The movers worried us slightly by not turning up til 9.15 when they said they'd be here around 8 - (apparently an accident on the ring road held them up so all was forgiven) but since then they have been a tour de force. Rik and I have almost felt in the way at times!
Though despite our best efforts we have had conversations this evening along the lines of "have we a story for Dan?" "erm, they're in the van". Whoops! But that's okay cos we can look in the big bookcases; oh they've been packed too; hang on what about the books kept downstairs: nope! There's nothing left! Lucky Dan took two muslins to nursery this morning or he wouldn't have any of those either!! I can't even upload photos of the "pack in progress" from my camera as the photo-card reader has gone too .......
But we're feeling a bit more optimistic. It finally feels like it's happening and we can be excited about the new house. Plus Dan has been walking round all day at Orchard Lea telling everyone it's his last day - so maybe he does know what's going on. Apparently this has upset one of his friends though - and more surprisingly her mum!
not sure how long I'll have the laptop in the morning so this may be the last entry until we're in: but hopefully we'll be able to get back on line fairly quickly since we have the wireless dongles (suddenly they make sense!)
Though despite our best efforts we have had conversations this evening along the lines of "have we a story for Dan?" "erm, they're in the van". Whoops! But that's okay cos we can look in the big bookcases; oh they've been packed too; hang on what about the books kept downstairs: nope! There's nothing left! Lucky Dan took two muslins to nursery this morning or he wouldn't have any of those either!! I can't even upload photos of the "pack in progress" from my camera as the photo-card reader has gone too .......
But we're feeling a bit more optimistic. It finally feels like it's happening and we can be excited about the new house. Plus Dan has been walking round all day at Orchard Lea telling everyone it's his last day - so maybe he does know what's going on. Apparently this has upset one of his friends though - and more surprisingly her mum!
not sure how long I'll have the laptop in the morning so this may be the last entry until we're in: but hopefully we'll be able to get back on line fairly quickly since we have the wireless dongles (suddenly they make sense!)
"M" minus 2
Actually it's less than 2. At 8am in the morning the packers are turning up to pack and part load and on Thursday we will be leaving our lovely familiar house in Bristol to start a home in our lovely totally unknown house in Frome. I have given up trying to sort out and organise ahead of this!.
And this is exciting but it's also scary and more than a little bit sad. Whilst we know, rationally, that the move is what we want, and the house we've found is lovely, we don't know it; we don't know how it works or behaves (spare us from badly behaved houses!). We've been in this house in Fishponds for 10 1/2 years - can you believe - and it will be very sad to leave it. We've also been in Bristol for nearly 13 years and whilst we're looking forward to being in a smaller town, Bristol has been fab.
But perhaps saddest of all, Dan has to leave the fabulous Orchard Lea Nursery. And again I know I've found him a fantastic nursery in Frome where he will be very happy but Orchard Lea is all he - and we've - known since he was six months old and they've been brilliant (apart from the slight bankruptcy hiccup last year!). And whilst rationally I know that he'll adjust to the new one in time, the emotional side of me feels very guilty for taking him away from the environment he knows: but then we're doing that to ourselves too aren't we?
Maybe this is all just 3am talk .....why am I up at 3am on a Wednesday morning? Ah well that will be my fabulous cold which has decreed that unless I'm sat bolt upright, a cough will start which will end in my throwing up. You try sitting bolt upright when you're falling asleep. Plus Dan's had a bad dream and is now crying on the landing ......
And this is exciting but it's also scary and more than a little bit sad. Whilst we know, rationally, that the move is what we want, and the house we've found is lovely, we don't know it; we don't know how it works or behaves (spare us from badly behaved houses!). We've been in this house in Fishponds for 10 1/2 years - can you believe - and it will be very sad to leave it. We've also been in Bristol for nearly 13 years and whilst we're looking forward to being in a smaller town, Bristol has been fab.
But perhaps saddest of all, Dan has to leave the fabulous Orchard Lea Nursery. And again I know I've found him a fantastic nursery in Frome where he will be very happy but Orchard Lea is all he - and we've - known since he was six months old and they've been brilliant (apart from the slight bankruptcy hiccup last year!). And whilst rationally I know that he'll adjust to the new one in time, the emotional side of me feels very guilty for taking him away from the environment he knows: but then we're doing that to ourselves too aren't we?
Maybe this is all just 3am talk .....why am I up at 3am on a Wednesday morning? Ah well that will be my fabulous cold which has decreed that unless I'm sat bolt upright, a cough will start which will end in my throwing up. You try sitting bolt upright when you're falling asleep. Plus Dan's had a bad dream and is now crying on the landing ......
Saturday, May 02, 2009
AAARGGHHH!!!
Here we are; potentially days from exchange of contracts - and what happens?? The blinkin boiler breaks!! That's what!
We awoke on Thursday morning to find water dripping out the bottom of the damn thing. Rik was all for simply concluding that it was defunct, buy another one. I thought we ought to at least check so an engineer is called out. He comes along, twiddles with it a bit; finds water in something called the "air pressure switch" drains it and goes away saying "it should be fine now" or words to that effect.
Except that it isn't. Thursday evening it becomes apparent that it is NOT fine. We go back to Boiler Repair Man company. Oi what you said was fixed isn't; what you gonna do about it? Well say company if you want us to do something now (it being after 6pm) we'll have to charge you an extra fee. Hang on; you want us to pay more for you to come out and fix what you should have fixed first time round???? YES. Are you taking the Michael?
Well we can live with a cold house and no hot water until Friday morning thank you very much. Okay YOU will need to phone us again on Friday morning and explain the situation; we're only the out of hours service. How's that for customer care???
So Friday morning, 9am I phone company again. We'll need to phone you back - can you wait 25 mins. Well I can. We have nothing planned for the am, only a loose idea to take Dan swimming. Of course the reality is I have to phone them 50 minutes later to ask where their " call back" is. Still I do manage to actually speak to someone. Ah yes she says, it seems your air pressure switch needs replacing. Engineer thought it might be okay but if what he did didn't fix it it means it's on the blink; you need a new one. I'm getting you a quote will call back when I have one.
Well to spare you the angst it caused me, Dan's swimming trip goes out the window whilst we are waiting to get some concrete information. Quote comes back acceptable; can engineer come today? I have hair appointment at 3pm; should I cancel it? Maybe wait and see ....... more waiting ....... finally at 1.50pm I phone them AGAIN and say engineer obviously can't make today and I can't cancel my hair appointment so let's not bother. But wait says operator, engineer can come today: at 6pm. Great! Lovely! Except that it's actually 5pm (this is another phone call about 10 mins later!) - which means I have to phone Rik in Reading and ask very nicely if he wouldn't mind coming home since I might not be in time. Rik agrees. I get home at 5.20pm
Guess what?? NO BLIMPING ENGINEER!!!!!!????? At 5.50pm I phone company AGAIN; they know nothing about it. Ring off to try and find him - phone back about 20 minutes later; very apologetic engineer had family emergency and rushed off to deal with it without telling his employers. Well I can understand that. Plus engineer offers to come over and fix problem on Saturday between 12 and 2; no extra cost. Great I think. We can cope with that.
So here we are: at 5.44pm. Do we have a fixed boiler? NO. Has the engineer come to see us? NO. Has anyone at this STUPID COMPANY phoned us??? NO. Are they even answering their phones. NOOOOO. And of course it now being the bank holiday if we want to go elsewhere we're going to have to pay premium rates to get someone. Unless we leave it til next Tuesday when I have to be at work for a training course I don't want to go on and on Wednesday we're going away. Maybe we should just leave it........! Do we need hot water that much?
I don't expect anyone to have any great solutions: just wanted a rant!
We awoke on Thursday morning to find water dripping out the bottom of the damn thing. Rik was all for simply concluding that it was defunct, buy another one. I thought we ought to at least check so an engineer is called out. He comes along, twiddles with it a bit; finds water in something called the "air pressure switch" drains it and goes away saying "it should be fine now" or words to that effect.
Except that it isn't. Thursday evening it becomes apparent that it is NOT fine. We go back to Boiler Repair Man company. Oi what you said was fixed isn't; what you gonna do about it? Well say company if you want us to do something now (it being after 6pm) we'll have to charge you an extra fee. Hang on; you want us to pay more for you to come out and fix what you should have fixed first time round???? YES. Are you taking the Michael?
Well we can live with a cold house and no hot water until Friday morning thank you very much. Okay YOU will need to phone us again on Friday morning and explain the situation; we're only the out of hours service. How's that for customer care???
So Friday morning, 9am I phone company again. We'll need to phone you back - can you wait 25 mins. Well I can. We have nothing planned for the am, only a loose idea to take Dan swimming. Of course the reality is I have to phone them 50 minutes later to ask where their " call back" is. Still I do manage to actually speak to someone. Ah yes she says, it seems your air pressure switch needs replacing. Engineer thought it might be okay but if what he did didn't fix it it means it's on the blink; you need a new one. I'm getting you a quote will call back when I have one.
Well to spare you the angst it caused me, Dan's swimming trip goes out the window whilst we are waiting to get some concrete information. Quote comes back acceptable; can engineer come today? I have hair appointment at 3pm; should I cancel it? Maybe wait and see ....... more waiting ....... finally at 1.50pm I phone them AGAIN and say engineer obviously can't make today and I can't cancel my hair appointment so let's not bother. But wait says operator, engineer can come today: at 6pm. Great! Lovely! Except that it's actually 5pm (this is another phone call about 10 mins later!) - which means I have to phone Rik in Reading and ask very nicely if he wouldn't mind coming home since I might not be in time. Rik agrees. I get home at 5.20pm
Guess what?? NO BLIMPING ENGINEER!!!!!!????? At 5.50pm I phone company AGAIN; they know nothing about it. Ring off to try and find him - phone back about 20 minutes later; very apologetic engineer had family emergency and rushed off to deal with it without telling his employers. Well I can understand that. Plus engineer offers to come over and fix problem on Saturday between 12 and 2; no extra cost. Great I think. We can cope with that.
So here we are: at 5.44pm. Do we have a fixed boiler? NO. Has the engineer come to see us? NO. Has anyone at this STUPID COMPANY phoned us??? NO. Are they even answering their phones. NOOOOO. And of course it now being the bank holiday if we want to go elsewhere we're going to have to pay premium rates to get someone. Unless we leave it til next Tuesday when I have to be at work for a training course I don't want to go on and on Wednesday we're going away. Maybe we should just leave it........! Do we need hot water that much?
I don't expect anyone to have any great solutions: just wanted a rant!
Friday, April 24, 2009
AND finally
it occurred to me you haven't seen a picture of our new house ..... have you?
If you want to look in more detail check out Rightmove.co.uk under properties for sale at BA11 4AA (you'll need to include properties Sold STC). If you find a 5 bedroom house you've found our new home - though the pictures don't really do it justice.
And someone was asking me what I would like for my birthday - which it seems is only a couple of weeks away. Well I'm afraid I'm going to be REALLY boring and say vouchers I can spend on stuff for the new house. We're acquiring two extra bedrooms and one extra reception room plus a large garden so anything I can spend at Ikea, Homebase, John Lewis or Laura Ashley Home will be welcomed. As will general "gardening" vouchers. Sorry to be so uninspiring. If you want to be a bit more personal, I have absolutely NO summer maternity wear - it having been autumn/winter last time I was doing this. You know the sort of thing I like; size 18 generally.
a xx
PS.....
oh yes, and everything's fine with the expectant baby. Though it's due date is now 02 October!!!!!
I think it's a boy by the way - don't ask me why ......
I think it's a boy by the way - don't ask me why ......
In case you were interested .....
No we still haven't moved: but we MAY be about to exchange. Word came through yesterday that our buyer's solicitor had applied to their Housing Association (which is Sovereign if that means anything 2 U) for authority to exchange. Apparently this takes about 10-14 days so hopefully we should have an exchange date soon.
Which means we might even be moving by the end of May - how scary is that???
Meanwhile the great clear-out of 2009 continues. I've taken a bootload to the tip today; 15 bags of various bits n pieces went to a charity shop a few weeks ago. Another load of clothes will be going over the weekend and we haven't even started on the videos!
And we've booked the small family company for our removals. They do seem like they want to give us a good service, they'll do absolutely EVERYTHING from disconnecting the cooker to dismantling furniture, and even with full pack they've come in about £200 cheaper than everyone else!
And my new Audi A3 - "Allie" - is lovely by the way. (well I had to give her a name!)
Which means we might even be moving by the end of May - how scary is that???
Meanwhile the great clear-out of 2009 continues. I've taken a bootload to the tip today; 15 bags of various bits n pieces went to a charity shop a few weeks ago. Another load of clothes will be going over the weekend and we haven't even started on the videos!
And we've booked the small family company for our removals. They do seem like they want to give us a good service, they'll do absolutely EVERYTHING from disconnecting the cooker to dismantling furniture, and even with full pack they've come in about £200 cheaper than everyone else!
And my new Audi A3 - "Allie" - is lovely by the way. (well I had to give her a name!)
Friday, March 27, 2009
A general update
For those of you who might be wondering where on earth we've been; for some reason actually been able to blog without full broadband access has been problematical - as has Facebook. We still don't have broadband although the wireless dongle is working well enough (if you let it "rest" every now and again) to tide us over until we move house and get to start again. So here's an update on where we are:-
1. THE HOUSE
Offer on this house accepted end of January; offer accepted on place we wanted to buy in Frome middle of February. We're still waiting to exchange. Had hoped we'd be able to do this next Friday but apparently our buyers aren't going to be able to comply with that because they're buying with government assistance through the Key Worker Scheme and the housing association who is assisting needs 10 working days to authorise exchange. They will only do that when the solicitor acting for them confirms that everything has been settled - and he hasn't exactly been speedy. This is no doubt causing alarm to our sellers who want to exchange next Friday so that they can go on holiday for two weeks, come back and complete and move around the 22nd. Seems that's not likely either. But not much we can do about it and at least it gives us more time to carry on de-cluttering! But it's annoying to be kept in this kind of limbo for even longer..... ah well.
Though I think we've chosen a removal company - though we haven't informed them yet. Going on valuable advice my instincts tell me that the small husband & wife team with 4 vans who can do ABSOLUTELY everything for us (dismantling furniture, packing, even disconnecting the cooker) at a price £200 less than the best next quote is the right thing. But there's a small part of me thinking, why are they coming in cheaper: they've only been in business for themselves for a year: they're not A1 professional in terms of presentation- though to be fair when they came to visit they were more smartly dressed than some of the bigger companies! - but I've asked a few questions and they seem to be coming across as it being very important to them to give us a good service: so they don't sound like cowboys. So maybe it's worth giving them a try - and saving us some money and hassle of having to dismantle our own bed and find someone to disconnect the cooker!
2. THE FAMILY
I think most of you know this by now anyway but we're at the point where it can be "official" and, in case anyone drops in on the blog who a) knows me and b) doesn't know, there will be an addition to the junior section of the Kershaw-Moore clan at the end of September. FINALLY!!!
And it IS real - we had our first scan on Tuesday and yep there's definitely a baby in there which moves and everything. I didn't realise how concerned I was about that actually; much more so than with Dan. Though I guess with Dan it never occurred to us at all that there could be any problems. We are, by force of experience, now wiser and I think - though both of us totally failed to mention it, or maybe even to notice it - that we were quite concerned that this one could be "not real" as well.
but hopefully everything is proceeding as it should. I certainly feel pregnant though I know I get off lightly compared to some people (I'm thinking of my lovely sis here who suffers sooo much it's not fair). I just get aches n pains and exhaustion and my god, never mind about eating for two; I'm going for six!! Though this is a very meat based pregnancy which is a bit different - ham, sausages, bacon I can't get enough of .... if only i could have Pate!!!
3. THE CAR
As if we didn't have enough to contend with - and trying to arrange house moves/conveyancing (though, no I'm not doing my own!) whilst pregnant is definitely hard work - at the beginning of March some complete nonce pulled out right in front of my little Mikki (the MX-5) and smashed into it. The insurance company hurridly wrote her off even though the damage to her was cosmetic only and only to her front driver's side wing. After much discussion when we considered the possiblity of taking her back and fixing her ourselves we came to the conclusion that a) I was going to need a bigger car soon anyway and b) money isn't exaclty flowing at the moment with the impending move and therefore we would let her go. Mind you the insurance company gave me £1400 for her which I was not expecting at all. And in her place I have a very nice Audi A3 5-door hatchback from 2006 which is a not totally dis-similiar style car to drive and I get things like 4 seats, a petrol warning light; boot space. All these things are new!! I would put some photos up but that will result in the dongle completely freezing up.
So that's us. generally speaking. And I've just realised that the sun is still shining when it was supposed to be raining. Maybe I should have hung the washing out? Ah well, Dan getting desperate for lunch (me too actually) so I should probably stop now.
Happy Easter! Well it's not far off you know.......
1. THE HOUSE
Offer on this house accepted end of January; offer accepted on place we wanted to buy in Frome middle of February. We're still waiting to exchange. Had hoped we'd be able to do this next Friday but apparently our buyers aren't going to be able to comply with that because they're buying with government assistance through the Key Worker Scheme and the housing association who is assisting needs 10 working days to authorise exchange. They will only do that when the solicitor acting for them confirms that everything has been settled - and he hasn't exactly been speedy. This is no doubt causing alarm to our sellers who want to exchange next Friday so that they can go on holiday for two weeks, come back and complete and move around the 22nd. Seems that's not likely either. But not much we can do about it and at least it gives us more time to carry on de-cluttering! But it's annoying to be kept in this kind of limbo for even longer..... ah well.
Though I think we've chosen a removal company - though we haven't informed them yet. Going on valuable advice my instincts tell me that the small husband & wife team with 4 vans who can do ABSOLUTELY everything for us (dismantling furniture, packing, even disconnecting the cooker) at a price £200 less than the best next quote is the right thing. But there's a small part of me thinking, why are they coming in cheaper: they've only been in business for themselves for a year: they're not A1 professional in terms of presentation- though to be fair when they came to visit they were more smartly dressed than some of the bigger companies! - but I've asked a few questions and they seem to be coming across as it being very important to them to give us a good service: so they don't sound like cowboys. So maybe it's worth giving them a try - and saving us some money and hassle of having to dismantle our own bed and find someone to disconnect the cooker!
2. THE FAMILY
I think most of you know this by now anyway but we're at the point where it can be "official" and, in case anyone drops in on the blog who a) knows me and b) doesn't know, there will be an addition to the junior section of the Kershaw-Moore clan at the end of September. FINALLY!!!
And it IS real - we had our first scan on Tuesday and yep there's definitely a baby in there which moves and everything. I didn't realise how concerned I was about that actually; much more so than with Dan. Though I guess with Dan it never occurred to us at all that there could be any problems. We are, by force of experience, now wiser and I think - though both of us totally failed to mention it, or maybe even to notice it - that we were quite concerned that this one could be "not real" as well.
but hopefully everything is proceeding as it should. I certainly feel pregnant though I know I get off lightly compared to some people (I'm thinking of my lovely sis here who suffers sooo much it's not fair). I just get aches n pains and exhaustion and my god, never mind about eating for two; I'm going for six!! Though this is a very meat based pregnancy which is a bit different - ham, sausages, bacon I can't get enough of .... if only i could have Pate!!!
3. THE CAR
As if we didn't have enough to contend with - and trying to arrange house moves/conveyancing (though, no I'm not doing my own!) whilst pregnant is definitely hard work - at the beginning of March some complete nonce pulled out right in front of my little Mikki (the MX-5) and smashed into it. The insurance company hurridly wrote her off even though the damage to her was cosmetic only and only to her front driver's side wing. After much discussion when we considered the possiblity of taking her back and fixing her ourselves we came to the conclusion that a) I was going to need a bigger car soon anyway and b) money isn't exaclty flowing at the moment with the impending move and therefore we would let her go. Mind you the insurance company gave me £1400 for her which I was not expecting at all. And in her place I have a very nice Audi A3 5-door hatchback from 2006 which is a not totally dis-similiar style car to drive and I get things like 4 seats, a petrol warning light; boot space. All these things are new!! I would put some photos up but that will result in the dongle completely freezing up.
So that's us. generally speaking. And I've just realised that the sun is still shining when it was supposed to be raining. Maybe I should have hung the washing out? Ah well, Dan getting desperate for lunch (me too actually) so I should probably stop now.
Happy Easter! Well it's not far off you know.......
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Teckernowlergy Update
Just wanted to let everyone know that the Kershaw-Moore clan have limited technology resources at present: no e-mail and some internet access when our 3 Mobile wireless dongle allows.
Apparently this is all due to the fact that the company who provides our broadband service doesn't actually provide broadband but buys it off Tiscali. They have fallen out with Tiscali and Tiscali have disconnected the supply (suddenly I'm thinking this sounds like Russia and gas!!). Anyway various rants to Tiscali, Off-Com and attempts to change our supplier have all failed so for now if you've been trying to contact us by e-mail please either us my work account (alex.kershaw-moore@mendip.gov.uk) or revert to phone/text.
Should I mention that the company who we have been buying broadband off, no-one has ever heard of?? But that we "had" to use that company??? Probably not ........
ps: hopefully I will be able to upload some Daniel birthday information shortly :-)
Apparently this is all due to the fact that the company who provides our broadband service doesn't actually provide broadband but buys it off Tiscali. They have fallen out with Tiscali and Tiscali have disconnected the supply (suddenly I'm thinking this sounds like Russia and gas!!). Anyway various rants to Tiscali, Off-Com and attempts to change our supplier have all failed so for now if you've been trying to contact us by e-mail please either us my work account (alex.kershaw-moore@mendip.gov.uk) or revert to phone/text.
Should I mention that the company who we have been buying broadband off, no-one has ever heard of?? But that we "had" to use that company??? Probably not ........
ps: hopefully I will be able to upload some Daniel birthday information shortly :-)
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