Hi Hicky
thanks for your kind words of support. When you are feeling vulnerable, like I am right now, because all of this has happened so quickly,  it helps so much, especially coming from you because I know you went through a big op not long ago. And from what I recall you were up and about fairly quickly, weren't you?
Glad your cough has virtually gone, that will make sure you can relax and enjoy the day tommororw with your family.
Your OH did have an early start, I think a few days off is just what she needs now.   Like you, my OH is not due back at work till 4 th Jan, but depending on how I am and when I can come home from hospital, he can take more time off.

Gosh that chain is a big job for them. You are dead clever designing the original software for it.

Hopefully Emptbyox has arrived safe and well at his brothers by now. I wonder if he will give that Wii Dance game a bash?

have a lovely Christmas Eve evening Hicky.

Evening Mollie.

Try not to worry too much about the Op.concentrate on Christmas and enjoying yourself.

I'll be up in the morning, not too early, but am going top cook the rump steak beef joint that I'm taking to my lads with us, he's doing the Turkey, but give me beef any day.
I'd prefer a Goose, will see if I can get 1 for new Year.

Hope Emptybox arrived OK.

It's going to be a busy day for everyone.

Was lucky this morning, O/H came in from work and made brekki for the 2 of us so I had a Full English at 10am., and a cup of tea.

Hicky
nice to hear your OH spoiled you today, with a nice cooker brekkie.
Hope your beef comes out good.
I ordered our normal turkey, but daughter wanted. a small piece of gammon to go with it. I thought I was ordering £3.99 worth, but it turned out I have ordered 3 kilos at £3.99 a kilo. So it was huge, compared to what we needed. Daughter said she will cook it tommorrow, Do you think it will keep for awhile in the fridge after cooking?

yes a busy day for all tommorrow. I will folow your advice and try and put the op to the back of my mind. I would not want to spoil my fave day of the year.

Hope you have a great Christmas day with your family Hicky, and that you enjoy your Christmas meal together.

I am looking forward to watching the Royale Family, and Benidorm tommorrow. The kids like to watch Dr Who.
My friend is going to ring me from the Gold Coast on her Skype. She said they are still getting heavy rain there.
Will you be speaking to your lad in Oz tommorrow?

Hi Mollie.

3 kilo's a fair size, enough for about 1 dozen people I would think.
You should only keep it in the fridge at a temperature of between 1 and 5 deg for 24 hrs unless you can put it in a bag and get all the air out.

Hope to have a good day tomorrow, plenty of food around anyway.

As you say, the TV should be good tomorrow as well.

Temperature -9 here now, and staying about -3 tomorrow.
Put plenty of food out for the birds,

My O/H was speaking to my lad this morning, she speaks most days if she can, he's been telling us what he's been cooking, he likes his food.

I know that Skype have been having problems, but it may just be the phone line one, we have both here.

Hicky
I HOPE YOU HAVE A LOVELY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS DAY TODAY  



And I hope Emptybox enjoys his day with his brother and family too.

It is extremely cold here too today Hicky.
About minus 15.
Hope you enjoy your dinner at your lad's. My daughter is taking care of Christmas dinner this year, and I am confident she will do excellent. My OH will be down as kitchen help only.

Hope you're all having a Merry Christmas in here

Merry Christmas Everyone.


That's lovely Mollie.

And Hi "Muf with all the trimmings".
Hope you have a great Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

muf with all the trimmings
hope you are having a good Christmas too.

Hicky
hope you and your OH enjoyed your Christmas dinner at your lads.

We had a lovely meal, I just sat and did some peeling and daughter did rest, with OH helping, and tidying up after. Very nice it was too.
I went for a short walk, the first one since I had been out of hosptial. Got breathless half way round, so stopped for a rest, then was fine.   What a nice day weather wise it was too, plenty of soft snow still around, and the sun shining, no wind.

I hope Emptybox has had a lovely day at his brothers. Nearly time to enjoy watching The Royale Family.  I am going to record Murder on the Orient Express.

Hi Mollie.

We had a great time at my Lads, another of my Lads came with his G/F and his 2 daughters, another on my Lads Sons was there, we took him for an hour.
They all got so many pressies.

The dinner was lovely, he sure knows how to lay on a good spread, he is a good cook anyway.

The main roads are pretty clear, side roads can be iced up.
-7 or so tonight.

Enjoyed watching the Royals.

Hope Emptybox is having a good time anyway.

Hope your feeling OK Mollie, you'll be fine, not to worry.

Good afternoon HIcky
I am pleased to hear you had such a nice day, sounds like there was plenty of you all gathered together anyway, and with plenty of nice food to enjoy sharing together too.
Yes still cold here today, but they do say we are due for some mild winds in the next couple of days. OH measured the temp in our garden this morning, and it was minus 19!!

My friend from the Gold Coast phoned me yesteray afternoon, and she said it is still raining continuous there. There are a lot of floods in the area. She said they still had a traditional roast meal, even if it was hot and humid. I do not miss that awful Ozzie summer weather one bit.

Including today, I have 4 days to enjoy at home, before I know I have to go back to that hospital again. I just hope I am not in for too long. 8 days last time, did feel like a very long time. One of my worries, is that they dont put me to sleep properly, I read in a mag recently someone felt all the pain and heard everything through their op, and couldnt move or speak to tell them.

Hicky
I really enjoyed the Royales too. It is so good to have something the family can all have a good laugh together at on Christmas night.     We are spoilt for choice tonight. There is a Top Gear special, a new series of Upstairs Downstairs (1 of 3 episodes), and Benidorm.

Is the snow still lying by you HIcky? It is still lying quite deep round here.

Hope Emptybox is enjoying his break with the family. I hope his pipes at home have been ok whilst he has been away.

Hi Mollie.

Having a lazy day today, have fed the birds down the garden, had brekki, will be doing a bit more on the wooden models.
-4 here, light snow expected at 9pm.

The chances of feeling anything through an Op is very remote, about the same odds as winning the lottery or worse.
I don't think it's worth worrying about that, not all all, there's always things to worry about and that's not one of them.
The TV tonight should be ok then.

I also hope Empybox is having a good Christmas at his Brothers.

Here's a pic of Chanelle and Blakely.
-------------------------

Hi Hicky
glad to hear you are having a well deserved lazy day. I am looking forward to seeing the pics of these models when they are all done. I think that is a nice relaxing hobby for you to have whilst you are off work. They said it was supposed to go to plus 4 here today, but OH just got back from walk and measurde temp, and it is still below minus 2 here too.

Gosh, thanks for telling me that the chances of feeling the op are that low. I think I had best bury that worry, It is a shame I read that mag article so recently, because it did scare me.

thanks for posting that piccy, what a lovely piccy of Chanelle and her babe that is. I dont think the little babe is short of pressies, is he?

Let's hope the roads are ok when it is time for Emptybox to travel home. I don't think it is too long a journey for him from what I remember though.

enjoy the rest of your boxing day Hicky.

Hi Mollie.

I'm completed the Motorcycle, it's a cross country one, very difficult to do though.
Wish they would give a couple more pictures to go off, when you can't see a rear view and a view from the other side it's hard.
The drawing doesn't tell you how to build it at all, the parts have numbers shown on the drawing only, and they go from 1 to 65 or so, there's no numbers on the wood, you press the parts out of the thin [plywood, but you have to work out how the piece goes together.

I'm building a Jeep at the Mo

Just seen another pic of Blakely with the presents.
http://yfrog.com/gzbnamj

I wondered why my Solar lights on the Decking hand rails didn't come on, just wiped off an inch of snow and ice, they came on tonight, my 2,500 lights on the fence and vine trellis look good.

Hicky
Well done on completing your motorcycle. This model making is certainly giving you something to concentrate on.   Enjoy doing the jeep.

at that pciture of little Blakely, he looks so cute, and lost amongst all those giant pressies.

2,500 lights, hope you didn't count all those. No wonder they werent working if they were covered in snow and ice. We have a row of little Christmas trees down our path, but they are covered in snow and ice this year, so OH gave up switching them on.

OH just cooked me some nice fish, mash, tomatoes, peas, sweetcorn, parsnips, because daughter is staying in her room away from me because she has sore throat. It may not be a cold though, because she gets allergies, but she is trying to be cautious.

did your cough clear up ok?

they are saying it is going up to plus 9 here, by Wednesday, so that would soon melt this snow and ice.

Hi Mollie.

Just watching Top Gear, they started in Iraq, so funny.
The Jeep is finished, made the wheel sections up, they are each in 5 parts.
Just got to fit them.

It was only the Solar lights that weren't working because of the snow on the Solar panel.

I wonder who Chanelle is dating at the Mo?, interesting.

My cough has gone, chest not as clear as it should be.

I was expecting snow at 9pm but it's not arrived yet, it was only passing on the way to the Midlands.

Just checked forecast, snow has been delayed and now not expected till midnight, believe it was delayed by bad weather.

Hicky
I watched Top Gear too.
the predicaments those 3 get themselves into.   But, as you say, very funny. Tonights episode was far more interesting and informative than most travel shows too,

Didn't take you long to do the jeep.
Dont know who Chanelle is dating, but I read in my mag that Chantelle has a new fella.   Let's hope she doesnt get hurt this time. He is a presenter, cant rememeber what show though.

Maybe you wont get snow now. It has suddenly gone milder here, reading plus 4 on my lappy for this area.

going to watch Benidorm now.
how good it is to have some nice tv to watch.

Hi Mollie.

Benidorm has been on since 9pm it's good, have switched over now.

Snow is coming at midnight, delayed due to bad weather.

Yes Hicky, we missed the beginning of Benidorm because of Top Gear. I loved the stig baby ending on Top Gear. so funny...

  at your snow delayed due to bad weather.

Hi Mollie.

Just checked outside and we've had a little snow, can see it on the cars.

It was funny seeing the baby stig.

It's great not having to go downstairs to change the station on the box.

Good morning Hicky

I wonder if you had more snow overnight? We had some rain, but it still hasnt melted all the lying snow yet.
It must be nice for you to be able to change channels at your will now.

I think Emptybox might be coming home today. Hopefully his journey will be problem free now we have had a bit of a thaw, and I hope he enjoyed his break.

I have had to send OH out early to get me some things suitable for hospital, before the sales crowds hit the shops.  I need front fastenng clothes for comfort after the op. He doesnt really know what I need, but said it is best to get lots of stuff, keep the receipt , and take stuff not suitable back.
I am finding it really strange not being able to dash round here, there and everywhere, shopping and doing stuff for the family.

Hope there is some good stuff on tv tonight.

Hicky... will the nurse be checking on your chest when you go back on Thursday? That is the trouble when you have had a cough, it can lie on your chest awaile.

have a good day. xx
dont forget when you get chance, I'd love to see piccies of your models.

Morning Mollie.

WE did have a small snow show must have been around 11pm, it's started thawing now a bit, temp 1 deg, changing to 2 deg tomorrow, 5 day forecast shows no more frost, temp stays above freezing.

Don't think you can wear your own cloths in Hospital can you?
Think you only need them to come home in.

You take it easy anyway, let the others do the running around for a change.

It only a yearly check-up, blood pressure and that, and see the results of the Cholesterol blood test.

They never did do a follow-up on my operation.

We are off to Costco, O/H wants to go, not sure why though.

I'll show you a piccy of my models before you go to the Hospital, will do the Tank next.

Hi Hicky
Costco's eh? I bet you won't be able to resist coming back with lots of food treats.  And I wonder what your OH fancies getting from there?
Yes still thawing here too, but now the man on the tv says the thaw isn't going to last long after all, and it will get cold again by the weekend.

I hope I can wear my own clothes, I did wear my own clothes in the other ward, but I know I will have to wear this awful gown thing on the day of the op, but hope to get out of that thing asap though.  So OH bought me a variety of slippers, nightshirst etc to take with me. Last time i was in, the nurse told me I was a little monkey for hiding or refusing the paracetomol they gave, so that was why my temperature was going up. I found 6 of them hidden in my purse last night.   Well, I figured I didnt need them 4 times a day, because you can get hooked on them. But I did take the important stuff as they told me.

Enjoy doing your tank later, if OH hasn't tired you out too much round Costco.
I will look forward to the pics,and hearing what you bought from Costco.

Stange how they never folowed up after your op, but maybe they can see you are doing well on your annual check ups, so figured they dont need to, or maybe they just forgot. I saw how overworked and busy they are.

time to watch a bit of tv now.

hope Emptbox is having a good day. xx

Hi Mollie.

We only got some more Mushrooms, some Cottage Pie, Sushie, big Onions, Satsumas, bag of small washed and ready to cook carrots, a couple of beautiful cabbage hearts.

Hope you can wear your own clothes, it didn't bother me, I'll wear anything.

I do take my medicine though, not like some.

Just unwrapped the Tank, Wow, it could be quite a challenge, an awful lot of pieces and 4 ply sections of parts, the most yet.

Just had some of that Sushie, great stuff, that Wasabi  paste is powerful stuff.

Hi Hicky
well you got some nice healthy stuff there from Costcos.
what is wasabi paste?  is it a spicy sauce for the sushy?Glad you are enjoying it.
Dont think I could eat sushi, dont like the thought of uncooked fish.
I still cant eat much at the moment, but do keep fancying fish. So had fish again tonight, I only have fish in batter in the freezer, so ate the fish and left the batter.

Sounds like that tank is going to keep you busy.   looking forward to seeing the finished pics of all these models.

I have now packed my clothes and slippers, so let's hope  I can make use of them, when I start to recover from this op. ..I cant wear my nail varnish, and jewellery though.  
I am going to tell the anaethist to make sure I am asleep before they cut my throat.
and tell the specialist I dont want bone cut unless vital.

Did you watch Upstairs downstairs, I just watched part 1 on the recorder, because it is part 2 tonight, it was very good.
2 episodes of corrie to watch as well.

wonder if emtybox is on his way home yet?

My friend from Queensland tells me it is STILL raining there, and she sent me this link. The flooding is awful there now.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/nat...-braced-for-flooding
Thought you might be interested HIcky, as your lad used to live in Brisbane. South Bank where they are in the clip, is the beach in the city where we used to take our kids to play.

Evening.
Got back home earlier this afternoon.
The roads weren't too bad, but it was wet all the way back. It's thawed a bit here, but I've still got all the snow. My Brother has quite a bit less snow over there.
I had a bad drive on the way there, because my wipers kept icing up, and I had to keep stopping to wipe the windscreen by hand. I couldn't even open the windows because the electric windows were iced up.

Glad you both had a reasonably good time over Christmas.

I'm also glad that you've got a date for your op Mollie, and that it's at a local hospital. Hope you manage not to worry too much about it beforehand.

I had a nice time at my Brothers.
I had 2 identical turkey dinners with stuffing roast potatoes, chipolata sausages, parsnips peas and carrots. We had one on Christmas day, and another on Boxing day.
I know they had to use the stuff up, but I thought it lacked a bit of imagination to have the exact same 2 night running. Could have had a turkey curry or something?
Still, they seemed pleased.

Came back to a bit of disaster with the water. I have a broken pipe in the downstairs toilet, and no water coming into the house at all.
I phoned the landlady, and a plumber is supposed to be coming tomorrow.
I've still got a cold water tankful in the loft, but when that is finished, i'll have no water at all, unless the plumber can fix it.

I'm not sure if the water main is frozen or not? If it is, I'm not sure what can be done about it. It's a private water supply, so there's no water board that could be called out, just the farmer.
The funny thing is, there was no flood, just a little water on the floor, yet the pipe had completely broken apart at the joint. You'd think water would have gushed out? I wonder if there is a safety valve that has shut off the water, and that is why there is no water coming into the house?

I suppose the plumber will be able to tell me more tomorrow, but in the meantime I will have to conserve water, so no shower, and no washing up the dishes etc. And only flushing the loo occasionally.

The stupid thing is, it hasn't been particularly cold here, and it's above freezing now, so why I should have trouble now, I don't know.
I didn't switch the water off, because I was only gone for 3 days, and I was leaving the heating on. Also the incoming valve is very stiff, and can only be turned by a wrench.
I think in future I will have to turn the water off even if I'm only going away for a couple of days.
What a chore.

Evening Mollie & Emptybox.

Good to see you back in one piece Emptybox.

Pipes break when they freeze usually, but only show when they thaw.No water coming into the house may mean it's frozen out side.
Think water mains are usually at a depth of 90cm but may rise up to enter the house.

Strange having Turkey dinner twice.
Rather you than me.

Saw the floods from the video Mollie, nasty that, glad my lads way away from there at the Mo.

Nearly finished the model Tank, a lot of work, just got a few bits to finish off.

The real Wasabi paste is Japanese but think over here they use a horseradish with something added, very powerful though.
See here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasabi
You can buy tins or packets of it to mix yourself.

I'm taking care of one of my lads 2 girls Wednesday morning, he is at some thingy with his G/F about the future baby she's expecting.
Will probably only be having them for an hour, but I'll make them brekki, they like me doing that.
My O/H will be taking her Sister to the Hospital to hear/discuss the results of the last scans, don't know how long she has though, so sad.

Welcome back Emptybox.
we missed you here.

I am glad you had a nice time at your brother's. I expect they thought they were giving you a real treat with 2 tradtional turkey dinners on the trot.
Shame you had such a difficult journey on the way, and now even worse, that you have had to  come back to this water problem.  As there no leak all over the floor , then it does sound like the water main is frozen. Even though it is milder now, the ground is still exremely cold. I am concerned incase it is that, because as you are aware, as it gets milder, you could get some flooding if the pipes burst. I realy hope that plumber turns up early tommorrow. I know it is  very unpleaseant for you with no water, and a worry incase the pipe does burst.

Did your nephews like their pressies?  And did you get to go on, or see the dance game?
did you have any pressies?
We havent opened ours, because 2 of the kids have colds, so are staying away from me, I have to do all i can to avoid infections.
we probably wont bother until i come home now, whenever that will be.

did you watch any tv over the holidays?
I liked the royales on Christmas day, and thought Top Gear was excellent.

poor you, having to conserve water. 
Yes sounds like you will have to turn the water off now when you go away in winter anyway.

I am watching Upstairs Downstairs now, quite good.
did you watch this Emptybox?

posted together Hicky...
yes when i saw that video,I thought it was good timing, that your lad left Queensland when he did. My friend told me that although she is fortunate that her house in safe from floods, she said they are sick of the endless rain now, they cant go anywhere because of it.

You have been busy with that tank of yours.
Thanks for the wasabi link, I had never heard of it before, I think it will be too strong for me, I only like slightly spicy stuff.

I bet the little girls will enjoy sharing brekkie that with you.   When is the new baby due?

Yes it is very sad about your OH's sister. It must be very upsetting for both of them having to go there tommorrow.

What a pity that you had to delay your present giving Mollie. Still it'll give you something to look forward to when you've got over your op.

I'm worried about the mains being frozen, but the neighbour's water is fine, and the water main comes past them to get to me.
If anything is frozen, it's likely to be the link from the main to my house. No idea how they would fix that? I might not have any water till Spring.

I think the nephews liked their presents, but they get so much it's difficult to tell.
No I didn't get a look at that Just Dance game. I don't think the nephew played the Wii while I was there.
I watched a lot of telly, but I wasn't really paying attention to it, apart from Dr Who on Christmas day. I think I saw Top Gear, but not the Christmas day one? I was watching through a slightly alcoholic haze most of the time.
I enjoyed watching an old episode of The Likely Lads last night though.
I didn't realise Upstairs Downstairs was on, or I might have watched it.

I got a couple of CDs and a box of chocs.

You're really getting into building those models Hicky.
I wouldn't go too quickly though, or you'll just have to buy more.
Bet your family are glad to have you to babysit?
Really sad about your SiL.

Hi Mollie & Emptybox.

It's still raining here, not as bad as Oz though.
The forecast has now changed and turned to 0deg and sleet.

Wednesday O/H and SIL go to get the results, not tomorrow Mollie.

There aren't a lot of models left, only saw a few birds, will have another look.
They aren't expensive, I was surprised, they start at £2 to £3 and go up to £6.99, so I was quite pleased.

Tank Finished now, will take a pic of the ones I've done, that's the Car, Helicopter, Motorcycle, Jeep & Tank.
And all the parts that should move/turn do, which is surprising.

Good morning all

Emptybox
I hope that plumber turns up nice and early and can sort you out.
Glad to hear you got a few nice pressies.
at you watching tv through a slight alcoholic glaze.
The Top Gear that was on Boxing Day was really good, both Hicky and I really enjoyed it, so I would recommend it is worth watching it on iplayer.
here it is,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mj59
it is called "Middle East Special".. it is very funny, especailly at the end.

Hicky
I am looking forward to seeing the piccies of your finished models.   And they were a bargain too.   You did a good job as all the parts move too.
Thinking of your OH and sister on Wednesday. 

The thaw has set in here. Still a bit of snow lying, but most has melted. They said the mild weather is to continue now. I wonder if that is the end of the cold snap for winter?

I am full of doubts today about my op, and whether it is the right thing to agree to. They told me i had astham for 10 years, and I never had it!   And they nearly made me bleed to death when i had my tonsils out as a child. Had to have transfusions, and they warned my mum if i had another op, i bleed a lot. I have to donate my own blood the day before this op, incase I need it post op, because the transfusion gave me weird antibodies.  The surgeon last week warned me some do have to go back for 2nd op to stop bleeding, and if they have to go through bone, it is a very long recovery time. It has all happened so quick, i haven't had chance to discuss much with them, At least I am going in the morning of the day before the op, so that should give me time to discuss with them.
Taking these steroids dont help me with jitters either. I am still on 5 a day.

I am going to watch my tv recordings now to distract myself.
Let's hope we hear from Emptybox today that he has the water back.

What are you up to today Hicky?
have a good day. xx

Hi Mollie.

Try not to worry, it won't help your condition, it might even make it worse.
They are pretty good these days, not much they can't do, but they will do what's best for you.

It's thawing a lot now, don't think this is the end of the cold weather, probably have loads more to come yet, that which we normally get, this lot was extra wasn't it.

I will attach a few picture, one is taken from the right, one from the left, one is the picture of the Tank, and the back of the picture which is the parts list, and then the 4 sections which had the parts on before I pressed them out.


Will see if one of my lads girls will paint one of them, she's very artistic, she's about 12 and good at drawing.

Don't take any notice of the file name, didn't change them

Those models are very impressive Hicky. Specially if they are made of wood.
They look very intricate.
Those 3 characters at the end of the shelf don't seem very impressed though, miserable lot.

(ETA: my Brother has just re-decorated his lounge, and he's put up wallpaper with a very similar bold design, although with a white background. It's just on the one wall like yours. That must be the trend.)

Mollie, that does sound bad, that they told you that you had asthma, and all the time it was this thing on your thyroid?
Still, you can't do anything other than to trust the doctors. It doesn't sound like you really have a choice but to have this op, and your breathing problems may be cured once you've made a recovery.
Thanks for the Top Gear link. That's the one I missed.

I have my water back on.
The plumber came about 11am. He fixed the broken pipe in the downstairs toilet, then advised me to keep a fan heater going for the rest of the day, on the spot where the pipe comes into the house, to try to defrost it.
But, in a last minute decision, he decided to try his gas blowlamp on the concrete floor, where the pipe comes in. After about ten minutes, the water started to flow, but it showed up yet another burst pipe in the loo, which he had to fix with a new length of pipe.
It was lucky that he tried the blowlamp, because if it had thawed out later, I would have had to call him back to fix the other burst.
Hopefully all is OK now, but he advised me to keep the back-kitchen heated, during this cold spell, to stop everything freezing again.
More money up in smoke.  

The plumber says he is run off his feet at the moment, fixing burst pipes.

As Hicky says, this is just the start of the cold winter. There'll be a lot more snow and ice to come, I would think.

Hi Emptybox.

The wooden models are quite a challenge, more so as there is only 1 pic and no building instructions apart from some numbers on the layout.
O/H has a lot of those African pieces, quite a sought after collection, she loves them.

I let my O/H pick all matching paper, paint or anything else, try not to get involved, I just say yes.

I thought you might have more trouble once things thawed out, that's what normally happens.
Best get a greenhouse fan heater, you can set them to frost, they just come on if the temperature drops to freezing point, raise the temp a bit then turn off, I have one of them, but no greenhouse,
You can usually set it to 1 bar, 1k watt which doesn't use all that much, just 1 unit an hour, probably about 13p and hour, but it only comes on when nthe temperature drops.
You don't want to get a room one as it probably hasn't got the right thermostat for frost conditions so would stay on most of the tie which would be expensive unless you get a timer from B&Q and plug it in the socket and set it to just come on for a short while now and again.

Boss wants me to work tomorrow, got the 2 girls first thing so don't know when I can get to work, he wants me to sort the end of the year accounts out.

Good evening all
Aaawww Hicky
thank you for putting those piccies up , those models are lovely. I cant believe how quickly you made them because they look so intricate.   That will be a nice job for the youngster to enjoy, when she paints them.   Oh, and I like the nice bright coloured cushions and wall decor, very nice.

Emptybox
so glad you got your water back on ok. That must of been a worry for you, and what a good job he did use his blowlamp on it. Yes, very annoying that you have to waste heating to stop it happening again though.

Oh dear, that is a bit of a blow Hicky , how very dare that boss ask you to go in when you have already made plans. Let's hope he doesn't mind you going in late now you are needed to look after the little girls.

I have been googling about my op today. Apart from scaring myself , it does seem that with the danger to breathing I have , I dont have any choice but to face up the op, and hope for as little complications as possible. I so hope I am not stuck in that place for too long.

I have really enjoyed these 3 episodes of Upstairs Downstairs.

what are you both watching tonight?

Hi Mollie.

I bought a couple more models to build today when we went to the garden centre.
We need more cushions, have 3 pairs now, wanted to mix them, love cushions.

I will go to work after the girls are picked up, need some money to pay for a Service an MOT and I owe the Tax man before the end of Jan.Couldn't google your Op, not sure what it's called really.
I hope you don't have any complications, how long do you think you'll be in the Hospital for?

Hope Emptybox can get the situation sorted.

I am recording up/down stairs.
Just been watching Gordon in India.
Off to bed at 11.10 when Gordon finishes, have seen it before as well.

Hi Mollie.
Yes, I think you just have to try to look beyond the operation, and not worry too much about it, and look forward to a good recovery.

Luckily it's above zero at the mo, so not much chance of anything freezing up tonight.

I've been watching the Will Smith film on ITV tonight. 'I Am Legend'. A post apocalyptic kind of thing. Quite good.

Good morning all

Hicky...I bet it is a busy morning for you today... hope the little girls enjoy brekkie with you, and that you have enough time to do what the boss needs you to do. Thinking of your OH and her poor sister on the hosptial visit today.  

Emptybox
glad to hear it is above zero for you too there today, so you dont get any problems with the water. My family went to see that Will Smith film when it came out at the cinema, and they enjoyed it.
I enjoyed Upstairs Downstairs, but I did not think it as good as Downtown Abbey was.

Hicky... it is called a substernal goitre that i have, and it is pressing on the trachea, and has pushed it to one side, so that is why they said it is urgent, because if i get another cold, i wont be able to breathe again through the narrow windpipe.

I am going to type up my questions for the surgeon now, and then pack my bag. I have again sent my poor OH to the shops to take back unsuitable stuff that didnt fit (too big, think I have lost weight), and to get me more stuff to take into hospital. 

The snow has gone here now, but it is horrible and grey and damp.