May Phil

We managed to get home alright from our holiday in Corfu which seems a long time ago already.  I know that we both keep harping on about not being suited for All Inclusive holidays and then going on another one but this was very enjoyable.  If we had been self catering and traveling all over the island we would have seen more but I wouldn't have gone out as much in the evenings.  Also it would have cost twice as much and I wouldn’t have booked it in the first place.

What made it for me was meeting Shane and Holly.  We weren't in each others pockets and only had one day together on the quad bikes but we did meet up most evenings for one or three.

During our journey back I had an email from Rexam so I went in to see them when I got home.  They are in exactly the same position as last time I saw them.  They still haven't had the software loaded onto my new machine.  The other problem is that they are upgrading the operating system for all machines.  this has to be done simultaneously so that they are all reading and writing the same version at the same time.  Of course, my new machine already has the new operating system so they need to upgrade the others first anyway.  My boss has been getting some stick from his bosses because it still hasn’t been done yet and he has been given two weeks.  To be honest its not all his fault because software can only be loaded by an administrator.

My mum was pleased to see us back and had a few jobs lined up for me.  Because dad is ill she can’t even open her tablets from the multipack or a new bottle of lemonade.  I have to open her tablets into a jar for the following week.  We are a little disappointed with the home help because dad hasn’t been given a shower since he was in hospital.

Jim’s Shirley went to Australia to visit Dan and Kylie for a couple of weeks while Jim was away on business in georgia.  Shirley went first so Jim came over for Sunday lunch while the Spanish GP was on BBC.  It worked well because the GP had finished when Harriet came around and we all had lunch together.  However, it looks like Jim has been delayed in Georgia and wont be back until the beginning of June.

Sue managed to get away for her holiday, even though her dad wasn’t so good when she left with Brian.  Trouble is they had two weeks booked so it wasn’t likely that they would manage to get both weeks in Fueteventura.  In fact they only managed a few days when her dad was admitted to hospital again so they decided to fly back via Lanzarote.

Because the weather has been so poor so far this year, it was May before we managed to stay at our caravan.  We had planned to stop Friday to Monday but the weather turned and we got a flat back at Oldbrook so we only stayed overnight Friday and came back on Saturday.  Two days around the flat saw it finished as they had left it pretty good.  This is the last flat we have managed by Morgans and we handed it over to Prestige on Tuesday morning.  Adam, the co-founder of Prestige used to work for Morgans and was our main contact.  Once he left we didn't get the service we had been used to so it was natural to swap over as each one came available.  We had a walk around the lakes for the first time this year and noticed that they have a fountain in the middle of the first lake.  When we walked around the second one we could see that they have two around it.  They have also put two Site Manager scarecrows adjacent to one fountain.  I guess that this is to scare away the campers.

By the morning of 9th May my Mum called in tears saying that Dad was making some funny noises.  I phoned the district nurse, had a shower and packed an over night bag.  I rang again and spoke to the district nurse at Mum’s house and she told me things weren't good and I should come as soon as possible.  I left immediately but was held up on the M1 with an accident that had only recently happened.  Two police cars came past on the hard shoulder while we were queuing behind it and we slowly moved past it.  It was two lorries and a car, I was only held up by 15 to 20 minutes because I was so close to it.  I arrived at Melton to find that Dad had passed away a few minutes earlier.

I spend most of the rest of May with my Mum in Melton making arrangements for the funeral and sorting out finances with Claire.  I dashed back to MK now and then to get fresh clothes and put out fires.  Mum has taken it better than I could have imagined but she wasn’t so good on the days she was alone.  She is 82 and went straight from living with her Mum to getting married so she hasn’t ever been on her own before.  The only time was when Dad went to Germany for his Fathers funeral and I was with her then.  Claire and I passed our time by doing lots of jobs around Mum’s bungalow and its not far from where she wants it now.  We haven't had the conversation yet but it seems that she wants to try and live there on her own to start with.

A few days after my Dad died, when we registered his death, Sue rang to say that her Dad had died earlier that day on 13th May.  Poor Sue had been by her dads side almost non stop since he had been taken to hospital.  She had hardly slept and so finally went home for a couple of hours at 2am.  No sooner had she got home but had a call from the hospital to say that he had passed away shortly after she had left.  Poor Sue, and her Dad suffered terribly at the end.  At least my Dad said he was in no pain, although sometimes he looked as though he was.  It has been two years since Sue’s husband Alan passed away which was also in May.  Sue is still having tests for her problems, but all the signs are good for her health.  Lets hope that finally She can now begin the slow process of rebuilding her life.  I have scheduled this entry to publish on the last day of the month because we will be at Sue’s Dads funeral.

Dad’s funeral was held on 21st May at Grantham Crematorium and we had the Wake back in Melton at the Bowls Club which seemed to be the only place they would go out in later life.  Unfortunately, Georgina had her first exam the day before Dad’s funeral and her second on the day followed by her third two days later.  She tried to change the date but they could only delay it until next year which would mean that she failed this year.  Not an option as this year goes towards 45% of her degree.  The funeral went really well and everyone spoke of how nice the service was.  The Wake was actually enjoyable as we could catch up with lots of relatives that we haven't seen since the last funeral.  I have promised everyone that I will take Mum to visit them all when things have sorted themselves out.

We have had another miserable month weather wise with the rain hardly stopping for breath.  Steve Pemberton, who’s 60th Birthday we went to back in late February.  Maddy, his wife had bought him 2 tickets for Eric Clapton that was on Friday 24th May at the Royal Albert Hall.  Maddy didn’t want to go so I had the honor of going with Steve for the day.  The tickets were £85 each so it was like my Birthday as well.  Although I used to go to concerts and pop festivals as a youth, visiting Reading Festival 7 years in a row, I somehow missed Eric the first time around so was looking forward to it.  We bought Steve a satnav and a meal at Simpsons on the Strand on the same day as Eric and Groupon vouchers for the London car Museum to pass the rest of the day away.  Thats the sort of presents I like buying people, ones I can go on as well.  Although it rained all day and we got wet now and then we had a great day with a fabulous meal at Simpsons.  I hadn’t realized on my previous visits there but its the restaurant for the Savoy next door.  Eric looks like he has lost a bit of weight but he’s not lost it.  They played about 5 or 6 songs with electric guitar then he sat down with an acoustic for a few songs and finished back on his feet again.  Poor old sod needed a rest; but I guess he is 68 years old now.  Its the first time I have been to the Royal Albert Hall and I was very impressed with the lighting, sound and acoustics.

We have been going to the nags Head on a Wednesday night now for ages but the last week in May we had several Morris dancers turn up for a drink.  More and more came in until it became apparent that there were two groups and they all assembled outside in the car park where they had a Morris dance off.  They finished and came back in the pub for refreshments and then all started playing and singing.  There were 5 piano accordions, drums, whistle, guitar and bagpipes.  Amazing, all these years I have been going in pubs and have never encountered people playing piano accordions before.  My Dad used to play the piano accordion and the very same week we have his funeral we get 5 all at once.

The following day on Saturday 24th Claire went to pick up Mum and took her to the caravan as the weather had turned.  I picked up georgina, who had a 10 day break before her next exam and we met them there.  Harriet came over to Overstone Manor for lunch with us and we had a nice day.  We also stayed Sunday night and I took Mum back on the Monday.  Sue came over for the day on Sunday and we had a loverly roast at the Club house where Mum and Sue ordered the child's portion which was still too big to finish.  We didn’t realize that adults could order this so we might have the same next time because we never manage to finish ours either.  I need to do something about my weight as I just seem to be constantly creeping upwards.  Nothing seems to stop me eating like most other people; whenever Im ill, I eat more.  If Im sad, I eat more.  I cant think of anything that makes me eat less, except maybe exercise which I have not been getting much of lately.  There lays my answer.

We applied for Attendance allowance for both Mum and Dad earlier and Mum had a letter at the end of the month saying that she has qualified which was a bit of a surprise to her.  As she will be loosing the Lion’s share of Dad’s Petfood’s pension she will probably need it, especially as she cant do all the things she used to be able to do.  Its been so long since Mum drove a car that she is not confident any more and her legs are so painful she wouldn't be able to press the clutch anyway.  She cant walk any distance at all so she’s a bit stuck at the moment.  She has her old neighbor Joan who takes her to Tesco’s every Thursday and to the doctors if she needs to and we visit to take her places as well, but its not the same as being independently mobile.  We need to try her on one of those mobile scooters to see how she gets on with those.  Daphne wanted Mum to have her new one but of course her little helpers seem to have helped themselves to that along with everything else in her house and the house itself.  I will update you a little more regarding Daphne’s estate next month.  I hate to wish my time away, but I am looking forward to the end of this month; roll on June!