'Little' update, long and totally OT

OK, I'm all in tears again, and I'm pretty sure that this is >not< normal.

> Hello all,
> sorry I didn't pop in for so long, but the stairs to my 'puter are too
> much
> for me on most days, plus I seem to lack the time. :-(
> @ Sharon: I wanted to say that your landscaping project has turned out
> absolutely lovely. Like most in this group I absolutely dig your sofa;
> gives
> the whole affair such a nice colonial flair. You'd expect servs in white
> exotic liveries with a tray of fancy drinks around the corner. Send more
> pics when the plants have grown a little, please do! As for mulching the
> flowerbed, I couldn't say if that's a good idea. Probaly you don't get
> much
> slugs around your place; here a mulched flowerbed might as well be
> called a slug Ritz. ;-)
> @ Beverly: Did you post any pics of your wardrobe for Nashville yet? I'm
> so
> out of touch, but I so want see what you made of the 'dusting rag'. ;-)
> @ Kate: I envy you your latest stash acqusitions, but I have to curb my
> lust
> for fabric these days. We have to get things in order here before I can
> think of anything added to the heap of belongings that want a permanent
> home. Oh, what I had always wanted to say about the Husqvarna: There was
> no
> blackend grease in it at all, but that might be part of the problem. When
> I'd been at the orthopaedist, I nicked to longer syringes with bigger
> needles so that I can reach the unreachable parts. Don't know when I'll be
> able to attend to that problem next, thouhg. As for the chocolate buttons:
> On DD's actual birthday (10. July) I administered her one pack (@
> everybody
> else: they are tiny packs, don't worry) in spoonfuls; they must have
> suffered from the heat and I tried to unstick them with the package still
> closed, but the contents had crumbled. However, she LOVED it! ;-)
> @ all who did wish well: The surgery went quite well, I think, although
> they
> didn't do what they planned to in the first place. They thought the bones
> inside the ankle joint had been bruised; it turned out, however, that the
> cartilage (right expression for the stuff that keeps bones in joints from
> wearing?) was totally destroyed on one side, and there was a nice
> inflammation. So they cleared out the debris and poked the bone a bit in
> order to make it regrow some new cartilage. That's why I'm not supposed to
> put any weight on it (OK, 20 kg, but that's nothing, really).
> I'm still in pain most of the time. That is, my GP who took the stitches
> out
> on Friday pescribed some more effective painkillers than the orthopaedist
> and now I can sleep properly again if DD lets me; she caught a cold from
> her
> little friend next door by sharing her pacifier with him. Moreover, we had
> to take out one of the side grids(?) of her cot because I can't lift her
> over and so she doesn't sleep as well as she used to, wandering around in
> her room and examining everything in her reach, and waking up several
> times
> during the night.
> The little stay at my SIL didn't do her too good, either; she's such a
> headstrong little girl that she needs clear limits set very carefully (you
> know, tame 'em but don't break 'em). My SIL doesn't believe in this
> principle; her own son was allowed to leave school at 13 or so,
> terrorizing
> over them ever since and now, at the tender age of 27, still living in
> their
> guest room and out of their pocket, due to the fact that he didn't learn
> anything but the names of the players of his favourite soccer club and
> operating his mobile and a PC for games. But that's another story.
> Anyway, SIL offered help in the house for the time after surgery, but we
> had
> a nice little argument about how I keep my household (not much worse than
> yours, Kate, only a little messier now due to stress and limited ability
> to
> move in the past weeks), the fact that I feel an obligation towards my
> cats,
> too, and that I think it's prefectly OK to give DD a little (really very
> little) slap on the wrist for repeated misbehaviour (all absolutely age
> appropriate) and shout a warning or a reprimand at her if she's about to
> get
> into a mess. She said a lot of things, I didn't say a fraction of what I
> thought but tried to appease her without losing too much ground in my own
> house but in the end she rushed off to the upper story to change the bed
> linnens with the prediction that 'We'll never become friends'. That hurt a
> lot, especially since she has treated me for the past three years or so in
> which we have known eachother in only such terms that I thought we were
> friends. After a dazed moment I went after her and asked her, very
> politely,
> to leave which she did.
> That was on Saturday last. Of course all peace was gone from our home, me
> having to explain to DH that I didn't do anything bad to offend his
> sister,
> he being slightly cross with both of us and no chance (or so it seemed)
> for
> reconciliation since SIL is known for her unvorgivingness towards those
> who
> happen to offend her (a butcher who just washes his hands before touching
> the meat instead of using plastic gloves, a waitress not being polite
> enough
> etc.), and DD still out of sorts because of all the over-indulgence she
> had
> received.
> To spoil it for you: Last night we had a birthday party for DH and DD and
> she attended, hugging me and, in a manner, asking for pardon. I was polite
> and all that was expected but you can imagine that my heart didn't recover
> as fast, and I'm dead sure that I won't ask her for any help in the near
> future. Of course, it was my fault in the beginning. I shouldn't have
> asked
> her; it must be a torment for her in her overly neat ways to be in a 'den'
> like ours. (It's perhaps a bit like forcing my father, who severly hates
> the
> smell of BBQ - as a kid he witnessed an air raid on the Dortmund central
> station during the war - to attend a permanent one [like the mad hatter's
> tea party in 'Alice in Wonderland' perhaps].)
> The worst I haven't told yet. I don't know if I ever mentioned, but we had
> two cats, Sparrow and Miss Sophy. On Tuesday I had to have Miss Sophy put
> down because she had been poisoned. I'll spare you the details, I'd break
> into tears again, but it was hopeless and I was afraid that I wouldn't
> even
> be able to take her to the vet to end her pain, but fortunately my
> neighbour
> took us (one sick cat in kennel, one lady on crutches, drenched in tears,
> one two-year old inquisitive, active girl, one 18-month old equally
> disposed
> boy and herself in a car she'd never driven). She may put her nose a bit
> too
> much into the Bible, but she's a good person and if I ever said or though
> anything against her I'm deeply sorry for it. She has helped me a lot
> since
> then. Anyway, poor Sophy was put to sleep and we haven't even been able to
> give her a decent grave in my parents' garden yet; she rests, shrouded in
> the pillowcase on which I took her home from the vet when she was a tiny
> little kitten about three years ago and sealed in a dustbin liner in a
> disused freezer which I re-activated for this purpose. I have no idea if
> she
> ate a poisoned rat or if some friendly neighbour did this.
> OK, I'm all in tears again, and I'm pretty sure that this is >not< normal.
> I've made an appointment with my gynaekologist because I feel a little
> queasy 'down there' and am afraid that it's either climacterium advancing
> prematurely or something worse. If it isn't anything hormonal, I'm afraid
> I'll have to go and see the shrink again for some antidepressants. Well,
> first things first, I'll have to get through these blasted six weeks.
> Fortunately, I've found a way to work in my kitchen without putting too
> much
> strain on my foot. I got me a stool and a pillow (IKEA and DB be thanks)
> and
> use one crutch if I have to move with something in my hand. Long walks are
> not good but now the worst hassle is over, or at least I hope so.
> Everything
> takes so much longer that I don't know how to get on with my wedding
> preparations. I'd love to postpone it but I'm afraid that then two people
> who are very dear to me, my father and 'auntie', won't be there to
> celebrate
> with us. At least I got a good night's sleep tonight, the first one since
> I
> don't know when.
> Well, that's it so far. Thanks for listening, and I'm sure one of these
> days
> I'll be able to post something that's not OT. Have a nice Sunday and I'll
> read you all as much as I can, even if I don't write much.
>

> Sure hope you are feeling better soon and the painkillers work for you.
> Do you know of anyone who has an adult walker hidden in a closet? It
> would be good if you could borrow one for a few weeks. And better yet if
> it had a bench on the walker for you to place things to move around the
> house. If not a bench, then you could use safety pins to hold a hand
> towel on the walker and pin up the bottom for a pocket to hold items.
> So sorry about your kitty. Hope your SIL and you can work things out.
> Barbara in SC

> Hello all,
>
> sorry I didn't pop in for so long, but the stairs to my 'puter are too
> much for me on most days, plus I seem to lack the time. :-(
>
> @ Sharon: I wanted to say that your landscaping project has turned out
> absolutely lovely. Like most in this group I absolutely dig your sofa;
> gives the whole affair such a nice colonial flair. You'd expect servs in
> white exotic liveries with a tray of fancy drinks around the corner. Send
> more pics when the plants have grown a little, please do! As for mulching
> the flowerbed, I couldn't say if that's a good idea. Probaly you don't get
> much slugs around your place; here a mulched flowerbed might as well be
> called a slug Ritz. ;-)
>

> Larry Green wrote:

> > Salt is a very effective (if somewhat gruesome)
> > slug/snail killer.
> Yep. They sizzle and shrink up smaller than badly cut
> bacon. It's very satisfying actually.