What are you all up to
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No need to apologies, ABM, I just think that it's an awfully high price on top of the inflated cost that these firms would charge for replacement part. Talking to a neighbour today who was quoted a price of over £200 for the call out and fitting of a £62 part in a washing machine which was just out of it's warranty.
Hope that you manage to fix the van and are able to get away to IOW for your X-mas trip, Tricky
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Hope Pete is "good to go" for the IOW trip.
Decided to buy a new music system aka the one Goldie bought a while back, have felt like a pair of total incompetents trying to set it up...
(I was impressed when I heard it working in a holiday house this year, they must have got someone in to help them, we can't really be that useless! 
oh yes we are...)We had a nice lunch at Stourhead today after a couple of hours walking round the lakes and up to the house to see the Christmas decorations.
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A dry day for a change, although it has got quite windy as the evening drew in. Went delivering some Christmas cards on our walk out with Flyte this morning after loading some gear into the van for our next trip.
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We have had a lovely meet up and lunch with some good friends we met on a french camp site many years ago. They live near Stratford on Avon so we meet up a few times a year for lunch in a pub in rural Northamptonshire which is half way between us. It was lovely to see them. We now have 2 grandsons with us overnight. We have watched a Johnny English DVD (very funny) and youngest (8) is now in bed so we are now watching I'm a Celebrity with the oldest (11). Not something we normally watch.😕
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Dismantling wardrobes at the old house went well, the extra pair of hands made a big difference. Wardrobes are now over at the new house.
However the 3 big tall units from the study are a bit of a problem as we found that we could not easily remove the back panels, Ikea have changed to a different system of fitting the backs. Tomorrow, with SIL also there to assist, we are going to try and get them down the 2 flights of stairs, if this is not possible then we will have to cut the backs off and get new ones later, they are only white coated hardboard.
We have been working our way through the house dealing with one room at a time and found one drawer the movers had not emptied, and a complete cupboard in the utility room still full of stuff. Will need to remember to check the loft tomorrow.
After that there is all the garden stuff to move over.....BBQ, chairs and table, plants in big pots etc. It is going to be tight getting it all done by Sunday night.
OH is getting to the "I never want to see another cardboard box" stage as she has been unpacking a load of kitchen stuff while Callum was asleep. She still has 7 boxes to go.
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Brue
Margaret has had one of those Pharmacists reviews of her medication. I must admit I find it a very strange situation as surely it should be the doctor who decides what you are taking? Also if you have been prescribed medication by a specialist at the hospital even your own doctor is reluctant to make changes to that! I have not yet had one of these reviews but no doubt I will!!! I am on mainly generic medication so not sure there is much scope for cost savings unless they take me off it.
David
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I had a pharmacist medication review, once, but it was more of a check to make sure I was fully aware as to why I was taking the medication and a conversation about any side effects etc. To be honest, I didn't find it that informative and it was a spur of the moment 'offer' when I went in to collect my repeat prescription. This was some years ago - no-one has asked me since.
On the subject of GP's changing hospital medication, in my experience, it is always good question and not to take things for granted. My GP practice have sent me for blood tests which have only told half the story, resulting in them sending me a letter asking me to change my medication. I have had to make an appointment to explain to them that they have ordered the wrong tests (because of my more unusual medical condition/ or history). My GP's are happy for me to question. I appreciate they are under a lot of pressure and tend to look for common markers. I always try and be as clued up as possible about my medical conditions, and it has proved to be useful.
David
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I agree David. You need to be alert and quite often have more knowledge about your condition than the Pharmacist and sometimes the Doctor. I do recall a good few years ago picking up FILs meds from the Chemist and checking them against those he still had at home as he was unable to do this himself. One medication was incorrectly provided at 10x the dosage and would have been a catastrophe if he had blindly taken it.
Anyway up early as sleep evading me. Would be getting some earache if I woke Mrs WN up at this time of the morning.😁
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I have to be off out in an hour and am wondering if it's too early for OH's early morning cuppa. She's usually too sleepy to remonstrate with me.
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The surgery pharmacists are offering a more in depth review on behalf of the GPs, going through blood test results, BP checks etc However when it came to taking a BP reading the pharmacist didn't follow the normal practice for taking further readings if the BP was up. It worries me slightly that procedures might not be adhered to. I could have asked her to do it but I decided not to. One interesting thing that came out from the review was cholesterol levels, I was under pressure to take statins not long ago but the overall results indicate that this shouldn't have happened (a technician and nurse were involved last time!)
Since our busy local GPs have retired we have had no replacements and we're now down to one very hard pressed GP and a series of locums plus the new level of "assistants" like the pharmacist.
I quite agree you have to be clued up as much as possible about yourself as no one else will be!
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We also have a nurse practitioner who I had an appointment to see. Had a lump on the side of my head which he sort of dismissed even when I pointed out that it was very painful (unlike others) and it was growing in size. After a week I demanded to see a doctor and next day I was with a consultant and within 2 weeks I had the first of two operations. Now if they suggest the nurse practitioner I absolutely refuse.
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Totally agree you need to be clued up about your own medical conditions and ask questions! My mother is horrified when I do so on her behalf. But it has paid off for both of us. Being within tolerance is not where my body sits always. The GP I had who understood this retired, around Feb March i expect to have to defend my dosage.
The only person who knows your body and its reactions is you, so as Oneputt has pointed out stick with it. It can be done in a polite manner, but do resist the temptation of I told you so 😂.
Our wonderful pharmacist is semi retired now after 40 years of service, I'd trust what he had to say but that was mutually respected.
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BRIGHT and breezy here this morning, feel so much more alive! Washing blowing nicely. Been very mundane here but I like it that way at times.
KjNelln you'll be more than ready for a rest. As my mum says wear the old uns out first!
Tricky good to hear from you hope you can sort out Concorde for your Christmas trip. Today's breeze should help with drying 😉.
Enjoy your day folks however you spend it.
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Of course everyone should be aware of the medication they are taking and understand the reasons why. I book six monthly appointments with my doctor for a regular check up. Both of us take statins, Margaret because of her diabetes and heart operation and me because at a certain age they change the criterion as to what level of cholesterol where it is recommended that a person should start taking them. So before a certain age they will be quite happy with a persons level of cholesterol but after that age the level they are happy with drops almost by half! I often think of my parents generation who grew up pre National Health Service. Hopefully all this precautionary medication we now take is doing some good!!!
As an aside our surgery has employed a couple of Paramedics. The idea being to take pressure off the current doctors. They are a half way house between the nursing staff and the doctors but they can deal with a lot of common less serious problems and of course also the more serious issues they came across in their day to day lives on the road.
David
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In some ways we are seasoned travellers through the NHS but for others I'm wondering if they'll get the best attention when needed.
Have been out in the garden but the wind is picking up so have got some of the jobs done and spotted others that need doing. I have been kidding myself that's it's nearly bedded down for the winter but on closer inspection it isn't!
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YMuch cooler today and quite breezy decided on spur of moment to have a night at Commons Wood before heading off to FM,so we can load van and get it warmer,and as a bonus when getting it out of storage the pitch five up from us was going and said he was giving up with c/van and getting a static(has been in the storage for as long as us 1985), his pitch has far easier access so have now swopped (with wardens consent) so less use of MM now as it is a straight back in and pull out
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Two years ago when OH was taken ill while in Spain (kidney stone) he was put on anti inflammatory tablets. Long story short he got worse and worse so we flew home. He was in hospital for a week getting worse, the pain was so bad they had him morphine.
All possible scans were done and no stone was seen, (obviously passed) they couldn't find anything else wrong with him, other than the pain he was in.
The hospital pharmacist came to see him and observed that he was on anti inflammatory tablets, the question she asked was why if he had no sign of inflammation.
The result was he was taken off them and within 24 hours he was feeling a bit better, within another 24 hrs they could reduce the pain relief to just codeine and paracetamol. Turns out that in rare cases anti inflammatories can 'upset' the kidneys.
The village chemist works very closely with our surgery, they are very good at changing your prescription to the Generic (cheaper) version. I've have asked on 2 occasions for them not to do that, as they were less effective.
We are very lucky in our village as we have 2 full time Dr's and 1 part time, they are busy but if and emergency they will usually fit you in. Nurses do lots of the clinics, which does take a lot of the mundane stuff of the Dr's.
Sunny and bright this morning, getting dark and dull now.
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I hope you’ve got your speakers set up now. I did one at a time, starting with the one nearest the router.
Two worked fine (after I used the right passwords), but we had to buy a Wi-fi extender for the other two.
All our music is loaded onto I-tunes on the Desktop PC, and it’s brilliant to select any artist or album from almost anywhere in the house. There’s stil a part of the house that’s out of reach of the signal, but it’s only really used when we have a house full, so we’ve not bothered with installing speakers.
We are not all hi tech though - we have a lot of vinyl records that we play on an old but decent hifi .
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Turns out that in rare cases anti inflammatories can 'upset' the kidneys.
Exactly the reason, Tammy, I'm not allowed anywhere near NSAIDs, or Steroids either. Lovely morning so out and about. Catching up with the list of jobs this afternoon as squally showers set in.
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Early call today as OH went fishing at 6.30 am, in the dark venturing forth, not my thing...but I think they all met up for a road side breakfast and then it's an end of year pub meal later.
The local Christmas garden lights are going up but I'm leaving ours till later, I'm not that good at the elaborate cable linking that some round here do. We've managed to keep a Christmas tree going in a pot from last year so won't have to find the "perfect" one this time round.
Jars of mincemeat are looking at me from the kitchen work top, OH bought some Mr Kipling mince pies yesterday, they weren't too bad but I prefer home made.
Horrible weather, cold, wet, strong winds all night. Have a cosy Sunday if you're at home today.
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When I got up this morning it was a blue sky day so after a quick shower I put my boots on and went for a walk.
Halfway around the heavens opened and a veritable deluge ensued. It didn't need to hail but it did. Anyway my coat and trousers held the rain at bay and I eventually found my way back in time for lunch and a nice warm cup of coffee.
Thinking about cleaning things up as the ladies arrive back tomorrow evening so my clothes have been in the washing machine (yes I do know how to operate it), dishes washed, place hoovered and the little bit of ironing that was left will be done before the day is out.
I was going to bake a nice stem ginger cake but am awaiting a supply of fresh flour as my cupboard is bare and it's impossible to get the right flours from local shops, who I would be delighted to support but they don't seem to want my trade. Funny really I went into Holland and Barrett and asked the lady assistant if they had any Sorghum or Tapioca flour in and she basically didn't have a clue what I was talking about. Bit of a problem as they promote themselves as a health store.
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Been a lovely day here today, bright sunshine, clear blue skies, but a biting wind. We went for a drive out on Moors and bit of a stroll with dogs. Found a lovely tiny little church at the head of Bransdale, it had a coffee and tea machine for visitors as well, so a welcome stop off!
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Decent weekend here, had a bit of rain but not much, blue skies and quite mild during the day but frost overnight last night.
Big excitement at grand daughters boarding school on Friday, the headmaster decided that he was closing the school a week early.
The school has 3 boarding houses and 2 of them have been having problems with heating and hot water for a long time.
The head had enough this week, so decided to close the school a week early. Must have been a difficult decision as all the children are from service families who are spread worldwide.
Many of them were picked up on Friday/Saturday by family members but some have had to stay on in the one house that still has full facilities. Some of the children are going skiing on Monday to Basel, so they are all still at the school too.
Its a credit to the service families, that many have helped out and taken in some of the children who have no family members close by.
We have had our grand daughter for the weekend and tomorrow she is flying down with her other grand dad (who just happens to be going down for work) to meet up with her dad and then home for the holidays.
We've had a great weekend with her, lots of laughter and fun things. This afternoon we all went out for a meal with her and hand her over to them ready for the flight tomorrow.
Time for feet up now and a cuppa, OH already nodded off watching the tv
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'Turns out that in rare cases anti inflammatories can 'upset' the kidneys'
Presumably this is why my doctor is no longer allowed to prescribe (according to NICE) Dichlofenac Sodium for my gout.
That was a fantastic tablet that killed the pain and reduced inflammation.
Although I cannot get it in the UK it is a common, over the counter, drug throughout Europe and I get to buy it when I am on holiday over there. €3 for enough medicine to last me 2 years.
Long live European thinking!
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We're back home after a week away. The caravans back in storage ready for the next outing. I've done two loads of washing, cooked tea and prepped lunch boxes for tomorrow.....now enjoying a small glass of port. 🍷😊.
We've had a lovely week at a CL that has pitches on the edge of a wildlife lake. We watched a heron trying to catch its breakfast this morning and the kingfisher has visited everyday. On Wednesday we came back to the caravan from having a nice lunch out, to find a cow in the middle of the CL eating the lawn.🐂 It had escaped from the local farm and was enjoying the grass and foliage of the CL much more than her usual field. The farmer was rung and asked to collect it! It takes wildlife watching to another level! 😊🤗
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Redface, why can't your doctor prescribes a medication to prevent the gout in the first place? I take a tablet, one a day, called Allopurinol and, touch wood, have not had an attack for 2 years. Mind you I am on the maximum I can take. Speak to your doctor.
Diclofenac can have all sorts of problems with long term use.
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