Easter

Hello folks, I hope everyone had a good Easter, The girls and I have had a two week break, and although we planned to do nothing we don't seem to have stopped! At the start of the break I had my Birthday, it started as a wet day, but got brighter as the hours ticked on, I had a lovely day spent with Family popping round with loads of cool gifts and cards, I got a little chest box full of arty stuff, chocolate and stuff for a relaxing bath..perfect.

I must say we went for a meal at a pub in Hitchin called The Three Moorhens, my partner had asked for a table with good lighting but tucked away from the noise of the pub, but because it was bank holiday Monday I thought we wouldn't stand a chance, but we got exactly what we asked for, the menu was fairly good to read with my magnifier, I have a small dome magnifier which I keep in my handbag, everyone comments on how nifty it is!

Anyway, we had a fantastic meal so very big thumbs up to The Three Moorhens, we ended the day by taking Ralph for a long walk. Easter Sunday we strayed away from the traditional roast lamb dinner and went full on Italian, my Dad was Italian and my grandparents were both very good cooks, although we didn't realise how good Grandad was until after Grandma died and he had to cook for himself! My youngest Sister and I made (with a little guidance from my Aunt in Australia..Hello Aunty Phyllis!) cheese ravioli, tones of it, we made our pasta and my girls and my nieces had a great time rolling the pasta dough through the machine, we made a cheese filling and our very own D'Addario pasta sauce.

I remember Easters at my grandparents house, Grandma would have a great long table that stretched for what seemed like all the way from her living room into the dinning room, and it was packed with food, pasta , meats, cheeses, fruit, lots of Granddads home made red wine...OHHH LORDIE, Mum used to dress my sisters and I in the same dresses for these occasions, we used to have these matching blue velvet dresses with white lace around the neck line, white long socks and red patient shoes, thank gawd not many photographs were taken in those days, brings back fond memories though, all the kids used to sit out in the conservatory to eat and Grandma used to get us to sing and dance for everyone in the afternoon, oh dear I seem to have gone right off track! So anyway, that was Easter over and done with, we have cleaned the house, cleared out cupboards and done some gardening, my mates hubby Steve came round to see if he could remove the blessed plastic from the tree but, like I said its wayyy to high for anyone to reach safely. I had been informed that the patio outside my back door was looking grubby, so I thought I would get out the pressure washer and give it a bash, how hard can it be right? My neighbour had done his a few days before and HE was wearing a white tshirt! So there I was happily spraying away, humming to myself and thinking how very clever I was to be able to make this machine work and spray all this water, ohhh yeah, I'm having a great time! and then I was finished, so I swept up all this very muddy dirty water and stepped back to check out my new found skills, only to discover that I hadn't shut the back door, there was thick brown mud dripping off of the conservatory door on to the tiles, I gently pushed the door open and Ohhhh balls, it was everywhere, and I mean everywhere, all over the floor, up the walls, it covered my dining table and chairs it had even spread to the interior glass doors, for some reason I stood there for ages before I could move, then Ralph came running through, skidded to a halt in front of me, looked me up and down and legged it back into the house, it was then I realised that there was no way I would ever be able to wear a white Tshirt, I was covered top to toe in gritty mud, sadly the girls found this hilarious...until I made them help me clear up the mud slide!
I seem to have gone off track again, So, you will be pleased to hear I finally have my hospital appointment for Moorfields, although its not until mid June, I am relieved I have it and it has taken some of the pressure off knowing that I will be going back there. I also had a home visit from Bedfordshire Visual Impairment team, I have mentioned Rob before and am very please that he has been given my case again, Rob is very easy to talk to and completely understanding and realistic. We talked for some time about how I am feeling and where I need help the most, as anyone who knows me will say I am not the easiest person to get along with and I refuse to ask for help, however, I haven't seen Rob for a few years and the person I was then is not the person I am at the moment, a lot has happened in those few years, and I am ashamed to say I opened up and had a good howl, tears and snot everywhere! Rob gentle suggested that it might be time to have some kind of professional emotional support, and if I hadn't seen first hand the support, understanding and guidance my daughter has received form her appointments with Fran at CHUMS I still would have refused it, but this time as I sat with snotty tissues scattered around me and I accepted and Rob is arranging counselling from RNIB.....I will let you know how it goes and I promise to go into it with a open mind and ready to accept what every they might say to me! Ohh yes, I also go a glass magnifier for my Birthday, I have always had plastic ones and frankly they are crap, but Rob suggested I have a electronic magnifier and a white light lamp to use in the kitchen, we talked about changing the spot lights in my kitchen and decided that replacing them with strip lights is a waste of time as by the time any light from the ceiling reaches where I am working, its pretty useless anyway, so hopefully the portable lamp I will be able to use all around the house, ermmm what else, oh yes, the bloody plastic up the tree, he says he is going to have a chat to the council...good luck with that! and also look at some security lighting for out the back of the house so I stop tripping and falling on my face when I put the bins out at night, I know I could put the bins out during the day, but you never know when you might need to wonder to the end of the garden in the dark! and seriously, a security light does what its supposed to do its a deterrent and makes one feel secure in ones own home don't you know!
I have also passed on my council tax drama onto the lovely Tracy at Action for Blind, she will sort through the endless stupid paper work and set up a conference call so it can be sorted, I think I told you that I lost my single person benefit because my daughter turned 18, this is all lovely, but at the moment is still in full time education and doesn't have a job, its a constant battle with these people and its such a relief to have support form someone who knows what the hell they are talking about! Anyway, I start my new working hours next week and today is the last day of the Easter hols, the sun is shinning so I am off out for a walk, I will let you all know how I get on with the new gadgets, Bye for now x
Just a quick photo of my glass magnifier, I know it looks like something out of a old mystery movie, but its brilliant!!