2015-07-16T20:41:15+01:00

Episode 418: The Delights of Decorating!

July 16, 2015/Judy E Martin/33 Comments

Tomorrow Miss Hap breaks up for the summer holidays until early September! This is always a nightmare as far as childcare is concerned as myself and Mr Grump usually take a couple of alternate weeks off each, and for the others I work a couple of nights and a day over the weekend. We are lucky that we can do this, and Mr Grump has got the first week off next week.

Miss Hap has decided that she wants to totally redecorate her room as she has grown tired of it! We only did it a couple of years ago in the orange and lime green that she wanted. (It sounds a bit loud but I really like it actually, although I was a bit reluctant at first)! As her room was the last one to be done it was not next on my list at all, but as she had worked so hard at school lately despite a very rocky start, and won an award on Monday for German and Music I am considering it. I also have an ulterior motive in that her room is a mess, and I told her if she cleaned it out spotlessly I might think about it.

Now she has already been giving her orders about colour schemes and what she wants to do. In fact, bless her, she cut a load of letters out to stick on her wall already as you can see in the pic. Now I hate decorating (well the mess that goes with it), and get very stressed with furniture all over the place and other stuff strewn about, so I have decided that this part of the deal will go to Mr Grump!

He likes painting and decorating, and if he doesn’t get it done next week (along with some other chores I have given him to do), then he is off the first week in August and can do it then. It’s a shame really, because I have got to work and he will have to do it all by himself (no doubt a lot of direction from Miss Hap too)!!

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Episode 401: Sweating it Out!

July 2, 2015/Judy E Martin/44 Comments

Well, I knew it wouldn’t last. I can’t stop myself (I think it is too far embedded into my genes), I am going to have to moan about the weather! Yes, I should be grateful that we have seen quite a bit of sunshine, and that it is lovely and hot. The problem is, we are not used to it!

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far here in good old England, but luckily I didn’t have to work so could wear what I wanted and also do what I wanted. Last night, however, the temperature did not decrease by much and it was stifling hot and muggy. I ended up trying to sleep with the fan whirring on full blast and an ice pack! Bearing in mind, I am also at ‘that age’ when ladies get a little more flushed at certain times! I thought I was going to spontaneously combust!

This morning dawns another hot day, but cooler as it was only 28 Celsius (about 82 Fahrenheit). I reluctantly donned my thick cotton uniform and tights, plus clumpy shoes and bloody stupid belt to go to work.

As I walked onto the ward the heat hit me like a slap in the face! Great, putting on latex gloves and plastic aprons is going to make a lovely addition to my already boiled body (thank God the patients allowed us to open the windows so we could let a bit of (hot) air in!

Luckily for me I had to go off the ward for my annual top up resus training, in a room with air conditioning! Bliss! Well it was for 5 minutes until we had to pummel the dummy back to life with frantic CPR. Pretty exhausting stuff.

Anyway, I hot-foot it back to the ward for another face smacking dose of heat, only to discover the boss wants to take some photos as we all have to have our pictures up on the board outside the ward (presumably to terrify those not too ill to care)! At first I was a bit put out as I thought it would be better off being taken first thing in the morning but in this heat it makes no difference anyway.

So imagine this, a relative comes to see their poorly elderly relative, decides to have a look at which staff may happen to be looking after them, and sees my picture. Ruddy faced, ghastly grimace (we were told to smile) hair plastered to the head, and sweat dripping. Professional is not the word!

You’d run a bloody mile, talking your relative with you!

Episode 396: In The Doghouse!

June 28, 2015/Judy E Martin/32 Comments

Well although I was working today and knew that I would be up very early, I did not intend on getting up quite as early as 4:30!

Roxy, like all of the females in this house is a bit of a klutz! This morning was no exception, as she fell off the bed landing with a thud, that jolted both me and Mr Grump awake. Not only that but she managed to get herself entangled in the power cord from my hair straighteners, that were hanging on the shelf of our 3ft high mirror on the wall by the side of the bed (yes, that was the wall NOT the ceiling, Cat)!

Anyway as she ran forward she tugged the cable which yanked the mirror off the wall completely, sending it crashing to the floor with a huge bang! Thank God Roxy had got out of the way and the mirror didn’t smash either.

Needless to say, I was wide awake by then and got up. Roxy got an extra hour sleep in before she got taken out for her walk! She was not my favourite doggy this morning!

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Episode 395: Mr Grump’s Computer Rage!

June 27, 2015/Judy E Martin/41 Comments

Mr Grump doesn’t usually work on Fridays, so for him the weekend starts after work on Thursday afternoon. He quite often has a beer or five, and then the inevitable music comes on. As we like the same kind of music (and Miss Hap was brought up on it), it is enjoyed by us all.

Now back in the good old days, we had CD players, record players, ghetto blasters etc, but now we have various music channels (too many adverts though interrupting the flow), and the trusty PC, the Jack of all trades.

Now Mr Grump had painstakingly burned disc after disc of his favourite tracks onto the PC, and had built up a huge library of entertainment which he is particularly proud of. When anyone comes round for a party he will flick through his many and varied tunes to set the mood, and if it is just us here, he will play all his old favourites.

Not this Thursday night though. He decided the computer was too slow, so it must have a virus and would need to be restored. Needless to say, I had to go and do it, which I did. Still not right, so we decided to restore it from the backup discs we had previously created. I did that for him (reluctantly now as I was getting fed up).

All I could hear was heavy sighing, cursing and swearing after it had set up, it appears he had forgotten his password for his e-mail which he used to just sign into automatically, and God forbid, could not get into his library of music! I was cross by now so went to bed as I had work the next day.

Yesterday evening. He picked me up from work as he does on a Friday and then went off to meet a friend for a ‘quick pint’ at the local pub. My younger sister was coming round to help me colour my hair, and we decided to fire up the barbie for dinner.

My sister and brother-in-law arrived with their labrador, hungry and short of time, (in fact my BIL had to perform at a gig a short time later and had to leave in about half an hour). Mr Grump turned up, a few mins later and got the food on the go.

As he couldn’t play his music, the TV (plus extra loud speakers he had connected to it) blasted out the vintage years selections at ear-splitting volume whilst we sat eating our food, vibrating with the bass!

Luckily for Miss Hap she had a school disco to go to, and BIL dropped her off on his way leaving just the three of us, My sister did my hair, whilst Mr Grump fiddled about on the PC trying to get some thing to work, anything to work! He was locked out of Facebook as well as he couldn’t remember his password. Luckily I knew it so at least he could get on there!

When My sister left, Mr Grump was nagging me to help him again. I asked for another e-mail address to send recovery details to, he couldn’t remember the password for that one either and gave mine! Meanwhile the PC ‘wasn’t letting him do anything at all now’ so he gave up dejected and we went to bed.

This morning I set the bloody thing back to factory settings! I guessed the password combination for the other e-mail and got him back into everything. Of course his musical library will have to be built up again from scratch!

Thank God I am working tomorrow. (I never usually say that when I have to work on a Sunday)!

Episode 394: Creepy Creatures!

June 26, 2015/Judy E Martin/42 Comments

Now I admit that I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to creepy crawlies etc, and of course now that summer is well and truly on its way, I am going to be constantly nagging Mr Grump to come and deal with any that happen to get in my way!

I have tried to be really careful that I do not pass this trait down to Miss Hap but it seems I have failed. Around 6am this morning when I was eating my breakfast and Mr Grump was out with the dog, she came thundering down the stairs in rather a hurry! This in itself was unusual because normally it takes forever to get her up and motivated on a school day and also she does not like to hurry, especially in the mornings.

It turns out there was a HUGE (her words) spider in her room and I needed to go and get it out immediately. Well I am afraid to say, I wasn’t going! I had already had a run in with a daddy-long-legs that dive-bombed me whilst I was on the loo, and that was far closer than I was going to get to any spiders. Mr Grump was still out, so after 10 mins Miss Hap decided (with my encouragement) that it had probably scuttled off somewhere else and to go back to bed.

At break time today at work, three of us went to sit on the smoker’s bench just by the car park (I haven’t restarted smoking, but way too hot to stay indoors). The nurse sitting next to me on the bench started flailing about screaming, so I jumped up as well as she said something was in her hair!

She managed to flick it off and it turned out to be this little chap. I have never seen a spider like him before. He has this almost fluorescent green body (looks radioactive to me) and was running around all over the place.

I wanted to get a pic of him as he was so unusual but was scared to get too close, so this is the end result which is not very good I know, but you can still see the glowing green bit of him! Has anyone else seen this weird type of spider.? (Now to us of course, he seemed ENORMOUS but I think he was probably about as big as a thumbnail!

Episode 382: Tea Parties and Trips!

June 19, 2015/Judy E Martin/25 Comments

Yesterday was Mum’s 83rd birthday. She had invited my two sisters and myself with our families for tea. The weather could not have been nicer and we only live a few minutes walk away which is handy.

Both of my sisters were there when we got there and one of my nieces. It was great to eat outside in the garden and also catch up with each other as we had not managed to spend all that much time together lately. Later my nephew and other niece and her husband joined us as well which completed our little tea-party,

My sister had set up the table and chairs on the raised patio so there was not a huge amount of room around it to walk freely. Mr Grump had partaken of a couple of beers and went to help himself to something to eat from the table. Unfortunately, he tripped over a quadruple plant pot type arrangement filled with compost, which upended and went everywhere; this had Mum tutting at the mess.

She also has these huge planter type boxes as well which Mr Grump fell against when he tripped. Seeing her chance, my little sister gave him a shove which sent him reeling back straight into it, squashing Mum’s plants. That set the rest of us off laughing, especially as Mum was telling my sister off for pushing him in!

Ahhhh, Just like the old days!

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Episode 376: In Sickness and In Health

June 16, 2015/Judy E Martin/23 Comments

Today I was looking after a new patient that had arrived on the ward last night. She was very friendly and chatty, and despite having a few medical problems seemed to be in good spirits. She was pretty much bed bound due to severe lower back pain, especially on movement, and also had a long-term catheter in situ.

I had received a call regarding a PET scan that was being arranged for this patient at a nearby hospital for tomorrow, and was making the necessary arrangements for her transportation there, plus staff to escort her.

When I went into the bay, she proudly introduced me to her husband. I informed them both about the scan, and asked her whether or not she was claustrophobic, if she could lay down for 30 mins reasonably still, and did she mind needles. Her husband looked at me and whilst stroking her arm told me that she will have any test or procedure necessary in order that she would be well enough to go home with him.

He then told me that he looks after her, washing, dressing and emptying the catheter bags, explaining that he does not want any carers going in, as he will always be there. He then said that he would ‘do anything and everything, whatever it takes, just as long as it keeps her with him, and he doesn’t lose her.’

She looked at him lovingly, and I have to say, I was trying to swallow the lump in my throat, Yes, I know we marry ‘for better or worse’ and ‘in sickness and in health.’ However, the reality of it for some people, though not romantic is true love!

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Episode : 374: Reasons I am So Untrendy…….

June 14, 2015/Judy E Martin/37 Comments

I like to know what is going on in the world, and to keep up-to-date with the latest trends. Having a young daughter also keeps me in the loop of what is happening (mainly because she keeps telling me that I haven’t got a clue)! Here’s why…

I hate ‘Game of Thrones!’ I just don’t get it at all; from what I have seen of it so far (and I usually put my headphones on and blog when Mr Grump has it on) everyone is a Prince or Queen or something. Not only that, there seems to be a hell of a lot of gory endings, people getting bumped off every five minutes! Add to that a load of sex, and some of that incestous! It is, in a nutshell, a bunch of royals, having it off with everyone, then plotting their most savage and brutal demise!
There is no way on earth I can do this new ‘belly button challenge!’ It involves wrapping one of your arms around your back and touching your belly button to prove what a fit body you have! Hmmmm, I don’t need to become a contortionist to know that I might not be quite as fit as I should be! If I tried to do that, I would no doubt pull or tear something, rendering myself even more unfit!
As much as I like to watch a Disney film, there is no way I would want to get married in a Disney princess inspired wedding dress! I mean the Little Mermaid was lovely, but who would want to totter down the aisle wearing a bloody great fishtail?!
I could not be trusted with a ‘selfie stick! Now I know these are very popular at the moment and help get a much better photo, but I am not keen. Not only would I feel ridiculous waving it around in the air trying to get the right spot, but knowing me I would end up poking someone in the eye, or giving someone an unexpected clout whilst trying to concentrate on capturing the perfect shot!
I don’t want to ‘Keep up with the Kardashians!’ For a start there are far too many of them and I don’t know who they all are! Kim and Kanye being forever in the news is starting to get boring! Now that she is having another baby (will it be called South)? we will be bombarded with every last detail. Kylie and her pouty lips has already annoyed me, as Miss Hap tried to copy her as you can see here.

What makes matters worse is that Mr Grump is much more trendy than I am!

Episode 373: It Runs In The Family!

June 13, 2015/Judy E Martin/34 Comments

One of the things I like about my family is that we all have the same warped sense of humour, even if others don’t quite see the joke!

I remember going to our local cinema (or the ‘fleapit’ as it was unaffectionately known) with my older sister to watch ‘Fright Night’ years ago. It was pretty busy and we settled ourselves in for a good scaring, the only problem was that it was not in the least bit frightening (that is saying something coming from me as I am a huge wimp)! In fact, it was funny. We kept giggling at first, then finding it more and more ridiculous ended up rocking in our seats roaring with laughter, especially as no-one else seemed to be laughing.

Often when we get together, we reminisce about the good old days. Unlike other families though, we like to rake up stories about each other’s misfortunes. Things like my mum falling up the stairs in a furniture store whilst carrying some shopping. The shop assistant was appalled that my sister was creased up laughing instead of helping my poor spread-eagled mum up!

My mum is just as bad though as she was helpless with laughter when my little sister ran straight into a glass door whilst chasing after my niece who had toddled off ahead. Mum took great delight in telling us that my sister’s eyes were rolling around in her head, and that her shoe had come off!

When we were young, my mum and step-dad owned a static caravan near Blackpool and we used to go there a lot for weekends and holidays, as we only lived about an hour away then. As was the design then, the living room area used to have a kind of bench style sofa arrangement which could be transformed into a bed if you inserted a large wooden board. Well one of my brothers went to sit down to eat his meal, but misjudged it as the cushion wasn’t put back properly so it was over-hanging the seat. This meant as soon as my brother lowered himself down there was nothing there to support him, and he did a lovely backwards roll out of the open door behind him landing with a nice thud on the grass. What fantastic entertainment for the family that was. Even more so because he got told off for mucking about as if it were his fault!

Oh yes, you don’t get any sympathy in our family if you hurt yourself; in fact it’s laugh first then check for broken bones. As you can imagine, I have had more than my fair share of teasing from the family!

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Episode 372: No-one Said Life Was ‘E’ asy!

June 13, 2015/Judy E Martin/13 Comments

You know, I was thinking that trying to write a paragraph without using an ‘e’ as I did for a challenge yesterday, is a lot like trying to get through life!

We each start with a blank screen, and it is up to us to decide what we are going to do with it. Will we be able to write a paragraph, a few lines, or stumble after a couple of words as we don’t have a vital ingredient needed to come up with a best-selling novel?

Some people will use the lack of this vital ingredient for an excuse as to why they cannot do a good job; perhaps blaming a lack of education to know how to do it differently, or maybe a shortage of funds to be able to buy the relevant missing piece needed. It could be that they do not feel they have enough support motivate them to even try.

Others however, will just get on with it! They might try to make something that, although not perfect, fits well enough that they still have done a wonderful job. It could be that they go as far as they can with the materials they have, in complete contentment with what they have achieved. Certain people might decide to go out and learn how to do things for themselves in order to get that novel finished, or work together in a group supporting each other’s attempts to get through.

I know when originally faced with the challenge I thought it would be too difficult, but I wanted to at least have a go. After all, we all have certain resources available to us, it just depends on whether or not we choose to use them.

Rhyme and No Reason!

Blogger, author and rhymester who likes to find the humour in life.

Category: Life

Episode 418: The Delights of Decorating!

Episode 401: Sweating it Out!

Episode 396: In The Doghouse!

Episode 395: Mr Grump’s Computer Rage!

Episode 394: Creepy Creatures!

Episode 382: Tea Parties and Trips!

Episode 376: In Sickness and In Health

Episode : 374: Reasons I am So Untrendy…….

Episode 373: It Runs In The Family!

Episode 372: No-one Said Life Was ‘E’ asy!

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Blogger, author and rhymester who likes to find the humour in life.

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