Lainie's 8th birthday

Well today is Lainie's birthday, she has been so excited for so long that we were all willing it to come quicker!!
Stella could not get her to sleep until gone 2300 last night and she was awake at 0630 this morning. we were there to pick them up at 1200 and took them to Homeleigh Garden Centre for lunch as a quick stand in due to the weather, the original plan was to go to either Widemouth Bay or Roadford Lake for a picnic lunch but alas true to form for July this year we had to change the plans due to rain!
We were a little early and so had a drink before our lunch and ice cream for afters. We were a little surprised by the quality and taste of the ice cream, it was superb! and well worth the price of £1.60 for 2 scoops!!!


Lainie very much enjoying her strawberry ice cream.

We then from there went home to St. Giles to take some shopping back and pick up binoculars before going on to Roadford Lake for a wander to try and wear Lainie out. What a waste of time that was she wore us out as usual haha! It was then back to the bungalow for tea and then home to Launceston for Stella and Lainie.

One thing I think this day has shown to me is just how weak Stella still is and unless she starts to build her strength up by doing something other than sitting around feeling sorry for herself it is going to stay that way. She talks about going back to work next week, it is not going to happen, well certainly not at this rate!!!!

Oh and for anyone interested I finished the antibiotics today and my tooth has improved, at least I am not taking so many pain killers. It is tender to the touch but bearable. Still only have to last until Thursday and it is history!!

Blasted tooth part 3!

I have skipped a day as it has been so delightful having my wonderful wife back home, I have been revelling in her company and enjoying every minute of it, so now to come back to reality! (I know I am such a creep). Mind you we know she is back because the internet is playing up again lol.

My blasted tooth? I was under the impression (correct me if I am wrong) that anti-biotics makes things better!!! Why then has my tooth got more tender and more painful since I started taking them on Tuesday evening!!! Is it that there is so much crap in my system that it has to get worse before it gets better? Well I suppose it is only fair to say that only time will tell. As long as it is OK by the 2nd August because the girl at the dentist true to her word fitted me in with a cancellation! I had rang to cancel the 10th because I had forgotten we were meeting Sharon and her family for a meal as they are at Barnstaple for a wedding on the 11th.

We have to wait in for the post today as my wonderful wife has bought me an early birthday/Christmas present. a 10.1" Tablet pc. I know I am only an old sod getting to grips with new technology but they are so handy and can be linked to a wifi etc. to get you online anywhere and are a lot cheaper than a laptop. I did have a 7" real cheap one but it only lasted about 6 or 8 hours as butter fingers here dropped it onto a pavement and it sadly died. Sue in her wisdom and loveliness thought it was something I really needed so has bought me this! Will upload a picture at a later date as picture uploader playing silly devils and refusing to do what it says on the tin?

Just heard from Stella and she sounds so much better today, so pleased to hear her almost her old self!

Blasted tooth part 2!

Tooth had me awake for long periods of time again last night, will be so happy when the penicillin kicks in! Also up early again and seems to have got worse again towards evening.

Had a busy day on the mag and only waiting to hear from Di S and it will be ready to print.

A little angry with Stella today as she was supposed to go to sort out her Housing Benefit and Council Tax but all she could do was sleep apparrently!!!

Another scorcher of a day so sat outside in the shade for most of the afternoon and drank and drank!

It is now 2050 and just cool enough to be comfortable!

Blasted tooth

Well I had one heck of a night due to tooth ache, finally got up at 10 to 5, So glad I have a dental appointment for this afternoon at 1640!
Well dentist says I have an abscess under it and I have 2 choices, a root canal job and crown or wait for abscess to go and have it out? He preferred the former and I preferred the latter, obviously I won!
Start a course of anti-biotics tonight for 7 days and then back on the 10th August to have it out. The 10th is the earliest they could fit me in so lets hope for a cancellation?
Then to Stella's for evening meal with them and home to relax as much as I can in this heat.
The outside temp is at last dropping now and is down to 24.2 degrees but inside where I have been out and it has been closed up it is 27.7 so now the window and door is open hopefully will drop. Been rather uncomfortable as the humidity is rising so getting closer!
Now then what to do tomorrow?
As the church what's on mag comes out Sunday I had better get as much of that sorted as possible. Not going to be able to finish it though as still waiting on GAAF news etc.

Stella returns home and H/G BBQ

This morning Stella returned to her own home to settle in hopefully soon, then I can have Sue back with me again, they left the washing up for the family dishwasher of course, and yes I am only Joking (maybe).

Rang the dentist to get appointment for aching tooth, managed to get one for 1640 tomorrow, result!! All I will have to do now is try to work my food around it? oops!!

I came back home and did a few chores and then it got too hot so had a shower, relaxed then before the house group BBQ this evening. Unfortunately that heralds the end of the House group for the summer break. Starts again in September and probably on another evening? Have to wait and see what develops on that one......

Chris, our chef for the evening and a wonderful one at that!

Sue and Ali enjoying the evening

L to R. Mike, Sue, Rachel and Naomi doing what ladies do best with Mike listening!

Lydia left and Amy right striking a pose with father Mike rather amused.

There was a very interesting end to the evening as Chris and Jayne have several hundred bats roost in their house. As they were leaving a Sparrow hawk appeared and took a bat on the wing, it seemed to come back for a second but I am not so sure it was the same bird came the second time, it appeared to be quite a bit smaller than the first and also a lot more streamlined?
I have a feeling it was either a Hobby or a Merlin that took the second one?
It is such a shame that by this time it was so dark that you could only see the outlines of the birds!
There is one thing that is absolutely certain and that is that it was definitely NOT A PIGEON as thought by one of our party, not mentioning any names Amy!

Sunday, the day of rest?

They say Sunday is the day of rest, today I do not think so but it is all so enjoyable that who minds?

1030 Church, good Spirit filled service with Henry Bailey giving the word.

1500 Church Summer Family Party http://www.launcestoncommunitychurch.co.uk/
A fun filled event with Sumo suits, Puppets, Cream teas, Ice creams, Bouncy castle, Face painting, etc.

left: Jayne doing a paint job on Rosemary's cheek






Right is a general view of some of the entertainment

Left the Sumo Suits





The weather was fantastic and any proceeds made went to GAAF.

Well time to start packing up

1830 2-4-5 at Central was a fantastic time of worship and Lydia Ellicott was on the couch,the word came from Colosans 1 and was given by Jonny Libby.

Stella's homecoming!

Well we have heard that Stella is definitely coming home today, will post details as and when I have them!!

Update 0930 is that Stella should be ready to be released at 1400 if all the paperwork is done by then, well I will be there by then if it is?

Update 1230, early lunch then off for 1400 pickup as not heard any more.

Update 1800, Back at ours at 1740 as got away from the hospital eventually at 1645, waiting for the pharmacy to send medication, well they only had the prescription at 1100. They say that they are a law unto themselves!!!

Now being dispatched for a Chinese take-away and have to pick up in Launceston at 1830 then I can kick my shoes off for the evening, woohoo!!!

Well I still get to do the washing up!! no change there then lol
Strange how the washing up works in this house, if Sue gets the dinner I wash up, If I get it I wash up, something does not seem quite right there and Sue wonders why I say that I am the family dishwasher haha!

Getting ever closer!

What is getting ever closer?

The day Stella comes out of hospital and I can have my wife back!!

So the Stella marathon continues, today she had the last of the drains out and has been told that providing everything is OK she can go home 24 hours after they have come out? That will be about 1530 tomorrow so I will hopefully be there ready and waiting. Then we have to decide, does she come home to her maisonette or to our bungalow? I do not think I am going to become involved in that one, I am just going to let the two of them decide because as I said at the top, I do not give a shit as long as I get my wife back sometime soon!!!!

Apart from going to see Stella and having a KFC for tea when I left, very little else has happened today! Lainie is still in quarantine and Sue is still at Stella's.

Now 2100 listening to worship music and trying to reload the original Audacity sound editing software because the download of the updated version has something that means the record level cannot be adjusted low enough!

Normal Thursday up to now?

Normal Thursday that is except I do not have my very beloved wife here with me.. Oh I do love her so much and am missing her tremendously!

Things may change but been very quiet so far!

The smell coming from the kitchen is so tantalising, bara brith for the housegroup BBQ this evening, although I do believe it has been changed to a Pot Luck Supper due to the weather and the ground being saturated. Well I never actually got there, had a short time of prayer before going and God said not to and to go and see my wife, so glad I did as really missed her and she is missing me so much now as well, I bought us a chinese take away and we spent a very enjoyable evening together. I now have nearly a whole bara brith in the bread bin but hope they can use it on the fun day Sunday.

About the weather? we so far this month have had 3 times the normal rainfall for July. We have been out to Roadford Lake a couple of times over the past weeks and seen it go from very low a few months ago to very full and near to overflowing the sluice, that tells us the state of it?
The point of all this about the weather is that summer seems to be arriving at last!!! It is a beautiful day out there!!!!

Having to wait in for a phone call from the doctor to moan at me again, I presume about my blood sugar levels. Told her to ring by 1300 as do not know what is happening about Derriford and Stella today, she can ring any time, not worried as I will as usual take very little notice and just put my insulin up a couple of increments and forget about it until the next blood test in September, at Peninsula where I do the clinical trial..... Well doctor rang but too late and I was right. Put insulin up tonight and hope for the best.

Looks like Stella is coming out tomorrow so not gone in to see her today. If she is home tomorrow lets hope Sue will be home soon. Can't wait!!!

Poxy Chickens and Camille

It seems Lainie definitely has chickenpox and is infectious until next Monday or Tuesday.

Latest on Stella is that she is getting a scan and having the drains out today or tomorrow and will be released from hospital either tomorrow or Friday, seems we are turning a corner woohoo!!!!

I can only say that rejection of the enemy and positive prayer are paying dividends, praise God

On the way home from town there was a lot of traffic due to a couple of accidents around the castle so was forced to call in the chippy on Newport Ind. Estate and get an OAP special, cod, chips and mushy peas. Absolutely gorgeous except as usual there were about 3 times as many chips as I could eat!! Sorry Sue but had no choice. Love you.

Over the past few days I have received both a picture and a letter from Camille our sponsored child with Compassion. He lives in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in Africa.
It is thrilling to hear from him and I shall be writing back to him very shortly, if not today it will be in the next week.
Usually we are sort of a letter adrift, he has just answered the last but one I sent so it is like a delayed reaction.
My he has certainly grown in the last 3 years that I have been sponsoring him. He was 7 on the 11th May

Change of title

I have today changed the name of this blog to Glyn Cotterill's Blog primarily because I no longer get input from any other source!

Well it is still pouring!

The latest on the rain to hit our family is that it is still pouring!

Due to Sue and Lainie being in isolation I have had to run a few errands in town before I went to Plymouth to visit Stella.
On that front Stella appears to be considerably improved since I last saw her on Saturday.
I slipped and gave my knee one hell of a crack on the pavement outside Boots in Launceston, did not seem to hurt too much when it first happened, just seemed to shake me up a bit? Since then the pain has increased in intensity. There really is going to be one heck of a bruise there.
All these things are sent to try us they say?

Jennie Jones!

The visit of Jennie Jones to St. Giles-on-the-Heath.

Well now to coincide with Stella coming out of hospital we had a visit from a rather special young lady who can only be described as a real character and a lovely person all round. Do you get the impression that she made an impression?

Unfortunately Sue was looking after Stella & Lainie so Jen has to come back at a later date so that Sue can get to know her properly as well!

I had a bit of a problem really as how does a 63 year old man entertain a 22 year old young lady, well it turned out to be incredibly easy, we just seemed to hit it off as friends, we have, it seems, quite a lot in common, mainly Christian interests and also she does alot of charity work that involves handicapped (disabled sorry) children and swimming. eg, Bath Swim Therapy http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bath-Swim-Therapy/288977751128305 which seems incredably interesting and time absorbing.

Saturday morning Jennie went to see a friend who lives very near us at Whitstone.

We had a couple of trips out on the Saturday one to Roadford Lake for a walk and coffee, also we went to Bude and found a very interesting cove called Duckpool.

Jennie at Bude

On Sunday we went to church and had Lainie for the afternoon to give Sue a break and so that she could play on her trampoline here.(Lainie that is, not Sue hehe)

Jennie was supposed to return home to Melksham after lunch on Sunday but had mislaid her car tax! not that she is scatter brained or anything? so had to call in Exeter dvla on the way home to get another which delayed her departure until Monday.

Jennie also has a blog and here is the link:  http://thelifeofjenniejones.blogspot.co.uk/

I do so hope that Jennie enjoyed her visit and will return again soon, perhaps as part of her convalescence due to a recent injury, but not until Sue returns home! (see previous post)

It never rains

They say it never rains but it pours!

Well over the past few weeks I am starting to believe this more and more and today it just got worse?
Where to start, well the beginning is I suppose the best place, so lets go back about 8 weeks or more when Stella had some quite severe pain which turned out to be gall stones. 3 weeks ago today she had another attack and 2 days later went into hospital for an op (keyhole) to have her gall bladder removed.
You would have thought that after a short period of recovery that would be the end of the matter? WRONG!!! If something could go wrong it seems it has!
Firstly when she came out of hospital there seemed to be an inordinate amount of pain which increased considerably over the following days until the doctor was called and they said it was a "water infection" and gave her anti-biotics and told her to drink more!
Well as time went on the pain did not get any less but seemed to intensify, so Sue called the doctor again who, with their usual aplomb, just spoke to Stella over the phone and told her if it did not improve to call again the following day???
It did not improve so the doctor was called the following day, he was due to come out to see her but due to the intense pain Stella was in at this time an ambulance was summoned before he arrive and the crew rather reluctantly took her back to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth!
Well that was 12 days ago and Stella is still there, she was very ill for a few days and for a week or so there seemed to be very little improvement then all of a sudden overnight last Thursday BINGO!!! Friday there was such a noticable difference it was almost unbelievable.
I know that I put it down to 2 things really, (ok folks here is the preachy bit).
 Firstly because of things that had happened within the family unit in the recent past, satan was doing his best to undo all the strides forward that had been made in Christ and we had as a family made and we had actively started praying protection on our family.
Secondly and more importantly Stella had started coming to church and seeking Jesus! Lainie was also thoroughly enjoying Sunday school, so again we started praying against the influences of darkness and for protection over them!
Since then there has been a steady improvement but I will say this for old nick, he does not give up easily?
Last evening Sue told me that Lainie did not seem to be herself and seemed off colour. During the night Lainie was sick all over her bedding, has a fever and is covered in spots. Sue Has rang the doctors and is waiting for a return call and she got one from a nurse, app 1015 tomorrow for confirmation of illness.
We are all as a family and a church praying protection and healing on Stella, Lainie, Sue and myself!
We are all assured of our power over satan and not his power over us, he has none as we have the blood of the Lambs protection, hallelujah!!!

The Birth of Kira-Joy Cotterill

Kira-Joy Cotterill born 26th May 2012

It is with great pleasure that I can announce the arrival at 1124 a Daughter to Richard and Samantha weighing in at 7lb 2oz

19 short years

Do you know it is 19 years since mum died, I know we all still miss her greatly but her wisdom and her sayings are a constant reminder to us all how we want to remember her. Love you still Mum xx