Ups and Downs

The last 2 weeks has been all about family for me.

My eldest daughter came back home to Norfolk for a week from 

 Devon where she now lives and 

little ones best friend (borrowed daughter) also came home for the week from Kent

so we had a great time.

We all went out for the day and took our little friend "Bob" here

with us as his mum was packing to move.

So off to the beach we went and gave little Bob his first paddle

with his personal lifeguard. He loved it and was squealing with delight.

I love this photo.

I also became a Great Aunt again last weekend with 

little Elsa Mae ( love the name) or not so little as she was 9lb 1oz

with a full head of hair. Unfortunately she lives in Wiltshire

so I won't see her until I go down in September so I've sent strict instructions that

she isn't to grow too much before then.

Then the ups became the downs for a couple of days.

I thought I had told you of my little ones woes in February

but it appears that, although I showed you the sling i made I didn't

explain why she was wearing one.

It all started valentines day in France when she had a snowboarding accident

 and broke her collar bone. Getting a phone call from a tearful daughter

in another country isn't something I want to go through ever again but 

the insurance company kicked in and we got her home after a few days.

When we took her to the hospital fracture clinic a couple of days later 

we got a shock as they kept her in and operated that day 

as she had shattered it into 5 pieces and needed

to have it plated. The french clinic had told her it was fine 

and would heal in a few weeks.

Anyway we thought that was it and she was discharged by the hospital  6 weeks later.  

Then  she started having infections and the pain,

 which had never really gone away, got worse.

  She eventually got a doctor to believe her that something was wrong and 

was referred back to the hospital last Friday 

by which time the skin above the plate was very inflamed 

and once again she had an infection. The consultant said she was rejecting the plate 

and he would need to take it out next month after a cat scan.

Unfortunately her body had other ideas and Saturday her skin gave way 

and you could see the plate through a new wound that had opened up. 

Off she went to A&E with her sister ( we had been to a boozy BBQ) and

 again she was kept in and operated on straight away to take the plate out.

So the slings are out again and she has moved home again for a while.

The problem I have now is that she is that she is feeling so much better now the plate is out

 and has a lot less pain that she wants to keep doing things 

so I have to remind her that she still has 

a 6 inch wound in her shoulder and to take it slow.

So it's lots of time in the garden for lunches,

 sunbathing, spotting butterflies

 and weird looking caterpillars.

(Hawk eyed moth apparently.)

And plenty of trips out for coffee and cake.

We will both need to lose weight by the end of it.