Grandma P's Ramblings Through Life

There were lots of creatures to look at the Pili Palas - not just butterflies, and there was lots to learn.
And there was the indoor play area too.

On Saturday 13th October we spent a day at the Pili Palas with Ekatarina and Ashley.
The Pili Palas (Butterfly Palace) is on Anglesey.

Here is a selection of butterfly pictures. I don't know the names of them - but their beauty is not spoiled by my lack of knowledge.

Many newspapers and TV and radio programmes are looking back 20 years this week to The Great Storm.
This remarkable weather created great havoc, uprooting many trees and causing damge to property and far, far worse led to deaths.
But Bill and I hardly noticed it - indeed I slept through it.
Bill was wakeful, downstairs, but his thoughts hardly perceived the fierce winds because earlier that day his mother had died.
It is hard to believe that we have been without her now for 20 years.
She had been diagnosed in the summer with a brain tumour and we knew that nothing could be done. She was taken from Crawley hospital to St Catherine's Hospice to live her final few days.
She was buried in Snell Hatch Cemetery, close to the family home.
We recall that she would comment, as one does in life, that nothing special need happen after death...."just dump me on the compost heap" she would say.
In truth she very closely got her way.
That part of the cemetery had once been allotments and the family had an allotment, which Bill's Dad tended, growing vegetables for the family table.
The grave is very close to the site of the Monk allotment - and the compost heap.



A week or so ago, Bill was at the grave with some flowers. His father was laid to rest there in 1992.
Since his father's death the ashes of both Aunty Pink (father's sister) and Uncle Bill (mother's brother) have been interred on the plot.
We have yet to see if Bill's cousins will add Uncle Bill's name to Aunty Lil's. It should be done.


Close by the entrance to the cemetery is the grave of Bill's great grandparents - George and Annie Brand. Annie died first in 1925. George died in 1932. Of course Bill never knew his great grandparents.
But he now likes to make sure the grave is cared for.


The cemetery is a place of peace and beauty with some lovely flowers and shrubs. This is the remembrance garden.

I am keen to keep a diary of the next challenge in my life.
Whilst I am in hospital I shall have to write with a pen in a book!
But some of it - the good, the bad, the struggles, the triumphs will feature of Grandma P's Ramblings.
But don't worry - there won't be any pictures!

I suppose I can tell you that today I had all the news that I wanted.
Except that I have come to a point where my brain is screaming out that I don't want any of this bladder problem at all - can we please go back to the time when I didn't have it?
Well, of course we can't go back in time; the only way to live is to work towards the future, whatever it might be.

I had already worked out the earliest possible date that Mr Swinn could do the operation and remove my bladder and that is the day that he has elected to do it.
I shall go into hospital on Thursday November 1st, to be operated on the next day, Friday 2nd November. That is in just over 2 weeks time.
It will be a long and major operation and of course Mr Swinn is duty bound by law to tell me all the things that can go wrong before I sign the consent form.
He laughingly said that he has not yet lost a patient from this operation but statistically he assumes it must happen one day!
But I am actually quite fit and he firmly believes that I will do very well - and so do I.
The results of the CT scan were good - Bill and I watched as he scrolled down over the inside of my body on his computer.
The major worry I had had, in view of my previous cancer history, was lymph glands. There are no abnormal lumps and bumps anywhere. My kidneys look very healthy.
There is a thickening of the wall of the bladder - which suggests that it is important to get rid of it as soon as possible. It may well have adhered to the cervix and I have consented for removal of anything in those parts that may need to be got rid of. If I still had a womb it would have to be removed. It certainly wouldn't surprise me for the knife to be used in that region for I have long thought that maybe some of the pain has been felt there.

I will be back at the hospital again probably one day next week for all the pre op tests again. And that should be the day I see the stoma nurse who will assess what size of bag I will need and will explain to me the mechanics of having a bag.

Mr Swinn has not thought it necessary for me to be on an anti biotic right now and has also advised against having the flu jab tomorrow.
He says that everybody who has this operation loses a lot of weight - about a stone and a half. But of course it will go back on again as I recover.
He reckons that after 6 to 8 weeks I shall start to feel I am back on the road to recovery and will start to feel more normal again.
Its not much of my life that will be taken up with feeling that life is difficult, painful and confusing. And at least I will be living. If I didn't have this operation then I would have been heading towards lack of cure and..... well, best not to even let my brain go there at this time.
I will get better. The pain I feel now will be a thing of the past.
I am so lucky that my future looks good with the help of Mr Swinn and the team.

I hope he enjoys his short holiday with his family next week. He is off to Atlanta in the USA - not a place he particularly would have chosen for a holiday, but his brother lives there.
He liked hearing that we once thought the same about Phuket - not a place we might have chosen to get to know and love. But how fortunate we are to have discovered that world and to have Jamie and Mam to share with us the special places, off the beaten track.
I look forward to being there again in a year's time - that's my plan now.
Finally I must tell you that I don't think Mr Swinn had ever heard anyone manage to joke about the bladder substitute in my way - I am already referring to it, with a slight Scottish accent, as "my wee bag".! He thought that was a good one!

And I have one last request - no cards or flowers please!
There is nowhere much in the hospital for cards and flowers are not allowed in the wards anymore and I would prefer that people who love and care for me put a pound or so into a favourite charity box instead and so I would know that somebody, somewhere in the world, was benefiting from my situation. But of course I would love letters and things - Bill can print off EMails.

So, there we have it. What started out as a suspicious cystitis like pain has come to this. I wish it had never had to happen but now I am just glad that I am being looked after and that I have a future to look forward to.

Hello,
I put three days of ramblings about the trip to Wales on this blog rather than on PJM's Daily Bits and Pieces.
Now I am back to normal and my evening ramblings will be found on PJM's blog again rather than this one.
Perhaps tomorrow I will get some pictures here for you to share.
It depends how the day goes.
Tomorrow I shall be at the hospital again.

I am writing earlier than normal - before I wilt!
It has been a nice day but my chesty sinus bug has worn me down.
The weather has been murky and grey again today, so there was no point heading for the mountains.
We drove over the bridge to Anglesey and soon were at the Pili Palas. I have to say that on a dull October day the place did not have the look of a palace - some grey buildings set amongst some scrubby soggy fields.
We paid our money and soon we were in a small hot and humid area with some lovely butterflies fluttering by.
There were not as many butterflies as expected - though later when it was even more hot and humid in there, more appeared.
Anyway we were determined to enjoy ourselves and from the butterfly area we went to various other areas - bird, reptile, lizard, terrapins, pets etc.
Katya had a book and quiz sheet but we decided to do the answers later.
We sat and watched some film about the life cycle of the butterfly and so a some new words were learned, like chrysalis, pupa, metamorphosis and proboscis etc.
Katya was eager to go to the cafe - we all enjoyed a jacket potato, but there was little that to her limited diet was pleasing. But there were some lovely chipmunks running in a cage close by.
Then it was time for the indoor play area. In theory Katya was too tall but there were very few people about to bother. Before long Katya was busy organising 2 small boys to be part of her Lets Pretend game - off the boys went to the shops to buy things for the house area she had created. The three of them played very happily together.
Then we went back to the butterflies and other animals to answer the questions on the quiz sheet. Having learned the word "proboscis" it was good to see how the butterflies used it to feed on nectar or fruit juice.
There is still lots more to do in the work book Katya insisted on having as we went in.
Then of course it was time to walk through the shop - and a need to buy a souvenir arises. We had already talked with Katya and she agreed that she would not spend more than £3. Eventually she bought a sticker book and shiny stickers of bugs and insects of all kinds.
We drove home in the drizzle and have had a quiet time.
I feel in that rotten state that you get with various stages of a cold - and yet know you shouldn't grumble cos its only a cold. Actually I will ask Mr Swinn on Tuesday if he wants me on an antibiotic because so often it turns to a sinus infection which won't shift.
At least I don't need to think about cooking dinner this evening - the oven goes on and the containers of Chinese food will be heated for another tasty meal.
There is supposed to be a dry spell tomorrow, so I guess we will get up early and go to the boot sale on the Anglesey Showground in the morning.
We will drive home after lunch - back down the 300 miles.
Hope you are having a good weekend.
Maybe Roger has a replacement car now.
Right - Katya wants some more bread and butter. Of course anybody could do it, but Grandma cuts it in to shapes of things. Today we have had butterflies and flowers.

Today has been an easy day and it needed to be after the pains of last night.
Those pains have settled again but I am full of chesty cold now.
The day didn't exactly dawn, but somehow just drifted to a time when you realised it wasn't night anymore. The sun didn't break though and it was murky, misty and drizzly.
We drove up the hill and parked the car at Morrisons and walked through the alley ways and narrow streets of Upper Bangor to Ekatarina's school. The playground was full of parents and children; some children lingering by Mum or Dad and others off to run and greet friends. Katya was pleased to see Fatima who walked with us up from the main road. The bell was rung and the children lined up outside their classes and in they went, with a wave, for the day.
We called in at the post office for me to post 2 parcels and then went to Morrisons for a few bits and to debate what the evening meal might consist of.
We went home then and made some breakfast which we just hadn't had time to do earlier or Katya would have been late for school.
Bill and I then drove westward to Pete and Jean's house. Normally we enjoy tremendous views, back across Snowdonia and then across the sea to Anglesey and then over the bracken and heather covered hills of the Lleyn Peninsular. Today we could have been driving across a plain for the mist and low cloud meant that we saw nothing of the mountains or the sea on either side.
We joined Pete and Jean in the kitchen and had a cup of tea before lunch and there we sat enjoying food and more cups of tea and lots of chat for several hours.
It was very relaxing and good for both Bill and me. Bill is feeling quite run down too and his back and knees are aching. Maybe the damp is getting to his rheumatics!
It was still sort of light as we drove back home - but very grey. The mountains and grey cottages have atmosphere in winter weather, but the towns just look dreary. Although Carnarvon Castle stands black and tall against the Menai Strait.
Ekatarina was watching Superman (the Christopher Reeve film) when we got in. Nice not to be watching CBeebies now she is so very nearly 7 years old.
Then we talked and played.
Dinner was soon dealt with because we decided to get a Chinese take away which was delivered to us - a huge range of tasty dishes and pretty well enough for tomorrow too. I enjoyed my dinner!
After dinner Ashley put on a CD that we had been talkng about. Last weekend I had bought CDs to sell, but thought that The Medieval Babes sounded interesting. We loved it when we played it at home. I think we proudly thought that we alone had discovered them! But Ashley has them already and Pete and Jean have 2 of their CDs.
It is beautiful and haunting medieval music performed by a group of attractive young women. Bill now has a video to enjoy because Ashley found him one in a charity shop.
Katya began to dance to the music and talked to me about the meaning of her dance.... she said her dancing was about being thankful and celebrating the good things in our lives.
It was lovely dancing.
Then we went to bed and read - of course- Angelina ballerina. Last night she told me that there is a book called Angelina's Christmas that she would like. Well, I know that amongst the things we had brought up wrapped for Christmas presents is a copy of that book. Hooray!
The weather for tomorrow will not be any better and so we have looked for indoor things to do and we are going to Pili Palas (Butterfly Palace) where there are lots of activities and things to including of course some beautiful butterflies (just ripe for photographing!).
So despite feeling run down it looks like I am in for a nice day out with Katya, Ashley and Bill.
Bill is now dozing and so I think we should pack up and go to bed soon.

Hello,
Lots of grumbles!
I have the lap top with me but it has not been set up to deal with new addresses or changes that have occurred since it was repaired last year. I can receive mails but don't seem able to send, so I hope any interested people might have found our news here. Though there is little news to tell actually.
It is not fair - after sometime of feeling reasonably well, apart from the cold, I have a lot of pain tonight.
I have sat a while on a hot water bottle and I am well doped up on pain killers and I hope I can sleep.
Sorry to grumble!
I started the day optimistically commenting on the sun breaking through the fog and hopes of no hold ups. The M25 let us down.
It took ages to crawl round to the M40 and no sunshine was breaking through.
Never mind once away from the problems we raced on and as we had taken a small picnic with us we spent little time on lunch and we actually arrived in Bangor a little less than 6 hours after we set off.
Katya - yes she really wants to be Katya for us - was so pleased to meet up with Peace bear again, that splendid bargain we had found at Pease Pottage on a sunny day in August.
All the boxes were carried indoors - where is Ashley going to put it all?
Some of it is due to be described and listed on EBay of course.
We strolled round to Aldi to buy a few bits for tonight's meal.
Then it was time to reunite Katya with Angelina Ballerina for the bedtime story.
We have watched the Graham Norton family history programme. These programmes show what is really good about family history, which is so much more than a list of names and dates. Each week we watch as the celebrity unravels the lives of their ancestors. The understanding they gain seems to help us understand the celebrity a little better too.
Right I must go to bed. I suspect I may have to get up quite a lot in the night - might even come and fiddle with the computer.
The lap top needs fiddling with - since I bought the computer I use mostly many functions have not been installed. I haven't got my gmail account installed- so any EMails to us should come on tiscali please. Or maybe not at all until we solve the problems in the morning. I just don't have the energy or concentration to sort it out this evening.
Tomorrow we will take Katya to school and later will have lunch with Pete and Jean.
I shall just have to be fit enough. I haven't come 300 miles to do nothing.
Bye for now,
Love Paula.