They're off!

Well, the rest of the group have now left for Cuba. Vicky had last minute panics about bike bag (borrowed) vs bike box (new), decided to buy a bike box, found she could get lots into it but it was then overweight, and I think she ended up with various bike bits in her luggage. She also took most of the notebooks, pencils etc that I'd been given to take  to the Abel Santamaría School in Havana, hopefully not at the expense of her clothes.

So, they actually left on Thursday morning - I tracked the fight out of Gatwick on my phone.

Half past one today (8.30 am there) I had a phone call from Vicky who said she had intended to send daily updates by text but that doesn't seem to work, so she rang. The group (not cyclists yet, they only re-assembled the bikes today) is made up of 5 women and 9 men. They have had a walking tour of Havana, which she was glad I wasn't attempting on crutches or wheelchair as it was over very uneven ground. Friday they had a long bus ride to Spiritus Sancti from where they start the ride. You can look on the Cuba Solidarity website and check the itinerary  which I have just done.

I'll keep you updated on their movements as and when I get a report. First cycling day tomorrow! 

Meanwhile what's been happening back on the ranch? 

Little Appenzellar Spitzhauben sporting a punk hairdo.

 I do hope this is a hen - what will we do with a A S cockerel???

First quail egg 

 The quail, who are currently residing in the greenhouse while John and Joe make them a vermin-proof run, are 7 weeks old and have started to lay eggs - well one of them has laid one egg.  Bit precocious eh?

John had to move the 'railway carriage' (aka 'goods van') in which he put a barbecue, out of the courtyard to make way for the boat he bought in Hastings in January. But that's OK, it needed to be somewhere to catch the evening sun, and now it is. Don't think I'll be venturing up there myself for a little while though.

The railway truck moved to its new home

Last but not least I had a letter yesterday telling me I have to do jury service in June. Managed to avoid broken bones AND jury service for 63 years and then they both come along at once. Can't say I'm looking forward to it, anyone who knows me well will know I don't do decisions. Now I may be forced to come down off the fence. 

This should have been THE week

Easter monday - I had anticipated this being the week I was frantically sorting out my last minute arrangements for Cuba. And being me that would have been everything, since I leave everything to the last minute all the time. If only I had sorted out my travel insurance as soon as I signed up for the trip - that would have been handy. Oh well........

So, what have I been doing instead? Last Monday I had a post-op appointment at the fracture clinic but that turned out to be have been too soon after the op for them to take out the stitches etc. I did have a last-ditch effort at persuading the doctor I could fly to Cuba in 10 days time but he convinced me it really wasn't going to happen, and deep down I think I always knew it. I'm now in negotiation with Cuba Solidarity Campaign to transfer at least part of my sponsorship money to next year and aim to go then (hopefully Vicky will want to do it again after this year) Having said that, if anyone reading this feels I have had their money under false pretences as I am not now going to Cuba, please get in touch and I'll refund you. Otherwise be assured that all money I have raised will be used by CSC for their projects over there. 

On Wednesday we were surprised to find 4 ducklings hatched in the incubator. We'd put 6 of our Indian Runner duck eggs in with the hens eggs that hatched last week, not being sure if it would work as they take longer to incubate and need different humidity. We have had to make a seperate brooder for them as they have very different habits from the chicks, but they are equally adorable and even more amusing, jumping in and out of the water and turning their food to a revolting looking slurry before retreating to preen themselves and fall asleep in a heap. 

day-old ducklings

 week old chicks

On Wednesday we also went on a pre-arranged trip with friends to visit King Edward chapel at Ripon college near Oxford. This chapel had featured on the same BBC Songs of Praise in January as St Nicholas church here in Radford Semele, and was a lovely outing, even with me confined to a wheelchair. What a different perspective that gives you.

Busy day, Wednesday, culminating in the arrival of Vicky and her 3 grandchildren. Glorious chaos for 3 days with 2 three-year olds and a 9 year-old, and on Friday their parents Kate and Dave who stayed on after Vicky had left to sort out her last minute items ready for the off. Here she is with her new bike and borrowed bike bag

I get to wear the t-shirt

If I hear from her how she's getting on I'll let you know. Living vicariously.

Friday was Roz' birthday and we had a family meal, all catered by our visitors. At last I've found the upside to my accident.

I'm also using my 'can't get out in the garden in this lovely weather' time to get on with my contribution to the peace scarf being organised by Wool against Weapons who are aiming to make a 7 mile long scarf: This is what it says on their website: Back in October 2012 I (Jaine Rose) hatched a plan with Angie Zelter from Action AWE to get a huge crowd of knitters and crocheters together to knit a massive, and I mean SUPER LONG knitted Peace Scarf  to run between the Women’s Peace Camp at Aldermaston and Burghfield (the other Nuclear Weapons Establishment site) in Berkshire. It will be one big old woolly protest against the U.K’s ongoing involvement with nuclear weapons, and the money our Government is intending to spend in 2016.
In our little 'threads' group that Caz started, we are using our friend Cathy,who died last year, stash of wool to make our own contributions. Caz has crocheted granny squares (her speciality), Judy is knitting stripes, Ali's piece has cables, and mine is made up of little woven squares made on a weave-it loom which unfortunately now need sewing together (I hate sewing up) 

colour a bit off as my camera seems to have got stuck on the wrong lighting setting

One week on

So, what has happened since this time last week? I did finally go into Warwick Hospital on Saturday morning and had the operation. I almost fell at the last hurdle (maybe not the best phrase under the circs) when the nurse arrived to take me to theatre and declared that there was no way I could be operated on as I didn't have a wristband. Apparently the ward printer was out of action. Thankfully a working printer was found, I was retrieved and the operation went ahead. As it was a Saturday it was very quiet, only one other person in the bay, so we got excellent care. 

All the same I was ready to leave as soon as possible, and eventually managed to get out by Sunday afternoon, arriving home to a house full of flowers, roses and freesias. 
I am intending to write a list of things to do sitting down, of which there are myriad, including writing this blog, and another of them is taking cuttings. To that end John and I had an outing to Kings Hill nursery in Coventry, where John pushed me round in a wheelchair and we arrived home with a wealth of cutting material for very little outlay. 

We had another Leasowe Farm tragedy mid week, when Tom and Caz' dog Willow died. He had lived here longer than us, was so much a part of the scenery with his sister Gaia, sitting in our porch, bringing sticks to be thrown, rushing around in summer barking at low-flying swallows. RIP Willow.

Meanwhile, changes are afoot in the house. The 14 quail we hatched out 4 weeks ago have had to move out to the greenhouse to make room for the next hatching, who started to appear in the incubator on Wednesday.

Quail in their new home

First Barnvelder chick emerges in the incubator

We now have 5 Barnvelders and one Appenzeller Spitzhauben in the brooder in our kitchen, and at least one silver-laced Wyandotte in the incubator

 We each chose a breed and put 6 eggs of each in the incubator. Mine are the Barnvelders, described in the book I had for my birthday as "reliable layers, prized for their dark brown eggs", whereas Joe's Appenzeller whatsits are "kept for their looks, not their production value" So I'm glad we have mostly Barnvelders at the moment! 

Appenzeller Spitzhauben chick- already a poser

Today was taken up with my delightful granddaughter Kere, discovering what Grandma can manage on one leg. We baked gingerbread, visited my poultry flock (first time in 2 weeks), pulled rhubarb and picked flowers, eventually having 2 little posies, a courtyard one and a front garden one. It was a beautiful day, would have been perfect for a long distance bike ride, but for a broken leg and a granddaughter.

Kere's gingerbread

Kere was braver than me - I opted to go down the slope on crutches rather than wheelchair

It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to

What a lot of raised and dashed expectations in the last 2 days. On Wednesday I'm told by Warwick Hospital that both bones in my calf are broken and I need screws to hold everything in place while it mends. Get prepared for an operation on Thursday afternoon they say, and take me through the pre-op tests (one of which tells me I'm officially overweight, How can that be after all this training? I point out I have half a ton of plaster on my leg. It gets noted on my form)
On Thursday morning I can have 'breakfast' at 6 am and nothing after 10. I don't think its worth hauling myself downstairs at 6 am anyway, so thats no problem. The problem is when the hospital calls to tell me the operation won't be til Friday morning. Eat nothing after midnight. Can't say I often do. Friday morning (my birthday) at 8.45 I have the call, yes, it's all on, get things ready and we'll call back to tell you which ward to go to. I sort out my PJs and an old nightie of my mothers, just incase PJs aren't allowed. (how do I know, I don't frequent hospital beds if possible) 10 minutes later the call comes - there are no beds anywhere. Oh well, at least I can spend my birthday at home, but I am beginning to wonder how long it takes for bones to start to mend in the wrong configuration. Oh, and all this time I'm instructed to keep the ankle above the knee etc etc.

So - had a jolly enough day, yummy salad for lunch provided by Caz and eaten with Tom, Tallis and Kere joining us. Learning to move around on borrowed wheelchair which is easier than crutches.

Afternoon visit from a friend, Fiona, and supper with Roz and Harper, who brought a birthday 'cake' for a non-carb eating Granny (well, if you don't count the sugar, which I didn't)

So, thats all for now, I need to have a last drink of water and get to bed ready to go to the hospital at 7.30am. Please, please, no emergencies at Warwick hospital in the night...........................

Things just get worse

Went to the fracture clinic today. A friend who visited yesterday had suggested I expect the worst and then whatever they said would be better, but I couldn't help hoping that it'd turn out not to be such a bad prognosis, maybe they would even say I didn't need it in plaster after all. Ha! After seeing the orthopedic surgeon, having several more x-rays and a new plaster, I learnt that I have actually broken the bottom of my tibia, the top of my fibula and will need an operation to put screws in the tibia. Now I am home again (op hopefully tomorrow) having to keep my ankle higher than my knee, and my knee higher than my hip. Reminds me of 'dem bones' song. The registrar was a right joker, when I asked if I would need a general anesthetic he said they would hit me on the back of the neck and hope to finish the op before I woke up. I think it was his way of saying 'yes'. And he drew a whopping great arrow in thick black pen on my knee pointing to where the fibula is broken. Where's the artistry in that?
As we left the hospital it started to rain-usually an excuse not to go for a ride. But today I feel so wretched I'd even rather be cycling in the rain......