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Welcome to The Primitive Cornish Hovel. A place where I will share my love of prim, vintage, family history, many interests & everyday life. I hope to show you a glimpse of a bygone age through the history of my family & the many 'treasures' I hold dear. Mixed in with this will be snippets of life today. Do drop in again for a visit to see what is happening at 'The Hovel'. Comments are welcomed.

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Sunday 15 March 2009

Nurse, Laundry Maid, Bottle Washer & Woodcutter....That's Me.....

Hello from the Hovel...Well another Friday the 13th and weekend has passed without mishap. But then again with what’s been going on here this year I wouldn’t know...hehe......
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Since I last posted the chaos has not lessened much in my life!!!. Andy was discharged the day after his op and should not have been. On Thursday morning he expressed that he was not at all well (obviously) and was in great pain. When he showed the nurse his very swollen and inflamed keyhole site she was concerned and said he would not be discharged that morning as planned and promptly gave him some morphine. However, with modern medicine being what it is he magically ‘improved’ enough to be sent home in the afternoon. Marvellous what a dose of morphine can do. Do I sound sarcastic, oops!!... I found out he was being discharged when I telephoned at lunchtime and the nurse thought I was picking him up. When I informed her I didn’t drive she wondered how he was getting home? I knew and this telephone call was immediately followed by one from Andy who informed me that he was already at the main entrance waiting for a taxi from his workplace. I cannot believe how our once excellent nursing care has been reduced to this but then again I saw it coming back in 1991 when I last worked for the NHS. Now I could get on my soapbox here but I won’t......just to say I am not impressed. Fortunately Andy had me to look after him (or not, you will have to ask Andy that...hehe...)........
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Not only was Andy coming home that day but my washing machine decided to break down. Yes, with a drum full of water! After washing for England for Jane & Christopher my washing remained in the washing basket. Fortunately I was able to get an engineer out on Friday, thank goodness for Homecare with British Gas (is it still called that?)....But as you can imagine when the engineer came the door had to be opened....ha well the utility room floor wanted washing!.... And do you know what the problem was, a lollypop stick was stuck somewhere. Now where did that come from....CHRISTOPHER......lol.....


So on Thursday I put my nurse’s head on and did what any good wife and nurse would do. I got him into bed, checked him, fed him and made sure he had everything he needed. The nurse’s bedside manner lasted until Saturday. After running upstairs with trays of food, etc and doing everything else as well. Plus chopping wood for the fire due to the radiator being removed from the lounge while awaiting a new one....so come Saturday the ‘Morning darling, how are you and what do you want for breakfast’ was replaced by ‘You’re not dead then, what to want to eat’... Andy asked where the nurse was, I replied ‘The Wife’s Back’...hehe....But saying that I have looked after him really well and you know what my reward was for all that exercise.... a 1lb gain when I weighed in at Slimming World this Thursday, which is not bad considering I haven’t been for 2 weeks. But to make matters worse Andy has lost 11lbs since he last weighed at the docs...not fair.......







But the good news is that the building work is starting to pull together. I was finally able to unpack my books and for most of the week, when I could, put them out. I had boxed the majority of my books ages ago and it was like meeting old friends again. Yes it did take longer than it should because I kept stopping to look through them. I do have a passion for books, have done since a child, and will confess that I have way too many. But which ones to let go?........
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Among my treasured books I came across many children’s books that I have collected over the years. Some I’m proud to say were my very own. The years swept away as I held each book and for a moment in time was that young child again reading these very stories. I can still hear my mother saying ‘Will you get your head out that book’...sound familiar?......Below are examples of two of the books that influenced my childhood.....

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As you can see by the ragged edges this book was read a lot.
It was given to me by my parents for Christmas in 1961......



The First Page
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Another book connected to this subject was my ever faithful ‘Children’s Sunday Missal’ which I carried with me to church each Sunday .......Yes I was a good Catholic girl...once......

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‘Children’s Sunday Missal’



So that everyone knew it belonged to me
I promptly wrote my name and address inside.....

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Not many things from my childhood survived however due to my mother’s regular ‘clean sweep’. I remember well the day my doll’s pram found a new home, without my knowing. I jokingly say to my mother that the trauma of that day effected me for the rest of my life...hehe....It was a beautiful navy and white Silver Cross pram with a tray, bag and sun canopy. It’s not obvious that I miss that pram, is it?...lol.......

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One of the books I did re-discovered was a 1946 book of ‘Film Review’ by F. Maurice Speed. No I was not given this in 1946, I’m not that ‘vintage’ yet....It has some great photos of the film stars of the day. Angela of miss vintage love will like these. You must pop over and visit her blog if you like vintage.....

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Jane Wyman in 'Night and Day'
Don't you just love those gloves...

Ginger Rogers in 'Heartbeat'



Ava Gardner

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There are more but I will post about them later. If I ever get organized I may even start a ‘Vintage Day’ each week. Stranger things have happened....lol....
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Well a busy week ahead is planned for me. You know how we have a cupboard under the stairs that is great for ‘storage’. Don’t tell me I’m the only one who has one filled to the brim? Well, to add to everything else going on in this house the gas supplier has decided that on the 23rd they would like to visit and upgrade my gas meter. Why now? I’ve been living here for ten years and now they have to do it....The only problem is where do I put everything that’s in there, I’ve run out of space. The good news however is that that I will finally be able to go and visit my grandson this week. Due to my having a cold and chesty cough I have not been able to visit him, naturally. He’s doing well and I can’t wait to see him and his sister. Hopefully I will have more photos to show you......until next time...lol........
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God may have created man before woman,
but there is always a rough draft before the masterpiece

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2 comments:

Cat Nap Inn Primitives said...

well glad to hear that your hubby was/is in good hands with you at the helm...have a wonderful week and enjoy that new grandbaby...:)

KernowWitch said...

Don't know about 'good hands' Gina...hehe...I must admit I'm begining to feel really tired but not too much to visit Dylan....Hugs Chrissy x