Sunday, August 27, 2006

I should be at

Greenbelt. But instead I'm sitting around in Lincoln with tonsillitis. Again. I'm sure I must be in for a world record by now?

I'd made loads of careful preparations. I'd selected which yarn to take (plain chunky socks to make knitting in dark tents easier, using 2 circular needles as there's less chance of dropped stitches and lost needles):



and wound it into balls:





I'd aired my sleeping bag (not used since last year!) and put clothes in a big pile to go in my big rucksack. I'd even bought a little bottle of shampoo from Lush.



I'd arranged to meet up with some other knitters, including Anne and Nickerjac. And also with Farli and Mr Farli.

Grrrrr. According to my calculations, I've now been on the tonsillectomy waiting list for 10 weeks. According to govt targets (I think) I have to have it done within 18 weeks or the hospital gets a big black mark. BUT the hospital is in a total mess at the moment. I did make it to
Knit Lincs yesterday (a good thing too as there were only two of us there!) and the other girl there had had her tonsils out fairly recently. She'd got as far as the day of the op and then been sent home from the surgery unit as they'd run out of operating space and time. It seems that sitting in A & E and refusing to budge until something happens could be the way to get things moving. It could be worse though. The waiting list for hearing aids is over 2 years...

Thank you for all the messages about my car. The bloke who did it eventually returned and left his phone no. in my postbox. He tried to get me to do a cash only deal without involving the
insurance company, which I refused to do (suspecting he didn't have insurance). It turned out that he did, but probably didn't want his premium to go higher with another claim. Anyway, he
was a little bit intimidating, which I hate, so I stuck to my guns and told him I just wanted his insurance details which he finally let me have. The damage is going to cost £860.02 (2p?!?!)
to repair (the bloke offered me £200 in cash to put it right!) but I do at least get a courtesy car so I can get to work whilst that's going on.

I retired to Lincoln for some TLC from Mum and Sooty. Although Sooty is now very ill himself. He was quite poorly last weekend and was very close to renal failure but various injections
brought him back to normal again. But it looks like it's happening again and he's a very old cat (nearly 19) so I'm not sure how fair it is on him to keep pumping him full of drugs. At the moment he's still speaking to us and is still interested in things but if that goes then...

So before Knit Lincs I ended up at the LYS that's closing down in Lincoln. I needed 1.5m of ribbon to finish off Lavender & Lace. The ribbon came to 16p, but then I spotted the yarn with
75% off. Eight balls of Cotton Braid made their way into my bag. Well, it was only £2 a ball, although it does mean a strike on Stashalong. But I think in the circumstances a yarn
purchase was necessary?




I've been knitting away on the shrug part of Lavender & Lace, using some more of the Patons 4ply 100% cotton in purple and some black Kidsilk Haze (one strand of each held together).
I'm quite pleased with how it's going, although some frogging was necessary due to be inability to count in various places.

15 comments:

Piglottie said...

Awww Daisy! What a horrible thing to happen. If its any consolation(which I'm sure it wont be), I was meant to go to Greenbelt last year but had to cancel at the last minute. One day we shall all get there and have a huge knitfest in celebration!

Glad you got the car sorted, but boo! to the horrible intimidating man and yeah! to you for standing up to him. Nice yarn purchase, and absolutely necessary under the circumstances. Take care and hope you get to have your operation soon. ***Hugs***

blog-blethers said...

Ohhh you have been through the wringer recently. Hopefully, your tonsilitis is more settled now - my sister gets it regularly and I know how poorly she feels with it. Sorry you missed your weekend plans and hope you get everything sorted out with the car soon ... its frightening how dependent we are on something and don't realise until its not there!

Badger said...

I'm so glad you stuck to your guns about the car - it's so much better for you to go through the insurance companies rather than accepting cash.

And the yarn purchase clearly was necessary, no justification required ;)

Iris said...

Poor you! Hopefully you'll feel better soon.

Glad that the bloke returned and good on you for insisting on involving the insurance company. If you are not sure what it will cost, it's always safer that way and just imagine getting to the garage only to find that fixing the car is going to be £600 (!) more expensive than you thought!!

Rosie said...

Hope you'll feel better soon and that you've lots of plans for that naughty (but nice) new yarn. Good job you stuck to your guns over the car. I expect the 2p is just to make it look as though it is a carefully calculated figure, rather than something plucked out of the air

scarletprincess said...

How awful you couldn't go to greenbelt! I hope you get better soon. Well done for sticking to your guns with that awful man too! x

Mary Anne said...

kiddo,
I'm so sorry you've been hit with tonsillitis again and yes, that yarn purchase was absolutely necessary, given what you've been through lately. I'm glad to hear you have the car sorted and you didn't give in to the intimidation. As for Sooty, wow, 19 years. sending soft kitty hugs his way.

Rain said...

What a shame you ,issed your trip. Hope you feel better soon and they get it sorted out. The NHS is a shambles for some things.

It would have been rude to leave the yarn behind for that price.

The L&L shrug looks lovely so far.

Jamie said...

I'm so sorry you had to miss your trip! I hope you're feeling better soon. Good on you for sticking to your guns about your car! It can be difficult, but usually anyone trying to work around the system has a 'record' and really can't be trusted. I think the yarn purchase was well worth it.

Nickerjac said...

I'm sorry that you are missing out, but to be honest with the awful weather we have had the last couple of days it would just have made your tonsilitus worse xhugx

Rosie said...

Daisy, I've added a comment to your comment re Tapestry over on my blog. Sure there must be a more sensible way of contacting you but have to leave the house at 5am tomorrow, so not thinking beyond food, bed and bath. Do hope you're feeling better!yp

Fred said...

Sorry to hear about the bad news all round but at least the guy eventually did come back. Can't believe a small bump would cost so much (but then I don't drive) so just as well you did stick with it.

Anonymous said...

That is rotten, so sorry to hear you're ill again. Sending happy HEALTHY vibes your way (although I do have one hell of a cold, have been sneezing and coughin all morning, my nose is RAW!) Hope you feel better soon xxx

Anonymous said...

You were missed! Although... well... see my blog in a day or two to see why for us this was the worst Greenbelt ever... Still, I met Nic, and we knitted which was great.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear. That sucks. I'm sorry you're having a disappointing experience with the NHS. I have been very lucky and have never had to wait long for anything. I got my hearing aid in a couple of months after seeing the audiologist. I can't believe some people have to wait two years.

I hope your slot comes up soon. I had my tonsils out as a child following two virtually solid years of tonsilitis. I felt soooo much better. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!