• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

What was your fasting blood glucose? (full on chat)

Wonderful! I'm actually able to get online again. I came through at 0300 today intending to get online and wish everyone a happy new year only to find Neil already working on the laptop to install a new operating system so that I can use the family history websites. He'd been working on it since 0200 and has only just finished getting us this far at 0600. He's given up for now and gone back to bed. For some reason, this system won't recognise my backup disk so I can't get into anything that I was working on. All my passwords are on a file on that backup disk. I can use is this one and that's because I can remember the address and my password. He'll come back to it and see what he can do later on, but it has been a very difficult job for some reason - maybe because this laptop is just too old. Old age does have its drawbacks.

My brother and SIL had a pretty rotten time on their Christmas cruise. There was a huge delay to get on board which turned out to be due to a much needed clean of the ship after there were several cases of Norovirus. They were assured, eventually, that there was no further danger from the virus and that the cabins could be occupied. So they settled and the ship sailed. They were not impressed by the condition of the ship (P&O one - can't remember the name but it is a well known one) or the staffing levels, or the service offered. Maybe the low staffing levels were because some of them were off with the virus. At the ports they visited they found that where previously transport had been laid on to get passengers from the docks to the towns, this was not the case and they were expected to walk fairly long distances - not an option in their case, so they stayed on board at most stopping off points. On the way back there was another outbreak of Norovirus but they always have been scrupulous in their hygiene and seemed to get by OK, until the 8th of the 10 days when my brother went down with it. So they were confined to their cabin - at least it had a balcony and large window so they didn't feel too confined. Once back in Southampton they found that their luggage was taken to a picking up point, some distance away from the dockside and they had to walk to get to it (this is an 81 year old man, 8 months after major heart surgery and only just recovered from the virus and a 79 year old woman with arthritic knees). Once they picked up their cases, they had to push them on a trolley another long distance to their car park. By the time they got home, SIL had started to develop the virus. She is apparently very ill with it. My brother says that the standard of hygiene and cleaning of cabins was perfunctory at best, there were stains on their carpet, cabins were very speedily cleaned and beds made up with no attempt to clean the bathroom or surfaces in the cabin, food was nothing great and there were lots of very noisy young, single folk when these cruises were, in the past, enjoyed by elderly, quiet couples. They think, perhaps, that their cruising days are over, unless they can get another of the very expensive ones that bring them up to the Hebrides so they can visit me for a few hours. Such a disappointment for them.

Anyway, I only logged on to wish you all a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR and hope that everyone has a 2024 better than 2023.
 
Morning and Happy New Year to all. I was abed well before 10.00 pm and Fitbit awards me 9 hrs 59 minutes sleep so a job well done. Water and tea to drink yesterday but Hardy's The Darkling Thrush - probably my favourite poem - is Malcolm Guite's choice for New Year's Eve so who needs alcohol? Back home I would time dog walks to ensure I passed a discarded church, abandoned orchard, mist rolling along ditches and over the Troll Bridge. Coming back to the wood burner, Christmas decorations and reading that poem with a mug of tea was pure joy. Here's the second poem I also first read and treasured aged 14. I can always smell (disused, rusty machinery, pigs, hens, cooling tractors, ungleaned fruit, nettles and Fen soil after rain) and visualize the corner of somewhere very similar - also on that walk but large houses are there now. Nostalgia ain't wot it used to be. @Annb hug for your brother and sister. Everyone else prepare for a year of Unicorn eggs for all in the new golden age - x marks the spot. 2024 theme song.
 
Last edited:
Morning and Happy New Year to all. I was abed well before 10.00 pm and Fitbit awards me 9 hrs 59 minutes sleep so a job well done. Water and tea to drink yesterday but Hardy's The Darkling Thrush - probably my favourite poem - is Malcolm Guite's choice for New Year's Eve so who needs alcohol? Back home I would time dog walks to ensure I passed a discarded church, abandoned orchard, mist rolling along ditches and over the Troll Bridge. Coming back to the wood burner, Christmas decorations and reading that poem with a mug of tea was pure joy. Here's the second poem I also first read and treasured aged 14. I can always smell (disused, rusty machinery, pigs, hens, cooling tractors, ungleaned fruit, nettles and Fen soil after rain) and visualize the corner of somewhere very similar - also on that walk but a large houses are there now. Nostalgia ain't wot it used to be. @Annb hug for your brother and sister. Everyone else prepare for a year of Unicorn eggs for all in the new golden age - x marks the spot. 2024 theme song.
Thanks for the poems. I had not read Tall Nettles before but knew The Darkling Thrush. Give it some welly Alice Cooper.
 
Last edited:
Good morning everyone on a bright and sunny start to the day,month,year here in the dark and dangerous north. No fireworks heard last night - smashing and managed to sway along to the tunes of the Hootenanny until overtaken by sense and took to my bed. Mrs Miggins was far more sensible, being in bed by 10. Anyhow, out for a family walk this morning. Art bit, Happy New Year, white rabbits for the superstitious. Is there a good recipe for them? Fish today I think or it may be duck. Hope your day and year goes well. Anyone first footing? Best have some koffy and sort out the washing.


1704101979525.jpeg
 
Good morning everyone on a bright and sunny start to the day,month,year here in the dark and dangerous north. No fireworks heard last night - smashing and managed to sway along to the tunes of the Hootenanny until overtaken by sense and took to my bed. Mrs Miggins was far more sensible, being in bed by 10. Anyhow, out for a family walk this morning. Art bit, Happy New Year, white rabbits for the superstitious. Is there a good recipe for them? Fish today I think or it may be duck. Hope your day and year goes well. Anyone first footing? Best have some koffy and sort out the washing.


View attachment 65274
Enjoy the walk and either the fish or duck - could have both and call yourself Marina. Thanks for sharing the spectral rams. I may be over thinking this but your love of Chinese art took me there.
 
Last edited:
Enjoy the walk and either the fish or duck - could have both and call yourself Marina. Thanks for sharing th spectral rams. I may be over thinking this but your love of Chinese art took me there.
Thank you @ianpspurs - rams, who knew. I think that an endoscope or even a kaleidoscope would be more insightful than a horoscope :cool:.
 
My first big mistake of 2024 listening to the news.
Hug for that but have an extract from a poem, piece of art and a song which reflect the (misplaced but with some genuine cause) optimism that the arc of history may deliver the New Jerusalem for England. It also delivers a very contemporary news bulletin acknowledging war, poverty, slander, greed but still confidently looking to the true hope for a better, lasting future. Don't ignore the updates of how the post-Thatcher/Reagan spivocracy - normally men (not woman) are behaving (very) badly - but stick with the program: Phillipians 4:8. Apologies for teaching my elders and betters to suck eggs. GBWY.
 
Last edited:
Good morning everyone on a bright and sunny start to the day,month,year here in the dark and dangerous north. No fireworks heard last night - smashing and managed to sway along to the tunes of the Hootenanny until overtaken by sense and took to my bed. Mrs Miggins was far more sensible, being in bed by 10. Anyhow, out for a family walk this morning. Art bit, Happy New Year, white rabbits for the superstitious. Is there a good recipe for them? Fish today I think or it may be duck. Hope your day and year goes well. Anyone first footing? Best have some koffy and sort out the washing.


View attachment 65274
Nice, white rabbits.
 
Happy New Year.
In a decent mood today, so no politics, no watching news, I have cleared the decks of Christmas!
I have got the house back to normal (ish),'
It's footie day and I'm gonna sort Mrs L food and comfort, and get out the house for a few hours.
I will be back later.
Enjoyed Jools, the local fireworks were loud and the acoustic shadow, and because of the low cloud and wind, the flickering light from the pyrotechnics was colourful and unusual, it was another storm that went through the evening and into the New Year. But not named!!!

This morning is a beautiful one. Sunshine and no wind, no rain! Quite warm, blue skies, got time to spend an hour tidying up! Some spring bulbs already up to six inches high or about 10-12 cm, for the non metrical educated. Ha!

Gotta go, tea is being bellowed from above!

My best wishes to you all, and an optimistic new year please?
 
Thank you @ianpspurs - rams, who knew. I think that an endoscope or even a kaleidoscope would be more insightful than a horoscope :cool:.
I should probably apologise for seeing the white rabbits as rams. We at Breckland Art will print a fulsome apology somewhere meaningless in our next edition.
 
Last edited:
Good morning everyone on a bright and sunny start to the day,month,year here in the dark and dangerous north. No fireworks heard last night - smashing and managed to sway along to the tunes of the Hootenanny until overtaken by sense and took to my bed. Mrs Miggins was far more sensible, being in bed by 10. Anyhow, out for a family walk this morning. Art bit, Happy New Year, white rabbits for the superstitious. Is there a good recipe for them? Fish today I think or it may be duck. Hope your day and year goes well. Anyone first footing? Best have some koffy and sort out the washing.


View attachment 65274
Nice white rabbits @dunelm
 
Back
Top