An evening with The Kransky Sisters.

Last night we went to Ipswich to the Civic Centre there to see The Kransky Sisters.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQBSVmL7u5k

More good news!

We went to see Dulcie late this afternoon after Will came home from work.She had been moved to another room and was in one of the four beds in the room. She had a bed by the window.She had had a busy day, visits from Wendi, Danny and his son Liam, phone calls from Shirley, Terry and Shelley one of her grand daughters. They had had her out of bed and she had sat in a chair for 2 hours and had even started reading one of the books we had taken for her. She hadn't read a book in years.She was in good spirits and had many lucid moments and was the Dulcie we knew and love, but these moments were punctuated by bizarre but brief weird ones.Her tea arrived while we there....roast lamb, a roast potato, pumpkin and peas and a sachet of mint sauce. It did look very much like hospital food. I noticed that the lady in the bed opposite Dulcie had some sort curry and her plate looked much nicer than Dulcie's but the woman ignored it, stuck her nose in a what looked very much like the nose bags they give to a horse...and she started retching. Then the woman in the bed next door to 'curry' woman also got out her nose bag and started retching in unison. Dulcie just kept on eating her lamb occasionally pointing at the blank  TV screen hanging form the ceiling and telling is what she could see moving on it.The nurse came and pulled the curtains round the vomiters."Such lovely tiles, aren't they Bill?" she said pointing at the ceiling tiles."I wish I had a nose like that woman," she said pointing her fork at the 'curry' woman's husband who was not hidden by the curtain.She ate everything! Her plate was clean. The woman in the bed next to Dulcie had the same thing."Anybody got any butter?" she said. I've got a bread roll and no butter."We've got butter," said the 'curry' woman's husband with the nose Dulcie wanted. "You can have the bread roll as well if you want" he said, accompanied by the sound of his wife retching.I passed the butter to the woman next to Dulcie. All the women in the room were younger than Dulcie but I guess there are not many that are older.A nurse brought her the phone. It was Iris.Dulcie rolled her eyes.It was my fault. I'd phoned Iris earlier in the day to let her know and she had been so pleased that I had."Oh, the poor blighter!" she'd said when I told her the story.Iris was good she didn't keep her talking for long which was good because she was trying to tell her where the hospital was and Iris was having difficulty hearing and Dulcie was getting louder and louder."It's near Aldi.......ALDI!.......IT'S NEAR ALDI, DEAR!........ALDI!!!"I took the phone back to the nurse station.Dulcie had pulled the oxygen tubes out of her nostrils and was sucking them.Will said "No, they need to stay in your nose.""They're giving me water, Dear," she said.We helped her drink some tea by using a straw.Then the nurse was back with the phone....another caller."She's popular!" said the woman in the next bed who'd had the 'curry' woman's butter passed over by her husband with the nose Dulcie wanted."Yes, " I said, "Well, when you get to 91, you've had time to make a lot of friends."This time Dulcie was not so with it and started off holding the phone but then slowly drew it away from her ear and down to her chest though all the while carrying on the conversation with the caller. Will grabbed it and held it back up to her ear.He wanted to go make some phone calls so I took over holding the phone and he went off out of the ward. With her hands now free, Dulcie grabbed the cup of hot tea with the straw in and clutched it by her chin. I held the phone with one hand and grasped the cup with the other to (a) stop her from spilling it and (b) try to keep the straw out of her eye.I was pleased when the call was over and I could just concentrate on the cup."They all seem to be women in here," said Dulcie."Yes, they are", I said."Is that a woman? I can't see," she said in a very loud stage whisper, nodding her head towards 'butter' woman."Yes," I mouthed."I think she's a man," said Dulcie, again, in the loud stage whisper."No," I mouthed, "It's a woman.""She's not a man?" she whispered loudly."No, it's a woman." I mouthed."Oh," said Dulcie, "I thought it was a man."Will came back and it was time for us to leave her to rest."There's something crawling up that wall." she said.....There wasn't.We said we would see her tomorrow.She wished us a lovely evening.For a 91 year old who had a three and a half hour hip operation....she's doing pretty well.It's good news.

Bad news! Good news!

Bad news!I got an email yesterday from the Queensland College of Teachers to say that before I could be registered they needed a certified copy of my 'full academic transcript.' This basically is the list of courses I studied at College to get my degree.That was 30 years ago!When I was applying for jobs in Hong Kong I had had a similar request and had attempted to get such a document from the College as it is now. Then it was North Riding College under The University of Leeds, now it is the Scarborough Campus of the University of Hull. They had no records from that far back...the stone tablets that the information had been carved on had been lost.I almost replied with a 'Why don't you just stick your registration up your Rector!' but stayed calm and sent them copies of my correspondence with the College as is now, the little information they were able to give me, some course evidence that I had been able to send to the College and a 'Whizz Bang!' reference from one of my ex-college tutors with whom I am still in touch and who is now a Professor at the University of Macau. He now co- writes educational books with the people whose books I studied when I was at College.I said I was sorry that I could not provide them with my academic transcript of my courses from 30 years ago but that I could assure them that since then I had actually taught full time for the last 27 years and for the last 17 of those years had been a Deputy Head. That must count for something!They wanted my reply by the 17th April....they got it with in an hour of me receiving their initial request.Good news!Today I got this:Congratulations Mr Allen!QCT Registration Number: 8XXXX5You are now eligible to teach in a Queensland school as you are registered with the Queensland College of Teachers.  Your name appears on the public register of teachers in Queensland. You will receive your certificate and card in the mail in the next two weeks. You can view the public register and get more information about teaching in Queensland at our website www.qct.edu.au.Best wishesJohn RyanDirectorQueensland College of Teachers

Bionic Nan!

"Gentlemen, We can rebuild her. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the World's first Bionic Nan!"After a long day waiting....she was due to go in at 10.00 am but went in at 3.30 pm....and then she was a lot longer in the operating room than we had expected....three and a half hours as opposed to the hour and a half we had been told to expect...Dulcie was out and recovering by 7.30pm. We saw her back in her room at about 8.15 pmShe was still a little confused after the anaesthetic but her memory was not affected. She knew us all around her bed. When I said 'you must hurry home because we are running out of Anzac biscuits!' She told me that there was a box of shortbread biscuits in the cupboard. She's right...there is.Some of her quotes tonight:"I feel good.""Everybody in the hospital smiles.""Nick, there are so many beautiful people in the World!"....(I suspected she was on LSD when she said that!)"Those little red lights keep moving down the ceiling, like little sparks. It's a wonder they don't set things alight!"(Yep!...LSD!)"Some bugger tried to strangle me! He had this thing around my neck and I said you're strangling me...we had such a laugh about it."More news tomorrow after we have seen her in the afternoon.Thank you for your good wishes and thoughts.  

Maggot Apocalypse and other (real) Hallucinations!

It is the strangest thing being in this house without Dulcie.We were up about 8.00 am  ready to wait for news from Danny.Will was making his morning cup of tea and I noticed the floor was covered with rice...except as I stared...... the rice was moving!The kitchen floor was covered with maggots and they seemed to be coming from under the cooker.I looked down at the carpet and there were some wriggling across the carpet in the lounge and on further exploration they were heading down the hall towards the bedrooms.Will swept the ones on the kitchen floor up in the dustpan and put them in the bin.I was crawling around on my hands and knees picking up the ones that had reached the lounge and the hall. We found them under the table, the chairs, the sofa and they seemed to be trying to burrow into the carpet!The ones Will had put in the bin were crawling out again so we had to remove the bin bag and take it out.We pulled out the cooker to investigate but could see nothing and could not tell where they were coming from. We would clear an area but the next time we looked we would see more wriggling on their way. It took about an hour before we could not find any more. We don't know how many escaped but we will know soon enough when the flies hatch.It is a good job we do not believe in omens! It is not a good time to have a 'maggot omen' ,whatever it could mean!We heard from Danny 'mid-demaggotation', the Surgeon had been to see Dulcie, who had been all prepped and ready for the op, but he had gone away and consulted with a few people and had decided that he could not risk fixing the leg with a metal rod/plate for fear her bones would not be strong enough to take it. She is therefore going to have a 'half' (?) hip replacement...but not until tomorrow.Apparently there is some concern also about the anaesthetic. They have done tests and the anaesthetist was surprised to find that Dulcie's results were similar to those of the average 70 year old.We were not surprised.Anyway they have decided that she will have an epidural and be awake for the operation rather than being knocked out.Danny and Wendi went to visit her about lunchtime and then came over to Celtis St. They said she was fine and in good spirits. We chatted for awhile about the possible implications of all this and changes that may need to be made but nothing final was decided until we wait and see how tomorrow goes.Will and I went over to see her about 2.30.I think she was dozing and mumbling in her sleep but she opened her eyes when we went in.She said she could feel no pain at all and we could tell she was on some good 'stuff!'She was a bit breathless talking to us at first but she had pulled the oxygen tubes out of her nose. Will put them back in and after awhile she seemed to find it easier to talk.She pointed at the smoke detector on the ceiling and another circular contraption."In the night,' she said 'those things slide across the ceiling and then come back.'Will and I looked at them and then at each other and then back at the ceiling. There was no way they would move...ever.She pointed at the TV hanging from the ceiling."What's that bit of rag sticking out behind the television?"It was the electrical testing label, on the electric cable, to say that it was fit to use."In the dark it looks like a little magpie."O.....K.....we thought.A doctor came in and she removed the cannula that had stopped working and said that someone would be along soon to fit another. She was very nice and very gentle with Dulcie.When we were alone again Dulcie said"That radio comes on in the morning," we looked in the direction she was indicating but we could see no radio. There was the drip pump machine, but no radio."It says 'Horse!' 'Horse!'"We looked at each other."I think they want you to say the first thing that comes into your head," she went on, "So I say 'Ploughing!' 'Ploughing!'."At this point I had dissolved in to fits of giggles and put my head down to and tried to hide the fact that I was laughing uncontrollably. I don't know how Will managed to stay serious."Really?" He said, " like a word association game?"Another doctor arrived to fit the new cannula. She started looking for suitable veins. Dulcie's skin is paper thin but her veins are hard to find. She asked Dulcie a few questions."Are you on oxygen at home?"Dulcie said."No Dear! But it's a different lifestyle." Will was laughing with me this time."Well you may have lost your hip, but you haven't lost your sense of humour," said the doctor.The first attempt at fitting a cannula on Dulcie's arm failed and she had to try again on Dulcie's wrist. The second attempt worked. Will could not look. He hates needles!"You may feel a prick," said the doctor."I won't feel anything, Dear," said Dulcie, pulling a funny face at me.When she'd gone. Dulcie said she had not missed her cigarettes."It might be a good time to give them up then," said Will."I might," she said, then looking up at the ceiling added, "those things are moving now. Can you see them?"We looked. They weren't moving."It might be the drugs," I said."And I can see that little bird peeping," she said looking at the TV."It's a lovely colour of blue, that door, isn't it?"We decided to get going as she was getting a bit tired."Any jobs for me?" I asked before we went."No dear, as long as you did that watering yesterday."I had.We said we would see her again tomorrow after her operation.We left her looking at the ceiling."It must be the drugs," she was saying.