Well, bit of a gap in the blog because of Xmas. First some good news – Elsa is back to 100% health. As suspected it must have been some 24/48 hour bug or something as she is right as rain now. Big relief all round.

Xmas Day saw us go to Mum and Dad’s for Xmas Lunch. As usual, it was an absolutely delicious meal and we were left stuffed My sister’s husband’s (Guy) dad (John) gave a nice little speech before we ate about how nice it was to see kp still here It was very touching.

Susa and Simon (Guy’s sister and brother-in-law) were there as was Guy’s mother Melda. We had a lovely day.

On the Saturday between Xmas and New Year, we had a big family get together for Karen’s side of the family. We had a lovely buffet at Marie’s and played some fun games. LOTS AND LOTS of laughs. It was great. kp had a great time too.

New Year’s Eve saw kp and I out clubbing in Newcastle. kp wore a mini-skirt and a bikini top and we were out until 5am. We were drunk as skunks. Actually, that was the dream I had. We were in bed for 11pm and saw the New Year in snoring.

On Thursday, we went to the Lakes for a few days with Mum, Dad, Jane, Guy and the kids. It was snowing hard overnight and when we got up, the roads were real bad where we were. The Lakes were snow-free at the time we set off. We set off and it took us 40 minutes to get a mile ! When a big white van jack-knifed coming down a hill towards us, we decided to go back home. kp was absolutely besides herself.

Here is the car in the drive. It had only been out of the garage for 5 minutes when i took this photo.

We planned another route going further south before going west, and that turned out to be a very wise move.

We had a great time in the Lakes. We took the dogs and luckily we had a little cottage with a separate single bed (perfect for the dogs).

Here are some photos of us down there.

Health-wise, kp is doing really well. The pain is pretty much under control. Sleep remaining the big issue. She had 2 hours last night. Weirdly, while we were away, she slept much better. Interesting !

She is going to start her new schedule tomorrow. It’s something we have drawn up to give her enough to keep her going in the hope it brings better sleep. Here is a snapshot of it.