Hello my dear friends who join in here with WOYWW – or What’s on your workdesk Wednesday – a fun and action packed hop around crafty blogs all over the globe. Pop over Here to find out about us all.

So – what you are all here for!! My desk….

Somewhat posed – as the desk is still neglected and abandoned – but more about that later! This was a lovely selection of goodies from Mrs D and hubby – looking forward to playing with these!! I can see that I’m going to be starting next year’s Christmas cards early if I play with that gorgeous stamp.

Now, you ALL know that John has been in hospital for a month – BUT – with the happy connivance of Mrs D, and a great deal of skulduggery, TA DA… this was my present from John – one of the limited edition purple Ultimate Pro gadgets. No, I’ve not had time to play yet – yes, I have opened it and gazed in awe – Thanks Mrs D!!

John, and our daughters, also managed to gaze, in prolonged bouts, at Ebay and Amazon and all sorts of web hunting places – and found LOADS of china which matched a set we had. You must understand that John and I have been married 43 and a half years now – and never, in all those years, have we had a set of china of our own choosing. When we got married my parents chose a tea and dinner service for us, which we used daily for many years. Then John’s dad came to live with us, and brought his lovely set with him, which we have continued to use since his death in 1983!!! They were great – but not of our choice. Does that sound ungrateful – I don’t mean it to be. However, last spring we had a table top sale at our church – and there, on said table – was a gorgeous dinner set. We fell in love! Unfortunately, it is no longer made by the original company, but, by much hunting, John, Joy and Ruth managed to find sufficient to provide us with birthday and Christmas presents to add to it – and now we have 12 place settings. Enough for the whole family when we are all together. It looked fabulous!

And this was the last of 8 huge boxes we opened over the past few days!

So that’s my desk….. and for anyone interested to read further, here’s just why my desk is still neglected and abandoned! Last week (Dec 21st) I had sat next to John when he was so very, very poorly. I was convinced that he was about to die. He made his peace with God and I told him it was ok not to fight any more.  Does this sound over dramatic? Sorry – but even the staff on the ward felt he wouldn’t survive; moving him from the main bay into a single side room so I could be there with him. By Monday evening he was out of bed, calling for the TV remote! I had called the family and they decided to travel up to see him. By Tuesday evening he was so much better they were wondering if they had needed to travel the length of Britain!!! I woke Wednesday morning thinking “I don’t think he needs to be in hospital. There is nothing more they can do – the antibiotics are no longer holding infections at bay. He would like to die at home. I’m going to ask”” So – talking to the family, we all agreed that we would ask to get him home for Christmas. He would need oxygen, a bedroom commode, a trip home in an ambulance, and us to all swap around rooms so that John and I could be in our own space. It was all go. People maligne our NHS – but believe me when I tell you that within 20 minutes of asking my questions, the consultant had been spoken to, oxygen for the home was being set up, the palliative care team were alerted, a commode was ordered and we could pick it up from Llanfairfechan on Christmas Eve morning. It was only needing John to say he would like to be here. We all decided that question should be put by the consultant! I went into the hospital Wednesday afternoon and John and I spoke with the consultant, who was lovely. We know that there is nothing more medically that can be done to prevent the infections taking such a strong hold. They have run out of antibiotics to try. I simply have to keep giving him chest physio morning noon and night (the consultant’s words!!) SOoooo – John agreed to come home, not knowing how long he has. He could live for months, years, or days. The family all left on Christmas Eve to go elsewhere for the Christmas celebrations. We had two fabulous days by ourselves here. Very precious times. The oxygen man was great, and has fitted tubing to a VERY impressive machine, which means John can go anywhere in the house – up or down. The commode is on wheels, which means I can run him around upstairs – he isn’t walking very far yet – although when downstairs he is walking around with increasing strength; joining in with family things. He can’t leave the house yet, as we don’t have mobile oxygen – that’s my next request of our poor beleaguered NHS – that and a wheelchair. Then I can get him out and about a little. It’s a big birthday for him in three weeks, and I have a VERY special treat planned – How precious it would be if we could actually achieve this treat.

You can only imagine the huge raft of emotional upheaval we have been through this past few weeks. Talk about rollercoaster ride! I never knew rollercoasters went quite so vertically – always thought there was a bit of a slope!!!!!!!!!!!! Only Father God knows what is to happen. Only John knows whether he has any more fight left in him if he goes down with yet another huge infection. I only know that we intend to take each day we have and make the most of them. I thank you so very much for your prayers. It has meant so much to us to hear from you that you have been praying for us in all this. You are a fantastic bunch of folk, and we both appreciate you so much.

That’s it – you will be pleased to know!

Take care, each and every one of you. God bless you in 2016.

Margaret