there were two items about donation in the news today.

An American man, who had a rare type of cancer, has had the world’s first skull and scalp transplant. It took 15 hours. He also had a new kidney and pancreas at the same time.

My family thought that my transplant took a long time! From my own experience I can just about imagine what this man must have gone through. I hope it is all really successful for him.

“Imagine connecting blood vessels 1/16 of an inch under a microscope with tiny stitches about half the diameter of a human hair being done with tools that one would use to make a fine Swiss watch”

And there has been a drop in the number of young people giving blood.  NHS Blood and Transplant are suggesting that some of the reasons why might be because people are too busy or scared of needles or don’t know where to go to donate.

You can benefit from donating, as research has discovered that donating blood can help reduce the risk of heart attacks and cancer.  And it can also be good for all of you out there that might be watching your weight, as you burn 650 calories with every pint donated.

My daughter donates blood. This isn’t easy for her to do, she has passed out before while there and sometimes she just scrapes through in the tests they do beforehand. But she keeps going.

“We want to remind everyone that blood donation is one of the simplest ways you can save or improve a life”

So please everybody, BECOME A DONOR. In any way.

Go to bbc.co.uk/news/health if you want to read more about these stories.

Thursday 28th to Sunday 31st May

I was due to go to clinic today but couldn’t get there. No one could have time off. I really didn’t want to be inside on my own all day today, so I decided to walk to Cafe Nero in the town for a cup of tea and play on my iPad! When I got there who did I see? My brother in law was sat in the window, killing time between jobs. He was just about to leave so I had his chair. A real good ‘people watching’ position! Then along came two ladies and sat down right beside me. One of them ate two sandwiches, a fancy yogurt and a pain aux raisin while she was sat there. Wish I had her appetite! Their conversation was quite interesting though!! But I was trapped in the corner ‘Urm excuse me, please could I get out’ 😃

I went back on the Friday but this time I was meeting my friend Jackie when she had finished work. Another friend Kate just happened to come in with her husband, so they came and sat with us. Nice.

I really must ask for a loyalty card when I’m next in there. My sister has one for most places she goes and loves getting her free cups of tea or coffee when she’s earnt them. I feel like going into competition with her. But she and her husband John are always going out somewhere (👫 ☕️ 🍷🍴 ⛳️ ✈️ what a life!!!) and I think there is no way I would be able to keep up with her.

Gary’s mum and dad came for a visit Saturday morning, so had a coffee and a natter with them. This started off in the garden for a while but the sun disappeared behind a cloud and it got cold, so then moved inside. Off they went to do some shopping, so me and Gary ended up going to Millets Farm Centre which is a farm shop, restaurant, they have a few animals there and a children’s play area, little craft shack, garden centre, maize maze and falconry centre. It makes a nice day out. Me and Gary bought some lunch and ate it overlooking the duck pond! as the sun had come back out and it was quite warm and sunny by then. Then had a wander about. When we got back home we had another one of Gary’s barbecues. Yum.

On Sunday, after sorting my recycling and rubbish bins ready for collection the next day! we went out for some dinner. To Bitter & Twisted, a local pub. I had a flatbread with chunks of sweet potato, mushrooms, spinach and haloumi cheese on top. It was absolutely delicious and my plate was empty. (Okay a small portion did end up on Gary’s fork!) I hope I can go back for more of that sometime soon.

That’s a few days passed.