Or should that be 'our' oxygenated life? I might be the one on 24 hour oxygen support, but it all affects my husband as well.
This week's adventure... we are supposed to be away in a cottage on a beautiful farm in Wiltshire. But we're not. Away, that is. I had booked two cottages at the same farm, so we could share one, and our children share the adjacent one, and we could, for the first time in seven years, go on a family holiday together. We would be there from Monday to Friday, maybe sharing meals outside if the weather was kind, a bit of local sightseeing, just enjoying extended time together.
However, on Tuesday morning one of our two portable oxygen concentrators failed. We had one for overnight use, the other for travelling in the car using its batteries, and six cylinders of oxygen for going out and about and as a backup in case of power cuts ot equipment fails.
It was the smaller portable concentrator that I planned to use for travelling in the car, and pottering around in the cottage, that stopped working - the error codes show that it is not delivering any oxygen at all. We'll take it to be serviced and see what they say, but I suspect it's a gonner.
So we two had to pack up and go home. It just wouldn't have been sensible to stay even one day longer, as then we wouldn't have enough contingency to deal with a second oxygen 'event' or equipment fail.
There's no point in being upset, or raging, or doing anything except saying 'Ee, I am vexed'. We know that going away on holiday is a fragile idea, which is why we pick places that are no more than a three hour drive, or a cylinder's worth of oxygen if we include contingency (that word again!) away from home.
The children decided that rather than continue in the cottage, they too would go back to where they live, a hour or so away from us, and we would use the rest of the week spending whole days together. So we thanked our surprised host (lovely lady!) said our goodbyes and departed.
Now you know why the Ramsbottoms (Albert and the Lion' and Mamselle (Diary of a Provincial Lady) have made their appearance in previous posts!
We've had two brilliant excursions (more later) and further trips planned before what passes for normal life resumes on Monday.
Never a dull moment...
So sorry you had to cut your holiday short, time with family is so precious. Last year I went through a horrible time with my health (thankfully seems to be sorted now) and it forced us to cancel a planned family holiday at very short notice leaving us all very upset but health has to come first.
ReplyDeleteJane (a regular reader)
Hi Jane, yes, cancelling holidays is always upsetting, but if it's not sensible to go... well, that's how it is. Then one has to somehow retrieve what one can from the debris. I hope your health has improved since then.
DeleteSo sorry that your holiday was cut short. I hope that you salvage at least some time with the children.
ReplyDeletebtw I memorised Stanley Holloway's poem on the Battle of Hastings years ago and I can still remember enough fragments to feel the joy in it. Thank you for bringing up good memories.
He wrote a poem on the battle of Hastings? This I need to investigate! As you say, It's the memories attached to the poems that are so valuable.
DeleteI'm so sorry about you having to cancel your holiday. It must be very frustrating! I'm glad you were able to spend time with family - in the end, that's what's important!
ReplyDeleteWe have had two lovely family days together already 😃
DeleteOh dear, that's so hard. I am sorry , and hope you might be able to make up the time later.
ReplyDeleteOh well,these things happen, and I've not to pin my happiness on things that might be too fragile 😏
DeleteI'm sorry you've had to cancel your holiday, at least, the bit that means staying away from home. I hope the weather stays fine so that you can have some further enjoyable days out and about with your family. Can't rely on ruddy technology these days . . .
ReplyDeleteThank you... we're good at making the best of things!
DeleteSo sorry this well-planned holiday away won't happen. Wishing you some good family times next week.
ReplyDeleteIt's going well so far; the last two days were so full that I overslept this morning for 2 hours! Unheard of!
DeleteOh Kirsten, I'm so sorry that this was cancelled. How very inconsiderate of your oxygen tank to fail but it was sensible to do it, even if it is very sad. I hope that the weather will be kind to you so you and the family can spend time together.
ReplyDeleteWe've had lovely days, and more to come. Plus all the food catered for as I brought it back in a cold bag!
DeleteIt was unfortunate that you had to cut your time away so short. I'm so glad you were able to make the best of the rest of your week.
ReplyDeleteYou've found the exact right word, Granny M; 'unfortunate'. I had been hunting through my mental Thesaurus without success to find it. To continue the milk jug theme, 'there's no use crying over spilt milk'!
DeleteTruly empathising with you. Ah well, we can both stay at home working on our TwoByTwo stitching! Lyssa beat me to a comment about the poem involving " 'Arold, on 'is 'orse, wiv 'is 'awk, on 'is 'and" (harder to type than to recite)
ReplyDeleteI was puzzled br 'arold, but reread Lyssa's comment. 💡 Oh! Of course! THAT 'arold! I'm off to reread the rest of it.
DeletePlenty of empathy coming your way...
Sorry about your holiday but being together even if not as planned is a blessing. Making the best of a mishap is the way to go isn't it? Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteYou're right, it's all about being together ❤️
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