I've noticed several people doing a Folksy Friday, i.e. putting pics of their favourite Folksy items on their blog.  So now that I've figured out how to do links from pictures, I thought I'd join in!

Two days ago I took my dad shopping at Lidl's in Lowestoft.  He was his usual bright self until we were packing our shopping away, when he suddenly came over all dizzy and nauseous, and his legs gave way.  He was as white as a sheet and was hot and sweaty.  I called for help and the cashiers immediately got him a chair, and were very attentive.

As it was very warm in the store, after a few minutes they helped Dad to walk outside, hoping the cooler air would help him recover.  We took him to my car and sat him on the passenger seat, but he was still feeling very ill.  One of the shop assistants, Adam, called an ambulance, which thankfully arrived within about 5 minutes.

Dad was taken to the hospital and I followed with the car.  We both arrived at the same time but I had to wait a while before they would let me in to see him.  We arrived at the hospital around 1.30pm and various doctors and nurses came to treat Dad.  He had injections for the nausea and a pill to take down his high blood pressure, which was their main concern.

At 6pm he was moved to a ward.  I stayed with him until 7.30.  He was sleeping by then and I was assured he'd be in that ward overnight.

The next day, I arrived at the hospital at 8.30am, just as the doctor was doing his rounds.  Dad was sitting up in a chair, looking much brighter and back to his usual colour.  The doctor said he could go home after having a chest X-ray to check his heart and after they'd given him some pills and a letter for his GP.  All this of course takes time in a hospital, and we didn't get out until 2pm in the end.

Today, Dad is feeling much better, although he is of course very tired.  Going through all that would exhaust anyone!

I would just like to say a big thank you to the staff at Lidl's, who were wonderful.

Yesterday I went to visit a lady from the Crafts Forum who lives not far from me.  Sue is quite poorly and is confined to bed but makes lovely greetings cards; next time I visit I'm hoping to help her with that and pick up some tips!  We'd never met before, just chatted on the forum online.

Her husband, Al, is a bit of an artist too.  He has some lovely oil paintings and I was blown away by the Dutch art form he practices (I can't remember what it's called).  It's a bit like the canal boat art, lots of beautiful patterns and flowers.  He decorates all sorts of things, such as wooden boxes, milk churns, jugs, you name it!

What a lovely couple; they made me very welcome.

But the weirdest thing, we were chatting about where we're from etc.  Sue is an Essex girl from Romford, and Al is from Shepherd's Bush in London.  I used to live on the Isle of Dogs in London.

I asked them how they'd met and they said it was actually on the Isle of Dogs nine years ago at a pub called The Nelson.

Now, when I lived on the Island I used to drink at The Nelson myself!  I and my friends used to go there regularly for the karaoke.  It turns out that Al is a friend of the proprietors, Rose and Peter, who of course are well known to me from our karaoke nights.

If Sue and Al met in there 9 years ago, chances are that I was in the pub at that time, so unbeknown to us, we may have all been in the same room before.  What are the chances of that?

What a small world it is....!

I've had a busy month making lots of pots ready for the coming season.  This weekend was quite busy; on Saturday I was at a craft fair in Lowestoft, then on Sunday I was at the Artists' Boulevard in Oulton Broad.  The Boulevard is an outdoors event and I was late getting there because I managed to lock my car keys in the boot!  I had to wait for a locksmith to come and get them out.

However, although I arrived at the Boulevard nearly 2 hours late, and it was a nasty shock to the system to be sitting outside for several hours in the chilly April wind, the rain held off and I sold a few items, plus I took an order for a set of pots.

I'll be at the Boulevard every Sunday until the end of September now, weather and health permitting.  I'm hoping some of my new ranges will do well this year.