Yes - another 21 days and I'm still managing the 5:2 diet.My jeans seem tighter than ever and my weight goes down after diet-day then back up on ordinary-meals days. Am I doing something wrong?
My diet days consist of:
porridge - with hot water and blueberries* ( which are not exactly the same as bilberries ) 148
small green apple* 40
1 hot cocoa. 22. (210 subtotal)
soup - 1/2 a pot* 100
salad*. 20
another green apple*. 40
1 or 2 nairns oatcakes with fruit. (1) 44
1 or 2 boiled eggs and more salad. (1). 70. (484 subtotal)
Lots of water
Blueberries for a snack*. 8
Late night cocoa. 22 (514)
* my five-a-day
I'm still swimming and walking. Hopefully moving furniture and gardening count as exercise as it's rained so much it's been impossible to do anything but short walks some days.
The 5:2 diet does train your body to eat and want less - but I've yet to see this on the scales!
My headaches seem better this month but I have had a few days off as we had to go to see the family - eating habits changed somewhat!
Snippets
My office now has its desk in it. That's furniture moving par excellence. So I have to get on and finish my novel. No more disturbances now!
Condor Ferries managed to completely change their timetables - 3 months after we booked. So we are now on less good seats and having to be at the ferry in Poole by 9.15 on day 1 of our Channel Islands trip. To avoid complete exhaustion we have booked a B&B 5-10 mins away from the ferry.
It's been gloomy out, no ice, but such a lot of cloud and rain. Bring the sun herewith!!🌞
Had enough of winter. Thank you so much ...🌞
Monday, 22 February 2016
Thursday, 21 January 2016
Celebrations
We had a jolly home-grown Hogmanay with friends who live locally. A great start to 2016.Another party at the beginnning of January was fun too, and enlightening - it always is when meeting new faces. I can also celebrate my self-discipline, aswell as my indulgence! I have got back my swimming bug, and we walk to shops or into town instead of taking the car. So exercise is taking more of a priority - and it has to! Soups are the great lunchtime mainstay - so nutritious and no empty calories. A balance in all things. Must look after the body as well the indulgences. In so doing I have tinkered with the 5:2 diet.
Having tried the 500 cals fast as part of the 5:2 diet I realise that may be a bit harsh for me - don't want to trigger migraines - but I can up it to 600 calories and see how I go. 1300 calories seems reasonable for dieting but experts suggest 1000 per day would be counter-productive. I then read 2000 calories a day is usual for a healthy woman. May have to rethink the 5:2!! Food and me. Either eating far too much 🌭🎂🍗 or hardly anything at all 🍒🍏🍲 !
I do love fruit and salads, which is good, so I couldn't quite see the point of the 500-calories-diet leading to the abandonment of the 5-a-day rule.
Far too confusing for little ol' me. If I lose a stone in weight I'll be happy - but can't risk having migraines. So must be sensible. However that new year's resolution is 21 days old and is sustainable - so I hope I'm still swimming, walking and losing weight in another 21 days.
Speaking of celebrations: we going away to Guernsey for my 60th birthday but for the actual day itself we will be in a lovely room with a balcony overlooking the sea at Sidmouth. There is a spa and warm pool in the adjoining hotel so that will be fun. Topaz cottage in Sidbury has been reserved for us at a discount so that can be our 35th wedding anniversary treat. I hope as many girl friends as possible can join me in the warming waters of the Thermae Spa just ahead of my birthday - a party without the catering and clearing up!
In the summer the family are coming from London, the Midlands and Cornwall, we hope, to join us for a summer-time BBQ and more celebrations.
So that's the first six months of this year taken care of. Better do some writing during the rest of 2016.
I lack discipline! I just have too many things to celebrate. But can that really be so bad?
💻. 🖨. ⏱. 📒. 📖. 📝. Or 🍾. 🍰. 🌞. 🎷. 🍓 🎤
🏊🏻
Having tried the 500 cals fast as part of the 5:2 diet I realise that may be a bit harsh for me - don't want to trigger migraines - but I can up it to 600 calories and see how I go. 1300 calories seems reasonable for dieting but experts suggest 1000 per day would be counter-productive. I then read 2000 calories a day is usual for a healthy woman. May have to rethink the 5:2!! Food and me. Either eating far too much 🌭🎂🍗 or hardly anything at all 🍒🍏🍲 !
I do love fruit and salads, which is good, so I couldn't quite see the point of the 500-calories-diet leading to the abandonment of the 5-a-day rule.
Far too confusing for little ol' me. If I lose a stone in weight I'll be happy - but can't risk having migraines. So must be sensible. However that new year's resolution is 21 days old and is sustainable - so I hope I'm still swimming, walking and losing weight in another 21 days.
Speaking of celebrations: we going away to Guernsey for my 60th birthday but for the actual day itself we will be in a lovely room with a balcony overlooking the sea at Sidmouth. There is a spa and warm pool in the adjoining hotel so that will be fun. Topaz cottage in Sidbury has been reserved for us at a discount so that can be our 35th wedding anniversary treat. I hope as many girl friends as possible can join me in the warming waters of the Thermae Spa just ahead of my birthday - a party without the catering and clearing up!
In the summer the family are coming from London, the Midlands and Cornwall, we hope, to join us for a summer-time BBQ and more celebrations.
So that's the first six months of this year taken care of. Better do some writing during the rest of 2016.
I lack discipline! I just have too many things to celebrate. But can that really be so bad?
💻. 🖨. ⏱. 📒. 📖. 📝. Or 🍾. 🍰. 🌞. 🎷. 🍓 🎤
🏊🏻
Monday, 21 December 2015
Happy 2016 !
Such a lot has happened since my post last Christmas. Mum has indeed settled well in her new home. She doesn't complain nor does she feel dejected by not being with one of us. She had an operation on February 14th to remove a wart on her face and she has continued to eat well, sleep well, enjoy a cuppa and a glass of sherry on high days. I do hope we can enjoy a sherry or brandy with her on Christmas Eve. Last year it was a mad dash to get her decorations from her so-silent house, put them up at Atholl House and get some colour in the room that was to be her new home.
This year I got decorations and small Christmas trees up for her on December 1st. She doesn't want me to write her Christmas cards - I did about 60 or maybe 80 for her last year - but I can write and thank senders in the new year.
It should be a good journey on Christmas Eve - the annual great north trek - well to Tettenhall ! - except for the complication of Richard's own treatment. The discovery of very early-stage prostate cancer cells in the summer has meant Richard now has a daily visit to the hospital for radiotherapy. Even on Christmas Eve he has an appointment so we now have to work round that - plus taking the cat - and fitting carols and midnight mass in. At some stage we will need to eat. When did Christmas Eve suddenly get so busy? When illness took priority!
Last year - on Christmas Eve - we sat in the smokers area on the decking outside at The Oddfellows - feeling like neither fish nor fowl - trying to get everything done and fitting in. But it was hard seeing mum and keeping things light-hearted. At least this year we are all more used to her situation and we have the importance of Richard's own health worries to concentrate the mind. It does help put things into perspective.I hope mum can enjoy something of Christmas and that her room still looks jolly with the decorations.
Other things have happened in 2015 - and they are non-health-related events!
We have a new, improved roof and the beginnings of a new kitchen. The garden has been tended and repaired, no little visitors are gnawing away in the kitchen this winter, and I hope to get round to sprucing up the bathrooms in that haitus between Christmas Sunday and New Year's Eve. I've enjoyed seeing the girls for exam prep and have got back into the discipline of book group. Walking around town has been much more fun this Christmas and the pub quiz team has expanded to eight of us! Swimming has been slow but that is certainly a resolution for the New Year for me - just do it! The delight that is our great neice is an area of fun I have yet to explore properly - but photographs of little girls - especially of your own flesh and blood - are always good. Great aunt - that's me!
As 2015 ends I can reflect on the improvements in my writing - I haven't entered competitions just had professional help to work my words into something publishers will like. My brain, at least, is kept active. Physically I'm nowhere near as tired as I was this time last year and I am aiming to walk more and trying harder to eat non-fattening foods. Food-watching rather than dieting. Time will tell whether my regime is working! I do enjoy Christmas baking, though. But I have to resist the temptation for over-indulgence ...
Back to thinking about fun ...
Mum's house needs little attention from me now. I hope to get bark down on more of the flower beds and do a little cutting back just before we drive home after Christmas. That will be another task completed. When Richard's treatment ends I hope we can relax properly and go away. It is our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. That's a long marriage and, along with Christmas and my BIG birthday in March we should sink some money into just having a lot of fun. 2016 - this is our year!!
Happy Christmas one and all 🎄
This year I got decorations and small Christmas trees up for her on December 1st. She doesn't want me to write her Christmas cards - I did about 60 or maybe 80 for her last year - but I can write and thank senders in the new year.
It should be a good journey on Christmas Eve - the annual great north trek - well to Tettenhall ! - except for the complication of Richard's own treatment. The discovery of very early-stage prostate cancer cells in the summer has meant Richard now has a daily visit to the hospital for radiotherapy. Even on Christmas Eve he has an appointment so we now have to work round that - plus taking the cat - and fitting carols and midnight mass in. At some stage we will need to eat. When did Christmas Eve suddenly get so busy? When illness took priority!
Last year - on Christmas Eve - we sat in the smokers area on the decking outside at The Oddfellows - feeling like neither fish nor fowl - trying to get everything done and fitting in. But it was hard seeing mum and keeping things light-hearted. At least this year we are all more used to her situation and we have the importance of Richard's own health worries to concentrate the mind. It does help put things into perspective.I hope mum can enjoy something of Christmas and that her room still looks jolly with the decorations.
Other things have happened in 2015 - and they are non-health-related events!
We have a new, improved roof and the beginnings of a new kitchen. The garden has been tended and repaired, no little visitors are gnawing away in the kitchen this winter, and I hope to get round to sprucing up the bathrooms in that haitus between Christmas Sunday and New Year's Eve. I've enjoyed seeing the girls for exam prep and have got back into the discipline of book group. Walking around town has been much more fun this Christmas and the pub quiz team has expanded to eight of us! Swimming has been slow but that is certainly a resolution for the New Year for me - just do it! The delight that is our great neice is an area of fun I have yet to explore properly - but photographs of little girls - especially of your own flesh and blood - are always good. Great aunt - that's me!
As 2015 ends I can reflect on the improvements in my writing - I haven't entered competitions just had professional help to work my words into something publishers will like. My brain, at least, is kept active. Physically I'm nowhere near as tired as I was this time last year and I am aiming to walk more and trying harder to eat non-fattening foods. Food-watching rather than dieting. Time will tell whether my regime is working! I do enjoy Christmas baking, though. But I have to resist the temptation for over-indulgence ...
Back to thinking about fun ...
Mum's house needs little attention from me now. I hope to get bark down on more of the flower beds and do a little cutting back just before we drive home after Christmas. That will be another task completed. When Richard's treatment ends I hope we can relax properly and go away. It is our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. That's a long marriage and, along with Christmas and my BIG birthday in March we should sink some money into just having a lot of fun. 2016 - this is our year!!
Happy Christmas one and all 🎄
Tuesday, 27 October 2015
Perfectly beastly
We've had a perfectly beastly eighteen months; mum's stroke, finding provision for her, sorting through her belongings, rearranging her finances, doing her garden ( then repeating all that every month or so) ... Only for us to find, in the last few months, Richard has very early prostate cancer cells lurking and doing some, as yet, slight damage.
On top of that we've had the third lot of scaffolding in the last three years up at our house. Mum's house still needs some repair as there's damage from trees on the field next to her's. And we've had the disruption of electricians, carpenters and other workmen in and around. Yep perfectly beastly.
Richard even had to rush back from Cornwall after only a couple of days with his brother and our neice. All because he had to see a GP pronto. But he is feeling no side effects from his treatment and as it's his birthday on Friday we'll have a bit-of-a-do. Must show a willing !
And the bank seems to think we are excellent savers - really - we ( we?) are good with money?! Heaven help everyone else if we are financially savvy!
But my thoughts turn elsewhere.The poor mites stranded in Lesbos in pouring rain, rottng feet, falling ill, no shelter, no fresh drinking water, no nappies for the babies, no food and no medical care. Like the refugees from the war in Sierra Leone. They have their lives - but for some - only just.
I have sent a little money today - will it get to the refugees? Will some rudimentary shelters and food and medicines reach them before they die from sleeping in wet blankets? What a terrible crisis.
And all our government can do is talk about taking in 20,000 over five years and stripping the most vulnerable,here, of disability benefits and tax credits. I wish there was an off button whenever 'he who is in charge of the NHS' comes on our screen. I resent the energy I have to expend reaching for the remote control. Can he and his ilk not empathise? How would he cope - disabled or on £7.20 an hour - without the daily support required to lead a reasonable life? Of course he would rely on family wealth - not benefits. But we are the world's 6th richest country. Surely, as a nation, we can do better than this? Both for our own needy people and those suffering terribly beyond Syrian and African shores.
I'm usually optimistic and forward-looking.
The news around us seems somewhat bleak.
The clocks have changed and the weather is dull.
Perfectly beastly.
On top of that we've had the third lot of scaffolding in the last three years up at our house. Mum's house still needs some repair as there's damage from trees on the field next to her's. And we've had the disruption of electricians, carpenters and other workmen in and around. Yep perfectly beastly.
Richard even had to rush back from Cornwall after only a couple of days with his brother and our neice. All because he had to see a GP pronto. But he is feeling no side effects from his treatment and as it's his birthday on Friday we'll have a bit-of-a-do. Must show a willing !
And the bank seems to think we are excellent savers - really - we ( we?) are good with money?! Heaven help everyone else if we are financially savvy!
But my thoughts turn elsewhere.The poor mites stranded in Lesbos in pouring rain, rottng feet, falling ill, no shelter, no fresh drinking water, no nappies for the babies, no food and no medical care. Like the refugees from the war in Sierra Leone. They have their lives - but for some - only just.
I have sent a little money today - will it get to the refugees? Will some rudimentary shelters and food and medicines reach them before they die from sleeping in wet blankets? What a terrible crisis.
And all our government can do is talk about taking in 20,000 over five years and stripping the most vulnerable,here, of disability benefits and tax credits. I wish there was an off button whenever 'he who is in charge of the NHS' comes on our screen. I resent the energy I have to expend reaching for the remote control. Can he and his ilk not empathise? How would he cope - disabled or on £7.20 an hour - without the daily support required to lead a reasonable life? Of course he would rely on family wealth - not benefits. But we are the world's 6th richest country. Surely, as a nation, we can do better than this? Both for our own needy people and those suffering terribly beyond Syrian and African shores.
I'm usually optimistic and forward-looking.
The news around us seems somewhat bleak.
The clocks have changed and the weather is dull.
Perfectly beastly.
Tuesday, 22 September 2015
Upcycling
Today - you never know - the scaffolders may actually arrive. They couldn't come last week as it was raining. Fair enough - but we have been waiting since February. And that is ... March ... April ... May ... August ... seven months ago. This will only be the third time in as many years we have had scaffolding up. Quite normal. Ah it's September, time to get a scaffolding firm round again. We love paying out hundreds of pounds to have men lumbering about on the roof - so say fixing the flashing on the chimney or repairing worn stone work. Much rather do that than go away on a trip to Venice on The Orient Express or enjoy a wholesome visit to the Scillies. There again, it's a dry sunny morning. What other reason could there be for their not turning up? Let me count the ways. They can't blame the rain today, that's for certain.
As this roof job will cost us an arm and a leg - whenever anyone actually turns up to do it, that is - we are having relatively inexpensive improvements to the kitchen. New worktops, a splashback from spare tiles left over from the bathroom job in 2003, and, my tour-de-force, upcycled orange boxes and crates as shelves.
Yep it'll look just like this:
Lovely (?).
But the major decision is - to paint or not to paint? The magnificent crates I have in my possession have had a good wash down. (They have been in mum's shed for at least thirty years.) Said crates are the genuine article but the word 'pristine' cannot be employed here. They are - though - the orange boxes of my childhood. They are my friends from when I used to pretend to have a flower shop and I used them as impromptu shelving. I was, at the age of six, ahead of my time. A trend-setter.
Back to today. I don't want expensive shelves and cupboards. ( Don't I?) I just want new 'marble' work-surfaces in our kitchen and a new worktop in our old breakfast room - so I've got some space to roll out pastry ( which I do on a daily basis - oh yeah). It could be a selling feature. Instead of looking from our sitting room through to a glass-fronted cabinet, packed to the brim with bone china, Wedgewood, cut glass and other expensive heirlooms, the casual observer ( purchaser?) will be able to look through to the soi-disant breakfast room and see ... old orange boxes, splintered and cracked, dusty packing cases of uneven size and wooden wine crates. All the rage.
Or not.
To top it all I am bringing to the scene an ancient set of shelves which are already in a state of partial paint-work. Not the trendy - just rubbed down, shabby chic look. More the I-was-painted-on-one-side only-forty-years-ago and said green paintwork is so pale it looks barely coloured. Shabby chic or just shabby? Richard says he can't decide whether I am determined or just mad. But I have a vision. Watch this space. It could catch on. Dirty packing cases in a food preparation area? Mmm. Maybe I will paint them. At least paintwork can be wiped down. But will it fit in with my colour scheme? Oh decisions. Just think how much time and money I'm saving ...
As this roof job will cost us an arm and a leg - whenever anyone actually turns up to do it, that is - we are having relatively inexpensive improvements to the kitchen. New worktops, a splashback from spare tiles left over from the bathroom job in 2003, and, my tour-de-force, upcycled orange boxes and crates as shelves.
Yep it'll look just like this:
Lovely (?).
But the major decision is - to paint or not to paint? The magnificent crates I have in my possession have had a good wash down. (They have been in mum's shed for at least thirty years.) Said crates are the genuine article but the word 'pristine' cannot be employed here. They are - though - the orange boxes of my childhood. They are my friends from when I used to pretend to have a flower shop and I used them as impromptu shelving. I was, at the age of six, ahead of my time. A trend-setter.
Back to today. I don't want expensive shelves and cupboards. ( Don't I?) I just want new 'marble' work-surfaces in our kitchen and a new worktop in our old breakfast room - so I've got some space to roll out pastry ( which I do on a daily basis - oh yeah). It could be a selling feature. Instead of looking from our sitting room through to a glass-fronted cabinet, packed to the brim with bone china, Wedgewood, cut glass and other expensive heirlooms, the casual observer ( purchaser?) will be able to look through to the soi-disant breakfast room and see ... old orange boxes, splintered and cracked, dusty packing cases of uneven size and wooden wine crates. All the rage.
Or not.
To top it all I am bringing to the scene an ancient set of shelves which are already in a state of partial paint-work. Not the trendy - just rubbed down, shabby chic look. More the I-was-painted-on-one-side only-forty-years-ago and said green paintwork is so pale it looks barely coloured. Shabby chic or just shabby? Richard says he can't decide whether I am determined or just mad. But I have a vision. Watch this space. It could catch on. Dirty packing cases in a food preparation area? Mmm. Maybe I will paint them. At least paintwork can be wiped down. But will it fit in with my colour scheme? Oh decisions. Just think how much time and money I'm saving ...
Thursday, 17 September 2015
Life is what happens when you're making other plans
It was fascinating to read the plans I'd made for the first few weeks into early retirement - five years ago.True to form each day was carved up into tasks and leisure interests - like a timetable - the years of teaching casting a long shadow. But, more importantly, the activities I packed in - or tried to pack in - from within a few weeks of leaving teaching - were mostly achieved - some were not - and haven't been to this day. By 2010 I'd worked 32 years full time. I suppose it wouldn't have been sensible to just stop everything and simply do nothing. But - five years on - I still haven't been on a cruise - and we're still waiting for the third lot of scaffolding to go up for yet another roof job. More surprisingly - looking back at my planned schedule five years ago - it doesn't look as if I had any intention of doing nothing! Yet perhaps that's what I should have done. Built-in leisure.
Fat chance!
Life is what happens when you're making other plans - so saith the late, great John Lennon. Lists of things to do then seem remarkably familiar to my to-do lists now. I am still filling sacks with papers, unwanted fliers and things we no longer need. It's as if this household needs perpetual sorting! Of course the things that 'happen' ie life - according to John Lennon - such as mum's stroke, Richard's recent prostate cancer scare, a leaky chimney, repairs to the garden, improvements to the kitchen - all create disruption. Moving furniture, boxing up, throwing out, sorting other people's clothes, storing irreplaceable letters from world war two and beyond, cleaning, decorating, gardening - all these events take time, space, readjustment and money.
By Christmas this year the life I want - not 'what happens when making other plans' - but those plans I have in mind include :
The final roof and chimney job EVER to this house to be finished and perfected. No more leaks!
Bathroom roof also to be in pristine condition - so all we have to do is decorate! Simple!
New worksurfaces in the kitchen.
Better use of the breakfast room so that we can use that as the main kitchen - re-siting the cooker - and more worksurfaces.
New storage and new dishwasher in the old kitchen - so it becomes a utility room.
Again - all these plans are about the house. Let's hope my plans to arrange a cruise or boat trips around the Channel Islands get made. Since I've had the Mitchum classic 'Build My Gallows High'
on pause since breakfast-o'clock today - and it's now after midday - what are the chances of achieving that holiday? When other people retire they go round the world.
I seem to fill bin bags. Enough!
Got to re-prioritise. Time for leisure. Time to retire!
2016 is not going to be 'life is what happens when you're making other plans' ... I've got three and half months to get back on track. Who said retirement was boring? What time have I had for boredom??
Right - now to sit back and watch 'Build My Gallows High' before the pause facility blows up!!
New year's resolution? I'm either nine months late or three and half month's early!
Fat chance!
Life is what happens when you're making other plans - so saith the late, great John Lennon. Lists of things to do then seem remarkably familiar to my to-do lists now. I am still filling sacks with papers, unwanted fliers and things we no longer need. It's as if this household needs perpetual sorting! Of course the things that 'happen' ie life - according to John Lennon - such as mum's stroke, Richard's recent prostate cancer scare, a leaky chimney, repairs to the garden, improvements to the kitchen - all create disruption. Moving furniture, boxing up, throwing out, sorting other people's clothes, storing irreplaceable letters from world war two and beyond, cleaning, decorating, gardening - all these events take time, space, readjustment and money.
By Christmas this year the life I want - not 'what happens when making other plans' - but those plans I have in mind include :
The final roof and chimney job EVER to this house to be finished and perfected. No more leaks!
Bathroom roof also to be in pristine condition - so all we have to do is decorate! Simple!
New worksurfaces in the kitchen.
Better use of the breakfast room so that we can use that as the main kitchen - re-siting the cooker - and more worksurfaces.
New storage and new dishwasher in the old kitchen - so it becomes a utility room.
Again - all these plans are about the house. Let's hope my plans to arrange a cruise or boat trips around the Channel Islands get made. Since I've had the Mitchum classic 'Build My Gallows High'
on pause since breakfast-o'clock today - and it's now after midday - what are the chances of achieving that holiday? When other people retire they go round the world.
I seem to fill bin bags. Enough!
Got to re-prioritise. Time for leisure. Time to retire!
2016 is not going to be 'life is what happens when you're making other plans' ... I've got three and half months to get back on track. Who said retirement was boring? What time have I had for boredom??
Right - now to sit back and watch 'Build My Gallows High' before the pause facility blows up!!
New year's resolution? I'm either nine months late or three and half month's early!
Thursday, 27 August 2015
Dreadful !
I am not known for getting hysterical or even moaning that much. But the last few days feel as if the gods are against us. Not known as an unhealthy family we seem to be defying our heritage and falling ill with great speed. Mum is in her nursing home, my husband is undergoing tests and treatment for prostate issues, my aunt is also having a biopsy, another aunt has an irregular heartbeat and I had to go for a mammogram. At least my mammogram was clear - unlike three years ago when the slide showed a change. It was an anomally thank goodness.
It has been increasingly difficult this week to contact family about ailments, biopsies, treatment and plans for my mother's house. We have had no landline and no broadband for almost two weeks. Some of our neighbours have been without for five weeks. Very difficult and frustrating.
For the first time in years I have taught almost every day throughout August and I have had sleepless nights! Not through the teaching but builders' estimates ... aargh!!!
Sooo expensive ... Trying to get our family builder down from the midlands to do the job but everything seems so fraught. That's given me the sleepless nights. So expensive and yet the chimney leaks so we'll never sell this house if it goes unrepaired. We have been got over a barrell.
This is only the sixth time we've had it repaired ... Am I tired ? You bet!
On top of that it's very expensive contacting everyone by iphone. Broadband is pathetically slow here - even with 3G - I can barely plan lessons - can't download tasks - can't receive literary work for critiquing - and so it goes.
A plumber did come today ( oh aren't we blessed ?) but he couldn't fix the ensuite lavatory even though I'd sent him photographs showing the innards of the system. So how long until that's working?
It's been out of proper use for weeks.
On top of that, having tried to clear mum's shed last week, I'm still in pain - after more than ten days - because it's buggered my back.
About the only good thing this week is that the bank said I was a really good credit risk - I score 2 on a scale of 1-10. When, or if, we decide to have the roof done ( we've only waited since February) we might manage to get a loan or similar to pay for this expensive job!
Today Nelson is five. Happy birthday Nelson. His first task today was to deposit the stomach from some poor creature he'd caught and eaten inside the house. Nice to see that on the carpet by the breakfast table.
On Sunday I have to pack the car to do a car boot sale on Monday. Please God! Let my back cope with it all - and please don't let it rain! I may run out of painkillers. We need a good week next week!
And I'd like to bet this blog won't post ...
It has been increasingly difficult this week to contact family about ailments, biopsies, treatment and plans for my mother's house. We have had no landline and no broadband for almost two weeks. Some of our neighbours have been without for five weeks. Very difficult and frustrating.
For the first time in years I have taught almost every day throughout August and I have had sleepless nights! Not through the teaching but builders' estimates ... aargh!!!
Sooo expensive ... Trying to get our family builder down from the midlands to do the job but everything seems so fraught. That's given me the sleepless nights. So expensive and yet the chimney leaks so we'll never sell this house if it goes unrepaired. We have been got over a barrell.
This is only the sixth time we've had it repaired ... Am I tired ? You bet!
On top of that it's very expensive contacting everyone by iphone. Broadband is pathetically slow here - even with 3G - I can barely plan lessons - can't download tasks - can't receive literary work for critiquing - and so it goes.
A plumber did come today ( oh aren't we blessed ?) but he couldn't fix the ensuite lavatory even though I'd sent him photographs showing the innards of the system. So how long until that's working?
It's been out of proper use for weeks.
On top of that, having tried to clear mum's shed last week, I'm still in pain - after more than ten days - because it's buggered my back.
About the only good thing this week is that the bank said I was a really good credit risk - I score 2 on a scale of 1-10. When, or if, we decide to have the roof done ( we've only waited since February) we might manage to get a loan or similar to pay for this expensive job!
Today Nelson is five. Happy birthday Nelson. His first task today was to deposit the stomach from some poor creature he'd caught and eaten inside the house. Nice to see that on the carpet by the breakfast table.
On Sunday I have to pack the car to do a car boot sale on Monday. Please God! Let my back cope with it all - and please don't let it rain! I may run out of painkillers. We need a good week next week!
And I'd like to bet this blog won't post ...
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