A fun day....not!

 Thank you for your comments.  Whilst I'm not thrilled with being told it's most likely to be osteoarthritis, at least I know.  I already have OA in my left knee, plus the bursitis in my hips and regularly prolapsing disc in my lower spine, so it's not like I'm not used to pain.  Funnily enough (although it's not funny really), the MSK specialist I saw last year insisted it wasn't OA but rotator cuff injury.  She was an older lady (late 50s I should think) and just seemed jaded and no longer enjoying her job, whereas Daisy, the one I saw yesterday, is probably late 20s, so most likely had more up to date training, and is very enthusiastic and knowledgeable.  I forgot to mention, we discussed corticosteroid injections which she said can be very helpful, although they don't work for everybody.  The only problem is that they're an anti-inflammatory, and I can't take that type of drug, I have an adverse reaction to them.  She said they'd have to discuss it with my GP, if I wanted to have an injection.  Well now I know, I probably won't.  In the meantime, she's suggested heat or ice packs, whichever I prefer.  My shoulder is still really painful today after all that prodding and manipulation she did yesterday, which is understandable, it'll settle down in a day or 2.

Meanwhile, onto the new fridge.....We got the old fridge emptied and cleaned - I do wipe it inside regularly but oh my goodness, the build up of grime and crumbs at the back of the fridge and on the shelf edges was shameful!  Anyway, it's done and has been passed over to the neighbour.  The new fridge arrived on time and is wonderful.  It's an expensive one, a German make, really well made from quality materials, and all eco friendly.  The last couple of years I've decided that after years and years of having fairly cheap goods (mostly husband's choice), I now want quality stuff.....husband exclaimed when I told him the cost but I've paid for it so I'll have what I want.  It's taller and deeper than our old fridge so I'm sure I can get plenty more stuff in it.

And then the frustrations started.....it's got an electronic control panel with a blue display, operated by touch controls.  After plugging it in and putting it in position (no mean feat, it's blimmin heavy and unwieldy, even with husband's sack trolley thing), I then discovered I had to enter the model no./serial no.  Which, according to the manual, was either on the back of the fridge or on a sticker inside.  Well, it didn't appear to be inside which meant it was probably on the back.  So we had to haul it back out of its position in between the 2 kitchen cupboards....nope, not on the back.  Aaargghh!  After doing some searching on the internet, I found something saying it was most likely to be inside the fridge at the bottom.  We found it eventually - yes it was inside, right at the back behind the salad drawer - husband had to lie on the floor, stick his head inside the fridge and take a photo of it with my phone, as he couldn't read the numbers.  For goodness sake!!   Why on earth don't they put them in accessible, easily seen places, or even on the invoice?

Trying to read and understand the instructions for the control panel had me almost screaming in frustration, I'm not very good with written instructions for techy stuff at the best of times, my brain freezes.  It didn't help that only part of the instructions, a brief summary if you will, was in the paper manual - for more detailed instructions I had to scan a QR code and read it online.  How on earth do old people (older than me!!) manage, especially if they don't have a smart phone?  Get a grandchild to come and help them, I guess! 😂😒

I just couldn't get the control panel to even switch on.....but then husband managed it - how, he doesn't really know, just by pure chance I think.  Anyway, now it's set up and working so I doubt I'll ever be touching it ever again 😂😂😂

It got down to operating temperature very quickly so I've unpacked the cool box and put everything in the new fridge - which looks half empty, it's so big (although, to be fair, I had been using up things in the fridge the past few days, deliberately).

....then a not so nice finish

 Sunday morning at 9.30 neighbour next door got on his digger and was excavating more of his garden again, adding to the small mountain of rubble waiting to be taken away.  He was at it intermittently all morning.  Husband was a pain in the backside yesterday, he is so blimmin obstinate nowadays, he just won't be told, it's his way or no way.  I just gave up, there's no point arguing, even if my way is easier, quicker and more sensible.

This morning I got up to find Betty had been sick in the kitchen overnight.  Things can only get better!

And they did....

I had my initial physio appointment at 9.30 am, a lovely young woman called Daisy.  She took a comprehensive medical history, asked about what I'd been told by the musculoskeletal woman attached to our GP surgery, then asked if I'd agreed with the MSK therapist's findings.  I told her no I didn't actually, the MSK lady had said it was another rotator cuff injury, the same as I had previously, but in the other shoulder.  Obviously, she was the expert, not me, but I know my own body and knew that my current right shoulder problems are not the same as the previous ones with the left shoulder.  Daisy also asked if I'd been referred for an x-ray - no I hadn't.  She then did lots of things with my shoulders, arms and neck, testing for strength, range of movement and pain levels.  She explained fully everything she was doing.

Well, to cut a long story short - she said it's not a rotator cuff injury in my right shoulder (she did however say that I do have some residual problems with that in my left shoulder, which I wasn't aware of).  Hooray, I knew it wasn't, it just feels so different to my left shoulder problems, but the MSK woman seemed to have the idea of another rotator cuff injury fixed in her head, seemingly based on my having had it in my left shoulder.  In Daisy's trained and experienced opinion, it's either osteoarthritis (the most likely) or possibly a frozen shoulder.  She said there was also a remote chance that it might be osteoporosis, but thought that was less likely.  She's referred me for an x-ray (finally!), given me another appointment for 6 weeks' time and said we'll discuss the x-ray results together then, and what it means for treatment.  She was very thorough, gave detailed explanations and was happy to go over anything I didn't understand, she also showed me several diagrams on her computer screen to help with explaining things.  What a difference to the previous experience.

Husband's got the appointment through for his brain scan, it's in two weeks, so progress there as well.

And my new fridge is coming tomorrow!

A nice start to the weekend

 A few nice things to start the day off.  Firstly, I got a good night's sleep, yesterday I popped into town and bought a sleep mask and some CBD oil.  I used to use that a few years ago, it really helped me to relax and sleep, I'd stopped buying it because I was needing to use a bit more as my body got used to it, and it's quite expensive.  Well, it was worth it for the best sleep I've had in a week.  

The builder isn't here today, he does sometimes come to work next door on Saturday mornings but not today, thank goodness.  And neighbour and his brother seemingly aren't doing any work next door either, so it's a peaceful day by the looks of things, how lovely, I shall relish it.  I thought I might do a bit more in the garden, or even sit in it, however, having just been outside it's still pretty hot - not as scorching as a few days ago, but still too hot for me to be out there for more than a few minutes.

I can't remember if I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago, but my wedding ring needed a small repair.  It's actually a replacement ring, not my original one - I have quite short, chubby fingers so wearing wedding, engagement and eternity rings together was uncomfortable.  Having thought about it, I decided I'd like one ring that did the job of all three, if you see what I mean.  So around a dozen years ago - actually more like 15 I think - husband got me a kind of eternity ring, it's wider at the top than underneath so is more comfortable when I bend my fingers.  It's white gold, plated with rhodium (so is very shiny), bevelled along the top half to form a sort of channel, it's set with a line of 5 tanzanites (gorgeous mauve colour) along the middle, with a row of tiny diamonds each side of the tanzanites.  I absolutely love it, it's the best thing husband has ever bought me.  I chose it, incidentally, although he likes to tell people he did 😉.  I went and collected it from the jewellers this morning, the repair has been done to a very high standard (can't even see it) and they very kindly replated the rhodium so it's exceptionally shiny again and looks brand new.  I'm so pleased, it did feel very strange not having it on my finger the past couple of weeks.

The children are back to school next week, so there'll be less tourists around.  It'll be a fair bit cooler (how lucky have families been this past week?) with some showers, but hopefully enough sunny periods to enable us to go for some beach promenade walks and cream teas in nice tea gardens, which we don't do during school holidays.

Thank you for the lovely comments, as usual, I do appreciate them.

Where's a desert island when you need one?

 I had another restless and uncomfortable night, although it was a bit cooler it still wasn't cool enough to sleep comfortably, and my shoulder was really painful, I just couldn't get comfy no matter which way I lay.  The lack of sleep this past week is really beginning to affect me.

This photo was taken from my kitchen window this morning:-

The builder in his digger working just the other side of our fence, he's digging trenches, you can see just how close it is to us.  The neighbour and his brother are also out there, shovelling earth into wheelbarrows and tipping it onto the huge pile at the entrance of the garden, they're all shouting to each other to be heard above the din.  It's just so bloody irritating, we cannot sit or work in the garden with all that racket going on.

I know I'm finding it all the more irritating because I'm sleep-deprived, but noise has always been my biggest bugbear and it's been relentless these past few days.  I'm in danger of it really beginning to affect my mental health, so I've shut all the windows at the back of the house, closed my bedroom curtains and sprayed my room with a calming lavender and chamomile spray.  I'd get husband to take us all out somewhere but I know it'll be busy (Fridays always are, being one of the Butlins changeover days) and he'll moan anyway, he never really wants to go out anywhere, unless it's something he wants to do.

That desert island is looking very tempting today......

I've got my first (and probably only, if previous experience of physio round here is anything to go by) physio appointment on Monday, then Hayley my cleaner is coming later.  Tuesday my new fridge is arriving, one of our neighbours said she'd like my old one (there's nothing wrong with it, it's just too small) as hers is on the way out so I'll need to empty the contents into my big cool box and give the fridge a good clean.  That'll all keep me occupied for the first couple of days.  If the noise next door continues later in the week, then I will encourage husband to take us all out....if he really doesn't want to (and he can be downright stubborn and obstinate nowadays) then I'll go on the bus by myself.  Thank goodness the builder won't be here all weekend, so we'll hopefully get a bit of respite.

Hot and sticky weather causing aggro here

 I know some areas had rain and thunderstorms during the night (my sister did in the Midlands), but we certainly didn't here, it was another hot and sticky night.  When I got up just after 5 am (couldn't sleep as it was so humid) the house was so muggy and hot, I opened all the windows and the back door straight away - we do have a couple of small windows open during hot nights, but not the big ones, due to security issues living in a bungalow - although I'm sure Betty would alert us to anyone breaking in.  I let Betty out in the garden for a wee, it did feel much fresher out there.....it's got hotter again this afternoon.  We're promised cooler weather from tomorrow, I do hope so.

I've just noticed that one of the roses, a very tall one with gorgeous dark red flowers, is absolutely smothered in black spot, literally every leaf I think.  I confess I did notice a few leaves with it on a couple of weeks ago but didn't get round to cutting them off - and now look!  That'll teach me for not dealing with it promptly.  I know it's more prevalent in hot humid conditions (hello May!) and when the leaves are wet.  Husband waters the garden almost every day, he says he likes doing it, he uses the hosepipe....however, I've noticed when I'm at the kitchen sink washing up that he's very indiscriminate and casual with the hosepipe - he basically just liberally sprays the entire garden with the hose nozzle at waist height, he doesn't bend down to spot water anything at the roots.  And he won't be told - it's not worth the verbal aggro I get if I suggest he does anything different.  So now I think the best thing to do with that rose is to cut it right back to the ground and put all the pieces in the garden compost bag, along with all the fallen leaves - which will of course be taken to the tip, not put in our compost bins.  At the moment, the black spot doesn't appear to have spread to any of the other roses, but I expect it would only be a matter of time if I left that rose here.  A pity to have to cut it right down but I'm sure it'll grow again next year - I drastically cut back all the roses when we first moved here, as they were all wildly overgrown and neglected, and they all grew beautifully.

The builders next door have been quieter today, although neighbour and his brother (the labourers) have both been at work today, they arrived home at 3 o'clock and seem to have started working next door straight away.  It's a pity that the old barn is so close to us, it's only about 10 or 12 feet from our garden so we're able to hear pretty much every sound (unfortunately).  I expect we'll get used to it.  It's not only the builders themselves though, they're constantly having lorries with building supplies deliveries (the same builder is also simultaneously doing some more building work directly across the road, which has been ongoing for several weeks now).  Plus other lorries with a grabber thing on the back to pick up all the vast amounts of rubble that have been dug out both from across the road and the old barn next door, so it's Noise Central here and from 7.30-8.00 in the morning (7.00 am on one occasion, although complaints were made about that so they haven't repeated it).

It is getting on my nerves a bit right now, but I think that's down to the heat and lack of sleep bothering me.  Husband keeps bellowing at the dog too, again I think he's feeling the heat - as is Betty.  

Noise

 Work on converting the single storey old barn next door to a 2 storey holiday home has started in earnest now, there are 3 blokes working out there - the builder, our neighbour and his brother, both of whom seem to be supplying the labour.  There's a digger in operation and some kind of machinery inside the barn, sounds like a cement mixer maybe (what do I know?  I can't see it so am just guessing, I'm not familiar with building tools).  The 3 blokes are all shouting to be heard above the noise.  The neighbour's son, a lad of around 6, is also out there, his mother has gone to work so I guess the father has no option but to have the kid with him, which doesn't seem very sensible (or safe) on a building site - not my business though.  The child, who's pleasant enough, is one of those kids who is constantly talking, he's calling out "Dad, dad, DAAAAD" all the time, asking multiple questions and then when he finally gets an anwer, it's "Why?  Dad, why?  WHYYYY?".  I'm trying to keep occupied indoors and stay calm, but on a hot day with all our windows and door open, it's impossible to not notice all the noise and upheaval.  At least they haven't got a ghetto blaster blaring out! (yet).

I don't particularly want us to go out - too hot and school hols - I wouldn't want to leave Betty home alone with all that noise going on and she's not really happy in the car nowadays, she whines and seems uncomfortable.  It's also too hot for a dog in the car.  As with most annoying things, I'm sure we'll get used to the noise sooner or later.

Husband got me a really nice anniversary card.  He's nearly always found lovely cards over the years, apart from a couple of errors like birthday cards on our anniversary, or vice versa, and one saying "On your anniversary" rather than "our".  He did once years ago give me a so-called humorous card which was actually quite offensive, he never made that mistake again.  His gift giving has been somewhat erratic over the years, it was usually a case of me buying what I want and him giving me the money for it.  Nowadays, by mutual agreement, we've stopped getting each other presents, it's too much pressure for him (and me, come to that) and quite honestly after all this time there's not much we actually want or need.  A nice meal out, or bought in, is just fine.

The last 2 nights have been just too hot, sticky humid heat meaning none of us have had much sleep.  One more night of similar and then from tomorrow onwards it's forecast to be much cooler, thank goodness.

Keeping cool, anniversary food and litter dumpers

 I'm in my bedroom (my room and the bathroom are the coolest rooms in the house) with Betty, we have the table top oscillating fan on, it's just right and we're comfortable.  Husband is in his usual place in the lounge in front of the TV, with some violent film on, there's a bigger floor fan in there.  It's definitely too hot for any of us to sit in the garden.  Betty only got an early morning walk yesterday and today, the pavements as well as the air are too hot for her later on in the day, it's still too hot late in the evening.  We let her go in the garden for a quick wee, she sometimes lies in the sun for a couple of minutes but then we get her in, if she hasn't already decided to come in.  She has 2 bowls of water which we refresh during the day, she's coping well enough at present.  We do have a cool mat for her but she refuses to lie on it!

This morning I was at the library for when it opened at 9 am, returned my books but didn't get any more as I have some I bought from a charity shop last week.  Went shopping for another top up of veggies and fruit, we're certainly getting through a lot at the moment, mainly because of the hot weather meaning I'm not doing much cooking.  Tomorrow is our anniversary, we don't want to go out (did that last week) with it being school hols.  I don't really want to spend ages cooking either, so we decided to get one of those Dine in for Two offers, a main course, a side, dessert and drink.  Obviously husband and I don't eat the same things, with him being a carnivore and me pescatarian (or what was it one of you lovely readers called me, oh yes a flexitarian, which I like).  So choosing something we'd both eat was a bit of a challenge but we got there in the end, with a bit of compromise - something he likes, something I like, and something we both like.  We'll have some green veg on the side.  As for the drink bit - well, neither of us generally drinks alcohol, the soft drinks in the offer weren't anything either of us would drink, husband would have had zero alcohol beer but they didn't have the 2 that were included in the offer 😒.  So he got a bottle of red wine, he'll drink it over several days.  I'm happy with half-and-half water and fruit juice, it's what I usually drink anyway, other than my 2 or 3 cups of coffee per day.

43 years is a very long time to be married, certainly nowadays when young people, if they get married at all, seem to treat it as something disposable and easy to just walk away from at the first sign of trouble.  It's so sad that things aren't working out the way we'd have hoped, but that's life, we're both still here albeit not as we were before.  Nobody can know what the future's going to hold, we just have to get on with things the best way we can.

On Thursday husband has the dentist again, for his denture fitting, so that means I get to do a bit of shopping/browsing on my own, which is always nice.  And by then the weather will have cooled down to a more manageable temperature, although it's not till Friday that there's a significant drop.  I'm not complaining, but hot sun doesn't really suit me, I much prefer the temperature to be around the early 20s mark.

Locals on our social media pages have been complaining (and showing photos) of the amount of rubbish dumped along the promenade, and even on the beach.  To be fair, most of the rubbish on the promenade is around the litter bins, which by the end of the day are all full to overflowing.  The rubbish is mostly takeaway food containers and leftover food, which obviously gets attacked and spread around even further by all the gulls.  However, people have been putting on photos of abandoned beach shelters, broken folding chairs, inflatable boats and even a paddling pool.  For goodness sake!!  You can tell it's school holiday time and I guess (although this is of course a generalisation, not everyone is like it, before I get jumped on) the sort of people who come on holiday to a huge noisy holiday camp are often the type of people who just toss rubbish away for someone else to deal with.  And it's not their home town, so they don't really care.  One of the downsides of living in a tourist area, I'm glad we live outside the town.  It's such a shame, this is a beautiful part of Somerset, there's the beach and plenty to do for families, and the gorgeous natural beauty of Exmoor just minutes away.