Preparations

 No blogs have shown up on my daily reading list for several days now, their new posts only show up when I go to each individual blog.  I have notified Blogger a couple of days ago but they don't seem to be in a hurry to do anything about it.

We've got 2 appointments next week, and I've got all the holiday stuff to gather together and pack, washing of stuff we want to take with us to do, and remind husband not to wear anything he wants to wear on holiday, as he's often done in the past.  I'll have to give him a couple of jobs to do, like packing his clothes, although I'll have to suggest what he should take - holidays to husband, even though we only ever go in this country and usually later in the year, mean basically 2 t-shirts and a pair of shorts....one year he even forgot to pack any underwear!  He did offer to pack Betty's things, but I wouldn't trust him with that, it's highly unlikely he'd remember everything like her tablets, couple of towels, food and water bowls, toys, lead, collar and harness.

I'm on the home run with my jumper, just the assembly, cuffs and edging to do (and the dreaded sewing in of ends.....I know I should do it as I go along but rarely do).

All the 25th anniversary of 9/11 coverage was very poignant, it's one of those terrible events that we never forget.  We'd recently put our then house on the market and on that day I was working in town and popped into the estate agents after lunch to ask them to rectify an error in the sales particulars.  The estate agent was listening to the radio looking shocked and told me what had just happened, we both listened for a few minutes more, neither of us could quite believe it.  On the day that Princess Diana died, I remember it was a Sunday morning and we'd just got up, our neighbour (who knew I was a Royalist) came over to ask if we'd heard the news, I actually burst into tears when he told me.

I've started up an emergency supplies box, I'm not panic buying anything but am getting a couple of extra things when I go shopping, things like bottles of water, tins of beans, tomatoes, peas and fruit, pasta and rice, dried milk, coffee, dog food, toilet rolls and toiletries will all be going in it.  We've got a camping stove that runs on camping gas, we did have a pack of 10 gas bottles but husband has just informed me we only have 1 left....apparently he's been using them to power his flame thrower/weedkiller thing 😒 so I've told him he'd better buy some more and stop using them all up!  I'll also need to put in matches or a lighter, torches and batteries.  Apparently, we're supposed to have enough emergency supplies for 3 days, if it comes to some kind of disaster.  Just think, our grandparents would have thought nothing of it, they'd have just rolled up their sleeves and got on with it.

How not to get up

 The weather was lovely yesterday, sunny and pleasantly warm albeit definitely cooler and a bit autumnal.  In town we got the few things needed for our holiday and had a browse in the charity shops.  I found a lovely royal blue jumper, brand new with tags still attached, just £6, and a navy Cotton Traders sleeveless zip up fleece gilet, also brand new, £4.50, well pleased.  Also got another couple of books for me and 2 more DVDs for husband to take away with us.  All set now.

I had a text from the NHS yesterday afternoon, offering me a cancellation appointment for diabetic eye screening for today, it said if I didn't want the cancellation then just ignore the text and stick with my original appointment.  Well that's ok, I don't want an appointment today anyway, got other things to do.....however, I haven't yet had an appointment letter for my diabetic eye screening 😂.  I presume it's on the way.

As we sleep in separate rooms, I rarely see husband getting out of bed, I'm nearly always up before him anyway.  Yesterday though I needed to ask him to come and get rid of a beastie in the kitchen so went to wake him up, so I actually saw the way he gets out of bed.  Well, he does it in the most awkward way, it's no wonder he takes ages to get up and has backache and, now, an umbilical hernia.  He lies flat on his back and struggles to simultaneously sit up and twist his lower body off the bed, he looks like a beached whale!  I've had back problems all my adult life and have seen physiotherapists literally dozens of times over the years, I was shown by one how to get out of bed in the safest way years ago, and have done that ever since.  Gently roll over onto your side facing the side you want to get up.  Swing your legs over the side of the bed, then use your upper arm and hand to push down on the mattress in front of your torso and gradually push yourself upright.  Sit on the edge of the bed for a few seconds to stabilise your blood pressure, then put your hands either side of you on the mattress, or on your thighs, lean forward slightly and push yourself upright.  Easy - certainly much easier than floundering about like an upturned turtle trying to get up!  So I've shown husband how to do it.....he will no doubt forget often so I'll have to keep an eye on him and keep reminding him.  Something else to watch out for 😒

K, I can't be doing with complicated crochet stuff nowadays, I stick to granny stitch, clusters or plain trebles for the most part, mindless but relaxing stuff!

Mrs LH, sorry about your pets 😞, that's the downside of having pets - they don't live as long as us 😭

None of the regular blogs appeared on my daily blog list yesterday, despite most of them publishing new posts.  What on earth is going on with Blogger?

Seems fine

 We went to the GP's, saw another locum we'd not seen before.....seems to be all locums recently.  Not that I've got anything against them (this one was very nice), my only reservation is that there's no continuity of care, and you're seen by someone who knows nothing about you except what he reads on the computer screen - that's if he actually does read it.

He asked lots of questions and did an examination, he didn't find anything out of the ordinary....well, except he said husband appears to have a smallish (at present) umbilical hernia, which husband wasn't aware of.  He noted that husband had done one of those poo tests that we oldies get through the post nowadays, in May this year and it had come back clear, so the GP said it's highly unlikely that he's got bowel cancer.  However, he gave him another one to be sent off, just to be on the safe side.  The GP thinks that husband may have a mild case of diverticulosis or diverticulitis, which he said is nothing really to be concerned about, unless he has repeated episodes of D&V and gets abdominal pain, which he doesn't at present.  The GP said husband's age, weight and sedentary lifestyle may be contributing factors and suggested he tries to lose some weight and do more exercise.  All in all he was very reassuring, so that's one weight off our minds.

The other positive thing yesterday was that we had a phone call from a Dementia/Memory adviser from the Alzheimers Society.  Husband's key worker who rings us once a month to provide support (her words) whilst we're awaiting the memory test appointment, currently forecast for next January, had said she'd done a referral to them - not that husband has Alzheimers, he hasn't been diagnosed yet.  She said however that they have advisers who will make a home visit and offer help dealing with husband's memory problems.  That referral was 2 or 3 months ago and we'd heard nothing, so the key worker said she'd chase them up......the adviser rang the very next day.  She's coming to see us next week.

Other than that things are plodding on, I'm beginning to think about starting to pack for our holiday and am still crocheting - I've finished the back and front of my jumper and am halfway through one sleeve, I should finish the whole thing ready for taking on holiday, along with the cardi....which I have still to sew in the ends for.  I have another yarn pack (lovely pink DK) ready to take on holiday, another jumper.

Husband was decidedly grumpy and snappy yesterday, I suspect because he was worrying about the GP visit, not that he ever tells me if he's worried about anything, he seems to have calmed down now.  All three of us slept much better last night.  Weather looks good today, I've got washing in the machine to go out on the line and I think we'll pop into town for a wander round the shops, there's a few bits I need for the holiday.

Small wins

 Husband was being extremely resistant to the idea of going to the GP, he just didn't want to go and insisted he didn't need to.  So this morning I've put my foot down and said I'm making the appointment and he's going, it's at 4 pm today.  He's grudgingly agreed.  The thing is, since he's the one who has to drive the car there, if he flatly refused to go then there's not much I could do to make him do it.

It's been raining heavily during the night and continuing now, although it's beginning to tail off now and is due to stop in an hour or so, it's lovely to see the grass greening up again.  Isn't it amazing how quickly it comes back, especially when it's looked totally dead for the last few weeks/months even.  Most of our veggies are over and done with now, apart from a few courgettes and carrots, I'll have to start buying fresh tomatoes and cucumbers again.

I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about our upcoming holiday - whilst it'll be good to have a change of scenery and be in an area we've not visited for about 3 years, I'm concerned about it possibly being the same old, same old but just in a different place.  If husband finds something to moan about, he will....if he doesn't want to go somewhere, it'll be hard to shift him (and there's no public transport nearby, a bit of a rookie error on my part).  I have memories of our last holiday this time last year, when we came home a day early because I was totally fed up with husband's constant complaints.  But then again he might be alright this time, I can only hope!

The searing pain I had in my shoulder following the cortisone jab had mostly worn off by the weekend.  And now, I'm happy to say, my usual shoulder pain seems to be reducing quite a lot - it's so nice to have one body part that isn't making me grit my teeth because of the pain.  So there's that.

Thank you all for your kind comments - you're right, I am tired and worn down with all the responsibilities and the thought that it's never going to get any better.  When we're young, newly married and carefree, we really don't think that things might change and become very hard, do we?  It doesn't even occur to us.

Probably TMI - you have been warned!

 For the past 2 nights, husband has had nocturnal diarrhoea - he's absolutely fine during the day, it's only happening at night.  Although he says he doesn't feel ill at all clearly something is going on, it's not normal to have the runs only at night, so it'll be another GP appointment on Monday.  So all three of us have had severely disturbed nights, Betty included as nowadays any change in routine seems to fill her with anxiety and makes her whiny and clingy and she can't settle for ages afterwards.  Which means I can't either.

I know it's not husband's fault, obviously there's a problem which needs investigating, especially since several times he couldn't make it to the bathroom in time, which is worrying.  Let's face it, nobody wants to be cleaning up crap off of carpets....well, at any time really, but especially not in the middle of the night when you're half asleep still and can barely get your eyes open.  

Yesterday afternoon I had my first ever cortisone injection in my shoulder, I was quite surprised that they actually gave it to me....there was some doubt as to whether they would as I have an adverse reaction to NSAID meds and the cortisone jab is apparently a type of anti-inflammatory.  A different type though according to the senior physio, which shouldn't give me the same adverse reactions - it didn't, thankfully.  However, she said I may experience some side effects, such as a rare case of anaphylactic shock (no, thank goodness) facial flushing (nope), swelling or reddening of the jab site (no), or intense pain in the jab area.....oh yes!!  After a couple of hours I had the most excruciating searing pain in my shoulder, far worse than the 'normal' everyday pain, I ended up taking cocodamol and going to bed early because of the pain.

So when all this stuff with husband woke me up before midnight, and continued for a couple of hours afterwards, I could have cried.  Now, this sounds (well, is) extremely uncharitable and I'm sure lots of you will be thinking 'what a horrible woman', but I couldn't help thinking 'why can't I have even one day when I'm the unwell person, why is it always all about him?'.  I told you I'm horrible!

Yesterday teatime, because my shoulder was so agonisingly painful, I asked husband to do the dinner - it was ridiculously easy, just battered fish and chips from the freezer with mushy peas, a child could have done it.  Well, husband kept coming into the lounge every 2 minutes asking questions - do the fish and chips go in the air fryer at the same time?  Do I need to put them on foil or greaseproof paper?  What temperature and for how long?  Does the fish need turning over?  Are the chips brown enough yet?  Shall I do the peas in the microwave or a saucepan?  Honestly, I wished I hadn't asked him, it would have been easier to do it myself.

So today it's going to be a very quiet one (hopefully) - Betty's already snoring her head off on my bed and husband is asleep in his recliner chair in front of some daytime rubbish on the TV - business as usual then.

Apparently Blogger's been having another glitch, comments aren't being published, it seems it's a widespread problem.  And there was me thinking I've obviously p*ssed off all my readers as none of them are reading or commenting anymore (well, you might think that anyway, I wouldn't blame you).

As fast as one gets better....

 Betty's fine this morning, she's had some breakfast, she slept very well last night.  I'm glad she's ok today because husband has come down with something, he was unwell during the night with several trips to the loo, I wouldn't have wanted to be running around after both of them.  He didn't get up until 9 this morning (he normally gets up around 7), sat watching TV and has just gone to get washed and dressed.  He says he feels mostly ok now, although is tired and will probably have a nap or 2 during the day (he does that every day anyway!).  Good job I feel ok.

My fasting day went well yesterday, I stuck to my plan and kept occupied so I didn't listen to the 'food noise'.....funny modern expression.  I intend to have another couple of 1 day fasts next week, it seems to be a good and easy way of dropping some calories without doing a full-on diet.  Basically, I had a small banana for breakfast, some cottage cheese with cucumber slices followed by a peach for lunch, and half a can of baked beans with a little sprinkle of Parmesan, then an apple for dinner.  I enjoyed it all and didn't feel hungry.  

Mr X next door is out in his garden with a new builder, talking about his barn, so possibly work may be starting again sooner or later.

I see there's still stories in the media about the Government telling us all to stock up our food cupboards - I haven't read the articles, it seems like a good way of starting up panic buying though.  Which I won't be doing.  I will add a couple of extra cans, dry goods or bottles of water to our normal shopping, to build up a stock, I won't be grabbing a trolleyful of toilet rolls!  I'm sure it's just an excuse for shops to put all their prices up even more.

Feeding Betty - and a fasting day for me

 Betty's having a sicky day again, she's been sick 2 or 3 times this morning, poor thing.  She doesn't seem particularly unwell this time though, she's definitely not lively but isn't moping around as much....she's quite clingy right now though, seems to want to be with me all the time.  She's currently sleeping peacefully on my bed, I'll be withholding food until this evening, or even tomorrow, depending on how she is later on.  We were supposed to be going out for lunch today but have postponed it, I'm not leaving her home alone.  It doesn't matter at all, we can go anytime.  I've decided I'm going to make all of her food from now on - she normally has 3 or 4 days of homemade food per week, interspersed with good quality commercial food.  She loves chicken, turkey and beef mince, so she'll have those mixed with some veg (carrot, broccoli, butternut squash or sweet potato), plus a beaten egg and a couple of crushed weetabix, I make about 4 or 5 days worth at a time.  Once a week I give her a little tin of sardines in oil, mixed with a handful of kibble.  She also has some scrambled egg for breakfast when we have it at weekends.  I'm not giving her liver anymore, although she loves it I think it may be too rich for her delicate stomach now - she had liver last night so possibly why she was sick this morning.  

Husband likes to tell people that Betty gets better food than he does, which of course isn't true - they're both fed well!  She's a much loved family member, so she's going to get a good, nutritious and tasty dinner, just as he does.

Funny old weather at the moment......intermittent sunshine and clouds, the odd spot of rain, occasional gusty winds, and last night it was so warm and muggy I had to throw the (lightweight) quilt off again.

I've decided I'm going to do a couple of fasting days per week before our holiday, just to get a few pounds off.  By fasting I mean a much reduced day of low calorie food, not complete starvation.  E.g. today I've had a small banana for breakfast, for lunch it'll be half a pot of cottage cheese with some cucumber and radishes and an apple.  Dinner tonight will be half a can of baked beans with a little sprinkle of Parmesan, followed by a small pot of low fat Greek yogurt with a dessertspoon of mixed seeds and a segmented satsuma mixed in.  So there's plenty of fibre, fat and protein there, which should keep me going for a day, I'm only going to do it for one day at a time.