Decluttering

 The meat-less roast dinner was lovely, husband enjoyed his pork chops although he said they were a bit on the dry side (he cooked them, I only did all the veg!).  There are roast spuds and stuffing balls left over, I'd normally freeze them but husband said they could be left in the fridge for snacking on!  

This coming week will consist of decluttering and batch cooking.  We'll start on the utility room first...it's become (once again) less of a utility room and more of an extension of husband's shed and repository for all his junk that he can't be bothered to put away.  This happens every few months....he's supposed to limit his junk (he calls them tools 😂😒) to one cupboard and the worktop over it, but he gradually encroaches more and more into MY spaces, and even puts tools etc on top of my large plastic lidded food storage boxes, which annoys the hell out of me.  So we'll be clearing that first before I resort to violence.

I shall be batch cooking and freezing meals for our next caravan stay, things like cottage pie, fish pie, lasagne, curry, a couple of pasta bakes, all things which can be microwaved.  Which reminds me, I need to order some more glass dishes with lids from Ikea - I'll have them delivered, both of us detest going to that store.  I wouldn't mind it so much if we could just go straight to what we want and then straight to the till, rather than going through the entire maze with all the people just drifting around.  There's probably a way to do it, but I've not yet cracked it!

The meals will have courgettes featuring heavily in them, if not sliced or chopped then grated, good for bulking out dishes and adding extra veg.  Within the next few weeks, I think I'll have to tell husband to dig up a couple of the plants and put them on the compost heap, I'm already beginning to dread him coming in from the garden with another armful of them.  Fortunately, I can also use them in the dog food, Betty doesn't seem to mind.  I've always put grated or chopped veg in her homemade food, she eats it happily.  Except for peas, she obviously doesn't like them as she leaves them on the plate!

It's been very muggy over the weekend, that's forecast to change apparently.....good, I hate the mugginess, it really saps my energy.

Husband's got probably his last nurse visit tomorrow, it should have been last week but he missed it, wrote the appointment on the wrong date on the calendar!  AND he had a text from the surgery to remind him, it clearly still didn't click.  Honestly, that man!

Lovely veggies

 Now that's something I never would have dreamt of saying years ago, when the only veg I would eat was peas and potatoes!  

The new windows and front door are rather nice, they seem to let more light in somehow.  Perhaps the frames of these are narrower.....or maybe they're just cleaner! 😂 (well they would be, they're brand new).  The windows have vents along the top that can be opened to allow a little bit of air in, which will be good on cold days when we don't necessarily want the windows open.  Husband had said the fitters were very tidy and cleaned up after themselves - I didn't necessarily believe that (most workMEN don't do a fantastic job of cleaning up) but he was quite right, virtually no mess left at all that I could see.

I've been busy today, got one load of washing dry and another load in the machine ready to do overnight on the economy rate.  Unpacked and put away the last few bits we brought home from the caravan.  Went shopping this morning - we tried a new fruit and veg warehouse that's just opened up in the town.  Well, actually they're not new as such, they're the same people who used to run a nursery and veg shop in a town the other side of Bridgwater, it closed down recently.  They've moved to an empty warehouse in Bridgy, near to Sainsbury's where I do most of my shopping.  I was most impressed, a large selection of beautifully fresh fruit and veg, some of which they still grow themselves and the rest they buy in from local farmers, and the prices are extremely reasonable.  You can also buy in bulk - I got a 5kg box of Cox's apples (my absolute favourite) for £3.00!  Amazing.  The staff are very cheerful, friendly and helpful.  We'll be going there regularly.  I've left them a good review on FB, they deserve it.

We are inundated with courgettes, today I used 4 large ones grated to make spicy courgette fritters, flavoured with onion, cumin and ginger.  The mix made 16 large fritters, we're having a couple for tea with fries and salad, the rest have been frozen.  I'll roast a big trayful tomorrow with some other summer veg.  I expect we'll be able to give some away to neighbours, they're not all growing their own.  We've also got plenty of our own potatoes, beetroot, carrots and tomatoes, and the cucumbers are nearly ready to pick.

The farmers are harvesting their grain crops around here, including the big field at the back of us, we've had to keep the windows at the back of the house closed due to the amount of dust the huge combine harvester is throwing up as it cuts.  Everywhere is so very dry.......we did have a couple of showers today, but they were so light they didn't even wet the ground much, certainly nowhere near enough to water the plants.

Husband fancied pork chops for Sunday lunch tomorrow, I'm not a massive fan of them so he's having them whilst I have just the roasted veg, sage & onion stuffing, Yorkshires and gravy.  I won't miss the meat at all.

Planning

 We've decided (well, I decided) we're going home this afternoon.....we've had a lovely 10 days here with our wonderful neighbours C & J, but I need to get home and make a few plans.  As I mentioned before, I've kind of lost interest in our home over the past few months - I'd rather be here at the van.  But we can't stay here permanently, and the house does need some work - deep cleaning, a lot of decluttering, decorating and new curtains and blinds.  We're going to talk to our landlord about the decorating - neither of us is really in any fit state to do the decorating, we both have joint and mobility problems.  Although the inside decorating is supposedly down to us, we are aware that the landlord has had decorators in to a couple of the other tenanted houses (he has his favourites!).  He does arrange for the houses (the farm owns probably a dozen or more tenanted houses) to be gutted, thoroughly updated and fully redecorated as required each time a tenant moves out.  However, as we've lived in this house now for 10 years and will be here for the foreseeable future (there's no limit on how long we can stay), whereas the other houses seem to have a rapid turnover of tenants, it does mean our house is in need of some work.  He must know that.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained - he could of course say no, or we could come to some kind of compromise.

I've been under a lot of stress again lately - that isn't going to change anytime soon, but planning and doing things in the house will take my mind off it.  We'll start by approaching the landlord, then doing some thorough decluttering - I will be ruthless, husband is such a hoarder of 'things that might come in useful' (but somehow never do) and an untidy one at that.  I will have new curtains and blinds in all the downstairs rooms.....Sue, thanks for the mention of Dunelm, I'd completely forgotten about them, I've bought curtain tracks and poles before in their sales.  There's a big one here not far from the caravan, we'll look in there.  I'll also have a look on ebay, thanks Ruta.

There are health things for both of us I need to sort out - husband was discharged by his cardiologist into the care of his GP - ha, that's a joke, that was getting on for 3 years ago and he's not had ANY review of his heart meds, nor an annual check up for his heart - which he's supposed to have!  I have a lot of joint pain with my hips and knees, and a new problem with my right shoulder/upper arm.....well, I say new, it's been going on 2 or 3 months now.  Sometimes I wake up in the morning feeling like my entire body is just one big sea of pain, it's so constant now that I more or less ignore it, although it's very hard to ignore sometimes.  I haven't got time for pain, I just have to get on with things - if I don't, nothing gets done.  Nothing, and I do mean nothing, in our day to day life gets done if I don't do it myself, or prod husband into doing it, and keep reminding him because he forgets instantly.  I'm also supposed to have 6-monthly bloods and check ups for my 2 relatively minor liver problems - nope, not had any for a couple of years now, which will no doubt be blamed on Covid.  One, the congenital one, should stay a minor thing, but the other could potentially become very problematical, hence why it's supposed to be kept under review.

Right, must get on, have to pack everything we need to take home, change the beds and give the van a thorough clean.  It'll be a couple of weeks before we come back here again, and I do like the van to be clean and tidy when we come back to it.

Paint job to go with the new windows

 The new windows upstairs look good, according to husband.  He went off back home early this morning, I've just spoken to him and he says the fitters are on schedule to finish downstairs by lunchtime.  He's stopping off to pick up a couple of bits of top up shopping needed on his way back here, he estimates he'll be back here by mid afternoon.  Betty was pleased to see him when he got back yesterday, she's currently asleep (she has such a hard life!) pressed up against my side on the sofa.

I've been having a look at paint this morning, it's time we decorated at home, not done it since before we had Betty.  We need to use hard wearing washable paint on the walls, Betty has a habit of having a good shake once she's finished eating or drinking, so the walls frequently need washing down!  Husband doesn't mind decorating, I've always hated it, but it needs doing now before we get too ancient and infirm.  As it is, I don't think we'll be able to manage the stairs and landing, far too precarious for husband to be up a ladder now, so we'll have to get someone in to do that.  Fortunately, the bedrooms are fine, it's just downstairs that really needs a lick of paint.

We also need new curtains for the hall window, the dining room and a new kitchen blind, the lounge curtains are fine.  I'll probably look in charity shops for the curtains, they generally have a good selection.  It'll be nice to have a new fresh looking home along with the new windows, I've lost a bit of interest in home stuff lately, this might revive it.

The weather is dull and even a bit chilly today, unusual after the high temperatures recently, forecast to be better tomorrow though.  We might go out somewhere tomorrow, it'll be good to have a day out before we go home on Saturday.  Fish and chips by the beach sounds good!

Lovely peaceful time

 Betty and I had a peaceful uneventful night here in the van, we both slept well.  At least, I did, and I assume Betty must have done too as she didn't wake me up, she was stretched out fast asleep across the full length of the sofa when I got up.  Husband apparently didn't sleep so well on his own at home!  I've just spoken to him on the phone, he says the fitters have just about finished installing the upstairs windows and are going off, they'll be back tomorrow morning to do the downstairs, apparently.  Why they couldn't do all of the windows in one day, seeing as it only takes half a day to do one floor, I don't know.  Ah well, makes no difference to me.  So husband has decided he's coming back to the caravan, rather than sticking around at home all by himself.....he said he'll get up early tomorrow and return home to let the fitters back in.  He says they've cleared up after themselves, leaving no mess.  Unlike the mess and destruction of plants that the roofers did.  Incidentally, husband found several sizeable pieces of old roof timbers, fascia bits, old tiles etc inside our hedge a couple of weeks ago - clearly purposely dumped there by the roofers!  And they still haven't been back to collect the scaffolding fittings they left behind.  Lazy scumbags.

Betty has been as good as gold here alone with me, no trouble at all.  She's either missing her dad, or, more likely, she's just calmer when he's not here chattering away all the time, playing with her and generally winding her up.

Had a nice time wandering around Wells yesterday, they have some interesting charity shops there.  I didn't find anything that desperately shouted 'buy me' though, apart from a couple more books.

It's so quiet here again, not many van owners and only 2 or 3 touring vans with holidaymakers.  It never ceases to surprise me that more of the van owners don't come more regularly, but I suppose they do mostly live further away than we do, and I know a few of them aren't yet retired.  I just think considering we all have to pay our annual site fees whether we stay here or not, it makes sense to come and use the van as much as we can, to get our money's worth!

It's been lovely not having the TV put on all the time on random rubbish daytime TV programmes.  I watched a documentary about Kew Gardens last night (we used to live not far from there before I met husband, and I went there many times) and then switched it off.  I've not had the TV on at all today, just had Radio 2 on for a bit for the Ken Bruce show, he's on hols though so it was Gary Davies standing in....now there's a blast from the past, I used to really like him on Radio 1 and Top of the Pops during the 80s.  

Excitement at the caravan park

 Yesterday I bought some books (50p each) from a car boot sale.  Betty barked at a couple of magpies on the grass outside the van.  This morning a kestrel has been flying overhead, quite low, making a lot of sharp 'kekekekeke' calls.  Husband and lovely van neighbour Charlie are doing a tip trip today, taking away some accumulated rubbish.  I'll be deadheading the roses, petunias and cosmos, which are all flowering profusely.  And that's a quick sum up of our exciting activities here, it's all go!

You may think it boring - on the contrary, it's exactly the slow pace of life with not a lot to do except read, watch birds, potter in the garden and chat that I enjoy so much when we're here.  Tomorrow will be a bit more exciting - we're planning on going to Wells, one of my favourite places, it's forecast to be sunny.  

We've had a few showers which have meant we haven't needed to water the pots.  I've given up on the salad veg growing here at the van, they need regular watering which we can't do obviously when we're not here.  In one of the tubs I've planted some herbs - sage, thyme and garlic chives, hopefully they'll survive better, and they look pretty.  In the other I've put some drought tolerant succulents, I'll take photos and put them on when I remember.

Husband's going home tomorrow evening, leaving Betty and I here for a couple of days.  He's overseeing the new windows going in, it'll apparently take a day and a half, so he'll be back here Thursday early afternoon I should think.  Oh, he's also got what will probably be his final nurse appointment for his toes, which are healing well.

Worrying times ahead

 Dc from Frugal in Norfolk blog put on a video from Martin Lewis today, he called it an open video letter to politicians, in which he stressed just how bad the financial situation is going to get - and we think it's bad now!  He says the 'help' the Chancellor offered back in May, which everyone should receive later this year, has already been swallowed up (before we even get it) by the coming huge increase in energy costs, which will be even higher than predicted.  Personally (and this is just my opinion) I think the likes of Rishi Sunak, and seemingly most of the MPs, are already millionaires (or even squillionaires!) and thus are pretty much sheltered from increasing prices and have no real idea of how us plebs live.  They don't even know the cost of a loaf of bread or pint of milk (as some of them have demonstrated live on TV when asked!) - mind you, even we can't say with certainty as the cost of them goes up almost every week.

It is worrying, very worrying, although we're in the fortunate position of being able (currently!) to afford to pay all of our bills, put fuel in the car, pay our caravan site fees and have a reasonably good standard of living.  We have cut back on things though, and will have to even more in the near future - we no longer have 2 or 3 trips out a week, rarely go out for coffee or lunch, don't go to town unless we have several things to do at once.  We've swapped some branded goods for supermarket own labels.  We don't eat meat as often as we used to.  I've stopped buying craft supplies and won't buy any more at all until I've used up what I have.  Husband borrows tools from neighbours rather than buying a new one.  When something breaks or needs replacing, we try to mend it or buy a replacement second hand.  I hardly ever use my tumble dryer now and when it packs up (which it will do sooner rather than later, as it makes a lot of noise) I shan't be buying another one.

We are very lucky that our home energy costs are surprisingly economical - a 1000 litre tank of oil (for our central heating, no gas in our hamlet) lasts us at least 18 months, the tank is currently just over half full so we likely won't need to get any until next year.  We had an email from our electricity supplier a couple of weeks ago to say that we are considerably in credit and could decrease our monthly payment if we chose to.....we won't though as our continued overpayment and credit balance will act as a buffer against the huge 65% increase coming in October.  At the caravan our monthly payment doesn't quite equal our electricity cost, however, I'm not worried about that as obviously we don't use any electricity there at all for the 4 months the park is closed.  I might increase the payment in October though, in preparation for next year.  Our home energy costs might be even more economical now that we've had the new roof put on and the new windows and doors are being installed next week.  Although we do have double glazed windows now, they're very old, ill fitting and draughty, and the fully glazed front door is only single glazed, the new one is double glazed and only half glass with a solid bottom half.

I am fanatical about putting money away in savings, both as an emergency fund and for our site fees.  The caravan might well be seen as a luxury, and it is - but it is our only means of having a holiday now that husband can't drive long distances, and to put it bluntly, it's my sanity space.  I'd eat beans on toast every day if it were my only means of saving up for the site fees.  Hopefully, it won't come to that!

How about you, are you worried about how you'll (or your family will) cope?

Simple pleasures

 1.  My first frothy coffee of the day - I have 3 a day (the sachet instant ones) and the first one always tastes the best.

2.  Sunshine first thing in the morning.

3.  Sitting drinking my coffee, looking out over the lovely caravan park - very peaceful as it's early and hardly anyone else is up yet, husband is out with the dog so that makes it even more peaceful as the TV's not on!

4.  Being here at the park and relaxing, nothing much that needs doing.

We're popping into the nearby village this morning, husband needs a couple of things and I want to go in the charity shop and get some more books.  We're going to spend the day gardening - some of my pot plants didn't survive the excessive heat, so they need taking out, lots of dead heading to do, some general tidying up, and husband needs to cut the grass.  Actually, when I say 'spend the day gardening', it's more like a couple of hours, as it's a small garden!  And then it's just settling down to relax.

Our lovely van neighbours C & J are arriving tomorrow, so that'll be good.  The open cupboard that husband built for the microwave fits perfectly in the space, it's up on the wall and the microwave installed.  For once it all went very smoothly with no problems.  Well done him.

Glad that's over

 The extreme heat, that is.

Another annoyance the other day......my new air fryer, that I'd had precisely a month, packed up halfway through cooking some homemade pizza dough bases.  It just stopped, and there was a smell of burning coming from the back of the machine, no smoke though, thank goodness.  So I spent 20 mins in an online chat with an Amazon person, who agreed to process a refund if we send the thing back.  I didn't want a replacement as, to be honest, following my first flush of enthusiasm I'd come to realise it wasn't as good as I first thought - for what is basically a mini fan oven, it didn't cook very evenly at all.  Ah well, never mind.  Think I'll stick with the gadgets I've already got, rather than cluttering up the place with more.

I've been using my treadmill for 10 mins twice daily, except for the last 2 days when I only used it in the morning, at a relatively slow speed.  The morning session is fine, I find it harder on the evening one, by that time I'm tired and my leg/hip hurts more when I've been on my feet most of the day.  But I'm happy to be using it, it's a start, and I know I'll be able to walk longer at a higher speed in due course.  Don't think I'll be trying the hill programs anytime soon though.

I won't be using it for the next week or so though, as we're back off to the caravan tomorrow morning, now it's forecast to be a lot cooler, with even some showers (which the garden really needs).  We've coped reasonably well with the heat, Betty included, although Monday night and yesterday morning were pretty awful until we had a brief but fairly heavy shower and one mild rumble of thunder.  Basically, we stayed indoors most of the time, with the windows and curtains shut at the front of the house (south facing), and wide open at the back where it stays cooler as it's north facing.  Betty was taken out early in the morning and after 7 pm in the evening, when it was cooler, with a very quick couple of minutes in the garden for a wee during the day.  She's drunk loads of water and mostly slept in front of the fan and seems fine.  I put washing out on the line before 8 am and it dried very quickly, of course.  No cooking was done for the past couple of days, we've had salads.  Sleeping at night has been the biggest problem, Monday night being the worst as it was boiling hot all night, but hopefully we'll sleep better at the caravan.

We used to live in Gibraltar when I was a child and I remember it being very hot there - my Mum got heatstroke and had to be taken to hospital by ambulance the very first time we went on the beach.  The heat didn't seem to worry us as kids over there, but this country isn't used to such extreme high temperatures is it, although apparently we're being told that it might occur more frequently in future, due to climate change.

Husband's built the open fronted cupboard for the new caravan microwave, which fits perfectly with plenty of ventilation space, now he's just got to fix it to the wall, attaching it to the battens already in place.  He's done a good job, surprisingly - he got the measurements right first time (he frequently doesn't) and it looks very nice.....some of his 'builds' can look a bit thrown together sometimes, using oddments and non-matching offcuts, giving them a distinctly patchwork appearance.  Which is fine for an item for his shed, not what I want in the caravan though!

Our next door neighbours here at home are having a big family get-together and bbq in the garden this coming weekend, there'll be lots of cars, children and noisy games, so it'll be good for us to be in the lovely peaceful caravan park.

I seem to have been on my feet and busy doing loads of odd jobs, as well as the normal stuff, every day since we came home last Wednesday.  As the heat drains my energy and sleeping has been nigh on impossible I'm shattered, and stressed up to my eyeballs with stuff going on again.  So at the caravan I shall be doing next to nothing, I need to rest.  

I doubt we'll be growing any produce next year now, other than the fruit trees already in the garden.  Husband just hasn't got the enthusiasm to do any veg gardening anymore, and I don't have the time (or the inclination, or healthy enough joints and back).  I've asked that he keeps the lawn mowed and doesn't let the garden become an overgrown wilderness, that's all I expect of him.  With us spending so much time at the caravan, it's a problem to keep the produce watered anyway.

The windows people rang again yesterday afternoon, bit more notice this time, they want to come next Wednesday.  We'll clear the windowsills and take down some of the curtains and blinds today, husband is coming home for a couple of hours at the weekend to water the produce, so he'll take down the rest of them.  Then on Tuesday evening he'll come home, leaving Betty and I at the caravan, and he'll stay home until the windows are done - they reckon it will take 2 days.  So I get some time on my own (well, with Betty, but that's no hardship) at the van - whoopee!

Off

 I'm taking a week or so off from blogging.  It's too hot, I'm too tired, in too much pain with my hip, and there's too much aggro going on in my life at the moment.  Back whenever.

The veg mountain begins

 I went on the treadmill this morning for the first time, just 10 mins to begin with.  It was fine, at least it woke me up a bit.....not a good night, for some reason Betty was very restless and fidgety (hot probably) and kept jumping off the bed, lying on the floor for 5 mins, then jumping back up again.  After about an hour of this, she went downstairs, thankfully, she stayed downstairs for the rest of the night.  My hip is excrutiatingly painful at the mo, so that kept waking me up/kept me awake a lot of the time.

We went out at 8.30 this morning to do a big shop - it was a lot busier than the last time we went, I guess people were stocking up with bbq and salad foods for the coming hot weekend, some kids have already broken up from school, and more tourists starting to arrive.  As they only had 2 checkouts open, it took an absolute age to get through.  I know they're short staffed (and it shows) and they want people to use the self service tills, but it does irritate me.  I think I'll have to go back to letting husband do the shop, or doing it online.

I've got a mountain of courgettes to deal with this afternoon, and a load of new potatoes.....I'm going to thickly slice the courgettes, halve the potatoes, toss them in oil, herbs and spices and bung them all in the oven - and then vacate the kitchen so I don't have to be in there whilst the oven's on!  The majority of the veg will be portioned up and frozen.  I've told husband not to bring any more stuff in for the time being, I've got a busy couple of days and won't have time to deal with anything else.  He has this habit of bringing in a ton of veg from the garden (whether I've asked for it or not), dumping it all on the kitchen worktop and then buggering off.

I'm seriously considering telling him not to bother growing anything other than a couple of courgette plants (we currently have 5 I think), some first early spuds and some leeks next year.  The gluts are just too much for me to deal with, he doesn't have the energy or enthusiasm to look after the crops properly (there's a bed of strawberries covered by a fruit cage that he's not even looked at!!) and it all gets covered with weeds.  And the fact that we spend so much time at the caravan means the home garden produce doesn't get watered, so half of the stuff doesn't do very well anyway.  We did get a neighbour to water for us last year, but he's got some health problems and can't do it regularly now.  

I'm trying to cut down on work for us both, we're not getting any younger!

The nurse told husband yesterday that he's putting too much padding on his toes when he redresses them himself, causing them to sweat....she said they need to breathe to heal properly, she puts a large but light dressing on them.  The reason he's been padding them so much is because, being the clumsy clot he is, he's always bumping his toes on something or other and of course he frequently drops things, oh and Betty frequently treads on them too - she's also a clumsy clot!

Had my eyes tested yesterday and they're fine, no change from two years ago so no need for new glasses (one less expense).  The optician said I have the merest hint of a possible cataract starting, but it's so minute and insignificant it's hardly even worth mentioning (I'd specifically asked her about signs of cataracts, as both Mum and my sister had/have them, and my sis is younger than me).  She said I shouldn't have to worry about it for a few years yet.

I loved reading all your comments yesterday, they did make me laugh, I think we must all be married to clones of my OH!  I guess it's just a man thing.  Wouldn't a women-only bungalow retirement village be nice 😁.  We'd have to allow our blokes to come and do the odd necessary job though, on a strict appointment basis 😂

Aaaarrggghhh!!

 Got home about 7.30 yesterday evening, it was an easy journey with no holdups.  When husband brought the treadmill home last Sunday, he just dumped it in the middle of the lounge - plenty of space up against the wall, but no, for whatever reason, he chose to put it where it was completely in the way.  Sigh.

I've had the most frustrating and irritating morning and now feel completely frazzled.  Firstly we had to move some of the lounge furniture around in order to get the treadmill where I wanted it, in the corner of the room.  Our 3-seater sofa is extremely heavy, so both of us were out of breath and sweating buckets by the time it (and other things, including the rug) were moved.  Then we had the job of unfolding the (big and heavy) treadmill.....husband had been shown by the seller how to do it (I wasn't with him, I'd had to stay in the caravan with the dog) but for whatever reason, it didn't work.  So I suggested a different way of unfolding it....No, he says, it's got to be done this way.  Well dear, that way isn't working, so why don't we try this? says I.  After much grumbling and fiddling around and cursing by him, he tried it my way - bugger me if it didn't actually work!  The trouble with husband is that everything has to be done by the book, the 'right' way, he's not good at thinking outside the box.  He then proceeded to demonstrate how to work it.....I used treadmills regularly in the gym (and we had one of our own a few years back) for a long time, so I do actually know how to use it!  This one has a 'kill switch' on it, a magnetic button attached to the machine, on a cord at the other end of which is a clip which you affix to your clothes.....so that in the event of you falling off the machine (having a heart attack eg 😂), the magnetic button gets pulled off the machine and switches it off.  I know all this, but husband still insisted on telling me.  He then started the treadmill up, accidentally put it up to a high speed, panicked when he realised, and it was left to me to yank the kill switch button off to stop the machine before he was thrown off it (he hadn't attached the clip to himself).  I reckon the kill switch is actually for wrapping the cord around your husband's neck 😉😈

And then it was the turn of finding a new car insurance policy to aggravate me even further.  The car is currently covered with husband's present insurance, which is up for renewal in a week or so.....he had the renewal quote, which was a bit higher than he was expecting, so he had an immediate knee jerk reaction and cancelled it.  As he's no good with computer stuff, I had to do the price comparison quotes - which I absolutely hate doing, anything to do with car stuff bores the absolute pants off me.  Each quote I got was considerably higher than the one he'd had from his present insurers, plus a couple of times the (already rubbish) broadband dropped out, and in one case I got to the end of the 678 pages of bloody questions (well that's what it felt like) they ask and on the final page it said they were unable to provide a quote - no explanation as to why.  By this time I was ready to tear my hair out - I do ALL the admin in our house, for myself, husband, our joint things, house stuff and the dog, the one thing I would like him to do is anything to do with car stuff, it's not a lot to ask is it?!  So I suggested (in a 'do it or else' tone of voice) that he go back on the phone to his present insurer and get the policy reinstated.  Which he's now done.  

He's just gone to see the nurse to get his toes checked and redressed, so I've got 15 mins peace.

We've been together 41 years and I do love him, but honestly sometimes the thought of living ON MY OWN (with Betty of course) in a little bungalow with a small pretty garden, on the edge of a village with a grocery shop in walking distance, is very appealing!

Planning for next week

 I've been coping alright with the hot sun (basically, I just stay out of it.....either inside the caravan or sitting under the big parasol outside) but yesterday the humidity got to me.  We had little to no sun, only a brief light misting of rain in the morning, but it was SO humid and sticky, which made me feel very unwell.  Sleeping was a bit hit and miss last night, but I'm fine today.  It's been a really nice morning, not a lot of sun (it's come out now) but a nice comfortable warm temperature without the stickiness of yesterday.  I've sat outside most of the morning, chatting with the neighbours and writing lists of things to take home, things to bring back next week, and my shopping list for Friday.  This afternoon I'll get the stuff we need to take home all sorted out, ready for Husband to pack in the car later on, we'll go off home around 7 pm.  It should only take me an hour to get everything done, and then I'll be reading and relaxing outside before we go off home.

Apologies are due - for some reason I've been unable to comment on blogs whilst here at the van, I have been reading though.  And, in common with some fellow bloggers, I've also been finding comments from regular readers in the Spam folder.  Obviously a Blogger glitch.

A busy few days ahead, I'm hoping to get everything I need to done before the real heatwave arrives on Sun/Mon and Betty and I hibernate in the cooler parts of the house.

My brother (who lives in Cornwall) and his wife had a lovely time this morning, before they both went off to work late morning.  They took a flask of coffee, hot bacon sandwiches wrapped in foil, and a bottle of water for the dog (they have an Irish terrier) and went to the beach, early before the hordes of tourists arrive.  Breakfast on the beach followed by a quick swim in the sea, then home by 10 am.  Something we might do when we're back here next week.....well, breakfast on the beach, no swim, although I might paddle!  We get up early anyway, so might as well take advantage of (hopefully) an empty beach before the tourists wake up.  Must check the tide tables for next week.

From blazing sun to clouds and humidity

 Slept like a log last night - took me a while to get off to sleep initially, as it was so warm, but once I was asleep I slept for several hours.  It's not really sunny today, only brief glimpses of the sun in between the blanket of cloud - I don't mind it not being sunny as it's been too hot with full sun the last few days.  However, although the temperature is a couple of degrees lower, it is humid and sticky today.  There was the briefest of showers here this morning quite early - well, it could hardly even be called a shower, more like a very light misting, certainly nowhere near enough to wet the ground.  And it only lasted a couple of minutes.  We could do with a good downpour, to clear the air.

Having discussed it this morning and stood in the kitchen working it out, and had a look in lovely van neighbours' kitchen to see where theirs is situated, we've (well, I've) decided we will have a microwave.  I've always used my home one quite a lot and I am sure I'll make much more use of one in the caravan rather than the oven - as I said yesterday, it's simply not a good idea to have the oven on in hot weather.  HH - the air fryer does give out a bit of heat, not as much as the oven, but I'd still notice it in the van.  I'll still bring home-cooked ready meals, but in suitable glass or plastic microwavable containers rather than the foil containers I have been using.  We have one wall cupboard that only houses the electric sandwich maker, which I could store in the under the sink cupboard with a bit of reorganisation, the microwave could go in that cupboard.....well, in the space there.  Husband has already dismantled the cupboard and is in the process of measuring up for back boards, framework etc to hold the new microwave.  Which I've already sourced and paid for, we'll collect it when we go back home.

So the plan is we'll go home tomorrow evening, when the rush hour traffic has died down and the temperature dropped a bit.  Husband has to see the nurse on Thursday, to check on his toes (he changed the dressings himself yesterday, with a bit of help from me, which I'm really not over-keen to do again!), and I've got my eye test appointment in the afternoon.  Got a few jobs to do at home over the weekend....although I doubt I'll be doing much in the blazing heat forecast for Sunday!....and then we'll hopefully come back here to the van Monday evening.  If it's still very hot by the evening, though, then we'll wait until Tuesday when it's forecast to be a bit cooler. 

It's certainly been relaxing the past couple of days, we've not been anywhere (too hot) or done anything much except sit in the garden (under my big parasol) and chat to neighbours.  The odd bit of gardening or vacuuming I've done either early morning or in the evening......far too warm to do anything during the day.  Betty's currently lying on her bed in the lounge in front of the fan, fast asleep.  Husband has been going for a snooze in the afternoons, but hasn't today, he's been too busy with his pencil stuck behind his ear doing measurements for the microwave housing - personally, I think he overthinks things sometimes, but he gets there in the end.  And it keeps him busy (and the TV off!).

A few conclusions

 ....on how to manage at the caravan during a heatwave.

Actually, we manage quite well.  Of course, it's basically a metal box, so it's going to be hot.  My way of managing the heat inside the van is to open ALL the windows as soon as I get up (we do have 2 or 3 open overnight when it's hot), and both of the external doors, so any breeze can blow through.  I also keep the curtains closed on the sunny side of the van, opening them and closing others as the sun moves round.  We also have a big stand electric fan, plus 2 smaller ones for when it gets very hot.  So far we've only needed the big one.  

Betty is my main concern, she does like to lie outside in the sun, but doesn't stay out there for hours, it's just 10 or 15 mins at a time, then she comes inside and lies in front of the fan.  I've given up with her cool mat, she just refuses to lie on it.  I top her bowl up with fridge cold water several times throughout the day, she does drink quite a bit when it's hot.  I also give her ice cubes to crunch on - Jayne, I've always given her ice cubes but she didn't always eat them, just had a few licks....now, with the heavily diluted chicken stock ones she licks and then crunches them up.  I wring out a tea towel in cold water and try laying that over her.....she gives me a 'Mum why are you torturing me?' sideways look, puts up with it for 20 seconds, then shakes it off and runs off.  She will, albeit long-sufferingly, allow me to rub her down briefly with it though.  She absolutely hates sprays of any sort, so it's pointless trying to spray her with cold water, she just runs off.  I do keep a close eye on her to ensure she's not showing signs of overheating...she hasn't done yet.

We have a large garden umbrella fixed to the fence so it doesn't blow away (it can be quite breezy here).  However, that's not enough as the sun moves round, so we're going to buy another one to put in the parasol base we already have, so it can be moved around.  I've tried putting up a makeshift sort of tent arrangement for Betty to lie under - she wouldn't even get in it.  So a moveable sunshade seems the best idea.

The tomatoes we planted in pots here haven't done well at all, they look really sickly in fact, I doubt they'll survive to fruit.  The radishes grew well to a good size, but tasted dry and bitter - lack of water, same as for the tomatoes.  Trouble is, they need watering every day, and obviously we're not here full time.  We do water our neighbours' plants when they're not here, and they do the same for ours, but of course they're not here all the time either (they're arriving today I think).  So that's a failed experiment - it would have been nice to have fresh grown salad crops, but it won't work without daily watering.  Although we only live 40 mins away, with fuel prices the way they are, we can't afford to pop back here every couple of days to water.  Never mind.

We're going home Weds evening (when it's cooler and there's less traffic), our original plan was to come back on Friday evening.  However, the forecast is for it to be even hotter this coming weekend so we're going to stay home until early next week when the temperature drops a bit.  It's easier for Betty to find cooler places to lie in at home, and the back of our house (where the kitchen and diner and my bedroom are) always stays cool.

The one thing about the caravan in hot weather is that cooking.....i.e. using the oven.....is a complete No No.  So whilst it's hot, we're eating cold food all the time, or things that only need warming up briefly in a pan on the hob.  We don't have a microwave (no room for one), but do have an electric sandwich maker.  I suppose a small bbq would be a good idea.....Joy's Cobb one looks ideal actually, but it's a bit more than I want to spend.  We'll have a look around whilst we're at home.

Sod's Law

 So much for a relaxing break....

On our journey here a warning light came on in the car and power steering went off.....and that's the last I'm saying about it!

Around 9 pm problem relative started bombarding me with their usual doom-laden melodramatic crap texts....I temporarily blocked them again.

At 03.19 this morning, the smoke alarm bleeped, sending Betty charging into the lounge woofing.  Fortunately it wasn't a fire, just the low battery warning bleeps.  Husband was oblivious, of course.  I woke him up to take the battery out, I couldn't get back to sleep after that, although husband - and Betty! - seemed to have no trouble.

As that's the proverbial three things, hopefully things can only get better.

Off to relax

 Pooped, I've had terrible nights this week, sometimes it just goes like that.  I got everything done yesterday, although by the end of the afternoon I was so tired my brain had seized up.  Was even too tired to finish dinner, it was just too much effort to raise a fork to my mouth and chew.  I did sleep a bit better last night - sheer exhaustion, I think, although Betty woke me up a couple of times, she seemed to be very restless, too warm maybe.

As soon as husband comes back from the surgery this morning, we'll be off to the caravan, I've only got the big cool box of chilled and frozen food to pack.  It's been a busy week and I'm looking forward to several days of doing nothing, except pottering in the garden, reading and catching up with our friends there.  I doubt we'll be going anywhere, it'll be too warm and crowds will be starting to appear as more tourists arrive in the county.  Oh, we'll be going to collect the treadmill, of course.....not that I'll be using it at the van, it will stay in the car until we go home (it folds for storage or transport, apparently).

In theory, we could stay at the van indefinitely, I do have an eye test appointment one day next week so will have to come back to town for that, another benefit of the van park being not far away.  However, it's forecast to be very warm.....if there's no breeze and it gets too hot for Betty (and me) then we'll come home for a couple of days until it cools down a bit.  We'll need to water the garden by then anyway, we don't like to rely on neighbours doing it as well as their own.

I suppose it would have been handy to have the new windows fitted today, but with an already busy day yesterday and next to no notice given, I just didn't have the time to clear all the kitchen utensils and things, plants, pictures, toiletries etc off the windowsills and take all the curtains and blinds down (as requested by the window fitters).

And more twits!!!

 We were originally told the new windows would be fitted in late August.  We have just had a phone call from the fitters saying they'd like to come....tomorrow at 8.00 am!  WHAT?!?!

I'm busy all day today, I haven't got time to go around clearing all the windowsills and taking down all the curtains.  So I've said NO!

They apparently have finished another job early so thought they could just pop round and do ours....just like that.  They clearly think we don't have a life and just sit around twiddling our thumbs waiting for something to happen.

I know we're off to the van tomorrow, but honestly, I have a list of things to do today and I need more notice than just a few hours!

Twit!

 The nurse yesterday said husband's toes were a lot less bloody and weepy than she expected.  He's got another appointment for re-dressing tomorrow.  However, he then went and did a silly thing.....he decided to wear his normal heavy walking boots for taking the dog out, rather than the walking sandals he has been wearing. Why, I don't know, it's not as if it was (or even had been) raining.  When he came back (he wasn't out very long) the boots had clearly rubbed on his toes, causing them to bleed and weep a bit and his fresh clean dressings were soiled, a couple of hours after having them put on.  Twit.

On his way home from the surgery yesterday, husband collected Betty from the groomers, so she's smelling lovely and has beautifully soft fur - it's a pity it doesn't last long, especially the lovely smell.  She loves going to the groomers (her whole body wags with excitement when we take her there) and they love her, they say she's as good as gold.

Today I've got washing to put on the line in a minute, a big pan of bolognese to make, portion up and freeze, and a quiche to make to take with us to the caravan, we're going tomorrow.  So I've also got packing of food and clothes for the van, I've got it down to a fine art now.

Thank you for all the comments - the tip about leg weights is a good one, thanks Jayne.

Lightbulb moment (thanks to Sue!)

 Husband's had very little pain and can walk perfectly ok, he's sure he can drive with no trouble too, he's got a pair of supportive walking sandals which, although closed in at the front, are roomy and can accommodate his bandaged toes.  So that's good.

Something Sue of A Smaller Life said in a comment yesterday made me stop and think (thanks Sue 👍).  She mentioned that I seem to have been under the weather a lot lately.....thinking about it, it's true, I haven't felt well for ages.  Nothing definite that I could put my finger on and say 'I've got this or that', just a lot of aches and pains (quite a lot of pain recently), stomach upsets, feeling knackered a lot and having no energy with the smallest job wearing me out.  Just a general feeling of - well, not being myself.  I'm aware that my energy levels have plummeted, and I've got aching joints and muscle wastage in my legs - my osteopath Felicity mentioned the muscle wastage, and I can see it for myself.  It's a result of not having done much walking for the past few months, since having the prolapsed disc, hip and knee problems.  Unfortunately, I no longer go to Felicity, she's one of the things (along with my chiropodist) that I've had to give up for cost cutting reasons.

I haven't put on any weight (unlike husband who put on a stone over winter and is struggling to lose it), but neither have I lost any either.  And I do need to.  But it's harder when you get older and have joint and mobility problems - having fallen over a couple of times in the past few months, I do get a bit anxious about falling again, especially on uneven ground (like the fields around us, or the beach).

In the dim and distant past (in my 30s and 40s) I used to go to a gym 3x weekly, my favourite bit of kit there was the treadmill, I'd choose one in front of a window, put headphones on to a music channel and do a hill program (the incline rising and falling throughout the program....we're talking gentle hills though, not mountains!!) for 30 or 45 minutes.  We do have an exercise bike but I find it painful to use, the cycling hurts my hips and leaning slightly forward to hold the handles hurts my back.  So I thought a treadmill would probably be a better idea.....I can start off just walking at a relatively slow speed, and introduce inclines and a higher speed as I gain more strength.  

I looked for a good electric second hand one on the local FB selling pages and found one, at a very reasonable price - the lady who's selling it lives not far away from our caravan.  I've spoken to her on the phone and we've arranged to collect it at the weekend.  I've already changed our meal plans recently to include more veg and fruit, less red meat and less carbs from bread, pastry etc.  Hopefully, the better diet and use of the treadmill will help me (and husband) to lose some weight, build up lost muscle and stamina and start to feel better.

When we're at the caravan, we do tend to eat like we're on holiday - we eat normal healthy home cooked dinners that I've brought from the home freezer, but we also have things like crisps, chocolate biscuits, sometimes homemade cake, and a few cooked breakfasts.  All things that we don't often have at home.  So I'm going to put a stop to that - I won't just not have them at all though, we'll have them as an occasional treat rather than practically every day.

It's a pity really that the things I most like to eat are precisely the things that I shouldn't make a habit of eating.  I could quite happily live on hunks of cheese, crackers, crisps and toast with lashings of butter and pate - not a vegetable in sight.  Even though I quite like a lot of veggies......not to the extent of thinking "ooh, I really fancy a nice bit of broccoli" though.  😂😂

Problem solved

 I had an idea yesterday, the practice nurses at our GP surgery do dressing changes as part of their duties, so I suggested he rang to see if he could get in there.  He could, it's arranged for tomorrow afternoon - thankfully as the surgery is a damn sight nearer than the hospital, which is way over the other side of town.  He's seeing the lovely nurse who does all our blood tests and diabetes checks, so that's a big relief for both of us.

He had some pain as the anaesthetic wore off, to be expected, but took painkillers at appropriate intervals.  

As he was told to keep off his feet as much as possible and keep them elevated yesterday, it was back to lying on the sofa watching TV, although I did persuade him to go to bed in the afternoon for a couple of hours, giving me a break from the TV.  So as well as my normal jobs yesterday, I had to feed and water him and keep him supplied with all his meds - he was pretty good actually, I did say I wasn't going to become his slave for the day and run around getting umpteen things for him every 5 minutes, he was quite restrained.  I also had Betty to walk, which I don't do very often nowadays in view of my back and hip problems - I was a bit concerned that she might pull me over if she saw a rabbit or pheasant and suddenly took off, but she was no trouble at all though, good girl that she is.

I'm not setting a definite day for going to the caravan, it depends entirely on husband, how he feels and how his feet progress.  He is quite keen to go though, especially since the weather is set to be good, and being at the van is totally relaxing now.  We might go at the weekend, if all's well.

I'm up ridiculously early, woke up about 03.30 with a headache, stomach upset and painful hip and couldn't get back to sleep again, so got up and came downstairs.  The headache and stomach upset are probably stress-related, both are wearing off now.

They were saying on the news yesterday that schools are having to cut back on meat for school dinners, and buying cheaper food products from abroad....despite wanting to buy British food supplies, they can't afford to anymore.  Every day the news is about price rises.....if this sleazy Government full of posh millionaire entitled plonkers who haven't a clue about how us normal people are struggling don't get their fingers out soon and actually do something that will genuinely help people, I don't know what's going to become of this country.

Husband said he wants to get back to normal stuff, dog walking and garden watering etc, today, I guess that depends on how he feels when he gets up.  If he does decide he's fit to take Betty out, I'll go with him.

Not bloody likely!

 Husband has had his offending toes done - both of his big toes.

He had both nails removed entirely, the doctor said they were too far gone to be able to just take a small section of each side off.  He's been told to keep his feet elevated for the rest of the day, to slow down bleeding - as a heart failure patient who takes lots of medication, he is a bleeder! (in more ways than one 😂😉).  The doctor said that they no longer offer redressing appointments routinely, patients are expected to do it themselves (or get a friend or relative to do it for them) unless there's a clinical reason why they can't do their own.  Apparently, according to the doctor, husband is a special case because of his diabetes and previous foot problems (he has very little feeling in one of his feet, the one that was operated on the year before last), so he is entitled to be seen by the podiatry clinic for the next 6 months.  She asked him if he wanted to do it himself......and the daft man said YES!!! 😞😝 - honestly, I could throttle him sometimes.  He's said since coming home he'll probably have a problem trying to do it himself - well if he thinks I'm doing it when I have back and hip problems (and the thought of seeing his bleeding weeping toes looking like raw meat turns my stomach) he's got another think coming.  So he's going to ring the clinic and request a redressing appointment.  I should bloody well think so too.

Quiet (non-drama queen antics) day

 I seemed to end up doing not much of anything really yesterday, but still felt shattered by early evening.  I think all I did was put washing on the line, sort out another basketful and load the machine to run overnight.  I cooked the roast - leg of pork with roasted small new potatoes (from our garden), buttered cabbage, cauli and broccoli cheese, peas and carrots.  Enough pork left over for sandwiches the next 2 or 3 days, or perhaps a risotto or stir fry, and plenty of leftover veg frozen.  I also boiled a big panful of new potatoes - finally the last of the bucketful that husband dug up more than a week ago.  We'll have them cold with meals today and tomorrow and there might be some left to freeze.  Must be a good year for potatoes, looks like we'll have loads going by the amount he dug up which were just the first of the ones he planted.

And that was that - all I did other than that was watch the Grand Prix, which was horrifically dramatic at the start (thankfully, the young guy whose car rolled over and flew over the tyre barrier into the wall wasn't really injured, amazingly) and edge of the seat exciting with Lewis Hamilton overtaking and being overtaken at the end.  Pity he didn't win as he was on home ground, but at least he got on the podium with 3rd place.

So looks like husband's toe (or toes....he doesn't know if they're doing one or both) op is going ahead this morning - although it could still be cancelled last minute, of course.  A neighbour is taking him and bringing him home, seeing as he's not allowed to drive for 12 hours after the op.  I'll get some work done in glorious peace and quiet this morning whilst he's out.  Betty's got the groomers on Wednesday, I'm hoping we can go to the van Thurs or Fri, depending on husband's feet.  Should be ok though, it's only his ingrowing toenails he's having seen to, nothing major.  Apparently, it should only be a bit taken off each side of the nail, unless there's a problem - well, the nail on one of his big toes looks absolutely awful so it wouldn't surprise me if they took the whole nail off.  They put some stuff (a kind of acid, apparently) on the skin under the bit of nail they cut off each side which prevents the nail regrowing.....sounds revolting.  It could take up to 6 weeks to heal completely, so the info leaflet says.  Since he's Mr Clumsy and is always dropping things, he'd better try and avoid dropping anything on his toes!

My friend says she's shattered after the party (they had 6 of her husband's relatives staying overnight, so she had a big breakfast to cook yesterday morning), she's adamant he's not having another one!

An 'interesting' party!

 I slept really well last night and woke this morning at 6.30 (well, Betty woke me up licking my hand) feeling refreshed and pretty much back to normal.  I'm feeling positive and happy, it's going to be a nice week weather-wise and hopefully we'll be going back to the caravan soon.

We did go to the neighbour's 70th party last night - although there had been some heavy showers during the day, by early evening the sun was shining and it was quite warm, so the party went ahead outside as planned.  It was.....interesting!  The birthday bloke, who likes to think of himself as the life and soul of the party and someone who hosts amazing parties (hmmm 😉), had hired a drag queen singer (yes, really) who, for whatever reason, had decided to perform as 'himself' as opposed to his drag queen persona.  However, as we arrived he was engaged in a full-on hissy fit - apparently he'd had his laptop stolen from out of his car, he sings to backing music tracks which are on his laptop.  "My entire LIFE is on that laptop, DAHLING!" he was proclaiming loudly in the campest way ever.  And then he left(!!) pronouncing that he couldn't possibly perform without his laptop.  Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea, I'm not remotely homophobic (or any other persuasion) - we have both gay and transgender family and friends who we love dearly.  But the singer was just so OTT drama queenish that I couldn't help but giggle.

The neighbour had also hired a magician for the evening.....which struck me as slightly odd as there weren't any children at the party, the 2 youngest there were his 16 & 17 y.o. grandchildren.  Whilst I acknowledge that magicians are clever, I have to say that so-called 'magic' leaves me cold, it's only basically sleight of hand isn't it.  Well, that's my view anyway.  He did lots of card and rope tricks, he was very professional and most people seemed to like him.  We stayed a couple of hours, the food was nice, I just felt a bit sorry for my friend (the birthday bloke's wife) who had had to do all the work involved and had been getting progressively more stressed and irritated by all the latest ideas for the party her husband had been coming up with for the past fortnight.  He's a law unto himself and oblivious to the chaos he causes.  She said she'd much rather have gone out for a nice meal! (I'm with her on that).  My husband does my head in sometimes, but I'd take him any day over her husband, I should think he's a complete nightmare to live with.  Takes all sorts, I guess.

I shall be doing some batch cooking and freezing over the next few days, on the assumption that we'll be able to get away to the caravan in the latter part of this week.

Limp as a limp thing

 We went shopping early yesterday, getting to Sainsbugs around 08.30 - definitely the best time to go from my point of view, hardly anyone in there - and consequently loads of the small trolleys outside, which seem to be in short supply lately.  I don't usually get enough shopping to fill a big trolley, and can't reach down into the bottom of the big ones anyway.  Despite knowing that prices are rising constantly, and only getting a little shopping yesterday, the till total still made my eyebrows raise.  Honestly, prices of everything are ridiculous, this country will be on its knees soon.

Husband has been struggling to find a reasonable insurance quote for the new car, he's found one eventually but it's still a fair bit more than last year (on the last 2 cars).  But his age puts the price up nowadays, I guess, as well as other factors to do with the vehicle itself.  Whereas I've just renewed the caravan insurance, and it was only £2 more than last year, which I was well pleased with.  I did do some comparison quotes but couldn't better that.

Despite feeling heaps better, doing the (little bit) of shopping yesterday and then putting it away when we got home wiped me out, I had to go and have a rest on my recliner chair upstairs afterwards.  But at least I don't feel ill anymore and the sore throat etc has gone.

I seem to have fallen into a pattern of sleeping reasonably well for a few nights, and then having one terrible night where I'm awake more than asleep, just to remind me that I've been an insomniac almost my entire life.  Last night was one of those.....despite being really tired when I went to bed, I was still awake 2 hours later.  Having tried listening to my sleep meditation podcast on my phone, then going through the whole 'relax every muscle starting from your toes upwards' thing a couple of times, and emptying my mind of everything (not that I've got any particular worries right now - although I'm sure I will have now I've said that!), I gave up and put the light on and read my book for an hour or 2.  But despite it then being around 2 am and with eyelids that couldn't keep open, it still took me ages to actually drop off, and I tossed and turned and kept waking up for the rest of the night.  So now I feel as limp and knackered as.....well, a limp knackered thing.  Oh well.

The neighbour's 70th bbq party.....we've decided that IF it's not raining come this evening, we'll show our faces there in the garden for about an hour, keeping our distance as much as possible.  If, however, it's raining meaning everyone will be indoors, we're not going - neither of us is willing to risk mingling indoors with 20 or 25 mostly strangers.  Especially since Covid is on the rise again, and at least one of our other neighbours has most likely got it again, for a 3rd time (and she's fully vaccinated....but I guess she'd have it a lot worse if she wasn't jabbed).

The sooner we can get away to the caravan again, the better.

Itching to go back

 I'm definitely feeling much better now, although the tiredness and aching joints still persist.  I'm actually sleeping pretty well, so hopefully the tiredness will wear off soon.

Going shopping for a top up first thing this morning, all this healthy eating means we're getting through tons of veg and fruit, although some of it is from our garden now.

It's still going to be showery today and tomorrow, particularly tomorrow, but better weather forecast from Sunday onwards, back to hardly any rain and getting warmer with lots of sunshine.  We'll be itching to go back to the caravan, but it depends on husband's feet - after he's had his minor op on Monday (assuming it's not cancelled at the last minute) he'll need to go back to the hospital to have his dressings changed once, and then he's supposed to do it himself (or I might have to do it) until the wounds are completely dry.  I'm not squeamish, but feet - especially his - are not my favourite parts of the anatomy!  Oh and Betty has a grooming appointment on Wednesday, for her bath and claw clipping.  We need to order and collect our meds next week, and I've had a reminder to book an appointment for my eye test, so exactly when we go to stay at the van again is a bit up in the air at the moment.

We're having smoked mackerel and salad for lunch today, and I'm doing a roasted Mediterranean veg puff pastry tart for dinner, we'll have half today with green veg and the rest cold tomorrow for lunch.  My guts are thanking me for the healthy eating, and I know I've lost a few pounds....not weighed myself but my clothes feel better.

My blogging friend Jayne, who used to have a blog The View from Bag End, now has a new blog:  Small Van - Big Adventures: Hello 😉 and welcome to a new blog, do go and have a look.  Jayne, can you put on a Followers button so the blog will show up in my Blogger reading list?

Have a nice day everyone, whatever you may be doing.