In holiday mode

 It's glorious here at the caravan, hot and sunny but with a welcome soft breeze so it doesn't feel too hot.  Not many owners here and only a couple of tourists, so it's very peaceful.  A few of our friends are here though, so people to chat to.  Husband still can't get the TV working, to his disgust, but we do have around a dozen DVDS so he'll be fine later this evening.  

We might get up early tomorrow and take Betty to the beach, before it gets too warm.  She keeps looking at our ex-neighbours' caravan and whining, she can't understand why C&J aren't there, bless her.  Apparently someone came to look round the caravan a week or 2 ago, but then decided they preferred another one for sale on the lower part of the site.

I'm in holiday mode already, having a lovely relaxing time reading, whilst husband is off talking cars with a friend.

A better day, idiots, spiky hair and planting

 Husband seemed to be in a better frame of mind yesterday, he went to the gym in the morning, which he enjoyed, and was quite helpful once he came home, doing everything I asked him.  Regarding the caravan TV, he's decided to take our freesat box from home, to see if that works on the van tv....although he doesn't think it will, he thinks it's a problem with the aerial wire.  I've no idea, I know nothing about TVs, I can only change channels by randomly trying both remotes and pressing a few buttons until something happens 😂.  I suggested that after husband came out of the gym, he should go in a couple of charity shops and buy a few DVDs to watch if he can't get the TV working - he came back with a few, so they should keep him occupied in the evenings.  With the current good weather, which is forecast to last all the time we are at the van, there should be several other owners there so he'll have people to chat to during the day.  We'll have a trip or 2 to the beach I expect, so Betty can have a run around.

Did you see on the news about those idiotic people from Just Stop Oil spraying Stonehenge with orange paint?  Do they really imagine that by defacing and damaging famous landmarks or works of art, they are getting people to support them?  Nobody I know has the slightest bit of empathy with them - they're doing criminal damage for goodness sake.  I think they ought to be tied to stakes in public, so people can chuck wet sponges, mud pies or even orange paint at them.  I wouldn't suggest rocks, I'm not that callous.  

Well, I've decided who I'm going to vote for.....although I may change my mind come voting day!  Each of the parties have some policies which sound good....others not so much - like lowering the voting age to 16!!  That's just a very cynical attempt to get more people (kids) voting for them, to ensure they stay in power.  We all know that 16 y.o's know nothing - they think they know everything but they don't - we were all 16 once and with the benefit of hindsight and experience, we know we were clueless at that age.  But I have little confidence that whoever gets in will actually follow through with their policies - they're all good at spouting off what they think the public wants to hear.  So I have to say I'm basing my vote on the personality and likeableness of the party leader, rather than on their policies, I'm just going with my heart really.  And that's enough of that!

Now my hair's grown out a bit after husband and I scalped me with his clippers, I actually really like it.  No longish hair to slap around my face, takes just a couple of minutes to wash (although it's a bit difficult right now when I can only use my right arm, being unable to lift my left).  And I don't have to blow dry it, it dries by itself in no time and I don't need to do anything to it, other than squirting a bit of mousse into it to keep it looking spiky.  So that's what I'll continue to do in future, which will save me money on haircuts.  

Very fluffy! And the colour almost blends into the lounge wall....

It's a lovely sunny warm day again, yesterday I picked several green and yellow courgettes and a selection of herbs - parsley, lemon thyme, chives and sage - to go in the green risotto for dinner last night, which was delicious with some Parmesan stirred through.  We've planted out all the cosmos bedding plants I bought in a tray and potted on, they've grown big, strong and healthy so should survive the slugs.  More of our plants are flowering now and it's all looking very pretty.  I'll take some more photos when we get back from the caravan.

I'm not a slave

 It definitely was one of those days yesterday.  Whilst I was busy with loads of jobs for most of the day, husband played games on his computer, sat outside asleep in the sunshine for over an hour and generally did nothing much.  This despite me telling him in the morning that I was going to be very busy for the next few days prior to us going away, and would need his help with a few things, especially with my shoulder being so painful and hindering me with the restricted movement.  I asked him to do 2 specific jobs - neither of them got done, it was obvious he was actively avoiding them.  When I asked why, and if he wasn't feeling well, he replied no he was ok, he just didn't feel like doing them.  Well, newsflash - I often don't feel like doing things, but they've got to be done so I bloody well get on and do them!  Funny how he thinks things get done as if by magic.  He did eventually do one of the jobs in the evening, after I guilt-tripped him into it.  He needs reminding occasionally that being his carer doesn't make me his slave, I'm not here to do absolutely everything, I do organise everything and do a vast amount of the jobs, but he does need to help me with things he is most certainly capable of doing.  And sitting around on his backside doing sweet FA all day will not help his health, he's supposed to keep as active as possible, physically and mentally - doctors' orders.

Well, I shan't be doing anything at the caravan - all dinners have been cooked and frozen and will only need reheating and serving with some salad, lunches will be a make-your-own sandwich, I rarely eat breakfast so he will do his own.  I've reminded him this morning that the caravan TV stopped working the last time we were there, so unless he does something about it, he'll be bored stiff.  I've got books to read, some drawing to do and no doubt some weeding and tidying up the caravan garden, so having no TV won't bother me.  I'm having 3 days off!

I've got my stronger painkillers and did have a fairly comfortable sleep last night, although I woke up earlier than usual.  I'm packing clothes today for our few days away - I had left a complete change of clothes for each of us in the van the last time we stayed there, but realised this morning they are more or less winter clothes, as it wasn't very warm when we stayed last.  As the weather is forecast to be getting warmer, we won't be wearing the jeans and jumpers I'd left there!  I'm making a green risotto for dinner today, using our homegrown courgettes and herbs.  Tomorrow I'll be baking a loaf to take with us, and cooking some food for Betty.  Once I pack the food Saturday morning, we'll be ready to go.

I had a text from our lovely ex-van neighbours C & J yesterday, saying they're envious of us going to the van, even though they know giving theirs up was the right thing to do.  I wonder if we'll have new neighbours in their van yet, or whether the site owner will have had their van removed and exchanged for a newer one?  I guess we'll find out on Saturday!  Although I doubt either thing will have happened, he's very slow to do anything.

One of those days - and Magic Dough recipe for Joy

 Think it's going to be one of those days.  Husband took the dog out at 07.45, shortly after he'd gone the bin men arrived (early, they don't normally come until mid morning) - I checked and husband had forgotten to put the recycling out (that's one of his few jobs) despite me reminding him, so I quickly took it all out, just catching the bin lorry in time.

I'd put a pan of pasta bows on to boil, for a pasta salad for lunch, just as husband went out.  A couple of minutes later I realised the electric kitchen fan had gone off, along with the clocks, and the smoke alarms were bleeping - the power was off.  Which meant the pasta wasn't boiling either.  I have no idea about electrical stuff, so had to wait for husband to get back - he was only out for 15 mins.  He checked the fuse box, one of the switches was down instead of up.  Once the power was back on, I then noticed the electric hot plate wasn't working.  So I guess when it suddenly stopped working this morning, it blew the electrics.  Fortunately, we have a single burner camping gas stove and several canisters of gas, husband bought it at a car boot sale for emergencies a few years ago.  It took him a few minutes to find it in the chaos of his shed, but he did eventually and it works, so I could cook the pasta.  We've just nipped to Argos and bought a replacement hot plate, fortunately it's half price at the moment so that's a win.

Incidentally, the fuse box is high up on the kitchen wall, a step ladder is needed to reach it - how blimming ridiculous, especially in a sheltered housing bungalow.  I'm sure the housing association would send out an emergency electrician, but seems daft to call them out just for the sake of flicking a switch.

Husband's been bitten by something in the garden - twice on his arm, it's normally me who gets bitten not him.  The two bites have swelled up, so I've told him to take antihistamines and use the bite cream, I'll remind him again later on.  He's having a clumsy day today, he's already knocked over a carton of milk and dropped a couple of things on the floor, making the dog jump each time.  And it's only just gone 10 o' clock!  And my laptop just shut itself down, very abruptly, whilst in the middle of typing this, so I lost part of the post.  Ho hum.  Think I might need to take my anti-anxiety meds today! 😂 (I only take them when necessary, and it's not really been necessary lately).

Joy, here's Lesley's Magic Dough post, the dough recipe is right down the bottom:-

Lots of different things you can make, all using Magic Dough kept in the fridge - Thrifty Lesley

I've made a little loaf from the dough a couple of times now, it's lovely.

What he said

 The very nice young GP thinks I have a rotator cuff injury - I asked how it can be an injury when I haven't fallen or bashed my shoulder?  He said it can also be caused by general wear and tear as our joints age - once again the joys of getting older!  He's prescribed stronger painkillers and has referred me to physio, if no relief then they may give me a steroid injection.  He said as a very last resort, if the pain isn't controlled and my shoulder/arm mobility doesn't improve, then we'll talk about a shoulder replacement!  I didn't even know that was a thing, and it's not something I'd be keen to have - unless it became absolutely necessary.  Can't get the stronger painkillers until tomorrow, they had none in stock in the pharmacy, but that's ok, I've been seen and the physio referral has been actioned, so all good.  Oh, and he also suggested I take 2 amitriptyline at night, instead of the one I sometimes take for back pain, as that will help me get back to sleep when the pain wakes me up.  As I've said before, I'm reluctant to take lots of meds, hence why I don't take the amitriptyline regularly now, but in the short term I'm willing to, to control the pain.

Out in the garden now, it's a lovely day.

Mixed success in the garden

 We've got a window of opportunity to go to the caravan this coming weekend, for 3 nights between appointments, so we're grabbing it.  I'll do a couple of meals to freeze and take with us, and make some goodies too - a cake and some cheese scones I think.

I'm happy with the garden as it is now, things are growing and filling out the spaces, albeit slowly in view of the weird weather.  Some of our veggies and fruit are inconsistent - the strawberries we bought and planted this year have been terrible so far, only a few tiny green fruits appeared, and then disappeared before they even got a pink tinge.  No sign of any more fruiting, so it looks like no strawberries at all this year.  The first lot of radishes mostly bolted, although the few we did get were lovely, we've sown more.  The spring onion seeds didn't come up at all, a second sowing are coming through.  Some of the courgette babies rotted with all the rain we've had, we picked our first two full size ones yesterday.  Tomatoes and mini cucumbers are finally beginning to fruit, although a couple of the plants look a bit sickly.  Carrots, which are a short, early variety, are being extremely slow to fatten up, although I think it might be due to husband sowing them too thickly, they're a tangled mass at the moment and need thinning out.

All the plants I bought for the new flower bed are doing well now, after a few initial failures and replacements, some are starting to flower, in a couple of weeks or so the bed will look lovely.  The 3 climbers I planted to grow up trellis in a corner of the garden that's a bit overlooked are doing very well now, all 3 (winter jasmine, pink clematis and everlasting sweet pea) have put on loads of growth and I've tied them in 2 or 3 times.  Some of the roses (they were already here, I've not bought any new ones) are starting to bloom too, there's a lovely large flowered white climber and a couple of red ones, a few more have yet to flower.  I think next year I might move some of the roses and put them all together in a dedicated rose bed.

This garden has been a lot of hard work, it was pretty much a blank canvas with hardly any flowers other than some very neglected roses and an absolute mass of bluebells, no veggies at all, and all the hard landscaping of concrete, gravel and pavers, it's taken weeks and weeks to get it to the stage where we're turning it into our space.  It's going to be so lovely in due course.  We both spend loads of time out in the garden now, husband is as brown as a berry - he tans easily, I don't, I burn easily and get heat rash so I tend to cover up.

Off to the GP at 10 am, it can't come soon enough for me, I woke up just before 5 in agony again.  I'm sick of taking painkillers.

Help is not always helpful

 I've got a GP appointment for tomorrow morning, thankfully.  I was offered an appointment with their musculoskeletal therapist, who visits the surgery once a week, but the first available appointment was in 2 weeks' time.  I want some stronger pain relief now, not in a fortnight (and I don't know if she can prescribe meds anyway), so opted for the GP.  

I couldn't find any bedding dahlias this morning, so got a few small perennials instead - at least they'll come up every year.  I just really wanted something to fill a few gaps.  I also bought a hanging basket for the trailing fuchsia to go in.  Husband has been 'helping' me (unasked) in the garden....he broke the biggest (and flowering) stem off the fuchsia when he decided to pot it up for me (he's stuck it in a pot to see if it'll root....it should do).  At the time I was trying to unravel the stems of a clematis which is at the back of the bluebell and hebe bed by the stone wall, I didn't even know it was there initially, it's winding itself around the hebe and a rose bush.  I want to train it up the ivy-covered wall, so was gently untangling it....husband came along to 'help' (I didn't ask for help!) and immediately snapped two of the clematis stems 😡.  I can do without his kind of help - he's so cack-handed and goes at everything like a bull in a china shop.  He never apologises and is now sulking because I asked him to stop helping 😒

I think the reason I'm so tired is partly because of the meds - I've stopped taking the co-codamol and am now taking just paracetamol 3 or 4x daily, but am also taking antihistamines for hayfever.  It's also because the pain in my shoulder is waking me up at night - I can't lie on my left side as the shoulder is too painful, but obviously I turn over onto that side in my sleep and then the pain wakes me.  Oh well, it'll get sorted sooner or later, or will go away eventually.  Chronic pain is very wearing.

One pain eclipses another

 Lovely sunny (and dry, and hardly any wind!) start to the morning, so I could get my washing out on the line.

I've stopped taking the co-codamol and have been back on plain paracetamol the past couple of days, as the codeine was making me terribly constipated, even with over-the-counter laxative tabs.  Consequently, the shoulder pain is back with a vengeance, it was difficult and painful hanging the washing on the line.  I could have asked husband to do it, but he hangs the washing in such an illogical way, and all bunched up together with no air space between, so it dries unevenly (it's a rotary line).  I'm going to have to see if I can get a GP appointment tomorrow - I've not had reason to go to this new doctor's surgery yet in the 6 months since we've been here, the last time I went to the GP was for a blood test last October I think, so I've been lucky really.  I suspect they'll just try to give me anti-inflammatory meds, which I can't take as I have an adverse reaction to them (which is on my records), or refer me for physio, for which there's a long waiting list.  I can't afford to pay for private osteo or chiro, especially not when it takes several sessions of treatment.

At least the shoulder pain has temporarily eclipsed the hip and knee pain!  So there's one good thing I suppose (must look at the positives 😂).  I might get husband to prep the veggies to go with the roast dinner - he's having chicken, I'm having my nut roast out of the freezer.  He had a nice Father's Day card (very humorous and true) from his youngest daughter, he gets nothing from his 2 other kids, they've been estranged for years.

So I'm having a quiet and restful day again.  Tomorrow we've got a few things to do in town, and I want to get a tray of bedding dahlias, as mentioned yesterday.  The weather looks set to be reasonable this coming week so hopefully I can spend time in the garden.  There's always something to do out there, weeding (surprising how the weeds always grow even when the veggies and flowers aren't!), tying in new growth on roses and climbers, deadheading.  I know I said I wouldn't be doing anything much more or spending on the garden from now on, but I'm thinking about getting and planting up a couple of hanging baskets for the front of the house - the brackets are already there so it would be rude not to! 😉  I've got a trailing fuchsia in a pot in the back garden, bought by mistake (I thought it was a shrub one), it's standing on a wall at present, that'll be ideal for a hanging basket.

I've made a little loaf using some of the magic dough from Thrifty Lesley's website, it's proving at the moment, I hope it bakes alright, am sure it will.

Hardly any caravan time

 It's another mixed day of sunshine and showers, but it's so blimmin cold again, 15 deg but feeling a lot less in the cold wind.  I had a (very brief, in view of the cold) look round the garden.....most of our plants, both veggies and flowers, have come to a halt or are being very slow to grow - no doubt because of the cold temperatures.  I hope it warms up soon.  We even had a cuppa soup with our lunchtime sandwich today - I was going to do a salad but soup and sandwich seemed more appropriate - and comforting - in the cold weather.  It's more like March than June.  Weather is forecast to be better - drier and a little bit warmer - for the next 2 or 3 days, which will be very nice.

The neighbour at the bottom of our garden - the one with the trees that overhang our garden and shed their leaves and seeds all over our veg and flower beds and Betty's lawn - has today started cutting back the trees, as he promised he would when he had time.  He has checked for birds nests, there are only a couple and neither of them are inhabited.  It'll make such a difference to our garden, there's already a lot more light even though he's only halfway through, and it'll be a lot less work and nuisance for us with far fewer leaves, twigs and seeds dropping into our garden.

We have a fair few appointments in the next few weeks - several medical appointments for both of us, the kitchen surveyor coming, someone coming to repair or replace the ceiling air vents in the kitchen and bathroom.  So I have no clear idea of when we can get to the caravan for a break - we only have a couple of days between each appointment, which is a bit of a nuisance.  Now we live further away from the van, it's not so practical to just go for a short break of a couple of days.  Never mind, we'll get there eventually.  It does though feel like we're not getting our money's worth so far this year - we own the caravan outright, of course, but we still have to pay the site fees, whether we go or not.  And husband is still going to the gym and his Sheds group, so that's another 2 days we can't go to the van.  I've been asked if I want to join the WI or some of the various activities groups held in the village hall, which is just around the corner from us.  I don't actually - I'm a homebody and feel quite content just staying here in our lovely home, there's always plenty to do (or not, however I'm feeling), and there's the lovely garden to potter about in.....when it's not raining or freezing cold!  I sometimes get husband to drop me off in town when he goes to the gym or Sheds, that gives me an hour or two to have a wander round or do some shopping, it's a pleasure to do that by myself, without him breathing down my neck and exclaiming over the price of everything.

I've decided we're not doing anything else - well, nothing major - in the garden this year, we're just going to sit back and enjoy what we've done so far.  I'd bought a tray of Cosmos plants a couple of weeks back, little ones that I've potted on individually, I'll do the same with a tray of bedding Dahlias that I'll be getting on Monday - by potting them on and waiting for them to get bigger, healthy and strong, there'll be less chance of them being munched by slugs and snails.  They'll be used to fill in gaps in the flower beds.

Still feeling tired, although not quite so much.  My shoulder pain is bearable now, I've been doing a few arm exercises I found on google, I try to do them twice a day.  Rambler, you suggested that perhaps the co-codamol is what's making me tired....never considered that, it's possible I guess.  Another possibility could be that I've been taking antihistamines the past few days - I normally only get hayfever in early Spring but have been suffering with it for a week or so now.  The tablets are supposed to be non-drowsy ones but I find they do still make me a bit sleepy.  In fact I think I might have a little snooze now!  Betty's asleep on my bed and husband is dozing in front of some wartime documentary on TV - I might as well join them!

You what?! (Edited)

 Some of you may remember that we were told by our Housing Association a few months ago that we would be having a new kitchen installed in due course, which pleased us no end - the current kitchen units are old, with some mismatched replacement doors, peeling veneer and a few of the cupboards smell strongly of mould.  Well, first thing this morning I was astonished to receive an email from the HA, saying they'd been told by Howdens, the kitchen suppliers, that Howdens had spoken to us and we'd told them we didn't want a new kitchen!!  WHAT?!?!  Firstly, Howdens have definitely not been in contact with us, and we most certainly DO want a new kitchen!

Clearly some mistake somewhere - I've just emailed back to put them right.  Hopefully it will get sorted out quickly - I did wonder why we hadn't heard from anybody yet regarding the kitchen.**

I'm feeling so utterly weary right now, not felt this tired in a long time - I don't feel unwell or like I'm coming down with something, I'm just shattered, even though I've slept well.  So I'm having a few days of taking things very easy.  Just going to do a freezer inventory and menu plan this morning, then do a bit of garden tidying - nothing strenuous, just tidying up and sweeping - the strong almost gale force winds late yesterday made a bit of a mess in the garden.  Nothing broken, just a few pots blown over and dead leaves off the big yucca tree strewn everywhere.  The wind has dropped a lot today and is coming from the south west instead of the north as it has been for the past few days, so it's a bit warmer.  A few showers forecast during the day though.

The co-codamol is finally bringing my shoulder pain under control, although it's having the usual horrible side effects so I'm having to take other medication to counteract that.  

We had a nice dinner out with our friends yesterday, then went back to their holiday camp - the static caravan they're staying in is really lovely, one of the nicest we've seen as a matter of fact.  It's been really good doing things with them this week, we get on so well with them.

**Edited to add

All sorted, the kitchen surveyor rang to say he's coming on the 5 July.

The steam train day, and Magic Dough

 We had a lovely steam train trip out with our friends from Kent yesterday....whilst we were waiting to get on the train, there was a freezing cold wind and quite a bit of cloud, but the sun came out and it warmed up considerably after an hour or so.  The ride itself was a bit uncomfortable (the trains and carriages are very old), we got shaken about a lot, but the actual journey was lovely - beautiful countryside, sea views, pretty stations.  The stations are all very well kept, with gorgeous flower beds and pots - all staffed by friendly volunteers, here's a couple of the border displays:-

The engine that pulled us:-

No chance of getting a photo without people in the way, at each station there were lots of people waiting for a chance to get on and be shown around the engine compartment, and loads of steam buffs taking photos.  Each station has different things to see, some have 2nd hand bookshops, one has a museum of old train memorabilia (including a sleeping carriage fully kitted out), one of the stations has a lovely little maze garden, another an attractive picnic area with new benches and tables.  

Our friends, who are geocachers and do a lot of walking and sightseeing, have opened our eyes to lovely villages and areas around here that we, as residents, didn't even know existed.  I guess since we moved here - 6 months ago today - we've spent so much time getting the home and especially the garden sorted, we've not really had much time to go exploring.  Now we've done enough in the garden for this year, we'll be able to have more days out from here on.  That's if the weather finally warms up!  It's freezing cold again today, with heavy rain forecast anytime now.  Well, I say freezing....it's actually about 15 deg. but feels a lot colder with the wind, and I do seem to feel the cold a lot more nowadays.  It's definitely not flaming June!!

Now I've bought the little tabletop oven, which works really well, I want to start making bread again.  The blogger and food writer Thrifty Lesley (I'm sure many of you know of her) has a recipe for what she calls Magic Dough on her website, it's basically a cross between ordinary bread dough (it has a little quick yeast in it) and sourdough, she makes a batch of it and keeps it in the fridge, feeding it once or twice a week with a cupful of flour and some water, and taking out some of the dough to use for many kinds of bread.  I'll make up a batch of that at the weekend.  I've bought a few bags of flour recently to stock up, as the price of wheat is forecast to go up due to the bad weather affecting wheat crops.  Some of the flour I keep in the freezer - it doesn't go solid but stays free-flowing, I just have to remember to take it out of the freezer a couple of hours before I want to use it, so it can reach room temperature.

We're having dinner out with our Kent friends later on, before they go home tomorrow.  And that's the last of our friends/family visits for a while, although husband's daughter and son in law are talking about coming down for a visit in a couple of months.  After all of these visits and the extra work, days out, entertaining and full-on chatting that entails, I'll be glad of an easy slow week to come, I feel totally worn out.  Definitely feeling my age lately!

All planted up, trains and pain

 I planted up the anniversary gift tin bath with more herbs yesterday:-

Chives, rosemary, two kinds of sage, curly parsley and lemon thyme.  The parsley and rosemary were growing herb pots from the veg section of the supermarket, I've bought similar and planted them in the garden in previous years, the chives I already had, sages and lemon thyme from a garden centre.  It looks pretty and I'm very pleased with it.  I bought a hibiscus plant, one with deep pink flowers, to go in a pot in a bare space on the garden path in front of the fence.  Other than perhaps a tray of bedding dahlias, that's the last plant I'm buying for the garden this year! (she says, with every intention of sticking to it 😉).

Our friends from Kent arrived yesterday, they're staying in a static caravan at a nearby holiday park, they said it's the best one they've ever stayed in and they're right on the sea front so have lovely views from their decking.  They came round for coffee and cake, I'd made a light cinnamon spiced fruit cake.  Tomorrow we're all going on the West Somerset steam train for the afternoon, it covers 20 miles and has 10 stations, we can hop on and off the train at any of the stations.  Our friends are big steam train lovers, husband really likes them too....even I quite like them, so it should be a good day, especially since the weather is forecast to be good.  

Thursday the 4 of us are going out for lunch somewhere, not sure where yet, we'll enjoy it wherever it is, our friends are really good company and we get on exceptionally well with them. 

I'm feeling really tired the last couple of days, despite sleeping quite well - we've had such a busy few weeks with a constant stream of visitors.  All the planning, prep, extra cleaning and cooking, loads of days out, and just general talking(!!) all the time has simply worn me out I think, enjoyable though it has been.  My left shoulder is really paining me too, so I am having to take regular doses of co-codamol to control the pain.  I've googled some exercises to help with the pain and stiffness - I can't raise my left arm above my head or reach behind my back without a great deal of pain, which makes showering, dressing and brushing my hair a bit difficult.  I'm sure the painkillers and exercises will sort it out though.  So today, other than changing the bed linen and putting a wash on the line, which husband has helped with, I'm taking it easy.  Cheese & crackers for lunch and prawn salad for dinner, so no cooking today....husband will prep the salad.

Scalped by Joe 90

 I woke up this morning thinking 'wow, I've had a really good sleep' then looked at the clock and it was 02.25!  Luckily, I must have gone straight back to sleep and woke up again just after 05.30, and I do feel refreshed.  Sis got home safely around 6 pm yesterday and said she was thinking of more or less going straight to bed, she was shattered.

I used to get my hair cut every 6 weeks or so by my neighbour and friend 2 doors away from our old house, she's a hairdresser and has her own little salon at home.  I did go back to her in February to have a cut but, generally speaking, it's too far to go regularly now, and I haven't yet found a mobile hairdresser nearby, despite asking on the FB local page.  Recommendations given for a couple of salons in town, but I'd rather not pay their prices!  Remembering that Sue in Suffolk used to cut her own hair with clippers - and being quite handy with the clippers myself as I usually do husband's hair, I thought I'd give it a go on my own hair....how hard could it be?  Well, other than the back of my head.  Husband's comb attachments for his clippers go up to a size 8, we use a No. 2 on his hair.  I should add that I do like my hair to be short and spiky, I can't stand my hair blowing all over my face, and it has been quite windy here.  So this morning I tried, using the No. 8.  Well, it wasn't at all easy - for a start I have a painful left shoulder and am currently unable to lift my left arm up over my head.  And I find it very disorientating trying to do it in the mirror - it's almost counter-intuitive watching a reflection of my hand going the opposite way to how my brain thinks it should be, if you know what I mean.  So I had to (reluctantly) ask husband for help.  A few problems with that......for a start, his hands shake, so he kept banging the clippers against my scalp, and he caught my earlobe a few times.  The most annoying thing though is that he doesn't listen to my simple instructions, but instead has a habit of TELLING me what I want(!!) and forging ahead and doing it without waiting for my yay or nay.  But I didn't have any choice really - once it was started, the job had to be finished!

It's a bit uneven, and I feel like I've been scalped by a 10 year old wearing milk bottle bottom glasses.  But I'm sure it looks worse to me because I've been inspecting it critically - it would probably look ok to anyone else.  Really, I'm just glad it's now short and (fairly) neat again....and there's certainly no danger of the wind slapping it around my face!!  (and NO, before anyone asks, I'm not putting on a photo 😂😂).

We're off to the supermarket this morning to stock up on fresh fruit, veggies, fish for me, chicken for husband, eggs and cheeses - buffalo mozzarella, feta, halloumi and cottage.  Lots of salads this week.

A very good week

 We saw sister off on her return coach at 11.00 this morning, she's got another hour or so to go before the coach arrives in her home town.  We've all had a lovely time, it's been really nice to have her here for the week.  She said she'd had a wonderful time, appreciated the fact that I let her get away with doing absolutely nothing (housework/cooking/washing up wise) all week, and is going home with renewed vigour and enthusiasm.  Which was my intention for her.  I know she'd do the same for me.

I have to say though, I shall be glad to get back to our normal routine now....well, for a few days at least, as our friends arrive for another few days' holiday on Monday, although they're not staying with us and we probably won't be seeing them until Tuesday.  I've found this week very tiring - we don't normally go out every single day.  Although initially sister had said we didn't have to go out/do something every day, once here she sort of got swept up in the excitement of being on holiday (she rarely has holidays) and kind of wanted to be a tourist and do all the touristy things!  Which was ok by me.  It was quite fun seeing and doing things through her eyes.....I wouldn't want to do it all the time though!  I'm feeling really knackered now, and uncomfortably bloated - too many coffee and cake stops!  And the fish and chips....and scones....and rum & raisin ice cream (a childhood throwback for us).  I drew the line at candy floss though - I always hated it, although sister (still) loves it.  Or she thinks she does - we never actually found any for her to try!

We went to the boot sale this afternoon - it was sunny but so very windy, I felt like I'd been in a wind tunnel.  Husband got a small electric mower (for Betty's 6ft square lawn, which is growing amazingly thick and fast), a hosepipe and reel and an almost new water butt with all the fittings, he was well pleased.  Sadly, there was only one plant seller there and she didn't have any herbs, I'll have to have a look tomorrow when we go out shopping.  

After all the carby treat-type things we've had this week (luckily I'd cooked healthy meals to offset some of that), I'm now itching to get back to my relatively plain healthy eating of fresh veggies, fish, salads and fruit.  I reckon I'll be asleep by about 8 pm tonight.  It's been a good week, there hasn't been one single moment where I thought "I wish she'd go home"!  Betty's missing sis, she keeps sniffing her chair and has been decidedly subdued since she left.

Last day

 Still having a great time, visiting lots of places, quite a bit of shopping (sis loves a shop or 6), a lot of chat and laughter.... strangely enough no tears - yet!  I'm getting very tired though, so this morning we're just going to potter in the garden - my choice.  Need to do some deadheading, pot on some bedding plants I bought yesterday (I want them a bit bigger and stronger before I plant them out), and plant up the herb tin bath.  It's in very good condition considering how old it is, husband will drill a few drainage holes in it first.

After lunch we're off to a farm park - lots of cute animals, a gift shop, a junk shop recently opened in a barn there, nice cafe with outside seating and sea views, lovely.

We had fish and chips on the seafront yesterday evening (Betty did too, although I take most of the batter off her portion and she only has a few chips).  It was very sunny and warm, but quite windy, so we sat in the car to eat.... didn't fancy a liberal dusting of sand covering our food.

Our daily lives and the odd opinion

 Re my last post and all the comments.....yes it is my blog and I can voice my opinions.  However, some bloggers (and I can think of a few) often throw out a very provocative post on their blogs, in the full knowledge that it's going to cause arguments - yes it could be termed healthy debate, but sometimes things quickly turn into a slanging match.  That's not what my blog is about, nor do I want it to be - it's just chatting about our daily lives, with the occasional opinion thrown in (and quite a few moans 😉😂).  I don't want to upset any of my regular readers, nor do I want a load of argy-bargy, snide comments and fallings out amongst my readers.  We're a happy, friendly, caring bunch and I'd like it to stay that way.  So politics (and religion, conspiracy theories, aliens, refugees, pineapple on pizzas [yes please 😁], strikes, protest marches) etc will be off the table - well, off my blog from now on.  I'm sure we all have enough troubles in our lives to deal with.  

So here's my own private moan for today 😂😂.  I do nearly all of the food prep, cooking and serving up, as you know, I also do quite a bit of the washing up during the day (my choice, at least I know it's done properly and all my crockery/glassware stays intact!)....husband does the washing up every evening after dinner - although he often leaves things in the bowl 'to soak overnight', and some things I have to re-wash the next day as they've still got dried on food 😒.  Whilst sis is here this week, I don't want her doing anything (she does offer) - I want her to have a lovely relaxing week, she really does need it - she would do the same for me.  However, husband sees it as an extra body to do the washing up (so he doesn't have to) and keeps making barbed digs about it, trying to guilt trip sis into doing it.  She doesn't take much notice, or just laughs, I'd already pre-warned her that he sometimes makes inappropriate comments which is part of his cognitive impairment.  And I had already talked to him before sis arrived, saying that I want sis to just relax and enjoy herself.  But obviously he forgets everything he's told.

So anyway.....it's been quite cloudy and drizzly today.  After a leisurely morning, we decided to go to Porlock Weir, we took a packed lunch and had it in the car facing the beach - it was too cold and windy to eat outside.  After lunch when the drizzle had eased off, husband stayed in the car with Betty whilst sis and I had a stroll around - a brief one as there was still a cold wind.  It's quite interesting looking at things through sister's eyes - as a tourist....I guess as we live here we tend to take the sights for granted.  Then we drove up into Porlock (the village, the Weir is the seaside bit) and looked in a few shops.  Sis bought us a galvanised tin baby bath in a junk shop, which the owner said is from the 1940s - the tin bath that is - as an anniversary present for us (you may remember our anniversary was last week).  I'm delighted, I'm going to use it as a herb garden.  Actually, I think one of the other Sues has one.

Tomorrow morning we'll be doing a little bit of shopping, then going to a boot sale in the afternoon.  We're having such a good time.

No more on that subject

 In the spirit of fairness I've allowed all comments on my politics post of 1 June.  However, I regret having said anything about politics/politicians (which really I know nothing about, it was just a personal observation) and won't be publishing any further comments.  Nor making any further observations about politics, either side of the pond.  I've no wish to aggravate anybody, that's not what my blog is about.

My apologies.

Lovely week so far

 Let's take politics off this blog, it's far too divisive and emotive and I've no wish to cause ructions!

Well, we're having a lovely time with sister.  She arrived almost exactly on time on Saturday (which I think is quite amazing really, that the coach company are able to pinpoint an exact arrival time - and stick to it - on a 6 or 7 hour journey), we spent the evening chatting and laughing.  Yesterday we had a leisurely day....sat in the garden for a while, had a little walk around our village, went out for our carvery lunch.  In the evening sis wanted to see the sea, so we went to Minehead for a stroll along the promenade (sis is too wobbly on her feet right now so walking on the very soft sandy beach was out).  It was a lovely warm evening, and still surprisingly busy, lots of holidaymakers about.

Today we went here:-

Dunster village - we didn't go up to the castle, too steep for sis.  Had a lovely lunch in the garden of a nice cafe, and a browse round the shops.  The weather was intermittently cloudy and sunny, very warm and dry.  Lots of photo opportunities in the village, to sister's delight.

Tomorrow we're off to Watchet, sister's choice.

Unusual bad night....and politics! (look away now haha)

 Although I do generally sleep very well nowadays, last night was one of those now relatively few nights where I didn't - in fact I was awake for 3 or 4 hours.  Got a few things on my mind right now, and of course the excitement of sister arriving later today.  When I knew I wasn't going to get back to sleep anytime soon, I put the lamp on and read my book.  A couple of times I half dropped off so put the light out, but as soon as I did I was wide awake again, annoyingly.  Think I finally put the light out for the last time and went to sleep around 04.30....and then husband got up and crashed around (he's noisy whatever he does) waking me up just after 06.30.  I think I'll be having a little nap this afternoon before we go off to pick sis up.  For yesterday's dinner husband had chicken and chips, but I didn't have the fish fingers after all - I had just what I fancied, which was a cheesy chip butty with mayo.  It was delicious, but obviously very carb-laden - I didn't have my sourdough bread, which was still in the freezer, I had 2 slices of husband's granary bread - nice, but gave me gut ache (sourdough is about the only bread that doesn't disturb my guts, unless I eat too much of it).  So that's another reason why I didn't sleep well, probably.

I put my washing out on the line at 08.15 this morning, it was already warm and sunny then.  It's got a bit hazy now but is still warm.  The bed linen is changed, the hoovering done, bathroom cleaned, garden tidied and paths swept, nothing else to do.  Sister's coach can be tracked online and so far it's running on time.

I don't take much notice of politics, not even in this country, let alone anywhere else.  However, I just find it so hard to take in that Trump could possibly still be re-elected as President.  At the risk of upsetting some of my USA readers (apologies if it does), I absolutely cannot understand his appeal - he's arrogant, a bully, a liar, takes absolutely no notice of anyone else and thinks he's ALWAYS right.  And he's been so rude to/about the Judge and openly flouted the Judge's gagging orders.  It almost seems to me as if his followers have been brainwashed, like he's some sort of cult leader.  Well, that's my opinion anyway, for what it's worth.  I'm just glad I'm not American.

As for our upcoming election - as yet I have absolutely no idea who I shall be voting for.  I've read a few of each (of the main) party's claims of what they will/won't do if they get in power, to give me some insight.  But I have to say I'm not impressed by any of the parties (or their leaders and right hand men/women) - they're all very good at spouting off about what they'll do, but then their promises tend to disappear once they're in power.  And none of them seemingly will give a direct answer to a question, which is very irritating.  I even did a questionnaire in one of the papers....you had to rate how important (or not) you felt a number of issues were, then your answers are collated and the quiz came up with percentages for which party best suited your answers.  Well, my highest percentage was for a party I've never even heard of! 😂😕  So I'm none the wiser.