Better still

 I'm feeling better still this morning - not 100% by any means, but certainly much better than I was.  Yesterday afternoon husband suggested we wait until after 6 pm (free parking then) and then go to Minehead for a walk along the promenade....it would have been the first time I'd been out in a week.  I did quite like the idea of a beachfront stroll, but come early evening I just didn't feel up to it.  Funny how we seem to feel worse in the evenings.

Being unwell made me think of my Mum with fondness - as kids when we weren't well, she would always change our bedlinen....getting into a clean fresh-smelling bed always seemed to help us feel better.  She'd give us a damp flannel wrung out in cold water to put on our foreheads, a hot water bottle for our tummies, and make us a cup of Heinz tomato soup and half a cheese sandwich for lunch.  Mum wasn't particularly affectionate as a mother, she was more a no-nonsense practical type, but she did look after us when we were unwell.  As to whether husband looked after me.....erm, not really, other than the flowers he got with the little bit of shopping needed.  He did get me drinks - when I asked for them - and did me toast a couple of times.  And he did hang the washing on the line (because I asked him to), and get it in again later.  No housework got done.....but then he doesn't do it normally anyway unless I specifically ask him to do a job, and then he grumbles about it.  I guess he did as much as he's capable of.  It's not that he's uncaring - he just doesn't think (K, yes definitely a case of the Jobs Fairy normally does all the work!  So it doesn't occur to him to do it).

We need to go shopping today - it won't be a big shop, well not like the big shop we did at the beginning of this month (how is it August tomorrow?!?!) as I don't want to fill up the freezer and larder cupboards, since we'll be emptying them for the new kitchen at the end of August.  I did (briefly) think about writing a list for husband to do the shopping but, silly as it sounds, the brain effort involved in working out what we need and writing it all down (in a format that dyslexic husband will understand) was just too much for me to contemplate right now.  I'm sure it will be easier to just go myself - well, with husband as he has to take me - so I can get what I need without really thinking too much about it, I'll just push the trolley and ask husband to put things in it.  I know it will wear me out, but I'll do nothing much for the rest of the day - I'll even let husband put the shopping away, but will supervise where he puts it!  We'll have jacket spuds with tinned salmon and salad for dinner, even husband can manage to bake a couple of potatoes in the air fryer.

On the mend

 Today is the first day I've not woken up feeling absolutely terrible.  I'm not recovered but think I'm on the mend.  Thanks for all your good wishes x

Flu

 I think I've got flu - I do have the flu jab every year but it doesn't protect against every strain.  I was worried it might be covid, but have done 2 tests and they're both negative.  I did feel a bit under the weather from the beginning of last week, but didn't have time to be ill - however, after a very restless night, when I got up on Thursday I knew I was ill, so went back to bed, which is almost unheard of for me, but I just felt so ill.  I've stayed in my room, either in bed or in my reclining chair, ever since.  This morning when I woke up around 5 am I felt terrible, but have started to feel better as the hours go by, although I'm not right by any means, I have no energy, ache from head to foot, have a pounding continual headache, sore throat and dry irritating cough.  Blocked ears so I'm even more deaf than usual.  And intermittent diarrhoea (you didn't really want to know that did you).  And I'm falling asleep at the drop of a hat, which again is very unlike me.  Husband has been fending for himself (and Betty), he's able to cope with simple meals.  My appetite is much reduced, I've just been having a piece of fruit or slice of toast here and there.  He's cooking himself a roast chicken dinner today, a whole chicken which will feed him and Betty for a few days.

Husband went shopping on Saturday morning for a few top up bits, I gave him a list.  He got everything on the list, except for my bottled water (our tap water tastes revolting, and I do drink a lot of water) - he forgot that, and got the wrong tinned fish for Betty - not that it matters, she'll still eat it, but the one he bought was twice the price.  He also got a bunch of flowers for me - lisianthus, those flowers that look rather like roses.  Very nice.  Except that 7 or 8 flower heads had been snapped off at the top of the stems and the flowers were squashed - they looked like he'd shut them in the car door.  He confessed to accidentally bashing them on the door frame when he was putting them and the shopping on the back seat.  He's so cack-handed.  But it was a nice (and unexpected) gesture, he does still surprise me sometimes.

No housework or washing has been done, husband doesn't think to do any of that.  I put a wash on this morning - I have shown husband a few times how to set the washing machine (on the easiest most basic fast programme), but of course with his cognitive decline he never remembers.  It's no bother, he will at least be able to unload the washing and hang it on the line - even if he does hang it in the oddest and most illogical of ways - well, so long as it dries it doesn't really matter.

Shutting the laptop and having a nap now, typing this has worn me out.

Unwell

 Not well.  Back soon.

More appointments done and dusted

 Hahaha!  Annabeth, that adult bib in the style of a bow tie/dinner jacket did make me laugh!  Especially as husband has never owned or worn a DJ in his life.

The electrician turned up at 08.45, just as well we're early risers.  The 4-5 hours we were told it would take was a bit optimistic - it was nearly 6 hours.  He was a very nice and conscientious young man, only just qualified (last week, apparently!) - which, although it meant he didn't have years of experience, did mean that he's bang up to date with all the current regs.  It wasn't so much changing over the old fuse box thingy to the new one that took the time - it was all the testing he had to do afterwards.  He tested, individually, every single socket, light fitting, electric smoke alarms (7 of them), the careline thing, electric fan vent things, in every single room, and the car port.  All that took the most time, although of course it's part of the job, particularly as it's sheltered housing - must make sure everything is in full working order.  And it obviously meant some of the furniture had to be moved - which he did.  He also went up into the loft space several times.

We went to Blue Anchor bay for a couple of hours, leaving him to get on with the job (husband was talking the guy's ears off, so it would have taken him even longer to finish if I hadn't got husband out of the way 😉).  Not sunny at all but not cold, quite humid in fact, despite being the seaside.  No wind at all, the sea was flat as a pancake - sadly, as I much prefer to see waves crashing onto the beach.  No chance of walking on the beach though, the tide was well and truly in and was lapping against the promenade wall.  Lots of fishermen along the promenade, none of them were having any luck though, not one caught a single fish whilst we were there - I assume they need a rougher sea to bring the fish in.  Once back home we had some lunch and sat in the garden.....sitting out there chatting with husband gave me the opportunity to have a good look round the garden and work out what needs doing now (lots of weeding, deadheading, pruning and tying in again) and planning for next year.  There are several rose bushes scattered around the garden, I think I'd like to dig them all up and relocate them to a dedicated rose bed.  They're all very neglected and in need of serious pruning at the end of the growing season, before putting in a new bed that we'll enrich with well rotted manure.  The previous tenant was clearly a plant lover before she became too unwell to do anything to the garden for the last couple of years before we moved in.  Some of the rose bushes we didn't even know were there when we moved here, as they were hidden behind overgrown large shrubs.

The window blind guy arrived more or less on time.  Window measured, vertical blind style and colour chosen, quote given - he confirmed the blinds will only take around 10 days to custom make.  He suggested he come back to measure up again once the new kitchen wall tiles are in place - as the tiles may be a marginally different size or thickness to the ones already here, he said it would be best to return for a more accurate measurement.  That was efficient of him to think of that, it wouldn't even have occurred to me.

I'm very tired now, had a lot going on so far this week and haven't slept well for the last couple of nights, a lot on my mind.  Hopefully, I'll sleep better tonight.

Got to nip into town for a couple of things for the home tomorrow.  We won't be going to the caravan for the weekend after all, we've decided to stay home and do a few jobs.

Husband's mouth has recovered, no pain and he can eat properly.

2 down, 2 to go (and messy bugger)

 Two appointments today done and dusted, two more tomorrow.  The man came this morning to fix the bathroom electric fan, I don't know what was wrong with it but he fixed it in about 5 minutes and it's now working as it should.  Because he came this morning (the fan fix was one of those annoying all day appointments, fortunately he came about 10.30), I was able to go with husband when he went for his dental appointment - his dentist is in Bridgwater, 45 mins away.  Husband didn't need me with him, but there's an Aldi in Bridgy (there isn't one near us) and I wanted a few things from there.  Husband was having a tooth out which has been giving him pain for several weeks - the last time he went to the dentist, the dentist said it didn't need taking out!  I think I would have been inclined to say "Well it's not in your mouth, it's in mine and it hurts like hell".  Whereas husband's had to have another visit, at another cost, to have the offending tooth extracted 😒.  The tooth had broken, apparently, as had the one next to it, so husband ended up having 2 out, and the gum stitched.  Ouch!  He won't be eating much this evening.....He took painkillers an hour before he went, and will have another 2 shortly.

Tomorrow we have another electrician coming to change our domestic fuse box for a new modern one (the one here is old) - it's a morning appointment, although no time given.  We also have the guy coming to measure up our kitchen window for the vertical blinds, and show us some samples, that's a 4 pm appointment.  I expect he'll be late, there's a very popular country show on a couple of miles away from us and everyone will be leaving round about then, so the roads will be rammed.  Doesn't matter if he is, no bother to us.

We'll be going out for a couple of hours whilst the electrician is here - we've been told the job will take 4 or 5 hours and the electricity will be switched off for that time, so we may as well take a picnic (and something for Betty) and go to our favourite beach - where we can also get a coffee.

Husband's table manners leave a lot to be desired (I blame his parents, no more to be said about that 😒) - let's just say he's a messy eater.  This morning he had crumpets for breakfast and dripped melted butter down the front of his polo shirt.  Conscious of the fact that he was going out to the dentist (if he'd been staying home he wouldn't have been bothered), he changed into a clean one.  He wanted a 'decent lunch' - his words, meaning a substantial one as he knew he wouldn't be up to eating much later - so cooked himself a triple decker bacon and 2 egg toasted sandwich.  And promptly dripped both fat and runny egg yolk all down his clean top 😒, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  He needs a bib!

He's just said he might be able to manage a bit of lukewarm fish pie later....I wonder where that'll end up, he'll run out of clean clothes at this rate 😂😂 (honestly, you have to have a sense of humour!).

Town becomes a no-go area for residents in summer

 I didn't post yesterday because there was nothing much to write about.....not much today either actually.  

We didn't have continual rain on Saturday, but there were a few heavy showers throughout the afternoon and evening, so we stayed indoors.  Yesterday was the first day of a new boot sale opening for the season - well, I say new, the boot sale has actually been going for a few years apparently, but yesterday was their opening date for this year.  As it wasn't raining (cloudy with sunny spells, bit windy, much less humid) we decided to go and have a look.  Well, there weren't many sellers there and it only took us a few minutes to walk round....I expect it'll get bigger as word spreads.  We didn't buy anything.  Other than that it was just a quiet day at home.  I cooked dinner - not a roast for a change....husband had spare ribs in bbq sauce, I had fresh salmon.  I roasted our homegrown carrots and courgettes and we had brown rice with seeds on the side.

Today I'm doing a salmon, veg and noodle stir fry - there were 2 pieces of salmon in the pack.  On a side note, hasn't the price of salmon gone up?  Along with everything else!  Unfortunate, as salmon is my favourite fish.

I need to go to the library today, my books are due back - I've already renewed them online once and have only just finished reading them, I don't do as much reading nowadays and I seem to read slower as well - and when I read in bed, which I've done for years before putting the light out, I now find I drop off after only a chapter or 2.  In years gone by, I'd been known to carry on reading for hours if it was a good book.

As I said before, we have a busy week with 4 appointments, they'll all be finished by Thursday afternoon and no more then until Tuesday of next week, so we could go to the caravan for the weekend.  I'll see how we feel and what the weather's like come the end of the week.  As the school summer holidays start this week, it may well be busier at the caravan park.  It'll certainly be a lot busier in the town here, we'll be doing shopping first thing in the morning and keeping out of the town during the days.  The beaches will be much busier too.  That's the downside of living in a tourist area, particularly one with a huge holiday camp and lots of holiday caravans and cottages.

The only time I wish for rain!

 It was unpleasantly hot and humid here yesterday, really sticky, both Betty and I suffered - she was moping around listlessly....well, so was I really, muggy weather just makes me feel ill.  Despite that, I still slept pretty well, although Betty was quite restless and woke me up a few times.  When I got up this morning it was sunny on and off, in between fast-moving clouds, there's a (very warm) breeze blowing.  It's still unpleasantly muggy, but heavy rain is forecast from about 11.00 this morning until mid evening, so I'm hopeful it'll get fresher.

I hope it's not going to be really hot when we're staying in the caravan whilst the kitchen is being done.  We've got 2 electric fans there and a gazebo for the garden, but when the outside temperature is around the 30 deg mark, it does get unpleasantly hot.  We'll just have to manage when the time comes, even if we have to go out somewhere to find a nice shady spot (in the middle of a wood, perhaps!  Or the beach if there's a breeze blowing, so long as we can find some shade).

We've got nothing on this weekend - not that we'd be going anywhere in heavy rain anyway.  Next week we have 4 appointments on the calendar - husband has the dentist for a tooth extraction (must remember to cook something soft that he doesn't have to chew - fish pie perhaps).  We also have an electrician coming to fit a new fuse box, and a different one the next day to fix the bathroom electric fan which has never worked.  Then the guy from the window blinds shop is coming to measure up the kitchen window and show us some samples.

Has the global IT problem affected you?  It's not really been a problem for us, except that husband couldn't contact the GP surgery yesterday, he was supposed to ring for an update on whether they'd been able to get hold of one of his heart meds (there's an ongoing supply problem) - all their computer systems were down.  And this morning when we popped out, I noticed I had no internet on my phone, although it's fine here at home (it connects to our home wifi, which seems to be unaffected).  Other than that, no problem - our online banking is fine, as are our internet and TV.  I don't understand exactly what the problem is, other than apparently it's something to do with a security update, but it's a bit scary that it can affect so many things and have widespread global impact.  It does make you think about how much we rely on the internet nowadays - however did we manage years ago?!

I'm pleased to say my sister's more or less recovered from her bout of Covid, just in time for their 40th anniversary tomorrow.  They're having some friends round for a BBQ, I shall have a video chat with her in the morning.

Yuck and luck!

 Yesterday late morning I went out in the garden to do some pruning and dead-heading, but didn't stay out there very long.  Not because it was too hot - it was pretty warm and humid, but there was a gentle warm breeze to temper the heat.  No, what sent me scuttling back indoors was the flying ants - hordes of them, including some quite big ones, several landed on me - YUCK!!  I have no idea if they bite, but didn't want them crawling all over me regardless, I often have bad reactions to bites so wasn't going to take any chances.  

Sue, you said our bungalow keeps getting better and better - it certainly does, and I still keep thinking it's all a dream and I'll be waking up soon!  Our previous house used to get stiflingly hot during the summer, especially upstairs - the coolest part of the house was underneath the stairs (which is where Betty's cage bed was, no wonder she liked it in there).  Here though, the place stays cool all the time, even on the (rare, odd) days when it's been pretty hot outside.

The contract gardeners were round yesterday, cutting all the front lawns - they're very conscientious and tidy, sometimes they collect the grass mowings, sometimes they leave them as mulch.  Once they've finished mowing and strimming, they come round with leaf blowers to clear all our paths.  They also trim hedges and clear up after themselves.  I know we pay a monthly service charge which includes an amount for the gardeners, but we're very pleased to have this service included - saves us a lot of work.  There are so many benefits to living here, I've said it before and will say it again - we really appreciate how lucky we are.

K, I meant to say re your suggestion (jokingly, I know!) that I open a restaurant - not blimmin likely, owning or even working in a professional kitchen must be one of the most stressful jobs going (just look at Gordon Ramsay!!).  And your 'jobs fairy' comment really made me laugh - I think I might use that in future when husband grumbles when I ask him to do something....."Sorry dear, the jobs fairy is on strike" 😂😂😜

Jane, I didn't even know I could draw until 4 or 5 years ago - I'd never done any drawing since art classes at school, and I don't recall being very good at it then.  Or even liking it much.  My mum was quite a talented water colour artist (something we didn't know until late in her life) and my sister is very artistic and creative - she makes soft furnishings and fabulous collages.  I think everyone has at least one talent - yours is obviously embroidery and darning!!  Now, I hate sewing of any kind, even sewing on a button is a huge chore for me and I seem to be continually stabbing my fingers 😂

Emptying out the cupboards

 Husband's at the gym this morning, he's got 3 or 4 weeks left of his GP-referral 20 week course.  He says he wants to carry on going on a pay-as-you-go basis once the course is finished, which I think is a good idea, he can go when he likes/when it's convenient then.  At the moment it's a fixed day and appointment time each week, which doesn't always work out as we have so many other appointments and commitments to fit in, and trips to the caravan of course.

I've put washing on the line and made some bread dough, I imagine it will prove very quickly in this hot weather.  I'm going to start emptying the kitchen cupboards this morning, packing away all the stuff that isn't regularly used.  Most of it is in the double corner cupboard and below the sink drainer - these two cupboards have always had a musty/mouldy smell, hence why I only keep rarely-used crockery etc in there, and if I do use anything out of those cupboards, it gets washed first - don't want to ingest any mould spores!  There isn't any mould visible at the back of the cupboard below the sink, although I can't really see in the back of the deep corner cupboard, it's too awkward to get to.  Obviously I'll wash and dry anything I take out of those cupboards, before I pack the stuff in the plastic boxes.

I mentioned the mouldy/musty smell to the kitchen fitting manager who came last week, he said it's a common problem and the fitters will get it sorted if there is a leak or mould problems found when they take out the units.  They come equipped for mould but if there's a leak or other problem, they'll get the appropriate person in to deal with it before the new units go in.

I've got pruning and dead-heading to do in the garden as well, it'll probably be sensible to do that now before it gets too hot this afternoon, then I'll do the cupboard sorting later on - luckily, this bungalow stays cool indoors.

Rosemary - I keep a bag of art supplies in the caravan, just in case I feel the urge!  Last year I drew my Christmas cards there, during our last month or so of the season.  

A lovely day

 We've had such a nice day, we've been at the caravan all day, arrived home about an hour ago.  It's been really quite warm, fortunately in spurts, not all day long.  I had the fan going for Betty, although she'd only lie in front of it for 10 minutes or so, before going out in the garden for 10 mins, then coming back inside!  I replenished her bowl with fresh cold water throughout the day, to keep her hydrated - she does drink it often.

We met our new van next door neighbours this morning, a very nice retired couple, I'm sure we'll get on just fine with them.  There were several other friends there, so lots of chatting done.  We did do some work as well - husband cut the grass whilst I pruned and weeded and watered.  The geraniums are looking fab, they're such good plants to have, they put on a beautiful show of flowers and, because they come from a hot country, they don't mind not being watered whilst we're not there.  Great value for money and needing next to no maintenance.

I did a written inventory of the tinned & packet food, dog food, cleaning supplies and toiletries, so I know exactly what we need to take next time to replenish stocks.

Husband emptied the first bag of our home grown new potatoes yesterday, here's what we had:-

A good haul for just one bag, we've got another 4 bags to go.  

And here's a little lavender drawing I did the other day, it'll be a notelet for my sister probably:-

It's nice to get back into drawing again, I'd got out of the habit.  

Jobs, blinds, cooking

 It rained pretty much all day yesterday, which meant husband sat and watched TV virtually all day.  Whereas I can always find things to do, and get up each morning thinking 'Now what jobs need doing today?' - husband clearly doesn't have the same mindset.  So I gave him a couple of small jobs, to much sighing and muttering under his breath, which I just ignore nowadays.

I did the freezer and larder inventory, I can make meals from what we have in the freezer for the next 3 weeks, by which time it'll be nearly empty.  So in 3 weeks' time I'll shop for enough fresh or frozen food to last the remaining 3 weeks, so we can then switch the freezer off.  I had a look through the kitchen equipment cupboards and identified what I can pack away into plastic boxes in the next couple of weeks.  Tinned and packet food will be packed away in the final week before the kitchen fitters come.

I tried a recipe I'd seen online (can't remember where) recently, for dinner yesterday.  Basically, you use either chipolata sausages or halloumi cheese cut into fingers, then wrap them individually into sheets of filo pastry, which you've oiled and scrunched up first, to give a ruffled rather than smooth wrapping.  Bake until cooked.  Serve with a dip and salad.  I made a spicy tomato dip - tinned chopped tomatoes with smoked paprika, sage, garlic puree, a tsp honey and a splash of Worcester sauce, all bubbled away until thick (husband interfered as usual, assuming he was 'helping' - switching the saucepan off when I'd gone out of the kitchen for a minute 😠 It was bubbling away for a reason!  He never asks first).  The dip was lovely, we had the filo wrapped fingers with a side salad.  I tried one of the chipolata ones, not keen - we both really liked the halloumi ones.

Today I'm making a courgette, mushroom and mozzarella tart to have with a side salad and new potatoes - 2 or 3 courgettes on a daily basis now, and the spuds will be our first homegrown ones this year.

First thing this morning we popped to town - I went into the home furnishings shop to discuss the vertical blinds for the kitchen, husband to the computer shop to get a cable for the caravan TV.  I looked at some samples and arranged for someone to come out next Wednesday to measure up, the blinds will take 7-10 days to be made to measure.  Husband didn't buy a cable - he thought the price was too high! (£16).  He wants to order one off the internet - which really means I'll be doing it, as he already ordered one a couple of weeks ago which was the wrong one.  

I've put washing out, it's a lovely drying day - sunny and breezy.  We're going to the caravan for the day tomorrow, I want to take a couple of days' worth of clothes (so we don't have as much to take when we stay for 7-10 days), and need to make a list of what tins/packet foods/dog food/toiletries we have there, so I know what else I need to take.

I've just made a pasta salad for lunch today and for the caravan lunch tomorrow - feta cheese, chickpeas, tinned mandarins, cucumber and finely chopped chives and mint from the garden.  I'll have balsamic vinaigrette dressing on mine, husband doesn't like it so he'll have mayo.

We had a minor power cut at 6 this morning, it was only off for a minute or 2.  We suddenly realised it's the very first power outage we've had since we moved in - at the old place power cuts were a regular thing.....ironically, since we lived just a mile or 2 from the nuclear power station!  Although, oddly enough, our power supply wasn't from there, but from Avonmouth, 40-odd miles away (I know not why!).

So now I have a plan

 Change of plan - we're not going into town today as we have a yellow warning for heavy rain most of the day.  Tomorrow the forecast is much better, for most of the week in fact, so we'll go to the blinds shop tomorrow.

I was a bit reluctant to start sorting out the kitchen cupboards last week, before we knew the date the kitchen fitting will start - or in fact whether it would even be this year.  Now we know it's going ahead on the 27 August - 6 weeks time - so I now have a timeframe to work to, which is good.  So I know the freezer contents have to be eaten within that time, as the freezer and fridge will be going outside in the car port.  There is power supply out there, but I'd rather not have food left in the fridge and freezer outside whilst we're away, other than milk for the workmen.  We did our big shop on the 3 July, getting quite a bit of frozen food, so the freezer is currently just over half full - it won't be a problem to ensure we use up all of the freezer stuff in the coming 6 weeks.  I also need to make a few meals to freeze for us to take to the caravan - we have a fridge with an icebox there, the icebox is large enough to take 3 or 4 frozen meals plus some veg.

So I'll be doing a freezer inventory today, and planning meals to use up all the contents.  I'll also now be able to start emptying the kitchen cupboards of things we don't use much, storing them in the big plastic lidded boxes we kept from the house move.

We had a really nice calm and peaceful weekend, the village fete on Saturday and a lovely walk along the length of the promenade at Blue Anchor bay yesterday, followed by coffee in our favourite cafe outside on the terrace facing the sea.  I'm feeling invigorated and ready to get on with the week.  

I bought a net of lemons that were reduced to half price last week, I think I might make some lemon curd and a lemon drizzle cake.

Getting organised for the new kitchen

 Husband didn't go to the boot sale yesterday - I remembered the village fete was on, so we went to that instead.  It's a proper old-fashioned village fete.....lots of old tractors and motorbikes to look at, sheep shearing, skittles, archery, quite a few local artisan crafters, stalls selling produce, bread and cakes (I didn't buy any).  A band of middle aged musicians playing folk-type music, Morris dancers, a drinks bar, tea/coffee and cake/pasties.  It was very well attended, very busy in fact.  We didn't stay too long, but had a good look round, it was a pleasant way to pass an hour.  Saw a couple of people we knew and had a chat.

We're having a quiet restful weekend, the weather's a bit hit and miss but we plan on going for a beach walk this afternoon if it doesn't rain.  Hopefully, it won't be too busy as people might be staying home to watch the men's tennis final and getting ready for the football final - neither of us has any interest in them.

Only got a couple of appointments this coming week, so we might pop off to the caravan just for a day.  We'll have another go at trying to get the van TV sorted - I'm not convinced that husband just taking the home Freesat box (with the correct cable!) and fitting that will solve the problem, especially not if he thinks it's the aerial.  There is a satellite dish on the roof (previous owners put it there) but we have no idea if that works, so I would have thought he'd need to test that first, as the Freesat box works off the satellite - apparently - I know nothing about it!  The van TV currently works off a roof aerial - or it used to, before it stopped working.  I just know that he'll need to get the TV working before we go and spend a week or 2 there at the end of August, when the kitchen is being fitted.  He may need to end up getting someone in to have a look at it.

We're going into town tomorrow to look in a shop which does vertical blinds, to get a quote for supply and fitting for the kitchen window.  Husband did say he'd fit them, but I think not - he's never fitted vertical blinds before, and it'll probably end in disaster - he'll have to stand on the kitchen worktop to fit them and I don't even want to think about the potential for damage....either to himself or the worktop.  Also, his hands shake, he loses his balance easily and gets very confused, so we'll be having the professionals fit them.  They'll come and measure up first - it's a big wide window and I'd rather they did it to get an accurate measurement.  We'll arrange to have them fitted once the kitchen fitting and decoration is done.

We had cod and chips from the fish shop for dinner yesterday - it was absolutely delicious (Betty liked hers too, licked her dish clean), but it didn't half give me gut trouble later on in the evening.  Too many carbs I expect - upsets my stomach and makes my skin very itchy (a diabetic thing caused by raised blood glucose after a carby meal).

My sister has now tested negative for covid but is still feeling the effects, albeit easing up a bit, thank goodness.  She was very poorly for a couple of days and couldn't even get out of bed, but is now up and about.  

A weekend off

 Thank you for all the comments and support, I appreciate them very much.

I've been finding it very hard the past couple of weeks to cope with the problems husband throws up - it's not his fault, he doesn't do any of it deliberately, I know that.....doesn't mean it's not still hard to cope with though.  Husband is largely oblivious to the chaos he creates, which is good for him I guess.  I do have sympathy for him, contrary to how it may seem sometimes, but it's so wearing!  The guy from the Housing Association yesterday said that when the kitchen fitters arrive, they will help with getting the appliances moved out of the kitchen - husband said no it's fine, we'll have done it all before they arrive.  So I quietly said to the guy that help would be appreciated and thanked him.  After he'd gone, I said to husband that there's no point in us 2 oldies with assorted health problems tiring ourselves out and breaking our backs to shift the appliances, when young fit and strong blokes are willing to do it for us!  He did agree.  I know what it is, he does this all the time, he wants to prove that he is still capable of doing things.  Which I understand and empathise with - but he's got to realise that neither of us is able-bodied and capable of doing things we could manage easily years ago.

It's like I am constantly having to intervene when husband is coming out with rubbish, constantly having to try and convince him that there are better and easier ways of doing things.  Trying to get him to see that I have his best interests at heart, having to cope with his argumentativeness, contradicting everything I say in front of people.  And of course there's the things I have to repeat, things I've already told him, every day, umpteen times a day (and just you try telling somebody something for the 3rd or 4th time that day, without then saying 'I've already told you!'.  It's very hard, and there's no point in saying it because he obviously doesn't remember being told before).  Finding things that he's lost (he puts things down and then can't remember where, that happens daily).  Clearing up the mess when he's dropped or knocked something over - he says he's cleared up but never does it properly.  He knocked his full mug of tea he'd just made himself the other day, I found sticky splashes of tea all over the kettle and wall tiles and dripped into the cutlery drawer - after he'd 'cleaned up'.  Some tiny little screws on the kitchen floor a few days ago - he'd tipped the little tool box over, he managed to grab it before it fell off the table but didn't notice the screws dropped on the floor - I found them when I trod on one later on (luckily I had slippers on).  I'm on 'alert' all the time, which in itself is very tiring.

Well, I'm having a weekend off - no housework, minimal cooking (we're having a takeaway tonight), a very simple roast dinner tomorrow.  I've encouraged husband to go to the local boot sale on his own this afternoon (we usually go together) - that'll give me an hour or so of peace.  I shall potter in the garden this afternoon, and do some drawing tomorrow - I want to draw a few flower cards.

Noise and aggro!

 Husband is doing my head in at the minute - well, he has been for the past couple of weeks.  I know there are people who think I should be grateful for the fact that I still have a husband who's alive - I know this because I've had comments on my blog (not published) and even a couple of emails saying so.  Rude!  But the realities of day to day life with someone whose health problems, especially the cognitive decline, are very challenging make things very difficult.  Nobody knows the inside details of what each of us have to deal with, so nobody else is qualified to voice their opinion.

This morning was one giant headache - at around 9 am I was just coming out of the bathroom and heard Betty barking out in the carport, along with voices and husband shouting, so I rushed out to see what was going on.  It was a guy from our Housing Association who was calling (without an appointment, he just turned up out of the blue) to discuss matters to do with our new kitchen.  Betty gets very excited when we have visitors, she barks with excitement and tries to jump up at them - husband is incapable of dealing with her properly and certainly isn't able to calm her down.  In fact, he makes it worse - he simply shouts at her continually, which just fuels her general excitement, he doesn't give her calm, clear instructions either so she doesn't understand what it is she's supposed to do.  And the H/A guy, who apparently has dogs of his own, was laughing and dancing around her, which also added to her excitement.  It was just a cacophony of noise, I felt like yelling "Will you all please just shut up!!". 

The way I deal with a visitor is to not open the door with Betty there for a start, I shut her in another room at first - she whines and barks, but soon calms down, and then she can be let in to greet the visitor, if appropriate - when it's anybody official then I don't, there's no need.

We finally got Betty shut out in the carport and the H/A guy in the kitchen - and then husband proceeded to talk the guy's ears off, laugh and joke and keep butting in when the guy was trying to tell us things.  This is why I continually ask husband to let me deal with important stuff - he just won't shut up for a start, he doesn't let them get a word in, he gets fixated on minor details and keeps on about things which aren't relevant or important.  He confuses them - the guy had come about 2 things, he finished talking about the first thing and then went on to the next, but husband hadn't cottoned on to that and was interrupting with comments about the first thing, confusing the guy totally.  I had to ask husband to let me sort it out.....whereupon he gets in a huff.  Anyway, to cut a long story short, it finally got sorted - but not before I was tearing my hair out.  Once again I've asked husband to leave me to deal with things, to which he agrees....until the next time, when he will have forgotten!  Aaarrrgh!

The upshot of all this is.....the fitters are coming to start installing the new kitchen on Tues 27 August, bank holiday week.  Husband said he would take me to the caravan the day before and leave me and the dog there, and he'd come back here to stay and oversee things.  Tempting as that sounds for me to have a few days in the caravan by myself with the dog (peace!!), there's no way I'll agree to that - he'll just get in their way, talk at them constantly, interfere and possibly change decisions - or try to anyway - (about placement of units etc) without asking me.  He tried to change something this morning, telling the H/A guy he wants the electrics fuse box thingy (which they're coming to change to a more updated one in a couple of weeks) moved to a different location.  Firstly, I don't suppose it's possible without extra works and I doubt they would agree to that, and secondly, where he wanted it put would mean shelves would have to be moved too!  And he just announced this without thinking it through or even asking me.  It's not happening, I vetoed that, it's fine where it is. 😒

So this afternoon, once I've done all my jobs, I shall just sit in my bedroom with the door closed....there are a few things I want to check out on the internet, and I want to do some drawing....it's very calming.

All good

 I went for my diabetes review this morning - it was 6 months overdue actually, as the last one fell due as we were in the throes of moving house, and packing up/unpacking and getting settled here was obviously much more important.  I have had a couple of reminders, but just haven't got round to it until now.  Anyway, all is fine, my HbA1c (blood glucose level) has gone down into acceptable levels, and my weight has dropped 10lbs since I was last weighed.  All my other bloods results were also fine, so the nurse was happy.  My cholesterol has gone up very slightly, I was again offered statins and again declined.

My painful shoulder is also less painful and more manoeuvrable, the cold packs must have lessened the inflammation and the exercises (erm, when I remember to do them) must be helping.  So if and when I finally get the physio referral from the hospital, I may not need to go by then.

Both husband and I forgot to collect our monthly repeat prescription meds from the GP this morning - I wouldn't expect husband to remember, but I should have done!  Never mind, we'll have to pop out and get them tomorrow, it's not like the surgery is miles away.

It's a nice day today, I've been in the garden and done some weeding and dead-heading.  I was having a good look around the garden and noting which plants haven't done very well....e.g. the everlasting sweetpea just isn't growing, it seems to have come to a halt at about a foot high.  The replacement lupin I bought is also now struggling, having had one really lovely flowering spike, the next 2 seem to be dying off without the buds opening.  The hostas all struggled initially and are only now getting going - a couple have had one flower spike before even the leaves have really started to fill out.  All of our tomato plants are being extremely slow, some are flowering but with relatively few flowers actually, none have fruit as yet.  Cherie, you described one of yours as having an extremely thick and odd-looking stem - well, so has one of ours, one of the seeds you sent us, the leaves are also curling up.  We bought 6 new strawberry plants in early Spring, 2 each of 3 varieties - none fruited at all, although the plants look healthy and are sending out runners.  Perhaps they'll do better next year.  The mini cucumbers, courgettes (green and yellow) and carrots are all doing very well, we're picking them almost daily.  We'll probably be emptying one of the potato bags at the weekend, none of them have flowered but neither have our neighbour's and he's just harvested some of his, they've produced quite a lot without flowering.  So it's a bit of a mixed bag in the garden - some good successes, some failures.  Probably to do with the very inconsistent weather.

We only have 2 appointments on the calendar for next week, and the weather looks as though it's improving, so we may be able to go off to the caravan for a few days at the end of next week.

A productive day

 Thank you for all the comments, as usual.

In the past when I've had some of the numerous blood tests (being diabetic and having a mild congenital liver condition means I have them regularly), I've occasionally been left with some quite spectacular bruises on my arms.  This is usually as a result of the nurse having to wiggle the needle around a bit inside my arm, either because she missed the vein or it collapsed mid-flow.  Sounds a bit gruesome but in reality it's nothing really, doesn't bother me.  This time however, almost no bruising at all.  Well done that nurse!

Husband did some work out in the carport yesterday, he's moved the fence he put up outside the back door to keep Betty from running off into the road when the kitchen door is opened.  We discussed it and decided it would be better running widthways across the whole of the carport, rather than just a small area outside the door.  Now it's a much bigger area which means we can get more stuff out there - the plastic boxes of kitchen stuff, e.g., and my washing airers - it was a tight squeeze having them out there in the smaller fenced in space.  We'll also be needing room for the upright freezer to go out there, once the new kitchen is fitted and we've bought a new combined 50/50 fridge freezer.  That's assuming the old freezer is still working by then.  Oh, and one of you readers (I'm sorry, I forget who) suggested the freezer might use a lot of electricity if it is on the way out - a valid thought....however, our electricity here is dirt cheap so it's not a concern, thank you anyway.

I did a few pottering jobs in the house yesterday - sorting out a couple of drawers in my bedroom, putting things away in the lounge and kitchen that somehow or other, by the other occupant of this house (not me!) get used or moved and left lying about (he never puts anything away....other than shopping when I don't want him to! 😂😒).  I did a menu plan for the next 7 or 8 days, and made a double lot of cauli and broccoli cheese - half for last night's dinner, along with salmon parcels, the other half frozen for another time.  Played with Betty for a while - she was in a playful mood and needed some stimulation.  Sorted out a load of washing to go on first thing this morning.  And then sat and did some drawing in the afternoon, I'll do a show and tell when it's finished.

I've been sleeping so well lately, which is such a novelty after being an insomniac my entire life.  It's quite rare now for me to have a disturbed night - amazingly.

Star jumps 😂😂

 The nurse - a different, more experienced one - did the blood test successfully, first stab.  In exactly the same place as last week's failed attempt, and the place I pointed out as the best place to try (having had dozens of blood tests over the years).  I'm very thankful I don't have to go back for yet another attempt, it's a nuisance having to continually go there.  I've not had to go to the surgery - well, not for myself anyway - for 7 or 8 months, since before we moved here, seeing the GP a couple of weeks ago for my shoulder was the first time at this new surgery.  And as I'm going on Thursday for my diabetes review, that'll be 4 times in 2 weeks I've been 😦.

Jane, your suggestion of me doing star jumps had me in stitches - I'd probably give myself black eyes (I'm very well endowed 😉), dislodge a disc again and break both hips. 😂😂 But thanks for the idea, it did make me laugh.  I drank 2 glasses of water before going, and rubbed my inner elbows to warm them up, so perhaps those suggestions worked, thank you all.

Sue, you suggested husband using some of the kitchen units in his shed - yes, we'd already thought of that, there are a couple of wall units that would fit in the shed, and possibly even a bit of worktop.  It would certainly help to move some of the clutter up off the floor.  I had suggested months ago that he use a couple of the plastic storage boxes to house some of his stuff but, as usual for him, he never got round to doing it.....now I'm glad he didn't, as I can use the boxes for the kitchen contents whilst the new units are being installed.  So a blessing in disguise!

My poor sis is feeling very rough with the Covid, she's got it worse than her husband had.  They've both had it twice now, she said there's a spate of cases going on up there in the Midlands.  Isn't it strange how some people have been unfortunate enough to get it more than once, whereas others (husband and I included) haven't had it at all.  Thankfully, we don't seem to hear of people dying from it now though (well, not in vast numbers anyway, I assume there are still fatalities), so the vaccinations have presumably worked - some people still get Covid, but it seems to be less serious now.  It's sis and BiL's 40th wedding anniversary in 12 days time, I hope she's well enough by then to enjoy it.

What a horrible day it was yesterday, spitting with rain on and off most of the day, then continual rain from dinnertime onwards and through the night.  At least it means we haven't had to water the garden!

Getting organised

 It was the British Grand Prix at Silverstone yesterday, husband always watches the races, I do sometimes.  I watched yesterday and was glad I did, it was very exciting, particularly in the latter stages, and I was so pleased for Lewis Hamilton, winning for a record 9th time at his home circuit.  Well done him and his team.  When we lived up in the Midlands, we went to Silverstone race circuit one weekend - not for the GP, it was some other race, I forget what.  It was a good day out, anyway.  One thing about the GP - they kept showing on the TV loads of celebrities there.....I wonder how many of them had to pay for their tickets?  Not many, I'm sure, they probably get free invites.  Which is all wrong really - it costs ordinary people 100s of pounds for tickets to events like that, whereas those who have millions don't have to pay!  I was fortunate enough to be given 4 complimentary tickets by the company I worked for at the time, we took our friends from Kent with us, coincidentally they were on holiday near to us.

In anticipation of the new kitchen installation, although we don't yet know when it'll be, we're going to be sorting out the carport this week, it's gradually been getting messier as husband piles more stuff in there - the shed is the same, it's a right mess.  Husband started on his shed yesterday, all I could hear was a series of crashes and bangs as things kept falling over, or he tripped over them, or they fell off shelves where they'd been balanced precariously 😒.  He's a walking disaster, my husband.  Fortunately, he didn't hurt himself, other than a few knocks and bruises.  The shed does look a lot better now though.  We have several empty large plastic lidded boxes in the carport, stacked up and left over from the move, I intend to use them to store the kitchen equipment.  I'll start going through the kitchen units and packing away stuff I rarely use (what's the betting I'll want or need something as soon as it's packed away?  At least the boxes are clear plastic so I'll be able to see what's in them.  I could label them, of course.  The boxes will be stored temporarily in the carport.  You know I like to be organised!

I've got the surgery's 2nd attempt to get blood out of me this afternoon, I hope they can do it this time.  If they only try twice and still can't do it, I'm not going to agree to yet another appointment, I'll insist they keep trying today.  It doesn't bother me how many times they stab me, I'm not at all squeamish about it, but I don't want to have to keep going back there for more attempts.  I do drink a couple of glasses of water beforehand, I don't know what else I can do.  I've got another appointment on Thursday, for my annual diabetes review.

We've been invited to a BBQ next month, by neighbours where we used to live.  I'm feeling a bit ambivalent about it really - although it'll be nice to see friends again, I regard living there as as a part of my life that's over and I'm not particularly keen to revisit it, there were a couple of neighbours there who turned out to be not so nice after all.  It'll be ok though, I expect, I doubt those neighbours will be invited.  As for our old house, I'm not remotely interested in it.

Counting my blessings, and kitchen pics

 I woke up early this morning, as usual, and lay in bed for a few minutes thinking just how lucky we are.  Being offered this lovely bungalow (I love it more and more) completely out of the blue and even getting a move a few years sooner than we anticipated.  Having really nice neighbours, a very supportive housing association and support officer who checks up on us every week, all the services we require nearby, a bus service just minutes away.  A really nice easy maintenance garden that was more or less a blank canvas so we can develop it how we want.  And now a fantastic new kitchen to be fitted in the near future (hopefully).  We got to choose the styles of units, worktops, flooring and tiles we wanted, extra cupboards to be fitted - and we don't have to pay for any of it!!  It's like a fantasy dream that I'm dreading waking up from.  We are just so fortunate, and I don't take any of it for granted, I feel so blessed.

Here are a few pictures of the present kitchen:-

The top two show where I'm having extra cupboards - a base unit in the gap where the bin and dog bowl are, then most of the stuff on the worktop above can go in there.  The 2nd pic, above the washing machine, is where I'll be having an extra double wall unit, thus doing away with the cluttered shelf.  The 3rd and 4th pics show the mismatched replacement doors that were fitted at some point in the past, the 2 under the sink (the replacement doors) have crumbling broken edges.  You can also see the horrible green worktops and vinyl flooring - green is my least favourite colour.  The net curtain, which was only ever a temporary thing, will be replaced with vertical blinds - at our cost, not the Housing Association's.

My poor sister has Covid, passed on inevitably from her husband, who thinks he caught it couple of weeks ago from a taxi driver taking him to a hospital appointment.  She says it's like a very bad cold, with a terrible thumping headache.  I hope she gets over it soon and with no lasting effects.  She has a good support network of friends and 2 adult children, so hopefully they'll all pitch in to help her and her disabled husband.

Drizzly and cloudy start this morning but is forecast to clear up later and the sun come out - I hope so, I have washing to go on the line.

Yay!

 Kitchen man came mid-morning, and I'm pleased to say husband more or less behaved himself - for a change, although there were a couple of disagreements.  And Jane, you're right, the guy looked to me for every suggestion or choice and checked I was happy with everything.  We're having oak-style cabinets and flooring, black granite-style (not granite obviously) worktops and white wall tiles.  We're also getting one extra base cupboard and an extra double wall cupboard, so there'll be even more storage space - hooray, I'm very happy about that.

We now have to wait for the Housing Association to send a surveyor to measure up and discuss plumbing and electrical sockets, and then we'll be given a date for the installation - the guy yesterday said the installation will take a week, plus decorating.  I'm really pleased about it all.

As for the election results and the new Government.....well, we'll just have to wait and see whether they do actually follow through with all their promises.

The new remote control arrived in the post the other day, so all's well with the TV now, although the caravan TV is still to be sorted, husband needs a different cable to find out if the Freesat box will work there.  I've told him to go into a shop to get one, rather than ordering another one off the internet when he doesn't really know what it is he wants (he ordered one without consulting me, it arrived a day later and it was the wrong one 😒).

Chucked it down with rain during the night and still raining quite hard now, so no boot sale today.  It's forecast to rain up till lunchtime, so even if it stops by the start time (2 pm), the field will be very soggy.  I won't be putting my planned washing on either.  Hope summer comes back soon, it was blimmin cold yesterday.

Excitement -v- apprehension

 Kitchen bloke coming this morning and I'm half excited, half apprehensive....the apprehension being with regard to husband.  I know what sort of layout I'd like for the kitchen - pretty much the same as it is now actually, with a couple of changes.  And in any case, we need to hear what the kitchen bloke is going to say first, he might have different ideas (or instructions from the Housing Association as to what we can have).  Seeing as it's me who spends most time working in the kitchen, I think I'm entitled to have the final say, although I will take into account husband's views.  However, he's been pontificating for weeks now about what he 'wants' or thinks we should have, and quite often his ideas aren't practical.  E.g., he wanted the fridge freezer in between the washing machine and the sink - erm no, that means it would be in front of the window, covering up half of it!  He didn't think that one through - as usual.  He also suggested we have the microwave and air fryer in purpose built units up on the wall - his idea being to get them off the worktops.  Sorry but no - I don't want cooking appliances up on a wall at head height - impractical and unsafe in my opinion, I want them at waist height on the worktop - we have sufficient work surfaces.

He's now in a huff and announced he'll keep his mouth shut and let me make all the decisions.  I know that won't last, he won't be able to contain himself once the bloke's here, he'll be butting in and trying to dominate the conversation, it's what he does.

Voting and physio

 We combined the early dog walk with voting at 07.30 this morning, nobody else there.  It's not very warm today, mixture of clouds and brief spells of weak sunshine and a very cold wind, so it's not a day for doing much in the garden.  Spits of rain with more showers due, and heavy rain to come tonight, apparently.  More of the same forecast tomorrow, but better on Saturday, think we're going to the boot sale then.

Well I had my first physio appointment - it was an initial diagnostic one, the physiotherapist confirmed it's a rotator cuff injury.  She said I have significant weakness in the muscles around my left shoulder front and back, and much reduced movement, she also said my left shoulder is out of alignment with the right shoulder, she could see that it's dropped, the weak muscles aren't holding it up.  She showed me some simple exercises to help build up the muscles - she said to do them every day, but not to do too many repetitions to begin with, as the muscles and ligaments are currently inflamed, and not to start them for a week or so, because of the current inflammation.  She's referring me to the physio dept at the local hospital, she said there'll probably be a bit of a wait (pretty much normal nowadays).  In the meantime, she said to use a cold pack on my shoulder for the first week or so, to reduce inflammation, and then to change to a heat pad after the first week, to warm the muscles before starting the exercises.

Straight after that appointment, I had another with a nurse for bloods.  Unfortunately, she couldn't get any out of me (my blood is nearly always reluctant to come out!) - although I have to say she didn't exactly try very hard.  Just 2 attempts, despite me telling her she could stab me as much as she liked as I'm not at all squeamish about blood tests and injections.  Oh well.  I have another appointment with a different nurse next week, she'll try the bloods.

Got a menu plan to do this afternoon, and we need to nip into town for a couple of things in Smiths for me, and the hardware shop for husband. 

That's that done (and unwanted help)

 We went out and did our big monthly shop this morning, I'm pleased with the amount we got and am pretty sure we'll only need probably 2 small top up shops of fresh stuff for the rest of the month.  Mind you, it took me getting on for an hour to empty the bags and put everything away, and to keep preventing husband from grabbing stuff and putting it away without asking me where it goes - he's a bugger for just shoving things wherever there's a space, instead of where it actually should go, and not bringing older stock forward.  Despite me saying to him whenever we go shopping thanks for the offer of help but I'd appreciate just putting it away on my own, he forgets every time.  I know he thinks he's being helpful, but he's really not!  He's become quite OCD over the past year or two, he has this compulsion to 'help', whether I want help or not, won't ask me anything (I guess he thinks he knows) and is forever telling me what I want (he's nearly always wrong).

We saved over £30 using our Clubcard - well, I say that but of course the reality is that the 'normal' non-Clubcard prices are over-inflated, so us 'thick' shoppers who don't know any better (except we do!) think we're getting a bargain by having and using a clubcard.  Nope, they just want us to sign up for the cards so they get to have all our details and shopping habits.  Of course we do actually know that, the cards are for their benefit not ours, and I have to say some of the goods at over-inflated non-clubcard prices I simply would not buy, they're ridiculously overpriced.  But if having a clubcard allows me to buy some things at cheaper prices, then I'm happy to have one.  There were actually one or two really good bargains with clubcard prices actually, so it's swings and roundabouts.

Went to the pet shop and got the frozen dog food Betty likes - last time husband went on his own and, surprise surprise, bought the wrong one.  It was a salmon and tripe one - she liked that too but boy it didn't half stink the kitchen out.  And I had to clean out the microwave every time - although it's supposedly for feeding to dogs raw, you don't have to cook it, our funny dog doesn't like it raw so I have to lightly microwave it for her.  Oddly enough, she's not keen on raw liver either (our previous dog absolutely loved it) but likes it cooked.  Husband has to cook it as the look and smell of liver now makes me heave.

Tomorrow morning we shall be going to vote early - it's in the village hall which is about 2 minutes walk from our house.  Then I have my first (and I bet it turns out to be my only!) physio appointment for my shoulder - my experience of physio since Covid has been that we get one appointment and then get sent away with a list of exercises to do on our own at home.  A far cry from years ago when I was having physio for a prolapsed disc and severe sciatica - I had sessions at the physio dept of the local hospital 3x weekly for a couple of months, and they did all sorts of techniques, manipulations and treatments, not just a few exercises.  Following the physio, I'm having bloods, wee test, etc for my annual diabetes review, I'm not expecting any problems with that, my diabetes has always been well controlled.

For dinner tonight husband is doing himself (and Betty) fried liver, with mash, peas and onion gravy (not for Betty! she'll have kibble with her liver).  I'm making myself smoked mackerel fishcakes which I'll have with tenderstem broccoli and home grown courgettes.  We've got a good supply of home grown courgettes, carrots and mini cucumbers now.  The tomatoes, new potatoes, butternut squash and leeks are yet to come.

My next door neighbour said that when they had their new kitchen units installed, it took a week and the fitters were tidy and helpful, so that's good.  She confirmed we do also get a choice of flooring, worktops and wall tiles, I'll be glad to see the back of the horrible green flooring and worktops.  Green is not my favourite colour.  So I'm looking forward to the kitchen chap coming on Friday.

Changing tastes!

 Thanks for the comments, ladies.  Re the new kitchen - according to our housing officer we get a choice of 4 styles of units and some say in the layout, I hope that's true.  I'm assuming we'll also get a choice of flooring (it's a horrible green colour cushion flooring at present), worktops and wall tiles.  Husband still keeps on about what types of units we should have, and where - I've told him he can put forward his ideas, of course, but I'm having the final say - after all, it's me who spends the most time in the kitchen, not him.  I'd like the basic layout to stay much the same actually, but hopefully with the addition of an extra floor cupboard and/or wall cupboard, to increase the storage capacity.  The existing wall cupboards could do with being wider, deeper and taller too, I expect the new units will be - the present ones are very dated and a smaller size.  I can't fit cereal boxes upright in them, nor stack tins one on top of the other, which is a nuisance.  I'm getting quite excited now 😂

We're going to do a big supermarket shop tomorrow, I've got into the habit of doing a big shop at the start of the month, and then 2 or 3 small top up shops of fresh stuff, it's working out well.  I was thinking about the types of meals I want from now on - meat and veg for husband, salads and fresh veggies with fish, cheese or pulses for protein for me.  I was eating a bit of chicken now and then, but have gone off that now - we had chicken pieces in bbq sauce on Saturday and chilli made with chicken mince yesterday, I didn't really enjoy either of them so doubt I'll be eating even chicken from now on.  Husband will be happy with meat, any kind, he's not fussy about it, with potatoes in some form or other (again he likes all forms of potato) and a couple of veggies.  For lunches he likes sandwiches, preferably ham, or something on toast.  I like a small salad of some kind for lunch - tomato, mozzarella and basil, eg, or panzanella with lovely juicy tomatoes, chunks of sourdough, olives and some cheese, with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing.  I also love couscous with goats cheese or feta, olives, beetroot and cucumber.  Sometimes I just have cheese and crispbreads or oatcakes with an apple.  For my dinners I like fish - either a fillet of some fresh fish (I like most fish), or Aldi's lightly dusted with lemon & herb frozen fillets, or prawns.  Or just vegetables - the veggie crumble I made last week was gorgeous, I'd happily eat that 2 or 3 times a week.  I also like a plateful of roasted veggies, with something green on the side.

Years ago, the only veg I would eat was potatoes, frozen peas and Brussels sprouts.  A salad to me was a few bits of iceberg lettuce with some sliced cucumber - I hated tomatoes (love juicy vine ones now).  Although I eat most veggies now, there are still some I wouldn't touch with a barge pole - celery (just the smell of it makes me want to heave), broad beans, kale....in fact I'm not fond of most dark green leafy veggies, although I will eat some occasionally as they're so good for us! 

How we change with the years.....I used to eat a lot of takeaways or ready meals (Vesta curries or Pot Noodles anyone? 😂).  Not now.  We have fish and chips from a takeaway maybe once every 6 weeks or so and that's it for takeaways.  I wouldn't eat a pot noodle now if you paid me!

What don't you eat anymore that you used to years ago?  Or are there things you now eat that you used to hate?

A better week, hopefully

 Yesterday was one of those days when nothing seemed to go right....hopefully there won't be too many more like that this week, I don't think my nerves could stand it.

Husband has now ordered a replacement remote control, it should be delivered on Wednesday.  He's also discovered he can watch iPlayer on his computer, so the crisis (of him having no telly to watch and me having to put up with his constant complaints and moping around) has been averted.  

I've decided it would be prudent for me to make out a list of things husband needs to do each time we go to/leave the caravan, a check list so he can tick off each job as he does it.  Hopefully that might save a few headaches/mistakes in the future.  I have more than enough things to do myself, without having to remember all the things he should be doing too, my brain only has so much capacity!

I feel wrung out this morning, I didn't sleep very well - think I was too exhausted to sleep and my mind was ticking over too much.  I've got a few jobs to be getting on with today, and husband has his chest x-ray this afternoon at the local community hospital, which is only 5 mins drive away, I'll go with him of course to make sure it all goes smoothly (who knows what might happen if I let him go on his own! 😂).

C&J's caravan has apparently been sold, according to our fellow van owners, a nice couple from Wales viewed it and paid a deposit on Saturday, so we'll have new neighbours when we next go.  Another van quite near to us has also sold over the weekend, to a woman described by our friends as 'somewhat odd and quite abrasive', she also apparently has 3 small and exceedingly yappy dogs, who she doesn't appear to have much control over.  Oh dear.  Think we'll be keeping our distance from her.

Thank you for all the comments again.  Some of you mentioned that perhaps the caravan doesn't feel so important now that we have our lovely new home and garden, near to all the facilities we require and in a very nice (and populated!) area.  On reflection, I think you're right.  We're not making any firm decisions on the van right now, we'll just see how things are next year.

I'm looking forward to the kitchen planner coming on Friday, I hope this means the new kitchen will be fitted in the not too distant future.  I'm assuming we'll be having new flooring and wall tiles too.  I'm very grateful both that the Housing Association are doing this work, and that we're being given the opportunity to choose from a range of styles.  And that we have the caravan to escape to whilst the work is being done.