Getting inventive with veg, and I'm not a (verbal) punchbag

 I realised this morning I've done hardly any cooking for weeks now, mainly due to the hot weather, all I do is prepare and serve cold stuff mainly, with maybe a jacket spud or a fish fillet of some kind.  What cooking I have done has been pretty basic....ok I did make scones and an apple cake whilst our guests were here, but that's about all.  For meals I did a prawn salad with homegrown potatoes and salad veggies one day, a bought pizza (which I added some extra toppings to), bought oven chips and more salad another day.  Most of our meals have been salads since we've had all this hot weather, I really don't feel like cooking - who does?!  And now I've more or less got out of the habit of cooking.....it'll come as a bit of a shock when autumn and cold weather arrives and I've got to start making hot dinners again.

Our French beans are finally going over, the plants are going yellow and there are quite a lot of (overgrown) huge beans with very wrinkly pods.  We were going to just pull them all up and chuck them in the compost bin, but I thought it seemed a waste to get rid of the actual beans, even if the pods aren't edible now.  It occurred to me that the beans inside the pods should be perfectly edible, so that's what I'll be doing tomorrow - shelling the remaining beans then boiling and freezing them, we should get at least a couple of meals worth.

I was chatting to our neighbour earlier, she said exactly the same thing as me - she's telling her other half not to grow so much produce next year, it's all far too much for just 2 people, same as I've been telling husband.  It's all very well them growing tons and tons of stuff, but when they keep picking armfuls of it all and simply dumping it on the kitchen table, us wives groan and think 'oh no, not again!'.  We were both laughing and saying that being presented with 10 so-called 'mini' cucumbers that are the size of small rugby balls all at once is no joke - it's not like we can cook and freeze them (no I don't like cucumber soup).  I told her about the local little zoo accepting bags of surplus veggies, she hadn't realised they did that and thought it a brilliant idea.  Like me, she said her freezer is now full of prepped garden veggies, to the point where there's no more room.  She's also made several jars of chutneys but said she's still got some left from last year.  We're now getting loads of tomatoes, which I don't really mind as I do like them roasted, drizzled with olive oil and thick syrupy balsamic vinegar on sourdough toast, makes a lovely lunch with some mozzarella.  I must have a sort out of the freezer tomorrow, I think I can probably make enough room for another few tubs of tomato pasta sauce or soup.

Husband's sister messaged me earlier, she's now got herself an electric mobility scooter as her daughter, who's a slim dainty little thing, was finding it hard to push her wheelchair.  She's also had a discussion with her cancer nurse, who is arranging for her to have another scan to see whether her lung cancer has progressed, before going over treatment options once more.

Husband seems to be getting more and more bad tempered just lately, he's bitten my head off several times the past few days.  I know he's got backache (so have I!!!) and he's not good with pain, but I've told him he can't keep taking it out on me.  He just scowled and muttered under his breath.  I've needed the patience of a saint this week - and I'm no saint!

Brainwave!

 It's back to being hot and sticky again, I really don't like it, it's the humidity that gets to me, it drains me and I feel like a soggy mess.

Nevertheless it's been a productive day, I've now got several bags of French beans, sliced roasted courgettes and courgette fritters in the freezer, along with a couple of tubs of tomato based pasta sauce.  Husband said he'd picked all the mini cucumbers.....well I spotted a large one he'd missed and when I had a proper look, found several more that were like torpedoes.  How he misses them I don't know, especially when they're so big - well, I do know, if something isn't right in front of his nose he just can't see it, it seems beyond him to move leaves out of the way!  The big fat ones have tough skins and are crammed full of seeds, no good for eating.  We've had a brainwave, don't know why we didn't think of it before - the local small family run zoo, Tropiquaria, will happily accept donations of fruit and veg for their animals, so that's what we'll do with our excess produce now.  At Christmas when the supermarkets are doing their very cheap veg wars, we generally buy a couple of bagfuls of them to take to the zoo.  So the problem is now solved.

I've also finished the second front of the cardigan and started on the first sleeve, if I try and do half a dozen rows every day it shouldn't take me long to finish both sleeves.  I'll crochet all the parts together, then do the cuffs and edgings in a contrasting colour - the main body is navy, with white for the edges and cuffs.

Tomorrow we're going to Aldi for our monthly top up shop of the things I like to get there, like my barista oat milk which is cheaper there than our local supermarkets, I buy at least a month's worth at a time (it's long life milk).  We also want to go to Home Bargains, there isn't one here in Minehead, and I'll pop into the big charity shop to get some more books.  As I've said before, their books are 2 for £1, far cheaper than our local charity shops in Minehead - they generally charge £1.50 or £2 each for books.

Veg (again), people dying and bad tempers

 After spending nearly 2 hours yesterday doing veg prep, my back and shoulder were killing me - the pain from my shoulder was shooting down my arm to my elbow and up into my neck and the arm was so weak I could barely lift it.  A couple of cocodamol and a cold compress on my shoulder for half an hour made the pain ease off though.  Still 6 weeks to go before I get my cortisone injection.  This morning my cleaner Hayley was here so I kept occupied and out of her way by staying in the kitchen doing yet more veg prep - blanching French beans (another 3 bags full frozen) and making pasta sauce for tonight's dinner.  I've used home grown tomatoes, courgettes and shallots, flavoured with a fresh chilli (husband's sister brought us 2 chilli plants) and some balsamic vinegar.  Sam, thank you for reminding me I can freeze tomatoes raw for making sauces and soups, I'd forgotten about that.....even though I did it last year.  I've told husband not to bring in any more veg for a couple of days, I'm sick of the sight of it at the moment! 😂  I gave some French beans to a neighbour this morning, and some more courgettes to my cleaner, who insists she loves them.

I see the birder and comedian Bill Oddie has died, sadly - famous people seem to be dropping like flies this year.  I suppose lots of the famous people who we grew up watching on the TV are now - well - old, so they're bound to be coming to the end of their lives.

Husband is being very crotchety, argumentative, confrontational and downright horrible lately....maybe he's been affected by his sister's visit and seeing her very obviously going downhill, I don't know.  Or it's just how he is now!  I keep biting my tongue and walking away, but must admit it's taking the shine off our holiday coming in September, I do hope he's not going to be a pain in the backside the whole week we're away.  My sister reckons I should be extra-nice to him - "Kill him with kindness" in her words - she means smothering him with love and nice gestures of course, not overfeeding him with cake 😜😁.  I don't know whether I could sustain that though, that's more her style than mine, she's a much nicer person than me!  Incidentally, she calls him Mr Grumpypants!

I must get on with my crocheting tomorrow, I've sort of let it fall by the wayside recently.....it's a cardigan to take away with me on holiday.  I've done the back, one front and am more than halfway through the other front, so the sleeves, cuffs and edging to do....and sewing it up of course.

An excess of everything

 At the moment it's all about veg preparation.  Today I'm roasting a couple of trays of home grown root veggies, one lot will be eaten for dinner today and cold for lunch tomorrow, the other trayload will be frozen.  Tomorrow I'll be blanching and freezing a mountain of French beans, and making a panful of pasta sauce to freeze, using the tomatoes which are now ripening by the dozen, plus some of the glut of shallots, and of course the ever-present courgettes.  We eat courgettes in some form or another several times a week - either grated in a frittata, fried or roasted or made into fritters, I also roast and freeze a trayful at a time for soups later in the year.  I have to keep on top of it all and deal with some every day, otherwise it just gets overwhelming.  I know it's very much a first world problem and I am grateful to have the 'problem' of too much veg, but it is a lot of work.  Years ago I used to make jams and chutneys (we've always grown veg and fruit) but don't nowadays as we rarely eat them anymore, with us both being diabetic.  We've also now got a glut of mini cucumbers, some of which aren't mini as husband always misses a few when he's gone out to pick them.  Luckily, I do like fresh home grown cucumber grated or finely chopped and mixed with Greek yogurt and mint as a dip for veg sticks, or sliced on sourdough spread with Philly cheese and lots of black pepper.  

The trouble is, husband ALWAYS grows too much of everything - each year at the start of the sowing season we discuss what we're going to grow and I tell him how many of each veg plant I'd like to have.  Somehow he never takes much notice (which is typical of him) and grows at least double quantities of everything - his rationale is that some of them might not germinate so he always sows spares.  The problem is that nearly everything germinates, so he ends up with loads of seedlings.....instead of giving some away or even dumping the excess in the compost, he plants them all.  And then we have far too many.  E.g. the mini cues....I said I wanted just 2 plants, knowing how well they grow here - we have 6, and they're all producing loads of fruits.  The French beans are another prime example, he said there are about 10 plants (which would have been just right for us).....erm no, there are more than 2 dozen, it's no wonder we're inundated with them.  I've said that next year he either cuts down drastically - by at least half - on the amount of stuff he grows, or else he can't grow anything at all.  It's lovely to have home grown veg, but it's just so much extra work for me dealing with it all.  It's like everything husband does, and I know it's a feature of his cognitive impairment, he does everything to excess.

Husband's going through one of his very OTT obsessive phases again - he's back to checking our electricity meter (we haven't got a smart meter) nearly every day, working out exactly how much we've used and telling me constantly.  As we've got solar panels and have had so much sun every day for weeks now, we're hardly using any leccy....but husband thinks we must be as we have the fans on so much.  Oh and he's constantly switching the fans off if we leave the rooms for 5 minutes, which is blimmin annoying.  Oddly enough, he rarely switches the TV off!  He's switching all the kitchen appliances off at the sockets, which again is annoying as I have to keep switching them back on again.

It's so much cooler today, thank goodness - we haven't even had to switch the fans on yet, which will delight husband!  Our local forecast on my app yesterday said there was a chance of showers in the early hours of this morning......erm nope, the ground and flower beds are as dry as a bone still, and no water in the couple of garden trugs left outside.  This morning is the first time in weeks I haven't felt like I'm in a permanent state of hot flushes and night sweats - even though I'm well past the menopause.  Although, having said that, my mum always used to say she was still getting the odd hot flush and particularly night sweats well into her 70s.  Something to look forward to!

A restful day after the 'busyness' of the last few days

 So it's quite a bit cooler today, thankfully - still sunny and warm, with a few clouds and a nice breeze blowing to keep the temperature comfortable.  I gather the weather people are predicting yet another heatwave end of July/beginning of August, blimey, is this still England we're living in?  We've just had to order a new fan for the lounge, Betty was playing with a ball a couple of days ago and knocked the fan over, breaking it.  Husband shouted at her, but I reminded him it was just an accident and I don't shout at him every time he breaks something!  Betty frightened herself anyway when she knocked it over, she bolted to my side for reassurance.  It's due to be delivered today - we had quite a job finding one on the internet, so many are sold out (I wonder why?!).

We didn't do much on Thursday after SiL and niece went home, just rested.  Yesterday we did a big shop, went to the garden centre to buy a couple of hydrangeas, and took Betty to the vet to be weighed - new regulations state that she's got to be weighed before getting her twice-yearly doses of flea and tick meds.  £108 for six tablets, one a month - having pets is not for the faint hearted nowadays.  Thank goodness for our National Health!

Husband's got a bad back again, so have I actually but clearly not as bad as his, going on the amount of moaning and groaning he's doing 😉.  I guess I'm just more used to it as I've had a bad back ever since I had a prolapsed disc overstretching when playing tennis when I was 19.  I am absolutely shattered today, as a result of the relatives being here - a combination of doing more housework and cooking, being out and about sightseeing and lots and LOTS of talking.  It seems totally daft to say that talking wears me out but somehow it does - even though husband talks a lot when it's just us here (when he's not dozing in front of the TV) but he doesn't always require an answer.....or even me to listen to him, actually!   At least he's quieter today, apart from his theatrical groans every time he gets up out of his chair.  Whilst his sister and niece were here - well, when anyone's here actually - he never stops talking, he's a born performer and loves to be the centre of attention.  He did lose the thread of what he was saying, contradicted himself a few times and repeated himself a lot - all his normal cognitive impairment stuff, SiL and niece did notice that.  He also nodded off at one point in the middle of a conversation, prompting his sister to say "Are we boring you mate?" 😂

SiL is currently not on any medication at all for her lung cancer, although she said she's getting a sharp pain in her back now so will discuss pain relief along with chemo and/or radiotherapy treatment with her cancer nurse next week.  I hope she will accept something to help her.  Her daughter told me she is finding it very difficult to accept her mum's refusal to have any treatment thus far, but says she just has to go along with it.  I do feel so sorry for her.

Lots of reminiscing and lots of veg (too much!)

 It is lovely seeing SiL and niece, out of all husband's many siblings (he's one of 10) P is probably the one I have always got on best with.  It's certainly very bittersweet though - P is 18 months younger than my husband but now looks about 10 years older because of her illness, she's also extremely breathless and gets exhausted walking just a few paces, they've brought her wheelchair.  She's very down to earth and practical, she says she doesn't want anyone getting upset in front of her, in her own words she's had her life and is happy to meet her maker.  Her daughter E, however, is devastated - SiL had 3 children, 2 girls and a boy, E being the youngest - the eldest daughter and son both died in tragic circumstances (separately) as young adults.  Understandably, E is heartbroken at the thought of now losing her mother so soon, even earlier since SiL has thus far been refusing treatment.  However, due to E being so upset, SiL has now agreed to go over the treatment options again with her Macmillan nurse when they get back home - she's not promising to have treatment but will give it some more thought.  At the end of the day, it's her body and her decision, of course, but I for one do feel she should really take her daughter's feelings into account.

They've gone on the steam train this morning for a little jaunt out, so we've got time by ourselves before they come to join us this afternoon.  We had fish and chips on the seafront on Monday evening, lunch out yesterday, then a drive round to show them the sights before coming back to ours for dinner.  We've sat in the (wonderfully peaceful!) garden a few times, lots of reminiscing and laughter.  I'm doing a light dinner again this evening (P doesn't eat much now) and then they're coming to us for coffee and cake (I've just made an apple and cinnamon cake) tomorrow morning before they go home.

We're hoping they'll take some home grown veggies with them tomorrow, we are now inundated with veg:-

These French beans are just this morning's pickings which husband brought in and dumped on the table, he's been bringing in similar amounts every other day.  I have blanched and frozen a lot and he's given some away to neighbours, but it's getting to the stage where I am heartily sick of the sight of so much veg - and mostly the work involved in dealing with them.  He's also brought in around a dozen mini cucumbers......although some of them definitely aren't mini, they're more like very fat large courgettes.  Plus of course a ton of courgettes, we get several of them every day.  Next year I am putting my foot down about the amount of veg he grows - it's ridiculous, there's only the two of us and he grows enough to feed a small army - all well and good but I'm the one who has to deal with it all.  Some of our neighbours grow their own as well (our next door neighbours have an allotment and are themselves overrun with veg and keep trying to foist some on us!), so they don't always want much.  Now he's informed me there are dozens of beetroot and loads and loads of carrots ready to come in.  I'll be buried under a hillock of veg at this rate.  I know I shouldn't complain, I'm grateful to have a surplus of fresh food.....but I have enough to do as it is, without the added pressure of a ton of veg that needs dealing with pretty quickly before it goes off in this heat.

It is what it is

 There are times when I wish things could be different, that our lives could be different.  But they're not, it is what it is and wishing doesn't get us anywhere, so I just have to yank my big girl's pants up and get on with things.  Bearing in mind that the majority of our visitors (and we've had quite a lot in the 2.5 years we've lived here) are husband's relatives, not mine, it would be nice if he helped more with the planning, preparation and work.  But he doesn't, he does very little unless I specifically ask him to, and then I have to be very precise about exactly what I want him to do.  So I'm pretty much worn out and stressed by the time the visitors arrive, and this happens every time.  And now, this morning, he's thrown a curve ball and wants to change the plans I'd made.... having asked him last week what he'd like to do and him having shrugged and said he didn't mind, so leaving it all up to me in other words, as is usual.  Sometimes I would just love it if someone else took charge for a change.  Dream on girl, that's never gonna happen.

I feel a bit tearful this morning actually, it's going to be bittersweet seeing husband's sister and niece, with the knowledge that we probably won't see them again after this.  And it makes me sad that I'm not able to see more of my family.

As SiL continues to smoke, despite her lung cancer, we'll be sitting in the garden a lot, so it's a blessing that it's cooler now but still dry and warm.

Making memories for husband's terminally ill sister

 It's definitely cooler today, thank goodness, I don't think I could have stood even one more day of that heat.  I had a terrible night, worst one for ages, it was hot and humid and I was in so much pain with my shoulders and neck, had to take more painkillers in the middle of the night which is practically unheard of for me.  It's my own fault - I've been doing quite a bit of crocheting recently, although have only been able to do a couple of rows at a time before my hands get all hot and sweaty, even with my bedroom fan on.  I've done the back of the cardigan for me and had done about 2/3 of one of the fronts, I really wanted to get that finished before bedtime last night so kept going on it until I'd completed it.  I guess there was a bit of tension in my shoulders too as I was desperate to finish it, which didn't help my painful shoulder.  I certainly paid the price last night, my shoulders were absolute agony, no position was comfortable.  I got up and sat in my recliner chair for an hour, which wasn't that comfortable either (it's still too firm, hasn't softened up yet), then went in the lounge and sat in husband's new recliner - much softer.  Went back to bed around 3.30 am and finally got off to sleep.  I think I'll give crocheting a miss for a day or two, my shoulders need a rest.

We now have a brand new shower, thanks to the plumber yesterday who was very nice and helpful, it's got a bigger shower head than our previous one.  This morning, just before I got in the shower, husband proceeded to give me a tutorial on how to use it - as if I didn't know!  This new one is less complicated than the old one (which wasn't really complicated anyway), I think even a child could do it without help.  I just gritted my teeth then said "Thank you dear".  It was absolutely fine, no problems.

I've done a new menu plan and written a little shopping list for Monday morning, husband's sister and niece should be arriving mid afternoon.  I'll make scones in the morning for us to have when they arrive.  I'm planning on a quiche and salad for dinner.....if SiL is too tired to stay with us for the evening (as she may well be, it's a 3.5 hour journey and even though she's not driving, it'll probably tire her out), then I could pack up some quiche and salad in a cool bag for them to take back to their hotel room.

She likes going to cafes and tea rooms, so that's the plan for Tuesday and Wednesday - lunches in two of our favourite tea rooms, where P can have just coffee and cake if that's all she wants.  Picky bits buffets back at our place in the evening, so P doesn't feel pressurised to eat a full dinner (and I don't have to cook one!).  If she's up to it, we'll take her for short drives up on Exmoor and to the seafront, so she can sit in the car and enjoy the scenery.  We'd both like to make this short break a happy memorable one for her if we can, we'll take things at her pace and do whatever she wants.

Bring back winter 😉😜

 Our local weather app says it's currently 22 deg here, feeling like 23.  Well, I've just been putting the washing out in our sun trap of a garden and I would say it's at least 30, there's no breeze to mitigate it.  I'm so done with this heat now.

Husband spoke to his sister yesterday, he said she was so breathless she sounded like an old man who'd smoked 50 a day all his life.  So we won't be doing much, if any, walking whilst they're here.  She also said she's not got much of an appetite and eats mostly sweet things, so I'm rethinking my menu plans.  Although she's apparently been given a prognosis of 5 years - with treatment, which she's refusing to have - it doesn't sound like she'll last anywhere near that long, sadly.  Life's a bitch at times, isn't it?  😔

Just had a phone call from our landlord's plumber, he says he's got a cancellation this morning so can come to fix our shower - thank goodness.  It keeps switching itself off more and more the past few days, and we really need a working shower in this weather!

Happy Introvert, it's the same here, work isn't supposed to start until 8 am, but the builders next door have flouted that on numerous occasions.  And no I'm not going to report it.  As I've said several times before, it's not like it wakes us up, we're very early risers anyway, and I just think the earlier they start, hopefully the earlier they'll finish.  And it won't be going on forever, there will be an end to it and then peace will (hopefully) reign again once more.  I know I moan about the noise on here sometimes, but that's just my way of getting it off my chest.  No noise today, still no new builders appointed by the looks of things.

Nothing much being done today, the heat is draining me.

Very noisy again after the peace of the past fortnight

 Husband's chair is very comfortable, I can tell it would be lovely for a snooze when reclined.  My chair, whilst it's lovely to look at and makes me smile, isn't as immediately comfortable, it's currently quite firm - the leaflet that came with it said it will soften up after a week or two of sitting.....good excuse to sit in it more then!  The arms on my old recliner chair seemed quite high, making it feel like my shoulders were up around my ears, which wasn't very comfortable, particularly when I was crocheting.  The arms on the new one, however, are a bit lower and feel like they keep my arms in a more natural position.  I reclined it yesterday for half an hour, it's certainly comfy to relax in.

The lorry turned up next door at 06.45 this morning, to take away the latest small mountain of rubble that had accumulated before the builders were sacked.  They held off for 15 mins before they started work, although were stood outside my bedroom window with Mr X all having a loud and laughing conversation (why do men always seem to shout and hoot with laughter, do we all need to hear them?!).  Good job I was up and about!  They're still working the grabber thing putting loads of rubble into the lorry, very noisy.  We've not seen Mr X to talk to recently so have no idea if he's engaged another firm of builders yet, there's certainly no work been done on the barn for the past fortnight, which has meant it's been blissfully peaceful.

Husband's sister and niece arrive on Monday, to stay in the Premier Inn for 4 days, so I need to get organised.  They'll be having breakfast at the hotel, we'll be having lunch out every day and I'll be providing the evening meal....as it's still going to be hot, I'll be doing something with salad every day, probably a frittata one day, maybe pizza or jacket spud with prawns another day.  Husband suggested we have fish and chips on the beach one day too - great idea.  I'll make some scones so we can have a cream tea on Monday when they arrive.

Off out to the tip this morning, then for a quick browse in town, getting home before lunch so we don't have to be out in the heat of the afternoon.

Chairs

 Our chairs came this morning, a day early.  Very pleased with both of them:-

Mine 🥰

And husband's.

He says he can sleep for hours in his chair, I said "You already do dear" 😂😂

The chairs, and a diagnosis/treatment

 Come Sunday, husband was backtracking over his offer to buy me the recliner chair - he's still ordering one for himself, but said he'd rather wait till the end of the year to get one for me.  The thought of spending so much money in one go was making him break out in a cold sweat....daft, it's not like he can't afford it - he certainly can.  I said I'd rather not wait till then and there wasn't any good reason why he couldn't get it now, but said if it made him feel better I was willing to pay some money towards it.  He rapidly agreed, I transferred the money to his account and offered to place the order for him.  Both chairs are ordered and will be delivered on Thursday 😁

Yesterday morning was lovely, still sunny and warm but with a brisk cooling breeze, so it felt nice and fresh and just pleasantly warm rather than blisteringly hot and humid.  The breeze dropped a bit in the afternoon though so it was back to being hot, and then by the evening it was sticky and humid again.  Hayley, my cleaner, made me laugh - she said she'd stayed up to watch the England match in the early hours of the morning the other night....not because she likes football, but because it was so hot she couldn't bear the thought of going upstairs to try and sleep in her sauna of a bedroom!  😂  How anyone can play sports in boiling hot weather I don't know.

The shower stopped a couple of times whilst husband was showering a couple of days ago - and no it wasn't me turning taps on, there was no other water running.  It's also stopped again whilst I've been showering, but this morning it was fine, so it seems like it's actually an intermittent fault.  I've reported it to the repairs team, they texted with an appointment for a plumber to come.....on the 10th August.  So I guess we'll just have to put up with it until then - bit of a first world problem though, I'm very glad we are privileged enough to have a shower!

I went to physio this morning to get the results of my shoulder x-ray.  It shows I have OA in my collarbone, and something called calcific tendonitis in the same shoulder.  Not heard of it before, but Daisy the physiotherapist said that it's one of the most painful shoulder conditions.....erm yes!  She's recommended steroid injections, the first of which I'll have in 6 weeks time.  Apparently, the condition should eventually clear up by itself, the injections should help with the pain - according to Daisy, the calcific deposits break down and are reabsorbed into the body, which can be even more painful (nice to know!).  In the meantime she's recommended regular cold compresses on my shoulder, 2 or 3 times a day, which she said should help reduce the inflammation.  I'm pleased I've finally got a proper diagnosis and some treatment lined up.

A beetroot football

 Yesterday afternoon turned out to be just as hot as the preceding days, Betty and I were both limp rags.  I don't know about you, but this weather just tires me out so much, even though I'm not doing anything strenuous - or anything much at all, to be honest.  I guess it's also a case of being tired during the day because I'm not sleeping well, both Betty and I are restless and uncomfortable during the night, due to the heat.  It is a bit cooler this morning, due to there being more of a breeze - it felt so lovely first thing when I went round opening all the windows wider - I've kept them open a little the past few nights.  I don't much like having windows open at night in a bungalow, although I'm quite sure Betty would raise the alarm if anyone tried to get in.  

I've just checked the forecast for the coming week - temperatures here are still forecast to be in the 30s until Friday, when it drops(!!) to 27.  I'll be a dripping wreck by then.

I asked husband this morning to get some veg in - I actually ask him at least every other day, I specifically told him this year I do not want marrows so he'd better make sure he picks the courgettes before they get to that size, which he has done, apart from a couple that he'd missed and were on their way to being marrow sized.  We've had several bags of new potatoes, which are lovely - husband complains because they're not jacket potato sized....well they're not supposed to be, they're first and second earlies and are just the right size for boiled new potatoes or potato salads.  We've also had a few carrots - again small sized but that's fine by me, and one picking of beetroot, enough for 2 meals for us both.  He's been saying up to yesterday that our French beans weren't ready - well I had a quick look yesterday and saw loads of a perfect size for eating now.  The trouble is, he sows so many seeds and so thickly that everything grows all clumped together in massed bushes, so he can't see much because he doesn't look past the end of his nose - if something isn't right in front of his face, he can't see it.  This morning he brought in a bowlful of new potatoes, half a dozen small carrots and 4 golf ball sized beets, I suggested he go and look for more carrots and beets.  He's just come back in with another half dozen carrots....and the most ginormous beetroot, small football sized, and he says there are more that size!  Oh and he also, having looked properly, came in with a bowlful of French beans, enough for about 6 meals for the two of us.  Oh and about a dozen courgettes.  I intend to roast a large trayful of the root veggies, some for dinner this evening and more to have cold as salads for the next few days.

I should mention that the reason husband remembered which recliner chair I'd said I liked is because it's a very distinctive colour and pattern:-

This isn't quite the same as the one we saw in the shop a couple of years ago, but it's very similar, my bedroom has purple coloured furnishings, a plain grey carpet and cream walls, so it will be a lovely splash of colour.  Husband's also intending to order one for himself - in plain grey, I might add!  

My cleaner comes tomorrow, I've got physio on Tuesday when I should find out the results of the shoulder x-ray I had, which will be interesting.  Then on Wednesday we'll be going to collect our new glasses.....I don't think there's any danger of husband blurting out anything else embarrassing - but one never knows with him!

A bit cooler thank goodness, and a surprise

 Thankfully it's a couple of degrees cooler today - still too hot though, especially for Betty and I.  She's been moping around, moving from place to place indoors to find a cooler spot, for the past few days.  We have the fans going, windows and door open, curtains closed, we renew her cold water every couple of hours, we put her cold mat in the fridge a couple of times a day.  She sleeps a lot.  She had a sudden burst of energy this morning, woofing and throwing her toys around, it only lasted a couple of minutes though.  Bless her, it must be awful wearing a thick fur coat.  She's now asleep on my bed.

When husband has done something he knows is out of order or has upset me, he broods about it for a few days.  He doesn't apologise, that's not his way, he almost never says sorry for anything.  What he does do though is try to make amends by buying me something or offering to take me out somewhere, for a meal usually - although he only ever suggests Wetherspoons or Brewers Fayre, neither of which I like very much.  I'd rather go to a tea room, or a smart cafe with a nice view....after 45 years together you'd think he would know that 😂😒.  I know it's a gesture on his part to show he's sorry, but there's really no need to go to those lengths - I'd rather he just apologised, I have told him that in the past.

Anyhow, he's clearly been thinking about me telling him the other day that his so-called joke at the opticians could have had serious consequences, and has realised he was silly to say it - not only was it a stupid thing to say, it was also very hurtful as it's simply not true.  So this morning he's offered to buy me a new recliner chair for my bedroom!  The one I have was bought secondhand, I'm not too keen on the colour or style (it's a bit old-fashioned for my taste), it's a manual recliner and the mechanism is extremely stiff, I find it very difficult to push it into the reclining position.  Husband showed me a picture of one on the internet - amazingly (because we have very different tastes) it's just lovely and is exactly what I would choose for myself - we did actually see the same one in a furniture shop a couple of years ago and husband, somewhat surprisingly given his memory problems, has clearly remembered me saying I really liked it.  So I've accepted with grateful thanks.

We're not going to the big boot sale this afternoon, even though it's a bit cooler it's still too hot, not going to the village fete this morning either, for the same reason.

It's not easy

 I tried gently explaining to husband yesterday that his actions could have consequences - I know he's joking when he says things, but people who don't know us have no idea whether he's joking or serious.  He did his usual childish response of blowing a raspberry at me, sneering and walked out of the room before I'd even finished speaking.  I'm finding it quite difficult to cope with the problems he throws up at the moment, and it will only get worse.  It's even more difficult right now because we're stuck inside due to the heat, it's too hot to sit outside in our (now peaceful!) garden and we don't want to go out anywhere in the car unless it's absolutely necessary.  It's hot from the get go this morning, already 25 deg with no wind.

I'm a bit worried about our week's holiday....a week is a long time to spend in an unfamiliar place with someone who has challenging behaviour.  I need a break and a change of scenery though.  I'll just have to grit my teeth and do my utmost to avoid confrontations, going out for a walk if I need some alone time.  I'll take a couple of books and some crochet to keep me occupied, husband will have the TV and I'll get him a few DVDs to take with us.  I'll be doing minimal cooking, just quick easy meals.

Our garden is suffering, husband is (quite rightly) concentrating on keeping the growing veggies watered, lots of the flowering plants are looking scorched and droopy and aren't flowering like they should be.  Ah well, hopefully they'll recover when the weather gets a bit cooler.  

A joke is only a joke when it's funny!

 We both need new glasses, following our eye tests yesterday.  Husband's 2 pairs only cost £30!  He's lucky in that virtually any kind of frames suit his face.....also he doesn't really care what they look like so it doesn't matter to him.  I'm definitely more fussy, some frames just don't suit my face shape, I'm not very keen on metal frames, the colour of the frames matters to me as well as frame shape and size - I'm of the view that I have to like my glasses, or I simply won't wear them.  So mine were £220 - but that's for 4 pairs (buy one get one free), 2 each of distance and close vision - I don't get on at all with bi- or varifocals.  So I actually think the price is quite reasonable.

When we came out of there, husband accused me of having zero sense of humour anymore - he's said that a few times now.  I guess the reason I rarely laugh at his 'jokes' anymore is partly because I've heard them all before, a thousand times, and after the 950th time the novelty wears off.  But nowadays quite often his so-called humour is anything but, frequently it's downright inappropriate or just plain silly.  An example - I went in for my eye test first, on my own......I stayed in the room for husband's tests though, as he sometimes needs help with answering questions.....e.g. the optician asked him how long he's had diabetic background retinopathy, husband said airily "oh years and years".  Erm no, he was first told about it just 2 years ago.  He also couldn't remember the name of the newest medication he's been prescribed, nor what it was for.  Anyway, husband has a couple of small fingertip sized bruises on his forearm, they look something like blood blisters under his skin, the optician commented on them.  Straight away husband replied, gesturing to me, "She did that, she's always hitting me!".  The optician immediately turned to me, with a querying look on his face....."He's kidding, they're caused by his heart meds" I said.  "Ah ok, that's more likely!" he replied with a smile.  I just glared at husband.  Sometimes I wish his mouth came with a zip.

He's gone on the free shoppers bus to Bridgwater again today, his choice.  Once again I get to enjoy the peace....on the subject of which, it's really noticeable just how peaceful it is around here again, now that the builders are no longer here.  We've not seen neighbour Mr X for a couple of days, so no idea whether he's looking around for more builders.  It would be a shame if the old barn, which is now in a partly demolished and sorry looking state, is just left to go to rack and ruin, it was actually a fine looking old building before they started mucking about with it.

Nothing planned for the next few days, just keeping out of the sun, windows wide open and curtains closed on the sunny sides, plenty of cold drinks, the fans going and salads for dinner.  Betty mostly sleeps in the hot weather - on my bed or on her cool mat in the lounge, only briefly going in the garden for a wee.  She gets a brief walk early in the morning and again mid evening....at her age she's not really a fan of long walks now anyway.

Well that's nice

 So now we know.  Neighbour Mr X told husband yesterday he's sacked his builders, he was very annoyed with the lack of progress, carelessness and unprofessionalism.  He's said he will be looking for new builders but will leave the work as it is for a while, to give himself a break and time to work out what he wants to do next.  So it looks like we'll be having a peaceful few weeks after all, which will be nice.  We'll be able to sit in and enjoy our garden, imagine that! 😁.  Although I won't be doing much sitting out there for the next few days, it'll be too blimmin hot 😂

Peace, ranting, then more peace and nature

 Yesterday was the quietest Monday we've had in ages, hardly any movement around here all day and no builders next door.  No builders again today, for the 4th day in a row (they've generally been working Saturday mornings as well as Mon-Fri up till now).  So it looks as if either neighbour Mr X has dispensed with their services, or they've refused to carry on with the job....possibly, we don't know.  It'll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow, Mr X and his brother generally have Wednesdays off work so they can do labouring work for the builders.  If the builders aren't coming back, I wonder what will happen now?  Will the project be abandoned, or will Mr X try to get another firm of builders in at short notice?

Problem relative was ranting (and I do mean ranting) early this morning on our WhatsApp group about some load of conspiracy theory nonsense, when I read his first words of "You all need to hear this...." I thought - well, no we don't actually, and muted him.  I've just unmuted him and he's still going off on one so back to mute it is.  The problem is, he lives alone, is agoraphobic, paranoid and lives his life scouring the internet all the time, virtually 24/7.  He refuses all offers of help and has been extremely rude to mental health and social care workers in the past, so is his own worst enemy.  We've had several months of relative calm and quiet from him, so a blow up was bound to be imminent.  It'll pass over soon enough I expect, it usually does.

Meanwhile, we had a drive out this morning to another tea room we hadn't visited before, in a little village which has a pretty river running through it:-

Shallow but very clear, with a lovely old stone bridge across.  The journey there was longer than we thought it might be, took about 40 mins on narrow twisty roads in places, and quite steep in some areas so our poor old car was struggling a bit.  It was worth it though, we sat outside the tea room on benches with sunshades (welcome as the sun was very strong).  I had a (very naughty) slice of rum, raisin and pineapple cake which was delicious.  I was a bit disappointed with my latte - the taste was fine, the trouble was it was at least 50% froth so not much actual coffee to drink.  It was nice sitting on a bench watching the river flow though, with some grey wagtails bobbing up and down.  We might go there again if we're in the area for some reason, but probably wouldn't make a special trip to go back.

Eye tests for both of us tomorrow, nothing else planned for this week, thankfully as it's getting very hot again.

Peaceful Monday

 Well, this morning there are no builders next door, of course they may have taken the day off or be coming in later, due to watching the football last night.  Or they may have resigned following the almighty great row the other day!!  Whatever, we're enjoying the peace.

Actually, it's a lot quieter generally around here this morning - not that there's normally much noise anyway, apart from the building work.  There's less traffic and people, seems like most people here stayed up to watch England win - everyone except us 😂

I'll be glad of some respite from sport for a while, husband was watching some sport or other pretty much all day yesterday.  Each to their own of course, but it bores me rigid.

Since cutting back drastically on carbs over the past week, I'm pleased to say this morning that I've lost the few pounds I'd put on through eating too many carbs.  I'm making a seeded GF soda bread today, but will slice and freeze it when cool, my intention is to have just one slice perhaps every other day.  Hot weather again all this coming week, so back to salads most days.  We had a roast dinner yesterday, including our first home grown beetroot and carrots, along with the (ever present) courgettes, I roasted all the veggies.  Whilst it all tasted very nice, I wasn't really that hungry because of the warm weather so left some of mine - husband finished it off.  When it's hot weather, I prefer roasted veggies cold with mayo or a lemony herb dressing, with a sprinkle of grated cheese - favourite hot weather dinner meal for me.  I also like a wedge of room temperature tortilla with salad.

We had a nice morning yesterday, went to Blue Anchor for a long walk up and down the promenade, finishing up with an iced latte (tea for husband) and toasted teacake, we shared one as they are very big.  It was warm but there was quite a strong breeze, it would have been too hot without the breeze.

We've both got optician appointments on Wednesday, I'm fully expecting to have to have new glasses, especially reading ones, my close up sight in my right eye is getting much more blurry.

And we thought it was quiet round here

 We've been out this morning to the food & drink festival along the seafront - not very interesting actually and we didn't buy anything, we won't go again (they hold them regularly).  It's quite hot, very windy and humid again now, so I didn't fancy staying out long anyway.  Husband asked if I wanted to go to the big boot sale this afternoon, I said no but he's welcome to go if he wants....I think it depends what sports are on TV!

Yesterday evening neighbour Mr X and his chief builder had a massive row in the garden, about a foot away from our fence.  Ironically, I didn't hear it but husband heard some of it, he said there was much shouting and swearing and the gist of it seemed to be that Mr X was accusing the builders of working too slow and not keeping to schedule.  I know nothing about building work, and especially on ancient stone buildings, but it does seem as if little progress has been made as yet.  Apparently (so Mr X shouted), he'd arranged for another trade to come today and do a particular bit of work, at a cost of £900, which couldn't now go ahead as the appropriate prep work hadn't been done by the builders.  He was livid - having an aggressive foul mouthed argument with your builder doesn't seem a good way of resolving things though, does it?  Who knows what'll happen now?  Mr X, we've noticed in the past, has a very short temper and is prone to shouty fits of rage if someone upsets him - another reason why we don't want to make any complaints!

Seems like there's nothing but sport on TV today - tennis, rugby, F1 and cricket, which means husband will be glued to the TV all day....at least it keeps him occupied, I won't say quiet as he keeps up a running commentary on whichever sport he's watching 😒  Well, I'm going to be sitting in my bedroom comfy chair this afternoon, doing some crocheting, I'll shut the door and have my radio on.  Thankfully, there's no building noise from next door after last night's shouting match!

We finally got confirmation through yesterday that the POA for finance is now registered and in place - boy, that took a long time, about 3 months.  Just awaiting the health one now, having had to redo it because of a silly error I made.  

Another week of warm sunshine and no rain forecast, not as hot as a couple of weeks ago, thankfully.  It's very nice of course but does mean we'll have to do a lot of garden watering.

A tiny bit of progress

 Husband's key worker rang yesterday, it was quite an interesting conversation.  She initially asks how we both are, how we're coping and if there are any new problems.  She then asked husband how his short term memory is right now.....he answered that it's fine, no problems!  So I said no it isn't, it's terrible, he's in denial about it just as he is about a lot of things.  She asked what else I thought he was in denial about, I answered well for a start he drives too fast and refuses to admit it.....although I can't see the speedo from my seat, I'm not stupid, I can tell when he's speeding.  The other day we were going somewhere we hadn't been before (the scanner place in Taunton where husband was having his brain scan) so I switched on the satnav on my phone, which also shows the speed we're travelling at.  Surprise, surprise - husband was speeding on several occasions, I showed him on my phone so he had to accept it, which he wasn't pleased about.  He then brushed it off as 'only' being a few miles over the limit, as if the rules don't apply to him.  I also said he often refuses to accept things I'm saying - e.g. the shower stopping because he starts running the taps in the kitchen (incidentally, it's happened twice more this week 😒).  Because he insists that it 'can't' or 'shouldn't' happen, he refuses to believe me, as if I'm telling lies.  He's pointed out that it never happens when he's having a shower.....well no dear, that's because I make a point of not running the taps whilst he's in the shower!  Perhaps I should....he can't deny it then!

I asked about husband's brain scan results - they're not in yet, the key worker said they don't generally even tell the patient about the results.  Why not?  I asked, we (or at least I) would like to know!  After all, it has a bearing on husband's mental abilities and should make any diagnosis a bit clearer.  She said she's not comfortable herself with withholding information from the patient or their carer, so said she would try and find a way to let us know the results - without getting herself into trouble.  As for the backlog/waiting list of appointments for the further in depth cognitive testing - she said realistically it's likely to be December before we get an appointment 😡.  So I said that's a pity, because if it turns out husband does have some form of dementia, we're missing out on him possibly getting medication for it for months to come.  I know not all forms of dementia can be treated with medication but some can, the meds either help with symptoms or help to slow the advancement.  Well, it turns out that husband is unlikely to be prescribed any medication for it anyway, because the current meds slow the heart rate down and lower BP - neither of which would be suitable in husband's case due to his heart failure.  So that was a bit of a blow.  It seems it would be a case of helping to manage the symptoms in other ways, e.g. by having physical or memory aids, or encouraging the patient to attend day centres.  Well, I know for certain husband won't attend any day centres, he views it as sitting with a load of bonkers old people - and he doesn't class himself as one of them!  To be fair, I don't think he's at that stage either.  I did actually visit a local ForgetMeNot day centre just to see what it was like - I went on my own, to check it out first.  There were about a dozen elderly women, mostly quite a bit older than husband, and just 2 men, they all had carers or relatives with them.  They were all sitting round tables facing each other in a circle, having a sing song of Vera Lynn type songs - husband would have absolutely hated it.

The keyworker did, however, suggest she refers him to the local Alzheimer's Society representative, who will come and see us at home.  Ok, husband's not been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, or any other form of dementia, as yet, but she said they are very good at helping people with memory problems, suggesting ways to cope, signposting to other local organisations who could help in other ways - and they help the carers too.  Yes please, I said.

So at the moment there's a little advancement, but still a lot of waiting!

A peaceful day - hopefully

 The Blogger problems seem to be getting worse, I've had several regular readers emailing me to say they haven't seen any posts from me recently.  I do post most days but, as seems to be a regular occurrence lately, they don't appear on the reading list until hours or even days later.  Ho hum.  

Husband has gone on the free shoppers bus to Bridgwater, so I have 4 or 5 hours to myself at home - lovely.  I did briefly consider going with him, but it's too long to leave Betty on her own nowadays.  I'm not doing much, just sitting in my bedroom chair crocheting and reading, with the radio on my favourite station, Greatest Hits.  I've been feeling quite tired recently, so a day of rest - peaceful rest at that - is just what I need.  I'm going to try and get the shades of purple warm cardi I started a few weeks ago finished in time for our holiday, I may even start another one, I could do with a plain navy one.  If I don't finish that, I'll take it with me.

I've just bought the final 3 of Jilly Cooper's Rutshire Chronicles series of books, I've read all the previous 8 but not the last 3 published, in fact I didn't even realise she'd written more.  I'll save them to take away with me, they're long books (she generally writes about 6-800 pages) so will have plenty of reading matter.

I'm not doing a load of food shopping and cooking before we go, we'll just take enough food for the first couple of days - there are supermarkets not far away so we'll go shopping once we're there.

There's not a great amount of noise next door (so far) today - it's not continuous and ear piercing like it was yesterday, just intermittent.  There only seems to be 2 builders there, so a lot less shouting too.  Our next door neighbours, whose garden also backs onto the building site, were also complaining about the noise to us yesterday evening, they had visitors and said it was impossible to sit in their garden, which they'd normally do, because of the racket going on.  

Driven out by the noise

 Having said yesterday that I thought I was getting used to the noise, today it's been bloody awful, a digger thing going all day building up yet another mountain of rubble to be taken away, plus the terrible whine of a powerful electric circular saw cutting up a load of stones.  And then there's the 4 or 5 builders (including Mr X and his brother) all yelling at each other to be heard above the terrible racket.  Ironically, a couple of them are wearing ear defenders - I think we need them more than the builders, at least they're used to all the noise!  At this rate they'll be ruining our entire summer, there's no way we can sit out in the garden with all that racket going on.  We were forced out this afternoon to get a break from the noise, went to Blue Anchor for the  boot sale, we were going to have a walk along the prom as well but, although it was sunny, it was extremely windy there.  They've knocked off now and are going home by the looks of things - early finish since they started at 07.30 this morning.

At least I got a bargain at the boot sale - a large brand new dog bed, Betty's asleep in it already.  The lady bought it for her dog who apparently refused to get in it 😂.  She only wanted £20 for it, they retail at £69.99!

Also got a lovely fleece blanket, also new and with the shop sales ticket still attached, just £2 - I'll put it in her bed in the winter, as an extra layer of warmth for her.  Pampered - much?! 😂😉

It's turning back into salad weather again, lovely, I do like a salad.

Annabeth, that bakery used to do special offers on 'pasty of the day', we had them several times.  Hopefully they still do!  And Scarlet, the cathedral is spectacular isn't it, I'm always in awe of how the workers centuries ago managed to build it, and so beautifully.  I see they now charge an admission price of £14 each (and that's a special offer for summer, normally £15.50), used to be just a donation.  I think it's a bit of a cheek charging admission for what is essentially a place of worship.....although, to be fair, it is beautiful and must cost so much for the upkeep, especially with 1000s of visitors.