Here we go again...plus soup making and husband's latest obsession

 The day has started with husband having the runs again and Betty being sick, it's the first time in a fortnight she's thrown up but it wasn't much and she seems fine, not moping around looking sorry for herself so I don't think it's anything to worry about.  As for husband, well the locum GP we saw 3 or 4 weeks ago reckons husband probably has some sort of diverticular thing - again, it's the first time he's had the runs in a couple of weeks and appears fine otherwise.  He's already had breakfast....I did suggest it might be better if he held off eating until around lunchtime, but no he was hungry and wanted toast.  Up to him.  I'm not giving Betty anything to eat until later on though, as per the vet's suggestion (I do at least take notice of what I'm told and follow the advice, unlike my other half!).

With food prices rising all the time and having regard to what we've got in the freezer (which is currently full to bursting, partly as a result of all the food and bone broth I've made for Betty), I've decided we'll have a homemade soup and sandwich evening meal a couple of times a week.  I've got several bags of home grown tomatoes and courgettes in the freezer, a basketful of shallots in the car port and husband pulled up the last of the carrots yesterday, looking at them it's probably at least a couple of kilos.  So lots of possibilities for soups there - tomato and lentil, courgette and blue cheese, carrot and cumin for a start.  Actually, today we're having soup, not any of the above though.....smoked haddock chowder, which is one of my favourites, I have half a tin of sweetcorn in the fridge and some small new potatoes which are going a bit soft and need using, along with a single frozen smallish piece of smoked haddock.  Yum.

I've got an ingrowing toenail which is sore and needs sorting, no point going to the GP as he'll only refer me to NHS podiatry which will take months and months (husband is still waiting for his referral appointment for his painful foot, after several months).  I've messaged 3 local private podiatrists - one said she can't fit me in until the end of October and suggested I ask my GP for a referral - ha!!  The other 2 haven't yet got back to me, I hope they do soon.  Everything health related takes a blimmin age to get sorted nowadays - even just to be seen.

Husband bought himself (well, ordered off his favourite internet auction site) 3 sets of metal standing shelf units, the sort that look like meccano which you have to put together yourself.  They're for his shed, which was full and untidy and we've not even lived here 3 years yet.  He spent the weekend trying to construct these shelves....I just left him to it, getting him drinks and suggesting he takes breaks every so often - there was a lot of swearing and loud banging noises coming from the car port.  He's managed to finish just one, he had to take it apart at one point because he'd done a bit wrong which meant the rest of it wouldn't fit together properly.  He started a second one late yesterday afternoon but was getting more irate and frustrated by the minute, so I gently suggested he call it a day and resume today.  I expect I'll have to help him today or he'll never get them finished.  And meanwhile the car port is full of all the junk he pulled out of his shed - he assures me it'll be cleared once the shelves are in place.  Might be a good time to sort it out and take all the useless, broken or unwanted junk to the tip!  He's such a hoarder of stuff which he claims might come in useful at some point....the reality is it never does, it just clutters up his shed and spills out into the car port.