Thank you for all the comments, my back is considerably better today (just as well as I now have toothache...honestly, if it's not one thing it's another. It's not too bad though and I already have a check up appointment for next month, so will wait till then).
Wherethejourneytakesme, I've never heard of Somatics...I looked it up on youtube, so it's a sort of yoga. Looks interesting, I'll have a go when I get some time to myself. Osteo and chiro are just too expensive when we have little money now, and the wait for non-urgent physio appointments is too long - by the time I got an appointment I probably wouldn't have a problem. Sorry some of you are suffering too - it's so debilitating isn't it, and pain and lack of sleep make you crotchety. Well, it does me. There's always something, isn't there, as we get older - we really take our healthy young years for granted!
There's one good thing about feeling unwell, for whatever reason, though - when you feel better it's such an enormous relief and you really feel how great it is to be alive. And our problems are minor compared to lots of other people.
I'm spending a lot of time in the kitchen today (just for a change, lol) - details on my food blog. Just sat down to have a break with a cuppa and catch up on blog reading, then start my shopping list for the weekend. I did think of a couple of things I need this morning when I got up....of course I've forgotten now what they were, I really need to have a notepad and pen on a string around my neck, I think. Duh.
Mum's very poorly again, I do feel for her. She was too unwell to talk much on Sunday, but said again she's fed up with being ill and wishes she just didn't wake up in the morning. She's still waiting for an appointment with the consultant to find out the CT scan results, everything up there just takes so long.
I've got blood tests this week, followed by an appointment next week with the diabetes nurse, to review how I'm doing on my new diabetes med I started last November. I know it's making me wee a lot! That reminds me, I'm supposed to take a week's worth of BP and blood glucose readings with me to the appointment, better start doing them today!
Tuesday, 19 February 2019
Monday, 18 February 2019
Not so ouchy
Thank you for comments, my back is much better today, getting out for a short walk in the morning and again in the afternoon (even if it was just around the supermarket) helped a lot. Walking does hurt, but is infinitely better than just sitting down all day - the walking loosens everything up, whereas sitting makes me more fixed and ultimately much more sore.
Wherethejourneytakesme asked if it's a condition that comes and goes - yes. I had a slipped disc in my lower back when I was 19 (I did it playing tennis with a friend....see, sports are dangerous, hence why I never do them hahaha!), I've had lower back trouble on and off ever since. I've had numerous courses of physiotherapy, osteopathy and chiropractic over the years, both NHS and private, even tried acupuncture and yoga. They all work to ease the condition at the time, but of course it comes back again when I forget to bend correctly, or stand in one position too long, or reach up to grab something...or it just happens for no particular reason! I do have long periods when I'm pain free, although they tend to be shorter as I get older.
Normally, ibuprofen and paracetamol take care of it, but if it's particularly bad or shows no signs of going, then I have anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants from the GP. Fortunately, I haven't needed them this time.
Today I'm doing a freezer and larder inventory - I'll stand on a small footstool for the higher shelves and sit on a chair for the lower, so I don't have to reach up or bend down. There are some spaces appearing in the freezer....if I rearranged it all (which I won't be doing right now!) I reckon I'd have 2 empty drawers in the tall freezer. Then I'll do a menu plan for the week and shopping list, again I don't think we'll need much.
Wherethejourneytakesme asked if it's a condition that comes and goes - yes. I had a slipped disc in my lower back when I was 19 (I did it playing tennis with a friend....see, sports are dangerous, hence why I never do them hahaha!), I've had lower back trouble on and off ever since. I've had numerous courses of physiotherapy, osteopathy and chiropractic over the years, both NHS and private, even tried acupuncture and yoga. They all work to ease the condition at the time, but of course it comes back again when I forget to bend correctly, or stand in one position too long, or reach up to grab something...or it just happens for no particular reason! I do have long periods when I'm pain free, although they tend to be shorter as I get older.
Normally, ibuprofen and paracetamol take care of it, but if it's particularly bad or shows no signs of going, then I have anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants from the GP. Fortunately, I haven't needed them this time.
Today I'm doing a freezer and larder inventory - I'll stand on a small footstool for the higher shelves and sit on a chair for the lower, so I don't have to reach up or bend down. There are some spaces appearing in the freezer....if I rearranged it all (which I won't be doing right now!) I reckon I'd have 2 empty drawers in the tall freezer. Then I'll do a menu plan for the week and shopping list, again I don't think we'll need much.
Sunday, 17 February 2019
A gentle walk
I didn't have a very good night, went to bed early as I was so knackered - several doses of painkillers making me feel zonked out, as much as anything else. And somehow the sheer amount of effort it takes to stand and walk, and the muscle spasming making me gasp, wears me out as well. Every time I turned over in bed, it gave me a jolt, eventually it was just too painful to go back to sleep so I got up early and went downstairs. But it's another sunny morning, albeit quite windy, so decided to get out for a short walk when I was washed and dressed (that in itself is a painful trial, just getting my knickers on seems virtually impossible!), to meet up with husband and dog on their way back from their walk. I managed to walk about 300 yards or so, stopping for a chat with a neighbour who was washing her car. Betty saw me coming and was so pleased to see me, straining at the leash and practically dragging husband towards me....she is so strong, for a medium size dog. Back home for breakfast (scrambled egg and leftover sliced sausages, cooked by husband) and my first dose of painkillers.
Husband wants to work in the garden today, so I'm going to have a go at cooking dinner. I might have to sit down to prep the veggies. We're having some of the faggots I made a week or 2 ago, so that's one thing done already.
Husband wants to work in the garden today, so I'm going to have a go at cooking dinner. I might have to sit down to prep the veggies. We're having some of the faggots I made a week or 2 ago, so that's one thing done already.
Saturday, 16 February 2019
Ouch
Crippled with backache today, it's been sending out twinges for the past few days but now it's full on agony - can't get comfortable sitting, standing, walking or lying down. Stomach muscles going into spasm, sciatica in my left bum cheek radiating down the back of my leg. Left knee feels like it's been forcibly twisted around, right hip agony (although that might be arthritis). Just shoot me now 😝
Couple of days dosed up with ibuprofen and paracetamol and doing nothing much and normal service should be resumed.
Couple of days dosed up with ibuprofen and paracetamol and doing nothing much and normal service should be resumed.
Friday, 15 February 2019
A mooch around the shops...by myself for once
It's been a perfect day today....bit of early morning mist that was soon burnt off by....sunshine! And warm sunshine at that, really Spring-like. I'm not under any illusions that Winter is over quite yet, though. Temperature when we were out earlier was 16 deg, amazing for this time of year.
Husband had to go to the dentist today, which is just off the town centre, so I got him to drop me off in town so I could have a browse round by myself. A rare luxury - as I don't drive and there's no public transport, the only way I can get to town is if he takes me, and then he's like a small boy, trailing round after me with a face like a wet week and hands in his pockets, constantly bleating 'are we done yet?'. Which means it's no fun for me and I feel rushed and get stressed, especially as he constantly exclaims at the price of everything. "HOW much??". He lives in the Dark Ages when it comes to prices. Grrr. I didn't buy anything except a nice purse (for overseas readers, we call the little zipped or clasped wallet you keep your money in a purse, whereas I think a purse to you means what we call a handbag). The purse is a little leopard skin one and cost £3 in a charity shop, it looks unused. But it was just lovely to browse around at my own pace without husband harassing me.
Our Valentine's dinner out last night was....mostly nice, I've written a review on my food blog. We enjoyed it anyway, it was a rare night out and our friends are good company.
Husband had to go to the dentist today, which is just off the town centre, so I got him to drop me off in town so I could have a browse round by myself. A rare luxury - as I don't drive and there's no public transport, the only way I can get to town is if he takes me, and then he's like a small boy, trailing round after me with a face like a wet week and hands in his pockets, constantly bleating 'are we done yet?'. Which means it's no fun for me and I feel rushed and get stressed, especially as he constantly exclaims at the price of everything. "HOW much??". He lives in the Dark Ages when it comes to prices. Grrr. I didn't buy anything except a nice purse (for overseas readers, we call the little zipped or clasped wallet you keep your money in a purse, whereas I think a purse to you means what we call a handbag). The purse is a little leopard skin one and cost £3 in a charity shop, it looks unused. But it was just lovely to browse around at my own pace without husband harassing me.
Our Valentine's dinner out last night was....mostly nice, I've written a review on my food blog. We enjoyed it anyway, it was a rare night out and our friends are good company.
Thursday, 14 February 2019
Veg and fruit growing
Joy asked what we're planning on growing this year.
Fruit wise we have 3 apple trees, all young so we haven't had loads of fruit yet....a cooker, Bountiful, and 2 eaters - Fiesta, and a Cox that was given to us last year. We also have 2 Conference pears and a Victoria plum. The plum tree is 5 or 6 years old, but has yet to give us any fruit - the last 2 years it's had a very few fruits on it early in the season, but they've dropped off before they matured. The tree looks very healthy, we have no idea why it's not fruited successfully yet. Husband has only pruned it lightly - unusually for him, he does have a tendency to hack huge bits off of things!
We also have quite a bit of soft fruit...lots of raspberries, 2 blueberries and 3 blackcurrants, plus lots of strawberries. We'll probably get some new strawberry plants this year, some of the present ones are several years old and a mixture of varieties, some producing only tiny and not very tasty fruits. We're getting rid of some of the raspberries, leaving only 3 canes - although we like to eat raspberries, they're thugs, they send out runners everywhere (they continually come up in the lawn) and grow so rapidly that they end up being a tall jungle and overshadow everything else in the fruit bed. Husband gets rid of some every year....not enough though! And it's too much work for him now.
As for veg, we're cutting back on the amount we grow this year, both in terms of type and quantity. There's just the two of us, but husband always grows enough to feed almost our entire hamlet, he ends up having the garden swamped with plants and produce and simply doesn't have enough time to look after it all, and then feels overwhelmed. And I get a bit fed up with having mountains of veg to deal with in late summer. Nice as it is to have plenty of home grown produce, there's only so much I can process, cook and store!
So we've made the decision not to grow any brassicas of any type this year...they get so infested with white butterflies and then eggs and caterpillars, of course, husband just can't manage to keep them covered well enough. And we don't do chemical control, at all. Nor are we growing onions - we had loads bolt last year, due to the weather, and in any case, onions are cheap enough to buy and I wouldn't say they're one of the veg that tastes miles better home grown. And no aubergines or sweet peppers this year either - they take so long to come to maturity here, it's usually the very end of the growing season before one or two start ripening and then there's not enough warm sunshine left to ripen the rest.
It is quite difficult to convince husband that he's getting older, he has a heart condition which is progressive, and he needs to take things a bit easier - sometimes he seems to think he's still in his prime, until he overdoes things and wipes himself out for a couple of days. There's also the fact that some of his heart medication (blood thinners, eg) means that he bleeds easily - he's quite clumsy and is always cutting himself, virtually every time he sets foot in the garden, it seems. I often say he really ought not to go outside unless he's wearing full body armour! But this year I am insisting, and making sure, that he doesn't go overboard and only grows what he can cope with easily.
So this year we're growing carrots, leeks, runner and French beans, peas, yellow and green courgettes, butternut squash and, new for us, asparagus. Charlotte and Rooster potatoes, which we grow in bags (they get eaten to death by slugs and eelworm in the ground here). In the greenhouse, tomatoes, cucumbers, salad crops and land cress. It's possible that one or two other things might creep in during the year!
Fruit wise we have 3 apple trees, all young so we haven't had loads of fruit yet....a cooker, Bountiful, and 2 eaters - Fiesta, and a Cox that was given to us last year. We also have 2 Conference pears and a Victoria plum. The plum tree is 5 or 6 years old, but has yet to give us any fruit - the last 2 years it's had a very few fruits on it early in the season, but they've dropped off before they matured. The tree looks very healthy, we have no idea why it's not fruited successfully yet. Husband has only pruned it lightly - unusually for him, he does have a tendency to hack huge bits off of things!
We also have quite a bit of soft fruit...lots of raspberries, 2 blueberries and 3 blackcurrants, plus lots of strawberries. We'll probably get some new strawberry plants this year, some of the present ones are several years old and a mixture of varieties, some producing only tiny and not very tasty fruits. We're getting rid of some of the raspberries, leaving only 3 canes - although we like to eat raspberries, they're thugs, they send out runners everywhere (they continually come up in the lawn) and grow so rapidly that they end up being a tall jungle and overshadow everything else in the fruit bed. Husband gets rid of some every year....not enough though! And it's too much work for him now.
As for veg, we're cutting back on the amount we grow this year, both in terms of type and quantity. There's just the two of us, but husband always grows enough to feed almost our entire hamlet, he ends up having the garden swamped with plants and produce and simply doesn't have enough time to look after it all, and then feels overwhelmed. And I get a bit fed up with having mountains of veg to deal with in late summer. Nice as it is to have plenty of home grown produce, there's only so much I can process, cook and store!
So we've made the decision not to grow any brassicas of any type this year...they get so infested with white butterflies and then eggs and caterpillars, of course, husband just can't manage to keep them covered well enough. And we don't do chemical control, at all. Nor are we growing onions - we had loads bolt last year, due to the weather, and in any case, onions are cheap enough to buy and I wouldn't say they're one of the veg that tastes miles better home grown. And no aubergines or sweet peppers this year either - they take so long to come to maturity here, it's usually the very end of the growing season before one or two start ripening and then there's not enough warm sunshine left to ripen the rest.
It is quite difficult to convince husband that he's getting older, he has a heart condition which is progressive, and he needs to take things a bit easier - sometimes he seems to think he's still in his prime, until he overdoes things and wipes himself out for a couple of days. There's also the fact that some of his heart medication (blood thinners, eg) means that he bleeds easily - he's quite clumsy and is always cutting himself, virtually every time he sets foot in the garden, it seems. I often say he really ought not to go outside unless he's wearing full body armour! But this year I am insisting, and making sure, that he doesn't go overboard and only grows what he can cope with easily.
So this year we're growing carrots, leeks, runner and French beans, peas, yellow and green courgettes, butternut squash and, new for us, asparagus. Charlotte and Rooster potatoes, which we grow in bags (they get eaten to death by slugs and eelworm in the ground here). In the greenhouse, tomatoes, cucumbers, salad crops and land cress. It's possible that one or two other things might creep in during the year!
Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Decluttering and planning
First, a clarification: It's not our anniversary until May, I only mentioned how long we'd been married to illustrate the fact that we've only ever been out for a meal on Valentine's Day on a handful of occasions in all those years. Sorry if it was a bit ambiguous.
Husband's out for a couple of hours this morning, leaving me and the dog with some free time. I think I might do a bit of decluttering upstairs, the wardrobe in the twin spare room is full of clothes we haven't worn in ages, and the top of it is piled up with 'stuff'. I really need to sort out my craft drawers on the landing too, the yarn is getting a bit mixed up and I need to see exactly what I have left.
We've decided what we're growing in the way of veg this year, sorted out what seeds we've got and bought ones we didn't have. Now I need to make a plan of what's going where...and make sure husband sticks to it! I do this every year, rotating what goes in which raised beds so we don't have the same crops in the same soil, to reduce the risk of disease. But husband has the annoying habit of forgetting to consult the plan and just sticking things in wherever there's a gap, making a mockery of my carefully thought out crop rotation plan. Huh.
Husband's out for a couple of hours this morning, leaving me and the dog with some free time. I think I might do a bit of decluttering upstairs, the wardrobe in the twin spare room is full of clothes we haven't worn in ages, and the top of it is piled up with 'stuff'. I really need to sort out my craft drawers on the landing too, the yarn is getting a bit mixed up and I need to see exactly what I have left.
We've decided what we're growing in the way of veg this year, sorted out what seeds we've got and bought ones we didn't have. Now I need to make a plan of what's going where...and make sure husband sticks to it! I do this every year, rotating what goes in which raised beds so we don't have the same crops in the same soil, to reduce the risk of disease. But husband has the annoying habit of forgetting to consult the plan and just sticking things in wherever there's a gap, making a mockery of my carefully thought out crop rotation plan. Huh.
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