Improving

 Well, yesterday I woke up with hardly any pain - which felt very strange as I've been constantly in pain for months and months.  Still loads of stiffness in my back and hips, but I'll take stiffness over pain any day.  I had a couple of pain twinges now and then, just to let me know not to get complacent, but generally it was a relatively pain-free day.  This morning, though, I've had quite a lot of pain since the early hours, although it is now easing off a bit.  To be fair, this is the first time I've actually taken prescribed pain relief tablets consistently, every day - in the past, I've only taken them when I can't stand the pain any longer.  I'm not a fan of taking pain relief medication every day normally, I'm of the opinion that your body just gets used to the medication and builds up a tolerance to it, so you end up having to take more or a higher dose, just to get the same level of relief.  I'll keep taking the tabs for now, certainly until after I've had a couple of sessions of osteopathy, and then review how I'm getting on.  I really don't want to be taking prescribed medication for an indefinite period.

My lovely GP, Dr Joe, rang me yesterday to see how I was getting on - wow, how often do you get doctors doing that nowadays?!  He said to ring him in a couple of weeks to let him know how the osteopathy is doing.

I've not been idle the past few days, I've been doing one biggish job each day - changing the beds (husband helps with that, no way I could lift a mattress and change a big duvet cover on my own) one day, emptying out pots of summer bedding plants and replanting with Spring bulbs another day.  I did a freezer rearrange and tidy up - the contents, I mean - the freezers are full to bursting, we certainly won't need any meat, frozen veg or really any frozen food for weeks and weeks.  I've been trying to use up homemade ready meals every day, just adding veg to them - freeing up a bit of space in the freezers and meaning I don't have to stand in the kitchen every day making a meal from scratch.  There's still probably a couple of weeks' worth of frozen ready meals - some while back I spent a couple of days doing a load of batch cooking and freezing.  Just as well I did, it's been such a help these past few weeks when I've been in so much pain and not felt like cooking.

I've also drawn loads of Christmas cards, some are a work in progress at the moment, I'll put on pics when I've finished.

It's my birthday this coming Saturday, I told husband I'd like a takeaway, he suggested we go out for a pub lunch instead (I suspect it was at least partly because he didn't want to have to drive to town in the evening to collect a takeaway - there's no Deliveroo/Just Eat type deliveries here, we're far too rural!).  Anyway, it's a nice idea, so we'll be going out for lunch on Friday - my choice, less people (and children!) about then.  Haven't decided where yet, but think I'll choose somewhere like a garden centre, or pub in a nice place with shops, so I can combine it with doing a bit of shop browsing....something I don't get the chance to do very often.

Time off

 The tablets are helping me to sleep marginally better - they don't stop me waking up in pain every time I turn over, but I don't lie awake for hours now, I go back to sleep fairly quickly.  They're not doing anything for the pain during the day as yet, but it's early days, hopefully they will help with the pain in due course.

Thank you for all your supportive comments and kindness, it helps a lot.

I'm going to take a few days off blogging, I have nothing to write about right now (and nobody wants to hear about my backache all the time!) and blogging when I have nothing interesting to say is just a chore - and boring for you lot!

I'm just going to draw and make a few simple cards over the next few days, biding time until my osteo appointment a week on Monday, there's nothing much else I can do, I can't concentrate on anything right now.  Maybe a bit of crocheting too.

Take care of yourselves, I'll be back soon.

Better, and savings

 Well, I managed to shower and dress without incident, hate sitting around in my dressing gown during the day.  We already have grab rails strategically placed in the bathroom, husband put them up years ago for when my Mum came to stay, they're proving very useful when getting in and out of the bath to use the shower.  The pain is easing up a bit - standing in the shower (holding onto the grab rail) and having the hot shower spray directed at my lower back was bliss.

Marlene, thank you for the info regarding the electric heat pad, I've ordered one.  Annabeth, I do sometimes use cold compresses on my back, yesterday though I felt heat was needed.  Viv, thank you, I rested most of the day, and yes, getting up for a little walk round every hour or so, to stave off being stiff.  HH, I can't ever imagine being pain free, I think the best I can hope for will be less pain and being able to live with that, which I'm sure will be achievable with osteopathy.

Husband got the washing out of the machine (I put it in and set the timer the evening before) and pegged it on the line - he pegs it out in a very strange way I must say, but so long as it dries it doesn't matter much.  It was very windy yesterday so dried quickly.

I see Sue of A Smaller and Simpler Life is going to do a new savings challenge, using her lovely big enamel teapot.  We used to save all our copper and 5p pieces in a big jar, and £2 coins in another jar, this went towards fuel costs for our holidays.  Well, now we don't go out shopping much (even less now I've stocked up) and almost never use cash anymore, so we no longer have coins to save.  So I've restarted doing something I used to do - transferring small amounts of cash from our main bank account to our savings account....I got out of the habit of doing it regularly.  It works like this - twice a week I check our main account and round it DOWN to the next whole number....eg, if there's £555.55 (as an example) in there, I'll transfer £5.55 into our savings account, leaving £550.00 in the main account.  Doing it twice a week, even with small amounts the savings build up quite quickly, and I don't even notice the little amount missing from our main account.  I already have a standing order set up to transfer a set amount monthly into another savings account to cover our caravan site fees and our Council tax, both of which are paid annually.

There was a calculator thing in the paper yesterday morning, if you input some figures it worked out how much better or worse off you'll be following the Budget.  I did ours and the calculator estimated we'll be £10 p.w. worse off.....not really a surprise with the way prices are going up, and the Chancellor failed to mention any good news for pensioners.  So cutting costs, and saving in any way we can will be even more important.  Husband's surprise small pension windfall (which enabled us to buy the caravan) isn't going to last forever, only a few more years in fact.

Agony

 My back is absolutely killing me this morning, worst pain I've had for a while, and balance is totally off - I can hardly stand without holding onto something for fear of falling over.  I don't feel able to even have a shower, as our shower is in the bath and there's no way I'll be able to get in and out of the bath.  I'm sitting in my armchair with a hot water bottle behind my back, hopefully the pain will ease in a bit and I'll be able to get on with things (like having a wash and getting dressed!!).  Just sitting around doesn't do any good, I need to get moving, but right now the pain is defeating me.  At least I can use the time to get a few lists (menus for the next week, things to do) written, and a few Christmas cards drawn.

Some minor Christmas preparations

 Popped to the caravan this morning, husband wanted to collect some tools he'd left there that he decided he needed at home.  All was well inside, outside some of the Spring bulbs I planted in pots are just beginning to poke through the soil, can't wait to see them all in flower next March!

This morning, husband had his NHS text telling him he could now book his Covid booster - all done, he's having it on 9 November.  It's being done at the rugby club in town, so not far to go, certainly nearer than his and my first 2 jabs.  Mine won't be for another month or so yet, I wasn't eligible for mine until about a month after husband had his.  Booking it for husband online today was a doddle.

We've just had an early lunch of a bought quiche....as my back's so painful and stiff, I'm not doing much in the way of cooking, thank goodness I've got lots of home cooked and ready made meals in the freezer.  Well, the quiche was completely tasteless - husband asked what flavour it was supposed to be (cheese & onion) as it tasted of nothing, if we were blindfolded we wouldn't have guessed what we were eating.  Shan't be buying those again!

At the weekend I made sausagemeat, sage & onion stuffing.....we had some with the roast chicken on Sunday, the rest I froze for Christmas.  Tomorrow I'm going to make sausage rolls - quick and easy using chipolata sausages and ready rolled bought puff pastry, so it won't involve much standing around in the kitchen.  They'll be frozen for Christmas too.  I usually make my own mincemeat for mince pies, but think I might just buy the mincemeat....or even ready made mince pies(!!) this year.  Effortless convenience is winning out right now.  I quite like mince pies (husband loves them) but I'm not very keen on common or garden shop bought boxed ones - the pastry especially is too sweet and soft for my liking.  Husband will eat any, shop or homemade, so I might just as well buy them and save myself a job, I can happily live without most sweet things, I prefer savoury things.  I made a large rich fruit cake a couple of weeks ago and froze half, so that'll come out at Christmas too - luckily, I won't have to marzipan and ice it as husband hates both, he just likes plain fruit cake.

I've got a design in mind for friends and family Christmas cards, so I might go up to my craft room and have a go at drawing it this afternoon.  Got a couple of birthdays and an anniversary coming up, so need to make cards for those also.  Or I might just sit in my recliner armchair in the bedroom and read (or snooze!).

Oh, and I've wound the lights round the Christmas tree......😁  I switched them on to check how it looks, of course, but won't be having them on again until December (says she, tongue in cheek 😂).

A step or 2 forward, at last

 Finally had a phone consultation with my GP today.  He's had the hospital report and MRI results back and is in agreement with the consultant's findings.....that the numbness in my big toe, pains in both my legs and my lower back are all caused by the prolapsed disc.  He also agreed that the extra vertebrae in my lumbar spine is responsible for the unusual L3/L4 damage, rather than L5, which would be the normal position for these symptoms.  He apparently specialises in sports and orthopaedic injuries, so does know what he's talking about.  What a good job it was him I saw! (he's a locum I think, not one of our surgery's permanent doctors).  It was lucky that he recognised that the problem wasn't just about my numb big toe, but was a symptom, in conjunction with my various other leg and back pains, of disc and nerve damage in my lumbar spine.

He's prescribed amitriptyline (I've had it before, it does help me sleep, as well as helping to alleviate the nerve pain) and said he will refer me to the orthopaedic department, and try and get me seen quickly (I won't hold my breath!).  He asked that I ring him in a fortnight to let him know how I'm getting on with the medication, he said there's plenty of scope for it to be increased, or another medication added, if it's not doing much.

He's in agreement with me going to see an osteopath (my appointment is in just under 2 weeks), but said the NHS physiotherapy would do just as well.......to which I replied well it might if I actually got to see them and they hadn't discharged me without even telling me!  He was dumbfounded at that, but suggested I try again (it's now self referral apparently) - I declined and said I'll see how I get on with the osteo.

I now feel like there's a glimmer of light at the end of what has been a very long tunnel.

My lovely Betty is 5 today, seems impossible that we've had her for nearly 5 years, she was such a cute wrinkly squeaky little thing when we first got her at 8 weeks old.

She's grown into (most) of her wrinkles now!

Rising prices and not being bullied

 Everything is going up in price, we all know that - partly to do with the cost of oil/gas, partly Brexit, partly pandemic related I guess.  To be honest, I don't know enough (well, nothing actually) about politics, finance or world affairs to make informed comments, it doesn't interest me and my view is that it matters not to the powers that be what I think anyway, they're not going to take any notice of the likes of little old me.  But I think there comes a point where you have to stand up and say NO.

Husband's car fuel costs rise every time he puts fuel in, he's always exclaiming about the price whenever he fills up (at least the fuel crisis seems to have disappeared, well here at least) - the only thing we can do about that is not make so many journeys, save up journeys until we have several things to do at once.  The fact of not going to the caravan for 4 months will save a bit of fuel.  

The price of our food/household supermarket shop has, I estimate, risen by about a third on this time last year.  And it always seems to be the cheaper version of products that are missing off the shelves, meaning we have to buy a more expensive product, or go without.  Cutting back on meat is one way I'm trying to get our food bill down a bit, but the price of fish and even vegetables is also going up and up, so it's still difficult.  We had thought of not growing any produce at all next year, as we'll be spending lots of time at the caravan and won't be home to do regular watering of the produce.  We're now thinking, though, of investigating which veg crops can or will survive with little watering or looking after, as it seems sensible to grow food if we can.  We might also grow a few things in pots at the caravan, things like cherry tomatoes and salad leaves.  As an aside, I've noticed that because of the carbon dioxide shortage, bags of salad leaves, eg, don't last 5 minutes now once they're opened.  So it would be better to grow our own.

Our electricity price has gone up about 3 times in the past year - not much we can do about that, as the finance guru Martin Lewis (I can't stand him personally but he does know what he's talking about) is telling everyone not to change suppliers.  I did resist our supplier's latest attempt to get me to increase the direct debit or make a one-off payment though - we're in credit so why should I give them more money?  So I said NO.

And the other day we received a letter from our oil supplier (we have no gas here in the village so oil it is for our central heating and water) saying they're planning on increasing our monthly direct debit by £40, more than double!  Now, we had a new boiler and associated pipework installed a couple of years ago, and it's incredibly efficient and cheap to run - we only need a delivery of oil every 18 months to 2 years.  We had the tank filled about a month ago and it's still showing as full up, the needle hasn't moved at all.  This refill will last us probably until 2023.  So, although we have a relatively small debit balance on the account right now, it'll be back in credit within 4 or 5 months - so by the time we need to order another refill, we'll be well and truly in credit.  So we've rung them and told them we are not prepared to put the direct debit up by that amount, we feel it's utterly ridiculous even taking into account how much oil prices are rising.  Once again we've said NO!

Everybody wants more money off us, be it supermarkets (and their suppliers/producers), garages, domestic utilities, insurance, everything.  Well, our pensions (husband's state and my private) haven't gone up by £40 a month (the domestic oil increase, never mind all the others), they've only increased by a few pounds in husband's case, and just over £1 on my private pension.  So where do all these companies think we're going to get the extra money from to pay all these increases?  

I know everyone wants more money to survive, but sometimes you just have to put your foot down and say NO!