All quiet on the Western front

 I didn't do any garden work yesterday, although it was mostly sunny, it was too cold for me to be comfortable.  Today's weather is forecast to be much the same - it's already bright sunshine but is cold again.....husband has just come back from doing Betty's short morning walk and says it's freezing.

The blinds man rang yesterday afternoon to rearrange the appointment today, apparently the office mistakenly booked him for 2 jobs in areas that are very far apart and so he can't get to us today.  It's been rearranged for next Monday morning, bit annoying but can't be helped - at least he rang to tell us!  Does mean we've got a free afternoon though.  Husband is going to the gym this morning and dropping me off at the supermarket, as well as a normal week's worth of shopping, I also want to get a few things for when sister comes.

Just 2 days after Betty's ear treatment and it's already working, she slept very well last night (which means I did too) and has hardly shown any bother at all from her ear this morning - no scratching and only one head shake.

Nothing else to report, sorry, it's all quiet on the Western front here!

Factoring in nice things

 Thank you everyone for your supportive comments, they mean such a lot to me.  I'm fine, feeling a lot more positive, I've pulled up my big girl pants (the only ones I've got 😂) and am just getting on with things.  

I think Jane is right, I do have to factor in more things that I'll enjoy.  Generally speaking, we don't do a lot or go out and about, mainly because husband doesn't want to!  I give in because it's easier than putting up with all the grumpiness if I insist on doing something or going out somewhere.  Husband would be quite happy to just stay at home doing nothing much, just dozing in front of the bloody annoying TV with all the daytime crap that he has on, or dozing in the garden if it's warm enough.  Whereas once I've done all my daily jobs and prepped dinner, I want to be able to do something else, even if it's just doing some charity shop browsing or having a coffee out somewhere.

Despite this being a very popular holiday destination, the buses here are notoriously unreliable.  Every single day people on our local FB pages are complaining about cancellations - according to whistleblowers (ex and current bus employees), it's a combination of buses breaking down (because they're old and poorly maintained) or insufficient drivers.  Apparently, if a driver is off sick - or goes home sick having already started his shift - there aren't generally any standby drivers to take their place, so that run is simply cut out.  So for me going anywhere on the bus isn't totally reliable - if I manage to get somewhere, I might have trouble getting home again!  But I think I might start getting husband to drop me off somewhere, like in town or at one of the local beaches, then he can go home and pick me up again a few hours later.  He does already drop me off in town sometimes when he goes to the gym, but he's only in there for an hour which doesn't give me much time.  Of course, it would be nice to do things together sometimes, although I know he will complain about it.  I'll have to point out that he does something just for him - going to the gym - 3 times a week, with no complaints from me (I relish the hour by myself, to be honest!!), so he can't really complain about me wanting the opportunity to do something I'd like.

I also want to do more in the garden this year.  I'm interested in the idea of growing things - either more food or simply houseplants - from veg peelings or seeds.  I've seen some books by a gardener called Simon Akeroyd who does just that - growing food from kitchen scraps or pips - so I'd like to start doing that (I've just followed his page on FB for tips).  I love flowers and colour, so want my garden to be much more colourful this year, I'd like to grow lots more dahlias, pinks, cultivated daisy flowers and the like, perennials rather than annuals, both in beds (I want to extend the flower bed we made last year) and in pots.  So there's a few ideas that'll make me happy.

We took Betty back to the vet (3rd visit in a month! although not all for her ears) to have her Osurnia ear gel, she protested as she always does but it's done, we have to take her again next Monday for the 2nd dose - it's a 2-part thing.  But at least we know she'll be feeling so much better by then.

I've already done my morning jobs for today, now I'm going to write a shopping list.....we're doing a biggish shop tomorrow, and I need to do a quick freezer and larder inventory first.  The sun is out but it's a bit chilly, the temperature has dropped a few degrees since the weekend and there's a cold wind, but if I put my fleece jacket and gloves on, I should be able to do a bit more tidying, pruning etc in the garden, if only for half an hour.

Thumping bread dough to work off frustration

 We had another death in the family over the weekend, my brother's FiL - not unexpected as he was 92 and in a care home due to deteriorating health, still, the loss of a parent is never easy.  That leaves my siblings and I and virtually all of our cousins parentless - just one elderly aunt left, but she's also in a care home suffering from dementia and poor physical health so is probably not long for this world.  It's sad to think we have no older relatives left, nobody to ask a question of about things in the past - like my Russian salad memory, I'd have loved to ask Mum about it.

My life seems to be full of minor irritations and struggles at the moment, there are a number of things causing me problems and, as always, only me to sort them out.  Nothing is major, but having lots of minor irritations is just as annoying and worrying as one big thing.  I'll get through it all, as I usually do, but there are occasionally times when I think to myself 'But what about me, who looks after me?'.  I had a disagreement with a friend the other day, who seems to think he knows all about our situation (he doesn't), and he finished up by saying "We just have to put up with it, we're all in the same boat".  Erm, no we most certainly are not, and saying that is just blasé, shows little understanding and makes light of the problem.  Husband got a telling off on the phone yesterday from his daughter - he'd said something in their previous phone call which upset her.  I just thought to myself.....she's lucky he's only upset her once, if I got upset every time he said something hurtful or inappropriate to me, I'd constantly be in tears, every day!  He's got absolutely no filter and just blurts things out without thinking at all - he can't help it, it's the cognitive impairment, but that doesn't make it any less hurtful.

I think I need to make some bread (thumping the dough around would help work off a bit of frustration!) or do a thorough spring clean, or a major declutter.  A good long hike in the countryside all by myself would probably help.....except that my herniated lumbar disc is really playing up again, as is the trochanteric bursitis in my hips, and my right knee gave out yesterday in the garden - which was a surprise as it's normally my left one!  So long hikes, especially on uneven ground, are out, which is sad as I used to really enjoy long walks in the countryside.

I'll be alright in a day or 2 I expect, I'm never down for long nowadays - I can't afford to be!

The weather is going downhill this week, back to colder days, little sun and cold, possibly frosty nights.  Never mind, I'll stay indoors in the warm and do some batch baking and cooking.

Biscuits for Betty

 One of my readers, J (who doesn't have a blog!) asked if the cause of Betty's recurrent ear problems is known.  Yes - our previous vet who we had seen since Betty was a puppy (she's now nearly 8.5 years) said that it's down to her ear shape - she has very small ears with very narrow channels and they're also very hairy inside, this means she doesn't get a good air flow in her ears.  She doesn't have ear mites, it's a recurrent yeast infection.  He told us there is an operation to widen the ear canal, but like any operation it comes with a risk - from the anaesthetic and the possibility of damaging her ear canal, and it doesn't always work anyway.  So we decided it probably wasn't worth the risk.  The gel he used to prescribe her, called Osurnia, works very well and quickly clears up the infection.  Betty used to get these ear infections around 4 or 5 times a year in the early years.....now it's down to maybe twice or three times a year.  Thanks for your question.

Lovely day yesterday, not wall to wall sunshine, in fact it was a bit hazy and dull at times, but nice and warm.  Husband planted up 3 bags with seed potatoes, 2 spuds in each bag, and sowed another row of carrot seeds.  I spent the morning in the kitchen, making soup from a bagful of frozen cauli and broccoli stalks, I added some cream cheese (that Philadelphia plant one, it has no real taste to it but is quite thick and creamy), chopped sage, plenty of black pepper and whizzed it up with my stick blender, stirring in a handful of grated Cheddar (the real stuff!) before serving for lunch.  I also made a cake - it was going to be an ordinary light fruit cake but I decided to make a spiced dried apricot and cranberry one instead, lovely.  Then I made dog biscuits - mashed banana with peanut butter (100% peanuts and nothing else) and a squirt of honey, mixed with oat flour made from whizzed up rolled oats and baked until crisp.  

I also made Russian salad - do you remember that from years ago?  We used to have it at home when I was a child, I think it came in tins, it was diced potatoes, carrots and peas in a mayo-type dressing - a bit like a fancy potato salad, I guess.  Not seen it in the shops for years and years, but somebody mentioned it either on a blog or FB the other day, and it reminded me how much I used to like it.  I made the dressing by mixing mayo, some of that plant Philadelphia and a spoonful of Dijon mustard, yum.  We had it to accompany buttermilk chicken burgers (bought) in rolls for dinner.

I'm doing well at using up the contents of the freezer, it's half empty now, my intention is to do a freezer shop and another couple of batch cooks of meals just before sister comes.  Eating out of the freezer and larder cupboard means I'm not having to spend much on food shopping either, just the odd top up of fresh veg and fruit.  

Wall to wall warm sunshine forecast today, definitely an outdoors day.

Best laid plans...

 Since we don't have a full size cooker anymore, and haven't for a couple of years or so, we use various small appliances instead - air fryer, table top mini oven, microwave and single electric hotplate, most of which are in use almost every day, plus a slow cooker and sandwich toaster which get occasional use.  The mini oven is on the way out - as I mentioned before, it's not reaching high temperatures anymore and the inside is becoming corroded.  After doing a lot of research, I decided to get a Ninja Combi 12 in 1, it'll do the job of the oven and the air fryer, the slow cooker as well apparently, it has excellent reviews.  I was planning on getting it next week, it's not cheap but this month is one of our 'bonus' months when we get an extra payment - in this case, my Carers Allowance.  But, sod's law, our electric hotplate gave up the ghost at the beginning of the week.  This is the 2nd one we've had, it was a free replacement for the first one which broke down after just a few months, this current one is only about 18 months old, I think.  I didn't want another one the same, they don't seem to be very reliable or longlasting, so after some more research I bought a different one.  So far, it seems excellent, is simple to operate and heats up much quicker than the last one.  It also looks so much nicer - not that being aesthetically pleasing is high on my list of priorities really, but it's nice to have a better looking one.  So now I don't know if I can get the Ninja next week, it rather depends on how much the vertical blinds are going to cost me.  Those I do want, very definitely - I'll know after the blinds man comes to measure up and give us the quote on Wednesday.  I do have a fair idea of the cost, having had one quote already. 

But my phone and laptop are both playing up now, I've had them for a few years and do use them extensively, so it's looking like I will soon have to replace them.  So now it seems like I'm going to have to re-think our Needs & Wants list for this year - at least a couple of things (Wants) will have to be crossed off altogether, or at the very least postponed till next year.  Sigh.  There's always a spanner in the works.

We took Betty to the vet yesterday (there's another expense!), he agrees that her current ear infection needs stronger treatment than the stuff he's already given her, which isn't clearing it up.  He asked what our previous vet used to treat her with, so I told him and said it works very well and very quickly.  This vet doesn't stock that particular treatment, he uses something else, but he said it would make sense to give Betty the same treatment she's used to, given that it works so well for her.  So he said he would order some in (they get deliveries of orders every day) and we've to take her back on Monday to have the new stuff.  He said to carry on with the current stuff over the weekend, and to give her an antihistamine tablet as well, to stop the intense itching and scratching of her ear - it's fine to give her an ordinary human tablet, the vet ones aren't any different (but obviously cost more!!).  We gave her the antihistamine yesterday and she slept like a log last night on my bed, didn't disturb me at all.  Which meant I got a good sleep as well.  She seems fine this morning, she's had a walk and her breakfast and is now snoozing again!

Lovely weather apparently this weekend, it's already quite warm outside, husband is in the garden planting up some chitted spuds in bags - we use empty compost bags to grow them in.  I'm about to make a cake, just a simple light fruit cake, and some banana & peanut butter dog biscuits, which Betty likes.

We've started

 It was sunny in the morning again yesterday, but there was a chilly breeze, this meant the temperature, supposedly 14 deg, felt more like 8 or 9.  Come mid afternoon, the sun disappeared and clouds came over, with a few spots of rain in the evening.  It's going to be cloudy with the odd shower today too, but more sunny spells over the weekend, apparently.  And then it's getting colder again next week, and back to overnight frosts.  Ah well, it'll be warmer very soon, and we can't complain about the nice warm sunny days we've had this week.

We've sown some carrot seeds in one of the raised beds and planted some shallot sets in another.  Over the weekend we'll be planting some of the chitted potatoes in bags, then towards the end of the month we'll start sowing beetroot seeds, and another row or 2 of carrots.  We're going to buy tomatoes, mini cucumbers, courgettes and butternut squashes as mini plants, rather than growing from seed - most of the seeds we sowed in trays last year failed and we ended up having to buy them as plants anyway.  We don't need loads of plants in any case, so just buying the few plants we need seems more sensible.  We'll put radish and spring onion seeds in any gaps, they'll grow pretty quickly anyway.  We've drawn up a plan of where everything is going - I must make sure husband sticks to the plan, he has a habit of going off piste and sowing or planting things without telling me he's doing it, and completely disregarding the plans.  It feels great to be able to start growing veg.

Poor Betty's got her ear infection back again, it's come on quite quickly this time, so it's another vet trip for her today.  Poor thing, she was very uncomfortable and restless last night.

Oh dear

 Husband had an argument with an elderly female local this morning - not one of our fellow sheltered housing residents, but someone who lives nearby.  It was something and nothing really, a bit of a misunderstanding, the woman raised an objection and husband first contradicted and then argued with her.  The prudent thing to do would have been to simply acknowledge her with an "Ok, sorry" and walk away, rather than getting involved in an argument.  I wasn't present, so I only have husband's version of what happened, and he sometimes forgets things or leaves out things which don't present him in the best light, shall we say.  I always think of possible consequences of words and actions - husband doesn't.  Ever.  Husband always used to be very laid back, now with his cognitive impairment he is often confrontational and argumentative, which is sometimes difficult to deal with.  I've learnt to just bite my tongue and take myself off into my bedroom or the garden, to walk away from the situation - some things are just not worth the aggravation and I would say this confrontation with the local woman was probably one of those things.  All I said to husband was that it's not a good idea to get involved in arguments with people we live near, and he should perhaps avoid her in the future.  I just hope nothing further comes of it.

I'm turning off comments for this post, I'm not asking for advice but simply getting something off my chest so that it doesn't fester in my brain for ages.