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.