Day 29: Monday 8th April

A lovely relaxing morning awaiting the return of C1 and C2 from their extended weekend with Baby-Daddy. 

Managed to answer the phone to my GP - apparently he has received a letter from my Bariatric Consultant Mr P, requesting that I attend to give a whole armful of blood for various tests asap please, and be ready for a phone consultation on Friday morning. I assume all is in order, and this is a formality. My 'worst case scenario' cell is on overload at the moment!

Rent is paid, so there is room for some breathing space for a week or so. I had really hoped that this 'hand to mouth' routine would have done one by now.

The lovely B came over today with her 2 equally lovely children, and lots of bouncing, monster-hands, ghostly hands, cat-bothering and crochet ensued.

Mr 1957 is still relatively unhappy about what has turned out to be a gum infection. No extractions on the cards, but a big wallop of penicillin. Hope it is all sorted before he goes away on holiday. His grumpiness is legendary when he is under the weather. (And it would be nice if he had a good holiday!)

Have managed to sort out a sitter for Wednesday so that I can 'do some piano-ing' down the road. It feels excellent to have my pianistic skills called upon again.

No doubt SJA will be introducing C1 and C2 to various cheats on the PS2! 

Bladder irritation is still a problem today. I appear to be caught on the horns of a dilemma: drink more, eat less - and put up with the low-calorie-induced wobbles, or drink less, eat more, but tolerate the urge to dash to the loo to produce a teaspoonful of the amber nectar!!!!

Will take advice tomorrow.

Day 28: Sunday 7th April

Well I woke up this morning..... (not a blues song, I promise!)....

This is a blues song.......

14 hours undisturbed sleep..... fabulous. First time this has happened since Day 1 of this adventure, and this time there was no morphine involved!!  

A slight inclination towards another little bout with Mrs Cystitis, I fear, but I am ready with cranberry juice.

  

No vodka in it. Unfortunately.

Mind you, C1 and C2 are absent for the weekend, so that kind of helps too. 

Anyway, sleep caught up on, bed stripped and washing machine on. Lovely day for making line-dried bed-linen - irresistable.  

My bedlinen is purple,
but the idea is here..............

Lazy day of home-stuff, soup and some houmus I made yesterday. Then once the line-dried, breeze-aired bed linen is ready, remake the bed, hot bath with eucalyptus oil, Lemsip in a mug and clean jimjams. Hoping for another good night's sleep.

I can dream........

C1 and C2 due back tomorrow morning - ready for another week of Easter holiday 'I'm bored/what can I do now/do I have to do that' shenanigans. 

Luckily I have some increased stamina due to the introduction of ReadyBrek into my morning routine. 
And a cunning plan!

Choose, or Chores!!!!

Hmmmm........ there will be chores anyway, but I'm not telling them that!  Mwa ha ha ha ha!!!!!

Extra joy having a major telephone catch up with S2 all the way from deepest Carmarthenshire. Thank you, matey.  Seed planting, crochet squash nets and fence hooks here we come.......

Day 27: Saturday 6th April

Thank you, worry fairy.

4:20am, but ALL the ironing is done.

Washing machine on ready to hang sofa throws on 

the line first thing in the morning.

Last thought.....to Wonga or not to Wonga - rent day

Monday, council tax cock-up sucked me dry,

sleepless, bloody stress, and even hot Bovril doesn't

fix it.

Er...........  No.

Anyway, to borrow from them would be madness. Not

going down that route. Will see what the daylight 

brings.

Managed to complete the online application for Social

Housing, and now have to wait 3 weeks to find out if 

we are eligible.

Then another wait to find out what Mr Landlord wants

to talk to me about, and whether the rent is paid, and 

take it all from there.



Handing over to my higher power now. 


Goodnight (what's left of it!) - there may be a further 

update later on.

Day was kind of rescued by 2 people. 

Mr 1957 turned up to whisk me off to look at steam 

trains, drink tea and swat annoying little flies. 

Lovely sunny day for it. My legs gave out though, so 

had to shorten the walk. Most frustrating.

Choo Choo!

Duck!

Then, my friend Mrs Snooker made me an offer I 

could not refuse, so I hope for sleep tonight.

Further news:  Doug the rabbit now has lunch, and is 

proving very popular with Furbaby 3!

Love and affection...

Day 26: Friday 5th April

Hello Day 25!!!  Why are you not totally immersed in the joy of mashed not pureed food?

Oh yes, it is because I am a week behind my planned schedule (bad mistake to plan a schedule when a body is involved!).

There was a cauliflower in the local shop which I stood and drooled at yesterday. I did not buy it, firstly because it had a price-tag of £1.85, and secondly, because I need to pace myself.

Cauliflower cheese: you will be mine. Probably next week, or maybe the week after. That will be a joyous day.

C1 and C2 will be totally under-whelmed.......

I appear to have caught C1's cold. Lemsip has taken up all the room for breakfast in my little tummy. Needs must. 

To add to the mix, just checked my bank balance in anticipation of rent to be paid to Mr Landlord in 3 days time. I could swear and cuss. 

Why oh why do the powers that be not tell you when they are about to deduct a ridiculous amount from your account?  This happened a month or so ago too. 

Last time it was the water board. 

This time it is the local council who have re-assessed me and decided that I need to pay extra council tax. How did they work that out? My circumstances have worsened, not improved. 

So in their wisdom they have made sure that I have a massive stress-fest for the next few days, waiting to find out whether my rent will be paid - how can I budget successfully when these people just randomly nick a shed-load of coin without telling you?

A phone call will be made. No doubt I will disappear into a hellhole of digital decision-making, and have to wait for at least 20 minutes before I can speak to a real person. The outcome, I expect, will not be satisfying, or quick enough to save me from the bonus stress of not being able to pay the rent. 

Thank you.

Over and out until my breathing has returned to normal.

Day 25: Thursday 4th April

I won't bore any of you lovely readers with the reasons for the poor start to the day. 

Poor, as in the feeling I got when I switched on my phone this morning to find a message sent at 01:45 this morning which had the capacity to not only ruin C1's day, but send me into a backwards downhill spiral. Just when I think I have got things sorted.

Luckily, after a spot of advice, the day is reclaimed, and so far all is well. I have chosen, after a futile (read here 'should have known better') attempt to calm the  situation, to let it go and wait for further poo. The situation, I have learned, is not improved by any kind of pacifying/pandering/apology (what for?), so letting it flow over our heads seems to be the way forward. Not in any way with head in sand, by the way.

A light lunch involving semi-sloppy soup for me and a steak and onion baguette for C2 (torture by way of fried onion aroma throughout the house) and we are ready for our afternoon.

The text-meister has now gone all quiet, so is either asleep, or researching further ways to drive a small juggernaut through what we in this house call our calm and amicable extended family relationships. *

My tummy-bits are a bit sore today after all the wandering around yesterday, but I am not deterred - a small walk has been done around the block, and a little light domestic slavery. Mop, bucket and hoover now hidden from view again.

Awaiting the arrival of the chariot which will be collecting C1 from her cookery day. 

Or a spot of live and let live?

Pouring oil on stormy waters isn't part of my make-up, and my reasoning for sticking to the initial plan is wholly due to the fact that those emotional vacuum-cleaners (aka well-meaning people who think they know C1 better than I do) who have made comments to C1 about how hard/boring/difficult/unpleasant it is to train to be a chef need to be proved wrong. C1 is an amazing, creative, confident and capable little chef.  I will not stand by and let anyone or anything dampen her enthusiasm, or make her feel any kind of weirdness about what she wants to do, and do my best to enable it.

Rant over!

Sorry.

*Full apology received at 21:00.

Day 24: Wednesday 3rd April

Successful day. 

No seats on the train to Birmingham, but a glimmer of hope for the future, when a teenage boy with messy hair and trousers below the hip offered me his seat. C1 and C2 disappeared up to the end of the carriage to sit on the floor.

(Fond memories here of my journeys to and from college in London, spent sitting on the floor of the guards van with my rucksack, bike and guitar, playing cards with the guard all the way from Coventry to Euston!).

So glad I took my crutches, as the walking was more than I bargained for, and the Sealife place was absolutely packed. Again, no seats to be had, not even for fish-gazing, which was a disappointment. 


4 hours in, and we are still awestruck by the beauty of the creatures around us. 

Icy winds and sunshine - it is good to finally get home, after another seatless train journey. This time no dodgy-looking youth with impeccable manners, just extremely rude, arrogant businessmen and women, not prepared to look me in the eye as I stand next to them, balanced precariously on my crutches. Even C1 and C2 were amazed.

Home again, and although I said I was just going for a quick lie down, 2 and a half hours later I woke up!!! 

The washing-up fairy has bypassed our house yet again. A letter will be written, I think. 

C1 is off to cookery school tomorrow, Chocolate Easter

Egg Baskets, Sunshine Beef Burgers, Fresh Bread Rolls, 

Lemon Drizzle Cake are the order of the day. Had to cancel

3 of her 5 cookery days due to me not being able to drive.  

Thank you Auntie K and Grandad for stepping up and 

getting her there and back.


C2 and I will no doubt get up to not a lot, maybe a spot of 

gardening, bike-riding (for him) and some washing up (if the 

bloody fairy is still unavailable!).


Still having issues with sore keyhole sites, but deep under 

the skin - still healing.  


Early night for all, tonight.

Day 23: Tuesday 2nd April

Today is a sunny day, but still apparently below zero. 
I am not going to let this deter me - I have a plan to complete the weeding task in the front garden, and plant the lovely flowery plants that are left in the box.

Polyanthus

I will also need to collect almost a bucketful of cat poo. There is definitely a need here for the Lion Dung Treatment. Unpleasant, very stinky, and that is just the cat poo. Big Cats, no doubt, do even stinkier ones, which scare away little fur-babies. Needs must.

I am most disappointed so far that even though I have lost an incredible amount of weight, my knee is still playing up. Or rather, feels unstable, and is achey and sore after a minimal amount of walking. I did not expect this. I have vowed to walk a little every day, outside, and hope to build up my muscles (which are weak, floppy, and in need of calories).

Couldn't stretch this between my knees if I tried!

I seem to be a bit moany and grouchy today. Headache and what appears to be the start of a cold (thank you C1). I have lemon and honey to make into a hot drink. And Bovril, which, in my world, fixes everything.

It is my younger brother's (S2) birthday today. I have already made contact with his answerphone. He was not there to appreciate my singing of the traditional birthday song down the line. Perhaps it is what he expected, and he hid. I know not. 

Happy Birthday, James xx

This feeling of being tired all the time is making me tired. I wonder whether it is still a lack of calories/vitamins/minerals, or just the fact that I'm not sleeping very well at night. I will mention this when I next see BD and BN.

Looking forward to an exciting adventure tomorrow, which may result in a late production of tomorrow's page. C1, C2 and I are taking the train, and cashing in a 50% off voucher to go to look at some sharks, turtles and such for the day. I hope my legs don't give up half way. 

Day 22: Monday 1st April

April Fool's Day

I was got.

Apparently a dead badger appeared on Mr 1957's lawn. On closer inspection, it was merely asleep. 

Woken up by the laughter, I expect!

I was taken in. 
I chose to use this as a way to get other people on my phone's address book. 

Hilarious!

Anything to avoid the washing up, and facing yet another round of cooking, washing up and clearing up for C1 and C2 when all I can have is mush.

Today is officially 'left-overs' day. Brunch was served, comprising sauted cold roast potatoes, some bits of bacon from the fridge, 2 eggs, a tomato and some mushroom stalks. All presented as 'brunch'. All consumed.

Following on from last night's 'cold roast potato error of judgement and lack of concentration', I have taken 4 hours to 'eat' one weetabix modged with 1/2 a pint of semi-skimmed and some yogurt. Sloppy, not particularly tasty, but it stayed in the right place and didn't give me any pain.

Slippery learning curve, this. 

Successful venture into the world of 'dip-dying' has resulted in a very happy C1, who is now perfecting the 'look at my hair' flip and is desperate to tell all and sundry about it.

Dip-Dye = below-chin and down to hair tips all lighter than the top half
= very trendy and 'happening'.

Left-over consumption continues: Shepherd's Pie made with some slow-cooked lamb from the other day, carrots and peas from yesterday, and some fresh mashed potato a la C1 - her speciality. All together good, with left-over rice pudding from yesterday to follow. I will attempt to enjoy some pureed Shepherd's Pie, with no afters, and nothing to drink until it is safe to do so.

I predict another early night. Last night I entrusted C1 and C2 with the task of switching off the telly when their film had finished, and switching off all the downstairs lights that they had put on, and creeping to bed without disturbing me. I then sloped upstairs to bed, desperate for sleep, and didn't hear them come up. Bad Mother Award on it's way, I expect.