New Year

And we nipped to the pub up the road tonight and stayed there 'til after midnight

Stu-ing

And we are nipping into town to meet Stuart at The Tangled Parrot for lunch

And it was good to see him, eat some Bagel and asked him(1) again where he lives

(1) And this evening I struggled with being able to link to the second part of a webpage but I managed it here, this link is to the second photo on a page

Drovers Arms

So as we were bored tonight we nipped into town to the Drovers Arms and watched darts on telly. I was out for ages, 3 double whiskeys, and didn't need a piss until after we had been indoors for about 15 minutes

Small Dinner

And for dinner tonight we just had 1/4 pound burgers in buns, which was very nice but it felt like we had too much bun, dunno what to do, toast it?

Christmas Videos

And into our Google Plus account "someone" has added loads of Xmas videos of me and my parents eating etc. Oh what fun we had

Saladless Lunch

And for lunch today I didn't have salad or toast. Shock horror. Because on the side in my kitchen is sitting a big box of unsweetened biscuits so I had 3 of these for lunch with a piece of cheese. OK, with loads of little bits of cut up cheese. It looks like this will be my lunch for the next week or two

(sent from my phone)

Newspaper

And reading summat in The Guardian today and I was so impressed, even tho the world is turning on it's head financially that some people are being wise with what and on what they spend

Out And About

So we nipped into town to buy more plastic gloves and files for them, off my petty cash account and we nipped to Tesco's to buy some organic blueberries and then as we were leaving I looked at my shopping list and said we might as well nip to Morrison's and get the rest of my weeks shopping.

Which we would have been well capable of doing in Tesco's but we had already left there before I looked at my shopping list

Aardvarking

And we had a strange day in Aardvark, their supplier had supplied short date milk and another supplier had supplied no mushrooms, there were some of last weeks left all shrunk and dried out but we did have some to put on the pizza tonight

No Mince

And Timmy who has just left said that he didn't like any cheese or mince pies last night

And Ed who is here today said "No" to a mince pie after his dinner too

Interesting pooh today

So todays pooh is interestingly poohed but you had told me to not talk about it so....

(sent from my phone)

Social Media

Dunno, crimes are up but I can't get my head round "social media", dunno, Ixion is enuf for me

Well

Well, so it seems really different now, so I am in charge of cooking now etc.

So me and Timmy nipped to Tesco's, got a couple more light weight eating plates, drove to the bottle bank, I got out alone and walked the eight foot to the bank, put bottles in and walked back to the car

No Neil

No Neil, you can't get drunk just after lunchtime just because your parents and bruv have gone home, you will be sick and asleep by about 7 if you do

Gone Now

Well my parents have gone home now, peace perfect peace etc etc

And my Xmas deccys have been taken down too so the living room seems a lot bigger and more sensible now

Home

And my parents wanna leave tomorrow at such a time as they arrive in Cardiff and go to their hotel when it is still daylight, so at a guess they are leaving here after lunch tomorrow

Dinner

Then after sleep we ate loadsa food here then went out with my parents

Boxing

So we went out and had a boxing day lunch which was very nice until I started the omelette and saw pieces of ham within. She came and apologised(1) and gave me that and the portion of chips I had to cheer me up for free and the rest of the parties lunches for half price

(1) And said that she was telling off the chef who hadn't read the order properly

Cold Water

And after we nipped out and I paid for a Xmas lunch for all of us I tried to have a bath before siesta-ing. No hot water. At all, after I called Paul and told him to press buttons, no hot water. So he boiled a kettle and poured it into the sink. Now, after my nap the hot water seems to be working again

Dunno

And it seems to be working properly now

Such Fun

And we are going out to have Xmas Dinner with Toby in a bit, then we are picking up the rest of the kids and drinking Champagne

Ho Ho Ho

Happy Christmas

One Ronnie

And we are watching a program about Ronnie Barker on telly ATM and it is excellent

They Are Here

Good lord, my parents and my bruv have arrived, so can't say much for a few days. But they did complain.

And I cooked dinner for them all, we had 5 naan bread I made them all into pizzas and managed to make an extra but pot of oven chips. It was yum yum tho I say it myself

And my mum complimented me on cooking food that she could digest

Gaviscon

And then me and BigEd had to nip out to buy my Mum some Gaviscon to help her eat out etc. She had a bottle but had to leave it with Nora, my sister in law, as she was poorly

Girls Names

So today my 2 members of staff are known as Ed-weena and Paul-een

Drovering

And we nipped back to the pub that used to be my next door neighbours

Lunch Out

So we nipped out shopping just before lunchtime and went into Morrison's Cafe and had an omelette and chips which was very nice but leaves me just needing toast for tea or summat

But it was so busy in town, isn't Sunday supposed to be a day of rest?

Change It

So I changed the bed a day earlier than on my timetable in order not to have the tumble drier on when my parents get here tomorrow, I want to seem relaxed and effortless

Oops

Oh dear. So we were in't supermarket tonight Paul said "Want some crumpet?", I said "Yes, please, her" and then felt the need to go and tell the woman what we had said. She looked amused

Surprise Visitor

And today, as a surprise, there was a knock on the door, I walked to open it, and it was Brian, Julia's Dad. They were down visiting Julia and he decided an extra visit would be in order, it was good to see him and he commented how much better I look in the 6 months since I saw him last

And he bought me a bottle of Stones Ginger Wine as a present, mmmm, but I can't drink anything until Monday

Lie In

And I was awake most of the night but in the end I fell asleep and didn't wake up 'til 8.30!! A lie in!

Black Friday

So we nipped into the pub up the road for Black Friday, the busiest drinking day in UK, apparently. It was busier than usual but still 2/3 empty

Big Shop

So going into town s'afternoon, with my old glasses to leave in at a charity shop, instructions to buy a new oven shelf and a shopping list for Aardvark

And we finally found the opticians (who said "We would have put new lenses in for you!), couldn't find an oven shelf anywhere (Sheffield House is closed down now) and got an enormous Aardvark shop

Physioing

So I am sitting on the front of my seat waiting excitedly for the Physio lady to come here. I want to ask her if I should try walking without my splint in these big boots and practice walking with a bent knee that doesn't hurt

Well we talked about it and decided that splinting=the future, for now

And she suggested I take my walky stick with me when I go outside so with stick I walked slightly more than half way up the street and back. (5)

I could have gone further but I was most anxious about my knee hurting on the way back down the hill, but as I remembered to bend it slightly it didn't hurt at all.

So she has suggested that every nice day I repeat the walk

(5) I could have walked further today but I was nervous about coming back downhill hurting me but as I have learned to walk without my knee hurting I could have gone further

Afterwards

Then after we dropped Freya at home we nipped to the Drovers Arms in Carmarthen which used to be my next door neighbours pub in town, a long time ago, but it was nice to go there and I gathered extra evidence on how much better my peeing is as we had 3 drinks there and came home before I went to't loo

Fredumpkins

Then later we went to meet Freya from school and she came here and commented on how I was sitting in an armchair while she sat at my PC eg.

Walking

And I have finally sussed it that when I am walking if my right foot hits the floor under a 2 or 3 degrees bent knee rather than a rigid, straight, one it hardly hurts at all, unlike my other walking pattern with a straight leg which made me wanna cry and stop walking it hurt so much.

Now I have sussed it walking is a lot easier

Christmas Crisis

Then s'morning when Paul phoned my Mum and said "Going here for Christmas, and here for Boxing day dinners" Mum said "Oh no, The Harvester that you have booked for boxing day, last time we ate there I was sick" so he had to phone several places and luckily Frankie&Benny's has accepted us

Poohing

So s'mornings pooh.... "No Neil, just shhhh"

(sent from my phone)

Snoozed

So this morning, when my "pocket clever thing" went off I woke up I thought "What's that other button on the RHS?" put on my specs, ah, it said "Snooze" so I tried it. 9 minutes later my alarm went off again and I got up.

Radical and old fashioned but now I know

Slackbladder

And I have tried watching Blackadder as it was writen about as one of the funniest things and yes, it is very funny

The Good Life

And I am watching a rather excellent documentary about The Good Life and it is even funnier than I remember it from 20 years ago.

They said that "They" became famous about when Mrs Thatcher won the election for the first time, so Margo played a scary woman character

Milking

And I poured my milk with dinner with my right hand again. I didn't spill any tonight and poured a full glass. With my right hand

Hurting

So most of the time when I walk my right knee hurts loads. Sometimes when I concentrate and bend my knee more or summat it doesn't hurt at all. It feels like I am walking less well but my knee disagrees. Dunno how to ensure that it doesn't hurt, practice I s'pose

Jim

Good lord, I was working very hard at gym and another couple of women said that they can see I'm loosing weight.

But that is the last Gym class until 2nd Jan, Wednesday week

Site Gone

And my website has been suspended as it hasn't been paid or summat and I can't get logged in to pay myself

Crisis, crisis, crisis

after many phone calls etc it is working again, so I had to pay it myself but phew, it works now

Rubbish From My Fridge

So tonight we had a clean out of my fridge door, I said I was a bit puzzled, the 7 items there had been there for ages, and yes, Timmy checked 7 or 8 jars and they were all well beyond the BBE dates and were thrown away. So my fridge door looks a bit naked now, nakeder than it ever has since I moved here

With My Right Hand

So I was about to pour a glass of milk to drink with my dinner. Suddenly I stopped, thought "RIGHT HAND" and used that to pick up the bottle and pour. Lordy, it's the first time in ages that I used my right hand for this. It was almost perfect, only 1 or 2 ml escaped. ANOTHER thing to practice

(sent from my phone)

It Hurts

So walking my right knee hurts loads. When I am really trying I remember to bend my right knee when I step. Then it doesn't hurt AT ALL.

Practice makes perfect, I s'pose.

I am struggling to make new pathwats in my brain, as the old pathways were so badly damaged by my crash

OK, now I can't tell if my pathways were damages by bleeding in the brain or by relearning when I was just starting to sit up in bed etc afterwards

Tobyless

So I txted Ybot this morning and said "Are you about tonight?" and he replied "No, sorry I forgot to tell u, I am in Wolverhampton 'til the weekend"

SaraH Jones

So SaraH Jones the Occupational Therapist came round and came to Morrison's with me and Timmy. Without my wheelchair, we left my wheelchair here in the hall, walked to the car, drove to supermarket, walked to get a trolley and pushed it around the shop on my feet.

I am flipping exhausted now but I managed!!

Poohing

Most mornings I wake up, get up, have breakfast THEN have a pooh. But today, for whatever reason I felt the need to get up, have a pooh AND THEN have breakfast

(sent from my phone)

Dinner

And for dinner tonight we had a veggie burger (yes, I know) with some couscous thingy and yes, it was delicious. And easy to make, pour on a jug of boiling water, wait 5 minutes, stir and yum yum

Parcels

And when we came back from gym there was a note in't hall saying you have got 2 parcels but they were too big to post. So we nipped into town and they were both Xmas presies wrapped up for me

Gym jiminy jim jim jaroo (1)

Well so we nipped to gym. Good lord we were working extra hard etc. A number of other members of the group said how much better & stronger I look etc

(1) Jim jiminy.... (noisy)

Remote Control

And tonight I was complaining that my TV remote control won't work from my comfy chair and Dicky suggested new batteries. And YES it does work rather than having to walk 8-10 steps from my chair to make it work

(sent from my phone)

Slimming

And tonight we had summat else for dinner, less fattening then oven chips, apparently, that I bought when we were looking for the couscous t'other day

Weather

So today when we were going into town the car was drowned in hail stones, like really heavy. We sat for 5 minutes then it stopped so we got out. 5 mins later and the sun was shining

(sent from my phone)

Unexpected Shopping

So we nipped into Morrison's to buy 1 pkt blueberries (as my shopping is moved back a day this week), many pkts of couscous (when we eventually found it after being up and down 5 aisles) and summat else which I don't wanna buy in front of Sara(h) who is coming to see how well I walk in't supermarket on Tuesday. So it is just as well we found couscous today, I don't think I could have coped with so much walking up and down

Muesli

I remembered to soak my muesli last night. Later 'someone' came and said "Soak it", I replied "Already dun it" so there we are

(sent from my phone)

Resting

And today we had a restful day, nowt on, no car journeys but they fixed my new glasses s'morning

Takes Me Back

So I had a phone call from the Optician s'morning saying "Ready" so we nipped into town and picked them up. Just WOW, I hadn't realised how bad my distance vision had got. And when I am at my PC I can hang them around my neck.

And the white stuff that's over the lens on my right eye is effective, I can just about wear them with no eyepatch on, sometimes shutting my eye but most of the time it's open

And what I said on Ixion today

Muesli-ing

Sheet, so I was too busy (or I forgot randomly) to soak my muesli last night so s'morning I am trying plan B, soak it then go and check your emails and type BLOGwards then try eating say a 1/2 hour later

(sent from my phone)

Aardvarking

Then later we went to Aardvark for shopping where again I parked my 'chair and walked around the shop. We were a bit confused looking at the Tofu pieces etc 'cos Paul was with my and he has less of a clue than me. Possible we will be back tomorrow, me and Dicky, if he has more of a clue

Sianny

So Sian my social worker came around today for a meeting. After she had been hear for about ½ an hour Denyse phoned and said "Sorry, I forgot to cancel her" but I think the meeting went well, she was so impressed with how well I am getting on, walking etc

Breakfast

So I forgot to soak muesli last night but I seem to be eating it properly, no choking involved. So one can only assume that some of the DO THISes have sunk into my brain and become habitual

(sent from my phone)

Warm Rain

So it is raining this morning but it is about 10 degrees hotter than it has been for a few weeks

(sent from my phone)

Fredumpkins

So that Freya girly came round, it went OK, she was impressed with my walking AND she was impressed with having www access, her phone has broken

Opti-tricks

Then I went down to the optician today for all kinds of tests etc. He said "No can do" when I asked for some 70's style NHS frames "But these...." so I chose a set. They will paint over the right hand lens and today my skull and crossbones sticker arrived

Robin

And Ed was sat in his room with the window open and a robin flew in to join him

Witch and Wardrobe

So I have just been watching on BBC3 The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, gosh it was gripping but I had to turn off before I cried

No hot water in bathroom

So they had to refill the gas big bottle thingy s'afternoon which made my cooker work and the radiators work again. Ed was doing the washing up in hot water but when I tried to run a bath, no cold. There was summat obscure to do with buttons on the boiler but can't remember. So HELP if you have a clue

Sarah Jones OT

Came round and talked about loadsa stuff I need to be thinking about now I am at this stage of getting better

And Sarah said she stopped her car to see who kept phoning her and it was a copper telling her that someone had got the details of her debit card and was using it in the states at present. They know it's not her and will give her the cash back but they needed to stop the card and will send her another

Cold

So there was no hot water s'morning, so Ed's shower and my washing up were a bit trickier. I said "Panic" to Ed as all the lights were lit on the boiler. Then a few minutes ago 2 chaps knocked the door and said "Your gas is empty, we are coming down the street filling them up, stay in" so Ed had to phone the gym and we no longer need to panic

Now having to be patient....

And at last the heating works once more

OOOOOOOOHHHHH

So I have just stood up and walked to the loo for the first time since Ed put my cream in. He said "What do you want, splint....?" I said "No, just boots with no splint" and I have just been to the loo for the first time. I stood up and walked there carrying my 'stick in my right hand. My 'stick didn't touch the floor, I walked properly with no splint. Will I be able to do without my splint in a bit as my boots support my enough?

Walking

Good lord, I have been so exhausted that I stopped walking about 10 minutes ago, but good lord. It was easier today then yesterday which was easier than the day before etc. Today I was walking everywhere without my 'stick and I can feel the difference, more upright etc.

Just good lord, or even feck. Last week I saw myself as a not walking cripple, hah, by now my wheelchair is in use a minimum of time

Not Melting

And the house across the way that still had ice on the roof after lunchtime, has now got more shade and still has loadsa ice on it

Tobyless

And I just phoned Toby to see if we should pick him up and he is in England where he went to work and is well poorly. So no visitors tonight

Contrasting Day

So yesterday was go go go from start to finish whereas today is empty until we pick up Toby later for dinner

Dinner seems different, I was cooking more and more but since I started walking everywhere I am back to using ready meals - cooking is too difficult

Muesli

Well I remembered to soak it last night and I haven't choked since I started soaking

(sent from my phone)

Telly

And I was enjoying telly tonight, while sitting in my wheelchair so I could adjust all sorts of stuff I watched, on BBC1, Have I..., then later I was able to watch on my 'puter Never Mind...

Optician

And we made another appointment to see my optician in Carmarthen again, last time I saw him he said "We could improve your watching telly", I said "Never watch it" but I really noticed when I was trying to watch the snooker from my armchair last week

Headway

Then we went to Headway in Carmarthen, again I parked my wheelchair in the hall and walked in, to much avail. But we had forgotten that they serve food at meetings and left almost immediately, after we had got the date of the next meeting

More Shopping

So later today we nipped to Wilkinson's in Carmarthen to buy some stuff for the staff, files, bog roll etc

On My Own Two Feet

So we went to gym s'morning. We were a couple of minutes early so while we were waiting outside Smallpaul changed my boots to the lighter ones I am wearing in class. So when we opened the door I stood up, left my wheelchair outside and walked in unaided. So I did loads of hard work including 5 minutes on a bike with my resistance up to 10.

Afterwards we went shopping .Then we came back here I unpackked my shopping

Then we went back to the shop to get the salad that I had forgotten

Muesli-fying

And after staying up late to watch the snooker I headed for bed and just remembered at the last minute to "do" some muesli with milk to soak and put it in't fridge for tomorrow

Walk 2

Still walking, not on my wheelchair tonight

Dinner

And dinner tonight turned out to not be lasagne which I thought was there but some veg pies which were actually rather nice

Two Pounds

So I have lost two pounds this week, wait and see next weeks as I am so much more active now

Walking

So I am walking again today. It is easy. But I don't think that, I have to remind myself 24 hours a day, I can do it!!

Mouse Crisis

So my cordless mouse.... the one that arrived last week, that I had to contact the seller and say "No USB connector", which they had to send me another one of..... So last night me and Edwina plugged in the new USB connector, then Ed-case opened the mouse to fit batteries and in the battery section was a small USB connector.

Whoops

(Sigh) Up Again (/S)

Again with a different pic so u know it's different

Ease

I was a bit gob-smacked by how easy and straightforward walking on my own 2 feet was. I think I have forgotten.... I CAN manage, it's no big deal, I just do it

12 Hours

So I had 12 hours on my own 2 feet today, ignoring a temptation

Going blind

I think, according to Denyse, last time I saw an optician I said "Everything I need to see is within 3ft" but I was trying to watch telly from my chair last night and was really not focussing. Paul took me last time so I will ask him to arrange another visit when I see him on Monday

Bye bye again 'chair

So s'morning I wheelchaired into the kitchen, made my breakfast etc, then a little later Ed creamed my feet, fitted my splint so then I could walk again so he then took my wheelchair back out to the boot of the car and left me walking

I think this arrangement works if I can't walk 'til my splint is fitted so last thing I will take to my 'chair, go to sleep, get up 'chairwise then soon after give it back

Sitting Down

And as I am knackered after walking today when we came back from bingo we brought my 'chair back in with us, I will use it tonight and to make breakfast in't morning then Dicky will put my crème and splint on then we will bring it back to the boot of the car

Bingo

Then we went to a Bingo do up the road, it was OK, I didn't win but just made my face known about town. I had to tell Dicky how to play bingo, dunno which of us was saddest, him not knowing or me knowing

And I think now I know where it is etc next time I will be able to walk in

And two of the people at Bingo said they had seen my pink Xmas Tree and liked it

Cooking

And I walked in and cooked tonight

(sent from my phone)

More Walkies

So I got in my 'chair to go to Aardvark, walked part of the way there then came home and walked indoors. And I managed to walk round and round the kitchen putting food away

(sent from my phone)

Walky Bath

That was scary, but I managed. Walking out of the bathroom carrying the towels was very scary but I did it

(sent from my phone)

Walking At Lunchtime

Lordy, so at lunchtime I stood up, held my lightweight stick in one hand and walked to the kitchen. I walked up and down, bother forget milk, again etc until my lunch was prepared when I walked to my proper seat to eat it.

Then I walked out of the kitchen

What A Session

So this morning Sara Davis the physio phoned me and said "I am a bit too busy" but I needed to speak to her re: splints so I said "Just come on down late" So she did. Good lord what a session, first of all we discussed my sore arm from lifting a saucepan full of water and she said "OK, acupuncture for that" and stuck needles into my arm to make it better, then we concentrated on my walking, got the light stick back out and I walked from one end to t'other. She said "Neil, you can walk so well, you don't need your wheelchair any more", we discussed it and in the end we walked outside, put my wheelchair in the boot of the car and walked back in

So yes, what a session

And in bed s'afternoon and I thought "Oh, my wrist hurts" which was really strange as the dominant pain in my arm had gone so now I was able to notice the other pains which I had had but had been overwhelmed for ages

Muesli

So I remembered to soak the muesli in milk last night and I think it has won the deliciousness and easy to eat competitions but it is too flipping cold to be comfortable going into my gob. So it can't be much colder than usual muesli from the cupboard with milk from the fridge but it is just cold enough

(sent from my phone)

So as I got to the end of my muesli bowl it became more comfortable in my gob, so is it that the milk has got 1 or 2 degrees hotter or has my mouth just woken up enough to bear it?

Freya-ing

And she came round tonight and it was nice. But I am kind of thinking "What should we do together?"

And no photo's again as it upsets her

Rain

Well it's pouring with rain ATM but at least it's not snow

(sent from my phone)

Cleaning Windows

So I got the chap to scrub the kitchen windows again today, someone has already done it twice and they haven't been able to clean the big stain that cries out to me when I am eating breakfast. He wasn't able to do it today and when I complained and pointed he took a cloth to the INSIDE of the window and it is perfactly clean now

(sent from my phone)

Muesli

Whoops, I forgot to put my muesli out to soak last night

(sent from my phone)

And I have put out tomorrows already

Quizing

So we came in't pub tonight to enquire about Boxing Day meals and we got tied into a quiz

(sent from my phone)

And we didn't win tonight, but I did decide to not go there on Boxing Day

Gymming

So today for the first time I took my new softer boots to gym and changed into then there. It felt really different, I didn't have the confidence to walk a long way on Monday (which seems to have improved slightly now, in my older boots) but I found with my new boots on I would just walk

And just generally people just make a point of saying how well I am getting on...

Yboting

And Toby txted me s'morning and said "I left my CV's at yours last night" so on t'way to gym we will drop them off at his

Which we did

Juicy Muesli

And as recommended by the therapist I tried soaking my muesli in apple juice last night. This morning it was a lot bigger and easier to eat but I think juicy muesli is a bit disgusting so I will try it with milk tonight.

Paul(ine) had his breakfast with me and said that it looks really different, much easier to swallow. So hopefully muesli soaked in milk is a bit nicer.....

Yboting

Then that Toby chap came round for his tea. He cooked for us all and it was delicious, hot but delicious curry

Dietician

Then we went to see the dietician and basically she said "Get thinner" and nowt else

Shopping

So I went boot shopping s'morning and bought a pair of lighter boots, basically so I can cycle at gym wearing them. I think I will wear 'em to gym twice a week and wear my heavy boots the rest of the time.

New gym, new boots

So I wore my new boots to gym today. I think I was more nervous than I needed to be, I didn't walk the whole way across the room but I think it was just fear, I probably would have found it easy.

Then afterwards we nipped to Morrison's to buy some salad etc and got hung up on the "pay yourself" machines, someone had to come and help me

After lunch we went looking at lighter boots. For some reason, we couldn't find any, phoned Paul and said "WTF?" and had to leave it until he is working tomorrow so we can look together. I don't see the point in lighter boots as my big heavy ones keep my right foot straight etc.....

Snooker

And after the comedy on BBC2 tonight some snooker came on telly, it is many years since I have watched it but I half enjoyed it

Decorated

So I had the pink laces put especially on my old boots and it won't fit on my new boots, it takes too long a lace, but there is a decorative yellow with bits lace in there anyway

Newbie

And today I am wearing my new boots for the first time. Gosh they feel heavy and solid but there is still some movement in my ankle. Money (a lot of it) well spent

And I can walk down the hall to the loo without feeling as if my right leg is trying to send me leftwards each step

But gym tomorrow..... wait and see...

Less Expensive Morning Out

So we are nipping to the superdoopermarket s'morning to get a couple of bits I need although I will have to go tomorrow and get salad etc too

Expensive Morning Out

And me and Timmy went shopping, bought a duvet/cover etc for Gareths spare bed at Xmas, some swimming goggles for my staff when they are in't pool with me. Then we went and bought a pair of climbing/walking boots that will protect my ankles which were very expensive but feel better on my feet than my old ones.

I think I wasn't as confident walking in the slightly worn out boots so I had to buy another bigger pair