Rugger

And I watched two first halves and one second half of rugby matches, the 6 nations today. And tomorrow there is another game on

(And Wales won!!!)

Connector

And me and Ed had to nip to B&Q and buy summat small to connect the groovy hose that we bought last week to the other stuff that was in the box with the hose, the sprinkler etc

Samless

So we headed over to my once a week session in the gym class. Sam wasn't there to take it today, a chap called Gareth was standing in. He didn't half work us harder, I think in some ways he wasn't aware of our "can'ts" and just carried on. Because of this I had a session on the different bike they have in there and I actually managed. It was a struggle but I think I wouldn't have been capable a month age

-ing

So we are going off to Aardvark in a bit, walking upstairs there to get some stuff too

Excellent, done it, got most stuff. AND I walked back downstairs(1) too

(1) And my walking up and downstairs is getting better. According to GGtGG I walked up faster than he had ever seen and I walked back down keeping myself straight etc

In A Bit

And we are going out to have dinner out and a night out at Caffi Iechyd Da in Carmarthen for their monthly cwm-all-ye music nights

And a good time was had by all, although there weren't that many folk there. But we were drinking Organic Bitter beer, which pleased me

Washing Up

And I actually did the washing up after lunch. Because we are going out tonight so there was only a smaller amount and there is no "Where shall I put this?" crisis

'Wimming

And as Timmy announced this morning that we needed to swim today as we had missed 2 this week at lunchtime we went to the swimming pool. Out plan today was just swimming, no exercising, so by the end of the session I had done 10 lengths on my back.

I also felt colder in the water as I went swimming with no t-shirt on today as all the dreadful spots on my chest have cleared up. There are still a few on my back, apparently, but as I can't see them I dont care

Sideways Pics

And earlier I found that all the pics Sara had taken on her phone were presenting themselves sideways. They looked upright in Irfanview, which I use most of the time, but not in a web browser so I was panicking a bit. I looked thru other progs to look at the pics, then when I opened the pic in Gimp it said "Want to put the pic the right way up?", put it right, and then tried to save it in some obscure format. So I did that then used Irfanview to convert the obscure format to a jpg, this time a right way up one.

I don't know f. all about the uprightness and not of pics so if anyone has a clue drop me a line and I will hopefully learn

Therapy in't Pool

And Sara the physio lady is meeting me in the swimming pool to tell me to do more exercises etc. not that I wanna shout "I am getting better already and working already...." but no doubt she will find some other means of making me cry with exhaustion

Aargh, as she came there without her costume, she thought we would be in't gym, and I was wearing no FES so it was much harder to walk we kind of got stuck in to gym. So today, instead of bikeing I had my first turn on the rowing machine, then we had a go on every machine that was there. So no longer do I need to ignore half the gym, I can now use it all. 

But unlike Timmy on Monday and Sara today I had already packed my trunx

Hooray

So because we gymmed yesterday and tomorrow Alex said we can avoid it today (I brought the subject up, so hurrah) if we go out and have a long walk in town.

So a long long walk here we come....

As it's a nice day too, so wanna make the best of it....

Twice along Merlin's walk (there & back) plus a few yards at each end.

Then, after lunch we headed out to Farm Foods(1), walked in, took the long way round, as in went everywhere walking, finally found some Linda McCartney and bought sum, walked back out and finally sat down in't car

(1) Not that we needed anything, I just wanted to be out walking again somewhere

NOT Swimming

And we couldn't go swimming as Timmy had forgotten his stuff so we went to gym for a hard work session. Yes I did well, yes, I am surprised how much more I can do every week

Yes, I was knackered afterwards

My Stiffness

And my right shoulder is nearly better now, all freed up and able to move/look once more. Nearly

Multi Shopping

So we went to town s'morning with a mission and a shopping list for Morrison's

First of all we nipped to Argos and bought a hose and attachments for cleaning the car etc.

Then we nipped to Morrisons and got the small part of my weeks shopping

Fingers To Gareth

And nya nya nya to Gareth, me and Alex tried the crossword, I think he got one answer that I couldn't, had to give me the first letter of 3 or 4 more but we (mostly me) did it all, we only had to press CHEAT for one answer

Off Out

And we are heading off in a bit to the local pub to see a local (!) musician, (2nd down under todays date - Sat 21st) he plays geetar and sings

But I was thinking "Oh what do you call that pub?" then I just remembered. Spelt correctly too. So my memory is.....

Garlicky Dinner

And I made na'an bread pizza for dinner, as usual on a Friday, and GGtGG said "Well garlicky that was" but yes, I could taste that it was ripe with garlic

Well Recalled

And I am forever in debt to GGtGGs memory as he suggested "Dates" to me in Aardvark, yes I do enjoy them and buy some most weeks but I had been distracted today

Gym Class

Then I went to my weekly gym class and just impressed myself with how much better at certain parts of it I am. On the standy on and balance tools that I used to have to hold on with I managed, eventually, to balance for 12 secs. I told Sam about my sore neck from gym session t'other day and she just said "Yes, because you are getting better..." but actually by the end of the class it was easing off. So just gord nose but....

-ing

And we went to Aardvark for shopping s'morning, did my loads same as usual. But my phone had re-summated and I couldn't find my Aardvark shopping list. But the glamarous assistant was able to look at it and said "No, here" and I found it again.

Lookin' Better

And Ed is working today for the first time in a couple of weeks, he has been off training to be a nurse. So when I asked him to rub my cream on after my bath he said A) how much better the spots on my chest look and B) that my back seems fine so he thinks my strained neck was just from doing far too much at gym t'other day

Loads Exercise

So we went to gym today, I walked in, walked up the stairs, had 20 mins on the bike with 5 super fasty bits, got my breath back and walked back down the stairs, and walked all the way back to the car and got in

This being able to walk up and down stairs, after such an exercise session...

Half Term

And we had a conference s'morning and decided as it's half term that we won't aim to go on the exercise machines (and my shoulder still hurts from being so successful t'other day)  so I will just aim to use the bike machine

Strange New Purchase

So while I was in the dentist today I was looking at the "for sale" rack and got bitten by it, in the end I purchased a tongue cleaner device, to.... erm.... clean my tongue. It is part of the washing your teeth ritual, dunno if it is different/better than using my toothbrush but I have bought it now

It's Fixed

Wow. So we went into dentist at lunchtime. She poked, looked, x-rayed me and I waited. When the x-ray had come up she called me back in and said "It's close, but ultimately...", but basically said that on my next appointment she would have to take it out.

So blah, blah, blah we had another appointment already but there won't be enough time then to do scary stuff to my tooth so we have cancelled that and made another appointment to have my tooth out

So she has filled it with temporary white stuff that hopefully will last the few weeks 'til my next appointment. You can see how much of my tooth came out, there was only a small amount of tooth left but the whole root was there

No Swimming Today

And this morning I was chewing my muesli when there was a crunch and ⅔ of a molar tooth that "they" had to do loads of work on last year just fell out. So there is a scary rough bit where it used to be, Alex phoned and made an emergency appointment for this afternoon.

But why am I so pleased that there is no time for swimming

And about 20 minutes later they txted me and said "Appointment on.... at...." and it was a different time. So I panicked, said to SP he better phone them but he read the txt thru and said "No, different date, this is another appointment"...

Green Group

And me and Alex went along to the Green Party meeting, which was upstairs in the pub back room so I managed to walk up and down stairs many times (well twice) tonight. There were perhaps 25 Green activists there, me and Alex, Julia and Freya. Truly mind boggling

Didn't I Do Well

And I went to gym at lunchtime and managed everything, it wasn't too busy. But just how much better am I getting at loads of exercises. They seem easy now

Reading In Bed

So when I got in bed for my nap earlier I took my Kindle with me (I know) and tried to read it lying down. It was more difficult than upright reading but I managed, read for 15 mins before I shut my eyes and tried to nap properly

Double Sigh

So we went (quiet Neil)swimming(/qN) and it wasn't as bad as I expected. So I did loads of exercises and swam up and down, with GGtGG paying attention to his instructions and not helping me along at all

And I did 2 extra lengths, 6 in total so no doubt in future they will nag me to do more

And afterwards in the changing room I just pushed the showering chair over as a support, I didn't sit in it at all, purely showering on my own two feet

BT Yahoo Mail

I have given up, this email program doesn't work all the time, so I have given up again and just read my email on BT Yahoo Mail webspace

Gorgeous Greta

And LusciousLinda the Foot Fairy is coming in to cut my nails s'morning but I may have another nickname for her.

Not Curved

And my wrist looks straight here, which is quite pleasing

Early

Then I had my bath and my nap early so I could be up in time to see Wales win the rugger which was nice (noisy link)

Shops

Then l8r we nipped off to More Reason's To Shop At... and was actually rather impressed with how little stuff we actually needed, we bought it and came home then

Late

So Timmy is coming to work an hour late today as he is taking his son for the first time to the cinema, to see Peppa Pig (noisy link)

BBC

And BBC seems to have sorted itself out somehow. All my settings say I am in Wales but for no apparent reason after the news the London news would come on. Yesterday for the first time that I had noticed after The National News The Welsh News came on

Long Walkies

So we nipped to town so I could get sum cash out for the foot fairy who is coming on Monday so we just decided to have a look around. We parked down in the short stay spaces at the end of King Street car park. I walked from there all the way to where King Street turns left. Then I asked GGtGG to push me in the wheelchair he had brought.

6 or 7 minutes later I got up and walked again, from one end of Merlin's Walk to the other

When I'm Cleaning....

Well GGtGG has just got stuck in with my new squeegee and is cleaning the windows. It looks lots better already

Dinner

And tonight Alex said "I like your pizza but my tooth hurts too much to eat chips" so I just cooked him a pizza and made myself pizza and chips

Gym-ing

So me and Alex went to the gym next. It went well, actually on one of the stretching exercises apparently last time I did it I was forced to use one specific leg but as my right leg is so much more flexible etc that one worked today

Aardvarking

So me and Alex went to Aardvark for shopping first thing. We parked across the road and I got out of the car without my wheelchair, walked to shop, around it and back to car. Gosh, it is so much easier than it used to be

Getting Ready To Vote - stage 27

A letter came through the post today asking me to clarify who lives here so they know who to send the polling card to

Crisps

Last night SmallPaul bought himself a packet of crisps in't pub and I was actually rather impressed. They weren't Ready Salted, they were called, as in it said on the packet, Lightly Salted and they did taste different. I think they were lightly salted, just a smidge and that was much nicer than normal drowned in salt ones

Fun At Gym

As usual s'morning I was complaining about having to go to gym. When I was there today I was talking to one of the teachers about the other classes and she happened to say "I hula hoop during...". So eventually she went into the classroom, got her hula hoop and showed me.

So I had to rise to the challenge but I am not as good at it as she is. But the very fact that I am willing (and able) to even try stuff like this says summat about me

Crying At Gym

So when we got to gym today TinyTimmy suddenly anounced out of the blue that "we" were gonna just have a go on the bike today, but whereas in the past my target was doing 4 miles in 20 minutes today my target was up to 6 miles in half an hour.

Which I did, I managed 6.summat miles in my 30 minutes

Out

Me and SP headed out to the pub at the end of the road and had an excellent evening. When we got there there were 5 or 6 residents in the just drinking area, that's 5 or 6 more than on new years eve. When we walked in one chap immediately said "Oh, you wan't to sit here" and got up and left his taller seat by the bar. So they know me now. We all had a nice conversation until "they" went off for tea

We got there, parked, I walked from the car to the door, up steps and on in. I walked and sat there all night. I didn't use my wheelchair (which SP had pushed) until we were going back to the car

Wimming

So me and SmallPaul went swimming s'morning and it.... wasn't as unpleasant as usual. As I did my lengths he was just walking along side me, and it was proof that most of my staff must help me a little when I am swimming. I prefer it this way, when I finish I know I have done it

Shoe Shopping

And at dinner time tonight we nipped to Sports Direct and picked up another pair of sandals. Because mine are starting to look a bit worn, at a guess they will last another 3 or 4 months by which time sandals will be a lot more expensive as it is the start of the summer. So hopefully they are even cheaper in freezing February.

So I bought a pair today, brought them home and went straight into my bedroom and stuck them in the bottom of my wardrobe. Keep them safe

Gymming

So me and GGtGG went to gym s'morning. We had timed it badly (from my point of view) as there was no-one in the way, we were able to get on 4 machines before the bike. Suffice to say that no matter how much I complain about gym it is working. So we turned up most of the exercise machines and cycled further than IIRC I have done since my accident

Bad Taste

I received an email s'morning that was trying to sell me a T-shirt, but I think it was in bad taste, for me.

But I thought this one was in better taste

Reading In Bed

Because "someone" from Ixion sent me a doc version, a completed version, of the stuff he has been feeding us for ages now I got that on my phone so I can read it when/wherever I want. So last night I got into bed and thought "Oh...." and tried it and lay there for about 40 minutes rreading. It reminded me of being a child. So now I can read in bed once more with my Kindle or my phone

Bizzie Day

And because I had to buy a salad and some blueberries about Thursday last week I still had some of both yesterday so I took a decision to leave my Morrison's shopping until s'morning. So we will nip out there first then come back here and go swimming

So yes, he was right. I was going "Come on" to Alex but we went shopping, got back here an hour ago and I still don't need to go swimming yet. But we have done the shopping, all is bought etc

And "Oh what fun we had". We went swimming, it wasn't quite as bad as usual but "someone" forgot his quid for the locker

Right Handed Scissors

And I had to open a new pckt of coffee tonight and I used the right handed scissors in my right hand. It was no problem, it opened easily

Strange

A strange victory

A Change Of Tune

So the BBC announced that it now wants "all" party leaders to be in the election debate. Plaid Cymru and The Green Party amongst others

Getting Better

Now today I noticed that 3 out of 4 links towards the end of hippyweb.me.uk are all about me improving. 12 years after my accident. Still getting better

Treat or Not

So Ed announced "Want some of this with dinner?" and gave me a treat type thingy to cook too. While it tasted lovely it was so greasy, there were greasy dirty marks on the small plated that it was served up on

More Rugger

And I am watching Ireland play rugby on't telly now. Yes, they have been in the lead since minute 2 or 3 but England were similar yesterday but they lost the lead in last 5 minutes. Here's to hope that Ireland do well until the very end

Phew, "we" won, easily

Relax

"Someone" said this week, "Extra gym at weekends?" I had to shout "No, day off" so here I am, as busy as a....... having a weekend day

Loosers

And so...... despite the..... Wales scored after 2 minutes, and after 9 minutes but went on to loose

Dinner

And I thought "Dinner tonight, perhaps we should eat in't pub during rugby", but then it occured to me, Friday is pizza day so I had to make that and eat it. Just yum, yum

Again I used loadsa Garlic in making it, I kind of wasn't sure (as usual) if I could taste it in the food but the after taste effect in my mouth I can taste that now so perhaps I just ate it all up without tasting separate bits

Tonight's Diary

Struggle

Then I went to the proper gym class where it was easier than last week, again. Sam said "Do this until it is starting to ache" but I said "No, we need to push it 2% further than that, in order to recover"

And afterwards I got on a bike for 10 minutes, again with my effort level up by one

....king

And me and GGtGG nipped to Aardvark s'morning, did my weeks shopping and got home in time to pack it all away, sort out my banking as I had just spent... and still had time for a cuppa tea before nipping to the only gym class that I go to every week

AND I put it all away without using my wheelchair when we came back, too

Aargh

Just on the news saw a clip of Jimmy Saville and Gary Glitter together. On how my childhood has changed now we know the truth

Shaving Santa

And I downloaded a new game s'morning. It was called Shaving Santa. I thought "WTF" and got stuck in, but it wasn't a very effective photo after I shaved Santa.

So later I asked that Timmy, the clever boffin type to have a go. But his was a bit pointless looking too, so as we had no fun I deleted the program and started looking for summat else

(Sigh) Fitter

So me and TinyTimmy went to gym and did a few upper muscle exercises then a 20 min session on the bike, with 4 speed up for 30 sec bits. And I was feeling as fit as a... so I switched the effort level up by one for the whole 20 mins

Nipping...

To the pub tomorrow

Walking Into

So we (GGtGG and me) had to nip into Morrison's for some more salad and more blueberries today. We parked up and I wandered off shop-wards. GGtGG came behind pushing my wheelchair "just in case". So I walked in, got what I needed, walked to till, paid for it standing and walked back to the car. So GGtGG's wheelchair pushing had been unnecessary.

Because I can now walk so well

But I had asked him first "Can u fit my FES" cos it is better at.....

Triple Hooray

And me and GGtGG are heading off to the leisure centre in a bit to have a swim today

Prat-sh*t

And after years of being a reader, followed by years of not being able to read after my accident, followed again by sussing out how to hold my Kindle in a readable position I have just finished the second Terry Pratchett book that I have read in the past couple of weeks.

Proud

Fredumpkins

And me and Alex went to meet Freya s'evening. Instead of meeting us after her extra school event we met her in a coffee shop in town where we all had a brew.

We discussed options for dinner time but in the end we decided to go out to eat and while they didn't have too many veggie dishes to choose from it was still a bit delicious  

Valentines

Duh-uh

So last night I noticed for the first time that I can recall that the BBC iPlayer saves programs for a week, I thought it was just today's programs I could watch

Sigh

So we went to gym this lunchtime and worked out. On machines and 20mins on a bike

Hooray

And, in a bit, we are going to the swimming pool.

Hip, hip hooray

And we went, did it. Oh what fun it was

Paranoia

So there I was sitting in the bath, about to get out, when a wave of paranoia overcame me and I thought "Oh, I hope the lifting me up device still works" Like it has for a number of years now with IIRC no incident at all.

Isn't paranoia wonderful

Walking is so much easier

So today I walked along by the table to open the curtain which we had to close earlier when the sun was shining in

It is so much easier nowadays, no holding on, no walking stick

Today I walked there, back, thought "Wanna photo, that was so easy", had to walk there again, took a photo then eventually walked back to my chair

It is so much easier