Disk Cleanup

So I asked MM today "Can u fix this 'puter in the bedroom, it is running so slowly I can't find music etc". He said "Yes", looked on his laptop what the function was called for Windows 7 and asked it to look for "Disk Cleanup". What a difference, I could tell before I even ran a test as the noise was going "disk noise, noise, noise" whereas in the past it was going "Disk noise..... silence....... brief noise........ silence..... silence etc"

But when I put it on last night it went "Silence" for about 4 mins, I thiught "Oh no", but then it suddenly worked again 

Walkies

So tonight we went out, I said "Park here" at Llamas St and walked up hill as far as King St, walked a bit along there, came down past Caffi Iechyd Da and back to the car.

From here we popped to my local, where I was trying to get enuf change to pay The Glamorous Toe-Nail Cutter next week. So we had 2 pints even tho I only needed a half to get change 

Boiler Fixers

And all day I had been thinking "Where are they?" as the hot water was still hot etc. S'afternoon I had my bath, went to bed, been in there for a few minutes when there was a knock at the door". MM answered, had a conversation and said "Tara". After my "sleep" I said "Who was that?", it turns out it was the boiler fixer and he had had a look at our outside gas fittings and didn't need to do owt. I think these 4 houses at the end were built later than the rest so we have more up to date gas fittings

(Sigh)

So me and MM headed to gym just before lunchtime. We did loadsa arm and chest exercises and not 5 minutes like I was acting up but 10 minutes (so I had to do another go of 5 mins) on the hand cycle machine. I feel a pain in my right shoulder (well just below my shoulder but just) but we finished it all.

Timmyless Breakfast

And Timmy was up and letting MM in before I was up s'morning as he had to go off early to sort out some family issues s'morning

S&E

Then Sam and Emma called in on their way back to England. Sam seems a bit hectic, nearly finishing his 4 year PhD..... They did kind of invite me up to meet Emma's parents later in the year which would be a bit odd as I could stay with her parents, they have a proper house with a downstairs bedroom and a downstairs loo so......

Visiting Again

And Sam and Emma are popping in s'afternoon, then when they leave here it is to head back to England

UberCycle

So we popped to gym s'morning and I got sat on a bicycle. Stopped, took off my FES, my fleece tc then went for it. On difficulty level 7 (dunno what that means apart from it is "that" hard) I did my 10km in 40 mins and about 19 seconds.

So yes, I think I am slightly faster every time I try

WTF

So I was putting some seed on the bird feeder s'morning when I glanced down. "No" I thought "Is that cat sh*t or a slug?". As I was too unstable walking on the grass to bend down for a closer look I had to shout "Timmy".

He came out and it was a slug. Happy chappy

Hank Boliday

And it has just occurred to me an hour or so ago, Ixion is quiet today 'cos it's a bank holiday, it might feel normal to me but it so isn't

Foreign Food

So Timmy said to me today "Want an omelette for tea, I have the ingredients", I replied "With chips or toast?", he thought some more then said "Spanish omelette", I said "WTF?".....

It was an omelette made with onions and mushrooms then when it was half cooked he added slices of parboiled spuds and stuck it under the grill.

Now it was delicious, I was glad he made it but it was not something I had come across before. Omelettes, yes, but this spanish variety was new to me

Back To Routine

So tomorrow it will be back to a normal routine, going to gym etc as the summer bank holiday will be finished

... To Buy A Fat Pig

Then s'afternoon we headed into Wilko's so I could buy from Petty Cash loadsa files etc so he can make up and lock away files on every MOS and their background and any training they have received while looking after me etc

Off To The Dump

And as when Timmy finished cutting the hedge the pile is much too big even for the 6 bags we have he had to pile it in the boot, now there is no wheelchair in there, and we will have to take it to the tip.

And on the way back we will call into Wilko's and buy some files for Timmy to put his reports about me into. Gord nose why or who they are for but it is his job

Hedge Cutting

So s'morning Timmy got stuck into cutting the back hedge, well the bit of it that comes into our garden. The top and the outside will be left for he council hedge cutter chappy that was supposed to be here last week but apparently he will come back next week or so.

But for now the back garden looks twice as big as it did s'morning

And WOW. He came in and got some gloves and a bag to clear up the stinky FOX sh*t he found in the garden!!!!!!

Second Coat

So my busy painter is busy again, second coating every-flippin'-thing

So my whole house looks less like a "wheelchair users house" now

Busy MOS

So when MightyMark came on duty s'morning he spent about 20 mins doing paperwork, then he came and rubbed on my medication, ever since he has been painting. OK, he stopped to have dinner, rub on my second dose of medication etc but he has been busy painting ever since. He is now doing the last chore and it is nearly half past 7 in the night.

He has even done the door which is mostly glass patches with thin wood in between, and he hasn't got paint over most of it

Hop-flipping-ray

Smug, bug rug. No, just can't believe it

Missing Her Already

And today was the last day of Sams holiday from gym that will affect me, hopefully she will be back next Friday

So me and GGtGG headed in and did loadsa work on various "leg" machines followed by 10 mins on a bike

Txt&Phone

So s'morning I had an exchange of txts and then a phone call with Sam, who is in the area ATM.

Basically we decided that Sam and Emma (his missus) and Freya will come over here s'afternoon then we will all (with GGtGG too) head out for dinner. We couldn't decide where to go but apparently we ate here last year with David and Nora and enjoyed it so we have booked a table for tonight

And didn't it go well. They were all 3 on good form and we did have a delicious dinner

Nooneraft

And we had a copy of excellent things on tonight

• And it was entertaining, at Iechyd Da for a folk come all ye and there were some entertaining newbies etc last night, a good crowd of musicians and a spoken word poet

Busy Morning

So because me&Timmy were a bit later getting on the road s'morning we went to Iechyd Da and picked up the veg first (and said "See you later" to the staff there as it is a Folk Night tonight) then we popped off to More Reasons to.... and got the rest of the weeks food

Then, after unpacking, we headed off to gym and did ages on the rowing machine and less time (but still too long) on a Cross Trainer

Strange Day

So first of all today we popped to gym earlier and I did further on the hand cycling machine than I have done before. As usual

Then we came back and after lunch GGtGG cut my hair once more

THEN while I was in bed napping Sam txted me and said "See you Friday?". It turns out that he is coming back to Wales to catch up with his mum & me, so good news

Quick Trip Out

And what an effective trip it was. "We" headed to Homebase in Llanelli because RoyGBiv had ben notified that they sold Spear and Jackson narrow brushes there. So we paid £6.66 for it which I felt a bit threatened by, brought it home and started trying it out before we even went indoors.

Just WOW what a difference

So RoyGBiv is outdoors as we speak cleaning up the patio while I am indoors to cook. Just wow

And wasn't that good thinking on Roy's part. When we were outside working later a neighbour passed by and said "Wow, I want one of those, where did you get that?"

Cycle

So me and RoyGBiv headed to gym at roughly lunchtime and I did a mega cycle. As there is no storing of how much/little I have done, today I managed 10KM in 39mins 38 seconds

Off Out

And in a bit we are off to another big meeting with Headway Swansea group, there are a few more members/activity than the Carmarthen group

And we played Mah Jong today which I had never played before but I won the three games that the 4 of us played!!!

We left a bit early as on the way home we called into B&Q and picked up some paint, turps, floor cover rugs and paint brushes as MightyMark is gonna get stuck into painting all the wheelchair damage off the interior doors next weekend, as my wheelchair is no more

Welsh Summer Weather

Again

Maps Pic

And I noticed tonight as I was exploring using Google Maps I was passing behind my house and I noticed the For Sale signs on it. "They" must have taken that pic before I moved in

And if you look to the left you can see the house that used to be pink while mine is old fashioned white in that pic

Pain In My Hip

And my ar*e hurts a bit when moved on where I had the injection yesterday

Lovely Day

And it is a fine Welsh summers day today

No Stick

So last night I was at the sink preparing..... and I thought "It's getting too dark" so I turned and walked almost the whole length of the kitchen, to the switch, and back without holding on to owt as I passed and, more to the point, with no walking stick.

It is harder, I have to walk slower but if I am keeping an eye on making sure it all moves properly I can fscking walk

Busy Morning #2

Well I went to the Drs and had my now 3 monthly testosterone jab which is a bigger jab than the one monthly one I have had for a couple of months now but it is done. I have an ache in my bumcheek where they injected but it's done.

On the way home we popped into the gym for a series of exercises. Today we were doing arm exercises and just wow but I am getting much stronger. There is a lifting exercise that I used to be able to just do 6 out of the total, 30, but today, for the first time, I managed all 30. Now I have been told to do my exercises in groups of 10, with a half minute pause to let my muscles breathe between 10's but I was so exhausted that in the final lifting exercise I did 10, then 5, 5, 5 and 5. But I managed!!!!

Fun Business

So today I have to head over to the Docs for a, hopefully it will be every 6 months now, a testicular injection of some kind followed by a gym session without any teacher as she is off on holiday for 2 weeks and I just have to practice myself today

Wow/Aargh/How Do I React

Then today me and Timmy headed east to near Swansea where the Swansea Headway group were having a meet up in a centre for archery/shooting. I was rather impressed by the staff there, most of the time they are just dealing with the general public but it did not phase them at all having a bunch of partially disabled folk to deal with

Busy Morning

Then today we nipped to Morrisons first and got some shopping, popper down to Iechyd Da and picked up my organic delivery, came home, put it away, then headed east to the shooting place

Passer By

And *I* met one of my neighbours today, he was walking his dog as I was heading out to the car. He said various things, commented on how he can see that I am no longer in a wheelchair, no longer as fat as a..... and how much he likes the paint job that they have done to my house

Nipped Out

Then we nipped out tonight to Farmfoods and bought some frozen food etc

More Painting

And just about when we were about to go out today the painters arrived. Apparently Timmy had phoned then and said "Missed a bit" so they were just finishing off the job

NOT Swimming

And we didn't go swimming today as it is the summer holidays so potentially loadsa kids there but instead we took one of the little books of exercises to do, and did them. After 4 machines I got on a hand pedaller and pedalled for 1.5km

Royclean

And so for the hour between breakfast time and him going home time it seems that Roy is in cleaning mode.....

RoyGBivving

And I had a day with GBiv, my new MOS today. S'morning we didn't do much then just before lunchtime we popped over to gym and got stuck into bicycling. I did 10km in a time that is about ¾ of the time it was taking me a month ago

Then we got stuck in to trying to sort out my camera but we couldn't find any clues

Oops

But because we were so late in Pile I had a quick bath and went to bed for half an hour later before waking up and cooking dinner

Out, no swimming

Then after lunch me and Timmy had to head to Pile near Cardiff to Sara the Physios newish establishment. We had a good day, I was being much more impressive on the walking machine, at the end of the day I was walking forwards for 3 steps, left for 3 steps, back the way for 3 steps and turning myself round to the right for 3 more steps without having to stop the treadmill going when I changed.

I was also working with FES in my right arm practicing various moves that were impossible last week

Aaah, oops

Woops. I have been taking scissors to them but apparently I should just be pulling up the whole plant

And....

And after the trip to see the venue for Cwtch Freya txted me and said "Still on for tonight?" so we drove into town and walked up 3 flights of stairs to find where she was at her mates house, brought her back here for a handing over of pressies then headed up the road to the Tafarn in Llangain where we had a delicious dinner. With no wine for Freya, she was still hungover from yesterday

Nooneraft Out

And we went out to try and find the site of the Cwtch next month. We were able to find it and tried another route on the way back which is much quicker, A road instead of B road. It took about 45 mins to get there but less than 40 getting back. But no interweb, no phone, nothing up there

A Plan For Tomorrow

And we have an early lunch tomorrow then we are heading out to look at The Big Cwtch Venue as it will be RoyGBiv taking me there in September and he wants to learn the route so we can actually find it on the day

They Like It

And some passers by told RoyGBiv (who was working outside) that they like the subtle new colour that my house is

Walking Around Town

So me a RoyGBiv went into town for a walkabout today, so I could practice walking and so he could learn his way around town. We walked up and around and got back to the car after about half an hour. I said let's head home but he said "No, let's carry on"

And when we went back out we came across a singer/busker who was very impressive. I walked over to give her a quid and when she was singing an "I love you" song I kind of acted along as if she was singing to me. She laughed and when the song had finished gave me one of her CDs which is actually rather good

Doubler

And RoyGBiv is working on his first double shift today and tomorrow. See if I can stand him for the whole weekend

Oop Road

And we popped up the road to the local pub tonight. We parked and instead of taking the long way round to the front door we just headed thru the down the steps and across the uneven gravel bit that I have been too scared to walk over before.

But I managed

Friday Dinner

And we had the (now) usual Friday dinner of Na'an Bread Pizza and Chips. And it was as lovely as it is most weeks

Class

And we headed over to my weekly class at Gym at lunchtime, it wasn't in the squash court today, it was is some gym room belonging to the school next door who are on holiday ATM. They share the building, more than next door really but it was much more pleasant than being squeezed into a squash court like last week

Before

And on the way to gym s'morning we are heading over to the tip to dump the Sky Telly Receiver that was on the front wall of my house and has been removed by the decorators. The one I never used......

Into Class

And I am in a proper gym class at lunchtime today, in one of Sam's sessions

-ming

Then we popped to gym again. Again it was a really long walk and a difficult staircase but I managed. First of all I was on the chest press which was no prob, then I was on the overhead press which I really struggled with. Did 10 first time, only managed 8 second go but for the third I was just pausing for about a second between presses and I actually got carried away and did 12 to make up for the second. I was on 2 machines afterwards but that was the story of today

Different Shopping

Just wow. So today Timmy said to try shopping at Morrison's before picking up the veg and it took us about an hour and a half less than last week. Dunno why so much, quieter roads, quieter shops but there you go. So I suspect that my weekly shopping list has changed order

But I nearly had a crisis. I unpacked all the veg, put it away, paid for it then got ready for lunch. But there was no salad pack with the veg. Crisis, I was about to go back to Morrosons and leave my coffee to go cold when Timmy looked at the bill and said "There's no salad on here, have they forgotten?" when I remembered, "No there is more grown in the greenhouse" and went and picked today's salad. That is gonna be the arrangement for the week, I didn't require a refund or owt

Gym

Then we popped back to the gym and this time I was brave enough walking miles to the back and up the steep stairs to the new practice room where I did nearly 25km cycling then nearly 1km rowing

Apprehensive

Then s'morning me and Timmy need to head down to the dentist where a hygienist is gonna look at my teeth and no doubt criticise me in some way

No, she didn't say "Come back and we will fix this" so at a guess I am doing OK. I also bought some "spray on and see where you haven't brushed" stuff to use once a week

Walkies

So because I hadn't cycled the full distance today we set off in town just walking about. So we parked in an expensive slot as there were no free spaces and headed down to Savers where I bought loads of "good for me" stuff then walked down to Wilko and just walked the whole way round the outside and a bit round the middle before leaving for home

Confusing Gym

So the workout room @ gym has been moved to the back of the building, up steeper stairs for a few weeks. We went in today, got sent there and I was f-ing exhausted by the time I reached the bike. I was crying to RoyGBiv about how I needed to leave half way thru my cycle as I was nervous about a) going down the taller, steeper stairs and b) walking for about 8 miles to find the door again. He said do 7km so I agreed and did a further 2 before leaving. It wasnt as scary as I had thought so from tomorrow I just know I can do it, getting in and out

Out To Headway

So s'afternoon we headed to Swansea for a get together playing games with Headway Swansea. So now I am in bed and it is nearly dinner time. Dunno what I get from these meetings but it is so much better than swimming every fortnight

Reverse

And we headed out for a walk around town tonight, and actually went the same walk as yesterday but in reverse (although we didn't go up and down King St tonight). It felt a bit different, walking up the same height but taking longer to get up IYSWIM, but I managed it again

Event

And I looked out my front window s'afternoon and there was a fox in the front garden. He buggered off before I could take a photo mind

Walkies

So we headed out s'morning and parked opposite Aardvark and headed thru town for a walk. We walked down the pedestrian bit past M&S then up past Iechyd Da to King St walked to the end away from town, crossed over and walked the whole length of the Street back, crossed over back into pedestrian bit and along then down past the court back to the car. It was about an hour and a half of walking time so my stamina is getting better.

GGtGG did suggest at one point a stop/sit down but I said "No, this is therapeutic" and carried on

Off To Docs

Then we are off to the docs to a) make an arrangement for my testosterone jab, b) pick up 3 scripts and c) see the Dr for my annual asthma talkabout

Gymtastic

Then today we had a strange gym class in a different venue as they are doing up the gym room for the next month or so

Busy AM

Well we had a busy morning. First first of all we headed to King St and on the second drive down one of the parking spaces right opposite where we had to walk down had become free so we parked and walked down to Iechyd Da to say hello and pick up my organic veg

Then we headed out to Morrisons and picked up the rest of my shopping

Then we came home and put it all away and then got back in the car and headed to gym where I did ages in the hand cycle and a fair while on a new machine, it was kind of like a treadmill but moving up and down and left and right. Almost a dance machine

Writing

"Well all the paper in my room is printer paper so I stuck my head into the office and asked Gareth if he had any with lines. He looked in about 17 drawers, didn't find any but then made a strange noise and looked in his bag and produced about 1/4 of a book of A4 paper with lines on. He said he was giving it as a gift so........

And it went OK to start with, I was mostly between lines etc but by laird but it is hard. But practice etc etc"

Different Shop

Then after lunch we headed down to Farmfoods to fetch a few bits of food.

I tried buying one Ben & Jerry's pot of ice cream to see if I can make it last a week instead of eating it all at one go tonight

Summat Is Better

And I was getting dressed again s'afternoon when I went to put on my fleece, the one that I have been forced to put on right arm first for some years. I just thought....... and tried putting in my left arm first. That was as easy as ever but putting my right arm in next that I haven't managed for ages, it was harder but still relatively easy.

Now I need to reteach myself habits.....

Gymdoodly

And I went to gym at lunchtime, to gym not swimming pool, and decided there that we won't be back to the pool 'til kids are back to school. Anyway today I did various upper arm exercises and 10 mins pedalling by hand

Sara-ing

So Timmy has to drive me to Bridgend today where Sara has a new posh physiotherapy centre

And wow, that seemed to take all day but she has some incredible machines etc

Temporarily Broken

And my web page was down s'morning, by the time I had given up trying to contact them to see the issue (because it was nearly impossible) www.hippyweb.me.uk was back up and running

Snip-ee-de-dooh-dah

Snip-ee-de-ay. So I had a hair cut again today. But there is summat wrong with the clippers, they seem to be full of someone else's grey hair which they drop on the floor after cutting mine

Uber-Cycling

And today we had to do a long cycle as I will be away seeing Sara tomorrow. So today I managed 10km in just over 42 minutes (OK, 7 seconds over) whereas last week I set a record and "only" took 45 minutes and 27 seconds