Wiv Timmy

Then Timmy came in s'morning. A bit later I ruined the world by getting in my car and being driven to (More Reasons To Shop At) Morrison's to buy £2.00 worth of Blueberries

Ybot

Then that Toby came round. As I had felt unsettled this week and didn't have a "learn to cook this" organised for him we just went out and I bought us dinner

Gym-miny

Then s'morning me and Paul went to the gym which was as much fun as always but I am still getting better. Afterwards we stopped and had lunch there.

And for the first time yes, I was walking a long way but Paul had to catch me when I tripped over a chair-leg

Later today we have arranged to take that Toby chap out for his dinner too, so I will only have eaten breakfast here today

(And it's a reference to a Mary Poppins song - this Gym-miny thing)

Burry Port

And then tonight we are going out to Burry Port Folk Club

Oh. But then Ed told me he had just been sick so he had to go home. No Folk Club tonight then

Anti-virus

They we spent all afternoon running a new version of Norton Antivirus scanning my PC. Good lord but it is effective but it has taken 2 hours so far and there is still the 3rd hard drive to do

And we are still waiting for it to finish

And it is still going. Today's lesson is OVERNIGHT

Bigger Bin

And I was trying again to make my recycle bin icon bigger. It said "Right click anywhere on desktop, click Properties...." but Properties didn't come up when I clicked. I thought panic.

Then later I looked again, same result but this time I noticed it said "Size" at the top of the right click menu. Investigated and it then said Small icons, Medium icons or Big icons

Walkies

So I went shopping with Ed s'morning. When we were on the way there I said "Can I not walk today" as I felt uneasy. He said "No, I will come behind you pushing your wheelchair". So fairy nuff, I still felt unable, uneasy but tried it. I walked the whole way around the shop, I could have walked much further if we needed to. But I felt too scared to walk

And before we set off he protested to me, tried to persuade me to take off my "I'm a pirate" hat, but we mat loadsa kids about 3 years of age who said "He's a pirate" to their parents then laughed when I said "Pieces of eight" to them

Aargh - I Had The Ability Already

And I got fed up with Gimp to try and stick together 2 jpg's so I deleted that and searched the Interweb again for another solution. One solution said "Download a program called Irfanview, it's easy". But Irfanview is the graphics editor I use and I had never found a "Stick 2 pics" together mode. So I looked at it again and oh dear, good lord etc. Under the Image menu it sez "Create Panorama Image" and there it is, put other pics at the bottom or to one side etc, it works the size automatically etc

MY-Tim

And ho hum, TimMY was on again today....

Food

Then tonight I thought "Oh, I had today's meal at lunchtime, better have salad for tea", but then I thought "No, wan't warm food".... So tonight for dinner, wanting small but warm food, I had a chip butty for tea, and 4 spare chips. Just one piece of bread and a few chips. YUM YUM it was good

Laugharne

Then we met up with Freya and all headed over to the Laugharne Weekend sort of folk festival (noisy link), and it was good entertainment. There is another band playing tonight and more tomorrow but we had to miss those. But what we saw was very entertaining

Shopping

Then TimMY took me exploring and we went into the shop that Sam told me he bought my birthday hat in. Good lord, there was some radical bargains and some very expensive Hippy stuff. They apologised and said it wasn't wheelchair friendly but we said "'Cos there's no room" but it was well worth a look

Timming

So TimMY came over s'morning. If it stops raining we want to look at the shop where Sam bought my hat, then we are picking up Freya who is coming into town to meet us

Dinner

And Paul took me out to have dinner tonight as I think he's worried about me. it was very nice but I need to stop eating at their expense so much, I think I deserved it today tho

Goodbye

So Paul came in s'morning and after some farting about he took me to the coast with my hot air balloon so I could let it off and say goodbye to my sister during the funeral in Scotland

Dinner

And I thought that as Freya had an extra dinner at my expense I'd better take Toby out for an extra so I did

And it was delicious, in the Frankie and Benny's

Tesco's

Then we went off to the (ashamed) Tesco's place and bought 4 days worth of Blueberries (Wow!!!) and loads of quids worth of toothbrush heads

Boiler

Then later in the day the chap came to service my boiler and he said that it was all fine, working well and not leaking

Ding

So Ed came up s'morning closely followed by the chiropodist who I told about the broken nail last time but this time she cut all my nail's better than last time anyway

My left big toe nail looks almost properly cut back now while my right big toe is almost cutting length now

Llanelli

So s'afternoon we didn't do much then this evening we went to Llanelli to the Folk Club which wasn't busy at all for ages then loadsa folk arrived

And I usually drink Whiskey Macs here but they didn't have very many left tonight as last night they had a run on gin and ginger wine

Carmelling

Then we went off to Carmel to the Grasslands Trust property which I am checking out for dumping etc. The first gate we saw had loadsa black bin bags dumped but that was it all for today. Someone had opened one of the later gates but no other evidence so dunno why.

Timmy

What a stressful hour we have had already, me and Timmy. I have to pay for more "stuff" that they should pay for but I am stuck mid-changing representative

Bowling

After my nap we went and picked up the kids and went to Swansea to go bowling. Oh what a day, I won the first game then Toby got better I let them win a game

Gym Crisis

After that I went to gym, what a crisis we had. The lift upstairs was broken, no-one could fix it, after about 20 minutes we had to take another lift to another room and have 2/3 of a gym class

Napping

And I was in bed s'afternoon when a member of Leonard Cheshire staff came to my door, ignored the do not knock sign, eventually read it and went away again

Shopping

First thing me and Paul went and bought a blown up helium balloon. We discussed it and decided to have it blown up today. When we brought it home I was able to write on the side of it, quite well and legibly, "To Carly, thank you and goodbye, from Neil, xxx"

It nearly made me cry writing that but it is done

Walkies

More walkies. Kitchen, washing up, thru lounge to bathroom, sit on loo for a few minutes then stand up and clean teeth and floss and mouthwash then walk back to.... oh no, forgot my bag, turn around walk and get it turn once more and walk to living room and chair

Delete

A few months ago I stopped having to say "YES" when I deleted and made them go away, not Recycling. More recently I had them not going to the Recycle Bin but I had to say "YES". A few nights ago I made it so I don't have to click "YES, delete this" but it does go to the Recycle Bin, which I usually have to empty every couple of days but it lets me check if I have deleted accidentally

I like it best like this

Telly

Good lord, I am actually watching a proper TV program tonight

Bored with it now, watched half an hour

OK, with various distractions it it still on and being listened to, it goes over in about 3 minutes

Cleaning

Good lord. While Ed was still here I snuck off to the bathroom and actually had a shower not just washing my 'pits. Then cos Ed was here he dried my shins/ankles put on more cream then splinted me properly

Out To Play

But me and Paul are taking the kids bowling and for dinner tomorrow night for my birfdé

And immediately after that conversation we also talked about me letting off a balloon for Carolyn on Friday when she is being buried

Ding

A bit with Ed s'morning but not going to a Folk Club tonight as a) I need to have a shower before we go out with the kids tomorrow, and b) They said there is none this week as it's just after Easter

Staff

And it occurs to me... Now that I am gonna be getting more staff perhaps I need to practice being clean to a woman. After I have said...... Gosh even the thought is hard work

Phone

And my Dad phoned me again, I don't think he needed to talk to me but he needed to speak to his Still Alive Son

Touring

Then this afternoon me and Ed went out exploring the local area. First of all we passed a castle that has the builders in followed by Paxton's Tower which has been described as "A Gothic Tower, Erected by the late liberal-minded Possessor, in Commemoration of our Noble Hero, Lord Nelson"

Ding Again

So Ed came round s'morning. There is no point going to shops as they are all closed for Easter but he did agree to cut my hair as my parents aren't over this weekend.

Phone

Then tonight my parents phones me. What can I say, they were saying "You are still alive and your precious sister isn't" etc

(Weep bitter tears)

Ed

And Ed came up s'morning, sat on the laptop then he asked me "What have u planned for today?". OK he is still on the laptop now.....

Still on the laptop...

And he's all gone home now, left me alone. And he has said "I am leaving my phone on if you need to talk" because they are all so worried about me, but he's gone now and I am as bored as I usually am on a Saturday night

Pembroke

Then me and Paul drove past many beautiful places in Pembroke (inc where he lives) and it was all beautiful, too hilly but beautiful

We ate there too, so next week I need to start cooking again

Shopping

We went into town, drove past Aardvark in town, paniced a bit 'cos it is shut, hoped the other Health Food Shop wouldn't be, turned the last corner and it was the only open shop in sight. Phew. They had been empty all afternoon as town is shut for Easter but one of the health practitioners upstairs was still there so they had to stay open.

Washing

And Paul came in and said "You stink, need a shower". As I had a wash my arm pits and bits wash last night I was brave enough to actually have a shower.

Now it is.... (Shhh)

Well it wasn't as unpleasant as last time so I might...... I might even shower more regularly now I am getting better

Walkies

AGAIN, I am getting better.

Slowly but at all

Out

And then I had to beg Ed to take me out to dinner again as I feel like sh*t say in here ATM

Splinter

And we are off to Dacey's in a bit to get my splint fixed And what a performance that was. First of all we called in to the Sand Martin and waited for Denyse.

Eventually she txted me and said "Go ahead, order anyway, I will be there soon" so we did. And the veggie burger I had was possibly the nicest one I have eaten in about 15 years. She came in the end and expressed concern for me following my sisters death. She did give me a birthday card 4 next week, and told me that someone has applied for interim funding to get me moved out of here which is a bit exciting, we should hear in the next month or so

AND they did fix my splint

AND she did agree with me to actually send Ed home tonight, eventually, they are worried about me

More Walkies

And I managed walking to the kitchen then walking straight to the bathroom s'morning. It was difficult standing still for long enough to clean me teeth(1) but I managed

(1) I have a modern toothbrush with built in timer, then I need to floss then mouthwash

Big Pee

And I noticed tonight, after I had been sat listening to music for ages, that when I eventually went for a pee that it took ages. Obviously summat is improving

Good

And tonight they were excellent, playing a variety of new folks tunes

Docs

Then we went out to the Doctors, he gave me a fortnights supply of Antibiotics and another tube of cream for my feet, which he hjas now added as a repeat script

Then we nipped to Argos and bought a camp bed so if staff have to stay again they don't need to sleep on't floor

Sh*t

Then Denyse told me that Carolyn died s'morning. Dunno what to say....

Tim

Then Tim came in, followed by a knock on the door and it was Sam (my son) and his Girlyfriend Emma. We talked for a bit, he filled me in on some missing elements and agreed to write some notes for me.

Still Good

And I walked into kitchen then the bathroom again s'morning

Ding

Because my sister was rushed into hospital yesterday Ed came down to sleep on my living room floor last night, in case I was struggling

Shit

And Denyse came to tell me that my sister has had a Cerebral Aneurysm and is now unconscious in intensive care in Scotland. My parents are there already, my brothers are following but I couldn't bear it being amongst so many sad relatives etc so I am not going.

Just sh*t, sh*t, sh*t

GP

And we need to go back to t'GP today and try to find out why my left leg is swelling up, and get a repeat 'script for Diprobase

Change of plan, Denyse wants to come over to tell me summat "important" so GP will have to wait 'til tomorrow

Gymming

So today we had to go to t'gym, it was as much fun as it normally is, I did loadsa exercises and could really tell how much better that it is making me

Good Again

And because my bowels were behaving again s'morning I walked to the kitchen, did my washing up, walked back into the living room, poured my coffee still on-foot, walked to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and had a pooh, all with no wheelchair

Pub

Then tonight we went to Burry Port to the Folky Club and it was good, not as empty as last week

Denyse

Then I had an email off Denyse saying that her car is fixed and she want's to catch up on our missed session in Cardiff on Thursday when I am down at Dacey's

Shopping

Then with Ed I went to Morrison's and did loadsa shopping, more than usual because I am teaching Toby how to make curry on Tuesday. But then we had to go to Tesco's and try buying blueberries again, the ones in Morrison's were best before tomorrow

Worse

As I was eating my breakfast s'morning I was thinking "Sh*t, I need a pooh soon" so I rushed to the sink in my wheelchair and then rushed to the bathroom in my 'chair. Oops

Better #2

Aaaah, this morning I walked it all again

Fuel

After our trip along the motorway today we had to take the car for fuel, I was a but apprehensive but there were no silly queues today

Riding

Then we got in the car for f**king ages and headed to Pedal Power in Cardiff where I hired a trike. But just good lord, I am a lot fitter than last time I tried it, 6 weeks or so ago. It was just an excellent cycle round the park, by the river and further around to get back.

Afterwards we went for lunch to the place Denyse took me the first time I was here and it was excellent, if a little large, I left half of it, but it was delicious.

Then we came back, that was most of the day used

That's Better

So before my breakfast today I went for a pooh, ate my breakfast, walked into the kitchen, did my washing up, turned round and from there walked into the bathroom and stood there for the 3 minutes or so it takes to wash my teeth, from there walked back into the living room and sat back down in my wheel(ing) chair

All The Better.....

And tonight I really struggled with myself and twice women said to me "How are you?" and twice, on two occasions, I didn't reply "All the better for seeing you" like I have done for some years. Even Paul noticed and commented on how I was being more "real"

O&A

Then we had to go out, I was so bored that I had to

But I seem to have developed a taste for Dark Rum and Coke too

Daughter

Then that Freya came to see me and have a curry that I made with the OT t'other day for tea. She was in a bit af a rush today as they were having some kind of guides meeting this evening, so we took her there after dinner

Sara

Then shortly after Paul arrived that Sara came round to do "stuff" to free up my arm etc, yes, it blinkin' hurt but yes, I can feel the benefit already.

Then we headed to the swimming pool, me, Paul and Sara and she suggested some ways of improving the time we have there

UNwalkies

After walking so much t'other morning I got up today, ate breakfast, wheelchaired into the kitchen, washed up, wheelchaired into the bog and I was ⅔ of the way through my pooh when I remembered that I am supposed to be walking everywhere

Iechyd Da

Then tonight we were able to go to Iechyd Da Folk Club off king Street and they seem to be getting their heads together, so it seems that the next club will be next month as opposed to in two months so I think thay are getting it together with charging etc

Gymming

Then we went to't gym, good lord but it was hard again but I managed. There were a few extra members now and I was able to say "My.... was this f*cked when I started this" to some of them, I think I just gave them hope

Ding Ton

Then Ed was in s'morning, we were looking at each other and saying "What? Where?" most of the morning. After lunch 2day we need to go back to the beautiful gym. Which I dislike intently but I do like the outcome for me

Dinner

Then for dinner we went out again ('cos I need to) and had dinner in the Tafarn Tanerdy as I was going "Somewhere different, somewhere different". At a guess I have eaten in there only once before but not for ages and ages

Then on t'way way back we called into the Drovers Arms and had a pint.

OT

Then Sarah the OT came in and I stood up to help her cook the simple recipe that we had today so I can teach Toby how to cook that next week.

And I have got some ingredients to add to next weeks Monday shopping to cook on Tuesday

And she said that next week we can think about planting my pot

Bathroom Sink

Then I had to ask Tim for some help cleaning out the bathroom sink to make it drain quicker. He had to work on it for about an hour getting loads of black guck outa the tube. But I feel lucky that I have someone to help me, the rest of the residents don't, I think if they had complained about a blockage someone would book a plumber to come in which they would have to pay for

Timmying

So s'morning me and Tim drove to Morrison's to try to get more blueberries, couldn't get any so we jumped back in't car, drove to Tesco's and spent £1.75 on 'em there.

Luckily I am not paying for my own petrol, I think it must have cost about £4.50 for that journey

Air Conditioning

Gosh, well today we said in t'car "It's too hot". Then we shut the windows and switched on the Air Conditioning, I have never seen such a posh activity in a car, just WOW

Toby

And we went out with Toby. As Freya had to eat in the Harvester but Toby had not so we took him there for dinner. It was delicious, then we came "here" for a chat

Gymming

Then we went too t'gym s'morning. And I felt a bit left out as I am so much better than I was when I started there and the staff are paying attention to other clients that I feel a bit left out.

But having talked to one of the bosses and I realised that they are thinking about how to continue improving me, they are not just thinking "Do this exercise"

Walkies

So I got up s'morning, thought "I'd better get my wheelchair and make the bed/open the curtains etc" like I usually do, then I thought again "No Neil, u can walk" so I walked down past my bed without holding owt, opened the curtains, few steps back, make t'other side of the bed and walked the rest of the way back, without touching owt with my hands to steady me

And I ate my breakfast, stood up and walked to do the washing up, walked back thru and carried on walking, to the bathroom, had a pooh and then brushed my teeth and walked back out to my seat. It was hard work, especially the standing still for ages to brush, but I managed!!

Fun

So with (Oh God, Again...) Ed driving me I went shopping s'morning. What fun we had. I will need to go back after lunch to buy what I forgot, some herbal tea bags to replace my coffee with dinner to see if it improves my sleep. Normal tea I am not that keen on so some fruits numbers...

And we went back to t'shop bought some fruity tea and some Superglue which Ed used to mend my right boot. As he has fixed it it saves my a 120 mile journey to say "Help" again

And I have just drunk the first of my Pineapple And Grapefruit Green Tea instead of a cuppa coffee with my dinner and it was nice

And then we went out and had a good time in Burry Port Folk Club although we seemed short of numbers tonight

And I was using my right hand to play a shaker

No T shirt

I got dressed/changed tonight and it occurred to me that as it has been so warm to not put a T shirt on tomorrow. Now that seems like a sensible small decision for most of us but just deciding what to wear for me has become such a big decision process

But it was easy!!!

Privacy

Then today I decided to no longer put mailto links to MOS in my Blog, just spam prevention etc

Bowling

So me and Ed went to try out the Bowling Alley today to see if I would want to eg go there with my kids. It was a bit odd, there was more room for us wheelchair users than I remembered seeing b4, I was told I didn't need to change my shoes unlike Ed etc. It was strange, Ed said "I haven't done this for ages", I had never done it, but I WON!!!

Time

So last night I had to reset some of my clocks, most of them changed time automatically but some I needed to do, so I was up later than usual last night, and there was an hour less before....

The one clock of all that I couldn't sort was my radio alarm clock, I tried everything, to no avail. So s'morning I asked Ed for help, he looked at it for about 7 minuted then fixed it. He turned the radio on and switched it off again and it accessed the broadcast time signal and put the clock write

Wow

So then Ed came, pottered about for half an hour then we went to the Carmarthen Folk Festival. And wow what a good crowd was on, they were a variety of folkish performers. And I went into the Harvester next to the stage and had lunch, then came back out and listened to more.

And I only needed 1 piss outside between 11 AM and 4.30 when we came back, and I have been drinking extra water for a number of days too

And we are going back out tonight too

And enjoyable it was tonight too, with just 2 of the bands from earlier playing, in the Tangled Parrot which I needed to walk up one step while someone carried my 'chair behind me.

And I didn't need a piss all night, hours

Panic 2

Last night I got into bed and couldn't find my arm splint. This morning I looked around the bed, on't floor, on the shelves, still couldn't find it. I thought "There will be a MOS here soon, better find it", went into the bedroom again, still couldn't find it. Had a brew and thought "Look again", for the third time I went into the bedroom, looked all round, eventually glanced up at the top of the cupboard where I never set owt, Sara the physio had set it up here out of our way

Panic

So s'morning at 7.45AM I was just waking up when my phone rang. It was Freya, she said "Can u check on the back seat of your car and see if my purse with that cash I took out of the bank yesterday is in there? Because (panic) it's not here so it is either in your car or hopelessly lost (/p)". I couldn't have reached it myself if it was there so I waited 3 minutes before a member of Leonard Cheshire staff came past and I said "Help" and opened my car.

And she reached in and passed me Freya's purse.

(PROUD)
And I was still in mid breakfast before the door knocked and it was Freya, her Mum was giving her a lift into town and she called here to pick it up
(/P)

Coracle

So tomorrow we are having a day out, hopefully it will be exciting

Tea

And I was stood outside tonight when Alex came past, stopped, spoke to me about hiow he needs to go home and take summat to help him sleep as he needs to be up at 6AM. I said I was having the same problem and I have bought sum tea to help me sleep. He said "I had this problem years ago but it went away when you gave me some Valerian Tea". Which happens to be what I bought this afternoon, lets wait and see

Well I had a drink of it about an hour ago and it is definately time for bed now (which I haven't felt for ages) so hopefully....

What a day

Flip. What a busy day I have had. First of all that Paul came round and caught up with sum paperwork for half an hour then that Sara Davis the physio came round. I was pleased to see her again then she hurt me no end, my back, my neck and (more to the point) my right arm.

When she was finished I was quite pleased to se her go. Then we went to the swimming pool and I forgave her as you could see how much better my arm was then. It continues to seem better, even now much later so I will look forward to seeing her next week at a guess.

Then we went to a café and had lunch, I napped for half an hour then got up and that Freya came round.

I couldn't decide what to cook her so we went out to the newish place in town and had a delicious dinner. While we were there Freya continued arguing with her Mum by txt eventually grudgingly accepting the order to "Come home tonight" so instead of taking her to the youth club like we normally do we took her back to Kidwelly, home

As well as all this I bought some Valerian tea to try to sort out my sleeping/napping patters

Ybot

Then, better late than never, that Toby chap came round for his tea etc

Gymming

So "we" went to Gym after lunch today. There was a new member of the class today, a chap called Chris who suffers from the after affects of a stroke. EG he can't move his left arm at all.

Banking

And for some reason last night my online bank wouldn't let me sign it so after some trouble I had to fill in the "ask for new password and memorable information" which I did last night but then it said "Phone us to confirm some details between 10AM and 7PM tomorrow" which I was shitting myself over but it went OK s'morning and I can now go back into my bank account

Ed-ding

So s'morning that Ed is "on duty" for the first time in a week or so. When he showed up I nearly couldn't remember him but then I remembered who is the tallest person in my life ATM so.....

Out

Gosh, first of all we went for tea opposite the railway station we wanted to go to, had a quick dinner, crossed the road and met a load of folkies on the station. Eventually our train came, I stood up and climbed on board properly, we didn't need a rail to assist us, then we went to Ammanford by train, musical train, went in the end to an Ammanford Folk Club and played and listened to them too. Then it was time for the train back to Llanelli so we poppped into the Folk Club there which was suddenly much busier than in had been all night.

SaraH

And SaraH the OT came round today and tried to make my hand splint different. Dunno how succesful she was but she took the phone number of the supplier off me so she will be able either to ask 'em for a new one of some "splint making material".

Timmy again

What joy, Timmy again.

Today we are getting bored now, then Sarah OT is coming, then quick shower, quick nap then we are going to Llanelli to catch a train in the Heart Of Wales Railway to Ammanford where we are having an "out here" folk club just tonight, in the Great Western Hotel

Ybot

And later I was panicking "Where's Toby", we waited for ages, then drove to his house. No answer. So we went out anyway and had a dinner in a restaurant, panicking. While we were there Toby txted me and said "Sorry, it wasn't my fault, see you Thursday"

Timmy, Timmy and more Timmy

So Timmy is in s'morning, at lunchtime he will take me to the gym then later today that Toby chap should be coming over for dinner

Ho hum, I've done the gym now, it was OK as ever. As ever I still didn't like going there but it is flippin' doing me some good so.....