More Rugger

And I am watching another game of rugby today. Scotland look OK, but well not as good as The All Blacks

Sigh

In the end the Scots scored 22 points, which would have been enuf to win many games of Rugby, but The All Blacks scored 51 for themselves

Can't Cook, Won't Cook!

Aargh, Ireland are in a rugby match against SA in about 8 minutes and I am supposed to cook summat.

We can have a really late dinner or.....

So Ireland were winning IIRC 12:3 so I thought "OK" and went cooking and eating. When I next saw a telly they were loosing 12:13. In the end they lost 12:16

(Sigh)

Shopper

Then we nipped to town and got candles and matches in case the power goes off. Looked all over town and couldn't find a gas heater anywhere, looked online and found several.

I also bought some more coasters for the table, the ones we had were worn out

Late Sleeper

And today I was awake loads in the night but slept in s'morning, I wasn't awake enuf to look at my clock until quarter to ten!!!!

Aardvarking

And then tonight we nipped into the new Aardvark shop, they have moved, instead of Waverley storing. And just good lord, it was late when we went there but they sell everything that I had put on my list for Morrison's on Monday and also wrote under "Organic Aardvark" to chance it. Everything.

It is well under new management since I worked there years ago but this new management seem obsessed with "Organic", like me

Whoops

And I have been getting my "How much did I drink" measurements wrong for a number of months. Cut in half the amounts of Sloe Gin I said I had

Scary Meeting

And I am having a scary meeting with Denyse and Janet, a care expert from my team s'morning

And it was a bit intimidating but went really well AFAICS. Apart from....

Narrow Leg

As usual I have had my left leg width measured every day and for the last 2 days it has been as narrow as my right leg, 6 inches or so narrower than last week

Sugarless Booze

And I had to get some sugarless booze tonight so I am currently drinking Scotch which apparently contains no sugar

Quiet Morning then...

Then that Freya girly came round, ate my hot dogs, complained there was no onion with them then spent ages redoing some photos in order to make it look as if she was somewhere groovy with a number 13 in it, she needs it for summat

The apple with number 13 on it was my idea BTW

Heating/Water

Strange, strange, strange.

So my central heating and hot water boiler aren't working properly. If I put the thermostat to usual levels the hot water works sometimes. If I put the thermostat right up so it's breathtakingly hot in here the hot water works fine. So until it's fixed I will need to put the heating full up in order to have a hot bath

We hadn't figured this out today so I had to boil a kettle and wash myself in the sink

Quiet Noon-er-aft

Not much on s'afternoon, I will nip shopwards again after my nap to fetch one item

Aargh, I couldn't find any long handled teaspoons (for eating my 3 days in the same packet yoghurt) but when we came back I bought some on Amazon (They are called Sundae Spoons too, apparently)

That hadn't worked so I nipped to Morrison's and bought more food

Still new gym

So I am going off to the new gym class again today

And good lord but it was hard work, less people there than Monday but still loads more than the stroke class. I was cycling today and I managed to put my bike up to 10 difficulty for the first 6 minutes, then I was knackered so I put it back down to 7.

Well, if they are trying their best to knacker me I might as well help them

Super Faster Broadband

On the same connections?

Ybot

Then that Toby chap came round for his tea. Being well surprised at my news from the doctor and then going off to clean his house before his lift to the Midlands arrives, but he did cook for us all

Diabetes

So I nipped to see the Dr this morning to talk about the results of my blood test. So I have got the early stages of diabetes - IFG apparently. It's not full on yet but I need to change my eating and drinking habits to reduce sugar intake. No more sloe gin then

Weight

And I was weighed yesterday and I lost 2lbs again, so my weight it coming down. Slowly but downwards

Really Shopping

So after finishing our hot chocolates we went proper shopping. Bought sink and drain cleaner as well as our normal shopping. It's all done until I Aardvark (and possibly Waverley) on Friday, possibly needing more Morrison's later in the week

Nearly Shopping

And as we nipped to Morrison's I was a bit saying "Can we?", we did and it was well worth it

New gym today

And s'morning, for the first time, I am attending my new gym class. "Mobility" this one is called as opposed to "Stroke sufferers". When I looked last week it seems a lot busier, like 30 or 40 attendees as opposed to the 6 we got on a good week at stroking.

It seems to be a lot more hectic but with a range of issues so if u r too tired stop doing it for a bit

And I went along, it went well but a bit exhaustingly. I refused to do the cycling thing but she said it will be less busy and more do-able on Wednesday.

But I still did stuff for the whole of the hour, I think it went well

Watching S4C

So I was looking at "What's on telly" but I thought "The only program that seems interesting is the rugby but it will be in Welsh, it's on S4C". Timmy said "Wait until it is fully loaded now press the red button" and an English commentary came on. Apparently it's only for sports but it is there

Weather

So at half six s'morning there was thunder and lightning, about an hour ago there was bare blue sky from one side to t'other, now it's raining heavily

Second Morning In A Row

And today is the second morning in a row when I haven't needed an Andrex Washlette to wipe my bum. For the first time in 9.5 years I have dun it two mornings in a row

Another quiet day

Then we had a Sunday, not much is happening, a restful day again

Aardvark

So I used to work in a Health Food Shop called Aardvark (out of date link) about 15 years ago. Since my accident I have found it not wheelchair accessible so I started shopping at an opposition store around the corner, but they have just moved to a bigger more wheelchair accessible shop, so I may have to go back to shopping there

Sandwiches

And today I was thinking about my lunch. Peanut butter and marmite on toast tastes a but odd, like I used to really like and it's just wrong now, dunno, then it occurred to me, sandwiches, that's what I used to like. I tried it and it's still delicious

Pink Hair

So I had to take my lapdog into the kitchen, switch it on and wait for Claire, Claire, She's Got Pink Hair to Skype me and reassess the conversation we had last week about me making a will, answering the same questions etc.

And I passed, she is gonna contact a solicitor for me who will help my write a will

Aunty Virus

And my antivirus software kept crashing about every 15 minutes to half an hour all day so I looked online, got a well recommended free antivirus downloaded, uninstalled the wrong-un and installed that in it's place. In it's initial scan it only found one piece of AdWear so hopefully the old one wasn't crashing as it had been corrupted

Waverley

And we went shopping in Waverley stores but didn't have as much to buy as last week

Not Swimming

Oops, no swimming today as it is half term, so loadsa kids go for free swims. Way too busy for me

Not In My Eyes

And I notice today that the sun isn't coming around the edge of the window frame to get in my eye. Apparently it has moved which I didn't know/expect

Camera Borked

So last night, when I was asleep, I dreamt that my camera was broken, the flash on it wouldn't fire.

So I woke up s'morning thinking I'd better take Paul to an expensive shop and spend a few hundred quid.

Then as I woke up more I thought "Test it", took my camera out, the bits on the bottom hadn't broken off and taking a test shot the flash flashed.

So I don't need one, it was all a bad dream

Fredumpkins

And after nap we went miles away to pick up that Freya girly (because it's half term - she was at home). We brought her back here where I was scarily trying to make Garlic Mushrooms on baps as a starter and pasta and stuff for main course. I think it worked quite well in the end but I'm glad I didn't have to do that much washing up.

Afterwards we tried both the games I bought to play with my parents at christmas and I actually rather liked them both, apart from loosing wildly

Farewell Gym

And I went back to Gym for the last session in the "Stroke" class, from next week I will be attending "Mobility" at a different time/day.

Shopping

Then we went out to (That Evil) Tesco's (Place) to pick up some "Happy Christmas" stick on labels and some bread making flour. I don't need the flour yet but I may try and make some baps tomorrow while I still have bread as an emergency route

THEN we answered a call from Toby as he was hungover (half term) and crying out KFC so we took him and I told him off big style

24 minutes past

So I got a txt s'morning saying "Your order will be delivered between 9.24 and 10.24 on" this day. So I understand why they can't be more precise, traffic etc but 24 minutes past?

And he came at 8 minutes past 9, I told him he was too early but...

Mouse

And my right hand is getting so much better that I want to start using the mouse in my right hand (which I have for this whole post so far) but it is way too difficult.

And as I have been using it with my right hand my typing has been totally and completely left handed

But a whole post with my right handed mouse

Trick or Treat

So as tonight is Halloween we bought a bag of sweets for any Trick or Treat callers.

Except we haven't had a single caller tonight

Splintless

So today I parked my 'chair, stood up and walked down the hall and into the office bedroom, spoke to Ed and walked back out. I was half way back out when I thought, again, that "My right foot is turning over under itself" then the second part of that thought joined in, "Hang on, I am not wearing my splint, and I haven't fallen over or owt!!!"

Pissing

It still amazes me with how much bigger my bladder is nowadays, there's none of this pissing every quarter of an hour. It still amazes me how long it can come out when I just piss.... and piss... and piss... and piss some more

Shopping

So then s'afternoon we had to meet up with that Toby chap and give him back some of the spare cash he gave me yesterday.

Then we nipped to More Reason's To Shop In... and topped up food for the rest of the week

Patience

So the landlord said he would phone me back s'morning to discuss when the fixer chap could come.

Still waiting and it is afternoon now...

And I have just had a phonecall from Denyse, and I thought "Wadda ya want?", saying that the landlord is out of his house at the minute and he has my phone numbers in his mobile but the landlady wanted to phone me but could only find Denyse's number so she had phoned her to say "The gasman will be here about 2.45 to fix it"

PHEW

And we have been able to switch off the heaters and run a hot tap again.The knowledge that the fixer had, he carried out simple tasks one after another, all of which I would have managed but knowing what to do and when to do it must be worth a few quid

Phew, it's fixed now

No Swimming

And as I am a bit upset still waiting for the landlord to get back to me about fixing my heating/hot water I can't possibly go swimming today. But Paul said "No prob, we can go swimming on Friday

Toenail Cutter

And Linda the Chiro....((*)) came and charged me a great deal for trimming my toenails and creaming etc. She did say how much better my feet look now than when she first got involved

((*)) Chiropodist or Chiropractor I am not sure what her proper title is

Visitor

And we had to go and pick up that Toby chap and give him Bubble and Squeak for tea. He seemed in good form and was reasonably positive about college.

Right Hand

After lunch I got myself an apple (as I need to eat more fruit) and a knife to cut it into bite sized chunx. And I used my right hand to hold the knife in and cut it all up

Last But 1

And I went to my nearly last session at the stroke gym, I told her that I liked the mobility class and would be trssnsfering next week

Blood Test

Oh dear. We phoned the Doctor to get my result from my blood test last week and apparently my IFG is too high

Heating Bust

So the central heating and water heating in my house has broken. So we will phone the landlord.

He came out, tried to do his magic, no avail, tried again etc. No, still broken.

So tomorrow a mender is gonna come and mend it, apparently

Radical Bum Cleaning

So, as usual, I went and had a pooh s'morning. Seemed same as normal but for some reason cleaning it seemed to work better than usual so I didn't need any extra wipes today

Mobile Phone Temperamental

And all night I have been trying to get my mobile phone to connect to any website so I could do some "getting ready" work but it refused to connect. An hour later I finally noticed that the picture of the phone had disappeared too, it wasn't connecting to that either I fiddled for a few minutes, nowt, so I switched it off, waited a minute then switched it back on. Now it had the picture of a phone back and was able to connect to a website again

Calci-yummy

And I had a third of a big Rachel's Dairy Organic calcium rich Yogurt which tasted really good

James Car

I have just turned on my telly and caught the last few minutes of a prog about James Bond cars and as it was the end the presenter drove down a slipway then into the water with a Lotus Esprit. He appeared to be having a lot of fun

Start and End

And I discovered. YouTube has a built in facility for starting a video at a certain time but nowt to set the end time. I looked and looked, it seemed that you had to do scary stuff etc but then, 3rd or 4th time of looking I discovered a program called TubeChop which lets you set the start and finish. So I was able to cut my vid but I haven't found a play automatically function. But yet

Looking At New Class

Then we are going to look at the Mobility class to see if it is fit for me as I think I am beyond the stroke class that I have been attending for ages

Then, in the same trip out, we need to go to the supermarket and do sum shopping

And because we had to go to Wilkinson's to pick up more gloves for the staff we ran out of time, if I had drunk my coffee with my lunch too fast we would have only had half an hour left there so we didn't actually go. Just phoning to apologise

I am a Dag

Unfashionable

Busy Beaver Paul

So today, Paul, apart from singing random ditties, has been well busy and making my cupboard well better with new extra bits

How Did She Know?

We were coming back from town today in my car when I suddenly thought "Oh, the clocks have changed", checked her and the clock was still right. She must have checked through some wireless server or summat

Then I thought "Bedroom clocks" there are two. And they had changed time by themselves too

... & About

So we are going out in a bit to look at digital SLR camera's and see if there are any I can manage. While we are out we will also have a look at Bread Makers, dunno whether I want/need one or not, we will have a look

And no, digital SLR's seemed a bit too big for me to handle until my right hand is even better. And breadmakers were just no

Buns

And I bought myself a packet of buns today, but good lord they are nice, and only 43 calories each apparently

Mending

Then we nipped to Wilkinson's shop in Carmarthen and picked up strange tape to tape my hall matt to the linoleum floor and some bits to fix my feed bird device which broke t'other week, which kept Paul busy for a bit

Claire Pink Hair

So this morning my phone said "Message from Claire pink hair" she said "On my way".

When she got here she basically asked me various questions about getting my will ready etc. She has to prove that my brain is well enuf to get involved. I don't think I will be writing a will until get more cash but it is in the process now

Alarm Clocking

So recently I discovered that you can set my alarm clock for tomorrow, every day OR "working days". So I tried it this week, my alarm clock has gone off Monday to Friday but it didn't go off s'morning as it is now a resting weekend day

And after exploring on the web I now know that I can set my working days as whichever I want/need

(sent from my phone)

Bread Maker

So I started considering one of these tonight. I thought you could pick up a well reviewed one for about £50. Then I thought 'Oh no, slicing it' but I found various options from £4 to £100. But then I thought I eat so little bread. I buy a loaf, pop it in the freezer and only take about 6 slices per week out of the freezer, so bread maker loaves would be unsliceable when frozen.

Change my mind if you can think of a way round this but I can't

Right Handedness

So I was making 2 naan bread pizzas for dinner. First of all I took out 1 red onion and 3 mushrooms. Then I started to cut them, for the first time in 9.5 years, with my right hand. I started, continued and finished cutting them with my right hand.

Then as I was eating the pizza, I usually pick up a complete naan pizza and bite chunks off it, but as today was going so well I cut that, piece by piece, with my right hand too

Phew

Awwwww, a quiet afternoon now. Good lord

But I am a smidge bored....

Physioing

Gosh, that was hard work, the physio work with Sara, but it is making stuff easier

Iechyd Da-ing

And I am off to meet Freya at the club tonight

And it was good, not that many musicians but we made it anyway

Busy

So the first part of busyness was gym, then we bought Toby some toothpaste as he asked for that but no cash or food etc. Then after some blarging about the place I am back here, bath, nap, then get ready to go out tonight

Quiet Morning

And I am having the first restful day for some time, well restful morning, I will be busy later.

Turnoff

It seems again that Turnoff Master is actually taking control of my machines and turning them off. Can't recall which options I am hitting but both machines are turning off after I go to bed now

Swimming

After my crisis s'morning I was at the swimming pool again. For the second week I jumped in, but this week I closed my mouth and held my nose. So this week there was no drama. So, perish the thought, I might actually have to say I enjoyed it this week

Blood Testing

So I am up s'morning don't eat or drink anything until they have taken your diabetes blood test, 'cos the last one u had wasn't clear

No breakfast and no coffee s'morning when I had to go there

Tickling

So someone mentioned on Ixion a "Thigh Tickler". I was puzzled, thought "Does that mean moustache?" asked Google and I was right

SLR

And Paul brought in a digital SLR for me to try. Gosh it was way more complex than my point'n'shoot but I was able to take a few decent pics with it

Ybot

After all this we went to pick up that Toby and then had to take him food shopping as Paul said he would bring loadsa veg and make summat special for the 3 of us but his wife cooked all the veg for dinner last night

Dietician

After Gym I came home, had lunch and quickly went napping as we then needed to go see the Dietician at the surgery. We had loadsa stuff to show her as they are noting everything I eat/drink towards my claim so we were better prepared than most of her customers. She looked thru everything and said generally it was well good. She did suggest that I cut out one of my glasses of fruit juice as it's well calorific and replace it with a glass of milk to keep my calcium intake up. She also suggested adding some Cashew Nuts to my stir fry to just top up my protein intake.

She was saying "Drink less" but on the whole she wasn't even too negative about my booze habits

Gymming

And I went to gym today and did as well as ever. Afterwards I spoke to Sam and asked her about other classes. She said "Yes", she thinks it is probably time I left the Fitness After Stroke class I have been attending for a couple of years and move to the Mobility group which has a variety of clients

(sent from my phone)

Dinner

And at dinner time I tried my new "weight reduced" beans which tasted a bit strange but with scrambled egg and toast were enough to make me smile(1)

(1) Or "grin like an idiot"

Psychling

And we went cycling again today. The reclining cycle proved beyond me and required 2 assistants to get me out but then we had a 2 people tandem cycle then a pedal with your hands to improve my right shoulder.

Morrisoning

Then we nipped to Morrison's where I bought a fair amount of food then extra oven chips and veggie burgers to go in the other gfreezer as "snowed in" food in emergency in winter

Change

Well as it is now on my weekly timetable I changed the bed s'morning. Well I took off sheets etc and washed them, Timmy put clean ones on

A Beautiful Visitor

Then that Ruth came to see me, we talked about loadsa stuff etc and she made me feel a lot better

And we talked about a day long Introduction To Digital Photography course at NBGW on 1st Dec

It Is Easier

And on walking today I can say that it is still much too difficult to do without 107% concentration but it is easier than it was yesterday.

And that was easier than the day before.

And that was easier than the day before that.

etc etc

StandyUp

So I was sitting on my up/down seat watching telly today. I put it back up until the moment when it is just in a proper seat position, stopped up/downing, moved slightly forward and stood up. All by myself, I couldn't manage that a few weeks ago, last time I tried.

(shout)I AM GETTING BETTER(/s)

Batteries

So on my toothbrush charger a new light lit up. On reflection it meant the battery is dying, which upon replacing proved correct. I am puzzled tho, I thought it was a plug in device to charge my toothbrush but apparently not, one set of batteries to charge another, how small must the toothbrush batteries be if they can be recharged by a battery for so many months before *that* battery runs out of power

(sent from my phone)

ARGH, no, on reflection it is plug in powered, the battery light just meant that the battery in the timer/display unit on my bathroom wall was low

'Chairless

And it seems to becoming a pattern, I walked to my bedroom for my nap. I don't walk there at night as in the morning I have no splint on so start the day in my wheelchair

And I think Paul was right t'other day when I complained about how difficult it was to walk, he said "Keep practicing, it will get easier", it is still hard but it may be easier than yesterday

Sort Of Standing/Walking

So at lunchtime I got back into my wheelychair, went into the kitchen, went back and forward 17 times, or so, getting stuff out and making a brew, than at last I had to prepare some food, so I stopped, put the brakes on on my 'chair and walked forward half a dozen steps and stood there until my lunch was made

(sent from my phone)

And yes, it worked like this at dinner time too...

Edingtom

And Ed is coming in tomorrow to store loadsa what they have written about me on a DVD and to post it to my representative legal boffin.

Cooking

And I took out the stir fry I was gonna cook for dinner, opened the spuds hat need to go in't oven first and put the stir fry away. Gosh, I thought the spuds would be a top up, not as massive as a massive thing, so we will eat them with veggie burger and make a stir fry tomorrow

Sitting Down To Cook

But as I am so exhausted by seeing Sara then jumping in the swimming pool I am cooking from a sitting down wheelchair position

And it was a strange dinner, the spuds were strange but not that unpleasant. Linda McCartney veggie sausages really impressed Paul. He wasn't impressed by how they looked but how they tasted

Walking napwards

And as I am doing struggleworthy efforts to make myself get better I walked on my own two feet to bedroom to have a nap this afternoon

(sent from my phone)

'Wimming

Then we nipped off to the swimming pool. I walked to the edge of the pool, looked and laughed at the hoist which I had to use last week and jumped in. Gosh it was mad, I took in loads of water up my nose, opened my eyes, could see that I was underwater, didn't panic, came above the surface blew out water and breathed air. Hoo-flippin-ray. It was scary but I did it. So every week at the pool I won't have to ask them to fit the hoist now

Sara

Then Sara the physio came and did some balance work etc, she wore me out going "1, 2, 3" but it worked, I do feel better for seeing her

Afterwards she said "We will have to look at minor Botox in your right hand, the shoulder etc are all well but your fingers are still bent over"

Splintless Walking

This morning I thought to myself, "Leave your wheelchair and walk to your 'puter chair" but as I had no splint on I wouldn't do it until Paul was hovering next to me. It was as easy as pie, more difficult than walking with splint but still possible. I walked the whole way across my living room with no splint on

Burgers

So then I set out to make veggie cheese burgers, chips and beans for me, Freya and Dicky. It was OK, the making burgers bit (just put them in the oven) but a> I made cheese burgers and b> I had to slice open the burger buns and I used my right hand for that.

It wasn't the poshest food I have prepared but it was difficult and delicious

And after a whole day of walking everywhere I gave up and wheely-chaired to cook, as I had to do so much back and forwarding and nip to the Popty-ping etc (noisy link - not WS)

Nag

And I had a big conversation with Denyse. Effectively she said "You agreed to get better thusly, but you haven't for ages". Yes, she was right so today my wheelchair is parked across the room, waiting until I go out and I am walking everywhere in the house. Which I can do, I got p*ssed off with having to concentrate on walking so much but I can do it.

Much as it makes me want to cry, she was right!!!

Reminders

First Timmy reminded me of summat I hadn't thought of for a number of years, then next morning Paul reminded me of another of their songs that again I hadn't thought of for a number of years but could remember all the words to

Weirdy Marmite

Then I thought at lunchtime to take out some bread, some peanut butter and some Marmite. Weirdness, I was looking forward to eating sum Marmite again but was a bit nervous about spreading it. But Marmite no longer comes as a black sludge in a pot, it comes in a 'squeeze me out' container and seems slightly more ductile than I remember it in the past

Woe Is Me

And because they are doing some important work assessing a newbie MOS no-one will be free to take me to the gym.

Bitter tears

Team Meeting

So "they" are all having a conference in my kitchen while I sit out in my living room. My "Team Meeting" is going on

And Denyse nagged me a bit more about walking about the house, not wheelchairing. Glum but she might be right