Pizza

And G Biv had his first na'an bread pizza for tea tonight which he did enjoy, apparently.

A wee bit proud of the whole concept

First Proper Day

And it is Roy Of The Rovers first proper day on duty alone today.

• Or is he called Roy G Biv?
And me and G Biv hearted over to gym for a Sam class, which was as much fun as ever. At one point today I was walking back and forwards up&down 3 big steps. In one direction I held on with my hand on the chairs to one side but in the other direction I paused then went for it without holding on. It was the first time in nearly 15 years I have been able to walk over steps without holding on to summat

Grooviness

A bit excellent it was tonight. There was not too much boring people playing boring tunes and generally it was enjoyable fun

(Sigh)

So me & Timmy went to gym s'morning and I had to do mainly lifting with your hands exercises and they were so much fun. After lunch I did the washing up as we are heading out for dinner tonight, to Clubb Iechyd Da for a bit of a monthly Folk Night. But I saw them s'morning when we popped in to pick up our organic veg

Right Hand

Today as usual I was sitting on the loo and my walking stick decided to fall over from its leaning position. Today I reached down with my right hand, got to within a couple of inches and it stopped moving. I thought and bent my knees and back a bit further and was able to reach and pick up my walking stick, off the floor, with my right hand.

For the first time in 15 or 16 years

Walkies

Then we popped out for a walk around town. We parked on Lammas St. walked up a bit, someone said "Up the hill" but I said no, I wanted to walk around, up the steep bit past Iechyd Da, along King St and back down by the court building and back to the car. It was a relatively active walk but one that is so possible nowadays

Poolwards

So we are off to the pool in a bit. Not for Aqua Aerobics as she is crying out for the school summer holidays but just a session in the pool.

Hoo-fscking-ray

Protest, protest, protest. Aargh, it was full of kids, the changing rooms were full of tat that some kids had left behind etc. Not a happy chappy.

Delete Broken #4

Seems to have started working again, just after Ixion switched itself back on after 9pm tonight

Good Program

And today I just watched the fourth episode (I have already seen the first 3) of Forces of Nature by Brian Cox and it impressed me enough to write about it here

Mega MEGA Cycle

And we headed to gym s'morning and got stuck into cycling 10km. I did it faster than I have ever managed today, in 45mins and about 27 seconds. Yes, I am getting fitter etc

Delete BROKEN again, 3rd post

Sigh, big fscking sigh.

Yesterday  I posted positive but today it is not working, again

Delete Fixed #2

Yesterday (and day before) I said this but it is working again today. Gord nose

Headwaying

So at lunchtime we are heading west to try out the Headway Swansea group, they seem a lot busier than the Carmarthen group so it might be a good group to meet some new friends etc

Wow. That was a bit different than the Carmarthen meetings. We didn't know what to expect so just turned up and were in a room full of folk mainly just chatting or playing board games. And all the board games had been chosen because you need to think clearly or remember summat etc. So we played Rummikub (Tile Rummy) and Kerplunk. The woman sitting at the table with us won all Rummikub games, I think she has practiced somewhat

Delete Fixed

And the function to delete messages by pressing "delete" is now working again, it hasn't worked for 3 days now but hip hip hooray etc

(Sigh) but its not working again next morning....

With Fredumpkins

Then tonight we had an excellent time with Freya who we had to fetch from home and then got stuck in with me making refried bean quesadillas which we all enjoyed.

Later she spent some time adding suggestions into "Neil's box of what to do" that I will pull out next time I am bored

We had a good time tonight, all of us, it was nice to see her and she was in good form

Weight

So I am a quarter of a pound lighter than last week. It is too small to be visible in my record but at least it is still in the right direction

Hoovering

And while Timmy was hoovering s'morning, next to my bed with no sheets on as they are in the washing machine, I said someone recommended I do this so can you please Hoover on the bed

Ouch

And I have got a bit of pain s'morning (and yesterday) in where I had my jab t'other day

Sigh

Then tonight, unexpectedly we had to nip to Tesco to pick up a new printer for the staff PC. First of all we walked out round town (therapeutically, obviously) then drove to T and did more walking to find the printer

Unusual Shop

Then we had to go shopping today for some new ingredients as Freya is coming over to help me cook summat she specified tomorrow evening.

As she txted me yesterday and said "Haven't seen you for ages" as we both have been waiting for the other to make a move

Sneaked Out

So s'evening I took it on what my MOS said to me earlier in the day and went to the pub

Samming

So we headed up to see the gorgeous Sam in her gym class at lunchtime. I felt a bit odd, everything was working etc and my right knee was more able to not para-extend, it was just behaving more like a proper knee in most of the exercises I was doing

Jabbing

So we headed to the Dr's for my jab today. She said that this one was another one in a month but hopefully by then they will be able to get the 3 month jabs again

Sneaked Out

Then later we popped out to More Reasons To Shop At.... (noisy) and got the rest of my weeks shopping

Meeting

And all my staff are coming to the house today for a 'team meeting' where they can all slag me off etc

And I spoke to Denyse when she arrived. She said "Anything you want to bring up at the meeting?", I said "I no longer use my wheelchair at swimming pool, can I take it out of the boot of the car and leave it in the garage?", and she thought about it and said "YES". She said we need to give the chair back if I am properly no longer using it, but leave it for a couple of months to see. I suspect that at the next team meeting we will make arrangements to give it back. (And we will have to find that "cover the boot" piece which we had to take out to fit my 'chair)

Well before we can start that I made some lunch from the last(?) of the lettuce from the greenhouse, then headed down to Iechyd Da to pick up the cry.  We couldn't find a parking space buy GGTGG dropped me and GBiv off and we headed down while he drove round the block.  Now I have had a bath and nap and later we will head to Morrison's

Manyana

And looking at my diary today I notice that tomorrow I have gotta go to the Drs for a testosterone jab

Aqua Aerobics

And it went as well as can be expected but she did say at the end how the Aerobics sessions are off 'til the kids go back to school after the summer holidays

Practice On Read More - A

B

FES Once More

And the posty brought some new FES wires and they work. We were only able to test it for a few minutes then take it back off as I will be in the swimming pool in a bit but I am well pleased that it worked

No Email

So I had my brekky and sat down at the 'puter. Clicked on the email button and it said "No, does not  open". Clicked a few more times, restarted and it still wouldn't work. So I went off and got my swimming stuff out for this afternoon and when I came back and clicked it just opened as it did yesterday.

Phew

And AARGH, now it is Lloyds Bank that isn't working

A number of hours later and it just works again.

Sanding

Then G Biv got stuck into my kitchen door with sandpaper today.  It turns out that it didn't need sanding, it just needed a small piece of grout removing from under the door.

All done, taken off and the kitchen door now closes silently

Strange Gym Session

And we (me, GGtGG, and GBiv) went to the gym s'morning and I did 2 or 3 go's on all the machines, to give GBiv an experience of using them

• Then l8r we popped out and walked into an ice cream shop in Llansteffan where I had an ice cream at someone else's expense

Not Today

And the postie didn't bring my new FES wires s'morning. Hope for the best tomorrow

FESless

Then s'afternoon we nipped to Wilko to get some paint for the chair outside and some more ink for the staff PC printer. It felt a bit odd walking without my FES on but I did it, loadsa way around the big shop and back out to the car afterwards. We left my 'chair in the boot

Better

And after swimming today he looked at my chest etc and said there was no need to put the iodine patches that I had about a million of last night as the bites were much smaller etc

Phone Call

So Timmy had to phone the FES fixer chap s'morning and he listened then said he would send us out another set of leads via Royal Mail

Getting Better

So I am a bit better at July's puzzle

Than I was in June




















Dunno why, perhaps its just easier now, or summat

Glub Glub

{Sigh}
And we are foo farking swimming in a bit
{/S}

And we went and did it.

Got on, did my 8 lengths straight away then various exercises then home, phew

Manyana

So as we are having a crisis with fleas, and even Timmy hasn't been able to get the FES to work again we are gonna have to pull out of the doggy walking place and hopefully go back to the FES clinic on Monday (hopefully) and hopefully get it fixed

Fleas

And I have been bitten by a number of fleas. That and the fact that my FES isn't working ATM (so we can't go for a walk on Mon anyway {Q. phonecall Mon morning}) is really putting me off going back to the dog walky place

Isn't She Wonderful

And Awesome tried my FES again today. We had an issue with it, it just stopped working totally when we were in the car to somewhere yesterday morning. GGtGG looked at it, changed pads, changed bottom receptor but it still wouldn't work. Awesome had a go s'morning, it said "No" so I set off up the room for a walk, about 5 or 6 steps later it started again

So I am lucky, not just to have someone that beautiful working for me but someone that talented

• Aargh, after 5 minutes sitting in a chair it isn't working again. So my chat up line has gone out the window 

OK, I walked down the back door steps on the way to the greenhouse and when I caught the top of my toe suddenly it worked again. Normal steps nothing but strange tap and it works

"She" Is In Today

And AwesomeAndrea is working her last shift today.

• Missing her already

At Last

Then at last we popped to gym where the 3 of us (me, GGTGG and G Biv who is shadow shifting this week) we got to see Sam in gym class

Between Times

Then between then and going to gym to my class we popped over to the Docs and picked up a new 'script for cream for my armpits which we then went next door and got

Woof Woof

So first thing s'morning we headed over to the dog walking place. It seems rather nice, full of dogs but I am a bit concerned about walking off road. We need to go back next Monday (instead of swimming oh woe is me) when she will do a risk assent of me walking alongside my MOS who has the dog

Sitting Down

And I noticed yesterday that for some time I was forced to sit down from the LHS of the chair but nowadays I can just do it from anywhere

Walkies

In the morning.... GGtGG is coming in half an hour early so we can head down to RSPCA outside Swansea to try and sort out dog walking for me to help them

Busy Day. No, Morning

Well, so first thing s'morning me and Boris (new nickname for Timmy) headed down to King Street, parked up on the furthest away disabled bay and walked down to Cafe Iechyd Da to pick up my veg from there. Once that was in the back of the car we headed over to MoreReasonsToShopAt... And got the rest of the weeks groceries. So we then came home and put it all away before heading to gym to do my weights training.

So today I was mostly doing upper arm exercises to help and just good lord but I am so much better then even a couple of weeks ago. Strength and the ability to move in uncomfortable positions

AquaAerobics

And I went back with MM and did loadsa exercises etc.

• Ready for sleep now

Dog Walking

And MM said to me s'morning that the people who are (hopefully) gonna take me on as a dog walker want to meet up with me and check various things next Friday morning

Yum yum

So last night I opened a packet of the new snack that I had bought, couldn't read the ingredients, way too small, GGtGG was able to, after he put on his glasses, and he said they look reasonably healthy. Just fruit, fruit juice and thickener, not loads added sugar etc

Après Nap

So we popped out again after my nap, headed into Wilkos and bought 4 much smaller plates for most of us to not eat too much of

Later we had microwaved.then.baked potatoes, beans and a cheesy/veg thing which was lovely.

According to the piece that sent me buying plates that is feeling more like a full dinner

Out Shopping

Then we headed out after lunch looking for slightly smaller dinner plates which we couldn't find but did pop in and get more cheap oven chips in a nearby store. So we had to come back for bath/nap but afterwards we are gonna nip out again and this time try Wilko

Mega Bike

So we headed to gym about lunchtime and I did my now Tuesday routine of a 10km cycle and I think that it was about 45 seconds quicker than last week.

So more progress has been made

Chicken Dinner

And I am now winning every day for a month and a half

If you look closely you can see how some days have 3 little pegs in and some (like the 8th of June) have none in, these were ones that it took me a bit longer to actually get right, to win

Finally Had Nut Roast

So tonight I had to feed me, MM and Biv so at last I was able to take the nut roast out of the freezer that has been in there for ages, I bought it carelessly ages ago and hadn't read the back of the packet, where it says "Serves four" and I nearly always feed 2. But I thought we could each have a bit more tonight. It was nice but too big for normal

Odd Deliverer

And just as I was finishing lunch today there was a knock on the door, there was someone from a delivery company delivering the 2 new birds for the front garden that I thought were being delivered by Royal Mail tomorrow

To The Pool

So we are off to the pool in a bit, me MM and Roy G Biv the trainee newbie. Not sure what's going on, I expect MM to stay out of the way and Biv to be learning what to do

No, Biv wasn't wearing flippers so he couldn't keep up. AND I managed a whole width from touching to touching with no floaty devices at all

Roasty

So tonight me and Esmeralda (Andrea) had a big roast dinner which was lovely. And as Timmy wasn't working today I was able to use enough veg for two.

Just yum yum

Making The Bed

And me and Esmeralda got stuck into making the bed, for the two of us it seemed rather easy

• And I did notice how much easier it seems as I can now walk 10-15 ft round the bed without my stick, without having to clear "putting my stick on in" space etc

Wonderful Weather

And it is such lovely weather today that I am stuck indoors staring out the window

To Buy Dinner

And we are going out to eat tonight at Caffi Iechyd Da as they are having a musical night. "We", me, Timmy and Roy G. Biv my new MOS who is here on a see what you are doing day

• When I was there we sat down. If I needed the loo I walked the 15(?) yards there & back with no walking stick. I parked my 'stick up when we arrived and it stayed there until we left

Missed Her Terribly

So Sam is back so I will have a gym class today at 1PM.

So I went there with Timmy and Roy my new MOS (I do have a camera on my tablet) who is learning the ropes

Hectic Morning

• So first thing s'morning I headed down to Caffi Iechyd Da(1) to pick up my organic goodies. 
• Then on the way home we popped into Morrison's and bought the remainder of my shopping for the week. 
• So we brought those home, packed it all away then popped down to gym. Where we were doing various exercises mainly on my upper arms today to see if we can stop it aching

(1) Where we are heading tomorrow night to have tea and see a Welsh Guitar duo

But by the time we got back home the decorators had finished

Decorators

And the decorators came in and started work cleaning the outside of my house. Fair enough, it is possible gonna be months before they can finish it but I don't have the cash to pay them. I have been told to go ahead but I can't pay them yet

Aaaah

And we are off out in a bit to the pub up the road to watch WALES in the football championship

Dunno what to say or.......

For 85 minutes they looked best, couldn't score, for 5 minutes just after half time the fscking foreigners scored twice

[Sigh]

So we (me and GGtGG) are heading over to the swimming pool later. The usual Wednesday Aqua Aerobics session isn't happening today but a normal swim is on the cards

• Right, first thing. It is becoming much easier etc over time. But this does not mean "Do more lengths" etc
• And today GGtGG pushes my wheelchair behind me with bags on, I got changes, walked out, walked back, got changed back. He said "Sit here to...." but I refused to make it clear how free of wheelchair I was. Didn't even touch it

Close All

So Timmy said there was no way of closing multiple tabs at once on my mobile phone. I thought "There must be" but couldn't find a way but Timmy looking thru the links I had got looking suddenly said "Ah, yes, click on the number of tabs number then click the dots at the top of the screen and then click 'Close All'"

Duh, between the two of us we couldn't find owt but we did it together in the end

Mega Cycle

So we headed down to gym today and I did a 10km cycle. Today I beat my fastest time so another record.

I was gonna say "Enough" after 6 and 8 KM but I just stuck with it

T&C

Then later we headed down to Farmfoods and bought some more tea and coffee for the staff.  "We" also bought some sugar for them which makes me think "Well I stopped...." but there you are. I carried the basket the whole way round the shop but I was struggling with it at the end. However we queued and paid then I carried the bag out, that was so much easier. Obviously it is just the gripping things with my hand that I struggle with

'Wimming

So then we headed down to the pool. I was a bit nervous that she would make me pay for the second adult accompanying me but she didn't.

The only thing I can talk about is not using my wheelchair at all. Walked in, got changed, walked from there to pool etc

BUT if I do this for a few weeks more then I will 

be able to say that I no longer use a wheelchair.

And (crazy thought) give it back 

Roasty

So I went to open the packet of nut roast that's in't freezer t'other night when I looked at the back of the packet and read "Serves 4". I thought "Oh no, who can I give it to" but last night it occured to me that next week I will have to feed me, a MOS and Roy all at the same time, so at a guess we can manage 1.3 portions each.

Eat less next day to keep my diet going but......

[sigh]

So s'morning MM came in an hour early so he can tell Timmy how he has been getting on over the last few months. It's part of Timmy's role.

THEN l8r Roy is coming in for the first of his "shadow shifts" where he will just be seeing what my team do to get him up to speed with his first proper shift in a few weeks. Part of the plan is to come to the 'wimming pool with us and just sit around and spectate. Next week his role will involve coming into the changing room with me etc

Deliverer

And because I had f**ked up and not said "Deliver it by Royal Mail" a chap came round s'afternoon, on a Sunday, and delivered the new lights for outside that the fox had eaten half of

It Was

And Linda, my neighbour, was telling me s'morning that it was a fox nibbling on my chair and the decorations 2 nights ago. It was about 4.30 AM when she saw it

Cleaning

So GGtGG got stuck into cleaning up all the birds mess from my porch, as they have gone. First of all he shovelled off the sh*t, then went up a ladder to clean off the nest (as we are having a decorator in before the birds will be back) then got stuck into steam cleaning. At which point I had to come indoors as the spray was very... spray like

Then he was just steam cleaning the whole outside at the front of the house. I didn't realise how grubby it had got until one corner looked well clean when he had finished

And cleaning the car too, he is

The Wrong Day

Ant today me and Andrea popped over to the Docs to pick up my 'script (with directions from me, she isn't from round here) then on the way back she said "Gym" and we went and did loadsa machines as Sam is on holiday so there is no class this week.

But it has made today feel like "Not Friday"

Out

Iechyd Daing again. It was good apart from the dull as..... electrical chaps who played in the middle. After a few minutes everyone was ignoring them and chatting amongst themselves. As ever I took some photos but no need to publish them. They are just the same again

End Of Busyness

So s'morning we went shopping and gymwards and that was the last of my couple of weeks of being way too busy. S'evening there is a folk night at Caffi Iechyd Da and tomorrow there is no gym class.

And one of the MOS for the cafe said tonight "No wheelchair, I gave never seen you walk".

Busy Morning

So we got stuck in s'morning and did my whole days worth of diary events. So now, after the washing up, I can relax until we pop out to The Folk Night at Caffi Iechyd Da

So we picked up organic veg that is delivered to Caffi Iechyd Da with their organic veg order, popped to Morrisons and got my weeks worth of top up, went to the gym and did half hour on the bike (5km today) then came home to eat lunch

{sigh}

And so we are off to Aqua Aerobics in a bit......

And we did it, it was as much fun as ever but the biggest story is I didn't use my wheelchair again, just walkies on an unstable, ungrippy floor 

All Gone

And the birds nest by my front door is empty now. Yesterday they were teaching the chicks to fly so today they must have flown off. It takes just a few weeks from start to finish

Parts

Part 1. So the first part of my hectic day was having an early (11.30) lunch. Then over lunchtime the physio lady came and did loads of walking back and forward with no stick, I need to practice to make it go into my memory.  I was marginally dischuffed because she was praising me big style. I suspect from part of what she was saying that most ABI sufferers don't make as much of a recovery as I am doing

Part 2. Then s'afternoon Timmy took me miles away to Llanelli to see the Dr Rice that I saw last year. He wasn't there but his (Greek accented) glamorous assistant weighed me, took my blood pressure and talked. She said that my weight was down, blood pressure was where we wanted it to be and last week when they tested my blood that was good too

And she did say that the 6 monthly jab should be accessible so she is gonna write to my GP and tell him to look for that, not the monthly one that I have had for the last 2 months 

Busy

So as I am uberbusy today and this person is coming then and I need to travel to see someone else then it is all getting hectic re lunchtime and bath/nap time.

I think as it stands if I have lunch at 11.30 before anyone sees me......... just aargh

That's My Line

So ATM I am reading a Terry Pratchett novel, Equal Rites, and at some point in the book one character said to another "How are you?" To which s/he replied "All the better for seeing you". That's my line!!

Yfory

Not that I am busy tomorrow

Learning To Fly

And the birds nest above my front door has been busy s'afternoon as the little 'uns are learning to fly. To my neighbours roof and back

Out Of The Car

And we have gotta take the car in for a service today, they will give us a lift home then we need a taxi to take us back to get the car later.

After my bath/nap etc

So the chap brought us home, but as we reached the pub at the end of the road I said "Stop here, therapy if I walk home from here" so we set off from there and walked home. And we had a discussion, they will drap the car back and we will take him home

Which we did and when we were nearly there I went for a long walk in town

"Out To Dinner....

.... with a gorgeous singer,

to a little place I know....." (noisy link)

So Freya txted me today and said "I promised you a late Fathers Day last week when I was somewhere foreign......" so we made arrangements to pick her up later and go out for dinner

So we picked her up and went out to F&B's for dinner, that Freya had booked. It was lovely and Freya and Timmy seem to find loads to talk about

Lust, lust, lust

So Andrea is working today and I have been able to not ask her to marry me too often today so I s'pose that's good

S'evening the pub up the street is playing the football (Wales vs NI!!!) so I guess we better head there instead of cooking dinner at football time

Well ultimately the team that I supported most won. Honest (as I dunno myself)

Snak

So tonight I tried one of the packets of snacks that aren't as fattening as you would think and are better for you on so many levels, according to MM anyway. They were nice and I felt reallly full afterwards, more filling that my usual sneaky evening eats

Busy Few Days

And Sara contacted me today and said "Can I come see you on Tuesday next week instead?" which I said "Yes" to but it means I am gonna have a very busy few days

What Card Is It?

With all the other cards visible what is that one at the top of the second row?

And We're Off

Then s'morning I have to go to my Doctors for another jab

Then s'afternoon to gym for a class etc

So first of all we went and got my jab. Golly it is so much easier these days. Park car, walk into Drs, sit down, stand up and walk into treatment room, bend over, take injection, walk out of room, walk out of Drs. It used to be get wheelchair out of car.......

Then when we were on the way back from that MM said "No gym class today" which I had forgotten so we went straight there and got stuck into various machines before lunch 

Loadsa Point Voting

Hooray after all our hassle to vote yesterday it turns out that a narrow majority of folk disagreed with me and "we" lost

To Hospital (2)

And I can really tell the difference. It was hard at first, it just felt different, wrong in some way but as the day went on I find myself walking easier, my right foot is a lot less likely to strike the floor on the way forward (although still sum) but I just noticed how many steps I was taking without my walking stick when cooking dinner. It seems easier so.....

Bladder

And I went for a pee b4 we left house s'morning and didn't pee again until after these 3 events. Oh lordy, I used to need the loo nearly every 15 minutes, this has changed big style

Veg

Then, still without going home we parked on King Street and walked down to Caffi Iechyd Da to pick up my veg which had been delivered there s'morning

Vote

Next we drove back to Carmarthen, drove to the kids old school, thought "?", and phoned the place we were heading for, the Electoral Registration Officer. They gave us proper directions so eventually we found them, went in, gave them my letter that I had been told to print last night on the phone and was given another voting card which I was able to fill in and hand it in.

What a performance, round and round we drove, after asking 3 passers by directions we eventually found it

To Hospital

And s'morning we are going to Morriston Hospital to see "the expert" about FES

So we drove for ages to get there thru morning traffic but we made it. Sat there for a few mins then the chap came to see us. He asked if I minded having a trainee sat in but I said "No, carry on". He looked at me walking, said that it was better than last year, and made some changes to the FES that I so don't understand. He switched it to a lower current but higher... summat else.

I did comment to the trainee that the NHS is so skint that my doctor couldn't even afford socks