As Usual

So we popped into town, at first we couldn't find a parking space on King St but after going round and round for a while we found one. Walked down to Iechyd Da and fetched the veg. Then we drove to More Reasons To Shop At.... and fetched na'an bread, milk and yoghurt etc.

We headed home and put all that away then headed to gym and did loads of upper arm and body exercises. On one of the lifting weights upwards machines that last time I managed 12 of the 30 I am supposed to do, today I managed all 30, for the first time ever on that machine.

Then after time on the walking upstairs machine which I need to do every day when I am at gym(1) I did ages

(1) According to Sara yesterday

Uber Back To Normal

So today I have to go back to my "Thursday Shopping" unlike last week when I was away in Belfast for the weekend. So this week buy na'an bread to make into pizza tonight etc

Properly back to normal

I Know Where I Am

So when I woke up s'morning I knew I was in my bed in my flat, unlike yesterday

Drownless

So I missed one of my swimming sessions on Monday as I was travelling back and I will miss the aqua aerobics session today as we need to a) Travel to Pyle to see Sara doing all kinds of scary physio and b) As an after thought meet Denyse half way between both out base places so she can...... slag me off or whatever the notes say to do today

Well, what a day #27. So first of all I walked up the steep stairs (frightening Denyse and Timmy) into the meeting room upstairs where we..... held a meeting.

Denyse was actually not telling me off for loadsa stuff but she did say "Why are you off your mind, you must have been naughty". Then I did half an hour on the walky machine, turning round to walk both ways even tho it is much harder when my right side leads. But by the time we got back it was nearly dinner time and I needed a bath and nap first

AND as we were walking back down the long and steep stairs Denyse walked behind me holding onto my bumbag in case I tripped. I didn't and then she had to walk back upstairs to get her handbag and files etc as she couldn't carry them while keeping an eye on me

Where Am I?

Then s'morning when I woke up, despite having been at home for 36 hours, I thought "So where am I today".....

Mañana

Then the phone rang and it was Denyse, she had spoken to Sara (who I have got to see tomorrow at 2) and she has permission to come to Sara's place of work at 1 tomorrow when she will tell me to be good etc for that extra hour, which makes sense, it is halfway between us

But I don't know if I will be able to cope, seeing 2 such beautiful women one after the other

Trip To Town

So first of all we headed to town, parked on King St and popped into a shop on there and bought more solar powered decorative lights for the garden.

Then we popped down to what used to be woolworths and bought a photo album so I will be able to put the photos that my Dad left for me of me and Mum together over the years into one album, perhaps with some writing

THEN we popped down to the diabetes eyesight test where first of all they measured how well I am reading and then she took photos of the back of both my eyes after some chemical had sunk into my eyes which meant I couldn't read anything for a couple of hours, but it is back again so I can read while I type

Sigh

And I have got too much to sort out, too knackered now, just.........

Jigety jig

Home again, home again

In bed now even tho it is much too late etc, we flew back and didn't crash

L8R

Then after my nap we went out to eat... somewhere as directed by Dad. We had a delicious meal then came back to the hotel for a coffee. Then folk took turns to leave

It was emotional in so many ways which I am not fit to go into tonight

Folk&Transport Museum

Then s'morning we went, with Dad to the Folk and Transport Museum and it was way too big to have a look at, and way too much walking upslope and downslope to find the cafe but it was nice when we eventually found it. I had a nice chat with my Dad and we are going back out with him s'afternoon

I also had a chat with David's Nora and kind of realised how much better I am than 6 months ago when she saw me last

Birfdé Bash

Then after napping we headed out for my Dad's 77th birthday bash. The meal was delicious and we had 3 courses but they weren't overly massive so I felt that I could have more

Strange

So Dad came to the hotel last night, then we popped over to his house s'morning and kind of said "Aaah". We left him to see Gareth then he is gonna come over to the hotel after lunch, we will pop out to see some sights then we are going out for a birthday tea

Sad

Dunno what will happen in't morning, I will take a trip over to see my Dad...

Wedi Gorffen

So we arrived at the hotel, they said "Can't check in yet" so we went to the eating part, had just ordered lunch when Daddy arrived. He spent a happy couple of hours there then said "Later" and went off, we went to the room and I found that I could use the stepping into the shower over the bath device then went to bed for a bit

@ Airport

So after an early start, frantic last minute packing then a trip up motorway we are sitting in Cardiff airport having a coffee

We're Off

So I have had to set an extra early alarm clock for the morning as I am getting up and flying to Belfast, to my Dad's house to see how he is getting on without Rosebud.

It was originally booked as a birthday treat for him before my Mum had an illness crisis which caused some extra trips to Belfast 

Vaguely Unsettled

So my bread bin is empty. It no longer contains tomorrows lunch defrosting

As we are eating elsewhere tomorrow

Gym-off-ero

Then after we brought the shopping back and put it away we headed to gym and did some rowing machine.

Oh what fun we had

Then

On the way back from voting we headed into town to pick up my veg from Iechyd Da. I think it was quite lucky, this week I had ordered olive oil and pasta which pushed the price up a bit but as I had ordered almost no veg the price was acceptable

The only things we need when we come back on Monday, OK not the only - the main things we need, are a small salad pack and a couple of pints of milk from the supermarket

Voting

So first thing s'morning RoyGBiv took me past the pub at the top of the road into the church hall where I was able to walk in and make my cross.

I used to struggle so much when I wasn't so mobile but I have told them postal voting was in the past

Nip Out

And we nipped out in the rain to pop to a cash machine so GGtGG could take out some funds for him and MM to spend on whatever they like in Belfast at the weekend

'Wimming

So we headed over to Aqua Aerobics workout today and it's a bit embarrassing but I might say, whisper, that I actually enjoyed the session today

More Practice

To try and embed it in my head....

And NO, we won't put the washing out s'afternoon even the sky is blue ATM

Well even tho the sky was blue then by the time we came out of the swimming pool s'afternoon it was raining so just as well that we used the tumble dryer......

Screenshots

And I had to remind myself of how to shoot screenshots on my phone, but it's OK, I remember again. (Bottom and RHS buttons together)

Why I dunno but I remember

Early Start

So me and Roy came out, went shopping, first of all to buy some bleach then, at the same shop but a different card, we bought some toothbrush thingies to take to Belfast with us, leaving my electrical device here

Helicopter

So one of my staff is off for a week during which he will be going for a helicopter ride, that he was given as a present last birthday. *I* have also been for a ride in a helicopter but circs were a bit different. It possibly saved my life, getting me to hospital quicker.

Whereas he will be able to remember his helicopter trip

Sad

So I was checking Dad's address s'morning and the file it was stored in was called.......

'Wimming

So the half term is finished so we are back to my normal routine, swimming today

Well it was a bit too busy in the pool but I managed. did 8 lengths and various stretchy exercses. I dunno, it is easier this week than it was last time, like it is every fscking time

Day Of Rest

...... ah...... so busy......

Want To Make

So in my novel it mentioned one, I stopped reading and looked on the interweb and found it. Gord I want to make one but I would be bored with it as soon as it works, I am not sure if I could cope with having a worn out version sitting on the side....

Aargh, no, wanna try this......

Relax In T'Evening

Then l8r I said to Roy "Pub?"

Hectic Day

So we popped out s'morning, came back at lunchtime, put together the trug cover, napped, cooked for ages and a half then ate and did washing up. Then I can actually sit down at my PC, after dinner time

First Things First

So first thing s'morning me and Roy headed to the stationary shop in Carmarthen which has partnership with my supplier and picked up a) some new paper for the printer, while we were there, and more to the point B) we picked up the new frame and cover for my growing stuff frame.

After lunch we (I was helping, really) fitted it to the Trug and made it look as normal, but with proper metal posts now, not taped over broken ones

BUT before lunch we waited for an hour at Kwikfit

Cut Grass

And even tho it was raining a bit earlier GGtGG got stuck into cutting the grass out the front and it looks loads better now

Back

So we are heading for Sam's stroke class after lunch. It's fscking hard work but I can manage it more and more every week, so obviously summat is doing me some good

Aargh, Sam was off today the class was taken by a beautiful biker called Chrissy, but she did well, and I just astonish myself with how much I can just do nowadays. Chrissy did comment that when we first met I was in a wheelchair and couldn't even speak clearly......

Panic In My Sleep

So I woke up s'morning and thought "Oh no, we've left Dad's present in Wales.....". A few minutes later it occurred to me, "Ah, we are still in Wales, I won't take his present over until next week"

Dunno WTF's going on with my mind....

That's Got Easier

And when walking into the gym I noticed how much easier it is pulling/pushing the doors open. It used to be therapeutic to do it but now it's just easy

Runabout

So s'morning we have the usual Thursday morning run about to do filling my house with food from various places.....

Which we did. And the Organic Order was complete again, no extra shopping. Which we did next on the way home getting a small amount of food and organic milk

Then after we had come home and put it away we nipped to gym and did a rowing machine for 2.5km.

New Month....

Have a good one....

and happy....

He's Back

At last, phew etc. I needed some attention....

Cycling Off

So I have another nearly 8km to go today....

And I managed, 10km in about 45mins. I was skiving for the first 7km and then went flat out for the last third

He Mended It

Then last night I said "Roy, can u...." and presented him with my now cleaned pair of trews with the separate button from the waste. He said "No, but....." as the button was broken, it hadn't just fallen off but he got a spare from round the side of the trews and got stuck in with needle and thread. So s'evening I will have to try them out......

Dinner

Then we had my bollock knees with baked potatoes for dinner and it was fscking delicious. But it's all finished now, until I make summat similar next week

Noisy

So there I was trying to have my nap and these disturbing buggers were disturbing me [Warning, noisy link]

To Pil

So then late morning we headed down to Pil to see Sara and do loadsa exercises. BUT I had said "Can we walk downhill this time" but the blinking machine only went in one direction so I did loadsa walking backwards downhill which wasn't the point but she did remind me that The National Botanic Gardens is all up and downhill so I think I will have to dig out my membership card

BTN

So back to normal today.

Today we have an earlier then usual appt with Sara the Physio in Pil where we have already decided that we are gonna work on some walking downhill on the scary machine

BT

A couple of hours ago I noticed on the phone next to my PC it said "No service", I looked at the main phone in the hall and it said the same, but the interweb was still working.

Puzzled, an hour later that had been replaced by it saying "Line 1" etc then another hour later it rang twice, stopped ringing before I could pick it up and didn't say "Call from...." like it usually does

Well Timed Visitors

So s'evening just after I had stuck 2 spuds in the oven to bake Sam&Emma phoned and said "R u in?" then popped round for a visit before setting off once more to their home. They came round and chatted for a bit then said "Tara". Then I put on the saucepan of stuff to accompany the spuds, heated it then the alarm rang saying "Dinner ready"

So a well timed "Tara" was had

Spring Bank Holiday

Oh what fun we had.......

Noisy link. Not too unacceptable.....

Off Out

And in a bit Sam&Emma are coming over, in a bit longer we are going out for a meal etc

Ooh, aren't they a bit special....

Theraputic

So after RoyGBiv cut the grass round the back today I took it upon myself to walk, over the gravelly stones across the front of the house, down the side to check upon his activity. No FES fitted, I can just walk on the stones now

Day Of Rest....

Well no. After RoyGBiv put cream on my legs he has followed my instructions and is cutting the back grass, which was about a foot tall but the new mower is doing it quickly and easily. When he has finished he will put the grass cuttings into the garage for someone else to take to the tip in a few days.

Then we need to pop somewhere else(1) and try to buy the Trug cover bits, we dont need to replace the trug but the bits on top are breaking.

Then we need to pop to Savers and buy more scrape between your teeth devices

Then we can have lunch and rest.......

(1) Where? Gord nose, he told me somewhere near McDonalds, gord nose

Wyevale Garden Centre it was called but they had none the right size, so in the end we bought it from www.RobertDyas.co.uk

What was in my head when I was sat on the loo s'morning?

Noisy link

Sorry

Feed Me Now

So we had a large plate of hippy tat and pasta for tea and it was delicious. The base was tin tomatoes and veg and lentils but even MM said it was delicious tonight. But Sam and Emma came over just before we are it and announced that we are all going out for dinner tomorrow so the rest can wait in the fridge for two days. They did ask me what Daddy Duties I will take on at their wedding. So I think I have kind of half agreed to read a reading but more detail will be sent in the meantime.

I was saying "How much better have I got?" and Emma said that 6 years ago when she first met me I was well different

Less Hot

And s'morning it is cloudy, bits of rain and *much* colder. I have considered putting my top on over my T-shirt, I haven't yet but I did consider it. It is that much colder today......

No still too warm as I finish my lunch

Lettuce Is Growing Well

In my trug, looks good, edible in a while

No Div

And I finally figured out how to get rid of the excess bit of text that was always added to my blog posts, visible in html version, div summat it sed. But I at last figured out how to get rid.

And on my PC and my phone it seems to be identical so I really didn't need that extra bit - "<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">, </div>" it seemed to add

Dinner

And for dinner tonight we had my usual Friday night dinner, na'an bread pizza and chips. It is just easier doing everything, from grating cheese to doing the loadsa washing up. I just did it tonight, no issue

Gym

So we headed over to Sam's class @ gym today. Dunno what to say, I am just a lot better at most of it than I was a few weeks ago. And Sam has noticed too

Iechyd Da'ing

So we headed to Iechyd Da tonight. It seems to be quiet in the summer but there was still a few good musicians there, including a newbie who played the harmonica which was nice, if a bit difficult to take pictures of as it was hidden in his hands all the time

The Doctor

So I watched the Dr Who that I missed last weekend t'other day, but it occurred to me today that I had missed it last weekend too so I watched that today, the oxygen story.

Wow, just wow. I am a big fan of the current series, it has got sum magic back

Gymwards, again

So we popped to Caffi Iechyd Da to pick up my organic delivery s'morning, said "See you later" to the staff as they will be working tonight to do an open mic folk night.

Then we popped to Morrisons and got very little shopping but I needed sum.

Then I brought it home and put it away etc then popped to gym for a 2.5 km cycle. 

Trying to get back into the routine is a bit weird but well possible

Weather

So now, at 11pm it is apparently still at 17°C

Out Around Town

Then s'evening, at MM's call, we popped into town for a walk. Around town and well uphill and downhill I led him. As I had to say to him, just "Lordy", how much better am I than even 6 months ago. We didn't have any destination, we were just out for a walk, it was a beautiful night

Hooray

And I am trying to get back in my routine today so... hip hip hooray.... we will head poolwards for an Aqua Aerobics session after lunch today...

And I have already changed into my trunx and clean clothes etc, washed the rest and hung them out to dry in an eco-sensible, environmentally friendly way.... (As the sun is shining today......)

Well we did it. It was as much fun as usual but I am getting so much better at balancing and walking, obviously summat is working

Miles

Then we headed gym-wards and cycled for 10km. In less tine than last week

Next

Then we popped to the walking stick shop and showed him all the broken bits on the handle and he said "Well....erm... marker pen to cover them up..." which I did try later and am pleased with. It just hadn't occurred to me but I am happy with it

FTF

Well first things first, today I phoned the toenail chopper to try and make an appointment for this week. The nearest she had was when I will be in Belfast for Daddy's birthday and the next will be ages in the future. Och well, she told me to make an appt a fortnight ago, but first of all we had to go to Belfast as Mum was ill then we had to go back for her funeral so it hasn't been on my mind

Garlic Ketchup

No, it seems that the walking stick shop was shut by the time we got it together to go, so that is further forward on the list for tomorrow but we did nip to Farmfoods to mainly fetch some more garlic ketchup but we filled up a bit more too

Back To Normal

So s'morning first thing we popped to Morrison's to fetch the rest of the weeks shopping. THEN we nipped to gym and did loads of lifting up exercises and 10 minutes on the rowing machine.

It felt so normal once again

I need to nip to the walking stick shop later and say 'Every time it falls over it chips really obviously and doesn't look like summat I am proud of any more' and see what they say

Gardening

And being back I was able to water the trug and the greenhouse last night and they are both growing well

Normality, Back To

So I need to make everything back to normal today.... seems very likely/easy

.... And Gone

So my mother has been cremated and we were all, loads of us, very sad

Back To Walea

So here we are sitting in the airport having had loadsa visitors s'morning some of whom took Freya off to Aldergrove airport whereas we are at City Airport. Dad and Gareth came out here to say goodbye then we had to come past checkin. A strange few days of stress is finished now

Goodbye

So we said goodbye to my Mother today as my Father waded out to sea and then poured her ashes into the water, followed by many small bunches of flowers one from each of her kids, one from me delivered by Freya and one from my sister, delivered by one of her kids

Crematorium

Well, so my Mum was cremated today. It was saddening and tearful but I met loadsa relatives I haven't seen for years etc

Nightime - That's Today Over

Phew. So most of today has been full of sad folk but I have dine mu thing. We popped up to David&Nora's and got my suit our of their cupboard etc. Tomorrow we are going early to fetch Freya from the International Airport then bring her to the hotel then get dressed up and head to the funeral

We Are Here Now

With loads of sad relatives etc

Waiting

So we are sat in the Airport drinking coffee and waiting

And we have flown over now, waiting for the queue to get out of the way

Phew

So s'morning I said to Timmy that my shoe device wasn't working (like me and yesterdays MOS had looked at) he said "Ah, the contact sensor, we have a spare" and it all works much better now. Cheers Timmy

Flying Again

So we are back off to Belfast dead early s'mornin'

Where Mum's Going Today

I wish I was there

Forgetful

So me & GGtGG headed out s'morning. We carried on past the gym and I said "Where are we going?", he replied "To the docs for your injection".

Oh yes, I knew yesterday but had forgotten s'morning

So we are heading to gym after an early lunch has time to be digested some....

And here I am cycling 10km. I have about 1.5 to go...

Edgy

I am feeling a bit edgy and grumpy today.

I have just shouted at GGtGG because he tried to talk me out of refusing to go to Aqua Aerobics. He tried to insist that I did go and it all went downhill rather quickly....

Early Start Mañana

So I have had to set another alarm as we need to be up an hour earlier than usual tomorrow to catch the plane to Belfast for the funeral

Growing

And I have just been out to water the trug for the first time in ages (well 2 days) and it is looking good, loads of big shoots growing. But I couldn't stop and take photos as it is fscking raining.

Which means that I didn't need to water the small new plant in the front garden but trug and greenhouse are waterproof.....

Off Out

And we are going out tonight to a comedy night at The Lyric Theatre in Carmarthen that we bought tickets to a few weeks ago. S'morning I thought we would be way too busy and I wasn't looking forward to it at all. (It was a 50:50 call whether I would go or not). After Sara said "Don't travel 50 m to see me today" I feel the pressure has dropped somewhat and I feel a bit better about going.

I still feel a bit grieving but will try being cheerful

Well that was strange. So we had a total of 5 customers who had paid to see it, 3 of whom were sitting behind me and GGtGG. So I was the holiest of the holy but.......

Sigh

Well after jabbing we popped to gym where I got stuck into pulling/pushing activities. Today I was doing the push upwards exercise machine, the one that a while ago I was only able to do 7 or 8 pushes, today I managed 27 and I was getting my right arm all the way up

Jabbing

And we are on the way to the hospital for my blood test now

Less Busy

Then I got an email s'morning saying "Sara the physio is off today" which makes today slightly less busy

Hospital

So tomorrow morning we need to go have a blood test at the hospital so they can check my testosterone levels and see what kind of injection they will give me on Wednesday

Hooray.....

Summertime

Ah, lovely weather today

Early Busy

So s'morning first of all we went to the walking stick shop and picked up a new walking stick. Which I shan't decorate with loads of rainbow stickers (like my current one) which I have already bought but I will leave it until after Mum's funeral. Then we popped to Morrison's and picked up food for the rest of the week

Goodbye

I have just spoken to my father on the phone and my Mum died at about half past four s'morning.

Dunno what to say, just feel confused etc

And Timmy dropped in tonight and we booked flights to Belfast for Thursday

And Freya has done that Mrs Independant thing and is flying from Manchester to the International Airport to meet up with us there. AND Denyse has known Mum for years and she is gonna meet up with us there too 

Back Normalwurdz

So it is all "back to normal" s'morning 

Tara NI

We are just about to take off from the airport

Back To Wales

Right, so we said goodbye last night so we are off back to Wales today

Dunno

So we are heading over to the hospital to say goodbye to my mum for probably the last time

Well we said goodbye. Emotionally I feel a bit confused now

Cleaning

So when we came back for my wash & nap today they were still making up the bedrooms so we gathered my clean clothes together and headed down towards the swimming pool and went into the changing rooms and got stuck into a shower&changing area. By then they had finished the bedroom so napping was possible