Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

The shed missed yesterday under domestic pressure. I am determined to get in there today!

[Sue]

Yesterday was the Art groups post Christmas lunch. We didn't have a Christmas lunch as too many people were away. In the afternoon Bob and I did some gardening. I had done a lot onThursday afternoon, but we needed to move a rose and put wooden supports in for the apple tree which was so laden with cooking apples last year that tree branches trailed on the ground. It has been pruned and braced in an upright position.

It is Erins 6 th birthday party today, her birthday is tomorrow. We have been ‘invited’ to come along at 1.30 to help with the setting up and the ‘do’

Ken has now sent me copies of the transactions for Thomas Widdup buying and selling their house on Ribblesdale Terrace. Very interesting. What a useful genealogical resource this site is.

Following my blood test I was pleased my blood sugar levels had come down, high but not enough to cause undue concern.

[Stanley]

My blood sugar is permanently on the high side but then it always has been and the nurse doesn't see it as any problem. I think she realises that everyone is different and it evidently isn't doing me any harm, every other indicator is in 16 year old lad territory.



Another small step forward in the shed. That seems to be the new level of my activity, little more than an hour at a time. Slow but sure. (How does one man manage to eat an elephant? One bite at a time....)

[Stanley]

Up to now the morning has been an orgy of cooking! I have an idea that vacuuming would be a good thing as well.... Not looking good for the shed but it has to be done!

[Marilyn]

Orgy...of cooking...? ( never happens in my kitchen...though I get up quite a head of steam at times)

Are there any pics
( spare me the underpants hanging on the overhead hoist PlEASE!)

[Sue]

Bad nights sleep, didn’t get to sleep until after 4.30 but still woke at my usual time. I kept reading then stopped when I thought I was dropping off. Half an hour later I was still awake and went through it all again

[Marilyn]

I am not doing so well myself on the sleep front this week, Sue. ( Sciatica). It is a lonely place out there alone at night. But I think I am over the worst of it. Time will tell.
Is it your writings? Thoughts keeping you awake?
( hey! I am awake for a cup of tea!)

[Stanley]

You are very sensitive about underpants Maz, how are you with knickers? Hey Farm with four females in the house.....
As for sleep I feel for both of you. That would be my version of hell, not being able to sleep. I thank god I don't have your problems....
Mind you I remember having a bout of insomnia the last time I gave up smoking. It stopped as soon as I went back to the pipe!

[Marilyn]

I worry about your need to take the photo, Stanley, YET I understand the need to have normal everyday life documented. Many photographic gems come from every day life being captured. I remember a pic of my son’s favourite lambswool blanket being on the line and him having to suffer without it for an afternoon nap. ( bad mummy..should have planned things better)
No doubt your photos trigger memories.
I had one lot of photos that, unbeknown at the time, captured the family cat. Always there...watching on...
Now we look back and are astounded at how he always seemed to have his head captured somewhere in the photo! He was such a loving boy. Now I find joy in “spotting the cat”. ( his name was Basil)

[Marilyn]

“Teddy” hung on the right side of the line is your “gem” I think Stanley...

[Sue]

I am not doing so well myself on the sleep front this week, Sue. ( Sciatica). It is a lonely place out there alone at night. But I think I am over the worst of it. Time will tell.
Is it your writings? Thoughts keeping you awake?
( hey! I am awake for a cup of tea!)

No apparent cause. I have not delved into my book for a few days so it wasn’t on my mind, in fact nothing in particular was on my mind. I just could not sleep, in fact I felt very wide awake.

[Stanley]

You can't have too many pics Maz. The kids used to complain about me 'always taking pictures' but now they universally approve. They all have a memory stick with all the old ones on and constantly go back to them.
Hope both you and Sue sleep better.
Shed missed yesterday as I cooked but that's OK I have a big pan in the fridge full of good things!
So, shed is a serious possibility this morning.

[Sue]

I had a lazy day yesterday. After doing essential jobs, washing and ironing, I fitted the sleeve toile into my yellow top, looking promising now, and I ran up the simple toile of my summer maxi dress. All in, no more than an hour. Afterwards I sat and finished my book and then finished a drawing I had been doing in classes with coloured pencils. I dozed most of the evening and then had 8 hours solid sleep last night.

Today is French this afternoon and art this evening. We shall also be packing because unless we receive instructions to the contrary we are off to France on Thursday.

[Stanley]

Good plan after a bad night's sleep Sue.
I have done better this morning, 90 minutes in the shed and another small step forwards.

[Stanley]

Aiming for the shed again, I am making slow but significant progress with the fiddly bits!

[Sue]

Well with no travel restrictions on either side of the channel, and confirmation that Brittany ferries are up and running with procedures in place we are off to France on Thursday for ten days. Hopefully no quarantine when we come back. We have plans if we have to. Spring cleaning! I shall tidy out cupboards, we shall even tackle the loft! Fingers crossed we shall be fine. There are fewer cases nearer the house in France than there are near here and we will be more isolated.

So this morning I will complete my packing and I shall have the stitches removed from my head, so glad it's been a pain trying to brush my hair or wash and dry it. In fact the area is a bit tender now, as the stitches are pulling. Its the hospice shop this afternoon and pilates and yoga this evening. Bob starts at a photography group at the U3A this morning. I think he is looking forward to it .Perhaps he can then teach me how to use all the fancy settings on my camera!

[plaques]

Well with no travel restrictions on either side of the channel, and confirmation that Brittany ferries are up and running with procedures in place we are off to France on Thursday for ten days.

Never mind the doom mongers you go for it. Most of your travel time will be in self-isolation and I doubt if you'll be propping the bar up in the ferry. Keep away from english newspapers and enjoy your break.

[Marilyn]

Enjoyed a lovely walk today in perfect sunny weather.
My Sciatica has cleared after 8 days and nights of positive misery! I am a new woman. ( I fought the battle with paracetamol and iboprofen, but it was not easy...)

[Stanley]

Good Maz. Pain like that can be such a miserable burden to bear. I thank god that with age and retirement I am at last free from it as long as I don't lapse concentration and do something that I know will trigger it. My old doctor, Arthur Morrison, always said that God would cure my back eventually and he was right. I hope you don't have to wait as long as I did!
Doing very well in the shed, only short stints but it gets easier. It keeps my mind occupied as well, I have valves and pistons at the forefront of my thoughts instead of nasty things like Covid19 and cancer! A great improvement and if attitude has anything to do with resilience it is good for me!

[Sue]

Beautiful sunrise beyond the hills towards Derbyshire as seen from our bedroom window.

My head is a bit tender where the stitches came out but at least I will be able to wash my hair properly this morning, then it's off to an all day art workshop with Jeremy Ford. Bob will pick me up from there at 3.00 and we shall drive down to Portsmouth. We are catching the early morning ferry tomorrow so should be at the house by 6.00 pm

[Marilyn]

I’ve had a solid morning at the computer doing Ancestry. I haven’t been able to sit for well over a week, so this is a positive day. When the Sciatica is bad, I just have to keep shuffling...can’t sit...
I might need to get a standing desk...and will need to keep shuffling as I work? ( I truly can’t stay in one position when it attacks - takes me all afternoon to cook dinner/make salad etc, because I have had to do everything in 10 minute bursts.) bloody annoying, but if I stick to the tried and true, I can achieve anything...
I am very much better, and can do our daily walk, but a bike ride is still out of the question. Maybe tomorrow...

[Stanley]

Wash head with care Sue! Don't be opening anything up.
Today's aim of getting in the shed isn't going well! I have to register online with the Council to view my Council Tax account. I have failed once in the incredibly complicated process because they never sent a promised email to activate the account. I have gone though the whole process again and am now hoping it has worked. On top of this there are a few domestic matters. It's very hard to get in the shed at times and I wonder how people go on who aren't as well organised as I am!
Maz, your post overtook mine. I sympathise with you. I don't know if it will help but I found that I could relieve sciatic pain by consciously making sure my lordosis was correct. It worked for me, give it a try and see if it does for you. Can't do any harm. All you have to do is make sure that the inward curve of the lordosis is there, I did it by straightening my back and that took the pressure off the nerve. Good luck with it. (It's almost instantaneous if it works)

[Marilyn]

So are you saying “ tuck your bum in?”
I don’t dare move out or in...when it comes to tucking bum in or sticking bum out!
I do find I am more comfy in bed if I sleep on my back, with left leg straight and right leg at a 90+degree angle and a pillow popped under the knee.
Sitting is my enemy. Mind you, one has to sit. If you have been up for 12 hours and shuffling about, fatigue makes you eventually sit. Hubby has graciously evacuated the couch so I can stretch out...

[Sue]

Arrived in Portsmouth, to a lovely moonlit night. Our french neighbour messaged me to ask if we would like the fire lit in the sejour tomorrow before we arrive. How kind, we said yes of course.

My head is ok thanks Stanley, tender but healed well the nurse said.

Maz, Claire and I were told to lie with a pillow under our knees , but on our side, sort of recovery position, if you see what I mean, when the sciatica was at its worse. Claire still lies like that, I do but without the pillow under my knees. I find it very comfortable. I can’t sleep on my back or lie on my back for long periods. In pilates and yoga we do an exercise that helps prevent sciatica. I do it in every class I go to and hardly ever get attacks now. I will see if I can find an image

[Sue]

Maz, this is the nearest I can find to it. You work up to the full range of the movement overtime. Do each one every day and hold for a few seconds building up.

https://www.baycare.net/media/1473/stre ... formis.pdf