Good morning Mick and all GN's on a grey slightly breezy day here in North Yorkshire. I have just made it here in time to listen to Bach before 7 to encourage me to keep going. I was awake 4ish and couldnt get back to sleep, but at least had the birdsong on channel 9 to listen to and be calmer about it. Thinking about the trip to the opticians etc and then decided to get up and shower and put my dressing gown on and look again for half an hour for the still elusive document. Ha! as I started to go through the door, I suddenly sneezed. That jerked my back and I was sort of stuck , with a horrible pain and couldnt move for a while. When I know I am going to sneeze I try to either sit down, or bend my knees slightly so that it stops just this sort of movement. But one of those totally unexpected sneezes caught me out. So I have had to abandon going in the shower, and resort to a good wash,
Getting to Specsaver for my appointment , has to be the goal, and so I have only finally managed to get dressed and at the ready to go out. Not even had a coffee yet. but at least Bach has taken my mind off the pain. So all bets are off for today , for any plans .
Well yesterday I had to go out firstly for some fresh bread, and then had a cheering free offer of a bag of miniature daffodils from the garden centre. I have a loyalty card there that gives me 2 free coffees a month. Of course the cafe is cunningly placed at the back so that you have to walk through all the plants and garden furniture etc etc to get to it. But I am made of stronger stuff and my usual thing is to walk straight through, looking but not picking up things, and go for my coffee, and try to get the seat that I find comfortable which looks out at the plants area. Then I make my way to the "sick bay" were I can tell the difference between , not worth the bother and a bargain that I can revive. The last time I went I rescued 2 different honeysuckles which cost me £5 for both big plants. They are now flowering well in the garden, though still in their pots as havent been able to plant them yet. But great, one is quite a bright red and the other cream and yellow, so I have a willow wigwam thing and my plan is to get that safely put out and weighed down to avoid being knocked over by the wind and then I am going to put them on opposite sides and then intertwine the branches as they grow. Anyway it was a good plan, collected my bread on the way and was lucky enough to get the closest disabled parking space, which helped me to stagger past all the goodies, to my much needed coffee.
It is always busy of course, but enough spaced out seating and well run by the staff who are very efficient at clearing and cleaning tables quickly, and so I was able to sit looking out at the plants , while quite a heavy shower poured down. When it stopped I went to the "sick bay" and found 6 little blue and cream violas in a pack for £2 , which I quickly grabbed and then went off to claim my free daffodils but I did actually relent and buy something. Usually I get my treated hyacinths etc at the Muker show, but wasnt able to walk round the stalls, so no bulbs to plant. Got to their big selection of bulbs and was able to get my choice of hyacinths as not many people had been there yet. Of course I handled them carefully , but being me I managed to look through and found a couple of bulbs that were large and had side bulbils on them so added bonus for me. I also got some beautiful paperwhite narcissi, which I love for their perfume, and tend to go quickly in the shops. So yes I did spend some money , but would have got them anyway from somewhere. Now the big effort is to get them sorted and planted in bowls etc, but it wont be today!!
Well just had a phone call from a friend and they are going for their annual" MOT" at the doctors today, and I am going to the opticians, so we are hoping to match up times and meet at the coffee shop later, fingers crossed that we dont get any bad news, although I have no doubt it will be bad news to my purse, as I will have to fork out for the new glases of course. So that looks like most of the morning taken care of, and will come back and then time to make my first really wintery meal of shin beef stew, and jacket potato, and if I have room have a baking apple ready to core and stick sultanas and brown sugar and cinnamon in for sweet. Probably save that for another day. Just seen the squirrel and now a second one . I have not seen two squirrels together before so maybe there have been two all along, I just didnt see them. They are running along the fence and coming down to dig little holes to bury nuts in. Ah now got Coplands Rodeo on the radio , another piece to enjoy, things are looking up this morning.
Glad you had a good trip for your blood test Mick and hope all results are what you want to see. GrandMattie you will no doubt be on y our way to a well deserved day out after yesterday. I would send Teflon and email or letter confirming what time you are allowing him and stating the following date that you expect to be brought up to date with news, so that he knows that you all mean business and that he cannot fob you off any more. Well done to you, congratulations on sticking up for yourselves and the cheek of them wanting you to pay for that water! Adds insult to injury to my mind. I I think that you should demand that that money is paid back to you, or I would call it stealing , or at the very least taking money under false pretences!! Ad that to your 3 week limit letter and ask when it will be paid back to you all. Sallyforth, I keep a little notebook by my bed, and if I get worrying thoughts or need to remember something and worrying about forgetting it I write it in the book. That sometimes helps and lets me put it to one side and get back to sleep. dont know if that might help you in the future.Susan56 I am so glad that you have found a doctor you can trust and who will help you. It will make such a difference to feel you are being given the best possible advice and are listened to. Karmalady, do hope you have had some painkillers and are feeling a little better. You have all my sympathy and hope you might get a little sleep to help a bit.
I hope we can all have an improving day and cope with whatever the day throws at us. Be kind to yourself today, and may things only get better all day
Oh double drat. They have recently changed our recycle bin day to tuesday, and I forgot to put it out last night, no chance today, they will just have to get an even bigger amount next time. Not worth even thinking of trying to put it out in time. Ah just looked out and the pair of wood pigeons are meandering round pecking at the ground. Dont know what they are finding, maybe some bugs of some kind. Now playing a lovely samba piece that I used to dance to, but wont be leaping up to join in today. Still looking out the sky is clearing more and even a touch of sunshine, so fingers crossed. I spent a frustrating time yesterday trying to book a ticket to see The Downton Abbey film for tomorrow, but the booking thing would not work. I am going to watch it at the Elite cinema in Thirsk, where they are getting it early because that is where some of the filming was done and so I think they more or less demanded that they got it early too! It is run by volunteers now and they always keep some tickets to sell on the day, which I think is very right and a good idea. They have their regulars , some of whom dont have computors etc and it is only right that they should not be pushed out by casual visitors taking all the tickets. It is on for a fortnight, and should do well for them, but with my back the way it is now, no swimming tomorrow, and will have to sit at one table for the whist drive too. So it will be another decadent day on wednesday, where I shall do very little here (because I cant!) and I shall make my way down to Thirsk, have coffee amongst the dog walkers and then "off to the flicks" as we used to say as children going to the saturday matinee in the winter. Then take my time, get something to eat and off to the whist drive and home. I shall not feel guilty about the jobs being left undone as cant do much today anyway or tomorrow.
I hope that I am going to improve and be able to walk around by saturday as it is Stokesly show, and I try to get there early with my chair and enjoy all the different things, with the horses being one of the favourites. They have all sorts of things on and stalls etc and the poultry tents and the cakes and jams etc. Just hope that it isnt pouring down . I can always put on another warm sweater but rain is miserable to sit in. So apart from my wretched back things are looking up , and fingers crossed I dont need to take out a mortgage to pay for whatever new glasses they think I need. Choosing new frames can be quite difficult, I know the shapes that I think suit me and I tend to like the similar colours, but try and make sure that they are clearly different to the last pair I have had. I keep the old pair in the car glove compartment. That way if ever I break the new ones or lose or forget them at least I have a wearable pair to look at a map or anything.
