Do you, like me, hardly ever leave your house? ?

Daisend1 I think the lockdown periods affected a lot of us like this. I do go out to meet friends for coffee or for shopping but I find I can't wait to get home again afterwards and sometimes it's a real effort to go out in the first place. Being widowed last year has probably added to the urge to be in my own home too.

My daughter is housebound, I`m not, really, but do find it very difficult to get out on my own, plus my daughter doesn`t like me going out on the very rare occasions that I do. I am 79, I have A Fib, plus osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, walking is difficult, I get out of breath after only a few yards. I`m considering buying a mobility scooter, but have had one before and gave it up because footpaths round here tend to slope, and I was always scared of tipping over. I go to the occasional bingo session with 2 of my daughters, which I enjoy, but I need to be dropped off right outside before they park up, so I feel a bit of a nuisance. At the moment I have a very sore foot, due to plantar fasciitis, making me reluctant to walk at all.
Sorry, I sound a right old misery, don`t I?

Daisend1

I am not housebound but finding it difficult to get myself 'out and about'.Never used to be like this and even the need to do my shopping is an effort. Should I be blaming the period of lock down for this.?

I feel exactly the same, I only go out when I absolutely have to for food thats it.
I think it does stem from lockdown

I need a hobby any suggestions please I would be grateful

I had to laugh at your reply Fanny because I have been called many things during my 9 decades on this earth but never glamorous. LOL
Best wishes and thank you.

Hello again Maisy
Thank you, I’ve only just seen your reply.
I’ve only had a quick peek, but your website looks really interesting (and you look really glamorous!)
I’m particularly interested in Israel Greenberg’s cartoons.
I will have to look at them on my laptop so that I can see them properly.
Thank you again for sharing

Many thanks Silver, Fanny and Juliet for getting back to me.
My website crashed many years ago when I was nursing hubby and I lost a lot of replies in my guest book.

I never bothered with it after that but its still there for students and anyone else who is interested in those days.

YES it was in the Kent hop-fields that we were used as target practice.
No-one was hurt because a Spitfire came to our aid and shot the enemy plane down.
It was fantastic to see the dog fight between them and the Victory Roll from the Spitfire as the Jerry came down in flames with the pilot parachuting out.

www.memorylanehf.oddquine.co.uk/

I also wrote a book about the first 20 years of my life that takes the reader through the 1930s and 40s and all proceeds after printing are taken out has gone to my local Children's Hospice which has made well over 4 figure sum for them.

Nobody need be lonely if they have a computer or an I-pad.

My I-pad kept me in touch with my family when in hospital. Even the doctors seemed amazed that I was Face Timing my family at the ripe old age of 91 as I was then.

Keep well everyone.

My goodness Maywalk what a lot you’ve had to contend with but I admire your stoicism and fortitude. Isn’t it wonderful how the internet has opened the opportunity to make friends around the world.
Am I right in thinking you lived in London during the war and spent ‘holidays’ working in the Kent hopfields? It must have been hard work for families but an enjoyable time.

Hello May ?
Would you like to share the name of your website, please?
I know that I’m not the only one who would love to have a look at it. I’m sure that it’s fascinating

Greetings Maywalk, were you in Kent ( hopfield being the clue). It must have been dreadful. Keep on keeping on

As a 92 year old housebound person I try to keep busy with coming on the net.
Especially with cyber friends from worldwide that I have made through my WW2 website that I put up over 19 years ago .
My lovely hubby died in 2016 from Dementia so I spent eight years looking after him although he never knew me for the last eighteen months of his life.
As for myself I can only pull myself about with my trolley in the home because I have had Osteoporosis that has got really bad over the years resulting in broken bones in my back as well as my hips. One leg is now shorter than the other by 4 inches but I still think I am lucky with being able to type with one finger.
I also suffer with Epilepsy and have a pacemaker but while I can keep going I intend to keep trying.
For all those who are able to get out please do so while you can because you never know what will come next.

Its been a fantastic time though over the last few years with many coming to me for stories from worldwide wanting to know about life from when I was first born in 1930 and being bombed out twice during WW2 plus machine gunned in the hop-field.
DON'T LET LIFE SLIP BY IF YOU ARE ABLE TO GET OUT AND ENJOY IT.
Keep smiling everyone.

My heart goes out to all of you who are housebound or nearly so. Cannot imagine my life without my daily sojourn. However we all have to adapt to survive and, thankfully, I haven't been tested in that arena yet. I'm impressed with your various coping mechanisms. Bravo!

My lovely sister-in-law, 84, is more or less housebound as her mobility is very limited due to spinal stenosis and she is now nearly blind so she can’t have a mobility scooter. We speak to her every Tuesday and some weeks she is very down as she can’t get out of the house as much as she would like or do any of the things she used to do, ie reading, puzzles especially jigsaws, knitting and driving to browse in the shops. She lived in Canada for 30 years which she misses very much but came to live with her daughter in Devon three years ago when her husband died. She is lucky in that she’s not on her own but her daughter has a part time job and helps care for her two young granddaughters so she is alone for a lot of the time and finds time hangs very heavy. She passes the time by watching television, particularly snooker, and after we told her about Alexa her daughter bought her one and she plays music through that. She was also bought a FaceBook hub for Christmas so people can call her through FaceBook messenger at no cost, her cousin in New Zealand called her last week and they were able to talk for ages without worrying about the cost if the call. We are trying to get her daughter to look into talking books as she was an avid reader. We wish we could do more but we are in Shropshire, it is a long journey and we have to make arrangements for care of our little dog.

Not exactly housebound but I won't go anywhere outside alone. This started when I was a child at primary school, but I got thru it. It happened again awhile after I split from my partner, leaving me slightly away from friends & family, with 2 toddlers. If I made it past the first lamppost to pop to the shops, I'd be reasonably ok.
But it really hit hard, and for no explainable reason in about 2012.
I think the last time I managed to go out alone was in summer 2013.
Since then, I ALWAYS have someone with me!

I'm not housebound but listening to stories in this forum has given me so much hope. I'm in my very early 60's and retired October 2019, I was able to take 2 vacations (alone), one to Puerto Vallarta to celebrate my retirement and one awful trip with my selfish adult daughter to Jamaica early February 2020, then COVID-19 hit...I've done nothing since I was 20 years old but be a single parent to 4 selfish adult children who rarely (never vist even though we live in the same town) and work, nothing more just take care of them and work, yes they've all messed up their lives - not completely but they're not living the life they want and they all blame me. I gave up everything and never ever shunned my responsibility, I never received child support so I dug my heels in and gave them a good live on a Secretaries salary which you know is not very much. I have a beautiful new home (my second new home since moving from a small town with no opportunities to a major US city). I'm so thankful I found this forum, I spent Thanksgiving alone and it was rough. I felt I was the only person in the world that felt so lonely and misunderstood, you all have given me hope and I thank you for just telling it like it is! I just couldn't wrap my brain around how I sacrificed my youth to give my adult children a better life and now they treat me like dirt pretty much. I decided today to get out the house and start enjoying myself, I have very few friends and unfortunately the ones I have still work and have adult lazy children at home. I refuse to pay for visitors like most of my friends my age group do. I told them all to stop handing out money and gifts and then you'll see how much they "love and want to visit Meme, Maw Maw, Grant Gran, GG etc). When I stopped worrying about what my adult children did, stopped babysitting paying bills bailing out of jail cosigning for things etc they all stopped coming around and have no use for me. I'm planning something now for Christmas so I won't be alone...there's more but I'll post another day...so thankful I found this forum, I still have a lot of living to do and by golly I'm changing my mindset and start enjoying my life and making new friends now that I know the world is full of people just like me!

AnnieI
You go for it, well done ????
Everything’s on your side. Your son, sunshine, 2 lovely dogs, and, selling a mortgage free flat in London ?
It’s a win win all day long.

re medical matters. Only one of the many drugs I take is unavailable in St Lucia. So I Fedex it over from UK. My GP over there is lovely. Thinks nothing of spending 20 mins examining and chatting. I can get my Warfarin levels checked easily and if anything really serious happened, Martinique which is part of France, is 10 mins away by air and has all the facilities you would neeed ( not free since Brexit) Nobody will insure me because of my age and various health conditions and it has been that way for years. So that is it. I will write more after I get there. Thank you all! Merry Christmas!!

That would be my first thought too!

Annie that appears to be a wonderful idea but practical me would be wondering what would happen if you were ill because I would think you are too old to be insured. Would you be able to get prescription drugs easily and at a reasonable price? What would happen if you were hospitalised?

Sorry to put a dampener on it!

Thank you Annie!
Goodness me, yes, ? go to St Lucia to be with your son and the dogs. It sounds absolutely wonderful!
I’ll meet you at the airport!

I was very interested and quite relieved that quite a few of us prefer to stay at home rather than go out. I am one of them. I do not drive because it is impossible in the heavy traffic and lack of parking in London. I depend on the bus, as I cannot manage the steps down to the underground or to the local overground. I am now 87 and when I go along the road my legs feel shaky and my breathing is not very good as I have A Fib. I now use a walking stick which helps balance and people generally let me get on the bus first and seem generally sympathetic.
I keep wondering if it is loss of confidence or is it my age? I have now given my children power of attorney and I do not think I can go on living alone as none of my three children are near me, so I am considering selling my flat and moving to St Lucia to live with my son, who lives alone in a rather large house. There I do not have to do anything to do in the cooking, cleaning and other household chores. And I will be with two darling dogs who give me so much joy. So thank you for this thread which I and many others have found useful because so many of us are in the same position. Much more enjoyable than politics!

I know so many people who are currently choosing not to go out because the world just seems too crazy! I’m just trying to stay optimistic.

I live alone, but most days I try and get out. I did that during the lockdown. Getting out and about walking keeps you fit.

Anniebach sending hugs and ?
You’re a very special lady x

Thank you PurplePixie
How are you doing? I haven’t seen you post for ages! Hope that you’re okay

Yes, if not leaving the house is easy, I must be doing it very wrong…

Annie as ever x