Flying solo

*Robin*

Good morning Diary and Dear Friends, :hello:

We are blessed with glorious spring weather today; blue skies, warm sunshine, birdsong - and a peal of bells from the village church below. All delightfully bucolic.

DF was delivered by DS3 last night - Clever Dog gave him an absolutely rapturous welcome; zooming from her lookout post to the car then back to the house, singing and running rings round me powered by her helicopter tail, then back to DF where she tried to grab and carry one of his bags - wanting to help him get up to the house as fast as possible!

DF has returned with only the haziest of memories of being here before the hospital, but very much 'back inside his own head' which is a huge relief. His meds have already been reduced, he now understands why he needs to take them and is doing so with only the gentlest of prompts. He's been given a different diagnosis; joined the ranks of Bi-Polar folk so we've already had the conversation about this being a life-long part of him which won't be a problem as long as he accepts it and keeps an eye on how he's feeling - and asks for help if he begins to struggle.

At least we've dealt with BP lots of times in the past, so I feel much better about DF staying here now. DS1 took the decision to give up DF's flat while he was in hospital so he'd now like to become a long-term tenant at one of PC's cottages; I said yes - once I'm convinced he's over this crisis (and provided his Boss agrees to DF mostly working from home, which I think is likely as Boss appears to have the highest regard for DF's abilities and was obviously terrified that the company might lose his services).

So that all looks great. DF thanked me for helping to get him into hospital - it was obviously the right decision.

Looking North, Tenant1 still hasn't paid his rent which was due on the 1st of the month - have sent a polite email reminder and arranged someone to do his check-out inspection, which hopefully will preclude my having to fly back at short notice.
The trouble with renting to relatively well-off tenants who use the flat as a pied-a-tierre is that they often don't seem to know the tenancy rules. I'd be surprised if this guy even has a mortgage on his family home.

missrlr wrote: »

Do get irrigation system, it will help you no end and assist with frugal living as you can grow veg with it

Still hesitating about this, as it will be a four figure bill. It's more to keep the trees alive through the baking summers here, than for growing veg - which reminds me; must water the garden today as it's been at least a week since the Good Lord graciously did it for us.

grannyx2

Oh what relief that the sinister shadows on the xrays turned out to be nothing more than V.E.T. fingers, quite a relief and pretty amusing at the same time. Fingers crossed the tumour remains small and causes no troubles.

How blinking dare the supposed friend criticize you for your wonderful support of DF, you did what was right for him as his current situation clearly shows. Please don't ever feel you did not as it's clear you did. Suspect GUILT on their side plays a big part in these comments.

Hope you are having a good day today. Good luck with sorting your tenant situation out.

Granny x

missrlr

Hi Robin, so pleased to hear DF is OK and Meds are working. I hope the doubters realise they have egg on their face, And in future keep their ill advised musing to theirselves, although given human nature this is highly unlikely!

*Robin*

Hello Diary and MSE Friends, :hello:

It's Sunday again. Was reminded last night that a fortnight has passed since the kittens appeared, which seems almost impossible to believe but is true. They are doing very well with their foster-mum; growing fast, getting very active and just starting on solids.

For the record, yesterday I soaked everything in the garden with over 400 litres of water; much needed as the beans and potatoes were looking very wilted.
Lots of the fruit trees are flowering - the scent of orange blossom drifting on the breeze is absolutely divine - but there are precious few bees although plenty of butterflies have appeared in the last few days which is lovely, but am not sure if they can do as good a job of pollinating as the bees. Have to wait and see..

grannyx2 wrote: »

Oh what relief that the sinister shadows on the xrays turned out to be nothing more than V.E.T. fingers, quite a relief and pretty amusing at the same time. Fingers crossed the tumour remains small and causes no troubles.

Fingers crossed indeed, Granny! Am often running my hands all over CD's coat - which she doesn't mind at all, lol - thus far cannot feel any bumps or lumps. However, have noticed that she spends a lot of time licking her off-side front leg. She's not in any way lame or reluctant to walk, but it might be worth targeting that leg and shoulder next time we have x-rays done.

Granny and Missrlr - and everyone who commented earlier - many thanks for your supportive words re DF. He really does seem to be back to himself now, iyswim.
Hopefully those who were outspoken will take note and learn, so that next time they come across someone who is struggling through a similar issue, they'll be better able to offer help.

Feel very tired today because we went out for dinner last night. It was a rare and delicious treat, but the evening really ended a bit late for comfort. Am too slow for DF, so Daft Dogs have taken him for a walk before he heads back to hospital. Hopefully his doctor will agree that he can be officially discharged tomorrow afternoon.
Am happy for DF to return to the Nest - he even cleaned out the caravan this morning [without prompting] which is pretty good going for any male guest. :rotfl:

*Robin*

A new battery in the bathroom scales confirmed bad news, again.

Didn't have the energy to do anything much after weeding the spuds and waving off a slightly nervous DF, so finally had a look at the much recommended "My Fitness Pal". For some reason I'd assumed this to be yet another iphone app so was pleasantly surprised to discover that it works on Lappy too; starting a food diary on it was quite entertaining.
But I wasn't allowed a cheese and mushroom pancake for lunch, nor to snack on a mere six crisps - it would only calculate a full packet (which lasts at least a week around here!).

Still, what an interesting toy for aspirants to a less [STRIKE]lardy[/STRIKE] cuddly profile. Worth a try, eh?
..Might need the occasional friendly boot applied to rump in encouragement, though. :cool:

Won't be a NSD tomorrow as Daft Dogs have run out of their favourite grub - don't want them [STRIKE]barking in outrage[/STRIKE] giving me earache if nothing more exciting than a ration of kibble plus gloop is presented for lunch.

Tenant still hasn't paid his rent and the van's road tax is due, so am hoping for a LSD in town (taking a strict shopping list ).

*Robin*

Ducked out of going into town; still very slow and achey.
Daft Dogs had some pork chops out of the freezer for lunch, as am losing my appetite for meat anyway so the dogs may as well help clear out the frozen stocks. Neither of 'em were terribly impressed, tbh. Not enough crunchy bones..

MFP said I had 415 calories left over yesterday, but sugar was -3. Shouldn't have had that last cuppa tea before bed-time, oh well.
Fudgie it wants me to aim for 1.2lbs per week rather than a kilo; not sure why?

missrlr

Hello dear, I am on MFP. A tip, you can put in fractions of the portions e.g. 0.25 of the portion size specified ..... may help?

Also for things not on there, I add the ingredients in individually and make it up as I go along so omelette, cheese mushrooms all separate line items. Especially useful when doing salads etc.

Look me up and add me if you want a boot! Currently drinking wine, bad bad bad but boooger it, hey

*Robin*

Good evening Diary and Dear Friends, :hello:

Made it into town today; acquired two weeks' worth of food [for Daft Dogs, DF and self] including fresh stuff and treats, a tank of fuel and 'phone credits for around £100 (happy with that ).

DF is back; seems fine, raring to get back to work and pick up the reins of his life again.

missrlr wrote: »

Hello dear, I am on MFP. A tip, you can put in fractions of the portions e.g. 0.25 of the portion size specified ..... may help?

Also for things not on there, I add the ingredients in individually and make it up as I go along so omelette, cheese mushrooms all separate line items. Especially useful when doing salads etc.

Look me up and add me if you want a boot! Currently drinking wine, bad bad bad but boooger it, hey

Aha, thanks for the tips Missrlr, very useful.
One thing that's already clear is that my sodium intake is much lower than the allocation - any idea why it's been set so high? I've also been quite shocked by the preponderance of pre-packed items listed, but suppose that reflects the eating habits of the majority these days. Am having to search quite hard for 'home-made' everything.

On the subject of food; suppose it's time to start chopping..

*Robin*

It's a grey, misty day here; sounds from beyond the garden are muffled, slightly distorted.

DF got up at dawn - not a problem as I was awake, but CD wasn't impressed; staying resolutely curled into a tight furry ball. Fatty did her best to be enthusiastic [just in case Dear Friend was about to start lobbing pieces of cheese rind in her direction] but forgot about her arthritis.. Cue ten seconds of frenzied yelping which had me tumbling out of bed to help her onto her feet - think it's time to put her on the anti-inflamatories left over from our much-missed Oldies. Tempus fugit.

Need a quiet day at home today to re-charge; getting a bit worried as m' physical health seems to have taken a step down - in fact I came very close to falling down the RL steps yesterday; managed to land on m' bum rather than go over the edge, thank goodness. Tempus fugit for me too?

A good thing about DF being here; he and Daft Dogs can take each other for a walk when they're ready.

grannyx2

Hope you got the quiet day you require and that you feel a bit more yourself soon. You've taken so much care of ailing friends both canine and human lately, that its not surprising if you are feeling a tad wobbly.

Granny x