Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

I'm feeling better for a good night's sleep. L and J were up at some early hour to go for a 4 mile walk before work: it's a lovely sunny morning so it will have been a good start to their day.

Everyone is out and I have a day off! The place is looking scruffy so there's a fair amount to do and a list is called for:

get dressed
visit DFiL
laundry (1 load on line)
ironing
put titles in bullet journal
push on with sewing project (that I'm putting off)
finish weeding small patch of garden and put in the plants I got the other day
start weeding second area where I want onions planted
plan dinner

HairyHandofDartmoor

I'm glad DFIL is having some more tests, just in case anything has been missed.

I hope you get all your jobs done today. Everything always feels better after a good night's sleep .

WannabeFree

Hope DFiL is better today, good he's having tests though.

Hope you got some more sleep and you feel better for it too! Remember look after you too.

Thank you for the soup recipe will give it a go this week

Take care

x

Cherryfudge

Today went as planned till the afternoon, so I got dressed (always a good start), did three loads of washing and went to visit DFiL. Yesterday, although he's in a side room, it was all very casual. Today it's gloves and red plastic apron - they have a diagnosis. They've found C. Difficile, which really explains why he's been so poorly. He's looking much better though. He's been told it will take a fortnight to clear and the hospital is happy for him to go home as long as he has appropriate care. Therein lies the difficulty: he came home from hospital with this three or four weeks ago, extra care was brought in to help him get back on his feet and he gradually got worse. The social worker isn't happy about him going home either so she's going to look for a temporary placement for him till he's symptom free. Hopefully with backup 24/7 and the right antibiotics this will be a better relaunch.

I offered to tidy round his flat so it will be fit for him to go back to (this was before the SW stepped in), and went intending to spend half an hour just tidying round, as he is quite an orderly person and has a cleaner so it's generally in good shape. However, I must have brought my work head with me as, having tidied Sunday's paper and decided to wash some dishes that had been left on the drainer, I went into infection control and kitchen hygiene mode, and spent hours. I've never had to deal with C. Diff, though I've read the theory which of course didn't stick. It will now though! It apparently takes hold when the natural gut bacteria are compromised (as they can be after a course of antibiotics) so in a very elderly person in particular there is increased risk from foods that most of us could eat without a problem. I began to sort and disinfect the fridge and discovered it really needed to be defrosted, but it's one of those that is built in and it took me ages to find how to turn it off. Then there was only one pair of washing up gloves but I needed to clean in the bathroom as well as the kitchen so I popped to the shops for more bleach and disposable gloves, though when I got back I found another cupboard with duplicates of things I'd bought. I left the flat with the bed stripped and the fridge propped open. Loads of fresh food had to go because it was short dated then even more went because DH came to collect me and had heard his Dad won't be home tomorrow. Looks like another trip tomorrow to finish the job, but I'm happy to say it should be good for him to return to, and we won't have to ask the cleaner to do a deep clean to get rid of any lingering germs.

So as you can tell, it was productive but not to plan. I got home to the third load of laundry still in the washer, and dinner was pizza, but we managed to watch the GB Sewing programme which in turn inspired me to get some of the put-off project done. I'll migrate the ironing till tomorrow - it's not going anywhere.

A sort of bonus was that having found that DFiL already had the cleaning things I needed, I've brought most back here. I know I was slightly naughty though as I treated myself to chocolate biscuits (not having eaten since lunch), another plant that I don't really have space for and some anti-bac wipes that I didn't need but had a nice smell! Oh, the power of advertising.

Spending:
Housekeeping £5.90
Gift £1.00
Garden £5.00
MS:
10th coin savings £1.50
And it was a good day as DFiL is improving fast, I got lots done but I'm not worn out, I got a magnolia plant

WannabeFree

Glad they've found the right infection with FiL so they can now treat it, hope he continues to improve.

Sounds like you had a real busy day, look after you too

x

Cherryfudge

Here's today's list, most of which is the same as yesterday's.

I kept getting woken up last night by various members of the family also being awake, but once they'd all gone to work I got some more sleep. The sunshine seems to have gone and it looks as though there's been a shower but it's still mild so once I've ironed my jeans I shall get dressed.

I've already cut the fabric for the remaining few inches of edging on the sewing so I have that to press into shape too then I shall have to look through the mending (there's always some) and organise myself to do that. It will take very little time but I really don't like getting down to it! However, my knitting/sewing/crochet projects are fewer than they were a few weeks ago, which is good. I don't want to leave a pile of unfinished stuff for the family to bin when I shuffle off this mortal coil, and if I don't actually do something about it, that's what will happen. (Not that I'm expecting to go soon, it's more that my home is full of things I started but never got finished. There are finished things, but you can't tell, just as you can't 'see' finished housework as well as unfinished, IYSWIM).

Get dressed
visit DFiL
laundry
ironing
put titles in bullet journal
Finish sewing project
finish weeding small patch of garden and put in the plants I got the other day
start weeding second area where I want onions planted
plan dinner

Cherryfudge

I'm not sure why but today has been tiring. I got the laundry done but there seemed to be that 'wading through treacle' effect when it came to going to see DFiL. Eventually I got out of the house in the late afternoon. The fridge at DFiL's house had successfully defrosted without flooding the place so I gave it a quick clean and have left it to come up to temperature again. I think the amount of time I spent there yesterday must have been in the back of my mind as I went off to the hospital to visit him and didn't go back to the fat afterwards.

He seems bright and alert but did make one very strange comment about a crane lifting a house. J and L went to see him later and he told them about a poster on the door that turns into a clock when looked at closely - so it seems the hallucinations he had around the time of his earlier admission to hospital are back. They result from the illness and aren't normal for him but the hospital staff say they can continue for some weeks.

All that aside, he's now fit for discharge, which would be great apart from the social worker deciding he's no longer eligible for funding for a convalescent stay so he will have to pay for this himself - and we are in early stages of finding a good place for him to go. The best one in my view is a few miles away and the nearer ones are either wildly expensive or have had negative reports. That's a decision that will probably be made tomorrow after DH has fitted in phone calls around his work.

On a more cheerful note, my list went quite well and I have soup and an orange ready to take to work tomorrow.
Get dressed done
visit DFiL done
laundry done
ironing done
put titles in bullet journal okay, who's got my notebook?
Finish sewing project progressed
finish weeding small patch of garden and put in the plants I got the other day
start weeding second area where I want onions planted
plan dinner done

Cherryfudge

I lost the spending diary off that post - here it is:
Spending:
Housekeeping £4.07
Gift £1.00
Hobbies £1.50 (sewing thread).
MS:
Lentil soup again - and a spare portion for tomorrow.
10th coin savings 4p
Decluttering:
Broke a cup but I won't count that as I'll replace it with a nice one from Mum's old house.
And I'm thankful for DFiL looking brighter, small victories, J and L being strong adults who are very supportive with DFiL.

Cherryfudge

Been working not spending today. Visited DFiL, who has the promise of a temporary room in a care home for a short while and the hospital had agreed to keep him till Monday when he can take possession of it. That's a relief as moving him earlier would have been stressful in the extreme and he isn't well yet.

I did pay the window cleaner (£5) so not an NSD.

WannabeFree

Hope FIL is still improving, glad it all got sorted too

Hope you've had a good day and you have a lovely weekend

x