Rolling Down the Green Hill Towards REtirement 😊🌄💚💜

savingholmes

I am one of those people that used to a) burn myself on the iron frequently b) keep knocking the board over or c) having the board collapse on me frequently due to all previous times knocked over to that point that it had a permanent bend... Can't imagine why I gave up ironing. 

I find painting walls therapeutic in a similar way though so I get it. Yes I have to have acres of protective stuff down on the floor as I spill paint too.

Hope your holiday prep goes well and things settle.

greent

Curry made and frozen Absolutely no packing done as yet 

£36 tax rebate received today  

Nothing else to report

killerpeaty

How are you feeling now? Hope your temperature has gone away.

A cleaner is something I aspire to honestly. Hopefully I will be able to afford one soon!

South_coast

I too would love a cleaner - or at least a robot vacuum cleaner. First job is getting the flat sorted though, too many places for a robot to get lost at the moment 🙄!

greent

Ooof - I've been away from here too long!!!

I must admit, I love my robovac more than my cleaner - I honestly couldn't do without it now - it makes such a difference - I used to resent vacuuming so much, now the robot does it for me (the cleaner does everywhere once a week, too, so all edges and stairs get properly done then) When we first got the robovac we had to think about cables and things that it could get trapped on/ suck up, but it's pretty much second nature now to not have stuff around. Occasionally it's a bit dim and decides to get caught on a shoe left out (as opposed to avoiding it) but it sends me a message on my phone to say it's stuck. I would have found it much harder to manage with smaller children and lots of bits of things everywhere, though.

Holiday was lovely - slightly cooler in Cornwall than here at home, as it's coastal - which was perfect. Still ranging between 24-30 degrees every day, so not chilly in the slightest! No hoodies/ long sleeves were worn all week, and I kept the WM in daily use keeping the tshirts/ shorts all up straight (we'd deliberately only packed around 4 outfits each, so I did quick washes each day and dried them in the courtyard on the airer - meant I only had 1 load of washing when we came home) The 'cottage' was lovely - 3 storey, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Huge living room with enough seating for all of us - and some. Very well equipped kitchen with enough crockery/ cutlery/ glasses that you weren't forced to wash up after each meal - something I find can be an issue with larger groups. The dining table also sat 8 comfortably - again, so many places say they sleep 8 but can only fit 6 to relax or dine   3-4 minutes walk to the harbourside. We did Ed3n project (using Tesc0 CC vouchers), H3l1gan gardens, the beach (not me!), football golf (crazy.....), a boat ride around the harbour (the boatman had very nice legs ) where we got to see dolphins, a cream tea, visited my stepbrother and his wife and kids (gorgeous house and they fed us scrummy food) and rested up. I got a chest infection and was quite poorly - had antibiotics when I came home (was determ9ined not to phone chemo helpline whilst away unless absolutely necessary) and also hayfever - not fun when doing Heligan and Eden! - I don't normally get hayfever, but apparently one of the less common side effects of the latest chemo drug is hyper sensitivity to pollen - cue me walking around barely able to see through swollen eyes whilst also coughing loads and barely being able to walk due to breathlessness and palpitations.....

Journey home on the Saturday wasn't too bad - just 4 hours, including a loo stop. I managed to spread the chest infection to most others (inevitable when stuck together in a car....) - although they all had more of a cold than a true chest infection. I was concerned the infection would delay my chemo, but thankfully my WBC count/ infection rate was ok. I did find out that my haemoglobin level has been dropping each month, though - and was 95 before this latest chemo (so is probably lower now) - hopefully that explains the breathlessness/ fatigue/ palpitations, rather than it being down to any actual damage from chemo! Just knowing my level is that low made me feel better, as I was concerned. They've offered me a transfusion if it doesn't pick up quick enough - we shall see.... (I'm not good at maintaining Haemoglobin levels at the best of times!)

Anyway, the best bit about all of that is that I had my last chemo session last week - woohoo!!! Honestly, it is such a massive relief to have finished it all! I have been feeling rubbish until today (today is tired and a bit rubbish, but not bad) - but it hasn't mattered, as I don't have to do it again - the mental load of knowing you have to do it again and again, feeling worse before you start each session is huge - and you can't even enjoy the last few days before each session where you feel at your best (a relative term!!) as you have appointments - and the looming dread...... But no more!!!!!!  

I still have radiotherapy to come at some point, and some scans and blood tests and hormones.... but that's ok! And my hair is growing back really quite quickly - I need to book an appointment to get some sort of shape into it. I can go out and look like I have super short hair, rather than being bald (I was honestly basically bald on top at one point - I may post pics) - which is great (not that I was that bothered - I've worn a wig briefly 3x in the past few months - a hat a lot more - sometimes because of heat (can't burn scalp!) and sometimes for other people's benefit (I know that my bald head will have attracted more attention than a hat and I don't want people to feel uncomfortable - or for them to feel sorry for me)

The ex- neighbour saga has continued - he has been antisocial a lot and the police have been called out a lot - he's clearly not functioning well and has threatened several neighbours (eg burning kids in their beds) and sat outside their houses playing loud rap music at 5am - hopefully Mrs neighbour has now decided to do something. I know he has been in the cells a couple of times (inc for drink driving) as the police have told us when visiting. He's also not been paying the places he's been staying at, so they've been after him after he's done a bunk. It's not good, and no one is taking his threats as credible, but the police want him to stop, or they may look at getting him banned from entering the street, as so many are affected.

Oooh - and the other exciting news (after chemo) is that the boys' bathroom is being re-done this week! It's only taken over 2 years to sort.....!!!! It's a bit of a spendy month, but it will be so worth it!

apple_muncher

What a great update!

Your undying love for Robbie does make me giggle! Especially as it's the first bit of news you write about 😂.

South_coast

That was my fault, speaking wistfully about my desire to have one of my own 🤣!

Holiday sounds excellent, greent - and finishing chemo even better ❤️!

greent

Robbie is great 😍

Today's decluttering win - 16 shoeboxes from the garage donated to someone on 0li0 😁😁

Moneyfordreams

Finally caught up greent... what a difficult time you've had! but wow - your accounts of your experiences are awe-inspiring. Whoop to chemo being over for you and I hope the radiotherapy isn't too troublesome.    

killerpeaty

Sorry you were so ill for heligan. That's the gardens with the statues? I'm guessing you didn't get to enjoy it as you should have been able to. But it's just an excuse to go back! 

So very pleased for you to end your chemo! While I'm sure that you can rock the monk look, I'm glad your hair is coming back. Everything will feel a bit more normal.

Why did someone want 16 shoeboxes?