Moving on

Sun_Addict

Good news it wasn't a TIA, that must be a relief for you. I think you're well overdue a rest, you do so many different things here, there and everywhere and don't get paid for most of it. Time to slow down for a bit. 

Cherryfudge

Thank you @rtandon27 and @Sun_Addict, I'm having a nice day off with time spent tidying the garden.

Yesterday was our day looking after the girls, and again, plenty of time out of doors though letting the older one have the hose was inevitably a damp experience! The little one was feverish and snuffly, so we wondered if she is getting the chickenpox her cousins have just had. Unfortunately I sent off a video from the weekend to the family group and only glanced through it before posting, and now J is upset at something that was said. I'm hoping this will blow over and have apologised to her and taken it down. Listening to it from her point of view I might have felt the comment was a bit off, though said jokingly, and the person concerned does say something right at the end of the clip - which she may not have taken in - something that mitigates the comment.

Other than that, it was a good day. My friends were both available for the evening so we had our meal together and a good catch up. One has made the most beautiful blanket for the baby which I'll hand over shortly.

I did notice as I got tired that I'm struggling for certain words, not in a normal way. That's a hang-over from the virus but I don't like not being able to trust whether I've said what I meant to say so I hope with time it eases. I'm still getting light headed in the mornings too, but it's lessening.

Today we had someone round to quote for paving. I so hope this one comes through as we've had far too many let us down. He did say it would be expensive and that if it had been a straightforward job it would be around £1200, but could be double that. However, to me that's less than I'd thought, and I have the money. It would add to the appearance of the house a lot, without losing any garden, and could reduce the overflow from the downpipe at the back, which takes the rain from several houses.

DH has used his time really well, shinning up the big ladder to clear gutters and move a couple of slipped slates back in line. I've been hacking my way through overgrowth and dead wood in the corner by the shed but I've stopped for now as we've run out of green bin space. It looks rather better, though.

J is now on maternity leave and is coming over for a walk with us in a while. It's still warm and sunny so that should be lovely.

Cherryfudge

We had a good walk with J and the dog, including an early Mother's Day coffee in a nice place in town. I was going to say I've not spent anything today, but I've just paid £1.99 for an e-book. Dinner was tuna pasta while watching the celebrity Bakeoff and in the evening was a church business meeting.

I've also taken the first of the new statins and seem okay so far! I was used to the old ones and the consultant seemed to think I needed to change because of the damage caused already by cholesterol, but when I think about it, no one knows how long that damage has been there and my blood tests show a stable level for years, though higher than they like. What I'm wondering is whether the damage is very old, but I suppose the continued raised levels are an indication something needs to be kept an eye on.

Watty1

Just caught up.  Glad all is ok and you have been properly checked over and your consultant has plans.   You are right, damage may be old, but, someone is keeping an eye and that is all to the good.

Cherryfudge

Thanks @Watty1. It's reassuring that they've had a thorough check.

Last night I only had four hours' sleep so I'm hoping that was something and nothing rather than a reaction to the new tablets. I've consequently felt sub-par most of the day, but I helped with the toddler club in the morning and after lunch had another battle with the Sunday rota followed by some of my course. I had help with the rota which is a relief as the senior person found me a helper who I thought was needed elsewhere, then swapped a couple of people round and suddenly we are close to what we need. I've also heard that some of the young people are cleared to help out, which could be a real positive though only one is on rota so far.

Only two hours at work this evening, but I was probably a bit tired to throw myself into anything demanding.

Some shopping done, too: £12.46 for food and DH bought books for £7.99 while getting the car looked at. This is a recall for our 'everyday' car which must be about ten years old, and they've just found a fault and called them back to be fixed. He doesn't have to pay for this apart from the drive to another town to get it done, but now it needs work on the brakes.

And talking of work, while clearing the gutters the other day, DH discovered the exit pipe for the boiler, fitted about 15 months ago, has snapped completely. I remember having a conversation with the company at the end of last year and they sent me an email confirming we were covered for XYZ - but I heard no more and I don't think any payments have gone out, so I've that to chase up.

Cherryfudge

A much, much better night's sleep last night so I am feeling better in general and reassured that the latest medication seems to suit me. And the sun is shining.

It's DH's last day of annual leave though his working pattern means he doesn't go back till Wednesday. His first job today was to take a captured mouse out to the woods. We aren't getting them so often but clearly they must be coming from somewhere. I well understand why the ancients used to believe in spontaneous generation! DH has stopped various holes and yet... here's another mousie! It's possible they live indoors, but where?

I need to get myself dressed and get down to do my share of cleaning at church. No plans for the afternoon, but work this evening.

Laura_Elsewhere

It is, ime, amazing how much better one feels after a good night's sleep! 

Field/wood/house-mice can get in through a hole about the size of a pencil, so... Also, they can chew through just polyfilla or plaster, so use steelwool to stuff the hole and then plaster/polyfill over that, pushing it well into the steel wool so the mice can't chew through bnor pull it out. 

And I hope your long-term damage just sits there inertly- sometimes, the body can be very good at adapting to some kinds of damage. 

Cherryfudge

Thank you @Laura_Elsewhere, I'm hoping that for the long term damage too, and am encouraged by the fact that damaged blood vessels in my eye eventually grew a new network despite me being an adult. I remain convinced (JMO, based on observation not a medical background) that the body's default is to heal.

I'm rather enjoying my healthier diet, especially as DH, without being alarmist, has jumped on the bandwagon and keeps feeding me healthy things! I know I'd fallen into bad habits over the last few months, especially with eating pastries which are a waste of calories, though nice as an occasional treat. It's a good job I love oats, nuts, pulses and oily fish and am not much of a one for red meat, all of which are helpful traits.

No mice today. We have used wire wool in some places but there's obviously still somewhere we've missed.

Health ramble coming up, for my benefit so you needn't read it if you aren't inclined:

Both yesterday and today have had snoozy afternoons. I can go weeks without needing extra sleeps, then they seem to come in clusters. I don't doubt there's likely to be a post-viral element: DH's cough is a similar pattern. It comes and goes, and in between he gets laryngitis. I'm also wondering if there was a stress element in mine: months of one or two things too many. The odd episode that wasn't a TIA was the day after a day largely spent battling a timesheet that had got out of date. That's not something that sits well with ADHD, so perhaps I pushed too hard. Today, I woke at 6, so five and a half hours' sleep, then slept again for an hour and a half in the afternoon but this evening I'm light headed but not brain fogged. I thought about that and tried extra hydration and looser trousers! I won't say I'm cured but maybe they helped. Once I can reduce my weight I can have those jeans back. Losing weight will help with the cholesterol apparently and I'd got complacent after starting the cleaning job, which has taken a few pounds off me. I'm not tall enough to carry much extra but I think people assume that because I'm short and agile, I'm not really overweight.

End of ramble. I'll start a new post for things of today.

Cherryfudge

Today: our first visit to a car boot sale this year. DH decided it was a good time to give the hobby car its weekly run, so that's how we travelled. It must be a sign of spring when all the classic vehicles hit the road again, as we saw a very old Dodge wagon and a couple of other old cars, and got a compliment on ours. DH is right that it seems to hold the road very well, but I'm still adjusting to not having inertia reel seat belts! I do love opening a quarter light instead of just rolling down the window, though. A real blast from the past.

It was a bit chilly on the field but we remembered to look for the eclipse. It wasn't exactly obvious but I pointed my phone camera at it at the right time, which showed me... nothing!

Nothing was roughly how I felt about the car boot sale until I spotted my first bargain quite a long way through. DH was very happy to find a set of DVDs for a favourite program, still in the shop's shrink wrap, so he got them and I'm to save them for his birthday or Christmas. He also spent £1 on a bag of Victorian pennies, £1 on a tube of silicone sealant (for the mice to eat through) and £1 donation to a charity for entry.

My big bargain - literally - was a set of good quality children's building blocks of the same make as some I bought a while ago. There was whole sack full for £4, very clean and excellent condition. I've now set aside a box of other branded ones for donation as we now have enough for ever and perhaps someone will get to enjoy the others. I hope the grandchildren will get a lot of play value from these when they visit, but one thing is certain: their uncles will!

Further on there was a stall of the sort that sells random china, ornaments and generally mismatched bits and pieces. While there I found a nice little china pot (minus lid) which looks as though it's from the 1930s and matches our lounge, then spotted a very unassuming piece of Denby Utility ware. £1 for both... I haven't been able to put a precise date on the Denby, but probably somewhere between 1940 and 1960. It's been well worn but stoneware practically lasts forever. I wonder whose it was and what pies were made in it?

Dinner was some generous-sized fish in batter from L!dl on offer, with home made vegetable cous cous to use up some commercially dehydrated veg. I'd cleaned out a freezer drawer in the morning and identified some things for use over the next few days but there's still a lot to use up from random acquisitions over goodness knows how long.

As mentioned before, I had a good sleep in the afternoon. DH got groceries but I forgot to ask him for some things so we had a walk down to L!dl this evening.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £22.03
Medical £13.50
Gifts £16 (these were the DVDs and the building blocks)
Household £2
Hobbies £1
Entertainment £1

KeepOnKnitting

Sorry to go back to health when you have already moved on. I read something the other day that might interest. Back in the Vietnam war, autopsies were carried out on some of the American soldiers who passed away. Outwardly healthy men in their 20s. They found early cholesterol plaques in their blood vessels in 75% of them. It seems to show that the damage takes a long time to build, is remarkably common, and that humans manage very well as the damage progresses over decades. We're harder to kill than many people realise.

I don't disagree with your idea that healing is the natural default. A lot of nursing is making conditions optimal for healing and then letting the body do it's own job. I don't think a lot of modern life is optimal for healing. Healthy diet, plenty of execise, sleep and connection to other human beings. Don't smoke, take drugs or drink alcohol. Simple, not easy.

Sounds like a great time at the car boot.