Lookee Here.......

 Lookee here.....

This is to celebrate “one year of hats.I’m not sure if the yarn bomb means she’s been making these for the pillar boxes for a year or whether it’s some strange millinery celebration .😉 

Sadly, not the best of weeks. After being let down by British Gas on Friday they did turn up on Monday, had a look, couldn’t fix it because a part was required. The engineer returned on Tuesday and appeared to sort the problem. And although the leak has been fixed a problem resulting from the leak hasn’t been fixed. So they have to come back tomorrow. It’s strange though, some sixth sense stopped me from putting everything back into the airing cupboard. I’m really glad I didn’t.

I refuse to go into detail about my health anymore. Suffice to say I am so fed up and worn down by all I really don’t know what to do.

On a happier note my next door neighbour’s cat now allows me to pet him. In fact he comes running up to me and rubs against my legs. I’ve spent a couple of very pleasant half hours in the garden playing with him. It lifts my heart to spend time with an animal.

Isn’t he beautiful?

The government have been criticised for not making a huge announcement about telling people not to travel to hotspot Indian variant areas.It’s been put on the government website but apparently people felt it should’ve been done so with a few whistles and bells. Because clearly people lack the intelligence and common sense to understand implicitly that you don’t willingly travel to the area that is “enjoying” a surge of a coronavirus variant that may be more transmissible than any of the previous ones. What is the matter with people?

In the early hours of Friday morning my phone rang. It woke me up, obviously. But I didn’t get to answer it because it rang off. It didn’t even go to answerphone. I wasn’t unduly concerned because it appeared to be my friends from the United States. And I figured they suddenly realised the time difference and cancelled the call. Later the next day I had a call on my landline from an unknown mobile. While I was dithering whether to answer it or not it rang off, again, without going to answerphone. Once more I didn’t think much of it. I thought that perhaps the person realised it was a wrong number. However when BritishGas tried to phone me and the call cut out. When they rang back and I tried to answer I could hear nothing but white noise I began to think something was up. And having tested the line with digital phone and an analogue phone getting the same result with both, I knew there was a problem. However the telephone company assured me there was no fault on the line. They told me they would send an engineer out and if the fault was theirs there was no charge, if the fault was mine it would cost me £85. I booked the appointment for Tuesday, the earliest  they could do. I tested the line again on Saturday. Still no joy. Didn’t bother on Sunday.Then on Monday the gas engineer phoned me and I picked up and took the call perfectly! But I was so amazed that the phone is working again I barely registered but he was saying. And I couldn’t wait for him to go so that I could test the line again. It all seems to be okay at the moment so I’ve no idea whether it was a fault beyond my control or whether it was “just one of those things”. Watch this space I guess.

Not much really to report since the last post. My friend has come back from the lodge in Somerset and we had a catch up one morning on the cliffs last week. But our timings seem to be out and we keep missing each other. In other news I’ve heard the cuckoo twice! I’m very relieved. It was getting to be tantamount to cuckoo wars up there. Everybody was wanting to hear it. Those who did were envied  by those who hadn’t. I think I was one of the last. And I saw a jackdaw yesterday morning. I like them.

It looks as if the weather might improve next week. Not before time. All that rain has turned garden into a jungle. It’s beyond me to keep it nice I think. So it’s going to be full of weeds and wildflowers. Hopefully the bees will benefit.

In Between the Rain Storms.....

 Let’s start with something nice. The new yarn bomb commemorating 100 years of the British Legion.

But don’t get too comfortable because optimism isn’t my thing at the moment. I finished the latest course of antibiotics but I’m not confident they’ve done the trick either. But I’m also dead scared of having to phone the bloody doctor again and them giving me even more. So I’m trying a regime of natural ingredients. Garlic, oregano and Cranberry. 

I had my second Pfizer jab last Thursday. And I still have a very deep bruise on my arm at the sight of the injection. I think that’s more down to administration of the jab than any real side-effects. I was very tired and spaced out for a couple of days afterwards. So if it is to be believed I am fully covered from tomorrow. Just as well. Cases of this Indian variant has tripled in a week! And they’re still continuing with the easing of lockdown. It’s scary. 

I found a leak in my airing cupboard the other day. I’ve no idea how long it’s been leaking. But it meant I had to have a man in the house. First person who has been in my house for months and months. Unless you count my sister using the loo on one of her garden trips.  Unfortunately he couldn’t fix the leak because he said it wasn’t a plumbing issue it was a heating issue. He muttered something about a trivalve drip. So I now have to wait for someone else to come on Friday. He reckons the drip was not a risk to the electrics but I’m very wary. So I’ve got towels underneath and I just replace the wet one with a dry one fairly regularly. It’s all fun in my neck of the woods I can tell you.

Consequently I haven’t been far or done much this week. I’ve read avidly which is always my go to security blanket. I had hoped that once vaccinated and with lockdown having been eased I might find the courage to go into town and see if I can’t update my phone. My dear sister, unwittingly, sent me a video last week and it just froze the whole thing up! I couldn’t get into WhatsApp because it said it was too full and I had to delete stuff before it would let me open it. The trouble is I’ve deleted so much stuff there is very little left to delete. 🤣 so I actually deleted some things I would have preferred  to keep. 😟 But I do need to be able to open that app as it’s a line of communication. 

The weather continues to be unseasonably chilly and wet. The garden is green and vibrant. But it’s too wet to do much out there. I still feel very on show when I’m out in the garden now as I’m overlooked so much. I’m sure people aren’t looking at me. They are much too busy getting on with their own lives to give a toss about what  the silly old lady at 178 is doing but nevertheless I can’t help how I feel.

I’ll Add a Title Later 😉

 You couldn’t make it up. I am now on yet another course of antibiotics for this wretched urinary tract problem. If that’s what it is. I had to take yet another urine sample down to the surgery and go through the usual shenanigans for the prescription. I read the side-effects of this drug online and was quite horrified. I also read a British medical Association journal which wasn’t very positive about it either. But according to the lab results the particular bacteria I have is sensitive to this antibiotic. But the first one I had is supposed to be too! So I can’t say I’m particularly optimistic. I did another lateral flow Covid test and I’m negative. It’s good to have at least some negative tests!

Consequently because I’ve been feeling so rough I’ve done little this week. I’ve tried to walk some mornings but I’ve been dragging myself out. My sister came down again on Sunday which was nice. Having some company was good. And the weather was kind to us. We were able to sit outside comfortably. A friend came round for an hour or two yesterday we sat in the garden.

From Monday they’re going to be some big changes following the restriction of some of the lockdown rules. People are going to be allowed to hug. The advice is ‘ they should be selective, short, and avoid face-to-face contact.’ Can you honestly see people sticking to that? People are allowed outdoors in groups of up to 30. Hospitality and indoor entertainment will be opening up again. Travel restrictions are lifted but they advise that people should only go to countries on the green or amber lists. People can choose whether to social distance between friends and family! And people are allowed indoors and to stay over. Our illustrious prime minister has advised us to practice common sense. Unfortunately there is a pre-requisite for that to take place. And that is to be endowed with common sense in the first place. My experience is that very few people are. Oh, and let’s not forget that the Indian variant has hit our shores and appears to be spreading and is,maybe, vaccine resistant. Deep joy.  Now, do I remain my usual cynical self, sit back and watch the infection rates rise again? Or do I embrace this change with open arms and start re-assimilating myself into the world again? I have my second vaccine shot tomorrow which, if it works, would afford me the most protection that I can get.

I forgot to take my camera out with me this week. So I will treat you to a couple of the wonderful photos that my sister takes. One is a wood pigeon displaying some unusual initiative and using my bay tree as a platform to extract some peanuts from the birdfeeder. Pigeons are ground feeders so this really is quite an unusual feat. Look at the expression on his face?! And the other is upon the cliffs where she took a picture of a goldfinch.

Why have I stopped giving titles to my posts?

 The pharmacist was as good as his word and delivered the antibiotics. It was only a three day course.  I feel like I’m back to square one. I’ve no idea what’s wrong with me and I don’t feel any nearer to knowing. I have a horrible feeling that this will be one more unresolved thing that I’m going to have to learn to live with. But this one is going to be a toughie as it means I can’t go too far for too long. And there’s always the threat of a major flareup. Both test results showed that I do have infections. So this morning was another trip to the pharmacist for some more medication. I said to the lady behind the counter I feel like I’ve got a season ticket for this place. She laughed. 

I had a letter telling me when my next vaccination is. Wasn’t a text message this time where I have to phone up and make my appointment. This was quite categorical. This is your day. This is your time. Be there. And the letter was quite intimidating because they say if you don’t make your appointment they’re not getting any more supplies of the Pfizer vaccine for the foreseeable future so you won’t get your course finished. Naturally it is my intention to attend. Just hope I’m well enough. Otherwise I’m screwed I guess.

I’m still in possession of much scepticism about the vaccinations. What I read in the news this morning kind of reinforces that intuition.

‘ Seychelles, which has fully vaccinated more of its population against Covid-19 than any other country, has closed schools and canceled sporting activities for two weeks as infections surge.

The measures, which include bans on the intermingling of households and the early closure of bars, come even as the country has fully vaccinated more than 60% of its adult population with two doses of coronavirus vaccines. The curbs are similar to those last imposed at the end of 2020.

“Despite of all the exceptional efforts we are making, the Covid-19 situation in our country is critical right now with many daily cases reported last week,” Peggy Vidot, the nation’s health minister, said at a press conference Monday.’

Hmmm. And as our country moves closer to allowing international travel and talks about ending the need for social distancing I am very afraid that we might be heading for another surge. Only this time I don’t believe the government will impose another lockdown and we are going to be in a bit of a mess. But remember I am a catastrophiser,  I am a pessimist and there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it.

To lighten the mood I am happy to show you the yarn bomb lady’s latest offering.

Topical. The cars race along this road. I took my digital camera with me this morning. I made Sue, my walking friend, laugh the other day. Because I said there was always a frisson of anticipation at the thought of there being a new yarn bomb. Then I added, or maybe I need to get out more!

 My poor phone is so overloaded that it just won’t take photos anymore. I’m going to have to do something about it. Because if anybody sends me a photo or a picture it takes me ages to actually get to it because the phone is so choked up and I have to try and delete something to look at the new thing. It’s actually driving me round the bend! But having that camera with me this morning meant I could take some more pictures. And I took the peacock oak in all its budding glory.

Something I’m delighted about. At the end of last season upon the cliffs both Sue and I were collecting seedpods and seedheads of some of the plants we found attractive. There was one plant that I called the coronavirus plant because it had these red spiky spherical flowers that reminded me of the pictures they show of what coronavirus looks like. I did ask one of the groundspeople what it was actually called and it is a castor oil plant. I saved some of the seedheads and let them dry out. And I tried planting some. The seeds resemble runner bean seeds. They’re actually quite beautiful. And one is germinating! I feel very excited.