Day 834

Day 834...

And we have arrived at Friday and after a particularly crap nights sleep I was a little later than normal getting up. But that didn't stop us getting out for our early morning walk completing 1.9 miles in 39 minutes and we were still home before 9am.

The weather was a little cooler this morning but it didn't stop Simon and I venturing out in t-shirts although everyone else seemed to be wrapped up with jumpers and coats! We must be getting tough in our old age!

First job of the day was a quick trip to Lidl for a few essentials. Next it was back to my dads but instead of gardening my task was to sort through all the Christmas decorations that were taking up a lot of boxes!

My brother had gone through the boxes yesterday and taken home anything he wanted. I'd already taken home what I wanted so today it was a case of going through and seeing what was left. I have a table top sale coming up in a weeks time and so most of these left over items will go up for sale then. So today I wanted to check over them all to make sure they were all in tact and in working order. By the end of the morning I'd freed up a few boxes and created a pile for the bin!

After lunch I had the afternoon to myself and for a moment I was at a loss for what to do...but it didn't last long. The afternoon was spent doing the ironing. sorting through a ton of old paperwork as I am in the middle of reorganising some cupboards and some internet research. We had discovered a medal of my grandma's from when she was a member of the St John's Ambulance and I wanted to find out a little more about it. Turns out it was a service medal that marked at least 20 years service and showed that she was a Divisional Superintendent!

At the end of a particularly busy day for Simon we decided to grab some fresh air and go out for another walk. It was a little damp to start with but by the time we arrived back at home the sun was shining and we had another 1.8 miles in 34 minutes under our belts.

And that was Friday, roll on the weekend and I'll see you later.
xx

Day 819 & Day 820

I thought I would join another couple of days together...

Day 819...Thursday

The day started with our early morning walk and we stuck to the same hilly route as has become the norm and we completed 2.3 miles in 46 mins.

With the day underway I spent the majority of the morning at my dads house as we had an estate agent visiting to value the property. We have one more agent valuing the property next week but I have to say I was very impressed with Ewemove, especially as their valuation was more to my liking! But I was more impressed with their approach and their customer service focus. Next weeks agent will have to do a lot to impress me!

I took the time while at my dads to go through some more stuff! We have lots still to go through and as I have said before it is a matter of deciding what we want to keep, what can be donated to charity and what needs to be sold on to find a home where they will be appreciated. Today I went through all my mum's Christmas decorations to see if there was anything that would work with my decorations or anything that I wanted to keep for sentimental reasons. I was hoping to find some old baubles from way back but I couldn't find any at all so I can only assume that over the years my mum had gradually thrown them away or, as most of them would have been glass, they had simply broken.

I did discover an interesting collection of very old records although I don't think Max Bygraves and Val Doonican are my 'cup of tea', in fact I think these probably belonged to my grandma and grandad!

I made sure I was back home by lunchtime as this is when Simon and I now have the first meal of our day and I have to say I am loving this way of starting the day and not eating till later. Plus I still get to have my favourite meal; 'breakfast' - sausage, bacon and mushrooms followed by what we call a sweet omelette (eggs, cream, cinnamon, cloves and a little dark (74%) chocolate!!) with a few raspberries on the side.

I then inadvertently hoovered the garage...I'd gone into the garage to get some weedkiller out and to put the car back but in doing so I'd had to move a ladder which meant I saw all the cobwebs gathering around our gym equipment. And that became my motivating factor to get everywhere hoovered...I lost count of the number of spiders I managed to suck up!

As the weather forecast for Friday was looking rather toasty I decided that I really ought to get the pile of ironing sorted in the slightly cooler weather of today. It was still a hot day today but not to the extreme that the weather was forecast for tomorrow.

With the ironing done I did manage a short while outside in the sunshine with a coffee although it didn't last long as I was beginning to melt. I then managed some online research as I am still trying to figure out what some of the bits and pieces are that we have at my dads; not necessarily the value of the items but more the history and description of them to discover what they actually are.

In lieu of our usual Thursday gym workout as this has been curtailed because of Simon's broken wrist we decided to go for a walk instead. We completed the same walk as this morning although it took us a couple of minutes longer which I think was due to the heat.

Day 820...Friday

Well the weather forecast was correct for a change and we have had another, very hot and sticky day today. In fact as we headed out for our morning walk I did remark to Simon it was like being on holiday as it's not very often here in the UK it's suitable to be out in short, shorts and a sleeveless top at 8.00am! 

It was a glorious morning and we were rather glad that the walk was rather hilly as it meant there was a lovely refreshing breeze the higher we got. Another 2.3 miles in 47 minutes done.

It was then time to head down to my local Lidl for some fresh items. I'd hoped that I could have avoided a shop until next week but the fridge had other ideas. Although I must remember not to shop on a Friday as it would appear that a lot of our older generation still stick to Friday as grocery shopping day!

My day has then been filled with trying to keep cool as we hit temperatures of 31C along with more internet research. It's a slow and painful job but I do feel like I'm making progress and I think that once we have a valuation for the house that we are happy with it will be a motivating factor to make decisions about what we 'do' with everything.

I had hoped to be recording a podcast later this afternoon with my co-host Michelle but we decided it was simply too hot and have decided to leave recording till next week.

Simon and I had hoped to go out for another evening walk today but it was simply too hot, instead we opted for dinner and feet up. 

And there we have the end of the week, let's see what tomorrow shall bring.
xx

Day 810 & 811

Day 810...

I never got around to writing a blog post for yesterday so decided to clump two days together instead.

Yesterday started with an early morning walk of 2.3 miles in 46 minutes; we are loving this way to start our day not only do we get some exercise but being out in the fresh air really gives your day a kick start.

My day was primarily focused around cataloguing all the bits and pieces from my mum and dads house. We need to be able to clear the house in readiness for selling it and last week I had taken photos of all those items that need a little research before we just give them away. So it was a case of going through the photos and making a physical list of everything along with making notes from any internet research I could drum up. I still have a fair bit to go through so will be dipping in and out of this task over the next day or so before we can make a decision as to what we do with it all.

Simon was still in a little pain and discomfort from falling over on Monday evening and landing on his wrist. It hasn't really bruised but is a little puffy around where the wrist meets the palm of his hand. But he kept up with keeping it wrapped, taking pain killers and trying to keep it elevated as much as possible which is a bit tricky when your job involves using a keyboard. But the movement by the end of the day had improved although it's a long way off being right!

And the day was rounded out with my 'leaving doo' from work...yes the work that I finished on the 27th May...unfortunately the original planned event was cancelled due to a couple of the team not being well and so it had been rescheduled to last night. We went to a local Indian restaurant, in fact the one we normally use for our take-out meals, and it was lovely. A couple of hours to chat and enjoy some great food and I suppose kind of draws a line under my 'working' time at pre-school...maybe now I'll feel like I've officially retired?

Day 811...

Today's early morning walk was a little further and a bit quicker than yesterdays at 2.5 miles in 44 minutes; but this was a much flatter route and we stuck to the pavements rather than going over the fields as the rain last night meant everywhere was still a little wet!

Simon's wrist was still not great although our wonderful NHS has not been much help so far...using their online triage system yesterday it had recommended visiting our local GP. Mmm...neither of us had much confidence that they would be able to do anything more than what we've been doing never mind being able to get an appointment to see anyone and then factoring in all the stupid 'covid safe' measures that they are still insisting on!

My morning consisted of some online shopping...I needed to place a butchers order as our bacon supplies were getting dangerously low and was also trying to find some low carb, high protein snack bars. We find these come in really handy when we are out Star Wars trooping but we had used up our supply at the weekend and unfortunately the brand I normally go for haven't currently got in stock a flavour that we like so I found myself going down the rabbit hole of protein bars!! Who knew there were so many variations out there!

By late morning Simon decided to phone our NHS 111 service to see if there was anything they could suggest for his wrist...made the call...couldn't get through due to 'high demand'! So I decided to try the online version again and this time it offered a call back service...no idea why this wasn't offered yesterday when we'd tried but whatever it was better than nothing. The system said we would get a call within 30 minutes. About 10 minutes later Simon had spoken with them and secured a 1pm appointment at our local walk-in centre!! Luckily we had enough time for something to eat before heading on out as thankfully the centre is only about a 15/20 minute drive away.

And the result of our visit...Simon's wrist is broken and he came away with it in a cast. We now have to wait for for the fracture clinic at our local hospital to get in touch; I'm assuming they will assess his injury and decide whether a cast is the right treatment. But for now the cast is there to keep his wrist stable and prevent any further damage until he can be seen by a specialist.

But the great thing was that he was in and out in forty minutes; I've noticed that one of the side-effects of covid has been a greater reduction in out-patient waiting times as I suspect appointments are more staggered to avoid too many people in one place at a time. A positive that I hope continues so that we have a much better experience when we do need to visit the NHS. On the way home I popped into a local chemist to collect my prescription and I think that took longer than Simon getting his wrist examined and put in a cast!!

With Simon's wrist now being in cast that has put a wrinkle in our weekly routine of gym sessions and, for Simon, using the exercise bike so we decided to end the day with another walk. We stuck to the main road as everywhere was still wet from the few showers we have had on and off today and completed 2 miles in 39 minutes.

But now it is time to get off the laptop and watch this weeks episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

See you tomorrow.
xx