Well, my apologies for the missing couple of weeks. We have had a rather fraught time over the last month and life has been a bit exciting. And very busy. I never really understood the saying, “It is what it is”, until recently but now it fits our life rather too well. Maybe it is part of getting older, a sense of – not weary resignation but perhaps acceptance. Life rumbles on and then suddenly veers off into the unknown and unexpected, rarely for the better of course.
It began a few weeks ago when I developed a rather nasty bout of faux covid. I say “faux” covid as I had all the symptoms of a new variant – high temperature, extreme fatigue, a throat that felt as if I’d swallowed a hedgehog and a deep, hacking cough. Despite taking two tests I still came up negative for the dreaded virus but my health just got worse. Then came the dreaded trip to Limerick eye department with Jacqui. Sometimes this is relatively easy. We can get a parking space within walking distance, there are fewer delays in the ward and we get home in around four hours. Not ideal for the dogs but they are wonderfully patient, especially if we leave lights and the television on for company.
This time it was one of the bad visits. Parking was almost impossible, as usual, and so we arrived almost an hour early, hoping to catch the tiny gap where morning patients leave and the afternoon rush begins. We managed it, just, but Jacqui was finding the walk through the hospital and up to the clinic increasingly difficult. It is made worse by the lack of seats for people to stop and rest, especially at the back of the sprawling complex. The clinic was already full when we arrived and we were seated in a side room. A very cold side room with a top window wide open so we were in a cold draught.
The seats are frankly horrible, hard plastic with low backs giving little support. I tried not to sound like a plague victim but had to keep stretching my bad shoulder that began to seize up in the cold. This set the cough off again though at least other patients were reluctant to squeeze in beside me. After almost four hours Jacqui had her injection and we began the slow and very painful trip back to the car park and off home. In all we were away for almost seven hours. The dogs were very eager to run out into the garden but most forgiving once we made their dinners and gave them a good fuss and cuddle.
The next few days we were exhausted, stiff, sore and prone to falling asleep whenever we sat down. We had just begun to recover when Jacqui stood up, fell back into her chair and found she couldn’t put any weight on her right knee. We waited a day to see if it got any better – it didn’t. We are fortunate our local small hospital has a Minor Injuries unit and the contrast between this and Limerick is startling. The visit took about 90 minutes from triage to x-ray to her hobbling out on crutches. Sadly the cartilage has gone completely on one side and she will probably need a knee replacement, something with a year-long waiting list.
So all this had led to a major shift in our thinking and planning. It is what it is and we need to work around it if we can. Jacqui can still drive comfortably (and safely) which is good as my shoulder still tires very easily and isn’t really up to longer journeys. Winter is approaching and so there will be much less to do in the garden and wood. A lot of the house is on one level so we don’t need to worry about stairs.
We are trying out different options for shopping – deliveries, click and collect or me doing much of it and Jacqui doing the driving. Jacqui’s getting quite adept on her crutches and we have a new little cart to move things around and into the house. There are still some nasty surprises poking their heads up. Jacqui’s computer crashed completely in the middle of all this, we have a leaking pipe in the upstairs bathroom and following storm Amy there’s a strong smell of damp in one of the rooms downstairs. All we need is a plumber and a builder… Yeah, right!
Ah, it starts to sound like that dreadfully song, “Patches”. “And then the rain came and washed all the crops away…” Well, it’s not all bad. The new wood burning stove is wonderful. Not only is it warmer than the old stove it uses about a third of the wood. It’s a bit of a pig to light sometimes and heavier on kindling but it looks great and really cheers the room. The polytunnel survived the storm and the Marmande tomatoes have gone slightly mad. We will have to pick them still green I think but can ripen them indoors. It brings back memories of my father making us unwrap boxes of apples and tomatoes every week, take out the ripe fruit and re-wrapping each green one in newspaper.
We have loads of blackberries still despite feeding the birds and at least one pine marten. The lettuce and spinach are still growing and this week we had our first handful of French beans. Everything is late, of course, as we couldn’t begin sowing until the middle of May but it certainly cheers us up this far into autumn.
So that is us at the moment. It is tempting and too easy to rail and shout at events but that would be a waste of energy and time. Better perhaps to look for things that can be changed and different ways of coping. Things will improve and we are lucky we are able to take some control over events.
No, it’s not perfect but it is what it is – for now.
Thank for your patience and kind queries.
Keep warm and safe and I hope to see you all in a couple of weeks.
Jennie.