Having a lovely time......

 

Another little break by the sea...I'm counting my blessings.

Booted and suited?

 Nearly 20 months ago I was walking....and walking....and walking......on a daily basis. It was 

Covid times, I live alone, and via a network of good friends, I was able to walk in a beautiful place, almost daily. Those days out walking were partly responsible for me maintaining my sanity through tough times.

Yet on one of those last walks, something happened to my left heel/ankle. I thought it would calm down with some rest, but in fact the pain increased and the last 20 months have seen my ankle swell/go down/be hot/just bloody hurt. So 'limping Lil' I became. As there was a lot happening in my life last year, I put dealing with my ankle to the back of a long list, and when she was lucid, my Ma said to me 'you're still limping ..promise me you'll get your foot sorted' So I promised. A GP looked at it and referred me for an xray, which showed a possible fracture, some tendon problems and some bone spurs...it was recommended that I have a course of pain killers...tick.....have a course of extra corporeal shock wave therapy..tick...rest it..tick...don't rest but exercise....tick......most recently I was referred to an ankle and foot consultant who organised an MRI. Which showed a piece of bone sticking into my tendon...he said 'that looks angry..which is why it hurts' ......anyhoo. He has suggested that in couple of weeks I have an injection and be fitted with a 'boot' for six weeks. I'm guided by him of course but don't see how this will fix the problem....and yet he stresed he really really doesn't want to just go in and remove the offending bit of bone.

I am a 'sheeple' person....a follower not a leader...so I obey orders. Has anyone worn a boot and/or had the same problem? My nephew is a medico and looked at the MRI too...he also stressed that I 'shouldn't have the operation' Is it because I'm old? or NHS resources are stretched enough and I should go away and not bother them? or that the bone spurs are likely to reappear?.

Whatever......I'll take the consultants advice.

Recommendations?

 I'm planning to go to Belfast with a school friend for 2 nights at the beginning of November.

We are two 'ladies of a certain age' who have been friends since school, and both have a November birthday...so instead of meeting for a meal and drink as usual we thought we would take a flying visit to somewhere we haven't been to before...to walk and be touristy and have a drink.

Having never been before we don't know the areas.....does anyone have a Hotel they can 

recommend? 

If only I had the wall space...........

 Last weekend I was lucky enough to go to Bilbao with my beautiful daughter. I had always wanted to go and see the Guggenheim and as I haven't quite got the 'travel alone' gene that Rachel is lucky enough to possess, my daughter and I went together from Thursday to Sunday. It was perfect. The weather was kind and we had a fabulous time. I am blessed to have a good relationship with my kids and grandchildren, and (without dwelling) getting through the past 5 years would not have been possible without them. We walked and talked and ate and drank and laughed and cried and hugged and ....sensibly..this time we did not share a room. Previously we have shared and as I snore like a ...well I'm not sure what....it has been a bit challenging for her in other years ...Paris and Budapest and Venice......the extra cost was well worth it and now that I am divorced and single I have sufficient funds. I did love the Guggenheim. I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea but what is? We saw so much that we loved. I did not like all that was there but fell in love with a HUGE painting by Anselm Kiefer

As you can see from the top picture the painting was enormous, and I was transfixed. The second picture is me just being delighted to be at the Museum.....and the last one is a dreadful picture but made us laugh, as I had asked for bread. ham and tomato....the bread and ham were very tasty but the tomato came as a little 'jus' in that squeezy bottle....which of course is probably very normal to so many of you but I am quite provincial and it was so funny to me! Normally I wouldn't post pictures of myself, but I am entering into a new chapter of my life and feeling...for the first time in Oh So Many years...dare I say it?

Happy.

And the world still turns....

Moaning Minnie is leaving the building....time to have words with myself, get over myself, and move on....with fingers crossed, with optimism and hope....wish me luck and watch this space x

Will it EVER get better?

A week ago today, I became unwell.

 I had a terrible headache/sore throat/earache.

I was freezing cold and just wanted to curl up and go to sleep.

I threw up and was shaking uncontrollably.

I 'lateral flow tested' every day......negative.

I was preparing for and organising the Funeral for my sister, and thought that perhaps I was just feeling 'low'.

I was so very cold and felt so exhausted that I went to bed and only got up on Tuesday morning to be driven by my son (and 'readied') by my daughter, to attend the small Graveside service funeral of my sister.

Cousins came from Liverpool, Stratford and Kent. I avoided kisses and left after a cup of tea locally. My daughter had 'Lateral flow' tested me then and since Tuesday I have done two more tests..both negative...and yet I literally have an exhausting cough and have never experienced a 'cold' or 'flu' like this. I have been back in bed since Tuesday and ....

The result today was ......positive......I knew at the back of my mind that this was Covid ....in all of my 67 years, 'flu' or a 'cold' has never made me feel this way.....and in fact, I wondered if my mind was preparing me for some sort of mental wind down as the last part of a 'things have been truly terrible, you need to just give in now' warning ........and without saying this to elicit  sympathy...........truly....just to state facts.....in the last couple of years I have moved house, divorced a husband of nearly 40 years, lost my father, sat and watched my mother die in hospital, watched my sister die in hospital, and lived alone through a pandemic that has been a living nightmare.... a constant 'one step forward twenty seven steps back' existence.

The Covid/NHS app has been completed and I will continue to self isolate for the next week.......but God ....grant me strength..please.

Knowing it makes no sense doesn't help...

 Although I chose her clothes, and had trusted that the Funeral Directors had dressed her in them, yesterday, at the funeral, as we stood by the graveside, I couldn't help but wonder if she was warm enough down there deep in the earth.