Doctors, Hospitals and Crazy Garden Life.

My time has been taken up with visits to Doctors, hospitals, physiotherapists and crazy garden life. That and all the other daily life happenings.

I have been to Huddersfield to see Mr Fogerty at the BMI Hospital with my shoulder. Apparently I have what is called "Impingement" in my right shoulder. This is incredibly painful, he gave me a steroid injection into my shoulder which he said would help with the pain. It didn't!!!
If you want to know more about this Mr Fogerty has a website you can look on
 shoulderelbowclinic.co.uk
 if you open this URL then click on shoulder impingement will come up in a list.

Mr Fogerty referred me to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary for physiotherapy. I have been to see a very nice lady called Katherine there.
On the first visit she asked a few questions, asked me to show her how far I could move my arm into different positions, which didn't take long because I couldn't do most of them. Then she massaged my muscles in my shoulder which was painful but felt quite nice at the same time! After only a few minutes of this I could move my arm slightly more, which really surprised me.
Katherine then showed me how I could get the same effect using a tennis ball. This is so I could massage my muscles at home myself, which I have to do for 2-3 minutes 4 or 5 times a day. I am also supposed to put my hands into a pillow case up to the elbows then force my arms apart as far as I can using the pillow case to prevent me forcing them too far. I am not too good at this because my right arm is so weak the pillow case just falls off.
When I returned for the second visit Katherine said to just carry on with the exercises I had been doing, she said there was no point adding anymore as the muscles were still so tender and weak that it would do more harm than good.
I see Mr Fogerty again at the end of January if things are not improving it could mean an operation. So I am making sure I use the ball everyday and trying my best with the pillow case before I see Katherine at the beginning of January.

When I saw Dr Daru again my cholesterol was still sky high, although I had managed to loose about 6lbs in four weeks. Dr Daru wants to see me again in April by which time he expects me to have lost at least another 8lbs.  If my cholesterol is still high then he wants to put me on "Statins", another bloody tablet!!!

Now lets get to something more cheerful.
The garden has been lively, we have had four squirrels in the garden some days. We had three new baby squirrels who ran round the garden like lunatics. Tony kept a sharp eye out for cats, they get too close for comfort sometimes and have to be warned off with a mint imperial whistling past their ear.

At the bottom of the garden near the greenhouse.

By the nut box.

On the shelf at the bottom of the garden .

On top of the shed watching out for cats. 

On the shed window ledge.

On the school fence. 

Opposite the shed on the fence.

On the table at the side of the shed.

 The squirrels are coming everyday now I think it's the variety of nuts, they get hazelnuts, cobnuts, chestnuts, peanuts both in shells and no shells.

The birds are not left out either, they get mixed seeds, black sunflower seeds, sunflower hearts, suet nibbles, peanut nibbles, suet balls, peanuts and fruit. Then of course any left over bread, biscuits or cake. The squirrels do help with the sunflower seeds and cake.

There has been a lot of birdlife in the garden the latest return has been the Greenfinches and the Blackbirds.

Greenfinch on the water dish in the garden.

 Greenfinch in the hedge opposite the shed.

Wren in the hedge opposite the shed.

 Wren in hedge opposite the shed.

 Blue Tit on feeding station.

 Coal Tit ready for take off.

 Dunnock on the fence opposite the shed.

 Robin in the hedge opposite the shed.

 Blue Tit in the hedge opposite
 the shed.   

Robin in the hedge opposite the shed.

Hoglet looking for food in the garden.

















The hedgehog was taken earlier in the year but I found it when I was sorting some photo's out and just thought I would include it.

I hope that has given you something to read "Elvira", I will try to keep up but I am not promising anything!!!




Until the next time...

Return of the squirrels.

Well the holiday is over, it is back to reality with a bang! I have three appointments on my calendar for next month, one at the hospital, one with the nurse and one with the doctor.

While the holiday is still in my mind here are a few more photo's.

The pair of Chaffinches spent most days at the cottage eating seed.

Male Chaffinch.

Female Chaffinch.

The Female Pheasant just wondered through the garden one day, helping herself to any seed she found on the ground.

Female Pheasant.

I think though that the Nuthatches were the stars of the garden. I loved sitting and watching them. It was so much like a routine, as one flew from the table in one direction, another one flew in from the opposite direction. Now and again one bird would come in at the wrong time, then you heard a loud chattering and a clashing of beaks for a second or two, one of the birds would fly onto a garden chair and wait until the other left. Then it would go back and grab a nut and fly away before the next bird arrived.

The Nuthatch posing for the camera.

 The Nuthatch looked slightly confused at the sight of the hazelnuts!

 The two Nuthatches had a small squabble but shared the seeds in the end.

There are some hens and a couple of cockerel's on the farm.  The elder of the cockerel struts around the  garden making sure everybody knows he is there. He will stop every so often and 'crow'.

 The strutting Cockerel

Back home things in the garden soon got back into the usual routine.

I have lost count of the squirrels, I think we have lots of new ones.

They seem to be everywhere I look

On the wall

 Coming towards the shed

 Across the garden on the wooden frame

Even hanging from the shed roof

                         

                           

The youngest daughter is not happy, Pepper (her eldest cat) has been taken to the vets twice in the last few weeks. The first time the vet thought he had been hit by a pushbike. That visit cost a lot of money because it was out of hours. Pepper was just recovering from that injury when he came home bleeding from his chest. This time he had been bitten by what looks like a small dog, back to the vets again. This time didn't cost quite so much but enough to make a hole in her savings.

The youngest daughter only moved back to Wakefield about six weeks ago, all I can say is if she didn't have bad luck she wouldn't have any luck.

Her other cat Biscuit fortunately doesnt go outside, he is scared of his own shadow and the sound of a fly sneezing.

Until the next time...

Red Kites and Nuthatches

Well I just didn't realise how long it's been since I last wrote on here.

We went to Wales at the beginning of the month, back to a place we stayed 2 years ago

While we were there we visited Rhayader, there is a farm that is also a Red Kite sanctuary. They put out food for the Red Kites everyday at the same time. Red Kites flock in from miles around, and a few Buzzards come as well.

The Red Kite flies over the field waiting for the food.

The Red Kites swoop down for the meat knocking the Buzzards out of the way.

The Buzzard & Young Red Kite seem to get along.

The older Kites grab and fly.

The Nuthatches in the garden of the cottage kept us entertained as well.

I will tell you more about the trip next time.

Until the next time...

A Lynsey update.

A number of people have expressed an intrerest in Lynsey's health since her sunburn. So she sent me some pictures to share with you. If you have a weak stomach do not look.

 This is how the legs looked at the beginning.

 Lynsey's feet swelled to triple the normal size by the time she arrived back in Hull.

 After a visit to Hull Royal both her legs were bandaged.

 Over the following days there appeared a large yellow mark.

 Another trip to the doctors showed this to be the golf ball size blister. This was recovered to ensure no infection was caught.

 Today the bandages were removed to show very sore, raw looking legs.

Lynsey will definitely not be sitting in the sun with bare legs again.

Until the next time.....

Let the game begin...

The garden has still been visited by two young Great Spotted Woodpeckers over the recent weeks.
One of them enjoyed a game of hide and seek with me when I was in the shed.
I looked out of the window and was not sure if I had seen one at all.

He peeped round the bush, from several sides. 

Then he jumped to the peanuts, with a look of surprise.

Before tucking in to his lunchtime snack.

The Starlings are growing fast the youngsters are beginning to show off their waistcoats as the proper markings come out.

Bath time fun

The young ones make lots of splashes at bath time.

Then they fly over to the side to dry off. There is always a parent bird ready to shout at them if they get in the way.

The peanut butter is still the main reason for the Starlings to shout and bicker about.

There is always one standing guard to make sure that the others don't take more than their fair share!

one of the Squirrels is easy to recognise, he has a lump missing from his ear.

We think this has probably be done by a cat.

The youngest daughter has her legs in bandages at the moment, she came through to Wakefield last weekend for Clarance Festival. She managed to get her legs sunburned so badly that she ended up in A&E.  She was told at Pinderfields in Wakefield there was nothing she could do apart from get in a cold bath for 20minutes every hour and keep her legs clean.

When she returned to Hull the next day she was in so much pain she went to A&E there where she was told that Pinderfields should have dressed her legs and that she should have been treated for second degree burns. It is now a week since she burnt her legs she has still got dressings on them which she has changed on a regular basis. She has had blisters the size of golf balls on one leg and a row of blisters round her ankle on the other. The doctor at Hull says he thinks this has happened because she used her friends sun cream which was out of date so it was just like putting water on her legs and then laying in the sun. So even when the blisters heal and the skin mends she still has to keep her legs covered up in the sun for at least 18 months - 2 years or she will just blister again. She says the pain is like nothing she has ever felt before. So the moral of the story is always make sure your suncream is in date  and do not use other peoples.

I think she might have been in competition with my youngest  Granddaughter, she had been up to A&E a few nights earlier as she had made herself a pot noodle and scalded herself with it. How did she do that ? I hear you ask! Instead of putting the pot on the table she put it on the sofa, then sat next to it! She is a teenager, enough said! she too had a dressing on her leg and "upper thigh". 

Lets just hope that's the end of it, and that there isn't a third one on the way!

I will just leave you with one very clever thought from a minion...

Until the next time...

Nutty squirrels, strange sparrows and a very cute woodpecker.

The garden seems to have been taken over by wildlife again! We have five squirrels calling at the moment, at least three of them are young ones. One of them has a very misbehaving tail! His tail seems to want to go the opposite way to the rest of him. This causes him a few problems. A squirrel depends on his tail a lot for balance, so this little squirrel has a problem with balance. He puts his tail up, I think he thinks it is straight up, but it is not, it is bent over, so he leans over sometimes so far that he falls over. He has fallen from the shed roof a few times, luckily he always lands on his feet. He has fallen off the cross bar and he has fallen off various feeders around the garden. It has not stopped him from climbing though.

He can hang by his toes while eating sunflower seeds.

He jumps onto the table to take the largest nuts he can find.

 

Sometimes he only just makes it.

One of the other squirrels watches him from the bottom of the garden.

I think they all think he is a little bit crazy, he bounds round the garden as if he is hyper!

Mind you this one doesn't look quite a full bob with the hazelnut hanging out of it's mouth either!

The young Robin is amazed by it all.

The Goldfinches enjoy the show whilst eating.

The young Sparrow was so surprised she missed the water bath completely. 

 She had a dry bath on the grass.

Mr Blackbird has been collecting meal worms for baby again.

Mrs Blackbird got into a panic because she lost baby for a few minutes.

Baby didn't know what all the fuss was about, he had just been for a quick snooze in the hedgehog house. His mum should have known he would appear again when he was hungry. 

 Baby Blackbird 

The newest visitor in the garden to make another family complete is a young Great Spotted Woodpecker. Mr & Mrs Woodpecker have been coming for quite a while but over the last week the youngster of the family is here on almost a daily basis.

A Young Great Spotted Woodpecker

Nothing else exciting has happened to tell you about that I can think of. I spent a couple of days in bed at the beginning of the week. I don't know if it was a bug or a touch of food poisoning. However I am fine now and looking forward to the fish & chips Tony has been out to bring home for tea.

Until the next time...