Photos from the garden, new life and injuries...

As promised, here are a few photos taken from my bedroom window this morning. First is a pretty young Robin, the first one I have seen this year.

A Young Robin in the garden.

The Robin seemed to enjoy the pot of Flutter Butter I purchased from Amazon. So did the Young Starling, the Coal Tit, the Magpie and the Great Tits.

Young Starling.

Coal Tit.

Magpie

Great Tits

It's a good job I bought a few of them and two holders. The seeds are going down fast as well because we have a very greedy squirrel

A very greedy squirrel

Who thinks I have put it there for him to empty.

An Injured Squirrel

I spotted an injured squirrel in the garden today, it has injuries on its back, but more disturbing is the injury to its right eye. I don't know if it has been fighting with another squirrel, has fallen or if a cat has managed to catch it. I shall keep a watch out for it and if it gets any worse I will find out if there is anywhere I can ring to try and get it some help. Otherwise, I suppose nature will just run its course. 

The Turner Family.

My mum sent me a photo, It is my Grandad Turner, my Grandma Turner, then left to right, my Aunty Alice, Uncle Jimmy, my Dad, (on Grandma's knee) & Uncle Tommy.

They look like such a happy bunch.

Until the next time...
 

Health, garden news and a bit of a waffle...

 I have finished 6 weeks of hydrotherapy attending one day a week, it did me some good and I am sorry it is over. However, I hope to continue swimming with Emma or Lynsey one or two days a week. I know it will not be the same because the water will be cold and in a public pool which will mean more people. I don't like people especially if there are a lot of them. I will give it a go just to see if I can manage and to see if it helps keep the pain threshold down. 

I am still seeing the occupational therapy team with my hands, Liz thinks I might have rheumatoid arthritis and wants me tested for it. The GP disagrees and thinks it is carpal tunnel. He sent me to be assessed for an operation, the surgeon agreed that I do have some symptoms of carpal tunnel but also agreed that I have some rheumatoid arthritis and has referred me to rheumatology. I can see this being a long slog. The occupational therapy team are also concerned about a swelling I have sometimes at the top of my spine near the back of my neck, this appears in the evening and sometimes is large enough to push my head forward. This makes them think there could be more nerves involved and even my bone structure. Things just look better all the time. Then Lynsey pipes up with "You do know this tumour I have can be genetic don't you? You might have one as well". Thanks, Lynsey let's look on the bright side.

Tony has been busy in the garden and is beginning to look very colourful. He has hanging baskets and potted plants around the garden and is spending quite a lot of time out there while he can. At least while the weather allows. We haven't been out on the scooters much the weather hasn't been good enough for that yet. Hopefully, it will pick up during July and August. The birds are busy in the nests feeding chicks. A few are coming into the garden I have the camera ready for when a few more appear. The squirrel population has grown we sometimes have 4 in at the same time and at the moment we have babies again. Our neighbour Anne still loves it she cannot believe how much life there is in the garden since we moved in. We have been here for two years now. In the last few months, we have got new neighbours in four out of the six bungalows. Ken died last August,  Chris and Pete and their old Labrador moved into his. Then Mo exchanged with Sheralee, and Nancy moved into a home, so Lilly and her daughter Hazel moved in. Lilly has dementia so Hazel is her full-time carer. Then Adele did an exchange with George and his son Simon. George is 80 years old and Simon is his carer as well, they also have a dog living with them called Sonny. So it has all changed Anne got a bit worried and made us promise that we were not going to move. She also got a bit worried about the dogs because she was terrified of them after being attacked by one a few years ago. However, she has met Sonny and seems to be coping ok.

Lynsey is doing well health-wise except for a few visits to A&E she has had no major problems. She has had a few disagreements at work, but her main bugbear at the moment is her backyard. What should have been a three-day job has turned into a week job so far and it is still not finished. She certainly knows how to pick her workmen.

Lynsey's dad was turned down for parole again in March as he was seen to be too dangerous for release which is laughable as in September his sentence comes to an end so he will walk out a free man anyway. I have written to my MP in the hope that there is something they can do but I will not hold my breath, even more now that an election has been called. 

Well, I think I have rambled on long enough for now so I shall finish here, Take care of yourselves, keep well and safe.

Until the next time...

The Bedroom is coming along...

 The bedroom is coming along nicely, the double bed has been dismantled and a single one installed. The double one is going to Lynsey's when Richard has time to take it for me. I have bought new sets of drawers for my clothes and a new chair that turns into another single bed for overnight guests for when May comes from America in April.

I have bought a tent for my mobility scooter because the council have decided we have not been on the waiting list for a garage and we cannot have one anyway because a mobility scooter is not classed as a vehicle.

not a very good picture but it gives you the idea.

We have new baby squirrels in the garden one of them has already had an altercation with a local cat and lost part of his tail, luckily it doesn't affect his balance.

My granddaughter Willow had her 6th birthday onTuesday, 

She never seems to stop smiling.

I have been on a T-shirt buying binge, this one is my favourite,

Oh come on what did you expect?

Until the next time...

Finally I began on the bedroom...

 This morning at 7:20 am, a skip was delivered to the bungalow, so now the clear-out has begun. Underneath my bed, where there used to be boxes and bags of clutter, are now two small boxes containing printer paper and envelopes. When installed, these will be moved to shelving units above my desk.

Hopefully, Richard Tony's son will be visiting tomorrow, and he will take some bags of clothes and books to a charity shop for me. That will clear out a significant area of the room.

 I want to dismantle the double bed, which is going to Lynsey's. I am going to buy a single bed for myself. This will give me more room in the bedroom for a chair at the desk, which will be comfier than the one I have now. 

I also want to make room for a small table for the sewing machine to stay out on so I can use it more. I plan to make more clothes and covers instead of buying them. My weight fluctuates a lot, so being able to alter my clothes would be a big help. I have done this in the past, so there is no reason I cannot do it again once I have the room.

Not A Lot But A Start...

Well, I have started, at least now. I just have to keep going. The bedroom doesn't look any different because all that has come from under the bed. I am surprised it touched the floor. My Mum would tell you I was the same growing up; everything went under the bed. Mum would ask if I had tidied my room, and I would say yes; when she went to look, I would have just pushed it all under the bed and pulled the cover down so you couldn't see it. Job done. Things don't change much, eh, Mum! I can only do so much before my hands swell and are too painful to carry on, so today, I paced myself so more can be done tomorrow. I have the skip for seven days; let's see how I go.

Until the next time...

Someone hacked my bank on Monday...

 I spent all day on the phone with the bank. Someone has used my account to pay for goods, and it was not me. Apparently, they have used a phone to pay contactless. I don't know how they did it, but the bank knows it wasn't me, and they have reported it as fraud. I will get my money back, but it could take a while. I wouldn't mind if I had lots to spare; I am guessing the people who took it have a lot more than I have. It was all the messing about ringing Action fraud, phone calls from the bank, texts from the bank, and going into the bank with a photo ID; I don't leave the house or talk to people most of the time. I think I spoke to more people in one day than in the last 6 months. Now my card has been stopped, I have to wait for a new one so I can't buy anything or use it anywhere; I am going to be wary about using it online now anyway. 2024 is beginning to be a pain in the proverbial.

Until the next time

Just my luck...

 I ordered new clothes airer to be delivered today, I was really happy because the washing has been piling up. However, I should have known, I opened the parcel and this is what I found,

What use is a clothes airer with three and a half legs?

I contacted them straight away to tell them what I thought, I have to send it back for a refund😂😂

The bedroom has been put on hold again, online shopping, the daughter that never stops ringing and the after-effects of knee injections from yesterday just meant it never got off the ground. Tomorrow won't be spent in there either because said daughter needs help with her home office. 

Tony hopefully will have the company of his son Richard at some point over the weekend, who is coming to do some more work in the back garden. Our garden should be the best in the neighbourhood by summer let's just hope we get the weather to go with it.

Christopher has a bar in Cleckheaton called The Chain Bar, and he seems to be doing very well with it. He holds different theme nights to pull in the punters who all seem to enjoy themselves. One of his latest nights is Clairvoyant Nights which seems to be sellouts every time. 

Emma is enjoying her new role as a carer to Janet, she certainly keeps her entertained. Janet has severe learning difficulties with the mind of a child. She is 74 years old and has a Yorkshire terrier called Sugar.

Sugar & Janet.

Janet needed help after Ken died she had no one to look after her. Emma gave up her job and became her full-time carer. They are very rarely apart now. Janet goes to Emma's house most days and Emma goes to Janet's bungalow every day.

Lynsey is still getting on with life she is being inundated with follow-up appointments for the hospitals after everything that happened last year. We will find out soon how much if any her spinal tumour has grown amongst other things. Biscuit one of her cats also has a tumour, it is on the top of his head, thankfully it is benign which is good because for eight years she has been told by several different vets that it was "only a skin tag". He still needs it removed it fills up with fluid and appears to cause him headaches and a dislike of bright light.

Lynsey is taking part in a walk for charity, Royal British Legion Industries. She is walking 10k steps a day or attempting to, you can find her under the name of mysinglestatus on Instagram or Facebook to donate there you can read about her story.

I think I need to go and find a hot water bottle and a cup of tea now.

Until the next time...

The first Doctors appointment of 2024

 Today's visit to the doctor was for my steroid injection into my knee. It should have been my left knee however, because my right knee was so painful and swollen he agreed to inject my right knee. He has also referred me to hydrotherapy. I know this will take a while I am not expecting miracles, I just hope it won't be too long. 

My latest pair of DM's fur-lined it says Dark Grey but they are shiny black, the laces are courtesy of the youngest daughter makes them a bit more in your face.

Until the next time...