Friday 28 December 2018

1951

Yes I was born in 1951.

Some people don't believe it was possible to live in a house without mains water or electric in the 1950's.

Like Kate I lived in Lincolnshire but not in a rural area, I lived in a market town, within walking distance of the centre.



Thursday 27 December 2018

Guess the date

Guess which year I was born.

My home, my grandma's home and the local shops were gaslit by mains gas, not bottled.

There was no electricity in either house.

My grandma had no running water, there was a shared pump outside her house.

She had no toilet indoors, there was a shared two hole toilet across the yard.

We had a cold tap in the kitchen and no inside toilet. 

We didn't share our toilet but it was outside in the yard by the coal shed.

Wednesday 26 December 2018

And it all went tits up!

So after all my son in law's hard work, prepping a wonderful Christmas dinner for us, the damn cooker decided to play silly by buggers. It got up to temperature for about 40 minutes then dropped to 100 degrees and that was it.

I managed to cook some of the meal yesterday so we had beef with pigs in blankets, veg, roast potatoes and gravy. It was about an hour later than it should have been but we ate in the end. CHS got very stressed as he was worried about taking his medication on time.

I think the thermostat is probably buggered but CHS is convinced I just had the dial set wrong, I didn't but it's cheaper than sorting out a new cooker.

Tuesday 25 December 2018

A step forwards

Yesterday we took the boat across the marina to get the black water tank emptied.
CHS steered it himself. He managed brilliantly and didn't panic even when he was told that he needed to turn the boat around as the house had been replaced with a shorter one.

Saturday we went to visit DS1 and DIL which was lovely, we stayed overnight so I didn't have to drive in the dark.

Yesterday DD1 visited with her family, it was lovely to see them all. Her husband is a chef and he had prepped us a complete Christmas dinner, Turkey beef, roast pots, pigs in blankets, parsnips, brussels, carrots, cauli cheese and a Yule log for pudding.
I usually do cook all this but it's difficult in a tiny kitchen with no usable work surface.

Saturday 22 December 2018

More bollocks

This time only small ones. 

My neighbour stood on the jetty calling his dog.

Stark bollock naked.

His wife tries to make him wear his boxers.

He often doesn't bother.

He used to be a bodybuilder and abused steroids.

All I can say is that the rumour that steroid abuse causes willy shrinkage seems to be true!!

Friday 21 December 2018

I'm surrounded by people talking bollocks

Every month I have to order CHS's medication online, every month the surgery get it wrong.
This morning I collected his script, checked it and pointed out a mistake.
Yet again the script was for 84 betahistine.
CHS takes 6 a day, there are around 30 days in most months therefore he needs 180.
I pointed this out to the receptionist who assured me that 84 was enough for 1 month, I explained the math again, 6 x 30 = 180 it took for goes before she grasped what I was saying.
'You need to put the quantity 180, on the request form' I assured her that I had.
She then suggested that I make a note of it in the comments section. I told her I had also done that.
' Oh well, you'll just have to order them fortnightly'.  
Because let's face I have fuck all else to do all day do I! Also fortnightly orders would still only give him 168 tablets, not the 184 needed.

We then went to the chemist to get the script filled whereupon a very officious pharmacy assistant inormed me I had ordered an item by the incorrect name. I had used a brand name that went out of fashion years ago. I explained that I had merely copied the names from the existing packets. She then launched into a loud and patronising explanation of how stupid I'd been to accept the item in the first place, eventually she asked me where I had obtained said item.
' Here' I replied, 'Last month'. Making sure my voice carried as far as hers had!


Thursday 20 December 2018

Experiment

As I often make soup for lunch, mushroom tomorrow, I'm experimenting with no knead bread, does anyone have a favourite recipe?

I have about half a dozen to try.

CHS offered to knead bread for me if the recipes don't work but it's not the kneading that is the problem, it's the lack of work surface to knead on!

I'm also looking at soup recipes, I'm not interested in making soup with eleventy billion ingredients, just simple recipes with three or four ingredients.

My mushroom soup contains mushrooms, onion and potato.
My leek and potato soup contains just those two items.

I'm off to Google, I'll let you know if I find anything interesting.

Red Mist

I'm like an overwound spring and I have a hair trigger.

Yes I know that means I'm half clock and half gun.

I'm in permanent danger of a red mist of incandescent rage descending.

We took dgd to the church cafe today for a toasted tea cake an a drink. CHS had jacket potato with cheese and I had soup. For some reason CHS was doing a good impression of an aeroplane, elbows out and taking up most of the table. I really struggled to eat my soup with him thrashing around.

After lunch we dropped Dgd of with her brother and we came home.

Since we arrived home CHS has watched YouTube at full volume as he won't wear his hearing aids at home. I have no idea what he is watching, some American crap by the sounds of it. A loud American shouting Oh my god, repeatedly.

I may see what is on TV, sometimes if I can find something I think he will watch he will turn YouTube off and watch tv instead.

Cheap food cheap to cook

We had jacket potatoes for tea, I double wrapped them in foil and put them on the coals in the stove.
There were two cooked sausages in the freezer so I sliced them up and added them to a pan with a third of a tin of beans in. I stood the pan on top of the stove, they were hot through by the time the potatoes were cooked. Cheap food cooked for free.
When I buy sausages I cook them all together and then freeze them in two's as this also saves on fuel.

Wednesday 19 December 2018

I'm holding my breath

I received a reference request about my tenants.

I gave them a good reference, ok they have been a nuisance at times but they have paid the rent on time all but once and that could have been the fault of the bank.

The house they want to move to is managed by a letting agency so they will get short shrift if they start demanding a new bathroom suite because the bath drains slowly.

I haven't been notified officially but they have posted on Facebook that they have the house they want.

Tuesday 18 December 2018

A special kind of hell

Today my beloved decided we needed to go on a shopping trip.

Not just any old shopping trip.

He needed to go to Ikea, to choose the sofa bed for the boat we haven't chosen yet.

Next he needed go to Dunelm to choose the bar stools for said boat.

He'd never been to Ikea before, I told him he'd hate it. 

I told him how he'd have to walk through all the rooms.

He didn't believe me.

He does now.

I fecking hate shopping.

Monday 17 December 2018

House update

There have been four viewings on the house and two offers made.
One offer is for the full asking price.
Onwards and forwards!

Friday 14 December 2018

Going out.

I think I drew the short straw!
In an effort to avoid the therapist I volunteered to help at DGD's Christmas fair.
This meant I was off the boat when she visited but CHS wasn't left alone as the therapist always stays for a couple of hours.
There were only a few stalls at the fair, it's a very small nursery.
There was a Raffle, a Tombola, a Book stall, Guess the weight of the cake, Guess the name of the large toy dog and Decorate a Gingerbread Biscuit, guess which one I got?
The biscuits came in various shapes, man, woman, snowman, reindeer and Christmas tree.
So there was I, six children at a time, tubes of coloured icing, bags of mini marshmallows and tubs of sprinkles!
Some of the children were eating the icing straight from the tubes, some were eating the marshmallows and some were tipping the sprinkles straight into their mouths!
It was anarchy!
I was very sticky by the end and so were the children!
I'm sure some of the parents would have preferred a more structured and disciplined effort but as none of them wanted to get sticky, they had to put up with my lackadaisical approach.
I think I was given that stall for two reasons, 1) no-one else wanted  to do it. 2) accountability, if anyone complained to the staff about their child overdosing on coloured sugar, they could blame it all on me and assure the parents I wouldn't be helping next Christmas. DGD leaves nursery in September!!

Replies

Thank you for all your replies to my earlier post.

I spoke to the therapist as she left the marina last week, I was reasonably polite but very blunt in my observations, she didn't take kindly to my remarks!

Heidi suggested giving CHS some jobs to do, but he doesn't want to do jobs, he just wishes to re-do them!
Joan all the other professionals who visit ask me how I am, they are not really interested but at least have the courtesy to ask.
Susan, yes I agree I think we women are just expected to get on with it and if the man is the carer he get more attention, as Joan says her husband does.
Janice, yes she was full of book learning and bugger all else.
Kate, we need a mutual support society, I love your blog.

I'm sorry I haven't replied to every comment, I've had to wait for my laptop to be repaired before I could reply at all.

In the interim we have had another visit from the same therapist, I missed most of her visit as I went out, on purpose.

However when I did return she beat a hurried retreat. CHS said she had told him that although his frustration was understandable he must try not to make unreasonable requests like slowing down on the motorway for him to read the signs. She also told him he must try not to shout at me as I'd get upset.

A couple of hours after she left someone else from the stroke team phoned me to as how the therapy visit had gone, no one phoned last week.

I know the therapist was fuming when she left last week, I'm wondering if she went back and told the team that I'd been rude to her Maybe someone explained where she'd gone wrong.

Saturday 8 December 2018

Some good news

My house went on the market mid afternoon yesterday.

There are two viewings booked for Monday!! 

Friday 7 December 2018

I've had a bollocking

Today we have a visit from a new  therapist, she looks 12 years old and isn't married, so obviously she is the best person to tell me I'm doing everything wrong.

I'm not supportive enough, I don't understand how frustrated CHS is, I need to listen to him more.
For example when we are out in the car and he asks me to slow down I must do so, if he feels the need to read the road signs I need to slow down to enable this.

He couldn't read the road signs before he had his stroke and I can't slow down on the motorway just so he can read the fecking signs.

I need to consider his feelings more.
So when he wakes in the night, scared he is going to have another stroke, who wakes up and makes him a cuppa and talks soothingly to him until he drops off again?

I need to find ways of making his meals more palatable without salt and if he doesn't like herbs then I need to try harder.

I need to take him out for outings at night despite not being and to see, as he doesn't watch tv and it's not good for him to just read or play solitaire.

Sorry this is a bit disjointed, but it was either sit in the car and type this or brain the bloody therapist!!

Thursday 6 December 2018

And now it's the bloody cat!

Next door have a cat as well as the Dalmatian.

This evening I was sat knitting when there was a bang on the window.

I got up to see what it was, only to find it had been caused by next doors cat. 

She'd been on the roof of my boat and dislodged one of the flower pots as she had jumped off my roof.

Who's that knocking at the door?

Well actually knocking on my window, you cannot get to our door without opening the cratch cover and it is considered bad manners to step on someone's boat without an invitation. 

During the summer it is usually the swans tapping on the window for breakfast.

Now we are in the marina, the jetty between us and next door's boat is about 3ft wide.
They have a very large friendly Dalmation dog called Marley, who has a very waggy tail.
He often knocks on my window as he waits to go out for his morning walk.
Marley reminds me of Spotty dog from the Wooden Tops. 
Now I'm showing my age!


Wednesday 5 December 2018

Buggered off

My get up and has done just that, it's got up and buggered off.

I have knitting projects and crochet projects that need finishing.

I have two half written posts that hopefully will be more interesting than this drivel.

But I have no energy or enthusiasm at the moment.

Rhea, next time we come to Willington I'll let you know, maybe we can meet for coffee.

Monday 3 December 2018

Really!!

As I said we went for a  carvery meal yesterday, they serve on different size plates, £11.99 for super huge, £9.99 for large, £7.99 for a standard and £5.99 for a small plate. 

These are the weekend prices, they are £1 cheaper midweek.


The family in front of us, mum, dad, 10 year old son and 4 year old daughter had two meals at £11.99, one at £9.99 and one at £5.99.


The mum was explaining that they always ate Sunday lunch there as it was cheaper than buying the food and cooking a roast dinner at home!

Really? She can't cook a roast dinner for four for almost £40!

Where does she shop??

Sunday 2 December 2018

We're in Willington

It took us about three hours to get here with only a couple of meltdowns when CHS thought I was going the wrong way.

We looked at two boats so now we have a better idea of what size boat we want next.

We are in the Ibis budget hotel, the room doesn't have a bathroom, it has a shower cubicle and a toilet cubicle, it's roomier than the boat so it suits us just fine.

There is a carvery at the other side of the car park called the Cherry Tree, so we've eaten there.

CHS wants to look at more boats tomorrow  but I'm not sure why. I'd rather have breakfast at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning and then set off home.

Saturday 1 December 2018

Eye test

We made it to the eye test, the traffic was horrendous as it's the first Saturday after the last payday before Christmas.

I did the shopping whilst CHS was with the optician. His glasses are going to cost £450, ouch.

I also snuck round the corner to the charity shop on the Oxford Road.

I wanted some knitting needles, 4mm the ones in the shop were all old sizes but I managed to work out what I needed and bought a pair for £1.

It means I can take a small project with me tomorrow when we go to look at some boats, we want to compare different sizes.

The Celtic shrug will be finished soon, I would have finished it tomorrow if we weren't travelling.

Oh and we managed to get a pump out when we got back and filled the water tank up.

Wardrobe

We have a wardrobe in the bedroom that was left by the previous resident. It is perfectly sound but it smells of stinky feet. I've tried...