clairef

6 September 2020 I have finished another of the crochet squares for Matthew's blanket and only have 2 more to make. I've started the 2nd to last today. Here is a link to it – it is called 'Imagine' by Polly Plum. More chutney made – another 4 jars one of which I gave to Sarah. Did 2 lots of washing including my work stuff and when I went out the front, I found my drain from the kitchen is blocked and water all over the patio. I let it all drain down. Gave it a poke. Left it some more. Put down some caustic soda and left it again. Later it looked like it had drained down some more so poked it again with a longer stick. I can't take the grill out as the pipe from the boiler is wedged against it. Anyway I put a kettle of boiling water down and then some unblock drain stuff – the whole bottle and have left it again. I'll take another look later – it said to leave it for 3 hours. Might put more boiling water down and see if that helps. Kathy came and we did the online ID thing for the solicitor via the app. It worked on her i phone. However we had to do a stupid video thing 3 times, I hope its worked. Then we had a walk around the woods / fields from the house. I'm trying to not feel too tense about it working (the ID thing). There's so many things to sort out. I was going to start the garage but never got that far. We're going to have dinner out at the Harvester on Tuesday evening – the 50% off thingy has finished but Harvester are doing 50% off mains for Monday to Wednesday so we thought we'd go out, just because its nice to go out. I've booked the table on line. The evenings are drawing in. 20 to 8 and its almost dark in the sitting room and chilly, I shall have to close the window.

5 September whoops rather a long time has gone past since I last wrote. I put my house on the market and it sold almost immediately. This took some cogitating about and eventually I decided I either needed to do it, or stop talking about it and forget it for now. So I went for it. I'm not one for 'meant to be' or 'jinxing' things. I never expected it to go so quick. And now I've found a lovely house and can't believe how lucky I am to be living in a house overlooking the sea for maybe the rest of my life. I could die there. And it was the 'wild card' – went to see it just in case and the more I think about it, the surer I am that this is the right house. It might not have a utility room but it has everything else, even the sea view, plus under house storage – which is as good as a utility room. My sleep has gone to pot again and I am shattered. It feels a bit unreal to have come home back here and everything is normal. Normalish. I can't believe still its going to happen. There are some hurdles but so far seems ok. I have to do this app thing to verify ID for the solicitor but my phone is an old version and not compatible with the app. So I need to either ask one of my friends if their phone might work or ask the solicitor for another solution. Mat and Nat are away and I won't see them for over 2 weeks, and I want it sorted out. Its like there is so much to sort, but its too soon to sort it. Like all the stuff in the house. My brain is all over the place. I keep telling myself to calm down, but of course that sort of exhortation is rarely successful. I have the kitty on his holidays, Jaspy is sat on the sofa next to me. I only get cupboard love when he wants food. But he is so funny, he has not forgotten this place, he's been outside this evening, back and front, and just wanders out and wanders back in like he never left. Oh and he left me a present in the bath. Maybe the new house will have to have a new kitty.

Thursday 23 July (morning) I forgot to write last night, not sure why as I wasn't doing anything. Yesterday I woke with a continuation of the migraine. I don't think it actually went away and it was not nice. I had work booked so this time i took my tablets and just got up, showered, had something to eat and about half hour later it had gone. So I went to work. I pinged back and forth between 2 addresses yesterday, one a lady with high blood sugars (on insulin) and a care home. I got another blood (hooray) and dealt with 6 legs on 4 ladies. I did a short day finishing at half 2 then proceeded to sit on the sofa with the TV for almost the entire rest of the day. Didn't achieve anything barring making the lemon cake for today's croquet. I was going to read and crochet and didn't do either of those things, or anything in the garden either barring the watering. I am off to work this morning, just had a cup of tea and 2 poachedy eggs with some tomatoes to eat. I love poached eggs Having fallen over the other evening, I had a sore ankle, wrist and a lovely bruise over my right elbow area.

21 July Tuesday Oh dear, another migraine this morning. I had one Saturday as well though that one I got rid of with my meds. Today, meds didn't work. I even took them early and went back to sleep but the pain was still there so I had to cancel work. I went back to sleep some more but the pain has been there all day. I've tried to ignore it, it wasn't awful, just nagging at me all day and still here now. I went up the town and wandered around the charity shops and sat in the park with a can of coke having forgotten my water and book in the shade. Went on the bike but that involved walking up the steep bit of the hill and freewheeling almost the whole way home. Work tomorrow, hopefully my head will be ok. When I went back outside to put the bike into the garage I managed to fall over, I think I twisted around as I went to go back inside for the key and as I did that I toppled over and landed awkwardly on my side. My ankle is a bit sore but I can walk on it. What a numpty.

Monday 20th July A week since I last wrote this, not a very interesting week. I took myself out today to the seaside, it was a bit of an effort to get there, but once I was there it was lovely. Took the bike this time on the train, with my lunch, my book and my flask of tea. I cycled to the marina and then past, going East along the undercliff walk all the way to where it ends – a good few miles, maybe 4 or 5. I sat on the pebbles and had my tea and read and watched the sea. Had a couple of stops to break it up. I realised I was running later than I thought, as I was going to Kathy's for afternoon tea and croquet (not crochet), I rode as fast as I could back to the train station, puffed out and legs aching and got the train back here. Then cycled straight to Kathy's, where she gave me tea and Penny's (her sister) home made carrot cake. Penny and Adrian were there and we nattered and then played croquet in the garden (badly) and nattered some more. I called in to see Natalie before going home to tell her the news about Aisha. Came home, tired and I have caught the sun a bit more. So all in all a nice day. We're doing tea and croquet on Thursday and I have offered to make and take lemon cake, so I will have to bake Wednesday evening. Work tomorrow

Monday 13 July I really can't be bothered to go to work. I did lots of shifts over March, April and May. Now its warm again, for now, and I cannot be arsed to work. I'm not really part of the team any more, that feeling that I was, has passed. I went to Shoreham beach today. It wasn't quite warm enough to swim as the wind was up a bit and cool, however totally warm enough when sitting in the lee of the rock groyns. I drove and took Sarah and Kathy, we had our picnics and I took my flask of coffee. We didn't stay for a massive amount of time, a couple of hours only, sufficed without too much sunburn. I love a bit of sea and sun. I have finished my book – Suite Francais – I started it once and couldn't get into it, but 2nd time I did, and found it beautifully written. No review though, its not my thing and I would be rubbish, enough I thought it was worth reading. Nothing much else to say. I walked to Waitrose and found some good late evening bargains for the freezer and have now finished the bottle of red wine. It did take me 4 evenings to drink so that's not too bad. Last sip and then bed.

Sunday 12th July Not sure how many days I've done this, and counting back is a bit of a faff so I won't bother . Martine had got to day 50 (of posts not lockdown) and I'm less so I'm guessing 40 posts. The boys next door had some girls around last night and they were using the hot tub (yes I want a hot tub) and woke me up at gone midnight. Its the only time I've been disturbed late and I haven't made a fuss and will just let it go. I don't want to be a total misery guts. It was just voices and giggling nothing roudy as such, but when the rest of the street was quiet, it was loud in comparison. The hayfever has been really annoying today. I felt it as soon as I woke up, that tingling in my nose, which despite two antihistamines hasn't gone away and I've been sneezing and dribbling from my nose and sore eyes all day. I managed to do the walk I wanted, to the reservoir. I was all set to go off by myself when Sarah rang me asking if I wanted a walk so she came and joined me and we walked together which was lovely. We had an icecream (Feast) at the reservoir as the cafe was open for takeaway. My legs felt like they were dropping off by the time we got back here. It is a good walk, around 5 miles there and back, quite mixed with fields, woods, a bit of up and down but not too much. No cows in the fields. People were out on the water – and we decided we'd like to return to do some cayaking later in the week, but we'll drive up here not walk, maybe Thursday or Friday, that would be a fun thing to do. Tomorrow we're having a beach day, Kathy Sarah and me. Hopefully a swim in the sea and a picnic, a snooze in the sun. Just for a few hours, not the whole day. Got to do a few nice things to cheer me up. One of the chilli plants Matthew gave to me has orange chilli's – actually they are scotch bonnets – I shall have to experiment and put one in a stir fry and see if it blows my head off. I like a bit of chilli heat, but only a bit

11th July part 2 Having taken tablets (!) this morning, I felt like rubbish and then just weird and fell asleep again until almost 1pm! So I had some lunch, sat outside for a bit, back and then front and then eventually persuaded myself to do what I really wanted which was to be by the sea. I packed up the rucksack, and wandered randomly around to the train station to find the next train was delayed so waited for around 20 minutes and got the train to Brighton. Wandered through the North lanes and sat on the beach for well over an hour. I read my book and drank my flask of tea. The sun came out and went back in multiple times, the sea was choppy but beautiful blue and plenty of people on the beach, but loads of room. It was what I wanted to do. I walked from the east side of the pier to Hove (partly looking for a loo which I eventually got). There was sadly lots of abandoned rubbish – chip packets and the like next to overflowing bins) which makes me so disappointed in people. I wish they would just take it away rather than abandoning and this virus thing has resulted in much more single use plastic. And lots of people in the beach front bars drinking outside. It was quite lively actually and very different from the last time I was there with Geoff several weeks ago when all those bars were shut and there was only a few take-aways open. Both ways on the train there were people not wearing their face coverings. I wore mine. I am someone who does usually follow rules. I did a deliberate cough near to a group not wearing their masks (behind my face covering) so see if they put them on, but they didn't. Staff don't enforce as such, Natalie tells me it is not their job role and funnily (oddly) their work Twitter feed is full of people complaining about other people not wearing their face masks. I am now tucked up at home, food eaten and drinking some nice red wine which I bought last week and hoping, bearing in mind sleeping late today, that I will sleep tonight

11th July I've lost momentum in this, feeling a bit meh and unsettled. Almost finished the deep clean of the house, made masses of progress on Monday then worked on Tuesday and came home with a migraine. The office is muggy and listening to handover is hard work. I came home and just vegged for the entire evening. Wednesday was supposed to be walking from HH to the reservoir but with the rain, Kathy Sarah and I did a shorter walk locally and then went for coffee in Nero. I haven't been out for coffee since lockdown, so it was actually nice to sit in a coffee shop chatting. Nero weren't allowing however the refillable cup, so we had no choice but to use their paper cups (which I hate doing and so does Kathy) and they even refused for me NOT to have the plastic lids. I might not go again. I can't even see what benefit it has in terms of virus transmission. Worked Thursday and whilst I didn't get a migraine I did come home knackered. Friday (yesterday) I painted the garage doors, the Dulux paint was excellent and covered beautifully, unlike the Ronseal paint which was rubbish. And I'm pleased with the colour – a sage green. There is enough to redo the front door also. However if the windows end up being replaced, the door will be done too and maybe there's no point. The whole moving thing is much on my mind though I am seriously conflicted. Anyway finally saw my Natalie in the afternoon, and we popped to Burgess Hill, and came back to hers, and I helped her with her garden for a bit and we cleared and tidied the main patio area, pulling out weeds, chopping out some dead bit and weeding the patio and sweeping it. They now actually have a good sized area with their table and chairs, so it is properly usable. I was pleased to help her get started as she didn't really know where to start off. I walked home and made my dinner, then watered the tomatoes . I can't believe I woke up with another migraine this morning, not an awful one but enough to make me not want to do anything. I've taken some meds and hopefully will feel a bit better as I want to get the train to Brighton with the bike and ride by the seaside and read on the beach taking my flask of tea and my picnic in the rucksack. Later I will know if I have done that or not.

Friday 3 July I have received my covid 19 anti body test result today and I am negative – no antibodies, so I've not had it. I was hoping for a positive result which would show I'd had it with no symptoms, but clearly all this hand washing, social distancing and PPE has worked, and I've not succumbed. Yesterday I had a lovely morning out with Georgia – I helped her with some insulin visits and she helped me with some venepuncture. I was thrilled, and successfully got blood out of 4 of 6 patients, and of the 2 which I couldn't, she couldn't either, and the 2 elderly ladies had no palpable veins, so I was pretty happy with that and now need more practice. I like joint visits, it doesn't happen that often and we had a nice chat in the car between visits. Today, I had a problem with a suprapubic catheter which was blocked, and I couldn't get it out. I didn't want to yank too hard even though I thought that was all that was needed, as there's a risk of bleeding. Anyway the lovely Kate came and helped me, and she was confident at harder yanking than me, and she gave it a good tug and it came out. popped a new one in and Bobs your uncle, all done. If she hadn't done that, he'd have had to go into hospital and what with transport each way (he was a hoist to transfer so no car for him, he'd need an ambulance) we've probably saved the NHS £100s of pounds, especially if he'd ended up staying in overnight if there was a delay in getting home back home. Its all work stuff, quite boring really.