Real friends

Funny how a serious illness really shows up who are your REAL friends.  Some that you thought would stand by you just fall by the wayside and some that you'd not expected turn out to be incredibly supportive. and see me almost weekly or keep in touch by phone or internet.

Since my brain bleed (stroke) I have had to be at home far more than before (I am not allowed to drive) and we have had nearly 60 different people come to the bungalow to see us. There are a few missing people that I would have expected, but have not been at all or just once, with persuasion.  Others have visited several times: they wanted to come and to come back.

My thanks to loyal good friends who have been to call in person or who have been in touch via the internet or phone.

Boat Race

For the first time in a few years, I watched the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race on  the TV.  The Boat Race is broadcast live all over the world. In the end, the Oxford team outshone the Cambridge team who nearly lost an oar in an early clash and Cambridge were never able to get back in the race.

Like in professional soccer, it always seems a great shame there are not more English (or even UK) nationals in the teams. This is after all a very English occasion between 2 great English universities. Most in the teams seemed to  be "foreigners".

Very few top flight professional footballers are English. This didn't used to be the case.

See  http://theboatrace.org/ .

A quiet day at home

http://nutricia.com/images/sized/images/uploads/Images/933/Nutrison_pack_1L-130x186.png

We have no grandchildren staying at the moment, Lis has a cold, and I feel OK on the whole, so we are enjoying a quiet day at home today doing nothing very special. I may venture "round the block" on my own (about 400m) later for my daily constitutional walk. The walking does me good. I could not have done this unaided even 1 month ago (stroke).

I shall be on my liquid feed until around 6pm (fed via my stomach peg).  The feed is currently 800ml a day which is supplemented by foods and drinks through my mouth about 4-5 times a day. If I go out, I can disconnect the feed for a short period.

As I write this I see I've had 277ml of the 800ml of liquid feed, so I shall be "connected up" for all of the afternoon.  At least the unit is portable and can easily be moved around our home.

See http://nutricia.com/our-products/tube-nutrition-medical-devices/nutrison/medical-background .

Back lawn cut

Another post-stroke goal met. Lis (my wife) was out at her choir and I was determined to get the back lawn cut. Last time, Lis did about 70% and I just cut a few strips. Well, with 4 short breaks and battling my giddiness, I managed to cut the whole back lawn on my own. It was pretty knackering but I managed it! The lawn is about 60 feet x 25 feet average: it is not a small lawn.

Next  target: the front lawn, which is 80 feet long but narrower!

Walk to library: 1.5 mile round trip

Our local library is a decent walk from our home, so a walk there and back is challenging in my present condition (stroke). It must be about 1.5 miles round trip. Although with my wife at my side supporting me I made it, I was very giddy by the end and glad to sit down both in the library and when back home.

I am looking forward to doing this again (reasonably soon) without feeling so giddy. 

I am trying to extend my walking further now. Today I walked "around the block" at Mill Close and Mill Lane twice as well, totally unassisted. Today I have walked further than ever since my stroke. Every day I intend to walk quite a bit.

Mist or pollution?

Sahara Desert

We woke up to a very grey and overcast morning here with lowish temperatures. This may be just mist or the remnants of the recent highish pollution levels (but still way below those in China) - a result of winds from the near continent carrying Saharan sand and industrial chemicals. The weather is set to change and the pollution levels, not bad in our rural spot, set to drop.

Both my son's and my own car have had a thin layer of Saharan sand on them, although this in itself is not that uncommon if the wind and pressure patterns are in the right direction.

The Sahara Desert is well over 1500km away and it is amazing that sand from there is regularly deposited here in the UK.  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara .

Greenfly on roses - grandson

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advice/ACEImages/RHS_PUB0003259roseaphids_562901.JPG

Just before going back to Kent yesterday, our 5 year old grandson helped Granny spray the roses with soapy water to help reduce greenfly numbers. This is a tried and tested technique we have used before.

We heard that,  as soon as they got home, our grandson was in THEIR garden checking THEIR roses for greenfly! Of course, he found some and wanted to spray them.

See http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=697