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– – – GOOD MORNICUS! – – –
BG, I had a decent sleep, no waking ups, no seizures, as far as I could tell.
Stirred at 05:20hrs, fell asleep at 05:23hrs. Woke 06:00hrs, fell asleep at approx 0610hrs. Woke at 07:00hrs and forced myself to get up.
The Carer arrived, sorted my medications, and Porpain-gelled my left and right arthritic knees. After hoovering around, he had to go. I bade him farewell and thanked him, and as he shut the door behind him, I went into a seizure that caused me more bother than usual. Humph! I came out of it with the typical acidity upflux, and waiting until things cleared in the head, then went to get a drink of soda water from the fridge, a cold drink sometimes helps in recovering.
Oh, dear, I’d left the hot water tap running! I turned it off and needed to visit the. Boy, was that another Trotsky Terence messy, gooey, yet sticky affair. Yes, it was.
When, providing I can find Kodak Tim 2, I can take some snaps… I’ve taken a look around without any luck so far. I’ll try again later. If one of the two good Carers calls, I’ll ask them to have a look. Cataract Katie is giving me some wobbly, blurry objects, moving moments. Then eases off into an opaqueness and blur, and back to the floaters.
Started blogging again, but it was not easy, and so annoying. CorelDraw was playing up, getting on a bit swifter now. Going to get as much done as I can before the eye fades.
Bigmouth me – CorelDraw is sticking and occasionally unresponsive again. Grrr!
Ejaz did the midday call. Painkillers, Phorpain-Gel on the tight knee, and put some cream on the ingrowing toenail. He’s a nice, helpful lad.
Pressed on with the blogging and got to doing the Ode at last. Slow work, Cataract Katie, Skahing Shaun and even Twitching-Neck-Nickolas joined in.
Mt friends, Jenny & Frank, brought up a wonderful-looking ‘all-the-works’ Christmas Day meal for me. 🤎
I got settled to dine, and soon realised that I’d underpraised the meal earlier.
I have enjoyed a meal so much in my life.
Not being able to find Kodak Tim-2 really annoyed me. I wanted so much to take a photo of it, to show you all the festive feast that was the best present anyone could hope for. Jenny even brought up a mug with extra gravy in case I wanted any more. Marvellous!
I washed the plate and rang Jenny to thank her. Frank even came up to collect the plates and mug. I’d been over-spoilt, and I appreciated and loved it.
Thank you both so much!
I was so well-satiated, all I could do was sit on the c1966, £300 Oxfam charity shop-bought, wincingly grotty, beige-coloured, crumb-covered from my nocturnal nibblings, itch-making, uncomfortable, positively unhealthy, and dangerous, no longer operational, virus-breeding, easy-to-fall-out-of, Catheter-tube-trapping recliner, and fall asleep. It was such a delightful filling banquet.
No nibbling tonight needed!
I was woken after an hour or so as the Carer arrived. He issued the medications in his usual efficient way. And, I rhapsodised over the meal. Del Boy may have said ‘Lovely-Jubbly’. Spike Milligan might have said ‘Fanbloodytastic’. I think it was ‘Heaven-Sent’.
When I got up from the £300 second-hand shop purchased in 1966, a welt-causing, uncomfortable, not working, itch-inspirational, and crumb-containing recliner,
and a rarely appearing ailment,
shot up my right leg, but no bother, because of the anticipated and welcome arrival of
. Off to the kitchen to get a cool bottle of soda water from the fridge… and
. There on the window ledge resting atop a bottle of mushroom ketchup was none other than my ![]()
!
And returned Kodak-Tim to his usual resting place on the computer desk, next to the hearing aid box and Earache Erasmus’s olive oil dispensers. Returning to
take a snap of the evening sun on its way down from the open window. Just about in time, cause it had disappeared two minutes later over the horison,
Thanks to Jenny & Frank.
Well, cometh the new year, to ring in,
Time for merriment & yodelling?
For renewed dreams and hoping?
To find a better way of coping?
With politicians, blatant lying?
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TTFN
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– Good Run Continuing! –
FURTHERMORE & NOT WITHSTANDING…
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Afternoon views of the puffer clouds.
I’m glad I caught the contrails.
Sunset.
The high up moon.
Evening meal, well, the only meal. Mixed a tin of chilli with a ready-made chilli meal. Bread & Lemon cake. Slurp!
A smidge deeper shade today.


Clock-Calender reset.
Daybreak shot.
17:30hrs.
I forgot to take a photo of the meal: mashed potatoes, mackerel in BBQ sauce, beetroot, crispy onions, and garden peas. It was not as good as it sounded.
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detach it, and empty it
I’d forgotten why I should have gotten up earlier, so I set about collating the contents of all four waste bins into one green one
As is typical, they only
and got the olive oil in the ears for the last task. No shower was taken this morning, but I did make an effort on the Porcelain Throne—a great effort. I had a go on the crossword book, but I had no success with that or encouraging the concrete torpedo to exit. It’ll come when it’s ready.
I veered of track, not that I knew what the track was anyway, and before getting dressed, I went to look at the prescriptions, which would last me until the next delivery. I was none the wiser after fifteen minutes of Arithmaphobia-driven struggling. It is very embarrassing to have this problem.
The Catheter contraptions box was delivered.
Getting dark already.
Took these shots from the kitchen window.
I added a can of cheap chilli to a ready-made chilli con carne meal. Bread and a lemon cake to boot!
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04:55hrs: I returned to the land of the pretend living. Again, knowing I’d been dreaming, I had no recollection of what it was about.
The sky had a green tinge to it. Anne Gyna was giving a few stabs of pain, but not overly so. I had a mini-seizure while emptying all the bin bags into one. Physically, I felt better than I had done for ages.
I washed my socks and a towel, which my Carer Chris had taken off last night. I hung them on the electric airer in the hallway. Then the call to the Porcelain
Throne arrived, so I hobbled into the wet room. This evacuation was the second one of its kind in two days.
The electric-shocking ankle ulcer was still looking better than last week.
I returned to the ‘Steptoe & Son room copy, and it was without a mug of tea!
In just over two hours!
The intercom buzzed, and it was the chemist delivering the prescriptions.
I emptied the bags, trying to sort them out and check for supplies that would last a month. I fear not, but then again, with my Arithmaphobia, maybe they might? What I ordered and what they sent were well off on some medications. Warfarin is only one pack of 28, and the dosage is 1½ and one on different days. Codeines, Peptac and Phorpain Gel they sent two?
Pareidoliaing this snap of the clouds, I found several pictures within it. Can anyone else see what I did that was hidden in the clouds?

Got the wobbles, lousy effort!
This one was no better.
I gave up!
Cheers, Each!

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It may have only been a temporary & transient moment, but when I stirred at 05:20hrs, there was a worrying amount of satisfaction in the air! Verging almost on contentment!
rries about the chemist, booking problems that need outside help to call the pharmacy, the audio centre, and booking a lift to get the hearing aids amended flowed as well. The reason for this near-waking jollity baffled me at first. Why? Why? Why should it have been there to greet me as I woke up? Why? I was soon back in grumpland & painland.
and the eye drops and spraying were sorted.
Getting the Protection Pants on this morning took me much longer than my recorded time of 11 minutes. However, on
I made a brew of Co-op 99 tea and got the 1970’s manual clock adjusted to today’s numbers. The care did it again and made the right side of the photo look ultra bright? I wish I knew what I was doing wrong! Well, I stabbed myself again! I went to put the mushrooms in the slow cooker to 
I returned to the kitchenette, as the 99 tea had gone cold, and I made a super strong mug with two tea bags in it. To a snap of it, then without changing anything on the Kodak, I took the shot above from the window of the greenish morning sky. Much later, when it came to putting the photos on CorelDraw, the mug of extra strong tea was not on the SD card, but, as you can see, the green sky came through okay to the card?
I checked on the Google calendar, realising I’d not put the appointment on it for the (I love this old title) (DVT) Deep Vein Thrombosis. (VTR)
The Iceland order arrived. The driver took the bags to the kitchen for me; there were only four of them. Very few fresh products. Apart from the mushrooms that I hope to turn into pickled mushrooms today, and three days later, I will be ready for nibbling! So the fridge looked about the same as it did yesterday. Not that I needed anything anyway. But I must resist getting anything else in, or the bank
manager will have my guts for garters. By gum, sorting the other bags out took me a while.
The nibbles bowl was filled. I had to put some of them on the Carer’s desk. A decent choice to offer them this year. I love doing this, but it doesn’t stop them from telling me off occasionally… well, often. Haha!
After Chloe had left, I turned my attention to the mushrooms that were now cooked and the task of pickling them. I hope I got the order of things right. I drained and cleaned the mushrooms from the slow cooker. Left them to cool down a little and washed the cooker basin. I stored the mushroom in the now empty pickling jar. They looked a lot darker than yesterday? Hope they turn out alright.
My lovely neighbour Jenny telephoned me. She had read the blog about my hearing aid problem and offered to give me some batteries if that was the problem.
Then I received an email from Lisa in the US of A! Another Gem in my life. She commiserated with my problems; she has more than enough of her own. ♥ Told me of for feeling guilty, Bless her Cotton Socks! ♥
Nice feast of sorts here! Home pickled mushrooms and water chestnuts, cheesy rolls well non-butter buttered, with dabs of Marmite. Potatoes, garden
peas, pickled eggs (shop-bought), and a very tasty tub of delicious lemon curd yoghourt
Carer Christopher made his last call.
off, but things were rushed a little while doing the cooker for me, so I’m not bothering about the Night bag at all. After Christ departed, I got a Kodak camera out and took this shot of the cooker, with it lit up inside and my reflection of taking the shot on the glass. The flask masked the two hobs on top of the machine. Humph!
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05:30hrs: I stirred, with Cartilage Chloe giving me pain the moment I tried to genuflect the leg. She’s still bothering me a bit now. I detached the night ouch from the catheter day pouch. A
little dark, but I’ve had far worse.
electric shocks so far! It was very cold this morning. I sorted some waste bags and limped into the kitchen. I snapped a picture of the
morning view and checked the fridge to ensure I could fit all of today’s food in when the delivery arrived.
cheesy topped rolls and binned them
The Windows update brought up some Microsoft details that confused me about what it was reading. Grrr!
took a lot of cleaning up. I cleaned and ointmentated various body areas and parts in need. I have no shortage of Barrier cream!
The intercom chirped up. It was the J Sainsbury order arriving. The driver soon appeared at my doorway and was very helpful & understanding of my problems. Thank you, driver!
mushrooms (Huh!), beef tomatoes, beetroot chilli, a jar of garden peas, imitation butter, and lemon desserts.
Some drinks and nibbles. Then I checked the fridge, but there was almost no difference from the one I had taken earlier. No shortages, though.
I think that is the last I remember taking that picture, for about an hour or so. The most odd seizure that I’ve ever had. Time to call the 
minute or two of nattering, but it was good and relieved my tensions somewhat. It didn’t last for long but it was nice.
I snapped this screen to see if Kodak had saved it to the card. Dag-my-Knangles, it did! But look at the fading on the right side? I took another
shot, fingers crossed and praying. I took one of the evening views from the kitchenette window. This one seemed alright? I thought I’d take a shot of the ‘Inchie-inspired jar of pickled mushrooms with seasoning and water chestnuts in pickling vinegar. It
says on the web to leave it for a minimum of three days to season the mushrooms, but it is best to leave it for a minimum of 5 days before eating. It also said how easy it was to make them. Easy & me, do not go together. At least they should be okay to eat for Christmas. And the photo looked to be alright this time.
The Liberty-Global-owned Virgin TV was turned on, and for ten seconds, all looked well. Then A screen filled fully with a message telling me that an updated version is now available. Press the Install Now or Do it Later (Or not now) tab. Of course I tried but nothing happened, the screen remained there annoyingly. I tried turning it off several times, and I got the same result each time! Failure!
I was fed up and turned Del Boy on the TV.
I clicked install, and a mass of options came up that I didn’t really understand, in the least!
To my amazement, the TV came back on.
Carer Chris will be here soon; no time for me to get the food done before he arrives. 

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Close up from the kitchen window, trying to get the trees and bushes to see the changing colours.
Afternoon, I think.
Sunset.
Nosh.
Not sure if I’ve used this one before or not.
Carer Kimberly.
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05:10 hrs: I woke up from a muddled dream. An odd one, all my current problems came barraging into my mind. I think I was laughing at them, knowing they would end when I snuff it. I lay pondering my strange response. 06:00 hrs: I forced myself to evacuate the
bed. My balance was all over the place. I carefully removed the nocturnal catheter bag and emptied it. taking a photo for the carer to judge the colour rating later on for me.
I snapped a picture of the morning blue sky, and then I turned on the kettle to make a brew of Glengettie tea. Then, I looked in the fridge to see what
options were available for nosh later in the day or evening.
Went to wash the half-drank and had gone cold mug of Gengettie tea. And Carer Richard arrived.
in pain, poor chap. My medications were issued. After a quick natter, he went wearily off on his way home.
I got the computer on and found this email tracker from Parcel Force. They are delivering the Low-Cost Food store order today. It’s been 10 days since the confirmation email telling me that the store had despatched it. It’s coming from Mansfield. At least with Parcel Force, they deliver to the door. Some others leave it down in the foyer.
MS Excel is making life difficult by not saving the NHS graphic chart, and I have to create a new one each day.
I had an urgent call to the Porcelain Throne 15 minutes or so ago.
had to be mopped and disinfected as well. The different Cream, which had a dropper, was much thinner and far less painful to apply. I hope they send this one again in next month’s prescription.
Sorted the mess and got back to the computer.
Hello, I can hear an alarm going off somewhere. I shall go investigate. These new hearing aid batteries are good!
It turned out to be a fish supper. And very nice it was too.
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According to the bits I can read on the notepad, I got up at 05:10 hrs. The nocturnal catheter pouch was removed and photographed. This is another 6 on the NHS scale.
Off to the wet room Throne.
Opened the kitchen window and took this Kodak shot.
Rubbish sorted.
Carer Maryham arrived.
After the gal went, I made a fresh brew of Thompson’s Punjana tea. I then got on the computer and hurriedly made an error after mistake, as I wanted to keep to my plan of getting a shower, shave, and sh… in.
An email arrived from Iceland, telling us they had made changes to today’s order, which has happened in the last four deliveries from them.
I went even faster on the blog, determined to finish it, but the delivery arrived, which at least came early despite shortages and unwanted substitutions.
Treats for the nurses and Caregivers’ table had arrived. Carer Chris called today. The caramel bars won’t last long; he loves them! Hahaha!
I refilled the big and small bowls of nibbles on their table.
Unfortunately, the smoked ham offcuts tray was blown. I cut the wrappers to make sure they were safe… Boy, the stink!
I got the little potatoes out to boil them and nibble later.
The
wrong half an hour later when Carer Joanne arrived and
of time and not inconsiderable pain, but I did it!
I forgot to mention that I asked the young lady cutting the toenail if she could move the shower curtain for me so I could help keep the spray from splashing around too much. It’s been that long since I’ve had a shower. But I forgot to ask her to put the retaining clip in the static loop. That was a painful mistake for me to make. I got into the shower and took a bowl of water with Dettol in it to soak my feet first thing. After washing the feet, I tried to lift the bowl to empty it in the sink – cause I remembered that the extractor drain on the floor only lets so much water down that matches whatever quantity the shower issues. All very technical, Hehe! So, having filled the bowl from the sink, I knew all the water would not drain away. I have to say, I remember this was
hitting my arm on the door edge, but miraculously kept on my feet! I made up for this bit of luck when taking the step ladders back; I trapped my finger as it snapped shut. Int Life Good!
Carer Christopher arrived. He selected himself some vittles and a cold drink, and we nattered as he issued the medications.
I’m having to hobble more carefully now until the 21:00hr Carer calls. It might be Chris, it might not. I carefully went to take this photo on the left of the gorgeous evening clouds on offer. Beautiful!
I needed some nourishment, vittles, and hastily made a meal.
tasting Flora, No-Butter butter.
I was cheered up a smidge when Carer Chris did the last call. He got the diabetic socks off of my legs, gave me a painkiller, and said he’d collect the laundry in the morning as the bag was packed, which he did. Nibble treats in thanks, and off he trotted. Cheers!