Tuesday 23 May 2023

I'm fed up with being ill


This new bug goes on and on.  My throat/chest are better but I still have the temperature - I am cold, aching and after only sleeping 3 1/2 hours on Sunday night, absolutely shattered.  I start to feel normal, do something (Madley car boot sale on Sunday was perhaps NOT a good idea as I walked 20,000 steps that day) and then wham, I am back on the sofa, and yesterday saw the addition of the heated blanket as I was shivering so.  Although I got there to be early, I wasn't and joined a long slow queue of traffic to get on the field and by the time I got into the boot sale, the lady selling the nice plants only had vegetables and a couple of perennials left.  I bought a Rose Campion from her (Lychnis coronaria, the sort with nice grey foliage) for £5, and elsewhere in the bootsale, a HUGE Lupin just bursting into flower (£7) and a scented-leaf Hardy Geranium - the sort I had masses of  at Ynyswen, which I separated, potted up and made good money at £1 a pot.  It just spread and spread!  There was NOTHING to buy at the car boot though - it was all used clothing, crappy bricabrac, tools and oily bits of stuff from garages, and pink plastic toys.  As it's 35 miles away, I shan't bother to go again.  I came back via Peterchurch and noticed some plants outside a house which offers them, and they were in aid of a Ukrainian charity, so I stopped and bought the three enormous pots of a pink Hardy Geranium on offer.  £3 each!  There must have been nearly half a bag of compost used to pot them up.  They are about 2 feet high so should establish very easily.

Bluebells . . .

Yesterday I lay on the sofa for a nap.  Unfortunately this did not go down well with the Pippi kitten. Three times (with good gaps inbetween to allow me to just drop off again) and she would leap on me from the back of the sofa, landing heavily on my ribs, with a big Pippi yowl for good measure.  She clearly did NOT approve of me not being awake and alert to her needs . . .


Today is put the rubbish out day (up the end of our track) and Keith has a Dr's appt, so I have to keep going for 3 hours before I can collapse in a heap.  



The photos of the Aquilegias.  Top one is the HUGE wild one here.  Bottom one came from Ynyswen with me.  Quite a difference in size.  I am saying the top one is wild - it came through when I took the membrane up, but perhaps it is just a very old-fashioned type? Never seen its like before anyway.

I now have two churches to do posts about - you will have to be patient . . .  Brain not in residence.

Right, the rubbish calls . . .


17 comments:

  1. You need to look after yourself, you will be no good to Keith if you are not functioning. I was told that often enough when I was a care giver. There are some nasty bugs going around and I wonder if they are worse due to the isolation we have been put through. Sending healing light.

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    1. Well, I'd not had a cold since we went to Oxford about 5 years ago! This was flu really - not much of a runny nose, but gosh, chewed string legs and aching, and a propensity to have the temperature return whenever I did too much. I certainly didn't put up much in the way of resistance, but thankfully my steroid inhalers prevented it hitting my lungs too hard.

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  2. I remembered right at the last minute this morning that I hadn't put the paper recycling wheelie bin out and just got it out in time as the truck pulled into out cul-de-sac.
    You have been ill for a long time this time, but I suppose looking after Keith and the little darling kitteny-thugs means that you are not resting properly and for long enough. It's oh so easy to want life to be back to normal and do things again isn't it ...like car boot sales, and days at the seaside in my case ... that it knocks you for six so easily.

    I hope you are feeling better soon. xx

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    1. It' back-to-back bugs. Happened to a friend of mine who had Covid, and then a really nasty cold which rivalled the Covid for unpleasantness.

      It's hard to rest completely - would like to be waited on hand and foot but that won't ever happen! I need some sea air I think.

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  3. Rest yourself so you recover fully. Love the size of that columbine.

    God bless.

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    1. I'm being quite good - for me - but still couldn't resist putting the 3 little v. cheap hardy Fuschias I got in Morrisons this week, into pots yesterday evening.

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  4. And what does the doctor say about YOU? Sounds like you are wearing yourself out xx

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    1. I am sort of invisible! My symptoms only return if I do too much. It's SO frustrating looking at all the jobs that need doing in the garden and not being able to tackle them.

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  5. Perhaps it time for you to see the doctor.

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  6. So sorry you are feeling so poorly. I know its hard when you are caring for someone but do try and rest for a few days as much as you can. So hope you feel better soon.

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    1. Some jobs I cannot avoid, but one of the hardest things is helping Keith get ready for bed when all I want to do is throw myself into mine (still in the spare room as his breathing noisy and coughing bad at night). I have at least stopped coughing now.

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  7. Wow. That is a long lived bug you've got. To be honest, things like these are something I'd never have given a second thought to, but Tim's cold turned into a nightmare scenario at the end of the year. I hope that you will see a doctor if these symptoms continue. You've got a lot on your plate and stress can wreak havoc on your immune system. Take care of yourself.

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    1. Two back to back, which is annoying. Perhaps I picked up the 2nd one at the archaeology talk I went to the Friday before last. Serves me right . . . I'm seeing the Dr on Friday. She will probably just say rest up though.

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  8. There is nothing like being pounced upon by a determined cat--it seems that they double in weight when then land on us a-mid-ships. I'm wondering about a 'hardy geranium' that can grow so tall; I'm aware that the term 'geranium' is used differently there than here where a 'pelargonium' is always referred to as 'geranium.'
    I fear that with the ongoing complexities of Keith's illness you aren't able to recover from a bout of sickness before another knocks you flat--stress and lack of sleep surely play a big part in this and neither are easily managed in your situation. I do hope some degree of stabilization can be achieved for both of you.

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    1. You have that exactlyright - you'd think it was one of the Big Boys (a stone apiece) landing on me and not just a determined little kitten - don't think they will get much bigger now because of being starved in utero.

      These are proper Hardy Geraniums - Cranesbills I suppose is a better term for them. I've taken a photo and will put it up later as they really are well grown.

      I am run down, and up about 4 times a night for the loo as well (diuretics for my BP playing a part) but hey, I have racehorse legs again, no more swollen ankles.

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  9. My unasked for opinion is that you should take it easier till you are all the way better, though the new plants make me want to go shop for some, and shut the kittens up when you need rest.

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