Catching up

It seems a while since I last wrote. I’ve been waylaid by various things.

It started when I got a phone call from PD, an old friend from the days when we went regularly to the Pub. He’s having problems with his Employment Support Allowance (ESA) & was seeking my advice. That necessitated a morning spent re-finding the details of the conditions for claiming for and appealing against a decision on ESA. It is an extra stress he doesn’t need right now as he is undergoing tests for possible cancer.

While I was doing that, I thought I might as well check out the criteria under which I, as a disabled person, can claim VAT exemption for work being undertaken in the new garden design. As far as I can see the hard landscaping should all be covered, as they are being done with my disability in mind. Part of the point of this redesign is to make the garden more accessible for me in my wheelchair. At present I cannot go very far before finding obstacles of one sort or another as the garden is on more than one level. It will also be much easier for me to maintain raised beds than trying to reach down to the ground level without bending my knees which is what I have to do at present.

Apart from that I’ve been distracted by everyday things such as the ironing, the home help coming, food preparation, taking down the Christmas decorations etc. I’ve also been trying to organise a holiday to France for us for later in the year. I suspect by the time the garden is all re-designed we will be ready for a break. We feel pretty ready for one for one now! We seem to have missed the worst of the recent bad weather, though there is no denying it has rained hard & several gales have blown. Various parts of the promenade have been closed as high tide swept the sea, & rocks with it, onto the road adjoining it.

But today I’ve finally got a clear morning. The Fox prepared the dinner last night – a Hampton Pie, a sort of potato topped pie using up some left over roast gammon. This afternoon will be back to work again – the first big food shop of the year. Hopefully by now the shops will be a bit quieter than they have been of late. Tomorrow the home help will be back & so life goes on.