Oh so tired

Tiredness seems to be the theme of our lives at the moment. On Tuesday, mid-dinner, my appetite disappeared as a wave of exhaustion swept over me. I kept on eating. Very slowly. The Fox made a hasty cup of tea to wash the meal down. By 6.30pm I was on my way to bed. I zonked out until nearly 8am. (Sleeping late I find so much easier when the mornings are so dark now.)

The Fox, now he’s had chance to get over his anxiety about the way I zonked out, is now admitting to feeling exhausted too. He keeps rubbing his left leg, the side he had his stroke on, as though he’s trying to regain some sense of feeling there. He’s also had a series of nose bleeds. Is this a side effect of all that blowing due to catching my cold? Or is it a sign of something more serious, such as high blood pressure? We’re hoping the former.

I suspect a lot of this tiredness is a reflection of the stressful year we’ve had this year, combined with the lack of any real holiday & unwind. It may be partially the weather. These grey wet days don’t encourage much sparkle, any more than they really encourage us to think of going away for a week’s holiday in this country at the moment.

I’m telling myself a few zonk outs won’t harm me. Really, though, I suspect the real answer is a few consecutive nights of good solid sleep. Those nights seem so rare these days. There was a time I took them for granted, but no more. Most nights I spend a lot of time listening to the World Service on radio as my knees or breast ache, or I swelter with too many blankets on or freeze with too few. I don’t think the Fox is doing too much better as he sleeps with one ear open for my call for help. I wish I had the magical solution to our problem.