Meal out

The shop went surprisingly well. Maybe the quiet morning helped. It wasn't entirely quiet as I took advantage of the time to tidy up the front garden & plant out some coriander. So much for doing nothing, but still it's something I've been going to do for days but just not found the time, or the energy, to do.

When we got back we were surprised by how fresh we still felt. Suddenly eating out had more appeal. We could maybe go somewhere different, rather than the nearest place, good as it is.

But first I showed the Fox some of the new appearances in the garden. The hydrangea is coming into flower, pink this year despite being planted blue. Then I went on to the pinks that seem to be doing particularly well this year. I noticed a frog on the soil nearby. I bent down to point it out to the Fox, when another one jumped out of the pinks. The Fox hasn't seen any yet this year & was getting a bit anxious about them. Seeing two so easily has reassured him that venturing further into the garden he would soon discover the place was hopping all over. Certainly Al, our gardener, regularly complains that mowing the lawn is a dangerous occupation when he's trying to avoid mowing frogs too. There are just so many of them!

So we set off for the meal. We decide we'll try the new Indian or the pub next door which has recently changed management &, with that, resultant improvements in food standards according to reports. Both are on the way into Lancaster. However, we end up in such a long (rush hour) traffic jam just getting round the roundabout onto the Lancaster road, we change our minds & head across country to Ricky's Cantonese restaurant. There we are welcomed like long lost friends & also have a wonderful meal (as usual). We haven't been since the Fox's stroke so we had plenty of news to catch up on. It became a special evening, not just the necessity I expected when I wrote yesterday. 

Once home we watched a little tennis before opening a bottle of New Zealand sauvignon to the background of some Dusty Springfield. Altogether a good evening.

Ever decreasing circles

The warmth didn't last long. By midday yesterday the cardigan came on once more. A chill wind had blown up. Soon all the windows were being closed to try to keep some warmth in. Needless to say the petals have blown off the poppy.

Today we're off food shopping. By the time yesterday's lasagne was made, we both felt pretty shattered once more. I'm not entirely surprised this morning not to be able to find the meat for meatballs today. Last night we did wonder if the time hadn't come to accept eating out. We're just trying to push ourselves too far.

Most people I am sure would be thrilled at the idea of eating out. At times, I am. It's just that, on the whole, I prefer our own home cooked food. I resent eating out from a  feeling of necessity rather than desire, as this will be.

I am somewhat surprised by just how tired I seemed to have been of late. I'm convinced it's the knock-on effect of the Fox's stroke. It's not that he can't do most things just as he did before. He's just really needing to have more rest time. Nonetheless it has put on an extra strain on me. I'm trying to do that little bit more to help. I've long realised my own health ticks along reasonably okay provided I live the quiet life. It doesn't take much to knock me off that balance. That's the main reason I couldn't cope with a job these days, no matter how much I would like to. This stroke has knocked me off that balance. Just worrying is enough to cause extra tension which gets reflected in tenser muscles &, therefore, more painful knees. I don't blame the Fox for my deterioration - the stroke was beyond his control - I'm just stating the facts of the situation & I worry what the future lies ahead. 

Life seems to be a case of ever decreasing circles, whether you like it or not.

Picking up

I've finally got on top of some of that exhaustion, after two 11 hour nights in bed. Maybe it has helped that the sun has arrived bringing the longed for warmth. I actually bared my arms yesterday & remain so today. The heat hasn't stopped me getting on with the ironing today. Yesterday we did contemplate finally getting the garden table & chairs out to dine outside, but by 5 pm it was already turning too cool for us. The table & chairs remain in the garage. Maybe today....

Meanwhile the Fox is going to make us a lasagne for dinner today. He's never made one before.It's a multi-layered one, with not only layers of minced beef bolognese sauce & lasagne, topped off with the usual layer of white sauce & cheese. It  had layers of white sauce inside, as well of layers of ham & boiled eggs. It should be good & I'm looking forward to it.

We've got ourselves in the rather, for us, unusual position of only having two, very small, new, potatoes in the house. So today it's pasta & tomorrow I'm thinking might turn into a curry with rice. We'll be doing the big shop tomorrow so the situation can be remedied then. I always feel insecure without plenty of spuds in the house. They are such basics. That's not to say pasta & rice is a hardship. We regularly enjoy them as alternatives.

Outside in the garden, in the grow bags where the potatoes grew last year & the purple sprouting broccoli sprouted during the winter, a lone mauve/pink poppy bravely flowers. Its petals look so delicate, as though a puff a wind will just blow them away. No doubt that is what will in fact happen some time but for now I'm loving this unexpected unplanted flower. The Fox had hoped to do some more veg growing this year but, with the stroke, he's just not been able to & now it's too late for this year. Maybe next.

Tired

Waves of exhaustion keep sweeping over us. I feel a little guilty at not making the effort to go to church today. It is dry for once, but I'm just feeling so tired. I know the afternoon will be spent doing household chores, changing beds etc. To tire myself yet more by going out seems silly. Instead I take my Bible out & read a bit.

I'm not quite sure why we're so tired. I suspect it comes down to the fact that we seem to have had appointments regularly since our trip to Stoke, not giving us much time to really recuperate from that trip.

Our latest appointment is for the scan with regards to the Fox's hearing. We thought it was going to be fairly quick. According to the three page letter telling us of the time & venue (one line of the letter), he can expect to be there for at least an hour and a half, somewhat longer than we anticipated. What's more he will need to undress. It seems a bit much for a simple hearing scan!

At least we've got a couple of weeks with no definite appointments (so far!). Maybe that will give us a chance to recover a bit, to regain a bit of energy. Hope so.

Back to the garden

A heatwave is being predicted. All I can say, is that so far we've just had rain. It does seem warmer. I've managed to cast off one woolly, but the second is definitely staying on for a while yet. Still I'm telling myself it will do the garden good.

When Al, our gardener, came earlier this week, I asked him whether it would be possible to divide one of the astilbes & transfer some of it into the bog garden. The hydrangea does keep flowering every year, but it also dies right down to the ground. I can't see there's any hope of it becoming the 6ft shrub it was advertised as, & for which I left plenty of expansion room.

Al did as I asked. He didn't enjoy digging the hole in the bog. The soil(?) just dragged at the spade, almost sucking it down. The whole ground around vibrated & he felt himself slowly sinking in. And that was after very little rain this month! I did ask him if he thought I should water in the plant. He didn't think it would be necessary. The ground was just so wet. 

Every day since it has rained part of the day. The astilbe has perked itself up. It looks very happy in its new home. And we have the delight of its pink flowers to gladden our eyes. Great. And at no extra cost, too.

Silence falls

Wednesday morning turned into a very strange morning. Having done my bit of food preparation (just par-boiling some potatoes to saute later on), I settled down to the ironing. Or so I thought I was going to do. I got the board & chair out, sorted the washing into piles according to temperature of iron, filled the iron with water, put the plug in & prepared to switch on. All this had been done with the radio on for a bit of company. Suddenly all went silent. I tried switching the iron on but no light appeared. I had a go at putting the kettle on, no light.

My next instinct was to check the fuse box. I could only see one switch that was downward pointing. I tried to flip the switch to get a very loud alarming noise. I hastily put the switch back to where it was. 

So, no electricity. So what should I do with my morning? Ironing was off for the immediate. I went into the lounge & started some embroidery - I'm in the midst of embroidering a tablecloth. Between every stitch I looked over to the radio but no light appeared.

After a while it struck me just how silent the world was. So many household sounds you never notice except by the absence. Without electricity the fridge no longer hummed. The ventilator no longer whirled. No radio sounds. Nothing even came through the walls of our semi from next door. All was silent. 

It suddenly occurred to me I could go on the laptop & write a blog on the theme of silence. After all the laptop has a battery. I got it out & was just about to switch on when it dawned upon me I couldn't go on line. The tower for wireless connection is powered by electricity. I packed the laptop away again.

Once more I was back to silence. Midday arrived. I was just trying to decide whether it was wise to open up the freezer to get some chorizo, prawns & peas out to thaw for the evening meal, when the Fox turned up. He immediately went to the fuse box, threw the same switch I had tired, no rude noise, just power. What a relief! 

I just can't understand why I couldn't do the same when I'd tried earlier. I'm telling myself maybe at the time I'd tried there was indeed a power cut. There does seem to be some sort of roadworks around the corner & everywhere had seemed more than usually quiet. Maybe that had caused the trip switch to trip. I'd just tried too early when indeed there was no power. But if that was the case, how had it had the power to make that alarming noise? It's all a mystery to me. I'm just glad to be back to normal again, with everything working once more.

Different

The pasta is hanging on the towel rail to dry. When we were having the new bathroom done, & were on the hunt for a towel rail, the shop assistant seemed to think I was nuts when I suggested the towel rail needed to be long enough to hang all the tagliatelle on to dry. (We ended up with a double rail to be sure.) Clearly this is not a usual use of a towel rail.

Equally when the joiner came to put the finishing touches to the airing cupboard door, he had difficulty in understanding the strands of something dangling on the towel rail were for eating. I'm not sure if he's the sort of person to be so adventurous as to eat pasta but clearly it came out of packets or tins if he did.

Personally I find something quite therapeutic about making pasta. All that kneading gets rid of any pent-up aggression - not that I'm feeling any today. There's something quite calming as the dough stretches this way & that. Then there's time for a bit of a sit down while the dough rests a bit - very welcome to my knees. After that there's the rolling, cutting & hanging.

This afternoon the Fox is going to do a bolognese sauce from scratch. The minced beef mixture will plop away for a couple of hours, hopefully tenderising in the process. 

PD is a bit put out that we're not going to the Pub today. We went yesterday &, at the moment, I don't think the Fox is up to two days in a row driving the 8 mile or so return trip. Unfortunately we won't be able to get over again this week. Wednesday is grandchildren day for PD. Thursday is Farmers' Market. (I'm hoping to get the salt marsh lamb I was unable to buy last time as that stall was absent.) Friday sees me at the doc's. I've settled for the substitute doctor. To see my own GP would have meant another wait of 3-4 weeks & I've already waited that long for this appointment. So much for building up a relationship with your GP!