Wednesday 31st July 2019

The virus scan has started with no issues at all so far, thankfully.
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Steve's aunt apparently put a photo up of the pup while I was asleep last night, so I'm gonna go and add it to my homepage now... brb.
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OK, the photo is up now... the puppy is relaxing on a sofa with a cat bless 'er!

She's coming home today and I can't wait!
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That's me supplements down the hatch... they semi-misbehaved today, unfortunately  😞.  Hope that isn't a signal for how the rest of the day is gonna go 😟.
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She's hooooooome!!!

She's on 3 meals a day and just "a handful" of her daily rations for each meal as well as 2 pills twice a day each, but she's home until she goes to get washed on Saturday now!  We've got to put her in the bath in just plain water on the days she doesn't go for her baths but she's back for good now, instead of just visits and the house already feels more love-filled!

Love you Mitzi!  So so much!
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Just taken a couple of video's of the puppy who is actually awake and moving for a change lol
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And another video is just uploading.  Back to being asleep in this one lol.
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Taken a 3 minute video of our beautiful baby girl, just waiting for it to upload and process on You Tube then I'll add that to my homepage too!
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Mitzi-moo has just had her lunch and she'd scoffed the lot before I even brought the tub back in here lol  Poor puppy was obviously hungry which Steve  reckons is a good thing, but I'm not so sure.  Steve's cousin knows better than us though, so I'm gonna go by what she says now, rather than Steve.
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'marto zoop for our human lunch.  Steve's having 2 bread rolls with his zoop, but I'm not.
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Just seen the review I posted of Patrick.  I've had him for 5 years this week and couldn't be without him any more!

I've just tried out the wrist alarm I got from Victim Support the day after Mitzi went to stay with Steve's cousin to get treated.  Oh boy is it loud!  Just need to remember to put it on my wrist just before I take the puppy out tomorrow now lol  Gotta remember to fill in the form if I have any trouble from our neighbour so that the police can use it against him if it's taken to court.
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That's my prescriptions taken, so as soon as the melting one has finished melting, I'm gonna publish this then head to bed for a well-deserved early night I reckon.
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Not even 7.30pm and I'm gonna head to bed.

Nite nite orl.

😴💤😴💤
***

Tuesday 30th July 2019

Steve finally sorted out the fan this morning so I can put the old one on Freegle now.

I've also taken my supplements with one mouthful of squash for each of 'em and only drank half of what I thought I'd need to get them all down.

Hopefully that means that today will be a good day!  🤞
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That's the fan advertised on Freegle and Mitzi's thyroid story told on the Westies! group, so I can relax for the rest of the day now.  👍
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The puppy's home for another visit for today then back again for good tomorrow!!!

It's sooo good to have her home!
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Got 3 photo's of our baby girl now, in her usual position - laying down asleep lol.  Gonna put them on my site now.
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The puppy is a lot lighter now!  That kilogram makes all the difference... she's like a feather in a breeze in comparison now!
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A video is up on the front page now and I managed to get it up on You Tube without going via Steve first!  lol  Got an app on my mobile that works the same way as on the computer so I don't need Steve to put video's on a USB thingy for me any more either!
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Another video is just uploading - caught the puppy awake for a few seconds this time lol
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Using the opportunity of the video uploading to charge up my phone.
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It was done in about 10 seconds with the charger plugged in!  I'm gonna go back to fully discharging my phone now though.
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And another video is uploading.  She's definitely awake and moving a bit in this one 'cos she wants Steve to share his popcorn with her lol
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Taken 8 photo's of the puppy today... a few of them she's even been awake in 😄

Last night without her tonight then she's back home with us!!!  Yaaaaay!!  😀
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Clearing my caches ready for tomorrow's virus scan now... there's loads going on tomorrow - the virus scan, the puppy coming home and the occupational therapist as well at 1pm tomorrow... it's all go, but definitely worth it for both our sakes!  👌
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The puppy has just gone back with Steve's uncle 💔... only until tomorrow this time though then she'll be home until she gets washed again on Saturday.  I've only got to miss her for about 15 hours-ish now though!  Can't wait until she's home for good again!
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Prescriptions have both been taken now, so I'm gonna shut down as soon as they start kicking in, ready for tomorrow.
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Just bought another few courses with the New Skills Academy which is gonna keep me busy until at least the weekend.  It's a busy day tomorrow, but when that's sorted I'll be able to start studying again and none of them are video courses, so I'll be able to answer the door to my prescription whenever it decides to turn up.  The puppy will be home so I'll be able to relax then and concentrate on the courses.
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Prescription is just starting to kick in, so I'm shutting down and heading to bed.  Nite nite orl.  😴
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Monday 29th July 2019

First up, thank you sooooo much to the 15 people who read yesterday's blog post.  Dunno what was so interesting in it 'cos it was pretty short but I'm grateful to every single one of you and I hope you will keep on coming back 'cos it does my motivation and confidence the world of good to see double-figured numbers of readers of each blog post... it doesn't happen very often but it's such a good feeling to see so many people read what I wrote while I was asleep!  You are all wonderful!

Time to take me supplements now... brb.
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That's the supplements down the hatch.  Not the easiest ever, but better than the worst times too.  Time to dish out the Twix's then start studying I reckon.  Which course should I do though?  One long one or two shorter ones?  Should I do a free course or one that I've paid for?

So many questions!  😁
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Questions answered by New Skills Academy.  Just bought 4 courses for just under £50 and realised that there are 4 single module courses that have been paid for which, in theory, take under an hour each to do, so I'll study those today and maybe one of the 4 or 5 module courses this evening.  Not looking that far ahead though... aim for today is the single module courses then I'll take it from there.
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First course studied and only got one question wrong, which was great going by me, I reckon!  Time for the second course now I reckon.
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Our baby girl is home for a visit!!!!!  Yaaaay!!  She's looking better than she has for years, she's more energetic and a lot less depressed than even a week ago!  We can feel her ribs and she's got more of a shape to her now too, so her weight problem *was* because of her thyroid, not, like M thinks, because I was over feeding and under exercising her!  Hopefully she won't be on her prescription food for much longer now and we can feed her "normal" food again.

So glad she's back home (if only for a visit today) and on the right treatment (for her thyroid)... I've missed her so much for the last 2 weeks!  We're very nearly there now though!  Yaaaay!!
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Second course passed - 9 out of 10 again which ain't bad.  Gonna do the admin for it on my navigation page now then take multiple photo's and video's of the puppy.
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Third course passed as well - 10 out of 10 this time!  😁

One more course to do, hopefully before we have lunch.
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Seven courses in total today and passed each one of 'em first time too!  Having a celebratory cuppa now.  Should I do one last course before the shopping comes maybe, or shouldn't I risk it?
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Eighth course of the day completed.  That really is it for the day now.
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The puppy's gone again now  😢  She'll be back on Wednesday but we didn't have her for anywhere near long enough today  😭

Missing her already and it's only been 5 minutes!  💔
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That's my prescription taken and I've asked Steve to come with me to the doctor appointment on Tuesday just in case I need to have an internal that I never cope with alone.  The internal ultrasound was fine, so hopefully the internal examination will be OK too and it's just smears that I can't do alone, but I've never had a non smear test other than the ultrasound and my anxiety levels will be through the roof.  It's just because it's a first time is all.
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Off to beddy-byes now.  Nite nite orl 💔 💤
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Sunday 28th July 2019

That's the rubbish and recycling out before 8am this morning!
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I've requested Steve to do three things today, because our rubbish is such a small amount, I've asked Steve to help me to chop up a few more branches of the butterfly bush so that we can make the most of having room to get rid of it without risking it falling out.  The second thing is to spray the WD40 on the tap and the third thing was to work on the things I've already paid him to do.

He's got until 3pm to do the butterfly bush and 5pm for the tap or I'll do them both myself.  He's got until midnight on Wednesday to get the programming finished or I want a full refund that he can't afford.

He's being paid to be my carer for over 35 hours a week which is 5 hours a day... I'm lucky to get the 5 hours a month and the 35 in half a year!!  If we include the cooking, that's less than an hour a day, tops, so what does he do for the other 4 hours?

Sleep.

That's what.

Time to simmer down and take my supplements now.
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That's them swallowed.  Fortunately it wasn't too bad this morning to get them all down.
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I was a third wrong this morning.

Steve's just gone into the bathroom with the WD40 to fix the bath's cold tap for me then he's going to make us another posh coffee.  I'm hoping that we'll do the butterfly bush branches after lunch.  If we do that's about 3 hours tops that he's cared for me today (an hour for the tap, an hour for lunch and an hour for the chopping up).  I can almost guarantee that he won't do anything else for the rest of the week though, so I'll still be 32 hours of care than he's being paid for.
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If I'm re-awarded PIP, can someone remind me to renew my blue badge pretty please?

TIA!
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Gorgeous Rogan Josh curry for lunch today.  Nice and spicy without being too hot.  I personally reckon that anything hotter would, for me, spoil the flavour.  We've got a jar of Jalfrezi (sp?) to try which apparently is medium spiciness too, but neither of us has had a Jalfrezi before so it'll be a "virgin taste test for both of us" to quote Steve.  Can't wait!

Steve's got his two Jaffa Cakes as a reward for cooking both days of the weekend and our fan has, officially, given up the ghost, so it was a good job I bought a new one on Friday that was delivered yesterday so that's something else we've got to do today... unplug the current fan and remove it then replace it with the new one before it gets too hot outside again.
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There's definitely no room in the rubbish bag now, so maybe it's a good thing that we didn't chop up the butterfly bush this afternoon after all.  When the Grand Prix has finished, our lunch will have gone down a bit so we can hopefully sort out replacing the fans.

I'm proud of what Steve's achieved today though.
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Mitzi is coming home on Wednesday!!!  Only until Saturday so that she can have another wash, but she's coming home!

It can't come soon enough!
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Prescription swallowed and I want a semi-early night, so I'm gonna shut down now.

Nite nite orl!  💤💤💤
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Saturday 27th July 2019

It's been raining overnight, so hopefully it'll be a touch cooler today.
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Gonna go out for a stroll to get my legs used to walking again.  Just the same amount as I do with the puppy between Tuesday and Sunday then I'll walk the marathon on Monday morning and try and remember to go out every day next week so that my legs and especially my knees don't complain when the puppy comes home for good instead of just a visit.
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Lovely and fresh out there... the rain ☔ has definitely broken the heat and it's just a nice, pleasant temperature out there now.
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Gonna take my supplements now, so that I don't forget them again.  I'm hoping there's enough squash for all four of 'em!
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Apparently there was a photo of the puppy last night that Steve emailed to me overnight, so gonna go and put it on my homepage now.
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And a photo from Steve's cousin on Facebook, so I'll add that to my homepage too.
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Steve's just made the 2 bottles of squash for me.  Thankfully my supplements behaved today so I managed to swallow them all with the remainder of the squash from last night.
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Grrr! 😡  For some reason PSP doesn't like the photo that Steve's emailed to me, so that's gonna cause trouble for ages now.  😡
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Needed to save it from Facebook rather than the email for some reason, but it's up there now, so time to make a start on the surveys I reckon.
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Just got the letter from my GP with the result of the ultrasound.  Apparently the coil is a bit low in my womb so I need to make an appointment with the person who fitted it (it was done under general anaestetic) to get it put back into place.

I've got a double appointment with one of the female GP's about my bladder issues, so I'm hoping she'll be able to help with the coil thing as well, at the same time.  After the ultrasound I know that I can deal with the internal things without screaming my head off, so hopefully the doc will just be able to sort the coil out in the same appointment so that I don't have to be put under again.  Assuming the bladder and coil can be sorted in the same double appointment, if they are both internal examinations that I get through without screaming my head off, then maybe that means that I don't need to go into hospital to have the coil replaced next time?  I'm really hoping so!
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Just finished the second book and it was so interesting!  I know that what the author went through is different to the reason for my brain damage, but it's really opened my eyes that I'm really not going mad and that I'm *not* the only person with a damaged brain to go through the memory loss and anger and confusion and depression and so many other things!

Another 5 star review coming up I reckon!
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Took my prescription an hour later than normal 'cos my reminder didn't pop up so it's gonna be a late night tonight.
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Time to head to bed now... nite nite orl!  😴
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Book Review: Prognosis: A memoir of my brain by Sarah Vallance

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

Wow.

What a great book!

It's made me feel understood and less alone with my own brain damage now, to such an extent that I've written a letter to my GP about it, asking for more information about which parts of my brain are damaged, what I can do to hopefully improve the damage and asking for the answer to the question that I've been wanting to know for the last 16 years: is there any way I can recover, even if only slightly.

I haven't been brave enough to ask those questions since I was diagnosed with brain damage when I left hospital in 2003 even though I really want and need to know the honest answers.  This book gave me the push I needed to write the letter.

It's encouraged me to be brave enough to ask about the MRI scans I've had and the Neurologists thoughts before he discharged me. 

If you can be patient enough to get through the initial 15% of the book, you will hopefully find it as interesting and supportive as I have.

A must-read for anyone who has been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury (like the author) or brain damage (like me).

The first few pages were like struggling through treacle with so much back-story, but I'm so relieved that I carried on reading!

Friday 26th July 2019

Brushed me teeth and had a very quick bath 'cos the water was waaay too hot and the cold tap is siezed up and won't budge at all, so I'm gonna invest in a can of WD40 'cos I can't deal with another hot bath in this weather.
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Supplements swallowed.  The Iron was a PITA but it went down eventually, so I'm dosed up for the day now.  Just gotta go and see Brad in about an hour then that's it for the day.
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Gonna shut down until I get back from the appointment with Brad now... BBS!
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Back now!  He wants to see me once more in 6 weeks time, just to be absolutely sure that the reduction isn't causing any issues and I can go back and see him whenever I need to - especially as the days get shorter and darker (I get affected by SAD) but other than that I don't need to see him again unless I feel I need to.

He asked about taking it down to 5mg but I'm really not comfortable with that yet - I wanna lose more weight first, then yeah, I'll give it a try, but right now I don't want to take it too low and risk a relapse.

Feeling really positive now!  👍👍
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Gonna leave a five star review for the fan, considering it's been on every day for ¾ of the year for the last 3 years so it's done us really well!  Gonna put the review up here on my blog as well as on my homepage and Amazon so be back in a bit!
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That's the review up on my blog, homepage, and awaiting moderation on Amazon.  We're 'aving zoop for tea then I'll get Steve's Jaffa Cakes out of the tub, take me prescription and head to bed.  It hasn't been as hot today and the fan has been on since yesterday morning, so hopefully it'll be cool enough to get under the duvet tonight, might even turn the fan off in the bedroom tonight too.  We shall see.
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Prescription taken and 18% of the way through a Kindle book.  There's no way I'll finish it before I head to bed, so I don't know why I even started it this evening!  Why didn't I start to read it when I came back from seeing Brad? lol
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Finished the chapter, so I'm off to bed now... nite nite orl!
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Product review: Fine Elements Oscillating Pedestal Fan, 16-Inch

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

I bought this fan 3 years ago, not expecting much given some of the negative reviews and the cheap price but it's been on all day every day for three quarters of the year for every one of those 3 years and we can't fault it at all.

I realise that some people say "if you buy cheap, you buy twice" but that hasn't been the case with this fan!  It's been amazing for us in our small living room with a TV, 2 laptops, 2 humans and a dog creating heat but a little while after turning this on and the room is livable in again.  After getting on for 900 days of use, often overnight and only turned off when we both leave the house it's done fantastically well!

The only reason that we're getting a new fan is that the blades/motor are getting a bit clogged up with dust and it's making funny noises now, so it seems to be telling us it needs to retire now.  It's done fantastically well over the last 3 years though and I have every reason to highly recommend it for small rooms of about 10 feet by 12 feet that is used by high heat things (laptops, televisions, humans and dogs) or a larger room that doesn't use so many highly heated things throughout the entire day (bedrooms, dining rooms etc).

I can't recommend this fan highly enough!

Thursday 25th July 2019

Virus scan finished at about 5am.  I'm still virus free so gonna set the back-up going now.  Keep yer fingers crossed that it's all sorted first time so that I don't get stressed out please!
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So far so good with the backing up, so I'm gonna see if Steve's gonna come out for the preparatory stroll with me know, while all the files are being copied over.
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As predicted, Steve didn't come out with me today.  My legs were kinda going "WTAF??" after not leaving the house for 8 days, but I did it, so I know that I can now, just gotta keep doing it every day again now.  Gonna do it first thing tomorrow then head for my appointment with Brad.

Gonna take me supplements now.
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They all went down really easily this morning!  Only needed a smallish amount of squash to get 'em all down too... could this and the walking and the backing up be signs that today is gonna go well?  Possibly?  I'm really hoping so!
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That's the back-ups finished painlessly too.  I could get used to this lol
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That's the bladder appointment sorted and another letter is being sent to me about Tuesday's scan... soo anxious now, less than 2 days after the scan and I'm getting a letter with the result - if it wasn't bad news, why are they sending the letter out so quickly?!  😟  The coil is still inside me, which was the whole reason for the ultrasound, so why did the ultrasound lady say that something shouldn't be there and why is it a letter instead of a phone call?  Why is the letter being sent out so quickly instead of making a routine appointment with my GP or something?  Why did they scan my bladder after they found that the coil was still in there?  If they could see the coil on the external scan, why did I have to have an internal one too??  😟
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Just a short blog post today.  Just taken my prescriptions and Steve's pumped up Patrick's tyre ready for tomorrow and I'm finishing off a book that I'll review on here (as a separate blog post), my homepage and Amazon before I head to bed tonight, then jump in the bath as soon as I come down tomorrow morning so that I don't stink the GP surgery out tomorrow lol
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Just finished the book, so time to do the review then I can head to bed... BBS!
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Review's posted, so time for beddy-byes now I reckon.  🛌

Nite nite orl  💤💤
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Book review: Lies We Tell Mothers: A True Story by Suzy K Quinn

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

What a great book!  When I saw the title I thought it was going to be about the way a mum badly treats her children, but I was wrong.  So wrong.

I've been reading it all afternoon and evening.  It's one of those rare books that the only time I stopped reading it was to go to the bathroom and have barely taken any notice of my husband while my nose has been stuck in it.

I didn't think I would enjoy it because I've got nothing in common with the author (I'm 41 and don't have any children instead of being a twenty-something mother of two) but I loved the book so much and can't recommend it highly enough!

It's a short book (read it cover to cover in 7 hours) but soo worth your money and a fantastic way to relax and let the afternoon slip away from you.  A definite must-read book IMNSHO!

 

Wednesday 24th July 2019

That's the bed stripped, washing on and Patrick's batteries getting charged up.  Need to add a box of washing powder to the shopping, but don't know if it should be bio or non-bio.  Steve's said he'll ask his mum but I don't believe him.

Gotta take my supplements too... gonna do that now while I remember.

OK, that's the supplements down the hatch and we we've been reminincing about the milk that was delivered in glass bottles with foil tops.  My brother always got the cream off the top of ours  😧.

Time to take the empty squash bottle out to be refilled now.  It's Wednesday so it's our traditional zoop day 'cos of the virus scan and I've got enough squash in the second bottle for tonight's prescriptions, but nowhere near enough for tomorrow morning's supplements, no matter how easy to take they are.
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We're having a banana each to start the day off with a portion of fruit and hopefully a slight energy boost for our poor legs after yesterday.
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Ewwww!  The bottom halves of both of our bananas were totally manky!  We're gonna leave the bananas off next week's shop and order another box of the tangerines/clementines/satsumas/whatever the heck they are instead.
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Just added a couple of photo's of the puppy dog keeping cool in the sun with a friend in a paddling pool, bless her little paws!
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You know what?  It's been too long since the last image here in my blog, so I'm gonna add them here too!

Say hello to our little girl... this is Mitzi and Gypsy is behind her, bless their tiny furry paws!

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That's the bed changed now and I'm sweating 💦 like you wouldn't believe now!!  💦  The fan has been on since I woke up this morning, which means I'll be able to go to sleep in hopefully a more tollerable temperature than last night.

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Just taken both my prescriptions

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Just started yawning, so I'm off to bed now.  The virus scan will hopefully be finished by the time I come down in the morning and I'm hoping me an' 'im are going for a short stroll to try and get our legs used to the daily walks again so that it's not a shock to the system when the puppy comes home after her skin and thyroid have started to recover and she's used to her new treatment regime.  It's for my benefit more than Steve's, but after our marathon at the hospital yesterday I'd love for him to join us on our morning strolls so that all three of us can lose the weight we need to lose to be healthier.

I'm off for the night now though.

Nite nite orl!
***

Tuesday 23rd July 2019

Mornin' all.

Just taken my supplements and they all went down amazingly easily again.  I could get used to this, so easily!
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The supplements were a sign that today would go well.  Just got back from the ultrasound and it was soooo much easier to do and even the internal part of it wasn't painful... I felt the probe go in, yeah, but I was thinking that it'd be a lot more painful than smears and that I wouldn't be able to stop myself screaming.

I was wrong.

So, so wrong.

No pain or clenching or anything... she even moved the probe around inside me but I didn't feel any kind of pain at all.  She had to tell me that she'd taken the probe out 'cos I didn't feel that either!

Insisted that Steve came into the room with me when they said they'd need to do an internal but he honestly didn't need to be there at all... he was my map so that I could find the ultrasound department and back out of there, but he didn't need to be in the room with me at all!  I'm glad he was there, but only for confidence rather than emotional support that I had, obviously wrongly, assumed I would need.  I'll know for next time if I need to go back again for another internal ultrasound!

Apparently both meals today will be "bits and pieces" which is fine by me!  I'm thinking we both deserve chocolate right now though lol
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We're having Sainsbury's Basics milk chocolate digestive bars for lunch and I've put the Snickers in the fridge ready for later/tea. I honestly can't tell the difference between Sainsbury's chocolate and Cadbury's, other than the price!  Steve reckon's that the Sainsbury's and Cadbury's chocolate are the same, it's just that Cadburys have rejected them for being 0.1% too light or too heavy or something!  Can't help but agree with that!
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Had 2 banana's since getting home from the hospital and maybe it's just my head giving me wrong information, but I'm not as tired or exhausted as I was before I had them!
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Found a couple of cars on Facebook Marketplace that are within my budget so I've sent them on to Steve for a bit of a look... we shall see what he says!
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And a satsuma/clementine/tangerine/whatever they are, so that's three portions of fruit in 4 hours which ain't bad going at all!
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Both cache's cleared ready for tomorrow's virus scan starting.
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We're having a celebratory burger for tea tonight so Steve won't be getting his Friday treat but I think it's worth it, considering how far we walked without collapsing in a heap on the floor either in the hospital or when we got home and it's not every week we do it, so I think we both deserve it today 👌.
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My celebratory tea is gonna be chips, cheese and beans with chocolate fudge cake for pud and a can of Dr Pepper for a change.  Gonna be an expensive tea, but sooo worth it in our mutual opinion.
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Just taken me prescriptions, so just waiting for them to kick in now.  Not planning on getting up early tomorrow morning... wanna give my body the chance to recover from today for as long as possible.
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Going to have a well-deserved early night now... nite nite orl!
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Monday 22nd July 2019

Gonna have a bath ready for tomorrow's ultrasound first I reckon.
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Just a quick one today... wanted to be out and dressed for our puppy to come back for her visit today... can't wait!!
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The puppy's home!!!

It's only for a visit, but my heart is rapidly healing now.  She's gotta go back to Steve's uncle and cousin so that they can keep treating her skin and thyroid, but right now she's back home with us again!!!
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Got four photo's and two video's of the pup which'll be up on my site by the time you read this.  She's currently in her bed, deeply asleep bless 'er!
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All the photo's and video's are up on my homepage now... go and take a look if you haven't seen them yet!
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That's me supplements swallowed at last... the Multi misbehaved slightly, but the other 3 went down nice and easily.
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Just had 10 kisses off our puppy!  Yaaay!
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Just taken another photo of our baby girl:

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Shopping's been and gone.  Prescriptions taken, so just waiting for the puppy to be picked up for the rest of the week's sleepovers at Steve's cousins house now, then I can head to bed, ready for the morning when I go for the ultrasound.

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The puppy's just gone again... we had her for 10 hours today but my heart is breaking all over again now!  💔😢

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I'm going to bed to cry myself to sleep now.  Nite nite orl  💤

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Sunday 21st July 2019

That's the rubbish, recycling and food waste out before 8am!!

The rubbish only just covers the bottom of the bag, there are two recycling boxes out there and there's very little food waste too, which is awesome!

Need to go and empty the bedroom bin while I think of it though... brb.
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The bedroom bin was pretty much empty but there was a magasine to recycle, but that really is it for another week now, so time to take me supplements.
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That's me supplements swallowed.  The Calcium was a bit of a PITB but the other three went down fine and dandy, thankfully.  I'm getting better at this pill-taking thing 👍.
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This is soooo much like the pup lol

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Roast potato's and stuffing for my lunch today 🍴.  Steve's having loads of sausages with his as well lol

🤤

I wanted veggies to go with them, but apparently it's "too much faff" to boil a saucepan of water and throw the rest of the frozen veggies into it for 10 minutes! 

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Sorting out life insurance for me an' 'im for peace of mind as much as anything.  Just reading the fine print so that I know what I'm getting myself into.
***

Prescriptions taken, so just gonna keep reading the policy documents then pay for it and head to bed.
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The insurance site has given up half way though, so I've given up for tonight too.  Knew it was too good to be true lol
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Goin' to bed now... nite nite orl!
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Saturday 20th July 2019

That's me supplements swallowed.  Reasonably easily this morning, thankfully.

I was also paid my compensation from BC yesterday, but didn't realise until I checked my bank account, so as long as Mitzi's vet bill is less than 2k I can pay it immediately.  If it costs less than £1500 I can pay for Steve's sight test and glasses too.  Won't be able to get him a car (unless I get the mobility part of PIP of course), but we've done without one for a decade and I'm thinking that I won't be seeing my mum before her funeral now, unfortunately  😭
***

Just done a bit of adjusting on the shopping - taken off Steve's milk 'cos he hasn't even opened this week's one yet and added a couple of packs of noodles on for him to try.  Apparently we haven't even opened this week's toilet rolls yet so that's a fiver saved and I've added a 1kg box of tangerine's instead, for just over half the price of the toilet rolls.  They've got mixed reviews, so we shall see what they are like next week!  Got 25p left to spend of the weekly budget now lol
***

Just paid for the puppy's vet treatment and it was 10% less than I was thinking too - £141 instead of £1,500!!  Thanks to yesterday's refund from BC, it means that we can almost double this week's shopping budget as well as putting a bit more into Steve's car buying account!

Thank you so much Green Man and Gaia!
***

I hope M is prepared to work extra hard on finding room for all our groceries this week 'cos it's £80.45 instead of the usual £50 lol  I've used a voucher which will mean £4 worth of Nectar points too, just for spending over £80!

I could get used to things going right for me for a change lol
***

Mitzi is potentially sleeping over for another week as well... it's been agony without her for the last 4 days, so missing her for even longer than that is breaking my heart!!  Steve's cousin (the vet nurse) wants to see more of an improvement in her skin, which is fair enough, but it feels like I'm missing the whole right side of me!!  😢
***

A couple of photo's of the puppy to keep us going for a few days:

***

We're having a take-away lasagne for tea today, so I'm gonna put my laptop on the floor ready for getting the door when it turns up.

Toodle-pip for now... BBS!
***

Just taken my prescriptions and our tea 🍴 has been delivered, so time to shut down 💻 for the night and tuck in.  Doubt I'll be back on after I've eaten, so I'll say nite nite now.

Sea ewe orl 2morrow morning.
***

Friday 19th July 2019

I've got a photo of our poorly puppy at last!!

She's got one of those cones around her neck to stop her from chewing her feet and looks sooo sad but she's alive and well and hopefully on the right meds now.  It'll prolly be expensive each month for the rest of her life now, but she's soo worth it to me!  I don't care how much it costs, if she needs the treatment then I'll find it somehow!

She's worth everything to me!
***

I was wrong twice last night.  First off, Steve did fill up the squash for me and the second time was that there was just about enough squash to take all four of me supplements without needing another bottle of squash this morning.

I don't enjoy being wrong, but I've got no problem admitting it when I am.
***

Cheeky swine wanted to put Mitzi's thyroid treatment on the insurance!  That he hasn't paid a penny towards!  The conversation went like this:

Steve:  How much is the excess on Mitzi's insurance?
Me:  Dunno, why?
S:  Just thinking we could get the insurance to pay for it
M:  The monthly premiums would go through the roof!
S:  You wouldn't have to worry about finding the money for it at the weekend then though!
M:  I'd much prefer to keep the premiums lower and keep it in case there is something major that needs to be treated in future that would cost many thousands that the insurance wouldn't cover because they would already be paying for this.
S:  We'd cover it somehow.
M:  As long as it's under a thousand, I'll pay for it, same as I always do.
S:  You don't though!
M:  Yes I do.
S:  I paid Marie for the last vet bill.
M:  Yeah, because I moved the money into the joint account from my savings.  Same as always.
S:  I paid her out of my account though.
M:  Only because you've got Marie's bank details and I haven't.
S:  Oh.  Yeah.

He's the one that makes decisions about Mitzi then expects me to pay for it without even asking.

It's like Steve buying a car, taking it for an MOT, the garage phoning up about the repairs it needed to pass the MOT, me telling them to go ahead without even mentioning it to Steve then him being met with a bill that he was expected to pay before he got his car back.  Or if Steve had a crash in the car, I gave the insurance details to the other party and told them the insurance would cover everything then the premiums trippling, me not caring and Steve left to pay the bill.  He wouldn't let me do that so why is it OK for him to do that to me with Mitzi's insurance❔❔
***

Time to take me prescriptions now.  BRB.
***

That's the two pills sorted for tonight.  Gotta close FireFox so that Roboform can get updated.

BBS.
***

That's Roboform updated and my pills are already making me tired, so maybe it's my body's way of telling me to have an early night?

Gonna shut down for the night, either way.  💤💤

Nite nite orl!  😴
***

Thursday 18th July 2019

This is agony!  I want Mitzi 🐶 back in my arms!  1 night sleepover is just about doable, but any more than that is just too much  😢
***

It took a good 2-3 hours to get the back-ups to eventually start, but they're going now, so hopefully there won't be any more issues until they've finished now.
***

That's the documents folder backed up now, so just waiting for the rest of it to finish up, then I can have my lunch.
***

Pasta 'n' cheesy sauce for lunch today.  Yumsk.

At my request, it'll be a late lunch 'cos I don't wanna risk interrupting or accidentally stopping the back-up now that it's started.  It's only once a week that I do the back-ups after the weekly full virus scan when we 'ave a mug of zoop for our lunch, every other day I'm more than happy to have our lunch whenever Steve fancies making it for us... it's just Wednesdays and Thursdays that are limited.

Still missing the senior puppy 🐾... I'm sure she's fine and dandy and enjoying having so much doggy 🐶 company while she's with Steve's extended family but it's awful for me!  I'm missing her soooo much and is completely breaking my heart!  💔  Still at least 2.5 days without her!  😢
***

Update on lunch 🍴 - it'll be a late afternoon lunch 'cos it's almost 1.15pm and the back-up is only 20% of the way through.  Me belly is rumbling, but the back-up is 20% more advanced than all morning combined so I wanna make the most of it is all.
***

That's the backups finally finished so I'm gonna shut down and let my laptop breathe a sigh of relief for a couple of hours while I wait for and eat me lunch.

Sea ewe in part two later on this afternoon!
***

Wednesday 17th July 2019

I miss our puppy!!!  I miss our walks and feeding her and stroking her and talking to her and hugging her and kissing her.  She's been gone for 18 hours, but that's torture to me!
***

Steve's finally paid his sister and I've done some moving around of money so there's a bumper if I need it now.
***

Time for me supplements methinks.
***

That's them down the hatch for another day and my heart is still broken 💔... we're on the home stretch now, so I can finally start to count down the hours till she's back in my arms.
***

A tiny mug of Cortado for us both this morning... yumsk.  Apparently Steve washed out and refilled Mitzi's water bowl overnight and she's still got the majority of her food left in her other bowl too, bless 'er!

Missing her so so much and can't wait for her to come home this afternoon/early evening!
***

Just discovered that I can renew each of my domains for a huuuuuge 10 years now, so just gotta remember to do that as each one comes up for renewal now... you watch me forget lol
***

I've just asked Steve "are you gonna be finished with the webpage and software by the end of the month?" and he replied "hopefully" which shocked me, so for confirmation I said "by the end of July I mean" and he nodded again and repeated "hopefully" so there we have it.  2.20pm on 17th July 2019 Steve has said that both the software and site will "hopefully" be done by the end of the month.  If they're not, I want the £2500 I paid him in advance back in March with the promise that it'd take 10 weeks all refunded so that I can find someone else to do it for me.
***

Someone on Freegle is learning how to build computers so I've offered my Mandy machine and Steve's getting rid of his desktop too which will clear up a decent amount of space in the bedroom if they reliably come to pick them up.  If they don't then that's OK but if they do, then that's OK as well.  I just want them to let me know either way and if they want them, then reliably pick them up when they say they will.
***

Just been up to try and log on to my Mandy machine and it's already gone so it was obviously during the big house clearout where I lost my NRA and childhood photo's and irreplacable drawings from all the children I looked after while I was at college too 😡, so I've just let the person wanting them know.  😞
***

Just heard back about Mitzi's skin scraping and my heart is breaking into tiny pieces! 💔💔💔  She's staying over "for a few more sleepovers" so that she/her legs can be bathed every day, probably to prevent infection (but I don't know for sure) but this will be the longest I've been without her since we got her 9 years ago!  😢  24 hours is bad enough so longer than that is going to be awful!  💔😟💔
***

The vet's just been on the phone. 

Apparently the puppy's thyroid isn't working and that's almost certainly why her skin infection hasn't been clearing up but she's on meds now and seems happy enough and not in pain so it's potentially a life-long thing, so it'll be expensive but she's priceless to us so we'll do whatever needs to be done to keep her happy and pain-free.

She's sleeping over until the weekend which is going to be soooooo hard, but it's for the sake of her health so a few days of heartache will make every moment that I'm with her when she gets home so much more special!

💗
***

Goin' to bed now.  💤

Nite nite orl!  😴
***

Tuesday 16th July 2019

Knew it was too good to be true.

After promising to come out with me and the pup every day this week "because neither of us have anything at all on" Steve went back on it, as predicted "because my knees are a bit ouchy".  Mine aren't I suppose??  You need to push yourself even though you are in pain, Steven.  I push myself out of the door every morning or the pup wouldn't get walked at all!

Bet he won't come out with us tomorrow either.  Or Thursday.  Or Friday, let alone the weekend!

The puppy had a slow start this morning, so I'm wondering if she's feeling her age now?  After we got going she was fine and forced me to do an extra 150%, but the first 3 or 4 lengths were very slow and she really didn't want to walk.  After that she was fine, but those initial lengths she was finding it hard to put one paw in front of the other.
***

That's me supplements taken.  They all went down reasonably easily this morning, thankfully  👍.
***

My lil nephew's last book has been reviewed on my writing site and writing blog so all 6 books are ready to go to their new home now.
***

Mitzi is being picked up for her sleep-over and skin scraping this afternoon then she'll be home tomorrow at some point... the thought of spending the night in the house without her is breaking my heart!!
***

The puppy's just gone and the house feels too big and empty now!  She's the smallest member of the household, but has a huuuuuuge personality that totally fills the house while she's here and the next 24ish hours are going to be so hard for both of us humans 😢.
***

Goin' to bed for an early night... think I deserve it!  lol  It feels so weird not being able to say goodnight to the pup though!
***

Food review: Sainsbury's Indian Lentil Quarter Pounder 454g

Just tried these for the first time for me lunch and they were lovely!  A bit dry but very filling and tasted yummy.  I was slightly dreading them being spicy after how the hubby described them, but they weren't spicy at all thankfully.  They are good both in a bun with a slice of "plastic" cheese (that's what the hubby calls cheese slices for some reason) and a squirt of tomato sauce as well as on their own with a big helping of veggies.

If they weren't as dry as they are then I'd have given them 5 stars, but they are very dry so could do with making them a bit more succulent/juicy on the outside to make them perfect.  Maybe that's just me, but I prefer my burgers to have a bit of moisture so that they aren't so saliva-drying as these were.

We'll get them again, for sure, but I'd prefer them to have a bit more moisture in them... just a smidgen of vegetable oil stirred into the pre-formed mixture is all it needs, IMHO.

Monday 15th July 2019

Mornin' all.

That's me supplements taken already and I've been paid, so I can relax now.  Today's bills have come out of my account so I can relax about that too... just got mobile top-up, my lil nephews account, Dogs Trust donation, electricity and Equifax to come out now, as well as the Friday tenner and the groceries every Monday.  Tight for the rest of the month but just about doable I reckon.  Spent pennies over £300 on non-essentials in June and £198 already this month, but most of that was SCBWI membership (£63) and Patric's insurance (£89)
***

I was wrong yesterday when I doubted Steve would come out with us.  He did.  He did 300% with the puppy and I did our normal Monday marathon with her.  She made a new friend on her walk with Steve... someone was walking up the road and Mitzi's little tail started wagging, then as she got closer to the puppy, she rose up on her back legs and started dancing for her!  She didn't get petted but that's OK, 'cos not everyone feels comfortable around dogs.  Our across the street neighbour came out and got into his car so Mitzi greeted him then just as we were finishing our walk, our next door neighbour came home and said hello to me.  Very social walkies this morning.

The vet phoned while I was feeding her.  Apparently the steroids she's been on for the last few days was just a stop-gap to see her through until these ones came in.  Hopefully Marie or Steve's dad will pick them up and bring them over soon so that the puppy can start taking the proper ones.
***

The puppy has just been out the back for a poo, so I cleared it up and binned it totally alone because my paid carer was more interested in watching the telly.
***

My MIL's home-made zoop for lunch today.  Takes yummy, is healthy and filling so a winner all round!
***

Mitz is going for another sleep-over tomorrow then going in to the vet for skin scrapings on Wednesday and pick up her proper meds at the same time, then back here, so this week is gonna be expensive, but the poor puppy is worth it... we just want her to be happy is all.
***

That's the rubbish just been and gone... only 7 hours later than normal lol  Nowt else to do now, until the shopping comes this evening.
***

Apparently the shopping escorted Marie down the street tonight lol

We're having a take-away for tea, so I'm gonna shut down now and doubt I'll log back on after having such a late night last night... think I deserve an early one!

Nite nite orl!  💤
***

Sunday 14th July 2019

That's the puppy walked and fed.  We did 650% today which takes week's total extra's to a huge 4950%!  My OCD is complaining that we didn't do the extra 50% to make it 5000% but I'm trying to work through the anxiety it's causing me.

Gonna take me supplements then put the spreadsheets up on my site.  BRB.
***

That's the four supplements swallowed.  Reasonably easily this morning, thankfully.

Time for the spreadsheets now.
***

That was nice and easy... no arguments or stress or anything at all!  Even went for a wee mid-way through too lol  Only one box of recycling, one bag of food waste with my two burgers in the waste food caddy and the bag of rubbish was full but not overflowing and it's got the pup's week of poo in it again.  We're getting good at this weekly rubbish taking out thing!  Tomorrow we'll bring it all back in then that's it done and dusted for a week. Our inherited rose bush is taking over one end of the yard and the butterfly bush the other though lol
***

Just taken my mouthwash off the shopping so that Steve could add his mustard to take the total below £50.  That means that I've got 11 (including 9 bottles of pop) things just for me on the order and Steve's got 16 things on there, 6 of which are packets of meat slices that cost over £8 alone, yet I'm not allowed mouthwash that costs £3.50... strange how he's allowed 2 meals a day but only one for me!
***

Just done a bit of moving around of the huuuge walking page - gonna do one page per quarter now so that you don't have to scroll down quite so far.  Don't worry, if you'd bookmarked the walking page it's still there, but it's linking to each quarter's page now so you don't need to update your bookmarks or anything like that... don't you dare say that I don't make things easy for my visitors  😉
***

Chippies for lunch today... another quick and simple meal, but it's cooked at home instead of a take-away and that's the only requirement, so I'll go and get Steve's Jaffa Cakes as his reward now, BRB.
***

He decided to have a bar of Turkish Delight instead of 2 Jaffa Cakes for a change.  Fine by me... his reward, so his choice 👌.

He didn't have his Friday reward because I totally forgot and he didn't remind me, so that's two unrewarded times, but how am I supposed to remember everything with me brain damage being so bad that I can't even remember taking the rubbish, recycling and waste food caddy out this morning, even though it was less than 6 hours ago and the only reason I know that we took them out is that they aren't in the kitchen any more.  Yep, it really is that bad.

When he's finished his current rewards, I'll be getting him a 2kg box of fudge next but don't know if it melts like chocolate or if it can be stored at room temperature is all.  Either way is totally groovy, I just wanna know which is better so that it doesn't accidentally melt by keeping it in here is all.  Lemme know in the comments?  Please?
***

The puppy has just been out the back for her poo and I'm soooo glad she did it out the back instead of on our walk this morning 'cos I could smell it by the time I got half way through the kitchen so it would have really turned my stomach if she'd done it this morning and I would have had to bend over even closer to it to pick it up... soooo gross!
***

4 of the six books have just been dispatched via Amazon Logistics, so they'll be here tomorrow, just two more to go then that's all I'm spending for a while at least, other than the groceries each week.  I've already spent over £200 on things this month that I don't usually buy (SCBWI annual membership, Patrick's insurance, Mitzi's vet visit and the books for my lil nephew so I need to be very strict with what I buy for the rest of the month now.  I'll be at least £150 better off next month though 'cos the membership and insurance is only once a year, so as long as I can be a scrooge for the rest of the month with the things I want but don't need then I can breathe again in August.
***

We've just filled up the second recycling box too, with the pop bottles Steve's been hoarding over the last week.  Tsk.
***

Just finished a course and passed first time, so time to do the admin on my site now.
***

That's the certificate up on my site, so time for my prescription now.
***

ENGLAND HAVE WON THE CRICKET WORLD CUP FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!!

I watch the cricket, but definitely do NOT describe myself as a fan, but to win it for the first time ever has made me a touch emotional lol
***

Prescription taken so I'll head to bed as soon as it starts kicking in.
***

Heading to bed now.  Nite nite orl!  💤  Sea ewe in the morning!
***

 

Saturday 13th July 2019

Steve's just promised that next week, because there's nothing going on and as long as it isn't raining, "I'll come out with you and the pup every day as long as you don't go out stupid early like you usually do"

I asked him roughly what time was the earliest he'd come out with us and he said 8 o'clock was the absolute earliest.

Why don't I believe him?

Oh yeah, cos he said the same thing two weeks ago and went back on it.  Again!

I'd love to be wrong about it, but very much doubt I will be!
***

All three of us are dosed up and ready for whatever the day throws at us now, so I'm gonna start by taking the puppy out for our morning stroll.

BBS!
***

750% today and the puppy poo'd so I, of course, picked it up.  Soft and very smelly today, but I'm a law-abiding citizen so always pick it up when she poo's on our morning strolls!
***

Chips, cheese and beans for lunch today.  Simple and quick to prepare but yummy.
***

Got 3 books currently in my basket for my lil nephew to prepare him for his first day at school in September.  Gonna give it until tomorrow afternoon to see if anyone else on SCBWI-BI has any others to recommend then order them to hopefully arrive on Tuesday.

I've potentially got a book in mind for his Christmas gift too.  I can almost guarantee that I'll forget about it before August starts, let alone December though lol
***

That's my prescriptions taken.  Got a mug of tea to drink before I head to bed tonight first though!  😄
***

Goin' to bed now 💤.  Nite nite orl!
***

Friday 12th July 2019

That's the puppy, Steve and me all dosed up for the next 12 hours, then the puppy has to take her steroids and I need to take my prescription.

My maths has never been great, but I think I've worked out that between her food and walks every morning, she's lost 62½g of weight every week which is awesome.

This is my working outs - have I got it right please?

March to July is 4 months.
1kg divided by 4 months is 250g a month, right so far?
Each month has 4 weeks for the sake of easy calculation.
250g divided by 4 weeks is 62½g a week yeah?

Is my maths right please?  Assuming it is and she's been on steroids that we were told might make her put on weight, losing over 60g of weight a week is awesome for the puppy dog.  Keep going Mitzi, you're very nearly there now!
***

Just brushed me teeth for the first time in a couple of weeks and I'm gonna have to put the mouthwash onto the shopping again 'cos there's only one dose left, but I can almost bet that Steve won't take any of his stuff off, only mine.  Again.  Same as always.
***

We replaced the bread rolls we had this week with some different ones, took the fruit off, but that's all.  As predicted, Steve didn't take anything of his off the order.
***

Take-away for tea, so I'm shutting down now... nite nite orl!
***

Book Review: Saudade by Timothy V. Harris

⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

This book is a bit of a cross-over book... too old for children but too young for adults.

It started off well and kept my interest throughout.

So why am I knocking a star off then?

Purely because some of the grammar (especially using a backwards apostrophe that isn't even in the character map instead of ') and having occasional extra/wrong words and because it will have a very limited audience - more of a New Adult or cross-over book.

It's also apparently set in the future on a space station but that's barely mentioned and definitely wasn't what I considered to be set in the future either. TBH it's more of a modern day sci-fi book which is OK if you like that kinda thing, it just wasn't what I was expecting is all.

It's a good way to pass the day, just wasn't what I was expecting was all. Sorry.

Thursday 11th July 2019

Still virus free, thankfully, so time to start on the backups then I'll walk the puppy I reckon.
***

Backups under way.  One of them is gonna take 2½ hours to finish apparently, so I'll take me supplements before taking the puppy out.
***

Just asked Steve if he wants to join me and the puppy on our walk and he said no again "because it rained overnight"... knew this would happen!  It was him that suggested it but he's only come on four walks in ten days!  He started off so well then changed his mind and has only come on the walk once since last Thursday.  Well I'm not rearranging the appointment again.  If he doesn't come with me I'll go alone!  He's my carer and is paid to care for me for 35 hours a week but I'm lucky to get that in a month!   Most of it is the cooking for us both too!
***

That's me supplements taken.  All went down nicely this morning so hopefully that's a sign that I'll have a good day today.
***

Back-ups finished first time this week, so it's time for the senior puppy's walk now... wish us luck.  Gonna attempt another 750% I reckon but as soon as we've done 650% I'll take my lead from the puppy.
***

The puppy wanted to come home after 500% today, so I gently encouraged her to keep going until we did 650% then we both came home and she's flaked out on the floor, under Steve's leg now, bless her.
***

Curry for lunch today.  🍴
***

That was yummy scrummy in my tummy!  Steve's already asleep lol
***

Got Patrick's renewal reminder through the post.  Only gone up by £4 since last year, which is ace!  Gonna do that now while I remember... brb.
***

That was remarkably painless and at only £89 a year as opposed to month it's amazing value for money.  This is my 5th renewal with Blue Badge Mobility and the policy cost has only increased by around £15 in that entire time which is even better.  When I went on the initial search for an insurer for Patrick, I was thinking it'd be like £50 a month instead of less than £90 a year including recovery and puncture repair included as extras in the price!  If you live in the UK and rely on a mobility scooter or wheelchair (either manual or electric - they cover both) then I definitely recommend Blue Badge Mobility... you won't regret it and it's sooo quick and easy to renew - it took me longer to read the letter and policy documents than to renew the cover and it's all so easy to do online.  Just 2 pages (one to check the details are still right and the other for the payment) and the terms were really straight-forward and easy to understand too.

Same with Mitzi's insurance.  PetPlan were her initial insurers when we first got her from the Dogs Trust back in 2010 but it went from £25 a month to over £145 a month within about 3 or 4 years and we hadn't made a claim on it.  She's with Paws and Claws now which is under £20 a month and hasn't increased AT ALL from the first year (or if it has, only by a couple of quid a month even though she's a senior puppy dog now).  On top of that I think she's covered up to the maximum on everything for that and there's no upper age limit either, so as long as I keep paying the £20 a month, she's covered until she takes her final breath!

Insurance can be expensive, but the peace of mind is worth it to me.
***

That's Mitzi back from her vet visit.  £142 and more steroids again.  The vet took blood which on its own cost £80!!  Moved the money over to the joint account so that he can pay Marie back for it.

Let's see how long it takes him shall we?
***

I'm goin' to bed now.  Nite nite orl!  Sea ewe in the mornin'.
***

 

Wednesday 10th July 2019

Virus scan started without any kind of technical problem or anything this morning.  Firefox had an update so I was thinking it would require a reboot but it didn't, thankfully.
***

That's me supplements taken so time to walk the puppy now.  Steve said he'll come with us this morning.  He's dressed and got his shoes on so it's looking likely he will this morning but I won't believe it until it actually happens.
***

I was wrong twice over this morning.

First the puppy doesn't always poo at 8.30am 'cos while there were a few times I thought she might on our walk this morning, she didn't poo at all.

Second, I was wrong about Steve too.  He did come out with us and took the puppy for 200% of her walk.  We walked 650% today, added to Steve's 200%, means she walked 850% between us, which is great going by her.

The puppy wanted to keep walking but it just wasn't safe for me so we came home.  Maybe she wants to increase her walk to 750% like she did with me yesterday?  It was only a few weeks ago that we increased it from 500% to 650% and she seems to want to increase it again now, so I'll try and see how much it's safe for me to do with her tomorrow then take it from there.  If it's not safe then I won't even contemplate it, like I didn't this morning.  It's all very well her wanting to go for longer walks, but my body has got to get used to it too!
***

The post has just come.  BarclayCard are refunding me over £500 for not supporting me enough when I was struggling to make the repayments on it a few years back.  Gotta fill in a form and enclose a statement of my account but that makes a nice change and I'll be able to add it to my savings for Steve's car.  Nice, unexpected surprise this morning!  Thank you Barclaycard!
***

Prescriptions taken... gotta remember not to shut down tonight 'cos of the virus scan.  As soon as the pills start kicking in I'll head to bed again.
***

Heading to bed now.  Nite nite orl!  😴
***

Tuesday 9th July 2019

Mornin' all!

Time to walk the puppy then take me supplements.  What do you reckon chances are that Steve won't come with us again?
***

"My shorts are in the wash" said Steve when I asked him about coming with us.  They weren't 10 minutes ago and it was him that suggested coming with us last week after re-arranging the ultrasound appointment!  He's being paid to be my carer for 35 hours a week but he does buggar all to earn it!
***

The puppy poo'd on her walk and I picked it up like I'm legally obliged to.  Soft, smelly, warm and big.  Made me feel sick when I picked it up and tied a knot in the bag!
***

The cheek of it!  I read and review books and I've read and reviewed this one book back in May that was riddled with errors so I gave it a single star review.  The author said that he'd had problems with the editor leaving the company so I said I was sorry about that but maybe he shouldn't have published and advertised the book and asking for reviews if he wasn't ready for them.

He sent me the edited book this morning.  Not a single word in the email, just the attachment and seemed to expect me to read it again and change my review.

Not gonna happen.

I said that I wasn't going to review Christian books so why he sent it to me to begin with I haven't got a clue but he didn't say a word in his email, it was literally just our conversation from May and the attachment!

Then I read a message from D about adding a page to her site.  No probs.  Did that for her, then read her PM on Facebook - she didn't want them on a new page, but in an existing page, so I'd just wasted the last half an hour of my life then!  Because she's a friend, I did it, then Steve said something about it being 50 years since Apollo 11 or something and I just lost the plot!

People expect me to do things for free and don't like it when I'm honest in the review and refuse to change it.  Then D changing her mind, then Steve talking about something was just too much for the day and I've had enough already.  It's only 10.21am too!

Not a happy bunny.

Gonna take me supplements now and hopefully calm down a bit.
***

That's the supplements swallowed.  They all went down with gulp each, except the Multi but that only took two gulps so I'm hoping this is the start of the day becoming more positive now.
***

The council are coming to clear up the cat poo "within 1 day" so hopefully it'll be cleared up by the time I take the puppy out on Friday morning.

The supplements are awesome 'cos they're already bringing my blood pressure down and that's the only thing that's changed in the last 5 minutes.  Dunno if it really is the supplements or if it just happens to be reducing after I've taken them, but I'm noticably less angry already!
***

Them new bread rolls are incredibly filling!  Only managed half my lunch today!
***

That's the browser caches cleared ready for tomorrow's virus scan and the pup is showing a great deal of Westitude atm lol
***

Prescriptions taken, so I'm going to bed as soon as they start kicking in.
***

Starting to yawn, so it's time to shut down for the day now.

Nite nite orl!
***

Monday 8th July 2019

The puppy forced me to walk even further than our usual Monday marathon today so I'm not going to be able to safely move off the sofa for the rest of the day... even typing this is painful for my hands and arms despite them only holding on to the pup's lead and my quad cane!
***

Taken me supplements so hopefully they will kick in soon.  Don't wanna risk walking any further than I really have to today though in case my legs give way and won't hold me upright any more.
***

Gonna spend the day studying again methinks.  It'll keep me sat down instead of needlessly and riskily moving around 'cos that just won't be safe.

Got loads of short (under 4 hours) courses to do so I'll make a start on those methinks.
***

The rubbish was collected while I was studying, so I've brought the bag in and Steve's put it on top of the cabinet.  We're getting used to this working as a team thing on a Sunday (taking it out) and Monday (bringing it back in) which is totally ace!  👍👍
***

That's a first!

I came out of hospital just over 16 years ago (I came out in March 2003) and since then, my bladder has given me literally a five minute warning before I wee, but not just now!

It told me that I needed to go, just not within 5 minutes like it has up to now!  Hopefully that means that it's willing to start giving me slightly more warning that it's full now... it would be good if it could 'cos up to now I've either wee'd in the back yard or wet myself if Steve was in the bathroom... hopefully not any more though!
***

That's the recycling and food waste just been collected so I brought the boxes in and Steve took them through to the kitchen for me.  There is absolutely no reason for me to move off the sofa unless I need a wee for the rest of the day now, other than to go and get me lunch.  👌
***

Vegan pazza bol for lunch 🍴.  Yummy scrummy in my tummy.  Time to get back to studying now though!
***

Passed the course on the second attempt and have added the certificate to my navigation page now.
***

The shopping has been and gone nice and early again.  Means I can have an early night (as soon as my prescription kicks in of course).

Apparently the pears were in the same bag as Steve's water so they were bashed about and were totally smashed to smithereens... not even a single whole one so they are going to be refunded and whoever packed the bags shoulda thought that 16 litres of water + a bag of soft fruit = a mess 😞.  Not to worry though, we've still got 6 plumbs and 6 apricots to keep us going for the next 7 days and they are light so hopefully we'll have more of them than the heavier things like apples.
***

That's me prescription swallowed.  Amazingly easy to swallow tonight, thankfully.  As soon as it starts kicking in I'll shut down and head to bed.
***

Shutting down now... nite nite orl.  💤
***

Sunday 7th July 2019

Just walked the puppy.  She only wanted to do 600% this morning, but that's OK 'cos she's done just over 5000% extra this week thanks to Steve taking her on 700% over 3 days so we're all kinda sore and aching and tired now.
***

The weekly admin has been done on the walking page, so it's time for me supplements now.
***

They all went down really easily this morning, thankfully, so time to do the recycling, food waste and rubbish now.
***

A very full recycling box again this week, only a tiny amount of waste food and most of the rubbish was from Steve clearing up the rubbish outside our house that a cat/the wind had spread over the pavement overnight yesterday so we cleared it up and apparently that's what most of the rubbish in the bag was this week!  We're doing so well with not only our meals but increasing the recycling and vastly reducing our rubbish too.  No arguments or even raised voices or blood pressure or anything at all today... definitely one of our best weeks for it and even clearing up the puppy's poo to go into the rubbish bag was easy this week... she produced an absolutely brimming scoop full this week and only poo'd on her walk once.  Steve cleared that up and I just added the poo from the yard into the bag of cleared up poo from her walk.  We're definitely getting this teamwork thing sorted now!
***

Marie is coming with the puppy's food between 11 and 12 today - thank you so much, Marie!  Someone is coming for the boxes this afternoon too, thanks to Freegle then that's it for the day.  Just need someone to take the steamer then that's the kitchen sorted out a bit more with the things we no longer want or need.
***

Just binned the rubbish in my bin and taken two pie boxes out to be recycled so now we have half a bag of rubbish and 1¼ boxes of recycling so we're making good use of having 2 recycling boxes and it really is encouraging that they come and pick the recycling boxes and waste food caddy each week otherwise it'd all be binned because we don't have any transport or motivation to take it to the recycling centre!
***

Marie has just dropped the food off for the puppy, so just waiting for the boxes to be picked up at "around 2pm" now, then that's everything done and dusted for the day.

Absolutely wiped out after this week though... think I'm gonna have another early night tonight again.  Bet I'll still be tossing and turning for hours though, tsk.
***

In a tidying up kinda mood today so I've just cleared up and binned all the empty puppy food bags that were in the gap and under Steve's rollator so there is less to clear up next week.
***

The box of bags fell down while I was getting our lunch out of the freezer so I've just tidied that up and my legs are going "no more now" so I hope I'm OK to go and get my lunch and hand over the boxes when they come in about half an hour.  It's just not safe for me to do much else today though, unfortunately.  😒
***

That's the boxes gone and Steve's making our lunch, so there isn't any reason to be on my feet for the rest of the day, so my legs can slowly recover and hopefully keep me upright until I go to bed now.  😌
***

Ten minutes to lunch 👍 so I'm gonna put me laptop on the floor now.

BBS!
***

The pie was absolutely gross unfortunately.  I've just put a review on the food review page of my homepage.  Steve enjoyed his, but we won't be getting them again.
***

Having an early night tonight.

See you all in the morning!
***

Saturday 6th July 2019

Was still awake at 11pm last night and awake at just gone 7am this morning so I only got 8 hours sleep instead of the usual 10 that my body needs to function properly.
***

Took the puppy out for her stroll and we did 700% along with Steve's 100% so that was pretty good.  Maybe our senior puppy wants longer walks every day 'cos she's walked 700% with me twice this week, on top of the longer walks she's had with Steve and our standard Monday marathon so we've done well this week!
***

Added more bin bags and washing up liquid to the shopping and it's only just over £45 this week so Steve can, in theory, add another fivers worth of groceries to the shopping if he wants or needs to this week.
***

Steve's just helped me to properly use the spreadsheet and added autosum results as well as manual results to the spreadsheet, so I don't need to do any more maths each week I put the spreadsheet up now.  Added Steve's percents with the puppy too so it's gonna be a bigger, hopefully more interesting spreadsheet each Sunday from now on.

Need to take me supplements and maybe a couple of squirts of B12 to give my body what it's crying out for now.
***

That's the supplements and B12 spray taken and I know this is gonna sound soooo weird but as I swallowed each one, I could feel my body relaxing and thanking me.  I know doctors say it takes a few days for your body to use up all the goodness from the supplements before you get low again, but I also know how my body reacts to just one missed dose and I don't like it one bit.  A few hours later than usual (10am instead of 8am kinda thing) and it starts telling me it really needs a boost.  Just wish it would communicate that to my memory lol  I've got a reminder on my mobile and email programme so I usually remember to take them when the reminders pop up, but there are occasional days (like the Thursday just gone) that I forget until late afternoon and it's pointless taking them then!

If you live in the UK and you wanna get a 10% discount on your first order, I swear by Simply Supplements.  To get the discount, just follow the link, put my name (Amanda George) and email address (amanda.k.george@googlemail.com)
into the boxes at the checkout et voila!  I've been using them for getting on for 20 years and wouldn't go anywhere else now 'cos my body approves and I like the prices for so many pills per bottle.  I'd love it if they did a B12 spray like Amazon do, but for my daily dose of vitamins and minerals I wouldn't go anywhere else now!
***

Pazza Bake for lunch today and my belly has been rumbling since 10am so I'm gonna devour the plate full of it as soon as Steve takes it out of the oven!  🤤
***

Just added 2 packets of grated cheese to the shopping and it's up to £47.62 now, which is much more like what I was expecting!

The pasta bake is in the oven now and I can't wait for the next hour to go past!  👌🍴
***

That was yummy scrummy in my tummy.  I mentioned to Steve about maybe adding in some herbs next time, just to take it to the next level and I've broken another quarter off me tooth now somehow but it was sooo worth it!
***

Added a jar of Italian seasoning to the order now.  T'was only £1 for 14g so it's not a huge amount if we don't like it.  4.3 stars out of 5 and the single star review was 'cos it wasn't a chopped up bell pepper?  It's herbs not a vegetable FFS!  That's like leaving a review on a fresh vegetable and complaining that it's not a herb!  Jeeeez!
***

That's my prescription taken and our baby girl's food decided on when she comes off her diet, hopefully by the end of the year - https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/royal_canin_size/mini/13428 as long as her vet agrees of course.

You watch me forget now though lol
***

Goin' to beddy-byes 🛏 now. 

Nite nite orl.  😴💤
***

Friday 5th July 2019

Just walked the puppy and remembered to take my supplements too, thankfully.  My body is now going "yeeessss! 😆  I needed and missed those four pills yesterday!  👍👍👍"  It's working hard to make the most of the goodness it was desperate for yesterday and the B12 is already making good use of its extra dose.  Hopefully it means that I'll have an easy day with my body today too, now that it's got the support it needs to function properly.
***

Just seen this ad for something on Facebook... ewwww!

Disgusting but sooo true!
***

Blimey!  Someone wants the cardboard boxes!!  I love Freegle 'cos this person wants and can use things that would otherwise have been recycled!  Just gotta get rid of the steamer now lol
***

Just seen this on my Facebook wall and I don't know about you, but I could and should be doing more of it!

***

The personal attack alarm from Victim Support has just arrived so that's attached to my neck thing now so I feel a lot safer taking the puppy out for her walks now.  Gone from a three to a five on the personal safety scale now.  Thank you Victim Support!
***

There are now 4 video's of the puppy on my homepage.  Was more stressful than it need to be again, but the puppy, my visitors and my site is worth it.
***

Taken my prescriptions now so time to read my emails before I head to bed.
***

My credit score has changed.  😟  I'm seriously hoping it's an improvement but what if it isn't??  😕
***

That's a relief then.  Something was deleted from my credit score was all.  My rating is still poor and I'm still a high risk for credit but it's moving in the right direction now, thankfully.
***

It's only taken all day, but I've finally tweeted the book cover... it needed to be .jpg instead of .gif was all lol  😩

I'm off to bed in celebration now.  Nite nite orl!  💤
***

Thursday 4th July 2019

Welp, it seems that 5am is my natural wakey uppy time, no matter what time I hit the hay 'cos I was still awake at 11pm last night and was wide awake by 5.15am this morning, so what I'm gonna try tonight (assuming I remember) is to take my prescription at 5pm and see what happens tomorrow. Would be better if I woke up an hour or even 2 hours later than I am doing atm though!

The virus scan showed that my likkle laptop is still free from viruses so I'm doing the back-ups now then I'll take the puppy for her walk, hopefully with Steve again, so that we can both slowly work our way up to walking to the ultrasound department at the end of July.
***

The back-ups have just finished and Steve's joining us on the puppy's walk again this morning - yaaaaaay!

I'm gonna work on his shop when we get home... need to find some free images to use in it first though!
***

A cat has poo'd in the road again so I've taken a photo and reported it to the council.  Gonna report our neighbour to the police and put it on the form then spend the rest of the day sitting down.
***

Got an incident number and put it on the Victim Support form so I'm not intending to move off the sofa other than to go to the bathroom for the rest of the day now!
***

Closed Steve's store after all... it wouldn't let me/Steve request 10% of the basket price up front or crop his logo to the right size without paying.  I'm still happy with them for my writing shop though, 'cos I only need the basics so I'm happy with them for the moment and I can go through my webhost if/when the sales pick up.
***

Only just (3.45pm) remembered that I haven't taken me supplements, so I'm gonna leave it for today and definitely take them tomorrow.... was wondering why I wasn't feeling my usual self... I rarely feel anything but bad, however now I know that I definitely need my supplements every day so that I can make the best of a bad situation!
***

That's me prescriptions taken and a decade old food steamer put on Freegle so I can relax until the pills kick in now.
***

I've started yawning so I'm shutting down and having an early night.  💤

Nite nite orl.  😴
***