It's my first ever writing camp tomorrow so I'll be a lot quieter than usual until I've written the final full-stop, which means you can all breathe a sigh of relief lol
I've taken my last pills of the day and I'm pretty much gonna head straight off to beddy-byes now, so I'll see you all at some point tomorrow... keep your fingers crossed 🤞 that I can do this!
Nite nite orl.
Lunch today was another salad made mainly by my carer but I had to make the bits that I forgot and my carer was more interested in her phone than doing her job by that point.
The first photo is the majority of the salad consisting of iceberg lettuce, a stick of celery, 3 cherry tomatoes, 3 radishes, carrot batons, 2 slices of vegan ham, a small handful of vegan grated cheese, and a spoonful of coleslaw which my carer made for me and chopped it all up into slices instead of leaving it whole like the carer did the other day lol
The second photo shows the bit that I made while my carer was on her phone texting someone and consisted of the last slice of deseeded red pepper and a mini cucumber so I've well and truly had my five portions of fruit and vegetables again today!
Here are today's two photos:
...some people use places like Freegle and Olio for the right reasons and then there are those who see that they can get things for free and want big things like woodworking tools, through to wheelchairs and yesterday someone even requested "A nice automatic car"!! I don't think this person has offered even one thing yet they are straight in there with wanting an automatic car that costs thousands... it sounds like it has to be a fully working car too because they want it "for my job because I can't afford one" as well as wanting it fully taxed, MOT'd and insured with a full tank of petrol and for it to be delivered to them I assume too!
You're supposed to give 3 things for every "wanted" you post but I don't remember seeing anything other than the wanted's from any of those 3 people!!
I hope they don't get one or they get a really old rust-bucket that needs some serious repairs as they want it for free!
...refunded in full for the deep clean that didn't happen through no fault of my own 7 days ago - almost to the hour! That's a huuuge relief and means that I can pay for a genuine deep clean from a different company who actually gives a fuck about doing the job that I paid them for!
...after butting heads with the pharmacy for a week, I phoned my GP surgery, was put through to the pharmacist and in 2 minutes and 11 seconds (including the time listening to the recorded message and getting past reception) the pharmacist is putting through the request for the missing box so I hopefully won't have to miss any doses at all.
Just gotta do battle with the pharmacy after lunch, to find out when my other two prescriptions are being delivered... wish me luck! If there isn't another post like this by 3pm, can someone remind me to call them and do my best not to get stroppy with them please?
Just my usual breakfast of Simply Fruity muesli with Plant Protein soya milk, a packet of apple and grapes and, of course, an orange juice.
The orange juice was supposed to be smoooooth but it was a bit sharp for my liking, so I made myself a drinking chocolate as an apology to my taste-buds and we are back on speaking terms now lol
Here's today's breakfast photo:
First things first, can someone remind me to phone the pharmacy to see when a different prescription will be delivered 'cos I've only got a few days left.
I've taken my morning pills and I've got a decaff coffee on the go, to see me through until my morning carer arrives. I've gotta remember to fill up the second new bottle with squash too 'cos I finished the last of the previous bottle with my pills this morning.
Looks like my daily virus scan is on a go-slow again, just like yesterday, frustratingly.
Time to put my to-do list up for today now I reckon.
BBIAB
After wasting my day for the second missed appointment in two weeks, I've taken my pills and I'm gonna head off to beddy-byes now.
Nite nite orl.
...weaker than I thought.
I've given up waiting for the person or people to arrive now so I've moved the clothes rail, my quad cane and Patrick back into the hall now.
The clothes rail was awkward rather than heavy but I got a face full of clothes with every tiny movement.
My quad cane was fine, of course, but Patrick was heavier and a lot more difficult to move compared to even this morning. That might've been because all I've eaten all day is a bowl of muesli for breakfast and a packet of crisps for a very late lunch at about 3pm, but I think it's more than that... I'm getting wobblier and weaker all the time as the last 8 hours have shown.
Lunch tomorrow is salad again, so that won't give me energy either and it's the same for the rest of Summer too, so I'll be totally reliant on protein shakes to keep me functioning, which is far from ideal, but a necessary part of my life now, unfortunately.
The final bits of the new parking scheme are being erected in the street as I type this! It comes into effect on 5th July and there is one family in the street that won't like having to pay for only being able to park two of their 5 cars in the street! The family member that lives on the corner and has an address in the other road won't like it even more because he won't be allowed to park in the street at all lol
It's something that they won't be able to blame me for too, for a change!
I had another bowl of Simply Fruity muesli with protein packed soya milk, a pack of fresh apple and grapes and my usual bottle of orange juice again this morning.
Here's today's breakfast photo:
How are you all doing?
I'm trying to work out the best way to get around missing a month's supply of AP's. Do I take the right dose for a month and then a third of the dose (which is all I'll be left with) for the next month and send me completely fruitloop, or do I take 2.5mg one day and 7.5mg the next day then 2.5 then 7.5 etc? It'll last me two months until my next prescription but I don't know if I'll go loopy or not 'cos I'm getting the right dose every other day.
I've taken my morning pills and kicked off my daily virus scan so far this morning. I'm not supposed to have any carers coming in today 'cos of getting the work done on the house, but the same was supposed to happen last week and they still turned up!
Gonna sort out my to-do list then make myself some breakfast I reckon.
BFN
I've had a busy day today, so I'm rewarding myself with an early night.
I'll be back, as always, in the morning, but for now I'm saying nite nite orl.
In a welcome break from tradition ('cos my late hubby never wanted salads, even on the hottest of days) I had a totally home-made meal for today's lunch which was a salad containing:
A large stick of celery
2 cherry tomatoes
2 radishes
1 carrot
1 mini cucumber
Iceberg lettuce
Half red pepper
Coleslaw
And then I remembered the vegan ham and vegan grated cheese that were leftovers from a couple of weeks ago, so I had 2 slices of the ham and a small handful of the grated cheese too.
Here are today's two lunch photos:
With help from a wonderful Amazon bod, I can now plonk the image in this message in case you prefer that to the great big wall of text I produced about it yesterday?
Here's the banner to go and find out more and remember that you need to be a Prime member to take advantage of it, so either sign up or double/triple check that you have still got your Prime membership 😉
Prime Day banner:
Today's breakfast was a bowl of Simply Fruity muesli with protein-packed soya milk, a packet of apple and grapes and, of course, a bottle of orange juice.
Lunch today is my first salad of the year so my carer will actually have something to do (other than the washing up while I cook) today!
Here's today's breakfast photo:
Today's carer,T, was one of the most useless ones that I get.
She started off doing the washing up while I was filling the sink with cold water (which is what the majority of carer's do) then she crept into the bathroom and stood right behind me in silence. I glanced over my shoulder and she was stood right behind me so that I couldn't move my arms.
I asked her to move several times and she goes "OK Love" but stayed exactly where she was. It was only when I turned to the side so that I could wash my bits that she took a tiny step backwards so that I didn't bash her with my elbow.
I dried myself and she said that I should put cream on my body. At which point I just didn't care so I said, totally honestly, that I don't have any.
I then put my deodorant on and she got right in next to me while I did it, then I turned back to the sink to brush my teeth and she sprayed some of my deodorant onto her glove I assume 'cos she didn't move her tunic so I'm assuming she didn't use it for herself in the normal way.
I brushed my teeth and it was just constant questions and touching my bare back throughout.
Getting dressed consisted of her putting my bra on backwards and my knickers inside out (again) then she put my top on backwards and by that point I just didn't care. Next came the socks before I had a chance to brush the dirt off my feet, then my boots then she realised that I hadn't put my trousers on yet so pulled my boots off again, put one leg through before realising that my other leg wouldn't fit through no matter how hard she pulled the waistband. I took the trousers off, undid the button and zip and put my trousers back on.
Now comes the joy of her trying to pull the legs down to fit inside my boots and I lost count of the times I had to repeat "long shorts" and "don't fit in boots".
She then wrote the notes on her phone while I came in here.
She followed me in and started sitting down on the other side of the sofa and I lost count of the number of times I had to say "no" and "wait" so that I could get my squash bottle and Graze box out of the way of her bum.
She then spent the next 7 minutes texting someone on her phone and I'm sat here thinking "just fuck off, please, just fuck off".
Then she realised what the time was and she stood up and said "going now!" and I breathed a huuuuge sigh of relief.
As a carer, she doesn't do much to earn the title or her wages!
I'm gonna update the to-do list, then get dressed properly this time, then have my breakfast.
It seems like today is gonna be a bad day for me, technology wise, 'cos I've been awake since 4.30am and attempting to run the monthly virus scan since 4.49am and I've had to reboot four times already and at 6.13am it still hasn't started yet. The go-slow is definitely on a go-slow today!
I've taken my morning pills and had my first sugar hit of the day, so I'm gonna sort out my Facebook memories then try restarting for the fifth time this morning... I've achieved absolutely bugger all in the last almost 2 hours and it's incredibly frustrating!
I've popped my last two pills of the day and I'm totally cream-crackered so I'm gonna head straight off to beddy-byes now.
See you all in the morning. Can someone remind me that it's my monthly virus scan tomorrow pretty please?
Nite nite orl.
Today's lunch (a tomato and herb MugShot) was very low calorie and I came >>this<< close to having baked beans instead 'cos my carer read Thursday's menu item instead of today's! Woops! Thankfully she hadn't opened the can, just turned the hob on and got the saucepan down before I corrected her.
I've still gotta consume 1,108 calories today, to take me up to the minimum, so there will be plenty of me-friendly drinking chocolates and crisps this afternoon lol A tub of me-friendly ice cream would rapidly get me there, but I'm not hot and don't wanna get any colder so wanna save the tubs for when I'm hot.
Here's today's lunch photo:
The UK Amazon Prime Day goes live on 11th and 12th July.
I used to take full advantage of it every year to get all sorts of stuff at usually huge discounts and my postie and delivery drivers hated me the next day because there was just so much stuff being delivered! lol.
It's a Prime member exclusive so now would be a good opportunity to sign up for Prime so that you can take full advantage of it.
I'm hoping to be able to offer all kinds of things here on my blog for the Prime Day, so get that card ready to be bashed and get ready to apologise to your postie and delivery drivers too!
You can sign up for Amazon Prime here and it's sooo worth the money! You get a free 30 day trial and it's only £8.99 a month after that but you can get free next day delivery on things with the Prime logo on the page which is a darn sight better than forking out £4.99 per order or having to spend a minimum of £25 for free delivery which doesn't apply to everything on the site. Basically, if you can afford it, the Prime membership and Prime Day deals especially are sooo worth it IMNSHO
Keep an eye on this blog all day and I'll try and remember to post deals that look especially good and if I've bought it in the past, I'll let you know that too.
I'll try and remember to use the "Prime Day" and/or "shopping" labels (like I have with this post) here on the blog and hopefully title each day with "Prime Day" or "APD" or something equally non-descriptive lol
Basically, get yourself signed up to Amazon Prime PDQ, put the 11th and 12th July in your calendar and keep your fingers crossed that you've got enough cash on your card to spend buying waaay too much lol
I'd love to know (in the comments bit of this blog so that it doesn't get lost in my inbox) what you especially want me to keep an eye out for so that I know that I'm actually providing information that you want and products that you want and will actually use instead of spamming you with things that you have no interest in whatsoever!
I finished off the box of muesli this morning and there was barely enough to cover the bottom of the bowl so I definitely overdid it on the portion size at least once lol
It was berries and cherries muesli, soya milk and an orange juice again this morning.
How are you all getting on this morning?
It looks like I'm gonna have a busy week this week 'cos I've got the groceries coming this afternoon, the cavity wall thing on Thursday and someone coming to pick up Steve's book on Friday, so tomorrow is my only free day this week.
I've taken my prescribed pills and started the daily virus scan so I've just gotta pop my supplements to keep me going through the day now. I think I'll do my laps as soon as my morning carer has gone so that I can get them done and dusted before I have my lunch. Gotta remember to put my FitBit image together and upload it today too, so it's gonna be a very busy day for me!
Gonna put up my day's to-do list then get ready for my morning carer... assuming she doesn't turn up before I've even finished this email like she did yesterday lol
BFN
I've popped my last pills of the day and got my grocery order ready for four weeks time in preparation for tomorrow morning, so I'm gonna hit the sack now.
Nite nite orl.
Just like every other Monday (as in every 2 weeks lol), my carer helped me to change the bedding and it took us 14 minutes today, so I only had time for the leftovers from yesterday's lunch and a snack pack of green and black olives that were 4 days out of date while my carer sat on the sofa making her notes. I'm 593 calories under the minimum and I've had both meals today so it's no wonder that I'm still hungry really.
Here's today's lunch photo:
My carer had been and gone by 7.15am so I had a nice early breakfast this morning.
T'was a bowl of Berries and Cherries muesli, soya milk and a 250ml bottle of orange juice again.
I think I've found the sweet spot for both the milk and the muesli now 'cos one box of both the muesli and the milk have lasted 6 days and I haven't gone hungry at all last week... in fact, I put on 200g lol
Here's today's breakfast photo:
How are you all diddling this morning?
I woke up in a great mood until I discovered that my VPN wasn't working, which sent my mood through the floor but thankfully a reboot fixed it. I took my pills and ran the virus scan while it was getting its knickers in a twist, so that's OK.
I've gotta email the DWP later about being paid the wrong benefit overnight but I've officially got the backpayment for my newest benefit, so that's a relief... I wonder how long I've been awarded it for this time though 'cos I haven't had any paperwork about it so far, just a text and my SW had a phone call about it apparently.
I've gotta phone the pharmacy about my missing box of pills today and if they still say that they don't owe me any, I'll have to put in another prescription request for the missing box.
I'm gonna publish this now and make a start on today's to-do list while I recover from my fist useless carer of the week.
I've just taken my last two pills of the week and the side effects are rapidly kicking in, so I'm gonna head off to beddy-byes now so that I don't fall asleep on the stairs or anything equally as dangerous.
I'll be back in the morning.
Nite nite orl.
Another late morning for me this morning!
Not sure if I'll get the opportunity to put my to-do list up before my last carer of the week arrives, but I've gotta add refilling my bottle of squash and putting the rubbish and recycling outside to it before I publish it.
I've taken my morning pills, run the daily virus scan and my FitBit is telling me that I managed a huuuuge 9 hours and 25 minutes of sleep, so that's why I'm so tired this morning.
Gonna make a start on my day's to-do list now.
TTFN
I've just popped my last two pills of the day so I'm gonna slowly start closing all my programs and shutting down.
I'll be back at some point tomorrow, I just don't know when that will be until it happens.
Nite nite orl.
I've just installed the update to my Roboform and I've got the taskbar icon back at last! It's just been that slightly folded piece of paper icon for a loooong time, but it's back now, which is a huge relief and gives my OCD one less thing to be anxious about which puts more of my mind at ease which, in turn, makes life ever so slightly easier to cope with.
Thank you Roboform!
If you wanna buy it straight away without finding out more first, just use this link and we'll both get 6 months for free and it's worth every penny! I've been using it for decades and couldn't be without it any more!
My lunchtime carer was more interested in talking on her phone and sitting on one of my back supports than doing the actual cooking today, so I did it all while she sat down chatting away to someone on her phone.
A rice noodle instant snack thing was on the menu for today and it was the first time I'd tried rice noodles but they tasted OK - very ricey (unsurprisingly lol) but the gooey thing lifted it a bit so that it wasn't so boring.
Here's today's lunch photo:
...what I was doing a couple of weeks ago and more than even yesterday!
I've just collapsed onto the sofa after achieving a huuuuuge 66 active minutes of laps. I stumbled getting in and out of the back door sooo many times but I just about managed to stay upright and kept going each time. My confidence took a battering, but I'm not gonna let one bad day get the better of me and completely lose all the confidence I've worked so hard to build up.
After I've had my lunch, I'm gonna go and turn the emersion heater on and relax in a loooong hot bath I reckon.
I've gotta remember to ask my SIL if she's able to pick up the last of the garden stuff when she brings me home tomorrow - you watch me forget though lol
Today's breakfast was the same as usual: muesli, soya milk, orange juice and fruit.
Here's today's breakfast photo:
How are you all doing this morning?
I'm doing OK, thanks for asking.
I've already taken my first 4 pills of the day and my daily virus scan found a couple of things that hackers could get hold of (or something like that) so I've resolved those and everything is fine and dandy again now.
I woke up pretty late compared to my usual 5.30am start, but then I was still wide awake at 9.30pm last night, and I'd much prefer that my body had the rest that it need rather than waking up at stupid o'clock every morning, so that's OK.
Rather than chasing up the pharmacy about my missing box of pills I'm gonna take the 5mg one every other day instead of every day and hope that I don't go too fruit-loop while I do it. I know that I'm OK doing that for about a week but this will be for 2 months, which I've never done before so keep your fingers crossed that I don't go too loopy!
My morning carer is due any time now, so I'd best publish this and make a start on my day's to-do list, then hopefully publish it before she arrives.
I've managed to read two short-ish books since this morning so I've only got 9 more to go now. Tomorrow is back to normal again with any luck.
Just taken my pills and it takes a while for this brand's side effects to kick in, but I don't wanna forget to say goodnight to you all, so I am gonna do that now.
See you all in the morning.
Nite nite orl.
If you've read any of my other recent book reviews, you'll already know that I start 'em all off in the same way, by saying that every book I read and review starts off with the full 5 stars and that I'm always hopeful that they will all still be firmly in place by the time I close the back cover. You'll also know that I'm not shy about removing stars but that I always give my reasons within the review. The most common reason for making a thoroughly deserving 5 star book into a 4 star one is 'cos of copyright or trademark infringement. It always breaks my heart when that happens but it's a huge annoyance of mine with things like that. I've rapidly replaced the fifth star once so far thanks to a magic little sentence right at the back of the book.
Now that's out of the way, lets get on with reading and reviewing shall we? My Kindle is telling me that it'll take about an hour to read so that should give me plenty of time to potentially recover before I head to bed.
The cover is making me think that this is a light-hearted book which is always a real treat but it takes something truly spectacular to even raise a smile out of me... will this book manage it?
First story leaves me wincing at the very thought and grateful that I'm not a man with a cat...
Dexam-what? They've all been really short stories so far but this is a pill (I assume) that I've never even heard of before!
Oh yes, I'm only 17% of the way through and I'm already smiling and shaking my head which it takes an absolutely incredible book to do!
Nooo! The fifth star is wobbly at only 17% because of that potential trademark infringement I was going on about right at the start of this review... please, no more otherwise it'll have to be another heartbreakingly 4-star book which I really don't want to happen, given how much I'm enjoying it!
The 'Frank Exchange' one was the shortest so far and got the first snort of laughter out of me at only 32% of the way through the book.
I'm at 49% now and this is an absolutely fantabulous book... definitely one of the best I've read so far this year (and I've read a *lot* of books so far) - it's funny with just the right amount of gross without making me lose my lunch - it's made me smile, chuckle, wince, tut and desperate to keep reading!
The vacuum cleaner one made me chuckle and shake my head in disbelief lol
Noooo! Not again! My heart is breaking 'cos the first star is coming of for the second potential trademark infringement in 60% of the book!
The 72% one is a total groaner - not gross or anything, just a "d'oheth! Why didn't I think of that?" thing that is probably similar to what I would have done in the same situation lol
And a third potential Trademark infringement at 81% but I've already very reluctantly removed a star for that reason so we're still at a very solid 4 stars.
Yup, the book ended on a tsk and a smile lol. Overall an awesome book and if it hadn't been for those 3 potential Trademark infringements it would have been an easy 5 star book.
If you want a quick read that'll make you shake your head in disbelief while you smile and chuckle, you really need to read this book.
My world feels a lot lighter after reading this book.
I had my first lunch that didn't come from a tin for the first time since early April today and my stomach has forgotten how to cope with it lol
My lunch today was 7 vegan chicken nuggets, 15 onion rings and a couple of big splodges of brown sauce and I'm verging on bloated now, but I'm less than 135 calories over budget, even though I had a flapjack and dippy thing from Graze for elevenses too, so I'm pretty happy with that.
Here's today's lunch photo:
I had a big breakfast today 'cos I'll barely be eating for lunch. I had a bowl of berries and cherries muesli, protein packed soya milk, a bottle of orange juice (of course) and 2 packets of apple and grapes because they go out of date tomorrow.
Here's today's breakfast photo:
I've already taken my pills and done my laps this morning so I'm all sweaty now lol
My carer turned up at the door just now and wouldn't believe that I cancelled both of today's carers so I'm assuming I'll be getting a lunchtime carer too which I'll have to turn away and pay for again.
My throat is parched, so I'm gonna put up my day's to-do list then have my breakfast I think.
BFN
I've just taken my last two pills of the day and I didn't get any side effects from them yesterday and I've had a clear head and been on top form today, so hopefully it'll be the same tomorrow.
I'll be off and on tomorrow 'cos of getting the house deep-cleaned, but I'll try and be on as often as I can.
I'll see you all in the morning.
Nite nite orl.
Today's lunch almost didn't happen 'cos my carer didn't turn up until almost 2pm!
It was just another tin of baked beans for lunch today. Tomorrow is gonna be a tiny amount of olives (as in 5 or 6, tops, looking at the tiny tray they came in on Tuesday) and a packet of crisps because of getting the house deep-cleaned then there are a couple of instant rice pots and a Mugshot to take me through to Tuesday next week then it's salads every day after that for the rest of Summer.
Here's my lunch photo for today:
Just a bit of a rant about tomorrow, so turn back now if you want or need to.
My SIL has arranged for a deep clean of the house tomorrow and I had a question about how much hot water they needed so I emailed them because my weekly budget is so limited with the electricity (and the emersion heater gobbles up £1 an hour of it) and I had to pay over £300 in advance for them to do it, which I wasn't happy about but I had to do it so that they would come over.
I've just had my SIL on the phone saying that I shouldn't have sent it and that they will need the hot water for as long as they need it.
I've got a bad feeling that they won't even turn up tomorrow and the emersion heater will be gobbling up money that I really can't afford now. I hope I'm wrong of course, but if they haven't turned up by 9.45am I'm gonna turn the emersion off and I'll have basically wasted the best part of £325 that I won't be able to get back. I'm also getting the feeling that not only won't they turn up but they won't refund my money either and I won't have a leg to stand on because I agreed to it by paying in advance apparently.
I bet my SIL will give them an absolutely glowing report too, just to really put the tin hat on it all.
I've had more than I can take now - people want to spend my money without even thinking about what I want or need, so I'll just pay up and shut up from now on <shrug>