Storage

Ellie had an early drop-off this morning, though she wasn't awake enough to realise it. She wandered straight upstairs and got into bed with Nana. She was still there when Nana came downstairs, and I had gone up for my shower. She woke up slowly and hadn't really switched her brain on until we arrived at the school gates (where I had to leave her, again).

After breakfast, I got on with some domestic chores to get them out of the way, giving me a fairly clear day. DPD had messaged me to say my packages would be delivered by 10:00, and I wanted to play! Just after the packages arrived, Kim arrived. She had been for some blood tests, and dropped in on the way back. We had a lovely hour or so, chatting and hearing about their recent holiday on the riverside near Ripley. As she has finished University and her various placements until September, we hope to see a lot more of her during the summer... though she is taking on some bank work.

I finished unwrapping my parcels and set up the new NAS device during the afternoon. Having changed the layout of the storage (from the old, failed drive), I spent some time tinkering with the backups so that I could get the most from them and simplify the way in which the storage was laid out. I hadn't finished by the time I had to collect Ellie, so this is something that I will return to tomorrow.

We watched the Argentina / Egypt match from the World Cup. I was sorry to see Egypt lose. They had played so well, and their goals were so well taken.

Dressing

I am really enjoying this lovely sunny weather. Knowing the peculiarities of the UK weather, however, I suspect it will all collapse as the school holidays begin. Zoe had a late start this morning, so I was in no hurry. I wandered around to Zoe's to collect Ellie. I was instructed by Ellie that I should walk her as far as the school gates, but she could then go in by herself. This was to acclimatise us in preparation for next year when she can walk to school by herself! I, of course, did as I was told.

Today was a significant day in Diane's recovery. I took her to the hospital at lunchtime so that they could remove her main dressing and the staples stitching the wound together. They then re-dressed the wound with a smaller, more flexible dressing. It didn't take long, and she was walking a lot better as soon as she came out.

We had a quiet hour or so before I collected Ellie and took her into Chichester for her regular appointment.

Come the evening, we watched the highlights from the England / Mexico football game last night. It was good to see such a significant win. Let's hope the team is finally beginning to tick, but I'm glad I didn't stay up through the night to watch it. Tonight, we are watching the Spain / Portugal game.

Stroller

 We had a very lazy start to the day. The sun was shining, and it was clearly going to be a lovely day. There was nothing specific on the agenda.

I cleared a few domestic chores and popped to Sainsbury's to get some Ibuprofen (just in case), then settled down to take another look at options for replacing the failed backup drive. I dwelt on the options over a couple of hours, and in the end, ordered a new Synology NAS and a Seagate HDD. These should arrive during the coming week.

Di was eager to take a walk, so we wandered around the Italian Gardens a few times. She did very well, but did need to lie down when we got home. We did repeat the walk later in the afternoon. It's good to see her getting about, and to see the swelling going down.

Not much else to report. We won't be staying up to watch the Mexico / England game in the early hours. We are trusting that they can do the job without us yelling at the TV.

Not the Plan

 Well, that wasn't the plan... but we'll come to that in a moment.

Firstly, on this lovely sunny day, I am celebrating the completion of 12 years since I retired. Some may moan about their retirement, but not me. It has been 12 years of joy, family, travel, and generally doing whatever we want. I commend it to the reader.

Now, whilst I didn't have a plan for the day, I certainly was not expecting to spend it the way that I did. I guess I should start at the beginning. On Thursday evening, I developed what seems to be referred to as an "ice-pick" headache. This is a stabbing or shooting pain that lasts for a second or so, but repeats randomly. This lasted all evening and night. Paracetamol did not touch it. On Friday, the pain had gone, and there was no recurrence, even overnight.

This morning the pain started again while I was on my usual Zoom call with the cousins. The frequency had increased to about 13 seconds between "hits". After the call, I went online to 111 and went through their questionnaire. It said I should go to our Urgent Treatment Centre. I was sceptical and chatted with AI. It said I should contact AI and go to my Urgent Treatment Centre. That was unanimous then. I checked Di had everything she needed and headed for St Richard's. I was triaged fairly quickly, then waited to be seen. Several hours later (by which time the pain had gone), I was seen, and after some tests, the doctor suggested a couple of possible causes, but blood tests would be needed to provide some more clarity. A nurse took an armful of blood and sent it to the lab. I went for a walk and grabbed a coffee. The results came through within about 15 minutes. It was, however, a couple of hours before another doctor had the chance to review them with me. Blood tests were all clear. This meant that the most probable diagnosis was Trigeminal or Occipital Neuropathy. A letter was sent to my GP, and I was told to visit the GP if the problem recurred. In the meantime, if Ibuprofen helped, then use that.

I have had a few isolated "hits" since, but it hasn't been too bad. That was six hours that I wouldn't really wish to repeat.

Off duty

 Zoe had a day off today, so Grandpa was off duty. There was no school run, and he didn't have to attend the school sports day. Di and I had a quiet morning. She was able to shower for the first time since the operation, now that the swelling had diminished sufficiently to get the waterproof cover on her leg. I, meanwhile, worked through the pile of ironing and did several loads of washing, making the most of the glorious day to dry everything outside.

Zoe popped in to tell us how well Ellie had done, but reported that her hay fever was playing up and she had come up in a rash on her arm. She was felling decidely sorry for herself.

We had a quiet afternoon. In my case with my Kindle. In Di's case, she did her physio exercises on the bed and then, no doubt, spent some time with her Kindle. She really does seem to be doing well and is now pottering around without the aid of her crutches.

Nine Schools

It was a normal start to the day. It was a little overcast, but that soon burned off. After the statutory teas and coffees were distributed, I wandered to Zoe's to take Ellie to school. Ellie was very excited because she was one of the kids who had been selected to represent the school in an Athletics Meet this afternoon.

Once home, I got on with a few chores before collecting Maureen and setting off for Sainsbury's. (Though Chris is back from hospital, he can't drive yet.) The shopping trip was remarkably quick. We didn't seem to have as much as usual this week. I stopped in to say "Hello" to Chris when I dropped Maureen off with her shopping. He is looking very well, considering the seriousness of his recent episode. He is hoping to be driving (at least for short trips) again next week.

I stowed all of our shopping away and then pottered for a while. After lunch, I managed a quiet hour with the Kindle before getting ready for the afternoon's excitement.

I collected Ellie from school, and we drove across to Felpham. There, on a huge school field, the pupils from 9 junior schools were gathering in their groups. Ellie's school was one of two schools classified as "small". We had arrived early because of the expected traffic. This worked well, but it did mean we had about 45 minutes to wait for the activities to start. Ellie was scheduled to do the (standing) long jump and the relay. This meant a lot of waiting around. (I should mention that there was a very impressive turnout of parents, along to cheer on the children.) It was clear that some of the larger schools had some very fine young athletes. What was nice, however, was the way all the children were cheered on, even those at the back.

Ellie did well in the long jump. There was no official statement by the time we left, but the results were to be sent to the schools. In the relay, she had a lot of ground to make up after the previous runners had dropped several places. Ellie managed to claw those places back and gain another, but the last legs of the race couldn't maintain what she had gained.

It was a lovely couple of hours in the sunshine, and I grabbed an ice cream for her as it all broke up. We were soon home, and now she just has to prepare for tomorrow's Sports Day at school.

Defend for Goodness Sake

July started gently. There was no need to be up at 6:30. I was anyway. I took Di some tea, and slowly the day came together. I wandered around to Zoe's and took ~Ellie in to school. She was particularly chirpy this morning. 

Back home, I grabbed some breakfast and then got on with some domestic chores. (Which reminds me, I think I have a load of washing sitting in the washing machine - I must hang that up). 

Jasper had an appointment at the vet. Di decided to venture out and come along with me, so we all piled into the car and took the furry thing for his monthly jabs and to have some of his matted fur clipped. We were there for about 30 minutes, but he was very calm and quiet. (If only he were like that at home).

When we got back, Di had a chat with our neighbour, Ken, who had also had his knee done. They shared their experiences for a while, but then she came in and went upstairs to rest. I, meanwhile, grabbed the failed irrigation controller and drove to City Irrigation. True to his word, the chap behind the counter examined it, then replaced it with a brand-new device. I soon had re-fitted it and have set up and working.

I picked Ellie up after her school football club and brought her home, only to find that Zoe was already waiting for us. Everybody, it seems, wanted to be home in time to watch the England / DR Congo game from the World Cup. Zoe and Ellie headed home, and we sat down to dinner in front of the TV. The redeeming feature of the game was that England won. They don't, however, make it easy viewing for the fans, and the defence is dreadful. Unless they sort that out, I can't see them progressing much further. 

Viking Raid

 It was a cool start, and there was some early rain. It was all finished within a couple of hours, and it turned into a nice day. Ellie was dropped off a little later than usual. All was fine until she decided she wanted her school skirt rather than her summer dress. Grandpa had to hotfoot it to Zoe's and bring back the aforementioned grey skirt. (He had checked on its whereabouts before leaving). Grandpa brought the skirt back, only to be told it was the wrong one. (Well, actually, it was the only one in the location I had been given.) I was given the silent treatment from then on, until I dropped her at the classroom.

There was a list of chores to clear first thing, but then I took Di along to The Nuffield to have her dressing removed. We were in and out in about 15 minutes. The nurse cut off the bandage that had been applied last week. All looked well on the wound dressing itself. That has to stay in place until early next week.

The rest of the day followed a familiar pattern. Di did her physio exercises, then rested. I grabbed a bite to eat and then spent some time with my Kindle; then I went along to collect Ellie and bring her home. Zoe wasn't far behind, collecting Ellie and all her clothes and school things.

We settled down with some dinner and watched the Norway / Cote d'Ivoire football match from the World Cup. I was delighted to see the Norway team score a late winner.

Cruising

 Di didn't have a good night. She was awake for all but about 3 hours. I did better than that, but not brilliantly. Ellie was being dropped off an hour later than usual, but I was up at the usual time out of habit. The weather was a bit cooler, but it was still a lovely day when we walked to school. She was very excited that they had a rehearsal for the summer production today.

Once home, I got on with some admin after helping Di up the stairs. When she was settled, I popped to Sainsbury's and M&S for some items I couldn't get at the weekend, then stopped off at Chalcroft Nursery. I went to see the guys at City Irrigation and explained that I was having real problems with the irrigation controller. It was eating batteries too quickly, it wouldn't keep time (often drifting by several hours overnight), and wouldn't allow the manual override. He asked when it was installed, and when I told him last October (it was actually September), he told me to bring it in, and he would sort it out or replace it if necessary. That was good news. Later in the afternoon, I disconnected the unit and will take it in to them tomorrow or Wednesday.

We heard from Maureen. Chris had been discharged, and they were just settling down at home. That must be a huge relief for them both. He had been so poorly.

Denise phoned and had a chat with Diane. She and Becky have reviewed the details of the cruise we have booked, and wish to join in. I sent them the details of Sue, who does our bookings, and then phoned Sue to give her a "heads up". Later in the evening I heard from Becky to say it was all in progress.

My saintly sister celebrated her birthday today. Saintly? Well, it is the feast of St Peter and St Paul, and she was born in St John and St Elizabeth's hospital. I hope she had a wonderful day. Trevor sent us a picture from their evening in Portugal, explaining that Jane believed I should have a uniform such as this, when serving tea.

I responded that I did, indeed, have such a uniform. She didn't believe me for some reason and demanded photographic proof.

Proof was provided.

Roaming

 Despite the late night, having watched the England vs Panama World Cup game, I was up early. Jasper was getting noisy and I wanted to distract him and let into the garden, so that Di could rest. She didn't, but she did stay in bed nursing a cup of tea until it was time to come down for her morning injection.

After breakfast, Di went up to complete her physio exercises, and I made myself comfortable in the study. I had some final documentation to complete regrading the latest configuration work. After that, I started to review my backups - after all, with a new configuration, I had a new item to backup. It was while doing this that an amber light illuminated on one of my backup drives. That is not a good sign. It indicates the internal diagnostics have detected problems. As the drives are 10-12 years old, and are never switched off, I can't really complain. I now have to consider the most appropriate replacement. (Fortunately, I do still have two further copies of the data).

During the afternoon, Di wanted to stretch her legs a bit so we took a walk, doing several laps of the Italian garden. She was fairly galloping around. She is doing so well.

I had received a message from Maureen to say there was a parcel by her front door, and could I grab it and hold it for her. When she stopped by on her way home from visiting Chris at the hospital, We invited her in to have dinner with us. She's had a couple of weeks of trekking back and forth to the hospital (she doesn't drive), and I suspect that getting home and then cooking dinner for one can get tiresome. She jumped at the invite and we had a lovely hour or so chatting and joking.

Restocking

 There was some thunder and rain overnight. I didn't hear it, but Di had a disturbed night and was able to report on the overnight weather when I woke up. I went down to make her some tea and to grab my first coffee. I then settled down with the news until she was ready to come downstairs. (I'm happy for her to potter around on her own, but won't allow her to do the stairs with me being present.)

I had my usual call with the cousins. The highlight for me was when Red Tim explained that he had bought an air conditioning unit for £500. He went on to say that it wasn't too expensive when you think he would pay £50 for a good night's sleep, and consequently, it would pay for itself in 3 nights! While you think about the maths behind that statement, I suggested to him that he clearly has the credentials to be our next Chancellor of the Exchequer.

With the call finished, I completed this week's shopping list. Having checked there was nothing Di needed me to do and extracted a promise that she would be sensible in my absence, I collected Maureen and headed for Sainsbury's. (With Chris still being in the hospital, she has no transport, so I offered to take her along when I went.) Despite the horrendous problems that Sainsbury's has had with their freezers and chillers, most things seemed to be back to normal. There was no frozen food (but I didn't need any), but everything else was available. 

I dropped Maureen and her shopping, then went home to unpack and stow all of our stuff. By the time I was finished, it was time to help Diane downstairs for some lunch.

We had a quiet afternoon. Di did her physio exercises, and then chatted with Kim on the phone. I grabbed some Kindle time until it was time to start on dinner.

Dressing

 After another hot and steamy night, I was up at 6:30, ready to enjoy a very cool shower. Once dressed, I made a tea for Diane and sat down with my coffee. She came down in time for her morning injection and a coffee.

As usual, I went to Zoe's to collect Ellie. There was a bit of a panic when Zoe couldn't entice Beau back in the house, so eventually she decided to leave her back door open, knowing that her neighbour was home and would keep an eye on the house. We also checked that the security cameras had the approach covered.

I dropped Ellie off at school and went home for breakfast. My plan was to work through the ironing, but first I had to help Di back upstairs so she could get washed and dressed. It was later in the morning, as I was finishing the ironing, that she called down. There was some seepage from her dressing, and there seemed to be a split in the dressing itself. After a very brief debate, she phoned the hospital, and they made an appointment for her to have it checked, mid-afternoon.

We had some time to kill, so I helped her wash her hair before we grabbed some lunch. When we arrived at the hospital, she was seen almost immediately. The old dressing was removed, everything was checked and given a clean bill, and the wound was redressed with a similar dressing protected with a compression bandage. We have to return on Tuesday for a "wound check".

Back home, Di went upstairs to do her physio exercises and have a rest. Soon after, Kim arrived. She had been to the doctor and was due to return for a test later, so she came to see Mum. She wasn't with her for long as the doctor phoned to bring forward the time of the test. No doubt we'll hear more from her later.

Adjusting

 We slept well last night, despite the heat. I was up soon after 6:30 and took Di a cup of tea. Di was ready to come downstairs at 7:30 as she had to take her morning injection before 8:00. Soon after, I left her when I went to collect Ellie and take her to school. It was remarkable (and rather pathetic) how many parents had decided to keep their kids away from school because of the heat. The absenteeism was so bad that the school have cancelled tomorrow's sports day, even though the temperature is forecast to be in the mid-20s, which is nothing special. The epithet "snowflakes" seems remarkably appropriate at this juncture.

Di went upstairs soon after I returned. Once washed and dressed, she settled on the bed to do her exercises and to stay out of Lottie's way while she cleaned the ground floor. I sorted out a couple of loads of washing and got them out on the line to dry, then settled at the computer to update some of my Raspberry Pi documentation (now that NetAlertX is working properly).

We had a quiet afternoon. I went to collect Ellie and brought her home to see Nana. Zoe wasn't far behind, and she popped in for a chat before leaving with Ellie. Di continued with some physio exercises and spent a while walking around the lounge and family room. She is clearly making good progress and seems to have the pain under control.

Home Free

It was a hot night, but I slept pretty well. I was up soon after 6:30 and pottered about until it was time to walk to Zoe's and collect Ellie for school. She was a bit concerned by the heat, but I convinced her that there was little you can do to change it, so try to ignore it. The more you think about it, the more it will trouble you. 

I headed straight home. There was some vacuuming and some tidying up to do so that there were no obstacles on the floor when Di came home. I was nearly caught out when I got a phone call at 10:30 to say that Di had been discharged. I grabbed my sunglasses and car keys and headed off to Chichester. They were just finishing a briefing on the meds when I arrived. We packed her stuff and loaded the car. A porter wheeled her down, and we whizzed off home.

Once home, I took the bare essentials upstairs, and Di went up for a rest. Fortunately, she was able to sleep and though she had a bad night last night was able to get about 4 hours during the afternoon. Soon after she woke up, Denise called, and they had a brief chat. She has resolved to call again tomorrow.

Meanwhile, at Sainsbury's, there was chaos as the fridges and freezers had broken down and the gas canisters had drained. Zoe would be delayed, so I had to collect Ellie from school and bring her back here. Ellie was not amused. However, after some time with Nana, she snapped out of it and was her usual self. I gave her dinner, and as she was finishing up, Zoe arrived. All was well in Ellie's world.

We had a very quiet evening, having moved some furniture so Di could sit on a more appropriate chair than the usual Stressless recliner.