On Monday it got cold, and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night saw the first frosts of the winter. I think it is the end of my nasturtiums, although my geraniums seem to be hanging on in there,
On Friday the temperature warmed up a bit, but on Saturday and Sunday storm Bert hit, and its been particularly windy, and pretty wet.
I did have to check myself earlier in the week when telling my class it was the 21st November – I’m not quite sure how we have ended up so far through the month! Hard to believe that we are a month from Christmas eve, and hard to believe that we only have two weeks of term left, although last week was particularly busy, and the coming week will, I suspect, be similar.
And my shoulder/neck still hurts. Thought it was getting better during the week, but on Friday it hurt pretty much all day; yesterday and today its been on and off with the pain. Now regularly taking Ibuprofen and also applying a cold pack each evening. Hope it gets better soon.
I have come to realise that there is a God, and he is a vengeful god.
And I have angered him.
A few years ago, Becky had planta fasciitis, I was sympathetic, but not really appreciative of how painful and debilitating it was until I developed the condition in January ’23.
For the last twelve months, or so, she has been complaining of a frozen shoulder, again my sympathy was not perhaps as fulsome as it might have been.
This week I have had a pain in my neck, right shoulder and right forearm. At times it has been blummin’ painful. Leaning forward to swoosh my face with water when shaving each morning gives me a pain just below my neck, between my shoulder blades. The pain often then moves through my shoulder to a my chest, were my right arm meets my body. A good job it has been on the right not the left, else I may have thought the pain was a heart attack. And my right arm and wrist hurts, particularly when using a mouse, or driving. It seems to be when the weight of my arm is not supported.
I thought it perhaps caused by a trapped nerve, or perhaps even the weight of my enormous brain causing strain on my neck.
But then I had my moment of clarity. I found god. My angry, vengeful deity, punishing me for my lack of sympathy. And since I have had my moment of revelation, the pain has begun to ease a little. However, my god continues to toy with me, periods of pain free clarity are brought to a swift end with a stabbing pain, a reminder of my sins past and present.
In other news, it was Becky’s birthday on Thursday. Just the two of us (getting older and more achy)
Weather wise – the blanket of grey has lifted and we have seen a bit of sun, blue sky but also some rain; and we’ve been able see the Tor again, no longer hidden in murky grey cloud. Its got colder, and is set to get colder still, so I have been enjoying what may be the last few days of my still flowering nasturtiums. And for the record, I gave the lawn a quick mow today, in the warm damp weather it has been growing at a fair old rate for November, and needed a quick trim.
Monday was Sophie’s birthday – 25 ! It seems hard to believe. She had been home for the weekend, and was home on Monday for her actual birthday. It was lovely to see her, and share her birthday tea (and cake!) before she went home that evening.
On Tuesday, EasyJet flights for Autumn 2025 opened …
… and we booked flights to Lisbon for October half term. We are experimenting on that trip, and not taking any luggage, other than the small carry on rucksack that we are allowed.
And today we booked our flights for Christmas 2025 – we are flying to Pisa, but will then head to Luca for the four days we are staying in Italy. Going out, once again, only basic hand luggage, but we paid an extra £30 for one extra cabin bag on the return flight, for any Christmas goodies we may but. Total cost of this return flight for us both is £140.
Wednesday was depressing as we woke to discover that – somehow – Donald Trump has been voted in as American President for the next four years. A miasma of depression hung over the day, mirroring the grey, damp weather we have had all week. I am beginning to come to turns with it, and accept the result, nothing I can do about it, so why worry?
The weather has been the same for well over a week now – warm (ish – these thngs are relative. Probably better to say not normal November cold), but grey, leaden skies and a dampness in the air (but no rain), We haven’t seen the sun in days, we’ve lived under a blanket of grey. But this has meant my nasturtiums and geraniums continue to flower, providing some much needed colour. (And, to be fair, the trees have looked good, and when they have shed their leaves they carpet the floor with a dry, crunchiness.
And worth noting, for the record as I am sure that at some point in the future I will want to know when, they have finished resurfacing our road and it is now beautiful smooth, silent tarmac. The absence of noise is noticeable.
On Wednesday we returned from a wonderful week in Spain – I shan’t write about it here as I blogged daily on Hap-pea travels whilst we were away. Here is day one: http://hap-pea-travels.co.uk/uncategorized/an-andalusian-adventure-day-1/
On our return, we found that our road was closed for resurfacing, which caused a few problems. Fortunately, we were allowed down to drop off our cases, before parking the cars in the school car park. (Needed to take the Civic for its MOT the next day – sadly it failed, on a number of things, the emissions failure and structural failure led me to believe it wasn’t worth saving, so is booked in to be taken for scrap in two weeks time). The road does open from 3.30pm to 9.30 am, and is open at the weekend, but it is causing a bit of a faff, although when done the smooth, noiseless tarmac should be a bonus.
Since our return it has been unseasonably warm. Not sunny, but mild and mercifully dry and I spent Thursday and Friday getting the bulk of my remaining bulbs planted. I do still have a few more to plant, but they are earmarked for some pots that are still brimming with flowering geraniums and nasturtiums, so until the first frosts come, and turn them into mush, those bulbs are going unplanted. I also used the time to complete the cleaning of the various decks.
Sophie came home yesterday as it is her birthday tomorrow – 25! who could believe it. She and Becky went to the Newt today, and yesterday I fixed the driver side door that wouldn’t open on her car.
So the half term holiday draws to a close. Its been busy, full and fun!
