Last Thursday I woke up with a very sore eye which was not working all that well and since it was the eye with the intraocular lens I was a bit concerned so I phoned my optometrist. He felt that I should have the eye properly checked out so he tried phoning the Eye Institute. They were not answering their phone. He tried a couple of ophthalmologists and got recorded messages telling people that if they had a problem with their eyes they should to go SCGH emergency. I prefer RPH where D2 is an emergency physician so I phoned her. She said that SCGH had a waiting list of five and RPH had a waiting list of 17 so I took myself off to SCGH.
The registrar there said that she had never seen so many people with eye problems and, according to D2, the registrar at RPH was exhausted by the end of her shift. Did all the ophthalmologists go off on Christmas breaks at the same time? It would seem so.
I am starting back to regular yoga and it is so hard; I have really stiffened up over my involuntary break so it is going to be a struggle to get back to flexibility. However, I shall persevere.
I spent yesterday morning at the dentist - a two-hour appointment. The stump holding my bling in place had decayed and my dentist wanted to remove the bling, drill out the decay, fill the stump and replace the bling. Unfortunately the decay was more extensive than he had realised so he is not holding out great hopes that the new bling will last an great length of time and then the roots will have to be cut out. Been there, done that and it is no great hassle and it is a back tooth which is why I elected to have a gold crown in the first place.
I have started knitting wrist warmers and beanies for Out-reach to get ahead of winter as D3 has given me a whole big bag of top quality woollen yarn. I have donated the white balls to my knitting group as white is not suitable for homeless people but I have a lot of green, some grey and a small amount of black. I am not sure how much will be needed for a pair of wrist warmers but when I have finished the first pair I will weight them and do some sums.
I am sorry that this post is such a tale of woe but it serves as a diary for me.
And now the Limerick:-
Said an envious erudite ermine,
"There's one thing I cannot determine:
When a girl wears my coat
She's a person of note.
When I wear it I'm only called vermin."
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Happy New Year and Happy New Decade
My main emotion regarding Christmas is "Thank goodness it's over". But I have spat the dummy and next Christmas will be held Chez D3. I have been doing Christmas for about 50 years and had a bit of a meltdown this last Christmas so all the kids got together and provided everything except the potato salad which I organised along with a promise to show everyone how to make the mayonnaise and thinking back - just having to do the potato salad would not be too onerous so maybe . . .
After a week of high temperatures the weather is coolish with a strong sea breeze, unlike the eastern States where the fires are out of control and lives have been lost in several States. I feel devastated for the animals which could not be saved. They were not even given the option of running to safety. I can remember my father having to shoot sheep which were caught on a fire which swept through the Adelaide hills.
Christmas was actually very relaxed with the Ds and the GBs all contributing. We had the usual sausage sizzle and salads followed by Christmas Pudding with very alcoholic brandy sauce. D1 arrived two days before Christmas with, as usual, her ironing ("why bother to iron things which will get creased in transit") and the makings of a silk blouse ("Your sewing machine is much better than mine"). She is doing a serious Wine Course and provided most of the champagne. D2 wanted pink so she also brought along a bottle, as well as truffle sausages and Christmas pudding. D3 brought salad and brandy sauce. The GBs chopped the stuff which goes into the potato salad to give colour and variety.
My leg is better than it was but is still swollen despite D3's expertise but I am back to doing yoga and, hopefully after my toe is shortened I will be able to start walking around Lake Claremont again.
Blogger has a new format. I had a bit of a problem finding my way to this site; I will have to study the new format before I dive in. I wish . . .
And the Limerick:-
Said my friend Albert Fiddle to me,
"I'm a student of divinity.
When I graduate
'Twill be my sad fate
To be known as A.Fiddle D.D."
After a week of high temperatures the weather is coolish with a strong sea breeze, unlike the eastern States where the fires are out of control and lives have been lost in several States. I feel devastated for the animals which could not be saved. They were not even given the option of running to safety. I can remember my father having to shoot sheep which were caught on a fire which swept through the Adelaide hills.
Christmas was actually very relaxed with the Ds and the GBs all contributing. We had the usual sausage sizzle and salads followed by Christmas Pudding with very alcoholic brandy sauce. D1 arrived two days before Christmas with, as usual, her ironing ("why bother to iron things which will get creased in transit") and the makings of a silk blouse ("Your sewing machine is much better than mine"). She is doing a serious Wine Course and provided most of the champagne. D2 wanted pink so she also brought along a bottle, as well as truffle sausages and Christmas pudding. D3 brought salad and brandy sauce. The GBs chopped the stuff which goes into the potato salad to give colour and variety.
My leg is better than it was but is still swollen despite D3's expertise but I am back to doing yoga and, hopefully after my toe is shortened I will be able to start walking around Lake Claremont again.
Blogger has a new format. I had a bit of a problem finding my way to this site; I will have to study the new format before I dive in. I wish . . .
And the Limerick:-
Said my friend Albert Fiddle to me,
"I'm a student of divinity.
When I graduate
'Twill be my sad fate
To be known as A.Fiddle D.D."
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
"Where's the bread?"
We have two supermarkets down under and both seem to be going through upgrades. Yesterday I was at the Independent Grocers' place and the staff there were actively moving stuff around. I mostly visit that supermarket because they do not have "brand" produce and I get tired of crawling around the floor of Coles to find a "not a Coles product" which is invariably at the back of the bottom shelf.
Anyway as I searched the other one for their unbranded and unsweetened dried cranberries I met at least three people asking me if I knew where the bread was and as I finally left with my cranberries, found with the help of an assistant, I was followed out by the plaintive cry of "Where is the bread?"
Yesterday I had the first of my two shower recesses sealed (the second will be done next week when I am again able to use the one in the main bathroom). There seems to be a big drive on to get all the shower recesses sealed; there has obviously been some trouble, probably in Block A which is four years older than Block B where I have my apartment. But the Strata management expects us to pay for the new grouting. Life here is not cheap . . .
We are undergoing an unprecedented heatwave even before summer properly gets started and have three over 40 degree days to look forward to. I have been slopping around in thin cotton caftans and with the air conditioning running. Yesterday we didn't even get a sea breeze to cool us down and no sign of any cooling breeze as yet today.
As I left my apartment yesterday to return the shopping trolley - very handy for moving stuff around - a man descended from the roof (the steps up to the roof open just in front of the lift) and he said that he had been looking at the slats which are there to decorate the outside of the building as the window cleaners had obviously spat the dummy about cleaning them. I gave him a rundown, as a resident, on the advantages of recommending that they should be removed, including that they block the view and the time when some kids broke into the building by climbing up them. They didn't get further than the pool area due to the very tight security but the slats which were reachable from the ground were cut back to prevent anyone else using that way into the building.
The Limerick:-
A father was driving a car
Quite slowly, when son said, "Papa,
If you drive at this rate
We're bound to be late,
Drive faster!" . . . He did . . . and they are.
Anyway as I searched the other one for their unbranded and unsweetened dried cranberries I met at least three people asking me if I knew where the bread was and as I finally left with my cranberries, found with the help of an assistant, I was followed out by the plaintive cry of "Where is the bread?"
Yesterday I had the first of my two shower recesses sealed (the second will be done next week when I am again able to use the one in the main bathroom). There seems to be a big drive on to get all the shower recesses sealed; there has obviously been some trouble, probably in Block A which is four years older than Block B where I have my apartment. But the Strata management expects us to pay for the new grouting. Life here is not cheap . . .
We are undergoing an unprecedented heatwave even before summer properly gets started and have three over 40 degree days to look forward to. I have been slopping around in thin cotton caftans and with the air conditioning running. Yesterday we didn't even get a sea breeze to cool us down and no sign of any cooling breeze as yet today.
As I left my apartment yesterday to return the shopping trolley - very handy for moving stuff around - a man descended from the roof (the steps up to the roof open just in front of the lift) and he said that he had been looking at the slats which are there to decorate the outside of the building as the window cleaners had obviously spat the dummy about cleaning them. I gave him a rundown, as a resident, on the advantages of recommending that they should be removed, including that they block the view and the time when some kids broke into the building by climbing up them. They didn't get further than the pool area due to the very tight security but the slats which were reachable from the ground were cut back to prevent anyone else using that way into the building.
The Limerick:-
A father was driving a car
Quite slowly, when son said, "Papa,
If you drive at this rate
We're bound to be late,
Drive faster!" . . . He did . . . and they are.
Monday, December 9, 2019
Still limping around
My leg is getting better; the swelling is almost down although I am still wearing a support stocking and the bruising has almost gone so I am on the mend.
But things seem to be getting busy, what with Christmas and all. This morning I attended an annual Christmas Brunch organised for and with retired physiotherapists. As I didn't train here I really do not know any of them well and stubbornly forget their names from one year to the next - but it is good anyway.
D2 had a birthday over the weekend and the whole family went out to dinner last night at a restaurant which, when I first moved to Western Australia back in the dark ages, was the most comprehensive delicatessen I have ever seen before or since. It gradually morphed into a restaurant and is now very busy and very noisy but serves Brussels sprouts cooked a way which D2 is particularly fond of.
The day after tomorrow my master bathroom is having its shower recess re-grouted and silicone sealed and next Tuesday, when the grout has settled, the guest bathroom will have its shower sealed as well. As the floors have to be dry I am currently using the shower in the guest bathroom and find that it is even more badly designed than the Master bathroom.
Mrs Apt B705 died sometime at the end of last week. Her carer attended to her on Thursday and found her dead yesterday. She wanted to die but it was a dreadful shock for the carer who had to deal with Ambos and police and clean things up as best she could. Mrs B705 was to have a second carer come in on the three off days but that arrangement was not to start until next year.
We have been having very hot weather - over 40 degrees and more to come this week. Thank heaven for air conditioning although the sea breeze (AKA the Fremantle Doctor to out-of-towners) usually arrives in the afternoon and my apartment faces south so I get full advantage of it when it comes in.
The Limerick:-
A society climber from Crewe
Inquired, "What on earth shall I do?
I of course know what's what
But I fear I have not
The faintest idea of who's who."
But things seem to be getting busy, what with Christmas and all. This morning I attended an annual Christmas Brunch organised for and with retired physiotherapists. As I didn't train here I really do not know any of them well and stubbornly forget their names from one year to the next - but it is good anyway.
D2 had a birthday over the weekend and the whole family went out to dinner last night at a restaurant which, when I first moved to Western Australia back in the dark ages, was the most comprehensive delicatessen I have ever seen before or since. It gradually morphed into a restaurant and is now very busy and very noisy but serves Brussels sprouts cooked a way which D2 is particularly fond of.
The day after tomorrow my master bathroom is having its shower recess re-grouted and silicone sealed and next Tuesday, when the grout has settled, the guest bathroom will have its shower sealed as well. As the floors have to be dry I am currently using the shower in the guest bathroom and find that it is even more badly designed than the Master bathroom.
Mrs Apt B705 died sometime at the end of last week. Her carer attended to her on Thursday and found her dead yesterday. She wanted to die but it was a dreadful shock for the carer who had to deal with Ambos and police and clean things up as best she could. Mrs B705 was to have a second carer come in on the three off days but that arrangement was not to start until next year.
We have been having very hot weather - over 40 degrees and more to come this week. Thank heaven for air conditioning although the sea breeze (AKA the Fremantle Doctor to out-of-towners) usually arrives in the afternoon and my apartment faces south so I get full advantage of it when it comes in.
The Limerick:-
A society climber from Crewe
Inquired, "What on earth shall I do?
I of course know what's what
But I fear I have not
The faintest idea of who's who."
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Bruised Ego
I have, as a part of my de-cluttering drive, started spinning again. Because my thumbs are getting arthritic I am limiting myself to an hour or the length of one CD. I have two cupboards full of fleece so it is going to take me a while.
But I have cleared out all of my rubber stamps. I used to love making my own cards and spent a lot of time making my own Christmas and birthday cards but I haven't done any cards in the last eight years since I moved into the apartment. I threw out my colouring pens a couple of months ago; they had all dried and would have needed re-hydrating so I am slowly clearing out the dross.
Anyway, a week ago today I stepped down a very low curb and there was a loud crack in my right lower leg. I hobbled home and started ice and compression, having ascertained that everything in my ankle still worked and today I was able for the first time in a week to walk normally without a limp. However, to get back to the title of this piece, my right ankle and all down my right calf are exactly the colour of my current spinning. It makes me wonder a bit just what the supplier of my fibre was doing when she dyed and named the colourway "Bruised Ego".
On account of my very sore toe which I have probably mentioned in a previous post I have been buying a few colour co-ordinating walking sticks which I was storing inside a rolled up Pilates mat until Parsifal started playing with the wrist straps and brought the whole arrangement down with a loud crash so I ordered a fancy stick holder which arrived in Melbourne from USA within about three days and then sat in Melbourne for ten days before it finally arrived here in Western Australia. Made by the same company which makes the sticks it fits nicely into a spare corner and accommodates all my sticks very neatly.
The Limerick:-
Thomas Beecham, his voice like a ratchet,
Cut a poor cellist down like a hatchet.
"You have, twixt your thighs
My dear, a great prize,
And yet you just sit there and scratch it!"
But I have cleared out all of my rubber stamps. I used to love making my own cards and spent a lot of time making my own Christmas and birthday cards but I haven't done any cards in the last eight years since I moved into the apartment. I threw out my colouring pens a couple of months ago; they had all dried and would have needed re-hydrating so I am slowly clearing out the dross.
Anyway, a week ago today I stepped down a very low curb and there was a loud crack in my right lower leg. I hobbled home and started ice and compression, having ascertained that everything in my ankle still worked and today I was able for the first time in a week to walk normally without a limp. However, to get back to the title of this piece, my right ankle and all down my right calf are exactly the colour of my current spinning. It makes me wonder a bit just what the supplier of my fibre was doing when she dyed and named the colourway "Bruised Ego".
On account of my very sore toe which I have probably mentioned in a previous post I have been buying a few colour co-ordinating walking sticks which I was storing inside a rolled up Pilates mat until Parsifal started playing with the wrist straps and brought the whole arrangement down with a loud crash so I ordered a fancy stick holder which arrived in Melbourne from USA within about three days and then sat in Melbourne for ten days before it finally arrived here in Western Australia. Made by the same company which makes the sticks it fits nicely into a spare corner and accommodates all my sticks very neatly.
The Limerick:-
Thomas Beecham, his voice like a ratchet,
Cut a poor cellist down like a hatchet.
"You have, twixt your thighs
My dear, a great prize,
And yet you just sit there and scratch it!"
Thursday, November 21, 2019
I have placed a ping-pong ball in the bath.
Parsifal loves it. I never use the bath and the plughole is on the centre so when Parsifal bats it, it rolls back to the centre. He is definitely right-pawed and he has been sitting in the bath and batting the ball which rolls back to him to be batted again. Poppy is intrigued but so far hasn't ventured to try it. It is hard to entertain oriental cats which are super-intelligent so this is a whole new toy for them.
It doesn't replace catching rats which was the main entertainment for previous cats who lived with me and there have been times when I have wished that I could tell these two to go and catch a rat - but that is not an option in a high-rise apartment.
The hole in my glass was repaired this morning. The scaffolding was ferried up yesterday to level 4 and then up a ladder to the balcony of Apartment 511 which is two floors directly below me and from there it was built up to my apartment. The whole fix looks a little messy to me but it isn't my problem and I can only see it of I squeeze through the hopper window and hang down. From the street the hole was hard to see so any tatty bits from the repair will be unremarkable.
A couple of days ago I stepped off the curb onto the road and something cracked in my right calf muscle so I am hobbling around with a slightly swollen but rather painful leg. It is much better than it was and I can now put my heel down when I walk and actually push off a bit so I do not think that I have done myself any permanent damage. A compression stocking and painkillers may have something to do with it but it is a definite improvement.
The Limerick:-
I think that I may have used this one before from my previous book but it bears repetition.
Concerning the bees and the flowers
In the fields and the gardens and bowers,
You will note at a glance
That their ways of romance
Haven't any resemblance to ours.
It doesn't replace catching rats which was the main entertainment for previous cats who lived with me and there have been times when I have wished that I could tell these two to go and catch a rat - but that is not an option in a high-rise apartment.
The hole in my glass was repaired this morning. The scaffolding was ferried up yesterday to level 4 and then up a ladder to the balcony of Apartment 511 which is two floors directly below me and from there it was built up to my apartment. The whole fix looks a little messy to me but it isn't my problem and I can only see it of I squeeze through the hopper window and hang down. From the street the hole was hard to see so any tatty bits from the repair will be unremarkable.
A couple of days ago I stepped off the curb onto the road and something cracked in my right calf muscle so I am hobbling around with a slightly swollen but rather painful leg. It is much better than it was and I can now put my heel down when I walk and actually push off a bit so I do not think that I have done myself any permanent damage. A compression stocking and painkillers may have something to do with it but it is a definite improvement.
The Limerick:-
I think that I may have used this one before from my previous book but it bears repetition.
Concerning the bees and the flowers
In the fields and the gardens and bowers,
You will note at a glance
That their ways of romance
Haven't any resemblance to ours.
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
My right second toe is going to have a makeover
I have been sitting on a referral to the UWA Podiatry Clinic for some time and with my eyes sorted I finally grasped the nettle and paid a visit to the UWAPC to see what they could do for my very sore toe. I have been trying for years to find a podiatrist who is willing to tackle the toe and finally asked D2 if she could recommend someone to me.
It was great. Far from trimming my corns and sending me on my way as did two previous podiatrists whom I had consulted, my feet were photographed and examined and a plan laid out for me. The offending toe will be shortened straightened and the second joint fused. A Kirschner wire will hold it for about six weeks until it is healed and I will have to wear a moon boot for that time. At a later date, if the toe on the left foot starts to give grief I can have the same procedure done to that one. This surgery will happen next year as the students will be going on holiday next month.
The UWAPC is for podiatrists who want to learn to do surgery and they are taught and supervised by experienced podiatric surgeons. I have opted for student involvement as the operation doesn't sound very complicated and we all learnt on live patients when we were training.
The cats had a very traumatic time this afternoon. Parsifal was nosing around in my knitting bag and one of the handles tangled around his neck. He panicked and, knocking aside everything in his way with loud crashings, he fled through the cat door and into my bedroom. Luckily the knitting bag stayed on the outside and he slid through the loop of the handle. Poppy thought that it was definitely the end of the world and refused to be consoled to the degree that she refused to eat her dinner until Parsifal was out of the way. The knitting survived, as did the cats. I'm not so sure about my nerves.
The limerick:-
The dog-loving Countess of Crupps
Was heard to confess in her cups,
"An affair with a collie
Was the height of my folly,
But I got a good price for the pups."
It was great. Far from trimming my corns and sending me on my way as did two previous podiatrists whom I had consulted, my feet were photographed and examined and a plan laid out for me. The offending toe will be shortened straightened and the second joint fused. A Kirschner wire will hold it for about six weeks until it is healed and I will have to wear a moon boot for that time. At a later date, if the toe on the left foot starts to give grief I can have the same procedure done to that one. This surgery will happen next year as the students will be going on holiday next month.
The UWAPC is for podiatrists who want to learn to do surgery and they are taught and supervised by experienced podiatric surgeons. I have opted for student involvement as the operation doesn't sound very complicated and we all learnt on live patients when we were training.
The cats had a very traumatic time this afternoon. Parsifal was nosing around in my knitting bag and one of the handles tangled around his neck. He panicked and, knocking aside everything in his way with loud crashings, he fled through the cat door and into my bedroom. Luckily the knitting bag stayed on the outside and he slid through the loop of the handle. Poppy thought that it was definitely the end of the world and refused to be consoled to the degree that she refused to eat her dinner until Parsifal was out of the way. The knitting survived, as did the cats. I'm not so sure about my nerves.
The limerick:-
The dog-loving Countess of Crupps
Was heard to confess in her cups,
"An affair with a collie
Was the height of my folly,
But I got a good price for the pups."
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