Good morning Michael and all GN's from a very dark morning in North Yorkshire. Yet another rubbish night, surely I must get a decent nights sleep soon? Ah well, it will allow me to be down for the Yorkshire Post very early today. The yellow peril is earning its keep, as it helps with the frustration and cost. I can at least get going on that , even if every tortoise could pass me when walking! So it will be a two trip morning, as I will go first for paper and a couple of things from supermarket, but need to go for fresh bread from my local shop ,and a quick check on the market a bit later. Good job I have lights on buggy and now must look out my bright yellow jacket to be ready for being more visible in dark days. Part of my autumn change is to go through all my coats and jackets and see that there are a pair of thermal gloves, a bright yellow thermal hat and a white opaque plastic bag in each one. My safety and be prepared routine for the winter. The clothes allow me to have something warm to hand , especially for those days when you stay out longer than expected or there is a weather change you hadnt bargained for . The white opaque bag I recommend to you all to have with you. It fulfils two needs. You have a bag with you when you suddenly need some bit of shopping or if you start to see some lovely blackberries in the hedge to harvest, But more importantly, especially in a rural area , where there may not be a path or lighting, if you hold the bag at the side facing the traffic, it will be picked up by the headlights of cars and you will be much more visible than just your clothes, I know this from being a car driver too and it definitely works on those darker afternoons, when the clock goes back and people havent quite got into winter mode with torches and bright colours.
Yesterday was a mixed day of good and bad. I did not have a good day pain wise and that led on to much frustration, as I tried to reconcile what I wanted to do with what I was actually able to do!! I was very slow to get going, and even taking some painkillers early did not seem to have much effect. However I managed with some effort to get to the library for the mornings bocca group only 10 minutes late, having negotiated all the pain barriers getting up that flipping ramp etc. Smaller crowd than usual, but I was pleased that he had brought the curling things. My much preferred game, and I am struggling a bit to learn to use the stick with it, rather than bending and using my body, but I will learn. What you miss is when you use your body, that hand eye coordination works well and I can judge distances and do quite well. Using the stick and sitting up instead of bending down, it is more difficult to judge and at the moment frustrating as I tend to over push the stone. Ah well I will learn, and it was absolutely the right thing for me as we did it in teams. There are a couple of men and a woman who obviously have played the real thing in the past and are very good at getting close to the target. I cannot judge that well enough yet, but have found my role in looking to see where the opposition stones are and going in for knocking them out . I am getting quite good at that and it is both fun to do, helps me judge the way the things work and very satisfying to send their stones flying out of the way, to allow our side to have space to win. It really is very good as concentrating on what I am doing, helps the pain to take a bit of a back step, and even just hitting something as I want to , cheers me up and makes me feel that I can still do something well. I think I shall look into seeing if there is any club anywhere close by that I could join to play this. It would be a great anti frustration game, and I use my (rather silly but helpful) ability to think of someone or something that has annoyed or upset me when I take aim. So my silent weapon is in my head as I say "Donald Trump" or "Nigel Farage" or "B....potholes " and send the stone with force to beat the opposition! Well I shall look into that in the future.
After the session was over, I waited to get a catch up with the librarian who had told me that she had some news on my campaign to sort out the ramp etc. She was busy for a while but there is always something to enjoy in the library, so no problem. When she was free she brought me up to date with the goings on in the various departments and areas behind the scene. They have of course been passing the buck from pillar to post, but of course my complaint has meant that she has been able to pursue it through the many byways and turns, and whilst we have not yet got a date for things to be done, she has now got to the correct people and notes and messages have been circulating and I am doing my bit, as she is able to tell them that this person will not be put off or letting it rest, so however much it takes we will succeed in the end!! We smile at each other, and recognise how we are similar people and look forward to many possible plans in the future, but at the moment stick to the rules , but think I have actually found a new friend through this too!! So although I had a very frustrating day physically , felt that some progress had been made with this scheme. I then left to go and get my D and S paper and as it was sunny and too nice to rush back to jobs, I carried on and went off to my good fish and chip shop. They are used to me now, and so I call out through the door way and they cook me a piece of fish and the lady brings it round to me and I pay her. Then I went into the park and sat out and enjoyed my fish, carefully depositing my box into the bin afterwards of course. Felt better for something to eat and a breath of fresh air and then came home, to do a bit of sorting. Wasnt up to doing much and ignored the ironing, just couldnt even contemplate putting the board up or anything, so not a great deal done . I did enjoy watching Downton Abbey without falling asleep in the chair and some of the great "bon mot" from Maggie Smith as the dowager Lady Grantham, and before that came on , by chance found a play for today on channel 5 with Phillis Logan in it and another actress that I cant remember her name , but was always playing bossy women in things like Heartbeat. so good to see them still acting , as older women. About time we had some decent plays on after all the rubbish cheap programmes in the summer.
So today, I have quite a lot of things that I need to do. I have lists of jobs, including boringly sorting out my next contract for electricity, checking on my mobile phone contract, getting in touch with the various people about the eye situation and then trying to come to a conclusion and contacting the hospital with my decision. Then I am waiting for my son to confirm his new phone number to me so that I make sure I have the right one, and am trying to go through the calendar to find a convenient date for them and me to organise a trip across to see them. The hospital appointments etc keep messing up my forward planning, do they have the equivalent of the "borrowers" who let them know your plans so that they can wreck them by arranging your appointment right in the middle of all your other plans? Well we shall see how things go, and I will be flashing my bus pass more often and learning the bus stops that suit, and how long I need to allow for a journey somewhere, by bus rather than car times.
I am going to look into going on the Moors bus soon and also want to work out a way of getting to the coastline bus that goes down from I think Saltburn or Redcar right down to Whitby area. I would manage to struggle up the stairs to have the pleasure of a great look out, but think I must work out what rucksac to use, to see if I could get a cushion into it to at least give me a bit of comfort for my back. Well who knows, it might be cheaper to go out on the bus on cold winters days than stay at home and put the heating on!! Hey we might set up a GN's travelling meet up, with the top deck of long distance buses being turned into a GN party, with the news noticing the unusually large amounts of travellers on their top decks!! How about it folks?
Well here is beloved Bach and the sky is clearing a little so that I can see the outline of the tree against the sky. Looks very still but no sign of the promised rain yet. Too early and dark to see the squirrel or pigeons out yet. I might miss them if I get off early this morning. Hope you have a good trip today Mick and get an early CT scan appointment. Bellasnana, hope that you will have a better week next week, and can watch some good tennis too. Lovely that you have your grandchildren to enjoy and cheer your days. I wish my grandson lived nearer to me, but I wouldnt want to leave my beloved Yorkshire to be over there. You never know with families working , when they might have to move and then you would be stuck in a place you didnt choose or like and they wouldnt be there. So I accept that travelling to meet them is just part of my life these days.
Well I hope that all GN's get up to a clear morning and that plans work out or are improved by something better turning up. May we all meet or get in touch with friends to start organising our autumn / winter meet ups, and reluctantly put away our summer things and get the winter stuff out . I shall be wearing the same old things but will look to see which of my things are now in fashion , as I find what goes around , comes around, so who knows this year I might be bang up to fashion with my ancient trousers and tops? Each to their own, but I am so glad I dont really give a toss about fashion, as I couldnt be bothered - nor afford - to spend ages trying on things and wasting ages going round shops and faffing about. My priorities are comfort, ease of wearing, and no awkward button holes and zips at the back etc. I have my big jacket , which I bought in a sale for my trip to the artic so I have that ready for use when needed. In the meantime lets enjoy those autumny days and I might look around for a wood I could go to and get myself a couple of lovely conkers. Enjoy your day folks and I shall enjoy reading your posts when I get back from the paper getting
