Apologies for the lateness of this blog, if you read through you will see I became more and more ill as the days went on and was unable to function at all by Sunday evening. I have now been for blood tests and to the hospital and they have changed all my meds plus put me on steroids so normal service should resume quite quickly 😀
Monday 25th March: Oh my days, not sure if I have totally overdone it or if something is lurking in the wings but I feel like I’ve been hit by a bulldozer this morning ☹️ in fact all night long I just had pain everywhere while trying g to sleep. Consequently today will be a much quieter day, John has already done most of the morning stuff I just need to go let the geese and Light Sussex out and fed the rabbits, I think that will be as much as I can manage to be honest. Will have to see how the rest of the day goes.
I went out and did my bit it’s sunny but the wind is cold, organised something for dinner later on and put some beef bones in the slow cooker along with carrot, onion, garlic, celeriac and black pepper to make some bone broth. This will take a couple of days and it’s probably not to everyone’s liking but I like it and I feel I need something like that at the moment. I made a coffee, I put about a third milk in the cup, microwave it and then top up with water, I caught the cup as I was getting it out dropped it, hot milk splashed onto my arm and went all over the place, not a great start to the day or the week 😣
I need to start thinking about where I am going to plant the potatoes, last year was a total disaster mostly due to the very hot weather we had, I am getting to the point where I wonder if it’s worth growing them rather than buying them.
I did do a bit of pottering in the poly tunnel, sowing a few more seeds to see how they fair, the temps look good for the long range so no ventured nothing gained!
The clock in the kitchen had stopped at 4.45 this morning, very disconcerting keep looking at it when it’s the wrong time so I changed the battery in that and while I was at it I put new batteries in the radio I have for outside, I generally listen to classic fm when I’m gardening, very soothing. I also put new batteries in the bedside clock because the display had faded to a point you could hardly read it, not that it had the correct time, at some point a couple of months ago John knocked it on the floor and it altered, don’t ask me how, but he keeps telling me that when it’s at 00.00 that’s 6.30am 😜 so I have set it all properly now including the year as it was on 2004 😆 I say new batteries, they are all rechargeable I figured that’s the way forward. I have lit the Rayburn because although the sun is shinning it’s cold indoors and I think that was half the problem with my pain last night, we had lit it mid afternoon but not for long before we went off to help shelley with something and then we had a bite to eat at hers, by the time we got home the fire was out but it was chilly and obviously got chilly as the night went on.
Typically as I had the Rayburn going the wind dropped and it was lovely and warm out there 😝 I fed the birds and collected the eggs then picked some rhubarb to make jam, rhubarb and vanilla, these will be for presents as we have some birthdays coming up and the vanilla is quite an extravagance! The recipe said it would make 3 x 1lb jars and it made over that, I have a little pot that I use for excess jam, I will use it up as it’s not sterilised and sealed like the jars but it gives me a good opportunity to firstly see what the set is like and secondly see how it tastes 😀 The vanilla as I said is expensive so next time I will make it without and see if there is a noticeable difference.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/251611/rhubarb-and-vanilla-jam
I have really fancied some spag bol lately and I have plenty of homemade tomato, basil and garlic sauce left in the freezer but we have used up all of our own minced beef so I relented and bought some minced steak which had been reduced in the supermarket. We have lots of braising beef left which I could mince up myself but it’s a faff and quite an effort even for a mincing machine the fat gets stuck constantly so quicker and easier to buy some. Anyway that’s what I have for dinner and John has mince and potatoes 😀 Strike while the iron is hot so to speak and I used some of the rhubarb jam to make a quick microwave sponge for pudding 😀
Tuesday: Had Mia for the day and she had her cast off yesterday so a quiet day for both of us which is just as well for me as I am struggling with stiffness and pains today.
Wednesday: A slow start to my morning, I am back to getting up and taking painkillers before I can move about adequately 😣 John did most of the animals I just have the geese etc to let out. I have breakfast take some painkillers then have a shower, while I’m in there the dog starts barking, an unusual bark so I quickly finish and get dressed. I have a look out the windows but can’t see anything so I check the cctv for the last half hour, there prancing about in the front yard is Jack, he has obviously broken down his rails and gone in search of some fresh spring grass, he is currently in the side paddock with the new hens and he can stay there a while. It’s not like he hasn’t got enough field space to roam in but I guess the lure of the green stuff was too much lol.
Once the ibrufen kicked in I went out and did a bit in the garden, some watering in the tunnels, dug up some bits of herbs to grow on for Charlie who is going to use a pallet on the side of her garage to grow them 😀 I did a bit of cutting back and weeding in the pots out the front and put some plastic wire over the pots as the chickens keep scratching about in them. I planted some more seed potato’s, I have randomly put them round the garden as I dont have a dedicated bed for them. One lot I have sown in a row and will cover in a straw mulch and see how that goes, the other lot I have put in a small raised bed. I have to be really quick at getting them in and covered otherwise the ninjas are there digging it all back up again. I cut some wire to fit the last bed, quickly dug holes and put the potatoes in and then put the wire over, by the time I had done that there were about 10 hens swarming all over it 😜
For a country renowned for rain we haven’t had much lately and there is not much sign of any on the radar either so watering things I have planted and stuff in pots is a must at the moment, who would have thought it.
Tried to have forty winks at lunchtime but just as I nodded off the dogs barked so I gave up on that, had a mug of bone broth 😀 although I sipped it to see if it was hot enough and burnt my tongue, don’t you just hate that when it happens 😝 If you are wondering what the benefits of bone broth are just have a look online, there are too many to mention here but even the medical world is acknowledging the good that it can do for people with certain illnesses.
Did a bit more pottering in the afternoon then collected the eggs etc, I spent a pleasant half an hour gathering fresh food for the bunnies, there is not much available yet but enough for a snack, had a nap at around 3 😀
Thursday: Still on the painkillers, I thought it was improving yesterday but back to square one this morning. John has done the majority of the jobs already, if you are wondering why he doesn’t do it all, I really need a reason to get out and get moving so having a few little jobs to do is good for me, besides, once the meds kick in I feel relatively normal 😜
I decided to keep a progress diary of symptoms and how I feel, it may not necessarily help at the hospital appointments but it might help me see some sort of pattern? I feel like I am yo-yoing with this at the minute.
Today I didn’t really feel better with the painkillers 😣 I pottered a bit then went to see my neighbour for a coffee. It was a very pleasant walk up the lane, I saw my nephew coming past in his truck so he stopped for a quick chat 😀 When I got there she had been up until 4am lambing 😋 We spent an hour or so putting the world to rights, when I got back Shelley and Flo had arrived, then Sam and Mia and to be honest I wasn’t up to doing anything today so I didn’t 🙄 Oh I did do one thing, move the tortoise house out into the run, I figured they would wake up better out in the sunshine than in the cold tack room. I opened the door but the first thing that happened was a chicken tried to scratch the straw out of their hut, these hens needing taking under control they are scratching up everything in sight ☹️ and I’m not sure how I will feed the torts without the hens eating it all.
Friday: Foggy start to the day then out came the sun 🌞 I had a very bad night last night painwise and generally felt ill, I thought the Lupus was flaring and in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep I was making plans to call the doctor first thing this morning for an urgent consultation. However I woke feeling better, not ‘fixed’ but better than I did so I will take anti inflammatory and paracetamol today and see how it goes. I have a hospital appointment next week so if it’s still hanging around then we can get something sorted. Charlie called in last night when I wasn’t too good and bless her came back this morning with a ‘juice’ for me, at a guess it was orange carrot and ginger and it was very nice. John did all the animals this morning so I didn’t have to, I have pottered about putting on washing etc but mainly taking it easy today, I would love to be getting on and getting stuff done but I know my limits 😋 One job I need to do is get the brooder unit ready for the arrival of hatchlings, I turned off the turner today and now they have three days left until hatching begins.
Sam and Shelley came over in the afternoon and did a few jobs for me, the girls and John have been amazing helping out, I don’t know what I would do without them 😘😘
Saturday: I had Mother’s Day breakfast at Charlie and Maccas with Sam, Shelley and the grandchildren it was lovely, a sunny morning, couldn’t have asked for a nicer time 😀 I haven’t been able to do much at all today, John even cooked the evening meal so you can see how poorly I am ☹️
Sunday: John did everything outside and once the meds kicked in I felt quite a lot better than I have the last few days, I’m hoping this is a blip and it’s onwards and upwards but only time will tell.
We have had an early hatchling, they were not due until Tuesday but there is a yellow fluffy bundle in there this morning. It’s caught me off guard though as I have no chick crumb and will need to find some if possible
John has gone to visit his Mum this morning and I will be popping over to see mine later and take her some daffodils that she helped to plant last year 😀
frieslandfarm (flowers) 