This has been a difficult week for me. Another UTI which has come when I’ve barely recovered from the last, sending my blood pressure way too high. My weekly update isn’t all about my woes, we are making progress with the Quirky Museum!
Tuesday was a hectic day. The roofing man came to do his stuff, with lad in tow, have done some worthwhile work, at least we think they have. They had three tasks – fix the leak on the roof, deal with an overflowing “hopper” and do some pointing.
The roofers had been recommended, in a slightly like warm way, by someone else in the village who also has a similar high maintenance house. Actually she had previously exclaimed to me
“welcome to the historic house club!”
This I found slightly unnerving with images of perpetually cold, dusty, drafty and austere buildings. Anyway, back to the roofers, they turned up as arranged, quite gruffly spoken and very ripped in their build; you certainly wouldn’t want to mess with them.
They did the work, saying there was only a 50% chance the roof repair would be successful along with “you’ve got big problems up there in a few years mate, don’t worry, I can fix it for you and it’ll cost ya, mate”. All this reminded me of taking an old car into a garage for a repair and being told the whole car was rotten underneath.
However the work is now complete and so far, so good. The mortar is fine, providing it weathers and blends in a bit more. That’s the trouble with this lime mortar, it is very light in colour. The gutter’s “hopper” repair was actually a case of unblocking the debris which had accumulated over the years.
Also on Tuesday we had the lady gardener, albeit a little damp for her at first but she’s very determined. At least the clay soil was workable. We also had our friend Iain come to take Hannah’s car away for its annual service.
The next encouraging highlight was to have a heating engineer come, he took all other activity in his stride. He admitted it will be an “interesting challenge” to change the heating system. We have no doubts he is right; lifting floorboards and uncovering all kinds of unforeseen snags. We also need to consider where the new boiler should go. Currently it’s a floor standing boiler in the middle of the house. The existing flue is an asbestos pipe which will need professional removal. However, we look forward to having a more efficient boiler which is cheaper to run and with some snazzy controls and efficient radiators, each with their own thermostat. We now have his quotes and will wait for one or two others, then we will make a decision.
Blood pressure!
While all that is fine, I have not been fine. Just as I was reeling from the last UTI and feeling so drained, I seem to have gone down with another, so another round of antibiotics. However, the main issue is the rise in my blood pressure which has got my Doctor concerned and telling me if it hits 200/100 I must go to Accident & Emergency. At one point, I wasn’t far off that.
So now I have an additional tablet to take for controlling my blood pressure. I’ll soon be rattling at this rate! I am due to see the Doctor next week for a review of the situation but yesterday I decided to have a chat with the village pharmacist, to make sure the times I take the tablets are right. This is on account of my blood pressure starting off well in the morning and then rising through the day. She advises me to adjust the times and this makes sense, so I’m pleased I took that step.
So with feeling a bit fragile, I have stayed at home most of the time. Certainly no running or cycling and this is such a shame as May is simply the best month to enjoy being outside – those billowing clouds and hedgerows bursting into life. It has also been a time of contemplation, taking stock of things. Even my usual optimism has taken a battering this week; I can tell you I have been worried.
Now a few days later my blood pressure is calming down and I’m feeling easier about it. When I speak to the Doctor, I must ask about running – can / should I do this right now? If so, any advice? Maximum heart rate etc?
Work called….
No, I’m not going back to work. Totally out of the blue a former CEO in probation got in touch, where a very nice opportunity came up and she thought of me. Now that was nice of her but I have decided not to pursue that, although extremely worthwhile.
Her successor, another CEO, also got in touch. This time to ask if I could remember the password for the corporate Twitter account! Alas no, I couldn’t but I was surprised to be asked after all these years.
All this had me recalling work, particularly my time in the probation service. Sure there were tough, stressful times but looking back it was a heck of a career. I have only kept in touch with one colleague but I do wish I’d kept in touch with more as I genuinely liked a good number. Note to self….
And finally
I had a walk down my favourite lane this afternoon and got reminded of how I love the different seasons as they change, month by month, year by year. Here’s a couple of contrasting photos. The snowy photo was taken in late January, the other today.
