20.04.2024

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  Saturday 20th 37F/3C [at 8.00] Sunny periods but rather cloudy. Northerly winds are moving the boundary trees occasionally. The rain gauge added another 12mm yesterday. Up at 6.20 after a reasonable night. I keep having wet, coughing fits. Slightly yellow phlegm tastes unpleasant. Leaves my chest burning. The coughing seems to be reducing now that I am safely upright again. My chest was wheezing in the night on each exhalation. 

 I have to keep blowing my nose. Kleenex tissues seem to have a lost a lot of strength recently. Despite the false advertising claims of "always soft and strong" on the box. There is no visible mention of country of origin. My trusty magnifying glass isn't up to deciphering the sub-micro text on the tear out oval. Printed on a dark blue background for minimal intelligibility? What are they afraid of?

 Only 61F/16C in the room. How long will it take me to get around to lighting the stove today? It takes only seconds but I resent the loss of logs. I have almost used up the previous trailer load. The new lot was separated from the old with a trip of cardboard for ease of identification. Logic suggests that the older logs will be drier. Though this is weather dependent. Very dry logs will become damper again with higher, outdoor air humidity. Then dry again. Provided I bring them into the heated room early enough. The greenhouse storage humidity is variable.

 

  ~o~

19.04.2024 Man flu?

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  Friday 19th 40F/4.4C. Overcast and all day rain. Midnight to midnight. Up at 6.15. I still have the cold [?] symptoms. Coughing and snotty nose with a bad taste. 62F/17C in the room. I had better light the stove.

 The stove was lit much [much] later. Now I will probably forget to feed it with logs. Not because I am senile but because I have un-diagnosed ADHD. I tick every box for the symptoms and have done since childhood.

 12.50 Time for lunch. It has been raining on and off all morning but I haven't wanted to go out anyway. My chest is wet and burning slightly. I keep coughing and my nose keeps running. It doesn't feel like a cold. So it's probably something terminal. 

 16.00 That was a waste of time. I went to bed for my afternoon nap and coughed continuously. I tried lying on my left side, right side and on my back My chest is wheezing and my coughs are increasingly wet. 

 Dinner was chips, chicken, mushrooms and tomatoes. The Google image storage app, for which I pay £8+ equivalent per month, isn't working. Again! And now it is. It requires the phone Wi-Fi to be enabled. To transfer images. Why? When I connect the USB cable every time.

 

  ~o~

 

18.04.2024 A Bloodbath!

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  Thursday 18th 31F/-1C. Clear and sunny. White frost on the cars and garden. 61F/16C indoors. 

 Woke at 6am to find blood gushing from both nostrils. Grabbed a tissue to clamp my nose and headed to the bathroom. Blood everywhere but fortunately it soon stopped. As I splashed my face with icy cold water. This has never happened before. Perhaps the aspirin is thinning my blood? Surely not my clumsy attempts at killing the poor, innocent aspidistra? The clay pots really weren't that heavy! Well, they were quite heavy. As were the bags of compost. I was completely breathless after carrying one small [18L] bag into the shop.

 I checked: Various medical websites suggest nosebleeds are possible due to reduced clotting. I have discovered that there is a history of heart problems. On my mother's side of the family. My mother had a pacemaker fitted. My grandmother died on a train journey.

 7.45 Time to get ready for a walk.

 8.15 Returning from a loop along the drives. A pair of Mallards were foraging in the long grass near the pond. It was still cold enough to see my breath as I walked back. Japanese knotweed is reemerging through the gravel on the new drive. This invasive plant was imported on contaminated soil when a steep roadside drop was filled.

 I have an occasional, ticklish, dry cough and a sore upper respiratory system. A chap was coughing loudly and sniffing wetly and endlessly while waiting at the dentists.

 10.15 I returned to the garden centre. To buy another pair of matching pots and saucers. Plus a couple more bags of potting compost. All are now safely tucked in with fresh compost. It is just a matter of finding indoor sites for them all. 

 10.45  I sent a repeat of my December 2023 email to Contec requesting a replacement for the broken saddle frame. The dealer from which I bought the saddle has closed down. The nearest Contec dealer is hours of driving away. 

 An update: Contec wholesale responded. They can't help me directly. There is a Contec dealer in Odense. The nearest city. This wasn't shown on a previous list of dealers.

 13.00 Lunch. I am now battling an invasion of tiny ants in the kitchen. I have sprinkled the ant killer where they emerge.

 A lazy afternoon feeling a bit under the weather. Runny nose, occasional cough and a sore chest.

 Dinner was beans on toast.

 

  ~o~