A quick update with some recent photos which I haven’t been able to share for the past few weeks, given that I was too busy posting about my various studio-based activities.
Flowers
My hubby has outdone himself again this year with bedding plants for our troughs and tubs in the patio, to make a gorgeous bright floral display. It’s been much too hot to sit out, unfortunately, but I do enjoy seeing them from the various windows of the house as I make my way around, doing various indoor tasks.
A view along the path, and then some photos of individual flowers. There are more around the corner, outside the kitchen window.
Old Dorset walls
We had a day out in Dorset last week. I absolutely love old walls of any kind – they weather so beautifully, and are full of subtle shades and beautiful textures. In Dorset it is traditional on many buildings to alternate bands of brick with knapped flint which gives a beautiful texture, and with time, and the intrusion of mineral salts and the growth of lichen and general weathering, there are massive variations in tone and colour in both the natural and man-made building materials.
I just love the yellows and greys and subtle blending and shading of the colours in this piece of flint.
Glorious shades of weathered brick.
An old painted brick wall. I love how it has weathered, and the brickwork is showing through the decay.
Somehow I am going to have to try and replicate some of these effects with my gel press. Someone who has managed this supremely well is Robyn McClendon.
Kitties
This photo was taken several weeks ago when it wasn’t so hot. They usually only do this in the winter, to keep warm, and they certainly haven’t been snuggling up together over the past few days! I always think they look like two little beans in a pod when they lie like this.
Kitties are funny with favourite places. They will adopt a favourite place and monopolise it for several weeks, and then, suddenly and without any apparent reason, they abandon it and move to a new one! Ours tend to rotate between several favourite places they each have, and occasionally, usually Lily, will steal one of Ruby’s. This old wooden chair with its pile of cushions has always been one of Ruby’s haunts, but recently Lily has purloined it. We are always amused to see how her fur sticks out through the bars of the chair.
One of Ruby’s favourite of her favourite places is the top deck of the cat tree. She races up the tree at great speed and the whole thing rocks about, and I’m quite sure she’ll have the whole thing over one day!
Here she is with a great tangle of arms and legs. As usual, her tail is hanging down. It’s extremely tempting to tug it!!
Here she is sitting on my hubby’s lap, with her front paws attractively crossed. (Lily photo-bombing the picture on the right.)
Finally, demanding to come in for their tea after playing in the garden. As usual, Ruby is the one stretching up to be let in.
Health update
Parastomal hernia surgery
Still no news on my operation. I eventually got a date for the end of April but it was postoned due to an unusually high number of people with cancer needing more urgent attention. Oh well, I can continue to live with it – it’s not too much of a problem although I am having to change my bag more frequently which is a bit tedious. I am grateful that unlike so many waiting on the interminable waiting lists, I am not in pain.
UTIs
A few weks ago I got a UTI which was pretty uncomfortable but I had a week’s course of antibiotics. It cleared up pretty quickly, but then a few days after I finished the course, it started up again, very mildly at first, over a weekend. On the Monday I phoned up and again they wanted a sample. For some reason they didn’t get the antibiotics to me until the following day and for the next 24 hours I was in quite severe pain all the time, not just when I went to the loo. I was getting pretty desperate by the time I got the top-up single dose antibiotic, and in the meantime my hubby went out and bought me a couple of litres of cranberry juice which I gulped down in large quantities, and this really did seem to help. Since then I haven’t had any further problems, and I am drinking cranberry juice every day now.
Mammogram
Last week I had my first annual follow-up mammogram after my breast cancer. When the appointment letter came through I was surprised that it was that time already, until I realised that it was a whole year since my surgery – 9th July 2021! How quickly the time has gone. I was anticipating the procedure being more uncomfortable than usual as my left breast is quite tender. I was told this would be an ongoing problem after radiotherapy. However, the girls at the Breast Unit were brilliant and I had very little discomfort. Everything is as it should be since last year, and I don’t anticipate any bad news from the procedure.
ME and the heat
I’m really not doing very well in this hot weather. It’s far too hot for me – with my ME it seems to sap what little energy I have, and it’s a real effort to do anything! I know most people complain of this in a heatwave, but when your energy levels are very low to start with, it can have a pretty drastic effect. After completing the sunflower page in my art journal I have been keen to get back into the studio but after doing my necessary chores, there simply isn’t enough get up and go to get me up and going! The heat also tends to cause my ankles to swelll which is pretty uncomfortable, so I am best off with my legs up on the recliner as much as possible. Our day out last week involved a 2 1/2 hour drive each way and sitting in the car for all that time wasn’t too comfortable. Let’s hope it cools off a bit soon but my hubby (ever the doom merchant glass almost empty character!) said he’d heard that it was going to get even hotter this coming week. The kitties keep on wanting to sit on my lap but they are much too hot!!
