TRYING TO KEEP UP

Well Phil's cataract op went exceedingly well, so well in fact that he now wishes he had had the same surgeon and was in the same hospital with his first cataract op which was somewhat of a disaster.

We began all those drops I mentioned 3 days before the op and have to continue with one of them for another week and the other 2 until Phil sees his surgeon on 17th January.

Phil had been told to have the right lens of his multi-focal glasses removed and he did that today and is seeing remarkably well with just the lens on the left.  Makes us wonder if the first cataract op was perhaps not as good as it could have been although his left eye has always been worse than the right one.  He may even be fortunate not to have to wear glasses all the time although I think his driver's licence shows him having to wear glasses when driving.

What with these drops 4 times a day plus a drop in each eye once a day for his glaucoma and 3 meals a day and trying to just be up and about I haven't really had time to give to blogging and must apologise for not visiting the blogs I really enjoy.  Just not feeling mentally strong enough to take everything in as I should and give them justice.

Leaves are finally growing well on my frangipanis and there are buds aplenty too but they are so slow compared to Karen's who are already flowering.  Maybe it's cos we are only a couple of miles from the coast whereas Karen lives about 20 miles or more inland.  My lovely chameleon roses are still flowering and the one I thought had died does have leaves but not sure if they would off the root stock.   Time alone will tell and with all the business going on of late I've not had the heart to ask Phil to pop out and buy me a couple more roses.  

It is only 14 days till Christmas and for some reason I can't feel at all Christmassy.  Of course C and M and the two little girls will be in America for Christmas and I think it is the children that make Christmas more exciting.   We have decided to still do Secret Santa and Phil and I both are putting on our thinking caps as Karen needs our lists by tonight.  Phil I know wants a book voucher so that will take care of half his list and I may ask for a Bunnings voucher and a few little things to complete the list.  When one gets to our age one doesn't really need anything new and yet it's great having a couple of little parcels to open on the day itself.

Our summer has arrived and although today is only forecast to be about 25C (77F) Friday is heading up to 38C (100.4F) with several days in the low 30s to follow.   None of this is yours truly looking forward to one little bit but when you reach my age one should not be wishing one's life away longing for winter.

Hopefully when Christmas and New Year are long gone and the drops are back to one in each eye at night for Phil I will come back down to earth and be able to think more clearly.  Cheers for now and will try and think up more pretty tunes for Tuesdays just to keep in the loop.

THINKING ALLOWED

I am really beginning to wonder what is going on with the world's weather.  They say it is all caused by climate change and I accept that mankind is responsible for much of the global warming but is there more to it I wonder.  We have had an exceptionally cold September in WA and particularly in Perth and down south.  Even had a light snowfall down south on the Stirling Ranges which very seldom happens even in winter.  We have had few days about 20C (68F) although next week one day is forecast to be 23C (73F).  I am not complaining as I enjoy the winter but it won't be good for sales of summer clothing and these days shops need customers more than ever before.

Some dreadful weather travelled over to South Australia and the entire state was without power as a powerful tornado wrecked part of the power system and their was damage to houses with trees down and roads flooded.   I can't image what it must have been like trying to drive home from work with water everywhere and no street lights or traffic lights working.  Fortunately it seems no lives were lost.   River will have told you all about on her post so will say no more about that.

This afternoon Phil and I are travelling down to Kwinana to watch our 8-year-old dancing.  It is a concert of ballet and although I did go to a concert with my daughter last year, Phil has not seen the youngster dance.  It means leaving home early afternoon but I am sure it will be worth doing so.  K would probably be going if she were not in the US so the great-grandparents will be in the audience for a change this time.  This is a group Immy was dancing in recently and they won second prize.

Phil visited the dentist yesterday and his mouth has healed nicely, even though the stitch fell out on the second day after the tooth was extracted and the lump on his gum has almost disappeared.  I feel the time may have come when Phil will have to seriously think about a partial top plate but I am sure the dentist will pursue that option eventually.  He has an appointment in a month for them to check the gum is healing OK.   I can't remember them being concerned about osteoporosis before but they apparently want to keep checking that all is OK.  I guess one should never be sorry that care is being shown a patient.

K and her hubby still appear to be enjoying themselves in New Jersey and seeing lots of different places.  They will help Beth celebrate her birthday on Monday which will be very special for all of them.  I gave K a card with a little something enclosed so she can give it to Beth from us on the day.  It is so difficult to buy for or send anything to the US that I usually only settle for sending an E-card but this time she will get something personal from us.

Phil was very good for 3 or 4 days and did the cooking and some of the cleaning up.  I think it has been good for my back to have a rest as it really does hurt when I stand for any length of time and for the life of my I just can't seem to prepare meals, vegies etc. sitting down.  I guess I will have to learn to do so before too long but our kitchen isn't really suited to using a stool and I find it difficult when sitting at the table.  Seems this old dog may soon have to learn new tricks though.

TUESDAY CHAT

It has been a fairly quiet week for me since we had the HWS fixed and boy, are we now enjoying our showers.  I tell you the HWS is working as good as it did when first installed back in 1975 and with sunny days the water is boiling hot.  That good old sun saves so much money and we don't have to rely on the electric booster very often.  It's not a normal solar HWS but one made by a plumber and the solar panels act as an awning over our kitchen window (which faces north).  There is a large copper tank in the ceiling which has an electric heating element in it for use on cloudy days.

Phil actually had a couple of jobs he needed to attend to so he didn't get to the op shop for me last week so my pile of rugs is growing.  Just finished one yesterday so there are now 8 of them ready to go to Vinnys.   Right time of year for rugs so hopefully they will make a few dollars out of them.  Just for fun I lined them up on my bed as I folded them and took a photo of them.  There are 7 of them here (the zig zag one I made about 30 years ago and is on my bed permanently in colder weather).

We both visited our podiatrist yesterday and now our feet feel very special.  John does a great job and always makes sure he checks all is well with our tootsies including feeling the pulses in them and checking if we can feel touches.  Have you ever had that done...you shut your eyes and a tiny plastic 'wire' is used to touch the surface of the foot.  It is a very necessary test for diabetics as over the years many diabetics have lost their feet or even their legs because of lack of circulation.

The coming week has no appointments listed in my diary so maybe out to lunch one day for a change.  The old Rockingham hotel seems to have been taken over and they are now offering quite inexpensive lunches for seniors on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  If the weather stays fine a drive down there may be a good idea to blow the cobwebs away.

I trust everyone else has had a good week and that whatever you had hoped for is happening in your part of the world.

THINKING ALLOWED

Oh yes, I am still doing lots of sitting and with it comes lots of thinking.

The other day I was thinking about something I had read about sitting for long spells.  It was suggested if you are using a computer, watching a batch of DVDs or similar, you should get up every 30 minutes and go for a little wander.  Apparently it is very good for your heart to do that.   I do tend to spend a couple of hours at a time on the computer on Facebook, looking after my farms in Farm Town, playing Scrabble or just researching one thing or another, and then of course there is blogging.

 I decided I would set my little kettle timer to 30 minutes and make sure I got up and wandered around for a few minutes when the little bell rang.  I have been doing that for several days now and, who knows, I may even lose a little weight through the increased activity.

I may have told you that Candy likes hunting lizards and geckos and often brings them in to show us.  Phil then hurriedly grabs the dustpan and brush and pops the poor little critter back in the garden.  Well, the other day Phil got in the car and there on the dashboard was what I call a fence lizard:

He tried to shoo it out through the door but it wasn't having any and disappeared somewhere under the dash.   Yesterday we visited our podiatrist and as I got back into the car I noticed something in the little hollow on my door (near the arm rest).  Yes, you've guessed it.....the poor little lizard.  We weren't sure if it had survived several days in the car but sure enough it was very lively and Phil was able to gently lift it out using his handkerchief and then pop it on the ground.  From there he guided it across to a patch of greenery and it ran up the kerbing and hid itself in there.  We think perhaps Candy had been chasing it in our driveway one day and to get out of her way it may have run up one of the tyres and then into the interior of the car.  It may be only a tiny creature but it felt so good to know we had saved its life and we wish it well.

It rained in Perth last night.....not a lot but at least it saved us having to water the garden (our set night) but I think the sprinklers will be out again on Tuesday night (our other set night).  We have had a real taste of summer during September and October and have virtually had no real spring weather with those usual delightful balmy days with spring showers.  Our dams and reservoirs are at their lowest level for many years.  By the time our summer ends in about March or April I think we will be well and truly ready and waiting for winter to begin in June.