Monday 18 February 2008

Getting older


My knees are getting wrinklier. Is it just age, or also wear and tear from sprawling on the carpet with the Squirmle? My birthday presents included a baking tray (a nice solid one which won't buckle) and an insulated mug with a tight lid (useful for keeping coffee warm while dealing with the Squirmle, and for avoiding spillages).

Spent yesterday hacking down the horrible ivy which my neighbour had wrenched off the back fence. His new fence is shorter than the old one, so we have even more of a grandstand view of his rather lurid tan-coloured shed. I'm going to have to find something very large to plant there: perhaps a Fatsia. Since I also need to buy and plant a quince tree this spring, and move a small conifer at the front, it's going to be a busy time.

Friday 8 February 2008

Recuperation


Only after the doctor gave him antibiotics did the Squirmle show real signs of being ill: by the Thursday his temperature had reached over 100. Fortunately by Monday lunchtime he was back to normal, so I could take him to nursery and then crash out myself to try and fight off whatever he had passed on to me.

However, last Friday I woke early in the morning with a dull ache in both hands, reaching halfway up the forearm, and found that my fingers didn't work properly. I had no strength in my grip, and any attempt to lift or pull anything caused pain in the fingers and forearm. Pouring the tea took two hands, and I had to find a new way of holding my spray deodorant. Amid mutterings about "carpal tunnel syndrome" (which it certainly wasn't), I contacted the doctor. It may just have been a side effect of the viral infection, but it was worrying, since it made actions like picking up the baby and changing his nappy both extremely difficult and acutely painful. I was relieved that by today it had subsided to a vague tiredness of the muscles. Actually, the bit that made me feel the worst was the blood test ordered by the doctor. I've always felt faint after blood donation (had to give it up), but I discovered that having even a small amount of blood removed left me faint, nauseated, and deeply unhappy. I had to lie down for five minutes while the Squirmle wriggled in his buggy.