A week of little things

After the stress and busyness of DH’s illness and my cataract surgery, I seem to have fallen into a state of almost suspended animation since my last post. Not being allowed to drive means that I’m reliant on DH to take me out and about, and with the exception of my visit to the hospital for a check-up last Wednesday, he seems very reluctant to do so.

His excuse is that he wants to keep me away from potential colds and flu, sneezing being not a good idea at the moment. I think the real reason is that he’s falling into hibernate (or should that be hermit?) mode and doesn’t enjoy venturing out in the cold, grey weather which has been the norm recently. Whatever the reason, this has been a very quiet week, with our only visitor the postman.

So it’s been a week of little things - small happenings that would go almost unnoticed if life were busier. Things like a welcome, steady drop in DH’s resting blood pressure, disturbed only by a few unexplained spikes. These have probably been happening for months if not years, but ignorance being bliss, we didn’t know to worry about them. As long as the trend continues to be downward, he’ll go on taking the tablets and speak to the GP at his next appointment.

For me the little things include the bracing daily experience of unpeeling the micropore tape which holds my eye shield in place overnight. On the basis of the last ten days or so, I should patent it as a new depilatory! Or there’s the growing realisation that despite some creaks my knees do still work, and that instead of the long-preferred, but now forbidden, bending at the waist to pick things up, I’m again capable of squatting down to do so and getting up again unaided. Who needs gym membership?

Apart from that my days have been a quiet round of pottering – some gentle housework, increasing amounts of reading and some fairly mindless TV watching, while clearing part of my long-neglected pile of clothes mending. It feels so good to be able to thread a needle again without squinting!

Our one sortie into the outside world proved to be more exciting than expected. Ten miles into the nearly forty-mile journey to the hospital we were appalled to discover a “road closed” notice. Several miles further on, a lorry had overturned on the winding road across the hills, which had to be closed to allow the lorry to be recovered.  A swift phone call to the eye clinic told them we would be late and DH took the short cut across the single-track mountain road to the coastal road which is the only other way to get to Aberystwyth. Amazingly we were only 20 minutes late and, less surprisingly, found we weren't the only patients to have been inconvenienced.

Fortunately Wednesday was the one bright and sunny morning of the week, so my only regret was that of course I didn’t have my camera with me on the spectacular mountain road past the remote and long-disused lead mines of Dylife. Google as usual has come to my rescue, so I’ll leave you with a tantalising glimpse of what must be one of the most stunning panoramic views to be found anywhere, and go back to doing not very much at all.

Images via Google