Full Metal Wheelbarrow

Had a call from the doctor's surgery this morning - after yesterday's blood test they want me to come in for a glucose tolerance test to see if I've got diabetes :(

Can't fault them for speed I suppose. Not looking forward to it though. I really hope I don't have "dire beasties"….

Meanwhile, I picked up my strimmer from its service and told the weeds on the allotment what for. More runner beans have germinated at last, which is a relief - I was beginning to think the four plants from the initial sowing were going to be it this year.

I thinned out the row of Mooli radish - I hate doing that, but it's necessary.

And one of the woodpeckers was feeding on the fatballs this afternoon, which cheered me up a bit.

Went to the doctor's this morning for the followup appointment about my coil. He seemed pleased with the chart of when I'd been bleeding and said he didn't need to see me again, which has to be good.

This afternoon I went down to the allotment to take advantage of the sunshine, weeded one of the strawberry beds, did some more digging and planted some more broad beans.

I was pleased to see that, like the pile of artichoke stalks, my strawberry beds have also provided a safe winter haven for numbers of ladybirds. I disturbed quite a few of them with my weeding and tidying, but with luck they'll enjoy the sunshine for a bit and then snuggle back down among the strawberry plants later.

Most of the broad beans I planted in the autumn haven't come up, but I can't say I'm all that surprised, given the rotten winter we had. So I've started some more off in one of the root trainer trays I usually use for peas - thanks to sammason  for that - I've not tried starting them inside before, but it seems like a good idea.

As I was leaving the greenhouse I remembered at the last minute to put a propagator lid over them - not so much to make them warmer and so sprout faster, but just in case the little rodent who nommed the first batch of my sweetcorn seeds last year is still around...

I even saw a butterfly today (a small tortoiseshell, I think) I very much suspect the poor thing has got up rather too early and will regret it shortly though :-(

I haven't been posting much lately, mainly because of inertia - I've been commenting a fair bit, but just haven't worked up the impetus to do a proper post.

Last week I rang the surgery to see if they'd had the letter from the hospital yet. They hadn't. But they made me an appointment for when it arrived - for the 7th of January. Bah. I'd really rather hoped to get things sorted out a bit earlier than that.

On Monday, I stomped around Derby for three hours and sorted out most of my Christmas shopping. I was surprised how quickly I got tired - I must be out of practice.

Yesterday I posted most of my Christmas cards. I also planned to make shepherd's pie for tea, but found that all my onions had gone mouldy, so ended up cleaning out the fridge instead. Joy. (We had toad in the hole for tea if anyone's on the edge of their seat wondering :-)).

Today, I bought more onions and some sellotape for doing parcels with. Shepherd's pie was had.

Although I was in all afternoon, the veg box man left the box on the doorstep.
Perhaps he didn't knock loud enough or perhaps something more sinister happened, since, in addition to tasty nutritious veg, this week's box also appeared to contain one of the Great Old Ones :-
( Ai! Ai! Cthulu fthagn! )

So today I had my appointment at the gynaecology department and the verdict from the nice lady doctor I saw  is that they need to anaesthetise me, and have a peer at my interior with a little camera onna stick, take a sample of the inside of my uterus and, if it seems like a good idea ta the time, fit me with a Mirena coil. So then I got sent off for the inevitable blood tests and an ECG (because I'm on pills for blood pressure) and then I could go home. I should get an appointment letter for the surgery shortly, and the doctor reckons it should be in about four-six weeks.  Not exactly looking forward to it, but if it sorts out my stupid periods, it can only be a good thing.

Yesterday I was mostly delivering a trike, which involved an Expotition to the wilds of Wolverhampton. I was sadly disillusioned to find a distinct lack of wolves though.

Today I've been doing paperwork and parcels. Tomorrow will be packing for the weekend's trip to Lancaster and Preston (boo! hiss!) for two days of cycle racing. I'm taking my trike this time, not to race, but because it's a bloody long way from the track to the loos at Lancaster! (note to self - remember to pack a bike lock).

Lancaster's always a fun one because there are lots of paths across the track and we have to set marshalls to explain to the dog walking public that they might want to wait a minute or two before crossing the track as being hit by a streamliner at 40mph can put a serious crimp in your day...

Meanwhile on the medical front, having been advised by many kind folk that iron pills will put the brakes on the digestive process, I'm finding rather the opposite at present. Trust me to be bloody contrary :-). I suppose it might be the hormone pills doing that, or the combination of both lots.

It rained like anything at lunchtime today with a good dose of thunder thrown in - I think that half-hour of rain filled my rain barrels better than all the dribbles we've had in the past couple of weeks! I hope it doesn't rain like that when we're in the tent on Saturday...

I had an appointment with my doctor this morning - my left shoulder has been getting increasingly painful lately, and it's got to the point where the range of movement in my left arm is less than it was. I thought I was possibly being a bit of a wimp about it, but the doctor prescribed anti-inflammatories and has referred me for physiotherapy, so I guess not...

Anyway, on my way to the surgery I saw something that made me smile, and took a picture of it....



( Smile... )