I CAN'T BLAME PH

I am really exhausted at the moment.  Whilst it is easy for any of us to blame our condition the reality  though  is I am exhausted with the house though we are moving on, albeit it slowly.   Our plumber will arrive in a week to fit all bathrooms and our tilers will return to finish what they have not completed.  Decorating is now going on where we can and the builders have moved all their things into the garage as the house itself as far as they are concerned is finished.  There is still sone electrical work to be done and I need to make sure I tick off each and every thing on the list when  am taking over from Colin when dealing with the electricians.

Outside work is still going on as they are building the  base for our motor home to sit on and also the rest of the drive.  This should not take too long.   Then comes the task of cleaning!  Though they do a quick clean of course it will not be as we would like it so that will be some task,  oh the chunks of plaster on all the tiles   Our carpets are being ordered in a week so once decorated they can go down immediately.  My concern is the beautiful render, polar white which has quite a few hand marks on it already from the builders.  I am not sure how to clean this without driving the dirt inwards and making it worse.  If anyone has ideas do tell.  Once cleaned we will have a firm come out to coat it with a protector so the dirt rubs off it.  Only then will come the task of creating a garden!  We  will put that to one side for now.

Though of course I am looking froward to the move  I will miss living here. The freedom to walk away knowing all is safe, neighbours that know everyone, the friendliness of us all, the convenience of being round the corner from the hospital and a 15 minute walk into the town centre.  The park opposite and the moor just above, we have it all.  Why are we moving!! Well in a word Izzy!

Izzy

Izzy is on holiday now in Turkey with her parents and Harrison, her step brother plus really good friends Jamie and Abbi and their two children.  For all sorts of reasons it will be nice to live next door to them  Izzy can come and go and if I should progress downhill in my ph then the family will be next door to hopefully lend a hand.

We have also come in handy these last two weeks to babysit their two rabbits.  As we are at the house daily it seemed silly to ask somebody else to look after them so we took on the task.  I baulked at cleaning them out as they have a huge shed plus run so no way am I cleaning out all of that.  It was not expected of me anyway.  They will be fine as the family arrives home soon and will take over.  The rabbits have been treated to such extra delights as we cook with different veg from my daughter so they have had a nice different selection to eat. 

Izzy has been having a super time and she does keep us up to date with a few things as she took her iPad so she could keep in touch a little.  She will only be home a week and then holiday time with granddad.  I shall then take over at the house to deal with the tilers and the bathroom fitter.  I can always ring Colin if there is a problem so I think all will be well and he will get a well deserved time out.  I was going to say rest but the two of them do so much when they go away that it will not be restful.  At last Izzy can ride her bike so bike rides are the order of the day.  Another scoop for granddad who taught her both to swim ( she was doing very poorly in swimming classes until he decided to have an hour in the pool before her lessons with her - she is now a very accomplished swimmer}and now bike ride.  He envisions lots of times just the two of them riding the Sustrans bike trails.

It's a Fiasco

Have they no pride?  As you all know we are having a new house built.  There have been problems along the way as one would expect but by and large it has not gone too badly - that is until last week..

Our tilers appear to be a law unto themselves, coming  and going at all times, going outside at all  times to light a cigarette or drink a cup of coffee.  They rarely seem to be doing what they are employed to do which is tiling.  A job that should take three or four days has taken them weeks! 

I walked into our en suite and was appalled at the state of the tiling around thwindow ledge.  The ledge itself now tiled had  a slope to it, up at the right side down at the left and a slope backwards into the window frame. The tiles were chipped too and looked such a mess.   It was truly appalling.  I immediately told the tiler I would not accept it amd what did he do re the chipped tiles?  He got a felt tip pen and tried to cover up the chips!  The pen reacted with our tile which is metallic and turned red!  So here we were with an abortion of a tiled window and instead of silver and copper one had a red edging!  Of course it all had to come out and Colin told them how to get it all straight and satisfactory and he took the tiles that needed cutting correctly under the window to a specialist tile place that cut them beautifully.  In the meantime the tilers complained to our builder about us being too picky!  They were paid by the metre  and to replace the mess they had made cost them money,  Of course our complaints were validated when we showed our builder the state of the window ledge,  All is done right now but once again they have left our job for at least ten days to do another one!  We are speechless. 

PH and Ferrinject

Once again my ferritin levels are low so this involves another infusion of ferrinject.  Also my doctor is surprised that I am low on ferritin and yet not anaemic.  It seems to be part and parcel of ph.  Many of us go through this and we are not quite sure why this happens.  So once again a hospital visit, though as I am asthmatic I get the infusion that takes only twenty minutes which is a blessing.  Other ongoing tests I have coming up will be going ahead shortly and I hope to have a clean bill of health if all goes well, other than of course pah.

Our lovely break with friends

Once a year friends of ours Ralph and Katy Phipps organise a walk for any Costa Blanca Mountain Walkers who are home in the UK through the summer.  We were invited to join them and to stay overnight at their beautiful home with two other walkers Geoff and Sonia so we could all leave together the following day.

On our journey  down to our friends we decided to spend  a while in Buxton.  This  is a spa town in Derbyshire.  It is nestled in the centre of the Peak District in the UK's oldest National Park. We have been here quite a few times so we knew how beautiful the town is with its Georgian and Victorian Architecture and many theatres and festivals.   There are a wealth of shops too for those that like to browse and many pavement cafes to sit and enjoy coffee or ice creams. We found a quiet spot in a tiny park and it was here that I sat away from prying eyes and pricked a huge blister on my toe I had earned from walking the day before in the wrong shoes!  I felt it would be madness to begin a walk with a blister so it had to go.  Job done and a plaster on to protect it we ate lunch of sandwiches and fresh berries.  Very nice too.  I have many happy memories of this town as we visited it a few times with the "troops" as we all call each other, we are a group that go motor homing together.  No time to dally here though as it was off to meet up with our walking friends.

After a pleasant time spent reminiscing with Ralph and Katy and Geoff and Sonia about our beloved Spain and a lovely meal in a local pub it was time to go to bed and sleep ready for our walk the following day. We met up with everyone else that wanted to join us and it was so nice to see old faces again, in total there were 17 walkers.  I was a little bit apprehensive as these walkers were a lot fitter than me.  I was assured that there were stopping points where we could stop our walk and leave the group so reassured off we went.  The walk was undulating over beautiful countryside and the scenery was just beautiful.

Lunch was eaten in a dip on the moors and we were surrounded by many bilberry bushes.  Most people sat in pairs to eat lunch and I think reflect on the beauty surrounding us.  Ralph is a super leader and is aware at all times as to how people were coping and counting all heads!  I was fearful of letting down the group but I was told there was no such thing as letting down, if it got too much for me we simply left.  Well dear readers  {to quote of my favourite authors Jane Austen} I must confess -  I did it!!!!!  I completed the walk along with 16 other competent walkers and I did not let the side down at all.  A drink and a piece of cake was a just reward for all of us and we then came home we me feeling jubilant!!!!!  At the start of my ph journey there was no way I could walk across a room let alone complete this walk.  I know I owe all this to my doctors and nurses, researchers etc and of that  am eternally grateful.  Now a confession, I spent the following day in bed so there we have it, we can push but we pay the price.  Was it worth it, of course it was, every bit of it and I look forward to more walks with these people.

So it was back with a vengeance to the new house and all it entails.  The finish is in sight though still lots of hard work to do for Colin who bears the heavy load.  I will keep you updated.

Warm love to all for now, and thank you in advance for any comments, most welcome or likes and shares.

Carole xxx