Aaaarrrggghhh it's THAT time of year

Yes it's that December time of year again where we mostly all turn into headless chickens.  As most of you will know my Dad sadly passed away in September so it's going to be strange without him in the midst of things.  Mr M and I have decided to have the family dinner here this year and decided to go with Duck for the mains.  I'm quite excited about it, although we have had people round for meals this will be the first family Christmas Dinner here.  Most of the menu has been planned.  Prawn and Smoked Salmon something starter (how's that for descriptive?!), Soup, Duck and trimmings, Christmas pudding or cheesecake (not decided what cheesecake to make yet), lots of wine or substitute and then relax and maybe a film and a snooze (has to be done).

My birthday is the next day and as usual I'm planning to do something for it in January.  Half Most of the time I say I'll arrange to go out for drinks in January and invite folk it never happens.  Mr M and I are bad for not arranging to do celebratory things for ourselves.  Mostly it's because of our health issues.  This year we SHALL go for a meal in January to the new restaurant Da Steakhoose in Lerwick (although they are pretty fully booked so we better get booking shortly to get fitted in).  The last time we did anything Birthday or Anniversary wise for the pair of us it was Mr M's Birthday 2 years ago (gulp!).

We've just had an overhaul of the heating and hot water systems here.  It's not been straightforward.  The guys that have been contracted to do the work have been great but The Powers That Be - different story.  A lot of it is communication related or rather the lack there of.  There has been a lot of toing and froing with different things.  We used to have a communal boiler house which serviced 11 houses and we paid the council for our electric and heating.  This has been changed to individual megaflow boilers and Quantum Storage heating for Kitchen and Sitting Room and panel heaters for Bathroom and bedrooms.  We were originally supposed to get supplied by Scottish Hydro but in the middle of things this got changed to EDF.  Things are up and running now but we still don't know when the electric will be changing over to EDF or what tariff we will be on.  Both Mr M and I are going to go with Scottish Hydro when we get the chance.  We may pay a bit more but at least we'll be able to get information about when the power is going to come back on during power cuts and if something goes wrong it's Scottish Hydro that has the manpower up here.  We shall see what happens but I'm not holding my breath waiting for info.  On the plus side it's been great having hot water in the house, no more waiting around 10 minutes for lukewarm water from the taps or having to boil the kettle so we can have hot water to wash dishes or hands.


Gardening has been put on hold but got the Garlic and bulbs on the go for the Spring.  Health wise I've not been able to do much but it really is in need of a good tidy.

I've also been toying with the idea of making a YouTube Vlogging channel and keep swaying between Yay and Nay.  It won't be the most exciting channel (there will be no skydiving or water skiing I'm afraid) but mostly a sort of video journal of what it is like living in Shetland with Chronic Health Issues.  As I say I'm not sure but let me know what your thoughts are.  There won't be fancy camera equipment just the cameras that we already have and no idea how to edit or what program to use but I can learn those things.


Anyway enough of the essay, signing off for just now.

M

Up and Down with The Doctor

It's Friday again, feels like no time since last Friday!

I'm trying to be better with the blogging thing and going to do my upmost to do it more often (I'm sure I can hear someone laughing somewhere....)

Last Sunday Mr M and I ventured out to the Sumburgh Hotel with some Aberdeen supporters (including Bro and Uncle) to meet with other supporters who live in the South Mainland.  Really enjoyed it, even though I spilled my pint - the shame!  Totally my fault and I was sober at the time.  I did have several other moments of almost spilling things and I had my glasses on - might need to get the prescription checked!  We got a win, albeit a bit messy one but I'm happy with three points even if I'm not as happy with the performance of the team.  We went for a Chinese when we got back to Lerwick.  As we hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was now teatime I went for full pig out mode and had three courses, it was great.


When I'm out it doesn't take much alcohol for me not to have the sense to go back home so I don't get the ME/CFS payback as bad, it's a good thing I'm not out that often.  The good thing about hangovers (if there is such a thing) is that you usually know how long it's going to last, with payback you just don't know.  Turns out payback wasn't as bad as it could have been but still took it's toll.  Both Mr M and I had a bit of an up and down week health wise but think (touch wood) back on an even keel now.


Wasn't able to go shopping this week but Mr M found something to cheer me up in a wibbly, wobbly, timey, wimey way.  A Doctor Who Mug from Cancer Research shop.  I know it has the 10th Doctor on it and we're now on the 12th but it still put a smile on my face.  I love rummaging through Charity Shops so many great finds.  I have to say mine are mainly of the CD and Book type but for the moment I'm on a ban for both because we just don't have the room for more.  I will say it is self imposed and it's very difficult to keep to sometimes but hurray for libraries and Kindle!








I did take some Daffodils in last week and to my surprise they are still looking good after about a week.  It's great to see the splash of sunshine indoors.  I took them in as the forecast wasn't that great and it did pelt it down both in hail and rain form but I've still got a whole host of Daffodils alive and well outside and some Narcissus too.  I ordered a Garden Kneeler/Stool and that arrived this week.  Not had a chance to test it yet but will give you and update when I do

All Change!

Well maybe not everything but a few things.   

Last November Mr M and I moved into a new place.  It's still Sheltered Accommodation but a lot more room as I was in a bedsit before.  I just had to move across the road but Mr M had a far longer and harder move.  We've now got everything unpacked and the bed up in the guest room.  This takes me on to a different subject.  Due to our illnesses sometimes in order to get a good sleep we sleep in different beds - shock horror!  Popular opinion seems to be that there must be something wrong if a couple wants to sleep in separate beds, I think it could enhance a relationship.  Getting a good sleep means less grumpiness - thus less arguments.  I have to say I'm really grumpy first thing in the morning.  See that meme with the gremlin thing with a cup of coffee, that's me in the morning.  Most days my conversations in the first hour consist of a series of grunts rather than any actual speech.

My Scooter has packed up for the moment.  The last time it worked was Up Helly Aa and I swear I didn't get it seriously drunk - a mobility scooter has to have some fun sometimes!  We thought it was the charger but now aren't sure but we've still a few things to check out before we give in.  I've really missed having the freedom that I had with the scooter and be able to do things without burdening other folk for lifts and being more spontaneous generally.  Although I can't drive in town, (cognitively that is a huge no go and I'm sure would result in various emergency services being called within 10 minutes of me driving in town), the scooter took me to the shop, hall and ferry on the island.  I know I had to be careful with how I was feeling if I was feeling the slightest bit iffy I would not drive it, again could cause an accident.  I know I didn't use it everyday and I'm thinking as well as actual freedom the idea of having freedom is also important.





I love lots of things about the new house but especially when I'm having a bad day being on the couch and watching the waves.  We've also got a really small garden which I feel able enough to maintain.  It's an established garden so we're going to wait and see what comes up.  We've already had Daffodils and Primulas so far and are excited to see what comes up during the summer.