Wednesday 30 May 2018
House makeover!
I spent Tuesday morning reorganising the front room.
I had 3 objectives:
1) move the giant plants off the dining table to let in more light (and give the table a break!)
2) Make a dedicated space for violin tuition and all the things I need for lessons.
3) tidy up all the shelves and make the room look a little less studenty.
I can't believe how big it's made the room look!
Sunday 27 May 2018
Dinner party
Kirstie, Phil and Tracey came over for dinner.
So, I finally had an opportunity to try out the massaman curry paste from the Chinese supermarket.
Definitely the right choice!
Saturday 26 May 2018
Buscot Park
Today I started out without any firm plans. Maybe chores.. maybe Netflix.
I didn't even bother to get dressed until gone midday as messy tasks are best done in PJs.
Tracey turned up just after lunch time so we thought we'd do an impromptu national trust as the weather was so much better than forecast.
Definitely the correct choice.
The new book case
This book case has been a bit of a headache, but it does look awesome so you have to agree that it was probably worth the agro in the end.
Last Sunday whilst I was in A&E, Traff had to accompany my father to homebase to pick the book case up.
They returned with only 'box 2 of 2'. I rang around stores on Thursday and located 'box 1of 2' but it was too big to fit in the car, so finally collected it on Friday when my Father was free with his giant car.
Traff and I attempted construction on Friday night but his heart wasn't in it and he gave up.
So today, Tracey the flat pack Queen and I did manly furniture construction.
It looks awesome;
Thursday 24 May 2018
Invitation
Ray found an invitation to my surprise birthday party whilst she was unpacking boxes at her new place (some of them have been in storage for a few years so unpacking has been pretty exciting!).
I obviously didn't receive an invitation as it was a surprise for me, so it's quite nice to finally see them! 
I obviously didn't receive an invitation as it was a surprise for me, so it's quite nice to finally see them!
Lancaster
On Tuesday and Wednesday I worked in Lancaster.
It's such a pretty place and I never get to see anything other than the train station and the university campus!
I'm going to try to make a point of going to a landmark when I visit places with work, otherwise I won't know what I'm missing!
The hotel was lovely, the rooms are bicycle themed. Sadly I once again draw the short draw and had the air con fan for the building under my bedroom window but everything else was ace.
We had a really positive visit to the university and loads of time to work on the way there and back. I always forget how far away it is. 
It's such a pretty place and I never get to see anything other than the train station and the university campus!
I'm going to try to make a point of going to a landmark when I visit places with work, otherwise I won't know what I'm missing!
The hotel was lovely, the rooms are bicycle themed. Sadly I once again draw the short draw and had the air con fan for the building under my bedroom window but everything else was ace.
We had a really positive visit to the university and loads of time to work on the way there and back. I always forget how far away it is.
Giant foot!
Arghh.. so gross!
Thankfully it is looking much better now. I can't believe this was the effect of a cat bite.
Honestly the cut is like 1cm long.
Cat bite disaster
On Saturday evening I was playing with Albie, who in her excitement bit my foot.
I didn't really think about it at the time. Albie has nipped me before and when we first got Marley she would sometimes bite when she was anxious.
It's always just been a bit frustrating before.
Anyway, I woke up this morning and my foot was twice the size it was supposed to be.
A very hungover Dan told me to ring NHS 111 and far more hungover James appeared as I was explained the issue to the call handler and made it very dramatic.
So, a trip to A&E, two kinds of antibiotics and a pus drawing dressing later I am hopefully on the mend.
I can't get over how incredibly hot my toe is. It's so sore!
Saturday 19 May 2018
Visitors
In order to cheer Traff up and give him a bit of a break from all the stresses of the week, James and Dan came to hang out today.
We walked into Old town and had Tapas at Los Gatos, which was awesome.
Then had a drink in the Vic, and then on to the Beehive for some darts.
Albie
Today I hung out with Albie. Usually she's very affectionate and loving so I get lots of kisses.
Sometimes her live is rather butey and violent.
I thought she was giving me kisses, but I realised she was cleaning my moustache when she moved on to my eyebrows next!
It was weird!
Thursday 17 May 2018
Our difficult week
This week has been pretty awful. Traff's Grandfather has passed away suddenly.
His death has been really hard on all of us, especially because it is being treated as suspicious by the police. Long and depressing story short, we are now waiting for the coroners court verdict before we can set a date for his funeral.
Traff has been backwards and forwards to Hatfield all week. It's been extremely odd.
Today we were both home in the evening. We had a bbq and watched Marley sunning herself.
Tuesday 15 May 2018
Giant watermelon
Today, I walked home from work via commercial road.
There is a cash & carry who have the best watermelon.
They come from Morocco... just incase you're buying... so much nicer than the spanish ones!
So, I carried this giant home and believe me, it weighed a ton.
Friday 11 May 2018
Oxford university
Today we worked in Oxford at the Maths building.
The view from the top floor is amazing!
And they have a roof terrace.
We had lunch in the board room which is on the top floor and has some very impressive and distracting views.
We also had a drinks reception in our honour.
😁
Wednesday 9 May 2018
Violin tuition
I recently advertised on one of the community face book groups to see if anyone would like some violin tuition.
£10 for 40 minutes.
I thought that was fair as I'm not able to do any of the grading certificates and I'm not affiliated with any of the music teaching societies.
I would be fair to say that I think now that this was a little to reasonable.
I was inundated with emails!
I have now taken on 4 students to start with- Susannah, Christine, Nancy and Amy.
I've really enjoyed teaching the violin. It's been quite liberating and it has been a really good encouragement for me to practice and plant more frequently- even if it's just to mark up music for my students!
I'm not sure Marley shares my enthusiasm for teaching people to play. She doesn't mind when I play and sometimes she sits and watches.
When people are starting out and their playing isn't very easy on the ears she climbs the stairs so that she's at their head height and shouts in their face!
It's hilarious.
There isn't really much I can do to stop her either!
I've been having a great time looking up gumtree bargains for people and ordering some new books to play from. I've made friends with the wonders of the music shop on commercial road and they'd been fantastic.
Next we will play disney.
For now, jigs and reels! 
£10 for 40 minutes.
I thought that was fair as I'm not able to do any of the grading certificates and I'm not affiliated with any of the music teaching societies.
I would be fair to say that I think now that this was a little to reasonable.
I was inundated with emails!
I have now taken on 4 students to start with- Susannah, Christine, Nancy and Amy.
I've really enjoyed teaching the violin. It's been quite liberating and it has been a really good encouragement for me to practice and plant more frequently- even if it's just to mark up music for my students!
I'm not sure Marley shares my enthusiasm for teaching people to play. She doesn't mind when I play and sometimes she sits and watches.
When people are starting out and their playing isn't very easy on the ears she climbs the stairs so that she's at their head height and shouts in their face!
It's hilarious.
There isn't really much I can do to stop her either!
I've been having a great time looking up gumtree bargains for people and ordering some new books to play from. I've made friends with the wonders of the music shop on commercial road and they'd been fantastic.
Next we will play disney.
For now, jigs and reels!
Vitamin B12.
So, I think I posted a bit about this in December but I'll update you with the full (isn) story now.
I had to have my yearly thyroid function blood test in December (I have Hypothyroidism and take levothyroxine- as mine is autoimmune where the body attacks it's own cells it was get worse and the medication levels will have to be adjusted. Eventually I won't produce my own thyroid hormones and will then be reliant on the levothryoxine).
The nurse rang me to to tell me that the levels were fine. I had queried this as I had been refused a course of antibiotics at the emergency care centre in about November because they had felt that my thyroid was not under control.
Then I received a letter asking me to repeat the blood test.
I rang them and they told me the red blood cell count was odd but that I was probably an anomaly.
I went back in January- on one of the days it snowed. I got the healthcare parctitioner- who is like a Nurse in training.
I warned her that because my thyroid is a mess I don't regulate my body temperature very well so she might struggle to find a vein.
She decided to just go for it and ended up stabbing the needle through both sides of the vein. I was sick, my arm went purple and I couldn't feel my fingers for almost an hour.
She panicked and aborted the blood test- as there was plenty of blood but none in the phial.
I went back to work feeling very sorry for myself and looking like I'd been in a weird fight.
I then received a phone call telling me that I urgently needed to reschedule the blood test. I explained what had happened and was told that on the last test my red blood cells were large and misshapen and that I was anaemic by blood count.
I managed to repeat the test finally in March and the results came back the same.
So, as my B12 levels are nonexistent I will have to have vitamin B12 injections at the hospital every week for 16 weeks.
This is very inconvenient.
The reason why I am deficient in vitamin B12 is because my thyroid level dropped off the chart. This has further damaged my intestine and bowel leading to deficiency in almost everything.
So, in addition to the B12 injections I will also have to have another set of biopsies done to check that I don't have any cancerous cells in my digestive tract.
This is done under a general anaesthetic and will require time off work, in addition to being painful and unpleasant.
I'm very angry about this because it was avoidable. All of this could have been avoided if the blood test levels had been monitored properly and kept at the same level as they were in Bedford.
It's no wonder I've been feeling to tired and looking so rubbish!
The doctor I saw for the blood test results upped my levothryroxine from 100 micrograms to 150 micrograms per day so that's something.
It takes ages to have an effect though so I'm still feeling pretty exhausted and gaining weight like theres no tomorrow!
(To clarify, Increasing the levothyroxine won't help to lose weight, but it should stop me gaining weight quite so quickly which will be a blessing- it'll help to speed up the processes in my body too which should make me feel better.)
Hopefully I'll have red blood cells that actually work and are the correct shape, enough red blood cells to carry out normal functions and enough hormones in my endocrine system to give my body a break soon enough!
No wonder I've been finding running so difficult!
I have to say though, one of the biggest symptoms for me with my Thyroid is insomnia (OK, and theres the bad skin, crazy periods, weird cramps, thinning hair, food allergies, vomiting, upset stomach, hyper pigmentation and hair, but not sleeping is the worst.) in the last week- so a week after upping my thyroid medication- I've started to sleep better.
I know I have because I don't look like an extra off the walking dead at the moment, and I've had dreams!
When you don't sleep properly for a while and then you finally do, all your dreams are completely mental.
I had to have my yearly thyroid function blood test in December (I have Hypothyroidism and take levothyroxine- as mine is autoimmune where the body attacks it's own cells it was get worse and the medication levels will have to be adjusted. Eventually I won't produce my own thyroid hormones and will then be reliant on the levothryoxine).
The nurse rang me to to tell me that the levels were fine. I had queried this as I had been refused a course of antibiotics at the emergency care centre in about November because they had felt that my thyroid was not under control.
Then I received a letter asking me to repeat the blood test.
I rang them and they told me the red blood cell count was odd but that I was probably an anomaly.
I went back in January- on one of the days it snowed. I got the healthcare parctitioner- who is like a Nurse in training.
I warned her that because my thyroid is a mess I don't regulate my body temperature very well so she might struggle to find a vein.
She decided to just go for it and ended up stabbing the needle through both sides of the vein. I was sick, my arm went purple and I couldn't feel my fingers for almost an hour.
She panicked and aborted the blood test- as there was plenty of blood but none in the phial.
I went back to work feeling very sorry for myself and looking like I'd been in a weird fight.
I then received a phone call telling me that I urgently needed to reschedule the blood test. I explained what had happened and was told that on the last test my red blood cells were large and misshapen and that I was anaemic by blood count.
I managed to repeat the test finally in March and the results came back the same.
So, as my B12 levels are nonexistent I will have to have vitamin B12 injections at the hospital every week for 16 weeks.
This is very inconvenient.
The reason why I am deficient in vitamin B12 is because my thyroid level dropped off the chart. This has further damaged my intestine and bowel leading to deficiency in almost everything.
So, in addition to the B12 injections I will also have to have another set of biopsies done to check that I don't have any cancerous cells in my digestive tract.
This is done under a general anaesthetic and will require time off work, in addition to being painful and unpleasant.
I'm very angry about this because it was avoidable. All of this could have been avoided if the blood test levels had been monitored properly and kept at the same level as they were in Bedford.
It's no wonder I've been feeling to tired and looking so rubbish!
The doctor I saw for the blood test results upped my levothryroxine from 100 micrograms to 150 micrograms per day so that's something.
It takes ages to have an effect though so I'm still feeling pretty exhausted and gaining weight like theres no tomorrow!
(To clarify, Increasing the levothyroxine won't help to lose weight, but it should stop me gaining weight quite so quickly which will be a blessing- it'll help to speed up the processes in my body too which should make me feel better.)
Hopefully I'll have red blood cells that actually work and are the correct shape, enough red blood cells to carry out normal functions and enough hormones in my endocrine system to give my body a break soon enough!
No wonder I've been finding running so difficult!
I have to say though, one of the biggest symptoms for me with my Thyroid is insomnia (OK, and theres the bad skin, crazy periods, weird cramps, thinning hair, food allergies, vomiting, upset stomach, hyper pigmentation and hair, but not sleeping is the worst.) in the last week- so a week after upping my thyroid medication- I've started to sleep better.
I know I have because I don't look like an extra off the walking dead at the moment, and I've had dreams!
When you don't sleep properly for a while and then you finally do, all your dreams are completely mental.
Garden destruction
On Bank Holiday Monday, Traff had said he was planning to do some gardening.
I assumed he'd mow the lawn and sweep the patio.
by the time I'd boiled the kettle, still in my PJs he was diving up plants and moving them around all over the place!
We cut back all the big bushes by the patio and the garden looks so much bigger now!
It's awesome!
We also planted some Irises and a clematis at the foot of the dead tree too and we're hoping to encouraging it to grow up the side and make a bit of a feature.
We were both sunburnt and covered in scratches but it was certainly worth it in the end! 
I assumed he'd mow the lawn and sweep the patio.
by the time I'd boiled the kettle, still in my PJs he was diving up plants and moving them around all over the place!
We cut back all the big bushes by the patio and the garden looks so much bigger now!
It's awesome!
We also planted some Irises and a clematis at the foot of the dead tree too and we're hoping to encouraging it to grow up the side and make a bit of a feature.
We were both sunburnt and covered in scratches but it was certainly worth it in the end!
The Painswick Rococo gardens
I joined the sports and social club through work- it's £2 per month.
In order to ensure that I get at least £24 of value back I've been booking up passes to places left right and centre!
I highly recommend this one- The Rococo gardens are beautiful and the maze is really good fun!
it isn't very big.
It would be a good idea to take a picnic and a blanket and just make yourself at home on their lawn for the day.
They do have a very good tea room and they sell cold pressed apple juice made from the apples in their orchards.
It was really quiet when Tracey and I were there. we got there about 11:00am (It opened at 10:30am) and we didn't have to queue or fend people off for parking spaces.
The gardens also has a woodland walk, and in the woodland there is a very impressive play area.
We went on the see saw and on the giant tree swing.
The swing was awesome! 
In order to ensure that I get at least £24 of value back I've been booking up passes to places left right and centre!
I highly recommend this one- The Rococo gardens are beautiful and the maze is really good fun!
it isn't very big.
It would be a good idea to take a picnic and a blanket and just make yourself at home on their lawn for the day.
They do have a very good tea room and they sell cold pressed apple juice made from the apples in their orchards.
It was really quiet when Tracey and I were there. we got there about 11:00am (It opened at 10:30am) and we didn't have to queue or fend people off for parking spaces.
The gardens also has a woodland walk, and in the woodland there is a very impressive play area.
We went on the see saw and on the giant tree swing.
The swing was awesome!
Roller derby
Severn Roller torrent had a freebie trial session last Saturday, so I decided to go and try it out.
I have said for the last year that I'll got and train with Wiltshire, but their thursday night training just isn't right for me.
I realised form all my running that I prefer to exercise in the morning. I do better and can focus much more effectively on what I am doing.
In the evenings I'm tired and I can't push myself so well.
This was one of those weekends where I didn't really get my forward planning right. Traff was in on Friday night (Thankfully) as I completely forgot that my mum was staying to go to the Ideal homes exhibition really early on Saturday morning.
Traff had the car for work and I was at the mercy of the trains after my theatre trip so I got home about 11:30, in bed by Midnight.
Up at 6:30am in order to be washed, dressed and have breakfast made to take my mum to the bus station for 8:00am and then I thought it was pointless to go home and went straight on to Roller derby training.
I arrived an hour and a half early.
I ended up just sat around in the car park!
Thankfully my aggressive leggings gave me away and someone took me in early with them to do some training before everyone else arrived.
I've paid for 4 more sessions with them. We'll see how it goes- but I won't be getting up so early next time! 
I have said for the last year that I'll got and train with Wiltshire, but their thursday night training just isn't right for me.
I realised form all my running that I prefer to exercise in the morning. I do better and can focus much more effectively on what I am doing.
In the evenings I'm tired and I can't push myself so well.
This was one of those weekends where I didn't really get my forward planning right. Traff was in on Friday night (Thankfully) as I completely forgot that my mum was staying to go to the Ideal homes exhibition really early on Saturday morning.
Traff had the car for work and I was at the mercy of the trains after my theatre trip so I got home about 11:30, in bed by Midnight.
Up at 6:30am in order to be washed, dressed and have breakfast made to take my mum to the bus station for 8:00am and then I thought it was pointless to go home and went straight on to Roller derby training.
I arrived an hour and a half early.
I ended up just sat around in the car park!
Thankfully my aggressive leggings gave me away and someone took me in early with them to do some training before everyone else arrived.
I've paid for 4 more sessions with them. We'll see how it goes- but I won't be getting up so early next time!
Burke & Hare the musical @ the watermill
On the Friday night before the bank holiday weekend, Sophie, Abi and I went to see Burke and Hare at the Watermill theatre.
The theatre is right on the outskirts of Newbury, It's in a little village and it's really pretty. Theres a stream (No surprise really as it's called the watermill) and they keep weird ducks that look like turkeys.
They also have a very reasonable bar and a fancy restaurant.
We were lucky with the weather as we were able to sit outside before the performance and during the internal.
The theatre is very intimate.
This did not detract from the show- which was a work of complete and total genius!
I would definitely see it again- and I'll keep an eye out for other productions by the same group.
All in all, it was an ace way to start the bank holiday- excellent company and excellent entertainment in a beautiful setting.
The theatre is right on the outskirts of Newbury, It's in a little village and it's really pretty. Theres a stream (No surprise really as it's called the watermill) and they keep weird ducks that look like turkeys.
They also have a very reasonable bar and a fancy restaurant.
We were lucky with the weather as we were able to sit outside before the performance and during the internal.
The theatre is very intimate.
This did not detract from the show- which was a work of complete and total genius!
I would definitely see it again- and I'll keep an eye out for other productions by the same group.
All in all, it was an ace way to start the bank holiday- excellent company and excellent entertainment in a beautiful setting.
Sunday 6 May 2018
Morris dancing
We're doing the culture badge at brownies.
This will be comprised of one week of Morris Dance and a fake may day celebration.
The chippenham morris men came and taught us to dance.
It was really fun but I was awful.
Thankfully they didn't teach the children any dances with sticks!
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