Sunday 16 March 2014

Tennis elbow, toothache and Tena lady


 



 

Life has been even busier than normal of late and I have not had the chance to sit in front of the laptop and create a blog post.  Days out, work commitments, mountains of paperwork and so on.  However, do not fear regular readers, I am back!

Following on from the flooding item in my last post, I had a visit from the local branch of the Jehovah’s Witnesses a couple of weeks back.  The lady who knocks every few weeks is very pleasant and chatty, usually brings her mother along for added entertainment, and we have a discussion about all sorts of issues whilst standing on the step.  I always take her Watchtower and the other publication, the name of which escapes me at present, as firstly it makes her day and secondly some of the bits are an interesting read.  I can’t proclaim to agree with a lot of the writings but people are free to believe what they like.  However, our conversation during this visit moved to a very British subject, the weather, and swiftly to the devastating floods over the past weeks around the country, particularly in Somerset.  According to the JW lady, had Jesus been alive today this would not have happened (she started quoting from the Bible about how He stopped the Sea of Galilee from flooding and drowning people) as he would not have allowed the houses to be built on the flood plains.  This to me implied that He would have been working in the Somerset County Council Planning Department (seems a little unlikely......how would he have fitted such a job around his preaching and miracles with food?).  I raised this idea with people from various other Christian denominations......after loud guffawing we agreed the concept to be a bit farfetched.  Actually I think He would be more useful at the food bank with a few loaves and fishes.  The townsfolk could be fully nourished for weeks.

I have spent the last week or so in the grip of another round of tennis elbow, fortunately not as severe as on previous occasions, but not ideal when I spend half the week having to lift toddlers.  Unless you have experienced this it is tricky to fully appreciate the pain......imagine a large bee stinging your arm around the bony bits every time you try to straighten the arm or bring your fingers and thumb together.  Not a good feeling and it makes everyday tasks harder e.g. changing gear in the car, using hair straightners, zipping pockets.......the list is endless.  Add into the mix my old adversary, chronic toothache caused by sinkholes appearing at random in various teeth, and you will understand why the shares in Panadol have rocketed.

Never mind, I am still receiving daily email offer to make my life easier........Tena Lady free samples, the walk in bath, SAGA this that and the other (I had no idea they had their fingers in so many pies), Viagra (great market research yet again) and the icing on the cake this month............an invitation to have a look inside my local care home.  Oh thank you for that.  Just because I can see it across the other side of the field from my house does not mean I am ready to move in there.
 



Last week I had the privilege of attending a celebration of life service for a local lady.  She passed away, unexpectedly, almost a month to the day prior to the service and only a week after I had met her in town as we were bustling around trying to beat the strong winds and get our various bits of shopping done.  The service was beautifully carried out and included amusing eulogies from her family which made the congregation laugh loudly.  The whole event was a very fitting tribute and the fact that people had to stand as the church was packed out showed how popular she was.  Over the years I knew her she was always caring, had time for a chat, asked about my other family members, knew every person by name as they walked through the surgery doors or if she met them in the street, and was the best person ever with a needle.......not once did she bruise me!  When I first registered with the surgery she was the person who did my initial health screening and the last time I had blood taken she was at the other end of the needle.

I always referred to her as “The Lovely Val” to her face and when talking to others about her, and this is how I will remember her.

 

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