Fixed

Oof! I give thanks for making it through the day despite still feeling so feeble. For my helpful taxi driver - even just knowing it will be him is a help! And for kind Mel at the unit suggesting, and providing, a mug of soothing peppermint tea. My tummy is still not happy but that was very welcome. For thinking of something small but nourishing to eat when I got home...and for it being available in the freezer and easily cooked and eaten. 

I was also very grateful for my sofa, a hot water bottle to hug and a stunning match of tennis to enjoy. It might have been reaching its conclusion when the signal went on my TV but I won't know until I check the results. I'd been feeling sorry for the spectators who knew they'd have to leave due to the Paris curfew but I hadn't realised my own enjoyment would be abruptly cut short. I give thanks I'm good with aerials and cables and so on but I didn't have the energy to keep getting up and twiddling things, so I was delighted when a complete (sedentary) retune did the trick. And as that particular coverage seemed to have come to an end I guess I've a good idea of the outcome as one player was two sets and most of another behind when transmission failed! I give thanks for the glorious weather and the thought of people enjoying being out in it. 

Open

I give thanks for the opening of the French Open! Having had even less energy today I've appreciated classing dozing on the sofa watching tennis as an 'activity'. I give thanks it's been crowded enough in town to bring on an anxiety attack just gazing through the window, so I've not felt in the least I'm missing out not going out at all. Been nice to have some fresh air coming in without it being too fresh though, and for the sight of folk enjoying the local amenities and attractions, and that the open top buses are running again. 

I give thanks my appetite has been slightly more perky today, if not on a par with the tourists and trippers!  For getting the washing up done just now. There wasn't much but oh the feelings of achievement and virtue! 

Booked

Mmm, I give thanks for warm...even though it's been a mostly housebound horizontal day I have appreciated that! For making it outdoors briefly after realising it wasn't nearly as crowded as at first it seemed and there were vacant seats in the sunshine to hobble to. Not sure why this might be - changeover day, big fun fair in the next town or the lure of lovelier beaches - but it was remarkable, and very welcome. For a peek at the ducklings in the incubator, and a naughty cake to tempt an almost non existent appetite. For missing the Punch and Judy performance though good luck to them, I hope they did well. 

I give thanks for trying to do useful sensible stuff now and then as well as reading and snoozing and watching TV. For making some dal and rice pudding which I hope I'll manage a little of in a little while. For manouvering objects in the spare room to make a start on painting one bit of wood to become a shelf and another to make a mosaic mirror. Maybe as I've started I'll finish... some other time. For a Bill Bryson and a Matt Haig on the go - two of my favourite authors! 

Unscheduled

I give thanks I'm home on the sofa swathed in layers with hot water bottle and even a heater on for a while. And while not actually sensing I'm thawing out yet, at least that the deep freeze has stopped. Don't know how I got so chilled but various factors contributed I'm sure like having to starve myself for a scan, and the draughtiness of scan rooms. I give thanks it was a scheduled procedure and for being prepared to hear the news unscheduled things are happening in my body as, apart from when I was on my little jaunt, I've not been feeling right for some time.

I give thanks for the water heating up if I feel up to a change of position soon. For food in the freezer to thaw for a quick snack. For all the chores done by Michelle and for two more days off now to hopefully rally a bit as I've some gentle pursuits to pursue indoors, even if I'm not up to fighting my way through the tourists.  For my helpful taxi driver...collecting me from the other hospital and letting me finish the emergency bag of Frazzles I was munching before he arrived inside his clean and tidy car. For the fact it's nearly bedtime. 

Surreal

It feels more surreal to be home after being away than it did to be away from home! I give thanks for making all my connections with ease and for mostly peaceful and under populated journeys, though the last part of mine coincided with home time for school and college students so not so much... For the sense of having reconnected with an important part of myself that has got a little lost among the important tasks of staying alive. 

I give thanks for the welcoming homeliness of my flat - plants to exchange greetings with, fish fingers in the freezer for a hasty snack, while the bath water heats up to wallow in with a book. I don't think I'll ever feel a deep love for where it's situated but my goodness I'm grateful for the handy amenities including escape routes. To get off the train and your doorstep is only a few yards away is so delightful - even if the sights you encounter on the way are not! 

For a small distant memory surfacing over the last couple of days. Many years ago I went for an interview at the School of Art where I've been staying. I was accepted but chose another nearer to my then home. A few weeks into the course I discovered I was pregnant so didn't complete it anyway but I'm reading a book exploring the impact of choices on our ensuing lives and it's funny to think in another version of mine I might have been a resident not a visitor! 

Moreish

I give thanks for walking on the 'moors' this morning. It's the name of a local wetland nature reserve so I was grateful for the accessibility, and a nice spot of sunshine to amble from seat to seat as it was quite a long walk for me. For the joy of a wetland nature reserve not within easy reach of numerous holiday parks plus a giant car park - makes such a difference to the tranquillity! Teeming with wildlife it was meant to  be though I didn't see a lot. I give thanks the birdsong was wonderful however, and for a variety of interesting carvings to enjoy - mottos and otter in particular! 

For meeting a very small lady with a very long lens near a pond there who said I'd just missed a heron...and later meeting her again near the cathedral where she said I'd just missed the peregrine parent arriving  with lunch and dismembering it for the chicks. She showed me the photos this time, and I'm grateful they didn't put me off my delicious non Valerie patisserie lunch! There's two webcams on the cathedral website if you'd like to watch for yourself...

I give thanks I've eaten well today...well maybe not terribly well for a kidney patient but not terribly badly either...and no small raw creatures! For a long siesta before another wander this afternoon - I love the old buildings especially old brick and stonework and so many green spaces to stroll and sit in. For the lack of tourists, or maybe the ones that are here are more invisible and inaudible than the ones we get at home! This was one of the reasons for choosing the destination and I'm grateful it's proved a good decision. For a comfy bed...in between all the ambling about there's been a lot of lounging around required! 

Miraculous

I give thanks for travelling hopefully even when the first train of my meandering journey was cancelled due to a points failure. *Luckily* (for me at least) the one due to arrive ninety minutes earlier was so delayed by the same fault it turned up at just the right time instead and I could get back on track(s). I give thanks for the outstanding natural beauty of our country's countryside...and for crossing counties watching it change. For both scenery and transport seeming largely unpopulated, which for me is right up there on the list of things I like best in the world. For the face mask hiding my beatific grin which could have been a bit scary for others I suspect! 

I give thanks for laying out a little extra for early check in as by real check in time I'd had a yummy light lunch in the cathedral refectory garden, had a mooch round the magnificent building itself, wandered through the town centre to a cafe serving oat milk cappuccino (which is about as good as a cappuccino can be for a kidney patient)...and was tucked up under the covers doing some restorative nothing at all!

I'm not what you'd call a religious soul, but I give thanks for spending some time in a small side chapel seated on an exquisitely embroidered (and rather ancient) cushion giving thanks to the powers that be and the powers of me for allowing the glories of today to happen. For many years I've said if you don't keep pushing at the boundaries of your comfort zone they will shrink, and in recent years we've all found out how true that is. It's not just Covid that's curbed my ability to push those boundaries of course, so it's only just short of a verifiable bona fide miracle that all possible hurdles and hindrances (including being seriously out of practice at wandering off on my own!) have been overcome. 

One tends to look up in a cathedral - they're designed thar way after all - so here's a picture of a section of floor instead. I've a bit of thing about tiles as some of you know! 

Unconcerned

I give thanks for finding the time and energy to take parcels to the PO this morning before going for my treatment. For avoiding sharp showers, lengthy queues...and what would have been a hefty price hike if the biggest package had weighed just three or four grams more!

For trying to be a patient patient when various delays ensued at the unit, including when the machine had finished doing its business - always rather frustrating - likewise the particularly pedantic and slow nurse who dealt with my needs. I'm grateful he did, don't get me wrong, but I could do grateful at a higher rate of knots! 

I give thanks my taxi driver tagging me yesterday evening in a local Facebook post about more hirundines arriving over the brook outside. I'd been in the bath so I wouldn't have known otherwise! The chap who wrote about them said most passers-by didn't seem to notice or care. It was the same a couple of weeks ago, but it's such an amazing sight to see them all swirling about this is mystifying. Heathens the lot of them! Are we allowed to say 'heathens' now? I'm a little out of touch where political correctness is concerned, sorry! 

Gold

I gave thanks for the pretty tinted clouds and pearly sea last night. Haven't said that for a while, but then it's not been like that for a while either. I give thanks for not being out in the rain just now which was some of the heaviest I've ever seen and quite spectacular to witness from indoors. Don't think drops could fall much faster or closer together! 

I give thanks for feeling much better physically today...and mentally too, as being so weak and feeble can really get me down. For being able to go about my life without thinking death is on its way. 

I give thanks for everyone who has had hugs this week - whether they usually have then anyway, or have waited for months to receive one. I understand there are even some people who get regular hugs from somebody or bodies and have recently had extra ones too...and though I can't imagine what it must be like being that wonderfully multiply loveable, I give thanks this mysterious condition exists! With no prospect of affection for the foreseeable future I give thanks for my great memory and vivid visualisation skills so I can recreate tender touch with my mind quite well, including snuggling up to the  silky solidity of a cocker spaniel. I do miss my dog - but I'm grateful at least I've had some puppy love. 

For discovering, via Sewing Bee, that folk go down abandoned gold and silver mines in America hunting for discarded vintage jeans - worth more than their weight than gold apparently, which is about as bonkers as the world can be. 

 

Wordly

It's been another slow day, in fact at times it slowed to stopped...so I give thanks I'm getting better at learning not to mind. For the sun coming out late in the afternoon and, although this meant all the people did too, for a quick dash to the Co op and our new greengrocer. I didn't need much but that's the joy of having them round the corner and not feeling you have to stock up. It was still too cool and breezy outdoors for me to want to linger, but I was grateful for that as there wasn't much room but plenty of noise. I give thanks folk seemed to be enjoying their holidays...and that eventually the flat (and its occupant!) warmed up with all that solar heating streaming in.

I give thanks for these collections of photos from around the world. They are often stunning or poignant, always fascinating... 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-57173186

Thankful

Woohoo...it's Friday...well Friday evening to be more precise...the best part of that day! For clean blood  and a clean flat. For plenty of energy this morning despite being very dozy after a poor night's sleep, so lots of jobs done with with my eyes half closed including making my tea before I left. Should find out if the saying 'I could do it with my eyes shut' is true quite soon!

I give thanks a particularly pleasant atmosphere on the unit this afternoon, and for being based at this one not one of the others. For laughter with nursing staff and the taxi driver. For Amazon texting me to say where they'd left my parcel while I was immersed in Season 3 of the incomparable Shtisel...and for the box being slightly damp but otherwise unscathed when I returned. You don't have to be an ultra orthodox Haredi to enjoy this gem on Netflix, a member of an extended family, nor a fan of soaps and dynasties - the characters and story lines are so poignant and funny they simply touch the humanity in us all. Oh...and I give thanks to Steph for the contents of the package(s) - some well chosen materials for some new mosaic projects. Woohoo again!

Idle

I give thanks I'm beginning to master a whole new skill. It's called doing absolutely nothing, and is not something I've shown any aptitude for in the past at all! I give thanks it's been a fine day for it (ie. wet and windy outside, quite cosy indoors) and for various spots to perfect the art such as bath and sofa and bed (not Bath as my phone suggested, which would be an even better place to practice as no domestic chores would attempt to encroach on the inactivity!)

I give thanks it's Thursday so most domestic chores can be delegated to Michelle tomorrow and, when I have felt motivated to move, for concentrating mostly on stuff only I can do like finish off a gift I'm making, mend a couple of cushion covers by hand and by machine (they have a hard life being lain on so much!) and temporarily rehome a few more bits from the kitchen in optimistic anticipation. These are matters that have been awaiting attention for some time so I give thanks for far more satisfaction on completion than would seem justified by the actual physical effort!

I give thanks for deciding, in the spirit of continued idleness, to have a ready meal for my supper. Oh the decadence! 

Visual

I give thanks it's been a beautiful day, and warm if you were out of the wind. For being out of the wind at the dialysis unit I guess.

For mind travel to the stunning Lake District

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-57169995

and space travel to this beauty

https://scitechdaily.com/stunning-shimmering-space-butterfly-captured-by-very-large-telescope/?fbclid=IwAR23po4-yu7sATjP-RbY5aT2Iqk29vdof8CmXuqfpstIe1kbnWWj7y63fCo

For the technical term for a very large telescope apparently being Very Large Telescope!

For seeing all the glorious greenness nearer to home on the bus that goes almost the same way as the taxi but with a few small route differences to enjoy, plus the extra height from the top deck. For the hedgerows  so lush this time of year and uncropped crops and grasses rippling mesmerising in the wind. 

I give thanks for more of last night's stew easily and quickly heated up for my supper. For discovering a new drama on ITV is also set in the the Lakes. Cue much whimpering in visual ecstasy...and a hasty end to this post! 

Counterintuitive

I give thanks for a good day out of the office. For a surprisingly long stretch of sunshine between the showers, conveniently coinciding with me getting off the bus at my destination and getting on again to go home. A woman sat right in front of me on the not very busy bus which left me rather affronted, so I was helpful but also grateful when a few yards after departure she realised she was going in the wrong direction and had to get off! 

I give thanks for supporting local businesses, but ones a couple of miles away as there's no Aladdin's cave hardware shop, old fashioned greengrocers or Swiss patisserie nearby. For moving here as, counterintuitively, it's easier to reach these important emporia than it was when I lived technically closer. For a spacious pedestrianised area too where Mima and I could share a pot of tea and a very a scrummy brownie. 

For a big bowl of home made veggie stew with crusty organic bread and creamy organic butter, followed by a curl up on the sofa with Ewan McGregor who had to stay on the TV screen unfortunately, though it's probably all for the best as it's only a little sofa. 

Streaming

I give thanks the heavy rain has given the windows a good clean. They were coated in dust and sea spray from the long dry windy spell, and light showers just stuck the muck on more firmly. Even sea gull blessings wash off if the downpour is prolonged enough!

I give thanks for streaming services...and, on commercial channels, for the rather more old fashioned 'recording' so you can fast forward through the ads.

I give thanks for a good day at the office, including word that the woman from Del Monte (who doubles as my renal consultant) has said yes to me having a Wednesday off next week! Yeah, you can jet off to Portugal, book a cruise, plan a road trip...but I can't, so I'm very grateful for what I can get!

I give thanks for managing to balance two different makes of hand gel bottles on top of each other so one could refill the other... and for nothing in or out of the building disturbing the arrangement while I was out, like waves crashing or doors slamming or a vigorous spin cycle in a flat close by. Little things eh? 

Hydroponic

Oh my goodness I was grateful for feeling a little more human yesterday evening, and even more so when I woke up today! It meant when Mima asked if I had stuff to go to that place we used to use a three letter name for (but now need fifteen and a space!), I had the energy to sort some out and get it downstairs. I give thanks for a tiny bit more room in the crowded spare room...and for coming across a little lost plant pot while I was scrabbling around in the chaos. Many months ago I pinched out the top of a young money plant and, as it was so pretty, popped it in a tiny glass where it's been happily growing roots and leaves whether I remember to top up the water or not. Here's hoping it takes well to the delayed transition to compost in a suitably size container...

I give thanks for the Tesco delivery driver being a lot more cheery than the one a couple of weeks ago who was so grumbly and grumpy he made me grumbly and grumpy too! He was a little early and called in advance to say he was outside but waiting for the torrential rain to ease off before arriving at my door. This meant the late lunch I was trying to eat before he arrived was interrupted twice, but I give thanks there were then tasty treats for pudding to have afterwards! I give thanks the sky has cleared for a while - the growing things need some sunshine as well as rain. I give thanks for my immersion heater. It's a primitive bit of kit but provides the hot water I need to thrive.

Alert

Sofa so good! I've been very grateful for a choice of spots to adopt the feeble position today. This is similar to the fetal position of course but with less promise of future vitality! 

I give thanks for having no jaunts or jauntiness on the agenda and mostly the kind of weather that lent itself to this being a very sensible state of mind...even if caused by the state of my body. For it brightening up the last hour or so so folk can stroll about with friends and give the places still open some business... and so I could open the spare room window to encourage the washing to dry, and the living room one to encourage more alertness. Lovely to lie under a blanket listening to the sea! 

Um... I give thanks for good books and television. For Paracetamol and hot water bottle, and simply lying still. For doing one or two small useful things - including a bit of washing up and making some adjustments to my will, which has yet to be witnessed but has (I think!) been emailed in draft form to my executors so they know how it should be. 

Delicious

I give thanks the weekend has finally started after some annoyingly avoidable delays - oh and the not at all annoying but still somewhat avoidable delay of popping to the Co-op as I've been craving cream cakes all day! For Michelle collecting heavier, and healthier, shopping from the whole food shop as part of her helpfulness about (and outside) the home. For a diet rich in delicious plant based food but definitely not being vegan... 

For a new second hand book arriving. For reading, eating, sleeping and watching TV being top of the to do list for the next couple of days. 

I give thanks it's a relatively more pleasant evening for the drinkers outside the hostelries, and for a hot water bottle and blanket as I don't have my love of alcohol to keep me warm!

I give thanks for my son, born forty two years ago this evening...and for him being from the same planet as me. 

Exalted

I give thanks I make exceedingly good winter puddings. Not done one for a while which might be why I've lost some weight! For taking my bowl of steaming pear and blueberry sponge to the window to look at the rain and discovering much drama outside with two flashing fire engines, ambulance, police car and auxiliary vehicles. They were up and down the brook with torches looking for someone who'd fallen in. Even when swollen it's not deep and has a grille at the bottom to stop large objects getting stuck under the road or washing out to sea, but in a fit of macho madness they brought the little search and rescue boat on a trailer too! I give thanks for so much visual entertainment I didn't get round to Fargo which had been the plan...and for the casualty being found unhurt just wet and cold on the bank eventually and treated on the spot.

I give thanks for waking up much too early but going back to sleep after first breakfast and dreaming very vividly, including tasting the chocolate chip cookies I was munching! 

For many hirundines - house martins I think - swooping and swirling over the brown water today.  I know it's a group of larks we call an exaltation, and their song is one of the most uplifting things I know, but on a wet day at sea level this is avian exaltation to me. Absolutely glorious! Two were even checking out the buildings behind mine...hoping they put in an offer for the top of a wall out there, would love to watch them build a nest and raise young from my kitchen 

It would take a small crane to uplift me from the sofa since I got back from the shops, but these were big shops and I went in a car with other people. So much excitement! I give thanks for treasures such as reasonably priced Paracetamol, an opaque recycled plastic lidded box that I plan to keep compost and pots in...and put the compost in the pots in so it doesn't end up all over the floor! Such a cunning plan - wish it hadn't taken so many years of flat dwelling to come to me! Also got frozen Gregg's vegan sausage rolls from Iceland. Oh happy day! 

Impure

Last night I gave thanks for chamomile tea and biscuits. What could be nicer to have in the bath, I thought...and I imagined, if I asked the question, suggestions might include wine, a spliff or a partner! I give thanks I can dimly remember these delights...but am grateful for what I can get! For learning the lesson that, at the moment, the movements to pick up the cup from beside me - or dunk the bakery in between - required the use of upper arm muscles that really should be left in peace. My mother always said dipping things into your drink was a bad habit!

I give thanks for the rain holding off until I was in the treatment chair, and for the charming matron in attendance. He will be retiring in a few weeks and I'll miss having chats with a peer. We always make each other laugh which is a useful addition to renal replacement therapy, and I'm grateful I had another dose... For my extremely helpful local taxi driver too. 

I give thanks for thoroughly enjoying the first part of the TV adaptation of the Pursuit of Love. Purists and fans of the book are apparently not keen...so I'm grateful if I've read it I've forgotten it and, well, I'm obviously far from pure! 

Half

It's been a half and half day... I was grateful for being energetic enough to be out and about for the first part, but also cosily half asleep on the sofa since my return. For two scenic half hour train journeys - one sea side, one country side of the track. For bright sunshine to meet Gary and enjoy the delights of his home town, including braving outdoor hospitality - a first for me to feel comfortable doing so - and realising the second cafe we'd chosen had a very appropriate name for our tutting putting the world to rights, as well as a useful veranda style roof to protect us from the increasingly heavy rain. They didn't have 'crabby chips' though, which apparently is a viable menu item south of here! For some thunder and lightning - after I was home and warm and dry. For how close the cruise ships in 'his' bay were, and for an aircraft carrier in 'mine'!

I give thanks for the helpful local Amazon courier not only gaining entry to the communal hall while I was out, but carrying my package up the stairs to my personal doorstep. For a hot water bottle tucked behind my back to soothe my tired kidney and increasingly misshapen spine. For the smile that lingers after having an unusual, and unusually good time. 

Graceful

I give thanks the weather's allegedly been drier today, though I've not had sight of the outside world much to check. Inside it was more of a 'never rains but it pours' sort of afternoon so I'm grateful to be home again with bath and book and TV waiting to divert my brain. I give thanks for  some dal I prepared earlier waiting for my supper.

I give thanks for enough brightness in the evening sky to have a stab at some unpicking first as my vision is becoming so poor it needs all the help it can get...and stabbing in approximately the right place is the best I can manage. The unpicking was of a factory sewn seam deliberately as there's an alteration I'm trying to do, and also of my attempts at resewing as the machine was intent on chewing the fabric up. I give thanks the light is fading now and I can gracefully give up! 

Swift

I don't know where today has gone, nor how it sped so swiftly! I don't seem to have been particularly busy or idle, both of which can alter your perception of time, but I give thanks for a small amount of productivity and a short afternoon nap.

I give thanks it's been drier and brighter today for the valiant tourists to eat ice cream and picnic in the park, but not so convincingly so that they'd leave they're coats off. I was very grateful when for wearing a thick fleece when I emerged, and having a scarf in my bag to whip out and wrap myself in. If my knees hadn't voted against it I'd have gone back home to fetch a hat! I give thanks for timing the trip for various thises and thats while the weather still looked as if it might further improve...and for making it home before it changed its mind and showers began. 

I give thanks the supermarket at the top of the street has the world's best cottage cheese...which comes from Yorkshire and by private jet if the price is anything to go by. For the one at the bottom having a rather measly sized baking potato which was still a large portion for a kidney patient. For managing to resist (most of) the skin! For thoroughly enjoying my rather wicked lunch...and for creating a better behaved supper out of odds and ends to have in a little while. I give thanks I've not been in an awful lot of pain today but various parts are keen for soothing hot water.

I give thanks for today's post title making me think of swifts. Not that I've seen any lately, nor any of their relatives...but I've lovely pictures and videos of them in my memory. 

Canned

I've had my wet weekend face on today. It looks a lot like this 😃 as I much prefer the sights and sounds of wind and waves and rain, to troops of tourists with their fractious dogs and offspring, constant traffic and beery cheer from the cafe bar. I give thanks the weather also adds a delight to staying cosily occupied (or idle!) indoors, and I really fancied a day of these pleasures. For the jingling arcade and karaoke pub staying silent a little longer. For all the delights of living here despite these flies in the ointment... 

I give thanks apart from obvious essentials I had nothing planned to do at all and that, as is often the case in this situation, I actually did quite a lot - by current standards anyway. For some pottering with creative projects, admin and domestic tasks. For making a delicious renal friendly rice pudding with oat milk, oat cream, vanilla and soft brown sugar. And having it with some delicious tinned apricots. I give thanks since being encouraged to reduce fresh and dried fruit, I've discovered how different canned fruit can be! 

I give thanks for all the reduced price trips and treats Travelzoo has given me over the years. Overseas travel has been off the cards for a lot longer than the pandemic effect, but I've had a spa stay, been kayaking, visited a castle and have just bought a voucher for a second afternoon tea! 

Miserable

I give thanks for finally getting to sleep last night after a miserable time with physical pain and general glumness, also for trying to be grateful for other people's (apparent) blessings as I was struggling to count my own! For eventually getting up this morning, despite lingering remnants of both kinds of malaise, and managing to not only clear the decks for Michelle to scrub them but finish off a little sewing alteration (on a cotton skirt in case spring ever comes back) and glue a few pieces of glass onto some wood which hasn't happened for quite a while. Having a kitchen in my spare room where my craft table is doesn't help much, let alone my still grumpy shoulder.

I give thanks for dodging the bullet twice when one of my least favourite members of staff was hovering nearby at putting on and coming off time. She's quite heavy handed physically, brusque and short on basic caring courtesy like warning you she's going to turn a bright light on or rip off the tape and start twiddling the needles in your vein... I was very grateful for the two much more amenable women I had instead. In between their ministrations I had the best ever sleep I've ever had during dialysis. I was very grateful for that - did me the world of good! 

I give thanks for wet and windy weather forecast for tomorrow - ideal for pottering around at home, or for pottering around outside nearby as tourists and trippers probably won't be. 

Mingled

There are days we think of as 'good' or bad', and I give thanks for remembering all are just days, and even if we feel we must categorise them, the category is usually 'mixed'. 

I give thanks I've just had the cup of tea I fancied four hours ago and it was probably all the more delicious for waiting! For being happy to potter about, health permitting now the government does, but the busy outside hospitality arrangements don't appeal at all and it's a takeaway if there isn't a queue or wait until I'm home. I give thanks I'm home! I haven't done an awful lot but have suffered some frustrations plus a variety of physical pain and my sofa is comfy and comforting to curl up on. 

Household chores did not appeal so I give thanks for trying to see a friend, though they were busy as is often the way. For going to where I would have met them if I could as it's such a pretty journey especially on the top deck of a bus and now at bluebell time. For views of the bay and cruise ships, a big big sky full of banks of cloud clearing over the sea...plus the shenanigans at the TV filming site. 

I give thanks for managing to raid the Co op on my way home and, though it was missing rather necessary items like paracetamol and nice bread, for picking up non essential but very welcome pre-made stuff for an easy meal. For running into another friend and having a little chat which was very welcome. 

Astounding

I give thanks for an unusually splendid Wednesday! I felt a bit meh this morning, but had planned to delivery some specialist recycling (blister packs, candle ends) to the necessary shops and catch the 'business' bus that takes a slightly different route to do it, and I'm very grateful I did! It was a single decker but I was the only one on it for a good part of the journey which is always a bonus, and I thoroughly enjoyed passing novel roadside sights - yes, even the many motor dealerships! The route into the city was close to places I used to work, play, shop and socialise so that was rather pleasant, and as we drew into the centre there were new stores and eateries I'd not seen before...also Patisserie Valerie, which I have seen before but not for a very long time. I give thanks for treating myself to a one of their generous portions of delicious Black Forest gateau, which is not on the renal diet sheet, but just before you have your blood cleaned is the best time to lapse from the regime. For savouring it sitting on the wall around the Cathedral green, along with several other people who maybe found the lunchtime rush a tad too vibrant at the various cafes and restaurants. For plenty of social distance, and more munching than unmasked conversation at my choice of venue!

I give thanks for walking through parts back streets I'd not seen for years before getting a taxi to the unit, full of the buzz of pastures new(ish) and keen to request a day off sometime soon so I could actually get a fix of actual newness as the enhancement to my energy and positivity was astounding. I give thanks the Sister thought that this would be fine but will check my consultant would give it her blessing...and then even more for surviving a panic at obs taking time when my temperature registered first as 39.3 and then 39.2 the second time. Turned out the nurse had dropped the thermometer, and when she checked hers as a control it was also very scary - phew!

I give thanks for an otherwise untroubled afternoon - Insight Timer even let me listen to some meditation stuff! For bad traffic on the way home so, although my taxi driver hates it, a detour round a narrow winding lane made sense. and more visual delights for me.

Windy

I give thanks for waking rested, refreshed and bright as a button at 6 am...what a shame it didn't last! For my optimistic expectation of some second wind, and acceptance coming up twelve hours later that optimism was as good as it would get. 

For forcing myself off the sofa and out into the afternoon on a quest for some gifts I wanted to buy, with no success but plenty of meteorological wind to blow the metaphorical cobwebs away. For Peacocks being open again, and news that the nearest Gregg's will soon be too...mmm, no-sausage rolls. For trying a Ginster's vegan Moroccan pasty as recommended by Julie and reduced by Sainsbury's... And finding it acceptable. Never thought I'd be in the market for either of those brands! 

For how beautiful the lilac is looking this year. I must try to get close to some so I can admire it with my nose as well. For a book of Hanif Kureishi short stories buried in my second hand book collection. For being buried in my sofa again. 

Disappearing

I give thanks for the wet and windy weather. All the tourists have disappeared and I can enjoy the sight of waves and waving trees and shrubs instead - when I can see through the rain on the windows! I give thanks for a home to go to. 

I give thanks a passable day at the office despite some annoying noises from the dialysis machine that kept interrupting attempts to nap, and a long running argument between my back and the chair. For the storminess on the drive home...and for not having either to drive or wait for public transport. 

I give thanks for feeling in reasonable fettle too, and pottering around this morning with various chores including mostly making my tea...just need to persuade my truculent oven to heat it up. For heaters heating my living space up...and a big jumper until they do! 

Second

So yesterday was particularly rough for a first day after immunotherapy but this morning I woke up feeling unusually well for a second, so I'm taking that as a win! Results of my liveliness included rustling up a batch of pancakes for breakfast, doing some laundry and washing up, popping out twice between the showers, making polenta chips to have for lunch, unpacking a Sainsbury's delivery and getting some sewing jobs done. I was grateful for all of the above, plus the late afternoon nap that followed - don't think I'll be moving around a great deal for the rest of the day!

I give thanks for craving a date slice (which is naughty) but the long queue at the baker's meaning I couldn't even see if there were any for sale. For walking on up to the community cafe where a range of second hand items and new refreshments are available for the donation of your choice. There I could avail myself of a blueberry muffin (which is well behaved) and a paperback novel that caught my eye. For feeling my donation was generous - I hope they thought so too!

For the delivery driver being so cheery. For no need to buy lettuce for a while. I give thanks the pandemic has led to a second season of windowsill gardening. No digging, no slugs, and just the right size for renal limitations!

Immune

Studies have shown* there's pretty much precisely an hour between cannula removal and my body producing alerts and alarms about an unexpected item in the blood stream. I give thanks I was home on the sofa - fed, comfily attired and otherwise prepared within the sixty minutes last night. For the results of Michelle's domestic ministrations o appreciate. 

I give thanks for embracing the bleurgh today with bath and book, sofa and TV, snacks and snoozes as required. For reminding myself my current treatment is far far gentler than the chemo regime for this type of cancer. 

I give thanks for fairly good weather for the flocking hoards despite a definite nip in the air..and for being completely immune to both envy of the folk I saw sampling local pleasures, and desire to find my own version of Bank Holiday weekend fun. Some buses I saw were full to socially distant capacity so I'm particularly grateful I wasn't planning to travel on one of them! 

* For remembering the joys of higher education