30. Change in Condition & in Quarantine

Wednesday 1^st April

Colin’s April Fool:  Colin told me that our dog, Oscar, had been knocking on our bedroom door in the night.  I was shocked because, first, Oscar always slept behind locked security gates in the downstairs office, and second, I asked how on earth had he escaped to climb upstairs?   The penny dropped when Colin said, “he asked to come into our bedroom to sleep with us”.  Doh!  He got me.

Chores Around the House:  In the past weeks I slowly tried to get around to do some chores in the house again.  I previously mentioned about the disastrous “sweeping up” scenario.   I managed to rinse the heavier pots, pans and load them into the dishwasher.  Although a clumsy effort, I succeeded not to break anything!  I also cleaned the kitchen tops, loaded and unloaded the washing machine.  Although I coped OK and rested often, when I later had back ache, I felt pathetic. I kept trying again each morning though. 

Fireplace Fiasco:  It was cold at night over the past weeks, so Colin treated us to some open log fires.  The ash obviously piled up, so the grate had to be cleaned regularly.  I thought I was clever by volunteering for the job.  I shouldn’t have been so keen!  While Colin took Oscar for a walk, I made up my mind to clean out the ashes.  I forgot that it involved a great deal of bending my legs and back, then having to stretch out to reach the back of the grate.  It was a “limb-numbing” and “back-breaking” experience.  I felt ridiculous!  I ended up sat on a low, sturdy coffee table, while I cleaned out the ash with a dustpan and brush into a black plastic bag. I had half the soot on me rather than land in the bag!  I underestimated how heavy the ash would be in the dustpan in my bad left hand, as I brushed the grate contents onto it with my good right hand.  By the time I tried to put the stuff from the dustpan into the black bag, my poor left hand shook so much under the weight, I missed the bag many times with half the ash in the bag and the rest as a dust cloud over and around me!  My first day had been pathetic, which meant poor Colin had to clean up my mess.  Colin nervously encouraged me to keep persevering until I actually learnt not to attempt to put so much weight and pressure on my left arm and hand.   Although it had taken me much longer, I eventually could handle the task.  An almighty mess had been averted after a few days, much to Colin’s relief.

Bedroom Farce:   Not exactly “Breaking News” but I decided to become a bit more adventurous and attempted to change our bed linen alone for the first time.  What could have gone wrong, I thought?   Everything!  I fought with the pillow cases, while I fumbled, tried to stuff the pillows in and made sure the corners fitted for almost a ridiculous ½ hour period.  I then had to tackle the fitted base sheet.  The thing just wouldn’t behave!  Just as I had one side of the bed corners in place, the opposite side sprang off!  Talk about an old slapstick film scene.  I admit I found it quite maddening and I cursed my way to getting the bed looking right eventually.   However, I absolutely had no energy nor inclination left to start a battle with the duvet cover as well.  I left the duvet “naked”.   Once I was able to appreciate the results, I marveled at how the little things in life became so satisfying – although I had no intention to rush into a repeat of that experience again.

Thursday 2^nd April

Supermarket Shopping Police Checks:  When Colin returned from shopping, he told me there had been a heavier Police presence on the roads.  There were quite a few road checkpoints. Police stopped cars to confirm drivers had been alone, and asked the purpose of their journey.  If the driver had been shopping, they had to show the contents of the boot (trunk) and proof of shopping receipt.  If the cars had a passenger, the passenger had to be seated in the back with a face mask on and a valid medical reason for traveling.  Scary scenes but necessary so we would all adhere to quarantine rules.

NHS Social “Clapping”:  The UK decided to show their appreciation to members of the NHS (National Health Service) for their hard work and sacrifice during their quarantine.  In Spain and Italy, we had already witnessed touching videos on the news of how this had occurred during our earlier lock down period in March.     It was wonderful that medical staff were regarded as “heroes” and the subject of attention and admiration in other countries while this awful virus had resulted in so much infection, deaths and alarm worldwide.  This pandemic had become a terrible threat and we would have been foolish to take the warning signs lightly.

Sunday 5^th April

Another Sad Loss:  I was shocked to hear of the passing of Paul Roebuck, an ex Joint Captain of El Paraiso Golf Club, the previous day.  He was a nice “gentle Giant” amongst our members and will be missed.  Unfortunately, his funeral had to be a very small, closed and private affair because of the new curfew regulations and number restrictions.  We hoped our condolences to his widow, Beverley, and family had been received.

Wednesday 8^th April

My Spasticity had Returned:  As we had anticipated, the “spasticity” condition, that I mentioned earlier, had set in with a kind of new vengeance (for more information of the condition, please click HERE).  My left leg, toes, arm and fingers experienced a different kind of attack.  I had more night pains but, instead of stretching out like a werewolf breaking out of my body as before, I had the new strange sensations of my left arm and leg suddenly contorted in agony to the point that I felt and practically heard my bones crack.   

My Hand: My fingers would uncontrollably grip so tightly that my nails had dug into the palm of my hand and would leave behind sometimes painful dent marks. 

My Foot: My toes inexplicably curled, which I hadn’t been able to do when I tried to move them naturally during my usual ankle exercises.   There was nothing Colin nor I could do. These attacks happened without warning or reason throughout the night.  We felt helpless while this continued.

Boris Johnson has Virus:  It was a shock to hear the recent news that the U.K Prime minister, Boris Johnson, had to be hospitalized and was in I.C.U. due to virus symptoms.  He had breathing problems and after two days in I.C.U. and oxygen treatment, the news stated that the days spent in that kind of medical condition would represent the same length in number of weeks in recovery before he could be released from hospital.  

Sunday 12^th April – Easter

Made a Face Mask Easter Present:  I was fed up with Colin looking like a Bank Robber, so I decided to create an Easter present and made a face mask out of part of an old pillow case.   If I thought gripping an onion was a challenge, I found when I held the small needle in the shaking left hand, while I attempted to thread the needle with my right, was more than an aggravating experience.   It took me over an hour each time I had to replace the thread!    Again I huffed, puffed and growled several times.  

Hand sewing the darned pieces together turned out OK eventually, but not perfect.  But at least I made an effort.

My Easter Bunny:  This was the second year I received a chocolate bunny from Colin.  As I said last year, “I’m off to bite my bunny’s ears off”.

Boris Johnson Release from Hospital:  Good to hear that the U.K. Prime Minister had recovered enough to be released from hospital.   However, the bad news was the U.K had gained the largest infections in comparison to other countries.  I felt really concerned for the U.S.A., as only some states, like New York, had chosen their own kind of lock down.   Worldwide the news of the Tokyo Olympics had been cancelled until 2021. Other major sport events, like Wimbledon and football matches, had also been suspended until further notice.   That  really wasn’t a huge surprise.

Tuesday 14^th April

Tea and Biscuits:  I wanted to prove that I could produce “tea and biscuits” and carry them together from the kitchen to Colin in the office.  My problem was I couldn’t carry them in one go, so I opted making the trip, one handed, in two trips.  I thought I had done alright, until after the first few attempts, Colin later told me that my tea had been like “gnat’s piss”. Until then, he’d been too polite and wanted to spare my feelings on the previous times to say anything.  Charming!   Room for improvement there I guess.

Colin’s Cuts:   As I hadn’t had my hair cut since November, I finally succumbed to Colin’s offer and let him lop off 3 inches with the office scissors! I admit that I was pretty edgy, squinted in the mirror as I peeked through one eye to watch him snip away intently.  However, I ended with no worries.   I think my man had done quite well.

Saturday 18^th April

Oscar’s “Welcome Home”:   The video had shown how Oscar enthusiastically greeted Colin every time he came home from a shopping trip.  Apologies for the jerky filming but I couldn’t help giggling.  It was such a keen reception each time and I was amazed how high he could jump.  Just demonstrated that he wasn’t a “naughty boy” every time – so cute.

Wednesday 22^nd April

Stranded Friends Abroad:  I had seen on the internet that the poor “Lola Boys” cabaret act were trapped on an island in the far east.  The poor guys had no way of getting back since they also were quarantined.  However, that hadn’t dampened their spirits and they good-naturedly produced entertaining videos online until they could get permission to return to Europe. 

Adopted Cat: They had adopted a local cat, which prompted me to mention when a local cat had adopted us while Colin and I were on holiday in Thailand years ago.  It was a scrawny white and ginger cat that kept making noises outside our door.   We decided to feed him, which made him a more regular visitor.  Stuck for a name, we called him “Mau”, as he always made that kind of noise to let us know he was around.  When he sometimes hadn’t appeared, I used to call out his adopted name outside our door.  Imagine our shock when the local Thai people laughingly told us that the name that we had chosen meant “drunk” in Thai.  So for weeks I had been shouting out, “drunk” for anyone that could hear!

Ian and Michelle:  These lovely friends had gone on holiday in Thailand, but Michelle messaged me to say that they also couldn’t get a flight back to Spain.  The only possibility could be around the end of May!  I suppose there could have been worse places to be stranded during quarantine .

Colin’s Cocktails:  We decided to lighten the mood of being in quarantine ourselves.  We missed the freedom of our “Early Doors” get together drinks with friends.  Colin created a special champagne sangria, which went down very well, too well for me!

Friday 24^th April

Chuck’s Help with My Blog:  I decided to spend some time on a much needed revamp and correction of my Blog site.  I cringed when I looked at the site and also at my grammar, which needed a great deal of alteration.  As Chuck and I had been regularly messaging each other, he kindly offered to look over my text and make any editing suggestions for improvement.  It was really strange that, after I finished a full day and got ready for bed, he got up for his day ahead in California.  Our system seemed to work well though, as we gradually went through each part.  It certainly was not an overnight job, so it became our little project together for the following couple of weeks.

Cat also in Isolation:  Our black cat, Lucky, had joined us in quarantine too since it all started.   It never dawned on the daft thing to venture out again, so she would just hide under the bedroom curtain and stare out our window! I guess it must have been because we were suddenly home more.

Monday 27^th April

My Ear Popped!:  All the time during recovery, I was half deaf due to partial hearing in my left ear.  The left side of my face had been improving as it changed from numb paralysis to feathery sensations whenever I touched my cheek with my fingers.    When I cycled on the stationary machine, I always had the TV switched on in our office to alleviate the boredom.  As I watched the food network, cycling behind Colin’s desk, my left ear unexpectedly went “POP”, as though being in an airplane or after being under water.   All of a sudden I had full hearing back in that ear! Wish my left arm and leg would do the same.

Cooking Practise:  I had celebrated by creating an Indonesian style king prawn, chicken, vegetable and noodle dish.  The onion and other vegetables were still difficult to handle, so I continued with my electric chopper.  I tentatively tackled and fumbled with the other ingredients.  However, I eventually managed to cook in my own way.  Colin loved it, so the effort had been totally worthwhile.

Thursday 30^th April

Captain Tom Moore:  I just had to mention the brave endeavor of this lovely man.  At the age of 99 yrs. Old, this gentleman world war veteran had decided around 6^th April to try and raise about 1,000 pounds for the NHS in a sponsored walk in his garden before his 100^th Birthday, on 30^th April, with the support of his walking aide. 

In the 24-day course of his fundraising he made many media appearances and became a popular household name in the U.K., which generated much interest in his life story, earned a number of accolades and attracted over 1.5 million individual donations. He was featured in a cover version of the song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” with UK singer Michal Ball, with proceeds that went to the same health charity. The single topped the UK music charts and made him the oldest person to achieve a UK number one.   

By his 100^th Birthday, this brilliant man had raised over 30 million pounds for his charity.  The R.A.F. (Royal Air Force) honored him with a very rare colourful fly pass, which had only been done for Royalty and special occasions before.   He received over 150,000 Birthday cards, and was appointed as honorary colonel of the Army Foundation College.  How marvelous.

Oscar’s Pillow Fight:  I think I mentioned that Oscar seemed to become a little more obedient.  Wrong!  Colin decided that two of our pillows had to be washed.  While he put them out to dry, Oscar decided to steal one of them, disappeared with it into our garden and had a pillow fight with himself!  The garden looked a right state with the goose feathers all over the lawn.   Colin was NOT too amused while he cleared it up while Oscar innocently looked on.

Quarantine Extended:  Just as we all hoped the curfew would be relaxed, we got the bad news that lock down would be extended in Spain again.  We had no idea how long this next period would last but it became a grave concern over our health, economy, businesses and tourism over here in Europe. 

Please view next page 31 at link “Freedom, Friends & No More Pity”: https://www.rebootinglinda.com/31-change-in-condition-partial-quarantine-freedom-meeting-with-friends-and-no-more-self-pity/

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