Zan's Zone – Ramblings of an O.A.P.

I decided today that I have spent too much time sitting on Sarah’s settee playing with the comp this week. I decided it was time I got off my backside and did something.

I have been at Sarah’s all week because she wasn’t at all well during the first part and as it crawled towards the weekend I thought I might as well stay until Sunday.

Trouble was that when I came last weekend it was only going to be overnight, so I left my caravan in a right mess thinking no problem I will be back tomoz when I can give it a good scrub down. 4 days later and I hadn’t gone home. Today I asked Sarah to drop me home about midday and then pick me up when she collected Jess from school. Jessie’s school is just around the corner from.

I thought a couple of hours in my caravan (leaving my comp at Sarah’s) would give me a chance to do a bit of a whip around ready to go back this coming Sunday to a nice clean place.

Sarah decided that rather than drop me off, she would stay with me while I had a tidy up and that would save her the journey to and fro again. So I settled Sarah on theplaystation playing her recent Resident Evil game and I set too.

An hour in and a phone call from Aimee, could Mum go and pick her up from college as she was finishing early. So Sarah, cheesed off with having to stop killing Zombies went off to get her.

Aimee proceeded to settle herself on the sofas bundled up with throws and have a sleep. The sitting room part of the caravan was getting morechoco with Sarah’s and Aimees bags, coats, cups, sandwiches, and of course Aimee kipping and Sarah sitting on a chair in the middle playing playstation. Needless to say the caravan was getting messed up faster than I was able to clean.

I only managed to get my bedding changed. Toilet and shower rooms cleaned and part of the kitchen before we were due to pick Jess up. So I still have to go back Sunday, hoover through and I want to clean the windows.

I have promised myself though that I really must cut down my comp time. We were discussing on Cabbages & Kings who were addicted and who wasn’t to the comp, and I can honestly say that I am addicted. That really must change.

I decided this week that the whole caravan internally needs a good spring clean so made a start yesterday.

I thought that I would do it in stages so as not to tire myself, lol. If the truth be known it’s because I am a lazy marebag and am having to force myself to actually get my finger out.

Not having picked up a duster since, well, many, many days I set to and cleaned out all the cobwebs and dust that has accumulated while I have been either sitting on my butt on the comp or off out playing somewhere.

I spent 2 hours cleaning mirrors, glass cabbinet fronts, setting up a specific computor table instead of using the dining table and hoovering into the nooks and crannys that always seem to be missed when I give a quick whip around.

The upshot of it all is that small bedroom, sitting room and conservatory (yep I have a conservatory in the caravan) are all now sparkling and shiny.

I now have to give the kitchen and my bedroom a good going over along with scrubbing down the decking and cleaning all windows on the outside.

It’s nice to have a special place for my laptop instead of using the dining table because using the dining table means it always looks a pigging mess. Not only does it always have my comp on but also used cups, glasses, plates, bits of scrap paper and a couple of pens running around it where I have been too lazy to tidy up as I go along.

Around the TV was also the playstation, Wii and all the wires that go along with all that. The playstation is now in the conservatory with a spare TV and the Wii is now tidily tucked beside the lounge TV taking up much less room.

White throws are now covering the seats of the settees which means the whole place look brighter and cleaner.

One has to be careful though, because in a small area such as I have living in a caravan one has to be careful with the amount of throwns and cushions one adds or it start to look either like a little old lady lives there or more likely a Gypsy, lol.

Living in a caravan is like living in a dolls house. Everything is so mini.

I woke up last Thursday to Bayley huddled in a corner shivering and shaking. He looked really bad and being as how he is now getting on for eleven years old my first thought was he is on his way out. Scared out of my wits I obviously tried to find out what was the matter with him. I had never seen him in such a state.

After a bit he stopped shaking and made an attempt to move but then stopped dead and just looked sadly at me. By now I am beginning to realise that he isn’t actually ill but I got the feeling he was in pain somewhere. He started to move around a bit more after a while and a bit of fuss. I went to put the kettle on for my first cup of tea of the day and on coming back he had jumped up on the settee. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong but I did have an idea that he had maybe hurt his back.

Seems cruel but I thought I would put it to the test to see just how much pain he was in by getting his harness and lead. Dogs do put on the agonies if they think it will get them attention and although I was obvious he was in pain it was impossible to tell how much. By getting his lead he stood up wagging his tail and sort of made an attempt at jumping of the sofa, then gave up on the idea and looked at me to lift him down. This I did and I carried him outside and put him down on the grass.

He started to walk towards the nearest tree and then just stopped dead. I knew then that he really must have been in pain to not even attempt to want a walk. So carrying him back inside and throwing his favourite pillows on the floor I left him there to rest to see if maybe it may just be the starting of arthritis and therefore he would be a bit stiff in the mornings. An hour or so later he was moving around fine albeit a bit more sedate than he normally would and although he wasn’t limping he was walking rather strange. As the day went on he got better and better until by 7.30pm I attempted to try him with another walk.

What a difference. He was haring around the park. So I breathed a sigh of relief and thought perhaps he may have hurt his back during the night by leaping off the bed. He has hurt his back twice before in his life because he will climb and jump around like a cat. Both times it had been a visit to the vet. It looked like this time a day of rest had sorted it out.

I’m afraid I was wrong. The next morning he got up stiff and walking with difficulty so it was a definite visit to the vet.

The vet was brilliant. Not only did he examine him but he also manipulated his back. I had been right it was his back again. Two sets of pills, one lot to take for 7 days and then a bottle of tablets to keep as a preventative treatment and to give one immediately if it happens again.

I have no idea what that vet did to Bayley’s back but when we got out of the surgery he was fighting to get down. I didn’t want to make him walk home and I was prepared to carry him all the way but he was insistent he got down. So prepared for him to walk just a few short steps and wanting another carry I put him down. You would not have believed it. He galloped along as if there had been nothing wrong. He tried to run all the way home.

On getting home I was determined that he wasn’t going to jump and leap for at least a couple of days until I could be certain he was fine. So I put all the dining chair laid down along the sofas, kept the bedroom doors shut so he couldn’t jump on the beds and I slept on the floor with him for two nights. At the end of that time he was so freaked out about having to stay on the floor that I gave in and moving the dining chairs off the sofas I allowed him to climb up. Since then he has been absolutely fine.

I am still giving him the weeks course of pills to make sure and I am trying desperately to stop him climbing too high and taking flying leaps off the furniture as he does. Fingers crossed it will either be a long time before he hurts his back again or with luck never again. The vet said, as did our last vet, that he does have a weak back and he really must be stopped jumping and leaping high.

This is easier said than done but I am doing my best.

Sunday was a rotten day weather wise so it became a day of peace and quiet for me with no demands on my time. I took a look at around me and knew I should in actual fact get stuck into some housework as the dust was beginning to pile up around me and if I sat still much longer I would also end up being as dusting as the tip around me but quite honestly I was finding playing on the comp much more fun.

I had had the idea of cleaning up the coding in my old profile and board skins that I had either adapted from library skins or made from scratch myself and putting them on a board by themselves for all to take, adapt and use as they wanted to. I wasn’t sure that anyone would be interested in them as I have always made plain simple skins with as few background images as possible to speed up the loading. Yuku is slow enough as it is without inundating it with images and making it crawl along even more.

On Monday it had been arranged that I would go over to Sarah’s to supervise the putting up of Jessie’s trampoline. Ted (Beverley’s partner) had volunteered to do this, but Ted is not the bestDIY man. He needs supervision at all times even for just looking at a hammer and nails, let alone using them. I was grateful that the trampoline would only need a spanner and a bit of savvy. Needless to say I was going to be the savvy,lol.

But the best laid plans and all that. Once again the heavens opened on Monday so the business of the trampoline was put off until Tuesday, so Monday was the day that I actually got off my arse and cleaned my home up.

Tuesday Sarah came over and got me while she left Ted and Gary (my nephew) making a start on the trampoline. By the time we got back there they already had the base up and we could see how much of the garden it was going to take up. It took up the whole of the space between the fence and the pathway. If it had been a couple of inches wider we would have had to climb over it to get to the bottom of the garden.

I can only say without going into details that we were sooooo pleased that Gary had found out about the erection of the thing and had volunteered his services as well. I dread to think what would have happened with TedBodger putting it up on his lonesome (love his heart). He is always there when one needs him and he is always very willing but oh soooo scary when he has to anything out of his comfort zone. His comfort zone being a superb mechanic.

Being the mean sods my family are they volunteered me to be the one to climb on to help hold the safety net up that goes all around it. I know why they wanted me to do it. They wanted to see how long it would take me with my bad bones to get up and over. Well, with them killing themselves with laughter and me nearly wetting myself with laughter I did get up and over. I did manage to stay up right enough to help hold the net up while they fixed it on.

Our Jess was thrilled to bits on coming home from school and finding her trampoline all ready for her.

Wednesday my company wasn’t needed as Sarah and Beverley were off to the local shopping centre. There is no way I go voluntarily to a shopping centre. So another day of my own company which I always appreciate. It had been planned for Sarah and I were going to do a weekly shop atTescos but I was pleased this jaunt was being put off until the next day.

On visiting Tescos the following day I bought “I am Legend”. I had seen half of this film on a pirate copy at Beverley’s a few months ago, but a pirate copy being a very chance affair stopped right in the middle of the film and wouldn’t go any further so I had been waiting for it to be released legally into the shops. It was back to Sarah’s then for lunch and a film.

I had woken up this day with a nagging bit of a headache. It was a bit of an irritation but not anything that even required a pill, but by the end of watching the film my head was pounding so much that I knew it had developed into a migraine which I have only ever had 4 of in the whole of my life although I do get a lot of normal headaches. I put those down to eye strain mostly.

After bunging pain killers down my throat Sarah drove me home before she went to pick up the kids where I then went and had a lay down until I woke up naturally an hour and a half later with the pain back to abearable amount.

I was granted a visit from my eldest sister, Barbara, for the afternoon on Friday. Although Sarah and Aimee also turned up for a couple of hours. Sarah has been spending much more time at my place this week as her comp is incapacitated at the moment and both her and Aimee are having withdrawal symptoms, so a short visit to me allows them to collect their email and have a little play. I am under no illusions that they actually come to visit me, lol.

Aimee stayed with me on Saturday night after I had spent much of the day over Sarah’s this time helping her clean up her front garden. Once again I am sure it was only to be able to spend an evening on line yacking to her mates rather than for my company. This meant I had to amuse myself with TV and books. I didn’t mind though as I don’t see as much of Aimee as I do of Jess. Jess is still young enough that she loves staying overnight with her Nan, but sad to say, Aimee now being a teenager is not one to come out of her room much, let alone stay over night with me.

Has it been a good week?? I think so. It could have been much worse. Not a lot going on but enough to keep me occupied and then content on the times I have had my own company.