Bugs, We Got 'Em

Monday

Andrew is home safe and sound but not at all well. He has a terrible bug and can hardly talk so I've made him an appointment to see the GP later and am staying at arms length. I really, really want to hug him but just dare not get too close. I'm bad enough with home grown bugs, bugs from abroad could be really dangerous. He brought me some little presents including a fridge magnet, I collect them and the tackier the better, a bottle of wine and some rose jam. Apparently they eat a lot of roses and I am assured this jam is fabulous with a bit of Camembert.


I am writing this blog with great difficulty. Smirnoff is lying asleep across my desk with his bum right on top of my mouse cable. Every time I try to use the mouse he stretches out a lazy paw and pushes me away. It is annoying but I don't have the heart to move him.

The bathroom is almost done! The new radiator it up, the bath and shower are fully sealed, so we can do away with the plastic sheeting at last, and we've put in th new fixings, toilet roll holder, soap dispenser etc. It really is the odds and ends to finish off now so Peter is taking a well earned day off.


Olympics Watch


Well another day another security gaff, this time the police are to blame. They managed to lose the keys to Wembly stadium and as a result all the locks have had to be changed.


Two medals for Team GB so far, a silver in cycling and a bronze in swimming but we are still looking for that first elusive gold.

Sad news for Team GB and Bedfordshire in particular when Paula Radcliffe was ruled out last night due to a foot injury.

The empty seat row rumbles on and I must admit there were a fair few from what I could see yesterday. Lord Coe is in complete denial and is telling everyone who will listen that the venues are 'packed', when plainly this is not the case. Others are not wasting their time on denials and are trying to come up with ways of ensuring tickets are passed on if not used within a certain time. First idea I heard was to give them free to the off duty members of the armed forces and police who have been drafted in. This is a brilliant idea and I hope they go with it.

In other sports news well done to Lewis and Jenson, here's hoping the rest of the season goes their way. There is no racing in August so everyone can have a bit of a breather.

Tuesday

Yesterday's blog was rudely interrupted by a sudden and severe stomach bug, nothing to do with Andrew I might add who is going back to the doctors today having developed a very nasty rash. He was given penicillin for his throat yesterday and I really hope he isn't becoming allergic to it.

Olympic Watch


Still loads of empty seats, still fuming that I didn't get a ticket, Lord Coe still denying there is a problem. 


Watched the Gymnasts get their medal, such a shame it wasn't gold, or silver. As for blaming everything on Tom Daly well some people don't seem to realise 'synchronized means there must be more than one. So should some of the flack be going in the direction of Tom's partner Pete Waterfield?

Giving up on the blog for today, must go back to bed. Hope to be back soon.

Empty Headed

Well yesterday's blog caused a bit of a stir mainly through people getting completely the wrong end of the stick. So time to set the record straight.

It is not the sports or the athletes that I dislike about the Olympics. Indeed everyone taking part has worked hard for four years to get to this point and deserves to be supported without question.

What I dislike is the commercialism, the 'making of a fast buck' at someone else's expense, the over invasive sponsorship, the stupid rules about not being able to display the rings or say London 2012 or gold, silver and bronze. I would love to race into the middle of the stadium with a megaphone and yell 'anyone for a Burger King and a Pepsi'. The fact that you can only get into the park through a shopping center, the cost to every taxpayer in the country for something that will mostly be knocked down in a few weeks time. The way the tickets were allocated and the rip off prices, the absolutely ghastly Team GB uniforms, the way the torch relay was more about celebrity than those that actually deserved to carry it, Will.I.Am texting while running with it for instance. And finally the sheer fact that you cannot get away from it, and haven't been able to for months.

There is a lot to hate about the London Olympics but there is an awful lot more to admire and enjoy. OK, I wasn't impressed by the majority of the opening ceremony but that is just my opinion, I appreciate that others thought it was fantastic and I have no problem with that but this is my blog and if I don't like something I will say so.

Olympic Watch


The first big British disappointments came yesterday, Mark Cavendish failed to win a medal in the road race and the Murray brothers failed to get into the second round of the tennis. Andy starts his solo campaign today let's hope he has more luck.


A row is brewing over the amount of empty seats at some of the venues. Wimbledon was only half full at some points yesterday and the swimming events were also badly hit. Naturally there is a lot of ill feeling about this. People who have practically mortgaged their house and begged on bended knees for a ticket are having to sit across from row after row of empty places and wonder why tickets were so rare and expensive. So who is not turning up? Well the corporate sponsors of course. Vast amounts of free tickets were given to these corporations to keep them sweet, all I can say is that the lack of attendance fully underlines the fact that for some it is all about the profit. What is really sad is that there are so many who wanted tickets and couldn't get them. Wouldn't it be lovely if organisers sold these empty seats on the door for those who wanted to be there but were not lucky in the draw? Wimbledon does it, so why not do it now?

I watched some of the swimming yesterday and thought the pool looked wonderful, I throughly enjoyed the events I watched though was disappointed that the medals went elsewhere. I missed the mens gymnastics, damn it, because I didn't know it was on. Today I hope to catch Murray's match and Tom Daly in the diving though it might be a bit hit and miss as the Radio Times only gives very rough timings and I cannot find a schedule of play for the tennis anywhere.

Andrew is two days from the end of his holiday and has come down with a bug. Luckily he is staying with two doctors so I know he is being looked after. It appears his girlfriend had it two days ago and is now fine so with a bit of luck he will be feeling better if not great when he steps on that plane on Monday.

We have a sink! Yes it went in late yesterday afternoon but is not sealed to the wall yet, just in case it has to come out again for some reason. At least I don't have to keep dashing down to the kitchen every time I want to wash my hands now. The radiator wall is grouted and the radiator will be put back on sometime this afternoon but not connected until we are absolutely sure it doesn't have to come off again.

Lewis Hamilton is on pole and Jenson Button fourth for this afternoon's race, one of the best qualifying for Mclaren in a long time. I just hope they can translate that into the race itself and give the others a good run for their money.

Well I'm off to watch something, don't know what yet, hopefully the tennis and then early to bed. I'm collecting Andrew from the airport at half past seven tomorrow morning so have to be up early. So excited!

The Greatest Show On Earth

Sorry but it wasn't.

It would have been churlish of me not to watch the opening ceremony, so I did, besides I can't moan about something I haven't seen. Well actually that it is a lie to say I hated everything but we will come to that later. Our ceremony was I'm afraid cheap, nasty and at times toe curling.

So what did I dislike about it?

Well I'm afraid the list goes on and on but I'll give you a few highlights. First on my list is the stupid James Bond sequence that had the Queen supposedly parachuting into the stadium displaying her underwear. It wasn't her of course but it was made to look like her. How and why did the Queen allow herself to be dragged into something so awful and tacky. I nearly crawled under the settee in embarrassment. I suppose it was meant to display the famous 'British sense of humour' but if so it was totally lost on me. The drums were mostly plastic and were not actually making any sound at all, the track was pre-recorded. Cheap and nasty, when I remember the thousands of Chinese with real drums and actually playing them I almost want to weep. Then there was my utter astonishment when the camera cut to a man giving what looked suspiciously like a 'Nazi' salute as the German team arrived, how he wasn't jumped on and wrestled from the stadium I don't know. The NHS was represented along side children's nightmares. Well at least that was accurate I suppose, anyone who has ever used the NHS know it is a nightmare. Then we wheeled out Paul McCartney having learned nothing from his performance at the Jubilee concert. Have we really got no one else who could have stepped in?

Enough of what I didn't like, what did I enjoy?

Mr Bean! Rowan Atkinson was absolutely brilliant and his facial expressions had me hooting with laughter, if only we could have had more of him and less of, well anything else really. The forging of the rings was very clever in the Industrial sequence but did we really need to keep cutting to Kenneth Branagh looking smug, and what were the blokes in the top hats doing exactly? I always enjoy the parade, simply because I want to see the eye watering colours some of the teams dress themselves in.  A second laugh came when it was announced that the Italian team were dressed in Armani. I enjoyed the fireworks but who doesn't so no surprise there.

Only one thing truly impressed me and that was the lighting of the cauldron. Not so much the cauldron itself, though I must admit that was a triumph of engineering and was really beautiful. What impressed me out of everything was that seven unknown, up and coming athletes were chosen to light the thing. That was exactly the right choice and each was nominated, not by a celebrity but by a former British Olympic Gold Medal winner, how appropriate. It was a very pleasant surprise because I had had visions of Cheryl Cole, Victoria Beckham or that brainless bunch from Towie.

The saddest moment for me was when Mohammed Ali appeared. True he used to be 'the greatest' but he clearly isn't that anymore and, this is my own personal opinion, I think it is cruel to keep wheeling him out at these big occasions. Last night he clearly didn't have any idea where he was or what was going on and I half expected him to go flat on his face at any moment. I would prefer to remember him at his best when his mind and mouth were as fast as his feet.

Lastly, as much as I dislike the Olympics, if I were chosen to represent Team GB then I would embrace the opportunity fully. Unfortunately a few of my fellow countrymen, and a few from Scotland chose to embarrass themselves, their country and their sport by refusing to sing the national anthem. These people were footballers of course and obviously think they are doing everyone a tremendous favour by agreeing to take part. They should be dropped from the team immediately and replaced by someone who doesn't think they are bigger than the event.

And so I'll leave the Olympics for this blog and move on to other news.

The bathroom is almost done! It hasn't progressed as fast as we would have liked as we've both been fairly busy with work these last few days but all walls have tiles on them, with just the tricky bits that have to be cut left to do. The shower and bath walls are grouted but not sealed yet so at the moment we have plastic taped around the edge of the bath and shower. We now have two full days with no interruptions so we a hoping that everything will be complete by Monday bar the new shower curtain, I have yet to find the right colour, and the flooring.

Talking of work it has been one hell of a week. I don't know if it was the weather but everyone seemed to be impatient, snappy or down right rude. I actually hung up on a couple of people because they wouldn't stop shouting at me, something I rarely do.

The weather has affected me too, I've found it terribly hard to breath this week and my voice keeps going. Like anyone with lung disease PH sufferers find that anything too hot or too cold has a profound effect on their breathing. I've had to use my oxygen more often and have only really found relief overnight when it has been cooler.

Well got to go, I have a load of bed linen to wash and a wall to grout.

(Un) Sporting Behaviour

Well we finally have new British Champion and he's got nothing to do with football.

Bradley Wiggins has won the Tour de France, the first Brit to win it in its 109 year history. I know nothing about cycling or indeed take any interest in it but I can recognise the achievement. No doubt it will be all anyone talks about over the next few days and why not, it makes a change to have a Brit we can be proud of.

We have a shower! It is only temporary and covered in plastic as we still need to grout the walls but at least I won't stink my colleagues out at work tomorrow. Disaster struck yesterday when Peter ran out of adhesive, about half an hour before all the shops closed. Deciding that he'd never make it he busied himself with other things, like getting the last wall prepped ready to finish off the tiling tomorrow and removing the old radiator. So today we are going to have to go out which means a slow down of progress but it will be good for Peter to have a little break and at least we can wash now. The next couple of days are also going to be disrupted as Peter has work but he is off on Thursday so anticipates completing the tiling and grouting the shower/bath walls then. It is not going to be fully finished by the time Andrew comes home, as we'd hoped but it will be three quarters there and once home Andrew can help out.

Olympics Watch


I was hoping to say that I had nothing to report today, I was sadly mistaken.


Today's scandal centers around Parkistan and fake passports. A VISA scam giving potential terrorists the chance to sneak into Britain with Pakistan’s Olympic team has been discovered. A journalist was alerted to the scam and went undercover. He found that a crime ring was offering false passports, visas — and access to London 2012 as bogus support staff. They provided the journalist with a genuine Pakistani passport in a false name.

And in a second report a guard has been sacked by G4S after being accused of a nightclub bomb hoax. It is said the man dialled 999 to report a suspicious package when refused entry for wearing a hoodie. The trendy Kosho nightspot in Romford, Essex, was evacuated for a police search.  The guard, who lives nearby, was allegedly traced through his phone number and will appear before magistrates tomorrow.. G4S said: “We dismissed him immediately.” Maybe they shouldn't have employed this petty and  childish individual in the first place. I hope the court throws the proverbial book at him.

In other sporting news an attempt at cheating by Sebastian Vettel netted Jenson Button second place in yesterday's German Grand Prix. The German driver overtook Jenson to win back second place after a tyre change but to do so drove right off the track effectively cutting a corner. It was so blatant that the stewards had no choice but to give Vettel a penalty and promoted the outraged Button. Next weeks Hungarian Grand Prix could now turn out to be a bit of a grudge match. As for Hamilton well he suffered a puncture early on and despite running for half the race decided his car was too badly damaged and retired but not before upsetting Vettel by unlapping himself, so also not endearing himself to the German.

I like Vettel, he is a nice chap but like all drivers his desire to win can sometimes over rule his common sense. Hopefully he will learn from this mistake and will make sure he doesn't repeat it. The ironic thing about all this is that if he'd stayed on the track he could have caught and overtaken Jenson at the next straight anyway. Alonso won, a great driver but I just can't bring myself to like him.

Well in the end we decided to combine our trip out to get more adhesive with finding suitable bathroom extras like toilet roll holder etc, as ours are all wooden and will not go with the new look at all. I was delighted to find some deep Burgundy towels but struck out with cloth for the new curtain and blind. However we only visited one shop, and at a whim at that, so when we are seriously looking I've no doubt we will find something suitable.

In the end I managed to get Peter to just relax and enjoy the sun this afternoon, which I am glad about as he looks really tired. After all it might be the only nice weather we get and Andrew won't mind coming back to an almost done bathroom.

Well I'm off to take some of my own advice and relax for a couple of hours. I still have the ironing to do but I'm waiting until it cools down a bit, no point in pushing things.

Text Speak

People are more likely to text you than actually speak to you. Am I the only one who finds this a little bit sad? In a world where communication has never been easier it seems we are finding it harder to talk to each other. I wonder why this is? I remember spending hours around my friends houses, or at mine and we'd talk and talk about anything and everything. It cost us nothing, no one got offended by misunderstanding what someone meant and it kept us out of trouble. Subjects would be as diverse as the latest pop song through the usual teenage gossip and on to the current affairs of the day. I feel as though we were much more clued up about what was happening in the world than today's rather self obsessed teenagers are.

The tiling has slowed down a little today as Peter is now having to cut to fit and of course this takes time, especially if you want to get it right without messing up your tiles. So far, so good and things are really beginning to pull together. We are still without a sink and a shower but we were able to have baths last night so that doesn't matter so much. The plan is to at least get the sink back in and working by tonight and the whole of the shower and bath area grouted. Amazingly we are still on target to get the shower back in and working by Monday night.

Olympics Watch


Forget incompetence, we are now moving into the realms of out and out fraud.


A whistle blower, worried sick by what she saw, has exposed the activities of yet another firm tasked with supplying stewards for the games. This lot, Tungsten SIA, decided to fake NVQ qualifications necessary for the employees to get their hands on basic security licenses. The course for these qualifications is a year long but the lucky candidates were herded into Earl's Court, issued with the exam papers and then given the answers. With the advice that it 'would look better if you got some answers wrong.'

What really alarms me is that with these faked licenses these people will be able to walk into any other security post being advertised and they are completely untrained. And think of all the people who have given up their time and money to get the license legally. Will they now find they are viewed with suspicion and so denied work that they are actually qualified to do? Will any of us have confidence in so called security again?

A few pages on from these revelations is a full page article by Lord Coe telling us it is time to 'lighten up' and forget about the problems. No Lord Coe, we will not forget because what has happened has tarnished these games before they even started and if something really bad does happen you may not be Lord Coe for much longer.

I have given in and started on my emergency supply of antibiotics as my chest feels 'scratchy' and I've started to cough up gunky stuff. I have say it was a weird feeling giving myself antibiotics without my GP's say so but that is what I was given them for.

Andrew posted some fabulous pictures of himself on holiday. He has just ten days left and I can't believe it has gone so fast. When he gets back it is a nervous wait for exam results and then the scramble to get everything ready for university. Why do they grow up so fast?

The sun is out and it is actually quite warm so I'm off to spend an hour on the decking before the weather changes its mind.

I Can See Sunshine Now The Rain Has Gone

Yes! The sun is out and I'm feeling that little bit better. OK not a huge amount better but at least I have got rid of my headache. With a bit of luck this lovely blue sky will stick around this afternoon and allow me to spend a little bit of time out in the fresh air.

It seems yesterday's blog caused something of a debate with a more or less fifty fifty split of opinion. I have been urged to continue my smear tests something I promise I will consider.


We did not get tiles on yesterday. Laurence arrived earlier than expected and so Peter called a halt having completed all the prep. On the plus side today he is racing along and almost all the shower/bath area should be done bar the grouting before six, the time he has deemed as 'had enough now'. It did mean an early start and I had to forgo my bath this morning and make do with an all over wash in the downstairs loo but it'll be worth it if I can have a soak tomorrow and look up at brand new tiles.

Laurence was in high spirits but bemoaning the fact that all he's been able to do on his break so far is watch TV while it pours outside, welcome to my world. This being his first year in his new house he is desperate to get out and sort the garden. However a few nice days have been forecast so any minute now I'm expecting a call with a question somewhere along the lines of 'how do I tell what is a weed?'

I have been accused of being an Olympics 'hater', this is not the case at all. True I dislike the disruption, cost and commercialism but to say I 'hate' the games themselves is far from the truth. What I do hate is the incompetence of those running the games but it is hardly unexpected. Incompetence is what this country does best these days. In fact if there were a gold medal for incompetence then Team GB would already have walked away with a shed load. It would, just for once, be nice to be proud of the UK instead of feeling like we have to apologise for it's failings all of the time. Maybe, when the games actually start they will be a resounding success and something we can be proud of, I really hope so. Yes really, I do.


Olympic Watch


Told you G4S could top yesterday's blunder.

The security crisis deepened yesterday when it was realised that terrorists could use uniforms and passes supplied to missing guards. A G4S staff trainer said hundreds of yellow outfits and documents had vanished with the staff who have failed to show at Games venues. And “Anyone in a G4S uniform would have a clear advantage if they tried to breach security. They’re not the sort of items you’d want in the hands of terrorists." 


Talk about stating the bleeding obvious, didn't they think about this when they started and ban staff from taking the uniforms home? You really couldn't make it up.

On top of all that only nine out of a possible one hundred and forty security personnel turned up for a training session at Old Trafford. So that's a possible one hundred and thirty one terrorists in the making then. I'm just wondering how long it will be before these uniforms start turning up on ebay.

Talking of bleeding, Peter's hand is fine, a deep cut but not so deep that he needed stitches. I stemmed the flow, bandaged him up and he went back to the bathroom.

I have been feeling extremely guilty about not being able to do much to help with the bathroom. To be fair I wouldn't have been much use without the cold, being unable to lift anything, hold my arms above my head or stand for long periods, but with it I'm a total loss. So I was delighted to be given a job this morning, well that is delighted until I found out it was to ferry cups of coffee and glasses of cold lemonade on an almost continuous loop. I was even less impressed with the 'woman get thee to thy kitchen' that accompanied the allocation. Revenge they say is best served cold, besides I want the bathroom finished before I pay back.

I did take the opportunity though to thoroughly clean the sink and it's pedestal while it lay in the corridor waiting to be reassembled. You can never reach the really tricky bits right at the back when it is attached to the wall. This involved nothing more strenuous than a firm rub down with Mr Muscle and all achieve sitting down but at least I can now say I contributed in a small way and not just with cups of tea.

I have decided that, taking into account the warm colouring of the tiles, I'm going to make up the shower curtain and the window blind in a rich burgundy. It will add a much needed splash of colour and make the bathroom feel warmer. I like fully tiled bathrooms but sometimes they can be a bit 'cold'. Peter, amazingly agrees with me so I'm off to buy the fabric on Monday, provided I feel better, before he changes his mind.

The only bone of contention left really if the flooring. We've decided against tiling the floor, too much of a slip hazard for me and too much work for him, the floorboards are not exactly even and a lot of work will have to be done before he even starts on the tiling. Our current carpet tiles, although in good nick, are now completely the wrong colour. I would like to replace them with either more carpet tiles or rubber tiles, which of course will be water proof. The trouble with that is they cost an absolute fortune. The current tiles will do for now so at least we can take our time finding the perfect solution.

Well better go and see how it is going and make a few encouraging noises, I haven't heard any swearing lately so I'm assuming it is going well.

There's Klingons On The Starboard Bow

You'll have to excuse the date on today's blog but I started writing this yesterday in case I forgot what I'm about to relate. So often I've thought 'I must remember that for tomorrow's blog' and then sat down in front of the computer to find it has gone clean out of my head. Not this time failing memory, gotcha!

This is probably going to offend at least half of the people who read this but I feel it has to be said. Please be assured I am not getting at anyone or setting out to intentionally offend, I just have a point of view that I feel needs airing so here goes.

I have noticed a slightly alarming trend amongst my fellow PH sufferers of late and that is the upsurge in the use of diagnostic machines. There are machines for measuring blood pressure, how much oxygen is in the blood, how fast/slow/regular the heart is beating. Really? You need a machine to tell you when you need oxygen? Can't you tell?

I have had PH for coming up to five years and when I first got in touch with fellow sufferers for advice and support the overwhelming one piece of advice I was given was 'listen to your body'. Now it took a while to get tuned in but by 'listening to my body' I can now recognise the very early signs of infection, when my heartbeat has changed and when my blood pressure might be up. I will admit to having a blood pressure machine, which I was advised to get before I was diagnosed, when they thought I had angina, it has no batteries and I haven't used it in over two years. I will also admit to having a stethoscope that I use to confirm a chest infection, that is CONFIRM, not 'look for' a problem before I go dashing off to the GP for antibiotics.

However it transpires that some PH sufferers will not retire at night before checking every vital sign first. Now I am the first to admit that those of us with serious illnesses tend to become a little precious with our health but there is a world of difference between taking sensible precautions and becoming overly concerned. I see this rise in machinery as a worrying step in the wrong direction. Let me explain.

I work on the theory of don't go looking for trouble because it will find you soon enough. I must be one of an extremely small percentage of the female population that doesn't go for routine smears or mammograms. This refusal to conform has brought accusations of being selfish and reckless let alone setting a bad example. Why? It is my body, shouldn't I be able to do with it what I want? I stopped going for smears about ten years ago when I missed an appointment and decide not to bother making another. My GP nagged and nagged about it but even she has given up and accepted I don't want these tests. I'm not reckless, if there is something amiss I get it checked out, as my recent trip to the breast clinic will testify. Since being diagnosed with PH I reckon that with all the tests, x-rays, scans and other examinations I have every year if anything nasty is lurking it will soon be found out so I've become even more relaxed. And to be honest having one terminal illness is quite enough, I could not cope with knowing about or having the treatment for another serious condition. There is a limit to my resilience even if I like to pretend it is infinite.

So back to my problem with self testing, picture this. You are testing your blood pressure just before bed on a Friday two days before Christmas Day. Your blood pressure is up, not by much but enough to make you wonder why. There is no GP service and your PH team will not be back until Tuesday at the earliest. What do you do? Do you rush off to your local A & E where you, and your loved one, sit with drunks for a couple of hours? Then when you see the doctor he has never heard of PH and sends you away with a tablet, which you are unsure you can take because you don't know if it will cause problems with you other meds. Or do you decide to wait until Tuesday all the while worrying yourself sick and taking countless readings, each of which is higher than the previous one, and ruin everyone's Christmas? Which do you choose, either scenario is bound to raise not only your blood pressure further but also the pressures of those around you. Wouldn't it be better to enjoy Christmas in blissful ignorance? Chances are it is only a temporary blip anyway, or would have been if you hadn't stressed yourself out about it and made it worse.

Can anyone see where I'm coming from here?

My final point, although self testing has its place, in diabetes for instance, any routine testing isn't always the best course of action. How many times have we read about women having breasts removed unnecessarily because of a mistake on the mammogram. How many have had horrible operations and chemotherapy that they didn't need because someone mis-read the smear? And the most frightening of all, how many have died because they were given the all clear after a lump on a mammogram or cancer cell in a smear test went un-noticed?

'Listen To You Body', probably the best advice I've ever had.

Smirnoff came in this afternoon and sat in the middle of the living room and stared at me. Nothing wrong with that I hear you thinking, that's what cats do. I also didn't think anything of it until he turned around to go out again. His entire right side was green, a mixture of seeds and those infuriating sticky ball things. Battle then commenced to remove the seeds and restore him to his natural sliver grey. I don't know what sort of seeds they were but they were hell to remove. Not only were they stuck really well into his fur but they had sharp points to them so I kept stabbing myself on them. Smirnoff himself didn't help as although he stood still for the first couple of minutes he soon got annoyed with me pulling and tugging at his fur and before long I was trying to avoid claws and teeth as well as the sharp points on the seeds. Eventually he ran off taking the remains of his unexpected cargo clinging to his side. Battle will recommence the minute he walks back though the cat flap, with some new additions to his collection no doubt.

Olympic Watch

Welcome to a new feature to my blog that will last until all the fuss and bother has died down and life returns to normal.

Last night it was announced that UK Border Agency workers are among thousands of Home Office employees who will walk out on July 26 in a row over jobs, pay and privatisation. Honestly it is getting so bad that it almost isn't funny anymore. For those who do not realise the significance, July 26 is the day before the opening ceremony and most likely to be the busiest day of the year at our airports. All I can say is at least they can't blame G4S for that one but don't worry Olympic Watchers, G4S are bound to come up with something to top that very soon and when they do you can read about it here.

The assault on the bathroom continues today but by this evening I should have some new tiles in the shower area. If I don't I'm going to have one grumpy husband as he is already muttering darkly about 'being behind'.

My cold is slightly better today, although I still have a nagging headache and a sore throat. I braved Tesco this morning to get loads of fruit and Tangtastics. My appetite has plummeted and whenever that happens fruit and sweeties always seem to be the answer. Actually the trip out helped as my head cleared and I became less stuffy. I did have other shoppers scuttling from my aisle every time I sneezed though.

Laurence is coming for tea today, and I'm so excited. I was hoping to make a cake but I don't feel up to it so I've bought one instead.

Husband has just come running into the study with blood streaming from his hand. I'd better go and check him out. I just hope this doesn't mean a trip to A&E.