I woke up at 2.30am with a massive nosebleed. What a me just trying to contain the blood! I couldn't ask Clare's help for obvious reasons, as she's quarantined in her bedroom and feeling ill. It was a consequence of using a smart memory foam pillows, which only works as intended if you lie on your back. If I lie on my back all night, I'm awakened by my own snoring, so I shift on to one side or the other. It happened in a deep sleep phase. with the firmness of the pillow against the side of my neck constricting blood flow. Then I moved again and a couple of blood vessels broke open. I woke up when the first drops of blood hit the pillowcase.
I moved quickly enough to leave no more than half a dozen small drops of blood on the carpet, but then the outpouring began. It took three quarters of an hour to stop. Only when I went downstairs to walk in the kitchen with a bowl under my nose, waiting for my blood pressure to fall back to normal did the flow slow down. I find standing barefoot on a cold floor helps. Needless to say the pillow is banished hereafter. But still no covid symptoms.
Once bleeding stopped for sure and I cleaned up after myself, I returned to bed and fell asleep, sitting up slightly, and definitely not lying on my side. I woke up at seven thirty and posted today's Morning Prayer YouTube link to WhatsApp, then listened to Thought for the Day, with Chief Rabbi Murvis talking about two kinds of happiness in Judaism; what we might call passing pleasures which give us good cheer, and deeper lasting satisfying contentment. Very good.
I made breakfast. Despite her condition, Clare got up for a while, loaded the washing machine, stripped my bed soaked the bloodstain sheet in cold water and cleaned the blood spots off the bedroom carpet before I could get around to it. She still feels rotten but has the drive to restore order from chaos. Then she went back to bed!
A call from Fr Dyfrig yesterday relieved me of door-keeping duty at St John's this morning, as he has a set of St John's keys and has given them to Meg the locum celebrant. I hope she doesn't have a problem with the stiffness of the door. But as a retired prison Chaplain, I don't suppose keys are too much of an issue for her!
Then I edited the graphic file of a poster on Sway using Gimp. It wasn't difficult, but it was tricky to manipulate the cursor to add text in the correct position. It's a skill I've yet to develop, as it's rare I have to perform such a task. Then I sent the Sway link to Andrew for posting on Facebook and WhatsApp. That's stage one of the weekly distribution completed. Next a line of washing to hang and lunch to cook.
I needed a proper siesta after lunch after losing so much sleep last night, but could only rest and doze in the chair. When I went out into the garden to bring in the dry washing I slipped in the utility room and twisted my right leg in falling. Nothing broken or torn, but I'll have a sore knee joint for days to come. I was able to walk without difficulty, and went out to collect the grocery order from Beanfreaks and after unloading it at home, went for a circuit of the park before preparing supper to make sure I could walk on it properly.
A parishioner emailed with a couple of Sway typos for correction. With routine so disrupted this week, my editorial concentration has been lacking. At least it's easy to make a change that will immediately be visible to all who receive the link.
After supper, I watched a documentary about the making of 'The Exorcist' movie, which was very insightful about the way a director works to get the best out of his cast, and the elaborate preparations that are essential before any scenes are filmed. It's still a film I've never seen or intend to see. The clips included in the documentary were really 'too much information' for me. Needless to say, the knee began to swell and feel painful once I stopped and rested but that's only to be expected. I'll just need to be very careful moving around on it for a while.
No comments:
Post a Comment