Birdsong audit

We seem to alternate this winter between overcast rainy days and blue sky sunny days with afternoon showers. Today is one of the latter. I had just under six hours sleep, waking at seven, having got to bed just before midnight and losing an hour awake in the night. The impact of the meds was less pronounced and my head was clear once they took effect after breakfast and. No pins and needles sensation in my head today but sleepy enough after lunch to need an hour in bed to recover. The variability in my reaction is unpredictable. It's hard to know what I'm going to be capable of tackling as the day goes on.

The Green Party won a substantial parliamentary by-election victory in the Greater Manchester area yesterday. Andy Burnham, the popular and effective Mayor of Manchester offered himself as a candidate for a traditional Labour seat but was not selected, when it could have been won against right and left wing opponents. Losing this winning opportunity is an embarrassing own-goal for the Labour Party. Perceived as a rival leader to Keir Starmer, the excuse given for Burnham's non selection as a candidate was that he was doing too good a job as Mayor, and a mayoral by-election couldn't be afforded by the party. Methinks Starmer and his camp followers may live to regret this.

I went out to enjoy the sunshine walking in Llandaff Fields and heard the eerie cry of a Green Woodpecker in the coppice opposite Howells School. The Merlin bird app, identified this along with the song of a robin a wren, a blackcap, a blackbird, a redwing, a song thrush, a mistle thrush, a wood pigeon and a magpie. Ten different birds in the same patch of bushes and trees. I listened to the recording later in the day, but sadly forgot to save it. Such biodiversity in our parks, more than in our street's back gardens. These are dominated by crows, magpies, gulls, wood pigeons and starlings roosting in the roof eaves, and sometimes passing sparrows and tits. There's not enough vegetation cover for smaller birds where there's decking or paved patios. 

I went for another circuit of Llandaff fields after my post lunch siesta. It started to drizzle before sunset and more rain is forecast for later tonight. The roar of the Taff over the weir at Blackweir bridge was audible from the Spine Road five hundred metres away. The water level must be high at the moment.

I watched another fine episode of 'Lolita Lobosco' after supper, to take my mind off doing things I don't have energy to tackle at the moment with my 'toxic head' impeding my ability to tackle them. It's not a good place to be. I feel as if I'm not fully in control of my senses. I want to avoid slipping into panic mode and raising my blood pressure even more. Time to take refuge in sleep as best I can.

Head fog

Dull and overcast this morning. I slept until nine and felt sleepy when I woke up, before taking my usual meds. By the time I went shopping to Tesco's mid morning I felt much worse. I chatted with Ashley on my way there and outside the store, but when I went into the store the 'toxic head' sensation was so bad that I had difficulty identifying and obtaining things on my shopping list. My memory map of the store layout was working. I didn't feel faint, physically speaking, nor was I dizzy, just light headed with a sensation akin to pins and needles was so strong it interfered with my ability make decisions, like signal noise on a radio degrading the sound output, brain processes were slow. Disturbingly, the sensation reminded me of the way I felt on the day of the stroke. What on earth is going on?

Clare cooked sausages for my lunch and a veggie burger for herself. Unfortunately I didn't notice her text message asking me to buy veggie sausages until I returned home. I slept for an hour after we'd eaten, and it was raining when I started on my afternoon walk with brolly and added rain trousers. My head began to clear slowly, thanks to exercise. I'm reluctant to go walking in the park if there's rain and wind and have to push myself to go out. If I don't my head takes longer to clear.

We've now secured our Tenby fortnight's holiday booking in May. It's good to have this to look forward to, plus the train trips to take us there and back. Such a delightful journey, especially from Carmarthen down to Towy valley.

After supper my head cleared enough for me to work on another biblical reflection for Morning Prayer on another difficult passage from Hebrews, and then it was time for bed, wondering if tomorrow my head will be any better than today.

Holiday plans

A fair night's sleep. Nine hours in bed, two hours awake. I posted today's Morning Prayer YouTube link to the Parish WhatsApp prayer thread as 'Thought for the Day' was running on the Today programme. I was Clear headed and sharp waking up in sunshine with no threat of rain, but the sky clouded over anyway and so did my head after taking my morning meds. I went to the Eucharist at Saint Catherine's. We were seven this morning. Ann and Paul were there, giving an opportunity to ask if we could hire their place in Tenby for a couple of weeks self catering holiday in May. Our Ann is going to join us 

Clare was out shopping when I got home, so I cooked and ate lunch, with a deadline to arrive at Parkwood Clinic for an acupuncture session with Peter Butcher. Despite the negative impact of the meds on my brain and muscle stiffness requiring an effort to maintain a decent pace, my general energy levels remain high. Even if I get tired, I'm not being debilitated by the toxic effect. When I got back home I slept soundly in my armchair for an hour. Two things to give thanks for. I walked for another half hour at sunset, but thick cloud made it seem as if it was already dusk.

I treated myself to another episode of 'Lolita Lobosco' this evening. An enjoyable mixture of serious crime drama, romantic and domestic comedy with superb acting and laugh out loud dialogue set in Bari, modern  Italian movie story telling at its best.

Medication - a useful conversation

I got to sleep a bit earlier, but woke up earlier as the sky was bright with sunshine breaking through the cloud layer. Clare's study group arrived after breakfast for their meeting, confining me to vegetate in the lounge. Two hours sleep lost, and the meds amplifying morning drowsiness and releasing little energy to drive me out of the house for a walk. It's daunting. Daffodils in bud bought a week ago are now blossoming in a vase opposite where I sit. A welcome element of good cheer.

I had a useful follow up call from the medic dealing with the medication problem outlining several options to be considered. He suggests taking the statin every other day, which seems to be the least complicated option. In effect, this is a half dose. The pills are too small to cut in half. The aim is to see if the impact on me is less toxic. This is to be monitored with a couple of blood tests while fasting to establish the effect on my cholesterol. Sounds like a sensible plan to me. Finally I'll get the blood test I asked for five weeks ago. A morale boost for a change.

I had a surprise email from Dr Richard Johnson re-establishing contact. He's just coming up to seventy and may be about to retire. I'm not sure if he and Sue have moved house. I sent them a Christmas card and news to an address where I assumed they still live, but they may have moved from. They are coming with their caravan to stay in the Pontcanna Fields campsite in early April. He and I have birthdays close together. The last time we got together in the flesh was when they camped in Cardiff nine years ago, so quite a lot of catching up to do when we meet.

I cooked lunch after Clare's study group left, then recorded and edited together Morning Prayer and Reflection for next week. My afternoon walk in Llandaff Fields was cut short by soreness from a tiny anal blood leak due to the blood thinners. After supper, I made a video slideshow to go with the audio and posted it to YouTube. Then I went out again in the dark for a walk around the block to clear my head and complete my daily exercise quota, annoyed with myself for the earlier disruption as well as tired and ready for bed.

Registration sorted

A sunny start to the day, then the sky clouded over and it drizzled for the rest of the day. I slept badly, losing three hour's sleep out of nine in bed. I woke up at one stage wondering if I'd switched off the oven, after slow cooking some chicken yesterday afternoon. I had to get up and go down to check in order to settle my mind. I'm no stranger to anxious wakefulness in the night, prompted by unquiet intestines. I felt better for having a shower and washing my hair after breakfast, but the effect of the meds, slowing down my brain and making me feel light headed made it difficult to function normally. 

A walk in the drizzle to try and clear my head, was unfruitful. Clare called me with a request to buy veg pronto from the 'Fruit Bowl' greengrocer's as she'd started cooking and was short of supplies. We've relied on a weekly bag of organic veggies from Coed Organic for nearly twenty years, but after such bad weather in the past year, the cooperative market garden in St Hilary is currently unable to supply produce for veg bag customers. We rely on supermarkets now, and on Jason at 'The Fruit Bowl', where we get bitter oranges for marmalade. The stock is fresh and very varied. His veg labels are neatly hand written.They declare the provenance of the veg he sells. He opens early but closes at four, so a modicum of forethought and planning is needed before cooking in the evening.

Fatigue hit me hard after eating lunch and I slept in my armchair for nearly an hour. Then I checked the Council's postal vote website, and was pleased to see that the downloadable application form I complained about yesterday has been corrected. I set about finding the required identity details and filling in forms for Clare and myself to email .pdf copies of them to the Council's Electoral Services office. Then I went out for another walk to recover from the mental effort of concentrating and checking details were correct. When I was looking for the right email address to send the forms, I noticed we're both on the electoral register, marked as requiring a postal vote. It also says 'If the information is correct you do not have to do anything'. This is in a letter addressed to 'The Occupiers'. It contains both our names, abbreviated as the NHS does using the first forename in full with the second forename initialised. There may have been no need to fill in the forms at all, but I dislike the ambiguity in the way this invitation to register is presented. Registration is valid for all elections over the next three years. I don't recall seeing this box to tick last time we filled in one of these, so maybe it's just as well. Electoral database managers or AI should flag up any duplication in any case. We'll see.

Clare went to choir practice after supper. I recorded next week's biblical reflection while the house was quiet. I was almost finished when she tapped on the front door, having misplaced her door key. only the last minute needed recording separately and adding to what was already recorded. Then, to relax I watched this week's episode of 'Astrid - Murder in Paris' before going to bed early in an attempt to catch up on lost sleep. I've been wondering if this is somehow linked to the seemingly toxic effect the combination of meds have on my brain.

 

Fond memories of Switzerland

Overcast again but no rain. It's Rhiannon's 22nd birthday today. I sent her the photo video I made of pictures taken over the course of her life so far, with Stevie Wonder singing 'Happy Birthday to you' as the sound track. It was hard work with a fuzzy head going through the family photo archive to select photos and build a timeline, but fun to make.

The clot dispersal drugs provoked diarrhea without warning as I was washing and shaving. What a mess. The usual sleepy light headedness followed from taking the blood pressure meds, but a brisk walk to St Catherine's to get to the Eucharist just on time did clear the toxic fog to a degree. Clare didn't come with me as there's a Welsh Eucharist to attend this afternoon. No children in church as it's the second weekend of half term. There were about forty of us. Mother Sue celebrated and preached, Fr Sion is away this weekend.

After lunch and an armchair siesta, I walked in Llandaff Fields for two hours. I was aware of being mildly breathless. My pulse wasn't racing and I didn't need to stop to recover. If I stopped to take a photo or sit for a moment to view an incoming phone message my breathing settled down quickly and naturally. When I reflected for a few moments, fond memories of cross country skiing at 1,200 metres in the Swiss Jura returned to me, and the healthy breathlessness brought on by aerobic exercise. I remembered ascending Mont Blanc by cable car and mild breathlessness at 3,000 metres waiting for the gondola to arrive. Then I remembered the ten minute ascent to from Le Chable (820+ metres) and Verbier (1,500 metres) and the same sensation on arrival. Llandaff Fields is hardly 50 metres above sea level! I've never had this before when out walking in the park, except after increasing my pace for aerobic exercise, going up the slope up to the main road. I'll mention this to the medication specialist when he calls me on Tuesday.

After supper I prepared the text for Wednesday's Morning Prayer next week and wrote a reflection to go with it. As I can't be sure of how well I'll feel, it's important to make the effort in advance, rather than post a last minute apology if I can't make it. I was certainly ready for bed by the time I was satisfied with what I had written.

Welsh Electoral application form shambles

Another overcast drizzly day. Another day of waking with a clear head, soon clouded by the toxic impact of the meds, slowing my thinking, leaving me feeling poorly. I feel like a prisoner. I wonder if this is how people with mental health conditions feel when drugged by antidepressants? 

After our usual Saturday pancake breakfast I made an effort to concentrate on next Wednesday's Morning Prayer video slideshow for uploading to YouTube. It took me  a couple of hours, until Clare called me for lunch. I'm not doing much in the kitchen apart from clearing the table and washing up at the moment. 

I lost my SD card reader, kept in a small box of digital accessories on a side table in between armchairs in the lounge. I've hunted high and low for it with no result. I dug out an old one from the back of a drawer in my study. It has multiple card slots, but is unreliable with a full size SD card, perhaps that's where the fault lies. Thankfully its micro SD card slot works, and these are what I use nowadays. They run faster and have a much larger capacity than the older cards, now relegated to being a very small portable archive. 

The lost card reader hadn't left the house for sure, but being small and black, it had to be somewhere in the shadows where I find it hard to see. Later in the day, I moved an armchair I had moved before and looked beneath and saw nothing. This time, light fell behind a chair leg and there it was!

Rain kept me indoors until mid afternoon. I walked under the brolly for an hour, braving gusts of wind and drizzle to try and clear my head without success, and went out again to the Coop for bananas after supper. 

In today's mail a notification to confirm we are on the electoral register, and can apply on-line for a postal vote. When I downloaded the application form I discovered that the layout formatting of the English language version and that of the Welsh language are not identical. Separate boxes aren't provided for the applicant's forenames and address in the English version, only in the Welsh. If applicants' forms are scanned and data extracted from them automatically, there is a risk that information will be incorrectly processed or corrupted. For a human reader this is confusing and misleading to say the least. The difference between English and Welsh layout format on the form in effect discriminates against non Welsh speakers. I emailed a report to Electoral Services, and a local city councillor. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes to sort out this little admin embarrassment.

No telly this evening. Too tired to maintain concentration or interest. Even getting to bed early is a time consuming effort.