Our New Life in Devon

 Went to the Doctors on Friday as my breathing was deteriorating with this cough as I have COPD. My GP is very good as I rang at 10am and was seen at 4pm. I'm back on antibiotics and steroids again so it's bye bye hair in 6 weeks time. Hair thinning is a known side effect of steroids but it does grow again in a few months. I've done a covid test and was negative same as OH. I didn't get the sore throat or temperature though, just a bad cough and cold with a chest infection. Today I've managed to strip my spare bed, finish unpacking my bag, do 2 loads of washing and generally tidy up the bedrooms. That's a good achievement atm for me, as my breathing is starting to improve now. I won't bother with moving into the spare bedroom again as it was a waste of time anyway - as it didn't stop me catching his germs lol. Granddaughter did very well in her science tests so daughter took her to McDonald's for a treat. She's a bright child but quite young for ...

 OH was completely recovered by last weekend which is just as well as we had a Murder Mystery trip booked with the U3A on Buckfastleigh steam train. It was quite good and something different to do.  Saturday we left to visit family and stayed with our daughter and granddaughter in South Gloucestershire. Things rapidly went downhill from there. Sunday morning I woke up with the same symptoms OH has had, so despite moving into a different bed, opening windows and doors when he was in the room, and avoiding him as much as possible I've still caught it. The covid tests arrived before we left and he'd tested negative so it's not that. It's like a cross between a bad cold and flu, with a hacking cough. Daughter's home was definitely not a great place to be when I'm ill as granddaughter is prone to teenage tantrums despite being only 11! Sunday night's was dramatic (she's good at drama) with stamping of feet up the stairs a few times, followed by lots of tears ...

 OH has spent almost all day in bed asleep   I've been mainly keeping the dogs company, watching TV and generally having a quiet day. He came downstairs mid-morning, for half an hour, to take his regular tablets and have coffee with me, then back to bed. Came down again at 5pm, had a tin of soup and back upstairs again. Down again at midnight for coffee for 10 minutes. I did keep checking if he's still alive up there every few hours lol. This is typical of OH. If he's ill he wants to be alone ie totally alone. I decided last night to move to the spare bed in the office room as he's coughing quite a lot, plus I don't want to catch it if it's Covid. I went online and I've ordered a pack of 10 Covid tests. It was a good deal - 10 for £9.99 with free delivery. The chemist here was charging £10 for a pack of 5 tests!! Cooked myself cheese omlette and chips for tea as OH didn't want anything more to eat. I found a recipe online for French Apple Cake yesterday ...

 We drove to B&Q last week to return the bath panels OH bought but didn't fit. About 6 months ago I slipped in the bath (didn't hurt myself) and the jolt caused a leak so the panels had to come off for the plumber to fix it. The panels didn't go back properly, as the plastic had deteriorated and corner pieces kept falling off. B&Q just had one size which definitely won't fit around our bath. I'm hoping OH will make a wooden surround in tongue and groove timber, as he did in our last house. It looked really nice painted white. While in Newton Abbot we had a look around the shops and I managed to get my shampoo and shower gel in Savers, at half the price it is in our nearest supermarket. Picked up 3 tins of shortcake biscuits for my 3 children for Xmas so I've officially started Xmas shopping now!  OH and I were invited to have Lung Cancer Screening which involved a telephone conversation and going to a supermarket car park for the appointment. I had to he...

 We visited my friend yesterday, who we haven't seen since before the start of the school holidays. Now, nothing really surprises me anymore but she did this time! She's been a Labour supporter all her life but told me she doesn't like Kier Starmer, and thinks there's nobody in the Labour Party atm who is any better and could replace him. We both agreed on that, and agreed that Angela Rainer was probably set up (being told how to bypass paying the correct tax on her flat) and then reported to Inland Revenue, probably by someone who she'd upset in the past. Now, I don't normally talk politics to friends and family as it can cause arguments, but my friend brought up the subject this time. We had a lovely chat all afternoon, as OH dropped me off and took our dogs for a trip to the park. Really love visiting there and enjoying her homemade cake just out of the oven. I've nearly finished sorting my winter clothes and packing away all the summer things now. I defi...

 Well we weren't alone for long - 2 days later Nephew arrived followed by son for the weekend. They both love it here. Everyone went home after the weekend so we had a weeks break. Then on OHs birthday both our sons, daughter and one granddaughter turned up for the day. We all went out to Teignmouth as there were music bands playing in the street for Pride Day. Later we had a birthday meal at an Indian restaurant. We used to go to this restaurant a couple of years ago when it was a steak house, as it served top quality steak at a reasonable price. Well, reasonable for Devon prices, which has almost always been more expensive than South Gloucestershire where we moved from. It was a family day visit and they all went home after the meal. Daughter is having a lot of problems with granddaughter at her new secondary school. She absolutely loves the lessons when she gets there but getting there and back home is causing major problems. So far she's fell off of her bike twice, missed t...