18.04.2024 A Bloodbath!

~o~

  Thursday 18th 31F/-1C. Clear and sunny. White frost on the cars and garden. 61F/16C indoors. 

 Woke at 6am to find blood gushing from both nostrils. Grabbed a tissue to clamp my nose and headed to the bathroom. Blood everywhere but fortunately it soon stopped. As I splashed my face with icy cold water. This has never happened before. Perhaps the aspirin is thinning my blood? Surely not my clumsy attempts at killing the poor, innocent aspidistra? The clay pots really weren't that heavy! Well, they were quite heavy. As were the bags of compost. I was completely breathless after carrying one small [18L] bag into the shop.

 I checked: Various medical websites suggest nosebleeds are possible due to reduced clotting. I have discovered that there is a history of heart problems. On my mother's side of the family. My mother had a pacemaker fitted. My grandmother died on a train journey.

 7.45 Time to get ready for a walk.

 8.15 Returning from a loop along the drives. A pair of Mallards were foraging in the long grass near the pond. It was still cold enough to see my breath as I walked back. Japanese knotweed is reemerging through the gravel on the new drive. This invasive plant was imported on contaminated soil when a steep roadside drop was filled.

 I have an occasional, ticklish, dry cough and a sore upper respiratory system. A chap was coughing loudly and sniffing wetly and endlessly while waiting at the dentists.

 10.15 I returned to the garden centre. To buy another pair of matching pots and saucers. Plus a couple more bags of potting compost. All are now safely tucked in with fresh compost. It is just a matter of finding indoor sites for them all. 

 10.45  I sent a repeat of my December 2023 email to Contec requesting a replacement for the broken saddle frame. The dealer from which I bought the saddle has closed down. The nearest Contec dealer is hours of driving away. 

 An update: Contec wholesale responded. They can't help me directly. There is a Contec dealer in Odense. The nearest city. This wasn't shown on a previous list of dealers.

 13.00 Lunch. I am now battling an invasion of tiny ants in the kitchen. I have sprinkled the ant killer where they emerge.

 A lazy afternoon feeling a bit under the weather. Runny nose, occasional cough and a sore chest.

 Dinner was beans on toast.

 

  ~o~