Bits and Pieces

Yesterday felt quite constructive. 'Quite' in the British sense of 'fairly' or 'somewhat', that is, not the American sense of 'very'. (We do use the word meaning 'very' too sometimes, when describing something extreme, as in 'that was quite terrifying' or 'quite incredible' - but I think that may be part of the Great British Understatement use of language).

Anyway, I did another hour or so of weeding first thing. It's a relaxing way to start the day, and although the difference afterwards is small, at least it's a step in the right direction. It's hard for me to think small: when we were first in this house, the huge expanse of garden and the vast height of the weeds (some of them at least a metre high) was so overwhelming that I couldn't motivate myself to do anything much. Eventually I remembered about 'chunking down' and doing a small patch each day. Of course I didn't win -by the time I'd done ten days' worth the first patch had become overgrown again, but it set me in the right direction. Buying a lawnmower a few years ago made a huge difference too.

Then I put on some laundry, completely dusted and vacuumed our room, and changed the sheets. Not a huge deal, of course, but in the summer just about everything takes a lot of effort. By the time I'd finished it was 11am and I was almost literally dripping. I climbed in the shower, and while it was cooling and refreshing (no need to use any hot water at all since the 'cold' tap produces lukewarm water in the summer) it didn't make me much wetter.

Then in the evening, I was removing the lid of a can of Heinz baked beans. One with a ring-pull, which has supposedly made life easier, but in my view is much more difficult than using an old-fashioned can-opener. I find them very awkward and rather dangerous. However last night I evidently wasn't as careful as usual because suddenly blood started pouring out of my right middle finger. I seem to manage to cut myself while slicing onions fairly often, but had never previously done so while opening a tin.

I ran it under cold (technically) water for a while but it didn't stop bleeding. Thankfully Tim was there - actually doing most of the cooking - so he found me some kitchen roll to dry it, and a plaster (band-aid) to put over the cut. Not that one plaster helped much; I had to use three before blood stopped dripping everywhere. I was going to blog about it later but typing was rather too painful!

I changed the dressings twice in the evening and by the time I went to bed only needed one plaster, so I guess it's healing. Except when I forget and my finger bangs against something, even lightly. Right-button-clicking the mouse or using its scroll-button is painful too; I didn't even realise I used my middle finger for those functions until this morning.

I decided not to do any weeding today, not wanting dirt to get inside the plaster or to start the bleeding again. I probably won't tomorrow either, but I hope that doesn't mean I'll forget all about it again.

Richard should have been home about 11pm tonight, but he just phoned from Gatwick Airport. Apparently there's a four-hour delay, as the plane was late leaving Larnaka. Possibly because so many people are cancelling Helios flights after the awful tragedy at the weekend, and booking others instead. Or possibly because they're taking extra care of all the security and maintenance. I certainly hope so, since according to the Cyprus Air website, it's a Boeing 737 that he'll be flying in. The type of plane that Helios use, and Richard's least favourite. Flights from Heathrow use modern Airbuses which are so much nicer.