The gym was offering free Personal Trainer taster sessions this month, so I did one yesterday. ( cut for exercise and weight talk )

I've an ongoing situation atm where someone is fly tipping bags of rubbish near my house. The way things are set up, you walk out of my garden gate onto the public path, on the other side of the path there's a metal fence, then a steep bank with mature trees that goes down to the dual carriageway. For ages now someone has been coming and dumping rubbish at that spot, probably because between the trees on one side and the thick ivy on my fence, it's a place that's relatively hidden from view.

At first, it wasn't much, but lately it's been multiple big black bags full of rubbish, and pee'ed on puppy pads. I've had to add signs on the gate, and my neighbours has too, saying no flying tipping, CCTV in operation, and if it doesn't stop I'm seriously considering actually getting another ring doorbell for the back of the house.

I've talked to many neighbours about it, and we're all pretty sure who's doing it, it's just getting proof. The rubbish gets reported every time, and last time the council said they'd check through it to see if there's anything identifying. Hopefully, there is, as it's just scummy behaviour.

We went to see A Big Bold Beautiful Journey at the cinema a few days ago. Coming out the cinema guy asked people if we'd liked it, I said, it was okay, another woman said, that it was interesting and yeah, that sums it up.

James is back at work today, just a four-hour shift today, then two four-hour shifts next week, then gradually increasing time as the weeks go on. I'm walking to meet him at Home Bargains at lunchtime as we need cat litter, and I'm not about to carry a sack of that home by myself. But first, a catch-up on here.

Rosie is getting married tomorrow, so today was the last class for a fortnight. She was going on annual leave after our class finished, and was such a happy mood. So, while she was still evil!Rosie, she was being so while full of joy which was lovely to see. The class got her a signed card, which she seemed touched about, then she was off, checking out of work to do some last minute wedding prep.

I was also at the doctors this morning ( cut for medical stuff )

We did a craft fair on Saturday gone. Sadly, it wasn't the best attended, and we only made a profit of £35 after paying for the table. But, that was £35 more pounds than we'd had that morning, and stock was sold, which was great. Even better, the organiser offered us a regular spot at the makers market in our town. Funnily enough, that happens in the same hall we use for weight management class, on the third Saturday of each month. So, that's this Saturday coming, where hopefully, more people turn up and more stock will be sold. And if it's quiet, I've told James I'll sneak away and leave him to it and have an hour in the gym *g*

We also went to see the new Downton Abby film on Friday. The clientele amused me as the screen was full of ladies carrying in their glasses of wine, but they were all so excited, it made for a lovely atmosphere, especially as nearly every seat was full. ( cut for spoilers )

My MiL's visit is going nicely so far.

We went out for a drive Saturday, went for lunch at our favourite beach restaurant on Sunday, went to Whitley Bay for a drive on bank holiday Monday then went to see Corey where I got to hug the stuffing out of him. I'll just skirt over the morning where I sat on the wall outside the gym waiting for it to open, only to discover my branch doesn't open at all on bank holidays.

We drove to Sea Houses yesterday, which was another lovely sunny day. Then today was class and an afternoon at home, because as much as she complains she doesn't get out, it's obvious my MiL doesn't have the stamina to go out every day without some downtime.

Today, Rosie told us she's starting an exercise only class from next Monday, using the time slot we used to have. She asked if there was anything people wanted including, and I made the rookie error of saying nothing I wanted to be included, but no more walking lunges, please. Guess what she's decided to add, for sure? Honestly, I never learn.

James also got a cancellation for his back injections so he's getting those Saturday evening. Kayleigh is driving us there and back, then some recovery time and hopefully, he'll be back to work.

My SiL and her family are at a holiday camp close to the wildfire on the Yorkshire moors. They were supposed to be there until Friday, but are coming back today instead, taking the train as the main road is closed. They're going to stay with my SiL's partner's mam for a couple of days, then come home on Saturday. But I must admit, I'm kinda hoping that they come home Friday instead so we can drop off my MiL then and have a bit more breathing room on the Sat.

I'm looking after Kayleigh's cats and tortoise atm, visiting twice a day, and man, having the two kittens makes the job so much harder. Fun, but I totally understand why the phrase like herding cats was invented.

We went to see Materialists yesterday, and while I really enjoyed watching Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal, I can't say it gripped me, so I wouldn't really rec.

James also had an appointment with his back doctor. It was at the private hospital and when we got there we were told there was a 40-min delay. But in the end we only waited about 20 minutes, probably because the consultant was rattling through his appointments. James' literally took less than two minutes, asked if the pain was back, told yes, okay, can have the injections again, appointment will be sent as soon as possible, then done, out we went.

Today was weight management class, ( cut for those who don't want to read )

I finally picked up my new compressions today. I actually got the thigh high pair last week, but those are meant for use in the house or just pottering around, so I haven't worn them much. But today I got the below knee ones meant for every day, and you know I'm going to wear the blue patterned ones tomorrow.

I'm going swimming again tomorrow morning. So it'll be cats, swimming and then back home to tidy up and move furniture as my MiL is coming to spend the week on Friday. I'm just hoping James' appointment doesn't come really early as there's already an overlap of looking after the cats and my MiL. I could do without James' being down for the count, too.

I called into the pharmacy on Friday to see if my new compressions had finally been delivered. Now, I've called in and asked twice since my initial appointment, and each time they'd said, not yet. Yesterday they admitted that while the script had been sent off, it had been done so without any measurements attached, and the right form had only been sent that morning.

Which is all kinds of frustrating, especially so as I had asked those two times. So, as they are made to measure, I'm looking at another fortnight at least to wait.

Yesterday I was Bodhisitting. She turns four next Sunday, so I was asking what she wanted for her birthday, and it's all superhero stuff as she's really into Spider-Man and the Hulk right now. Which okay, I can work with that. Kayleigh has actually bought a Spider-Man costume and intends to deliver Bode's birthday presents while dressed up. Which, way to go the extra mile.

Then last night we went to the theatre to see Chicago, and I enjoyed it lots. Roxie Hart was played by the ex Strictly pro Janette Manrara, and I wasn't sure what to expect as she's not the best as a presenter, but while she's obviously not a stage trained singer, I thought she did a good job. The whole cast did, in fact.

But in a what are the odds moment, two rows behind us was the woman who was thrown out of the Hamilton showing. She has a very distinctive voice and way of speaking, and I turned around and yep, there she was. This time much quieter, but she still chattered away throughout to her friends.

Today it was more Bodhisitting, and yet again I spent hours looking for criminals and getting arrested. Not sure what I ever did to require being arrested so often, but obviously I must be some kind of bad guy that needs locking away from the world.

I went swimming this morning, the first time for years.

It was at another Everyone Active gym the next town over, and it was so good to get in the water again. James used one of the two free monthly day passes I get as part of my membership so it cost us nothing, and we were swimming by 8:30am. Which was nice timing as it wasn't busy then.

We swam about an hour, then checked out the spa part, where I got roasted in the sauna for a while, before we headed off.

The pool had impressive disability access, including an excellent, and huge dedicated changing room, complete with a hoist and table to change adults if needed, a sink that could be moved up and down, as well as a sturdy bench, shower and toilet. Plus, a wheelchair that could be pushed and left at poolside. Where there was a lift thing to help people into the water. So, James used that, because the way he's been going lately he probably would have fallen down the steps.

As usual when doing something new, I was a little nervous before going, but no one gave me a second look, and it was a nice and positive experience.

I was at my own gym yesterday and my aim to be invisible remains a no-go. As shown by the fact one of the chatty gym bros decided to show me a photo of what he'd thought was a stomach hernia he had, but was actually a cyst. Not what I expected to see going in.

My Fitbit has given up the ghost, which is sad. I mean, have you even moved unless your steps are tracked? But seriously, I am missing it already and am charging up an old one, which will have to do for now. That's if it works, which I really hope it does.

Two of my favourite shows are back, Masterchef Australia and Celeb SAS, Who Dares Wins. I enjoy both of them so much, but am surprised at how many have dropped out of SAS after just two episodes. I'm rooting for Bimini Bon Boulash who was my favourite back in season 2 UK Drag Race.

Thankfully, the storm didn't hit us too hard here. I lost two containers from the flower shelf, both blown down and broken. While the poor raspberry canes were almost horizontal. But, they're already starting to spring back.

Tomorrow I pick up a mystery fruit and veg box from Re-F-USe. I got one a fortnight ago and they're such good value, £15 for a crate of fresh products that would otherwise be thrown away. I managed to use mostly everything from the last one, even the pak choi. Just the lemons are left, mainly because I got an excess of the things. So, I'm looking forward to seeing what I get tomorrow. Hopefully, not more lemons.

It's been a while but to catch up. I finally got to see Fantastic 4 on Sunday, and really enjoyed it. We were supposed to go on Saturday originally, but realised we'd double booked ourselves with a day out that had been organised with James' team from work. Everyone was going to meet at Tynemouth, and while meeting new-to-me people at the beach wasn't first on my list of enjoyable things to do, I was still looking forward to it -- a little anyway.

But, in the end, that didn't happen as James had an AMC flair on Friday and had to come home from work. He's got a bit of a clawed hand atm, and was in his wheelchair when we went out at the weekend, but will be fine. Really, all that helps is time, and he's been to the doctors on Monday, who wanted to sign him off work for two weeks, but settled for one for now, extending if needed.

We had gone to MetroCentre to see Fantastic 4, and they were having a FanFest thing going on with various cos players and fannish stalls going on. We got some fun photos, and checked out lots of merch, and it was a good way to spend some time before the film. I posted some photos on Insta if people are interested.

I watched The Old Guard 2 last week and it was okay. I've seen no one discuss it though, unless I've missed those posts, which is surprising considering how popular the first film seemed to be.

I was at class last Wednesday, and there was new equipment, a big box that was about thigh height. ( cut for length about class and gym stuff )

Other things this week. I went with James to the limb centre so he could have new straps put on his legs. Then yesterday we took my MiL out for lunch, just staying locally, but it was a nice day.

I was at the gym this morning using the lat pull down machine that's in the free weight section. I'd done two reps when one of the muscle guys came over and said he'd noticed I was using a narrow grip, and he thought a different attachment would work better for me. ( Read more... )



Challenge #4

Fun House
Journaling: What is making you smile these days? Create a top 10 list of anything you want to talk about.
Creative: Write from the perspective of a house or other location.

These guys, MCR! I've been enjoying watching footage and seeing new photos from their concert so much. My love isn't as intense as it was in my height of bandom days, but it's still there, and I still think Mikey is hot like fire.

Seeing him with his bro, how happy he looked throughout that surreal, weird and yet awesome show, well it made me smile, too. Also, comments from Gabe and Travis on Mikey's Insta post, it was like being thrown back in time in the best way.

So, lets go old skool and have a top ten plus four picspam. ( behind here )

I've just had a good lymphedema appointment. ( cut for details )

It was the second new day and time weight management class this morning, and along with two new people a few more of the regulars turned up, which was great. We talked about getting back on track if you've lost progress, and goodness knows, been there and done that multiple times.

It was a good talk, though as usual dominated by the overbearing couple. The exercise part was good, too, with a lot of arm strength focus. So my arms felt like spaghetti afterwards.

Something of interest, in a few weeks or so Rosie is going to offer exercise only sessions on our original Monday time, and also on a Thursday evening, which is great, but also a lot of classes. I'm not sure if I'm going to all three yet, but I really appreciate they're putting on these classes for free.

Rosie finally asked if the gym staff would put a sign on the door asking people not to come in while a class was in progress. She said she was fuming last week at the woman who arrived really early and walked through the middle of the class and then just stood watching as she waited for her own group to start. That must have been the straw that broke the camel's back because yeah, there's now a sign saying keep out.

More gym stuff, which I'll ( cut for those not interested )

We ran out of yoghurt this morning, so instead of our usual Sunday morning, be there for opening, visit to Company Shop we went earlier. Only to be quickly reminded of previous vows to myself not to shop there on a Saturday at prime time. So many people in a relatively small place, and they didn't even have any good bargains to show for it. Well, not until we were at the checkout, when one of the ladies we know came out pushing four crates of frozen Magnum lollies. She stopped to talk to James, he asked how much the lollies were, and when told 6 for £1 he asked if he could have six. So, she left the crates next to us, which was great at we got our lollies. But not so great that we almost got trampled by all the other people zooming in for the goodies.

The h/c exchange stories have gone live and I need to check out the archive and see what's there.

It was a Bodhisitting day yesterday, the first long one I've had for a while. It also included watching the new kittens, who have now changed names because it turns out one of the girls is actually a boy. So, Millie and Mollie are now Aslan and Panda. They are adorable though, and spent the day causing havoc, then sleeping, causing more havoc, sleeping, the pattern went on.



That's them with Miah, who now thinks she's a mama cat. Megan meanwhile, just growls and keeps out of the way

Everything in the garden is growing nicely, and I've been picking fresh strawberries and raspberries already. Turns out the courgette I've been carefully tending in the greenhouse is actually a cucumber, though. How that happened I really don't know as I can't remember planting cucumber seeds. That also means I have no courgette plants at all this year.

I watched the season finale of Taskmaster and was pleased with the winner. I've enjoyed this season a lot, and of course was eager to see who is appearing next season. Out of everyone on there I only really know Maisie Adam, but that's the case most times, and I usually end up enjoying them all by the end.

We're off to the theatre tonight to see Hamilton, so I should get off my backside and get changed soon. Normally we'd go for a meal beforehand but it's just drinks tonight, still, I'm looking forward to the show.