The first sunflower opened this morning. Due to lack of water they’re only about four foot high, not the normal seven foot, though it hasn’t stopped the bumble bees finding it. The Morning Glory, which has been a bit sparse for the last few days, is welcoming the slightly cooler weather (as am I !).
Still unwell, so rang NHS111. They despatched an ambulance very promptly – 2 paramedics and a student paramedic. There was considerable discussion about whether I needed to go to hospital or not, involving phone calls to the hospital team. In the end, it was decided that I had a mix of heat exhaustion and leftover UTI, and that it was OK to leave me at home, with strict instructions that if I got any worse to ring 111 (or 999 if I collapsed). They were here for about an hour, and really friendly and helpful. God bless the NHS – there are still things it does amazingly well.
Yesterday was the annual trimming back of the ceanothus, as it has finished flowering. Dead patches are appearing, which is not surprising as it’s a short-lived shrub and has been in for eleven years. As always, the trimming allows the acanthus mollis to stand out in full glory. It does well here, sometimes reaching seven foot in height, though this year is a shade under six foot. In both my previous garden in London, and at my mother’s house in the Cotswolds, it struggles to reach four foot.
I’ve just signed up for another year with Octopus as my energy supplier, on a fixed rate deal. It’s just over a pound a month more than I’m currently paying, for a total of a bit under £1,300 a year. There are probably slightly cheaper deals around, but I am happy that Octopus do their very best to be decent Green suppliers, and being on a fixed income knowing that the fuel costs will be each month is important to me.
I’ll get my annual energy use statement when the move to the new tariff takes effect (late next month), and do my usual review of carbon footprint then.
Last thing Thursday night (26th) I had to strain a bit to pee. On Friday morning, very little came out (about an egg-cup full) and it was rather painful. I was also constipated – it didn’t even feel as though there was anything there that wouldn’t come out, just the constipated feeling between navel and bladder. It continued all day Friday (when I woke far too late to ring the GP) and Saturday … generally OK lying down, but as soon as I stood up intense urge to pee. Saturday evening I took 30ml of lactulose (from a rather old bottle), so Sunday morning bowels moved ok (as much as lactulose ever does). However, a dull pain in both front and back up in my back passage, which got much worse if I sat down … recliner with footrest up, or lying down were OK. Temperature peaked at 39C but went down again.
Up at 6am on Monday (woke to pee, decided to stay awake and ring GP). Shower at 7am, rang GP at 8 on the dot and was 13th in the queue. They rang back within 15 minutes offering an appointment at 10:40, and asking me to bring a urine sample. Fortunately, I had a sample pot left over from my last attack of prostatitis five-plus years ago. My guess of an egg-cup full was about right – the measure on the sample pot showed 40ml.
The first of the wand-flowers (dierama “Blackbird”) has opened. A longtime favourite of mine … I remember large clumps of them in the garden of family friends who then lived in Ireland when I was a child, impressing me with the way they flutter in the slightest breeze. Delicate, yet robust enough to withstand pretty strong winds.
The first small picking of broad beans. They’re much later than many people’s, because they’re spring-sown, rather than autumn-sown. The soil here is so heavy and full of clay that anything sown in the autumn simply rots before it has a chance to germinate.
The first half-dozen flowers on the Morning Glory today. It’s self-sown – the ones I started indoors are at least a fortnight behind. This is the dark blue “Grandpa Ott”, as the light “Heavenly Blue” I grew in London just doesn’t seem to thrive in my present garden.
Later was the second go at ear-wax removal – the wax in my dodgy left ear had proved resistant to the microsuction at Specsavers last week, and I’ve been on 3x daily sprays of olive oil (followed by lie-down for 5 minutes each time). Today was successful – a large lump, about the size of two match-heads in total – came out, and I’ve been pronounced clear. I very much hope that my hearing will be restored enough that I can hear where things are coming from. Birdsong in particular has been very frustrating to have no idea where the bird actually is!
Despite being exceedingly hot (29.5C) and humid (74%, due to two shower-ettes that promptly evaporated) the Ladies Bedstraw and the Scabious in the wildflower bank behind the pond both opened this afternoon. It certainly feels like the height of summer!
