Feet

Not mine

I have a sore toe, I must have knocked it.. I had a trip to the podiatrist today, we discussed things and think I must have stubbed my foot against something. Unfortunately I am now walking around with a dressing on it. I hope it stays in place. I’m not going into detail but if it hasn’t dried up by next week I might have to have more work on it.

Age is a nuisance, your body doesn’t always work properly and you have things going on you never expect to happen. I’m hoping I can get over this and keep going. Life is a pain sometimes and we don’t get to choose what and when things happen.

Dawn chorus 5am

Imagined view of our garden with bird singing. Too dark to really see.

It’s just after 5am now. I got up because my toes hurt (gout?) on the other foot to the one I had broken my toenail on. Long boring story…

Anyway it’d still dark so I’m sitting here by the light of a standard lamp and trying to sleep with my foot uncovered so there’s no pressure on it.

But through the window I can hear the lilting song of what I think is either a Robin or a Blackbird. I haven’t heard them in the morning during the winter, so I guess spring might just be on the way. It’s lovely to hear them, possibly marking out their territory in the tangled trees and bushes we call our garden. Mind you they have to be aware of the local cats. Mine are all inside snuggled up, but I hope they are singing high up in the branches. X

In toe news

Toe sorted out, went to a private chiropodists. Just got to let it settle down for a couple of days. This is the ‘before’ photo. He cut off the broken bit and trimmed my nails. Just after I got this appointment I got a call from the NHS podiatrists saying they could see me later today. I felt really guilty but I’d spent the night with my toes wrapped up and I didn’t get much sleep. I decided to stick with the appointment I’d made. I don’t like booking things then not turning up!

Ouch!

We had a walk last night up and down hill so I decided to have a flat walk this morning. One of my feet hurt, but I thought it was just a bit of an ache from yesterday. We walked very slowly round the lake because it hurt. I felt miserable but we stopped for a hot drink and I felt a bit better.

It was only when I took my shoe off that I saw I had split one of my small toenails from the end down to the quick, it’s sort of hanging off (I’m not showing a photo of it). I rang my podiatrists but they are short staffed and everyone is fully booked. I rang my GP (General Practitioner) but they have no one to deal with it. Waiting for a phone call or I might have to make a private appointment. Thank goodness the car passed its MOT, I might just be able to afford it! Hubby said he will get a pair of pliers if I wanted! No!

Oh my toes!

I’ve noticed my big toes are hurting again. They really are sore and when I try and sleep at night I have to pull the covers off them because the pressure of the duvet on them hurts and keeps me awake. Then I have to try and cover them up a bit because they get cold!

I was diagnosed with gout in my feet, then thumb a couple of years ago but I forgot. I’ve got quite a few things wrong with me and I don’t always remember all of them. I just keep taking the tablets. I hope I don’t moan about things too much, but sometimes things are maddening. But insomnia is debilitating, anything that can help me get to sleep and stay asleep would be good. Sometimes meditation takes my mind off things, perhaps I will try that tonight…

Woke up late

I must have been tired last night, I didn’t wake up till after two pm this afternoon. I hadn’t slept the night before and it feels like I’m getting no sleep one night and then a decent night the day after. Strategies for trying to sleep, like relaxation, meditation, deep breathing and other techniques don’t seem to work. I think we need a new bed, ours is over twenty five years old and very lumpy. I’ve folded up sheets to stop the springs sticking in me! It’s also a problem with pain. My toes hurt due to gout and having the sheets resting on them is uncomfortable to say the least, so I toss and turn all night and get up too exhausted to stay awake in the day! But I’m going to try and get a new bed maybe…. In any case I must stop moaning about things! I hate insomnia.

Grey Dawn

Tree branches and twigs, grey sky, a street lamp partly hidden. Got up for a decaff coffee. Still having trouble sleeping. I half think it’s my toes. I’ve got achy feet and have problems with the weight of the duvet. So I throw the bedding off my feet, then they are too cold. Perhaps I should wear bedsocks, but then won’t they put pressure on my toes? So instead I’m up and about, watching the slow change in light iin the sky, listening to the radio, trying to sit comfortably on an armchair. Playing with my phone. Oh for a decent night’s sleep.

Cracked path

Uneven surface as tree toots push through. Top path around Westport lake, between the lake and the canal. On the left, canal barges were lined up, sometimes occupied, others shuttered. A couple sat on deck chairs, chatting. Wearing warm coats. I think they had cups of coffee to warm themselves.

We carried on round the lakes again, sometimes surrounded by clouds of black flies, sharp ovipositors sticking out their rear ends like massive bee stings. I think they were attracted by the goose droppings on the paths. They were blown on the wind where the breeze pushed across the lake, but came back and surrounded us under the trees in the lee of the wind.

I’m glad I was wearing my glasses and a hat, and I was pleased to be wearing a mask, even though it was not really needed outside.

This week I’ve walked about twenty two miles, slightly less than the week before. But my toes and feet hurt. I’m getting quicker though….

I am a tight knot

Tension, in my body. The more talk about covid the tender I get. Like a mad game of twister I’m tied up in knots. My shoulders, my neck. My hands are tense, even my toes are tense! I ache, I feel like I will explode sometimes. How do I relax. How do I let the tightness in my limbs unfurl. Knots, knotted, tied up in knots… Back, hands, neck, tight.