Health perspectives first. The main issue this week was as expected, more intense lower back pain, due to the show, which had been on since the previous Friday, but finished off on the first day of this week. It is necessary to spend long periods of time on my feet, engaging with customers and friends, but also helping to keep an eye on the stall. I also undertook some DIY on Thursday and the impact of that is still being felt, as you read this, although decreasing daily. I wanted to get more of the garage roof painted, before the weather turns and I managed to get about 75% of it done, before the specialised paint ran out, but I was spent at that point. Karl arrived at that point and proceeded to give me a telling off, as did Sandra later that afternoon, when she got home. I do push myself like this and it is a key part of my psychological fight with this disease and its impact. Overall then, self inflicted increases in pain for this week, but as a result of choices and aiming for some degree of normality in my life. I did manage a couple of longer walks up the steep hill nearby, with a view to pushing the stamina higher and giving me an increased ability to do more ‘normal’ things, such as those above.
To help with the demands of the show and breaking everything down, then packing it away, we had asked Alanna and Dan to come up on the Monday late-afternoon, which they kindly did (despite Dan having key deadlines to reach on his own work). Their help was invaluable and ensured a much quicker than usual pack-up and a reasonable time for everyone to be leaving the show ground. I am simply not up to the degree of heavy lifting that I did before, so their help was great and appreciated.
Once back from the show, the key focus for the rest of the week was fulfilling all outstanding book orders, as well as new ones that came in during the rest of the week. Three large batches went out since Wednesday and I know, through the messages that arrived on various comms channels, that they have begun to land on your doorsteps. The new book is being very well received and those of you ordering through the post (not face to face at the show) are being taken aback by the thickness / weight of this one. Part of the reason why this one took longer than some of the others to finish; tons of research on the various aspects, trying to pick my way through a very confusing historic period for the Germans, alongside detailing the 100+ awardees featured in this new volume.
In between that key focus, which took up a lot of time, managed to squeeze in some consultancy time, on some key and time critical aspects there. On Saturday, we made time to sample some ice cream in a new local establishment, one that was set up to commemorate a 7-year old boy who died a year ago, locally, after being knocked down by a car; a nice way to remember his life. Two weeks ago we enjoyed a seaside town ice-cream shaped treat with Karl and Rachel, this past weekend it was the turn of Alanna, Dan and the grandkids. We rounded that off with a walk down into the harbour of the town where I live. I have often seen people walk across the harbour seabed, when the tide is out and have remarked that I would like to do that myself. The issue has always been timing it right to match the tide being out and for long enough to have a walk around. A bit of homework on Alanna’s part resulted in us timing this correctly. We had a nice walk across the sand, parts of which were still wet from the recently receded tide, with some pools and small streams remaining. We discovered a small quantity of various shells, which have now joined my Grandson’s growing collection. This little activity is another one ‘off the list’ and it was nice to do. It also adds to the list of things we have been doing which are fairly local / not too far away, but things that are often not considered.
My glasses were also ready, so they were picked up at the weekend. They will take a bit of getting used to and they are only for certain reading tasks, but for me, a milestone and not one that I am overly happy with. This week’s photo shows those new additions affixed to my head.
A very busy week, with book related aspects eating up much of it, alongside taking some time to enjoy the local surroundings. I am enjoying the various interactions with many of you, whether at the final day of the show, via email and texts, or on social media, mostly book related. Great for the mentality and partly therapeutic too - thanks to all of you who engaged with me over this past week.
Regards
Peter