Disabled and desperate

Hi Toots

just cought up with this - great news on your impending move, I'm really excited for you!

Screamapillar wrote (see)

Good going Patootie, clearing out is very therapeutic

Sigh .. and also shows where you've 'wasted' money buying things I didn't really need ..

  Had a very strange thing happen this morning .. went into the kitchen when I got up (10.30am ) and there .. in the middle of my grass .. as bold as brass .. was a female green woodpecker .. I stood and watched her for at least 20 minutes .. she was digging in the grass for worms I suppose .. you could really see the power in her as she struck down .. thunk, thwack, thunk ... honestly her whole head was disappearing down the holes she was digging ..

Bits of grass and dirt where flying in all directions .. she was like a mini pile driver ... the blackbirds were looking at her in amazement .. rocking back on their feet every time she drove down .. bang, bang, bang .. deeper and deeper .. it was fascinating ...

and also shows where you've 'wasted' money buying things I didn't really need.

Gosh - don't even go there. My drawers are filled with all those "extra" Christmas presents people buy you that you don't want or need. I'm getting less and less good at pretending to appear grateful for them every year too.

Never seen a woodpecker do that I must say - expect the blackbirds were worried she was going to nick their breakfast! 

Woodpeckers: also in the summer you get them eating ants off the grass ,although from your description it's not ants that deep.  I often see Green Woodpeckes on the grass and occasionally a Spotted Woodpecker.   I'm not sure if the Green is more common or just that the Spotted do not come down to the ground as often.

Colin

Been out and looked at the holes .. YIKES there's about a dozen or so .. the deepest was just over 2 inches deep .. it did say in my bird book that woodpeckers do dine off things they find in the grass etc ..

 And she did look a bit thinner than she ought to have been .. so maybe she hasn't been too well .. and was looking for a quick and easy meal .. all that pounding on tree trunks must make your head ache from time to time ..  a bit of gentle digging in soft soil must be a nice relief ..

I have seen and more often heard woodpeckers quite often .. but had never seen one do this ..

Oh Toots, you ARE lovely! It was so nice of you to think that maybe your woodpecker had been poorly and was looking for a quick and easy meal! Made me laugh, but it was such a kind thought!

We have lots of birds in the garden, but we also have several cats, so the birds don't spend much time on the grass. We always hang out fatballs and things in the winter, though, and enjoy watching the tits hanging upside down pecking away!

Went out grocery shopping today for the first time this year .. had to buy a bottle of instant energy drink to keep me going .. blimey .. I didn't realise how run down I felt .. early to bed tonight I think ...

 I have an interview next Wednesday with the housing people .. ohh dear .. I hope they like me 

Hi Toots

 everything ok ??

Good for you, Toots, first for getting out to do something; second for being sensible enough to realise when you were getting tired, and to get some energy drink---the last month has been pretty rough for you, and third for getting your interview lined up so quickly. Next Wednesday----that's really great!!!!

And of course they'll like you! I mean, their whole purpose is to support people in your situation, and it must be a real pleasure to them to meet someone who is clearsighted enough to have made this kind of decision and is so positive about it.

We'll all send lots of encouraging and supportive vibes, for sure.

Do they tell you then and there about the outcome of the interview, or do you have to wait?

Some early night ..  .. very tired .. but curiously not at all sleepy  .. so I just spent the last 4 hours catching up with the TV I'd recorded over the last couple of weeks ..

Is anyone else fascinated by the Ice Road Truckers (shown on Channel 5 various times and days) .. ye Gods it terrifies me just watching them haul those enormously heavy loads over the teensy weeny 3 feet thick ice roads .. you can hear the ice groaning and cracking ..  STREUTH ...  .. but I have to watch each week .. it's compulsive viewing ..

I do hope the interview goes well .. got to be nice and tidy .. nice clean kitchen and bathroom .. yet still appear 'needy' if you see what I mean ..  .. I'll be sure to tell her that the Runners World Forum folks like me .. and ummm thank you for that  it's nice to have your support ..  .. and I think I will have to wait for the outcome of the interview ..

Gentle Chugger wrote (see)

 The teenage male Chuglets adore some of the survival stuff, with the experts who are dropped into the jungle or the arctic or something and know how to survive.

 I read all of Bear Grylls books before he started doing his TV Born Survivor and  Man v Wild TV programmes .. all very good .. but I was rather cross to find out he had 'cheated' on some of the more dangerous 'stunts' they were carefully set up by the film crew .. and when he was supposed to be roughing it without adequate food or water he was in fact staying at a very comfy nearby hotel .. naughty little Bear .. leading his viewers on like that ..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=470155&in_page_id=1770

But it still makes good viewing .. and his escapades while in the SAS and the stories he writes about in his books pretty much make up for his 'cheats' on the TV shows ..

I came across him several years ago when I was reading about high altitude mountaineering (one of my rather 'odd' passions seeing as I am never likely to climb more than a gentle slope nowadays) .. I devour all the high altitude books I can get my hands on .. simply wonderful, utterly scary, feats of daring do .. very, very brave people ..

It's way, way too cold this morning ..

 I knew it was going to be bad .. because yesterday I just started feeling worse and worse .. so looked at the electronic barometer .. temperature outside was falling fast .. fibro is very 'weather related' so when the weather takes a turn for the worse so do I ..   It's still -4 outside .. lowest through the night was -6 brrrrrrrr ...  my hands are all swollen and paining me ... so only a short stint right now on the 'Net for essentials .. then I'll go and catch up on the recorded TV I did over the weekend .. typical TV theses days .. nothing much for days .. then several nice programmes all at once ..

And why .. WHY for goodness sakes are the BBC flippin' repeating everything .. you watch a weekly show one night .. then it's flippin' well on again 2-3 days later .. for those of us who get confuddled easily it's like having Groundhog Day .. over and over  .. and I can never remember if I've seen that particular episode until I watch it .. DOH!!

 Ohh well .. stay in and keep warm for a few more hours .. take care if you are going out running .. those paths are going to be pretty slippy ..

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By the way ... loooooooook ... 'our' little thread has run into 11 pages ..  .. thank you to everyone who posts  .. you have no idea how much it means to me .. really keeps me buoyed up and full of positive thinking .. thank you ... !!

I have Sky - hundreds of channels and nothing to watch.   Most channels are on an 8 hour cycle so you get the same episode of something twice in one day!

Wrap up warm Patootie. Hope your symptoms ease off soon.