Thanks for your support Twink, I take heart from your own brave experiences. One of our very dear friends is undergoing chemo therapy for breast cancer and it is saddening to see a once fit and healthy woman (she accompanied me on a few of my long distance escapades in the past) deteriorate under the strain of her treatment. With not many family members, Mrs Fox and me do our best to help where we can.
Her problems make mine pale into insignificance…
As for me Twink, I can be up one minute and down the next, I always come bouncing back but it’s nice to have a good moan every now and then… Thanks again Twink, it’s always good to hear from you…
If your friend used to run, I suspect she is strong minded so tell her to believe that she will get better.
Some people really suffer badly with chemo, but others don’t. Mine was a particularly aggressive cancer, but it formed in a area that is unusual for that type of tumour, so my chemo was really strong and I felt really ill.
However, after 6 months I was feeling much better and determined to beat it. Seven years later I am still here and just have a couple of minor problems, from the chemo side effects.
Your friend will get there but it takes a bit of time!
As for you, positive thinking is good for all of us, so set yourself lower targets and remember, we will have nothing to read if you stop running and abandon “Bob’s Bits”
The final ‘Big Push’ began on Saturday, with the kitchen fitters due to arrive on Monday morning there were some jobs that just had to be done before one piece of the new kitchen was brought into the empty shell of the echoey, dusty, freshly plastered, what used to be the centre of the house…One of those jobs was to remove all the flaky old emulsion that still covered the ceiling. Dressed like an extra from CSI I set about sanding down the ceiling by hand…
I started work after lunch around three’ish, and was determined to finish the task before calling it a day. There was no way I was going to dress up and make so much mess the next day. So I worked into the night, and by midnight I sanded off the last remnant of decaying paint. Dust settled on every flat surface to a depth of around half an inch, and after removing the worst of it, went out into the garage and removed the dust caked overalls and the rest of my clothes before making a naked dash to the house and a hot shower.
I don’t even remember getting into bed, but I woke next day with a very painful piriformis, and extremely sore fingers and thumbs, where gripping the sanding block had ripped the skin from my nails…Mrs Fox had decided to cook her last Sunday dinner in the old faithful and reliable oven, it would be sad to see it go, but go it must, in order to make way for a new state of the art appliance. It was ceremoniously wheeled out to the garage waiting to take its place on the scrap heap. A place where I’m not far off from being dumped myself.
The final job was to remove the sink, this really did mean that the kitchen was well and truly out of action. As I sank into bed on Sunday night, I realised that my work was done, and barring a few bits and pieces of jobs to be done while the fitters installed the kitchen, all responsibility for its construction lay with Matt and Richard…An empty space where the sink used to be…
Yep, that’s me Sweetie…You will be very welcome to the inauguration of the new kitchen, although I don’t know when that will be…Richard (Kitchen Fitter) reckons he will have it done in one week, looks like a lot of work to me though…
You will have to open the champagne yourself though because my thumbs are still so painful after all that sanding…
Foxy, were you wearing trousers under your protective clothes?
I only ask because when you said you had rushed naked, from the garage, your bottom half already looked naked under those clothes.
Poor Foxy, you must ache all over.
Don’t give up on that piriformis yet, I am still getting twinges too, it seems to take forever doesn’t it.
Did your physio give you an exercises to do?
You did it, Bob! It is Tuesday, meaning you are done with the most difficult of the work, and you did it on time. It must be a huge relief.
It seems this project has taken quite a toll on you physically and emotionally, but in the end - look what you have accomplished! Not only is there more quality control (from both you and Mrs. OGF and cost savings that come with DIY, you’ll always have a little satisfaction and well-deserved pried in your work.
Just a little fun suggestion, but when my great-grandfather and father built their homes, they sealed into a space in the wall note of the year, who lived in the house, and the project that was being done. In the late ‘90s, someone actually found the note my great grandfather had left in his house before the turn of the 20th century, and because it is a small town, they were able to pass it along to my dad. When through with the note, my dad (feeling proud and sentimental) wisely asked it to be returned to the wall’s interior.
It’s regrettable that all this work had to be undertaken when your piriformis was so inflamed and your hands are beaten up. Over here, it is customary that when husbands do such taxing labor, that their wives treat them to an evening of backrubs, hot baths with shampooing and massages in empathy and appreciation. There are candles, calming music, cold beer, you name it. This tradition goes very far back.
Ok, ok….so that might be a little exaggeration, but Mrs. Fox doesn’t need to know that
The kitchen looks ready to go, and now comes the easy part. Well done!
Take care and thanks for the peek into your….um….kitchen .
Your fitter will certainly appreciate all your hard work in getting the place ready for the units, I love this stage of a renovation when you see everything come together
Great story about you Grandfathers note Surfermom I’m glad it was put back for future generations to find and enjoy :).
Ha Ha Twink, I was wearing some underwear and a vest…
I was soaking wet and full of dust by the time I finished, so I threw the whole lot into the laundry basket in the garage and made a run for it…:shock: Mostly old old folk in our cul-de-sac (including me) and they drink their Horlicks and go to bed early…
Thanks Mups you naughty girl…
Yes I did ache all over, still do, I don’t think I’ve recovered yet…
My Piriformis is as bad as ever Mups, but I must take some of the blame myself what with all the bending, stretching and lifting over the last few days. The Phyisio didn’t give me any exercises to do, but I’ve found some on the internet that I’m trying out mornings and nights. I’ve more or less given up on trying to run while I’ve got all this work to do, but I shall kick off with a five mile walk in the morning…
Thanks May…:-D:-D:-D…What am I like…I bet you’re getting used to me by now, the forum see’s more of me than Mrs Fox does……She’s just glad that she’s getting the work done, didn’t even notice what I was wearing…
I’ve always loved doing all the DIY Surfermom, not just for the money saving, but as you say, for the pride in my work, but things seem physically harder these days, and it takes me longer to recover after a late night session. That note seems like a brilliant idea, and after removing some wall tiles I found marks on the wall we made as my daughter was growing up, it triggered many happy memories. I doubt Mrs Fox would consider any of the customs you mentioned Surfermom, and I don’t think I would want her to……I keep thinking of those days I spent alone in in Hull, and how a great weight had been lifted……Only for it to bear down again when I returned…
Still a few jobs to complete, and Matt the kitchen fitter leaves me some homework before he leaves each day. He doesn’t do electrics, so I get out my screwdriver when he’s gone.
Thirty minutes on the exercise bike today made me realise how much I miss running, so I’ll kick off my next attempt in the morning with a five mile walk, see how it goes…
It’s something I’ve always subscribed to Summer…
And the fitter did mention that if I needed a job he would set me on preparing kitchens before they started work, so impressed was he with the clean out job I’d done…
Just two days work, and it already looks brilliant with all the cupboards and units in place. The fridge and freezer are operational in their spaces, and all the doors have been fitted. I wired up the extractor fan tonight, and completed the wiring for the new Induction Hob (6mm grey flat twin and earth is such a bitch to work with) although the hob itself can’t be fitted until the granite worktops have been manufactured and installed. Apparently special blokes have to cut and fit those once the carcasses are finished. Should take about a week. Meanwhile, the floor should be going down in the next couple of days…
hello OGF - sorry I haven’t been around to encourage you lately - but I see you are still ‘bleating’ about everything and complaining you can’t get away and escape it all on a good run - OGF i hate to say this cos all those droolin lady fans can’t - BUT I do think your running days are over - you need a much more sedentary life in a wheelchair - you know those wickerbasket sort with a nice wool rug for ya swollen knee joints??
housework - we don’t know the meaning of it do we OGF?
ps: why don’t ya pop over to leisurely scribbles and catch up with ya old mates - we also have a special lady who may be able to help with your skeletal problems - we already have a wheelchair character who will keep you greatly amused and spittie does need help with the box he is building on the side of his house??
AND as we are a group of growing ‘has beens’ we need more!!
I always appreciate your words of wisdom Gumbud even if I think this old ‘knackered nosebag’ (Mrs Foxes description) has still got a few miles in his bandy legs yet…
I shall try an early morning five tomorrow (just walking for the time being) and see how it goes. Better oil the wheels of the wheelchair though just in case…
knackered nosebag! I do like that one - I do like her style -please give her my condolences for wot she has to suffer most hubbies would do all she wants without bleating so much about it. do watch out for those yank ladies they do like down trodden guys - “Herbie put another snagger on the barbie doll”
where do you find them OGF - were ya stiff upper lip or stiff upper spine for that matter.
someone has to help 'im spittie - when they go they snap like a broken reed - and that gang of aged groupies are doin 'im no good at all - and he actually believes them - talk about swollen egos!!
Thanks again Twink, it’s always good to hear from you…
…She’s just glad that she’s getting the work done, didn’t even notice what I was wearing…
…I keep thinking of those days I spent alone in in Hull, and how a great weight had been lifted…
