Month: April 2018

I spend the day finishing off my task of yesterday – sorting through boxes of my junk, shredding and burning paperwork that I have kept and which is no longer relevant, throwing away items that are no longer used, trying to reduce the clutter.  I still struggle with throwing away things that are no longer required, but are still perfectly usable – it just seems wrong (but I’m getting there).

Any plans to go to the allotment are ditched – it has been raining steadily all day and gives no sign of letting up.

It’s cold and wet here in Norfolk today, so we decide to go to Longwater to buy ingredients for a birthday cake and also to buy birthday presents for our youngest granddaughter, who will be 1 year old on the 11th of May.

The only problem with going shopping on a wet Saturday is that everyone else is doing the same thing – the shops are crowded and claustrophobic, and it isn’t very long before we’ve both had enough.  Luckily we only reached that point after we had bought what we needed to buy!

We return to Southrepps, where my wife decides that we need to sort out some boxes of my junk that have been sitting on the landing upstairs for far too long.  Our lounge is transformed from being relatively tidy into a mess (of my making), which I still haven’t sorted out by the time we call it a day and go to bed.

I’m struggling a bit today.  Tremor is breaking through on both sides because I have changed my device settings to try to moderate my problem with biting the inside of my mouth when chewing.  Its not that the tremor is breaking through in a big way, because it’s not, but it’s breaking through enough to make it difficult for me to make the small, precise movements demanded when I’m editing my weekly vlog.  The editing takes me significantly longer than it usually does (although, on the upside, my voice is a little better on these settings and I don’t need to have quite so many retakes when I’m filming myself) and I only just complete the task by the time my wife arrives home.

I upload the video to my YouTube channel and post links to it on social media while my wife prepares dinner.

I’m still managing to bite myself when I chew my food, although I don’t feel it is quite bad as before I changed my device settings – difficult to assess at the moment, because once you have a sore or swollen area in the mouth it is much more likely that your teeth will catch it again…

Another day spent editing, but this time I’m having a little more difficulty.  I decided to change my device over to use group “A” settings because I have recently increased the voltage on my group “B” settings, and since I did that I have noticed that my tendency to bite the inside of my mouth has become much worse so I’m going to see if different settings will make a difference – the only issue with the group “A” settings is that they allow more tremor to break through, and this makes using a mouse or trackpad much more difficult.

I take a little break from the computer around lunchtime, and assist my new neighbour to cut some fence posts down to size with my chainsaw – variety is the spice of life!

I’m unsure if I’m experiencing the placebo effect, but I seem to be biting myself a little less frequently, although it is difficult to gauge – once your mouth is lacerated and swollen, you tend to catch it with your teeth time and time again, so I’ll stick with group “A” settings for the time being and see how things pan out.

I am determined to make some progress with my wife’s youngest son’s wedding video that I have been editing, so as soon as I’ve taken the dog for a walk and listened to PopMaster I set my MacBook up on the dining table and spend the rest of the day working on it.  By the time my wife arrives home from work I have completed the ceremony part, just the reception party to do now!

I have been having trouble eating for quite some time now – I keep biting the inside of my mouth when chewing, leaving me with an extremely sore mouth.  I initially suspected some dodgy dental work, but my dentist checked my bite and couldn’t find any reason for it.  My next thought was that it was due to Parkinson’s Disease and my muscles just not working the way they used to, so I got a referral to a speech therapist to see if they could help me.  The therapist gave me some exercises to do to try to strengthen the muscles in my mouth and lips, but just lately the problem is getting worse – it occurs to me that it has been getting worse since I turned the voltage up on my neurostimulator, so maybe it’s a DBS problem…

A promising day (weather-wise) ends up being miserable, grey and extremely wet.   The sun is trying to break through when I take the dog for a walk this morning, and the day feels bright and Spring-like.  By lunchtime it’s raining heavily, and it continues all afternoon and into the evening – the dog and I are both saturated when we return home after a (brief) walk this afternoon.

I promised to email our local Parkinson’s UK adviser (following our telephone conversation yesterday afternoon) with details of the equipment and services for people with Parkinson’s that had talked about, so I spend most of the day detailing and costing and composing the email, making sure that there’s all of the relevant information so that she won’t be coming back to me to ask questions.  Eventually I’m ready to send it, and I copy in the Parkinson’s nurse – I did quote her in the email, so it seemed only right to do so.  It would be great if they agreed to fund anything that we had discussed, but I’m not holding my breath!

I try to progress with editing my wife’s youngest son’s wedding video, and I do make some progress, but not as much as I would have liked.

Voice is still pretty bad, but everything else is tolerable.  My wife got me to switch off my DBS to see if it really was the cause of my weak voice, and the difference was immediately apparent to both of us, so at least it should be something that can (perhaps) be improved upon when I go back to the hospital for an adjustment at the end of next month.

I have an appointment with the Parkinson’s nurse this morning, so I head over to the cottage hospital in North Walsham after walking the dog and listening to PopMaster.  I don’t really have anything that I need to see the nurse about, but I feel it’s useful to maintain a link.  We chat about my recent referrals for speech therapy and physiotherapy, and I remark on the unavailability of services and equipment for people with Parkinson’s.  The nurse recommends that I contact the local office of Parkinson’s UK to ask about a grant, telling me that they are always saying that they have plenty of money available, and asking her for guidance on what they should spend it on. Well, I have a few ideas that would lighten their bank account by more than a few thousand pounds, so I agree to contact them this afternoon and see what they have to say.  I phone the local representative for Parkinson’s UK this afternoon, and she seemed very guarded in her response to my questions, and a whole lot less certain about the availability of grants for the provision of equipment and services than the Parkinson’s nurse, but she did say that she’d “look into it” if I sent her some information by email, so that’s exactly what I’ll do.  It’ll be interesting to see what the UK’s largest Parkinson’s charity can actually offer to people with Parkinson’s – I’m prepared to be disappointed because (in my view) it is run more as a lucrative business with a board of very well paid directors than as a charity whose sole purpose should be improving the lives of the people after whom it is named.  I’m more than happy to be proved wrong, though.

I’m paying the price for yesterday – I’m aching all over and don’t have a great deal of energy.  While my wife carries on with the gardening, I sit and post links to my weekly vlog on social media and then check out what’s happening in the world on Twitter (President Trump’s Twitter Feed is always good for a laugh).

My wife and I go to North Walsham to buy some flower seeds, get some bread, buy a new doormat for the front doorstep and take a couple of sacks of garden rubbish to the municipal tip – it’s while we are out and about that I am overcome with fatigue, and I find it so frustrating!

We return to Southrepps where my wife continues working in the garden, and I continue recuperating on the sofa in the lounge (although I do take the dog for her afternoon walk).

I’m in quite a lot of discomfort with my sore arm muscles, so I have a little bit of cannabis to take my mind off it (successfully).  Other than that, my voice is my only other troublesome symptom.

My wife has succeeded in motivating me today (in conjunction with our new next door neighbour)!  She got out of bed this morning, full of the joys of Spring, announcing that she wanted to “get stuff done”.  Our new next door neighbour then called round to say that he would clean out our gutters (we have grass growing out of our gutters) if I would hold the ladder for him – offers like that are few and far between so, of course, I agreed.

While my wife gets cracking with organising our front path and garden, I have a go at removing the limescale stain which adorns the front wall of our cottage – I tried to remove it last year using a pressure washer, but only succeeded in fading it slightly; this time I try using some brick acid, and this removes it completely, so I’m well pleased.  I put up a new house name and number sign that my wife purchased recently, then I help our next door neighbour cut his fence posts down to size (he’s erecting a new fence between our back gardens), by which time I’m absolutely knackered.

My wife and I drive to Lidl in North Walsham to purchase some bags of bark chippings for the front garden, and then the day is done.

Symptom check: tremor, dystonia, dyskinesia – under control;  muscular pain – ouch; voice – rubbish; balance and walking – not great; mood and motivation – feeling good.

I have an appointment with the speech therapist at 10am this morning, so I’m out of bed, tea drunk, dog walked and in my car driving to Norwich by 8.50am.  No real progress was made with my eating problem (I keep biting the inside of my mouth when eating) but I am to continue with the lip and face stretching exercises that she emailed to me following my last appointment. She did mention putting me on the waiting list for an LSVT course, to which I agreed – the waiting list is about 12 months long, so I figured that if I’m not desperate for it right now, in 12 months time it’s quite possible that I will be!

I fill my car with fuel and return home to Southrepps.

I didn’t make a huge amount of progress researching and scripting my weekly vlog yesterday, so I get stuck straight in.  I have a fair amount of trouble filming myself because of my voice, even though I change my neurostimulator settings over to group “A” (poorer tremor control, but it doesn’t affect my voice so much) – one particular paragraph of script took 9 attempts before I was satisfied.   I manage to get the video edited, uploaded to my YouTube channel and published before my wife arrives home from work, which I consider to be an achievement.

We wander down to the allotment following dinner (soup again…) and my wife digs while I hoe until darkness is falling (and I’m knackered).

Beer, cannabis, a film on Netflix and a (reasonably) early night.

It’s the hottest day of the year (so far) and the thermometer in our cottage tells me that it’s 22 degrees Celsius – it feels like a Summer’s day, which is a welcome change after the freezing winds and snow of just a few weeks ago.

I started a couple of tasks on my “To Do” list yesterday which involved me researching prices for some mailing bags and also a travel insurance policy for our holiday later this year.  Finding the most competitive price for the mailing bags is relatively easy, so I buy them on eBay and cross the task off my list.  A travel insurance policy is a bit more involved because I have to declare my medical condition and then check through all of the fine print to ensure that the policy is actually worth having – I’m a bit of a sceptic where insurance is concerned, and I think that (by and large) it’s a scam, and the insurance companies have so many “get out” clauses to avoid having to pay out on claims…  Eventually, I settle on a policy, purchase it online and cross another task off my list.   I intended to make some more progress with editing my wife’s youngest son’s wedding video, but I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon and a speech therapy appointment in Norwich tomorrow morning, so I decide to choose a subject for my weekly vlog and start researching and scripting it – if I leave it all until I return from Norwich tomorrow, I’ll be struggling to get it finished.

Another positive day – I don’t actually complete any of the tasks on my “To Do” list, but I do start editing my wife’s youngest son’s wedding video, which I’m feeling pretty good about – especially considering that I had to clear about 25Gb of video from my MacBook before I could make a start.  I also make a start on two other list items, so I should be able to cross both of them off tomorrow.

I deliver the safari holiday DVDs to my neighbour this morning, and he’s absolutely delighted with them, and I’m pleased that he’s happy – particularly when I find out that it’s his birthday today.   I manage to find a birthday card and a bottle of red wine to take over to him this evening, and he’s happy once more!  I sit and have a glass with them, but my voice is terrible and conversation is difficult so I cut it short and return home for my dinner.

I’m feeling a little less tired today – I had a decent night’s sleep last night, and I didn’t make the mistake of going back to sleep again once I woke, just before my wife’s alarm went off at 7.30am.

I read The Metro online while I drink my mugs of tea and my nutriblast, then take the dog for her morning walk, returning just in time for PopMaster.

I actually make some progress today – I study an online tutorial on using iDVD and manage to author two DVDs containing the videos of my neighbour’s safari holiday that I seem to have spent the best part of the last year editing, so that can be crossed off my list and I can deliver them tomorrow morning.

I attend a webinar on the use of medicinal cannabis to treat Parkinson’s Disease.  I had hoped to (perhaps) learn something new, or at least get confirmation of stuff that I already knew, but it was the usual mish-mash of anecdotal, unconfirmed testimony erring on the side of “no medicinal benefit” because of the lack of any serious double blind, placebo controlled studies – I was most disappointed!

I felt rested and motivated when I woke around 6am.  My mistake (I think) was going back to sleep and not getting up until almost 8.15am, at which time I felt fatigued and robbed of any inclination to start crossing items off my “To Do” list.

I’m ashamed to say that I spend the majority of the day sitting on my backside responding to several messages on social media and reading the news on The Metro online and Twitter – although I do manage (as usual) to take the dog for her walks this morning and this afternoon, and I also have a go on my motorised cycle.

My voice is shocking at the moment – slurred and indistinct – it’s just as well I don’t actually have to talk to anyone.  Tremor seems well under control, dystonia and dyskinesia are no worse (but no better) than usual.  Muscular stiffness and weakness aren’t troubling me.  My mood ain’t great, but I put that down to being irritated by my own inactivity.

We had a late night last night – we are babysitting for our youngest granddaughter, and she kept us up until almost 1.30am, so I don’t get out of bed until about 10am (my wife got up at 7.30am, when our granddaughter woke up for her breakfast).  My wife’s youngest son and his wife return home after lunchtime, and then my wife and I load our bags (and the dog) into the car and return to Southrepps.

I take the dog for a walk around the field by the village hall, and then we pay a visit to the allotment to see what’s been growing.  The spinach is looking healthy, as are the broad beans, rhubarb, blackberries and raspberries.  I hoe one of the beds (just to keep the weeds down) and then return home, leaving my wife to carry on with the real work.  I vacuum downstairs (to assuage my feelings of guilt) and then have a go on my motorised cycle (even though I’m not feeling very energetic).

My wife’s youngest son and his wife are going away for the night, so my wife and I are relocating to their house to be on babysitting duty for 24 hours.  We pack an overnight bag (I say “we”, but it’s actually my wife that does the packing) and load it, along with some bedding, a bag of food and the dog, into my car, and then head over to Hevingham.

We spend the afternoon entertaining (and being entertained by) both of our grandchildren, taking them down to the local playground to expend some energy – I’m fairly sure that our grandchildren expended some, too!

I decide upon a subject (postural instability in Parkinson’s Disease) for my weekly vlog, and set about researching it and writing a script as soon as I return from taking the dog for her morning walk.

I change my neurostimulator over to use group “A” settings (for a clearer voice) and then start filming myself.  I managed to knock over a scented oil air freshener while trying to film myself using the Nintendo Wii, and spend the best part of an hour cleaning it up – both the house and I smell absolutely delightful, but the air has been fairly blue!

I change my device back to use group “B” settings as soon as I’ve finished filming – group “B” offers better tremor control, which makes the task of editing the video less frustrating.

Editing is finished and I have uploaded my vlog to my YouTube channel and published it by the time my wife gets home from work.  We go to Lidl in North Walsham to do our weekly grocery shopping, before having dinner and sitting down in front of the telly for the evening.

I start the day with the thought of selecting a subject for this week’s vlog, doing some research and making a start on a script – just to take some of the pressure off for tomorrow, trying to make things a little easier for myself.   The day is now drawing to a close and I still haven’t decided on the subject – hey ho!

So what exactly have I been doing all day?  The answer to that question is “not a great deal”.  I drink my mugs of tea and my nutriblast while I read The Metro online, walk the dog, listen to PopMaster and then dig out the forms that I need to complete so that I can proceed with winding up my mother’s estate.   I fill them out as far as I am able, but now I need to make an appointment with a solicitor to have my signature witnessed, and my younger brother also needs to sign two of the forms – I guess I’ll have to take them over to his house in Stalham at some stage (next week, perhaps?).

I need to create a spreadsheet for my wife’s soft furnishings business to assist her in the production of estimates for potential customers – it is currently taking up far too much of her valuable time.  I spend the afternoon looking at websites that have curtain and blind estimators built in, and try to gain some sort of understanding of the process – I’m fairly sure I can write some code to calculate quantities and costs, I’m less sure about the actual estimating process.   I make copious notes and intend to go through the steps involved with my wife this evening.

Once more, my voice is the main symptom that is really bothering me – I sound like a drunkard when I’m talking to my neighbour (who I bump into when taking the dog for her second walk of the day).  My balance is distinctly “off” since I increased the left side voltage on my neurostimulator last week, and I feel as though I am staggering around and bouncing off the walls indoors – I’m continually catching myself to prevent a fall, which isn’t great (but at least I haven’t actually fallen!).  Outdoors, I’m just staggering around, which adds to the drunkard effect.  Hopefully the DBS nurse will be able to do something about voice and balance when I go back to the NHNN for an adjustment at the end of May.

There’s a glimmer (a faint glimmer, but a glimmer nonetheless) of motivation in the air today – I go through the stack of paperwork on the table next to me, and locate the outstanding paperwork that I need to complete in order to wind up my mother’s estate.  Now all I have to do is to complete filling in the forms and get them posted off.  Unfortunately the glimmer of motivation doesn’t quite stretch to form filling, but at least it’s a start.

It’s World Parkinson’s Day, so I spend time reading posts about it on Facebook and Twitter and watch a number of videos on YouTube – I can’t make up my mind whether to be inspired or depressed about it all…

I have some more messages and emails awaiting my response, so I rattle off a couple of quick replies, because I’m feeling guilty that I haven’t replied yet.

I get a couple of ready meals out of the freezer for our dinner tonight (chilli con carne, so not too difficult for me to eat), walk the dog (twice), and that’s about as motivated as I get – hopefully a better day tomorrow!

Another day of minimal achievement.  I’m still struggling to motivate myself, so it’s a relief to get a knock on the door from my new neighbour who is looking for some help and advice on wiring in his new cooker hob in his kitchen and plumbing in his new sink.  I go next door, armed with a few tools, wire in his cooker hob and advise him on the plumbing bits he needs to buy to connect up his sink.

I adda couple of tasks to my “To Do” list (things that I need to do to sort out mum’s estate), respond to a couple of social media messages and (at long last) compose (and send) an email to Martha Orbach.  I also vacuum downstairs, cook myself half a dozen scotch pancakes for lunch, and light the woodburner (just as my wife arrives home from work).

Once more, my voice is my worst symptom today, and I find myself really struggling in conversation with my new neighbour and his son – I try turning down the left hand voltage on my neurostimulator which does improve clarity of speech, but also allows tremor to become a nuisance, so I turn it back up again.

Dinner (soup and soggy croutons) followed by beer, cannabis and an early night.

I’m totally without motivation today.  I thought that making myself a new “To Do” list yesterday would help me get started on the things that I really need to do, but I was wrong.  I respond to a load of social media messages that have been waiting several days for me to acknowledge, but I also needed to respond to an email that I received over the weekend (from Martha Orbach, the artist who watched my DBS operation) and I can’t get myself to do so.  I decided to finish making a DVD of my neighbour’s safari holiday (for my neighbours), so I set my MacBook up on the dining table ready to get to work on it… and then I didn’t do it.

On a more positive note, I have walked the dog twice today, and made myself some scotch pancakes as an afternoon snack (don’t ask me why, it’s just something that went through my head and I acted on it).  I also decided that it was chilly enough to warrant having a fire, so I split the last few remaining logs, grabbed a handful of kindling from the garden shed and light the woodburner.

My elder brother (who lives in Nova Scotia) put me under some pressure (unintentionally) when he messaged me to ask how I was doing with sorting out our mother’s estate – the short answer to that is that I’m not – I even neglected to put it on my “To Do” list (I’ll rectify that later).

Symptoms are all pretty much under control aside from my voice, which has been badly affected by my latest voltage change – communication is now officially a challenge!

I’m completely without focus or drive, and aching from doing 10 minutes of digging at our allotment yesterday.  My wife is champing at the bit this morning, eager to get back to the allotment and get some seeds planted, but it’s raining steadily.

I spend my time responding to a few emails that I have received, and making a new “To Do” list that (hopefully) I will be able to work my way through over the coming couple of weeks.

It stops raining just after lunchtime, and my wife is down at the allotment like a shot.  I feel guilty for leaving it all up to her, but I can’t do anything about it at the moment.  I take the dog for her afternoon walk, and drop in at the allotment to see how she’s getting on.

The only symptom that is really bothering me today is my voice, which keeps on disappearing.  Muscular aches and pains I have attributed to my exertions of yesterday, although that may not be strictly accurate.   Tremor, dystonia and dyskinesia are all fairly well under control.

I spend the morning posting links to my latest vlog on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and them my wife and I go to Lidl in North Walsham to do our weekly grocery shop.

This afternoon we go to the allotment – my wife spends all afternoon digging, but after I have been working for about 30 minutes I’m knackered and have to return home for a sit down.  I walk the dog and vacuum downstairs instead.

My voice is almost non-existent today, and I have a fair bit of muscular pain in my right arm.  Tremor is in my left leg, on and off.  A smidgen of cannabis helps.

My daughter is departing for York this morning, so I prepare a cooked breakfast of sausages and fried eggs, and then assist her in packing her things into her car and checking the engine oil before she leaves Southrepps just after 10am.

I walk the dog and listen to PopMaster before getting stuck into writing a script for this week’s vlog (about Parkinson’s Disease misdiagnosis).  My voice is very weak today, so I do the usual trick of switching my neurostimulator over to group “A” settings for the duration of the filming – I’m still unhappy with the way that I sound, but it’ll have to do.   I switch back to group “B” settings, but I’m still getting some tremor breaking through in my left leg, in spite of increasing the voltage yesterday – I think the increased voltage has also had a detrimental effect on my voice…

My daughter is staying with us for a day or two, so we plan on going out today.  First, though, I have to drive to Aylsham for a dental checkup, and then my daughter does some work on her dissertation (which she is due to submit in the next couple of weeks) while I respond to a few messages that I have received on social media.

After taking the dog for her morning walk, my daughter and I drive to Hevingham to pay a visit to my wife’s sons and our youngest granddaughter.

I am still being bothered by tremor in my left leg, so decide to increase the left side voltage on my neurostimulator (now at 2.6 volts on the left, 2.75 volts on the right).  Instantly the tremor is under control, but I am now at the maximum setting for the left side – I have an appointment at the NHNN next month, so I expect my device will be reprogrammed then.   My voice remains weak and husky – I hope that the increased voltage doesn’t cause any further deterioration.  Balance is a bit off, and my walking is fairly stilted at the moment.  Muscular pain is less of an issue than it has been of late.

We return to Southrepps for a very late lunch (sausage and onion sandwiches) and watch a movie on Netflix before my wife arrives home from work.

We are expecting a visit from my daughter, who is dropping in to see us for a day or two on her way back to York from Dorset (via Stevenage), so I try to get my routine tasks out of the way before she arrives.  Tea and Nutriblast drinking, dog walking and PopMaster listening are all accomplished by the time she knocks on the front door at about 10.45am.

At lunch time I take her over to The Vernon Arms for a drink and a bite to eat, and then we both take the dog for her afternoon stroll around the field by the village hall.

I’m still not feeling very energetic or motivated, so I decline when my daughter asks me if I’d like to join her in going for a run around the village – even if I felt motivated to do so, I sincerely doubt my ability to make it as far as the end of the road!  I opt to spend a little while using my mini motorised cycle instead – better than not doing anything at all!  I also vacuum downstairs while she’s out running.

I’m very conscious of the fact that I have a fair bit of tremor breaking through in my left leg, and my speech is slurred and indistinct when my daughter and I are chatting but she doesn’t mention it, so it can’t be all that bad – just my perception.

My wife arrives home at a reasonable hour (for a change) and we select a movie to watch on Netflix after we have eaten dinner.

I am feeling very tired and completely lacking in energy of late – I just don’t seem to be able to motivate myself to accomplish anything.  I have some more paperwork to fill out so that my brothers and I can finish distributing our mother’s estate, but I keep putting it off.  I seem to be in firefighting mode – only doing stuff when it becomes absolutely critical that I do so.

I drink my tea and Nutriblast, walk the dog, listen to PopMaster and then pay my credit card bill online (payment is due today, so this is a critical task, which causes me a large amount of stress when I forget my online banking details and manage to lock myself out of my account!).  I respond to some messages and comments on social media, and catch up on what’s happening in the world by reading The Metro online.

I have a go on my mini motorised cycle, but I definitely need to mount it on a board of some sort because it tends to move around while you are using it, which is a bit of a nuisance.

Tremor is starting to break through in my left arm as well as my left leg, and I’m considering making an adjustment to my neurostimulator if it doesn’t improve in the next day or so.  Muscular pain in my arms and shoulders is back with a vengeance this evening – a little bit of cannabis helps ease the discomfort.  My voice is weak and husky and strangling my sentences.

It’s typical bank holiday weather here in Norfolk – it was raining heavily when we woke up, and it has scarcely let up the whole day, which has put a stop to my wife’s plans to go for a run and then spend some time down at the allotment.

We decide to drive over to Worstead (via Lidl in North Walsham to get a couple of bottles of beer for this evening) to see my wife’s parents, and spend a couple of hours or so chatting to them and drinking tea.

When we get back home, my wife takes the dog for a quick walk (it’s still raining and the dog doesn’t really want to go) while I split a few logs, carry them inside and light the woodburner.

Left leg tremor is driving me nuts, so I self-medicate with a little cannabis.  Voice isn’t too bad today.  Balance and gait are not great, but I’m managing.  Muscular pain isn’t causing me any trouble.

We have an early dinner (soup and soggy croutons again!) and then settle down in front of the telly to watch a film before having an early night.

We have a houseful this evening – my wife is cooking a roast dinner for 10 people, who are due to descend upon us around 4.30pm, so today my wife is cooking and cleaning and generally preparing to entertain her sons, their partners, our grandchildren, and her ex-husband and his girlfriend.  I do a little vacuuming downstairs, move a few of my bits and pieces out of the way, construct the fire guard, eat chocolate (well, it is Easter Sunday), and try to keep out of the way.

We have a fabulous meal (all of it cooked to perfection by my wife), and are all greatly entertained by our granddaughters, who are becoming a right pair of little monkeys.

My tremor is being a bit of a nuisance (left leg) and my voice sounds very soft and high pitched this evening and I’m having trouble making myself understood.  Muscular pain isn’t too bad, and balance and gait are acceptable. By the time everybody leaves us in peace I’m feeling exhausted, and I really haven’t done very much at all!