ABSTRACT THURSDAY - TWISTS AND TURNS

It’s been a long day already!

At 5 o’clock this morning when I woke up to hear Mr. HCB moaning and saying that he couldn’t move, I was quite scared.  With some help from me, we managed to slide his legs round so that he could sit on the edge of the bed and then he stood by the window.  I massaged his back while he was standing there and praying at the same time.  I then went downstairs and got him 2 paracetamol and he then decided to get up - or at least try to walk downstairs - and it was still only 5.30!  

I made a cup of coffee for me and a cup of tea for Mr. HCB when he said that his plans for the day were now scuppered, so I asked him what they were;  he said that he needed to water everything in the greenhouse and in the garden, and said he also had other things he wanted to do.  Never having been that interested in what he does in the greenhouse, I amazed myself by saying that I would do the watering, but of course, he gave me strict instructions on how to do it!  By this time, he was using a heatpad on his back and said it felt a little easier.  However, I realised that having to bend down in order to water the tomato plants, as well as pushing through lots of pepper plants to get to them, my neck was sore - what a pair!!

With the watering done, Mr. HCB insisted he made his own porridge, so rather than stopping him, decided it was best to let him do what he thought he could manage and he did very well.

I had my shower and came back downstairs for Mr. HCB to tell me that he thought he could manage to water the garden with the hosepipe.  My comment was “Really?  You feel that much better?”  I think he probably thought I couldn’t do it, so again, I just let him do what he thought he could manage - and decided that I would take some photographs of him out in the garden, having made a miraculous recovery!  You can see that the Hollyhocks are looking rather splendid and Mr. HCB is being very sensible in putting the hosepipe over his shoulder so that it doesn't pull on his back too much.

We did have a little chat about what he could do to make things easier - they didn’t include getting a gardener in - but I will save that one for another time!  I did watch him like a hawk to make sure he didn’t overdo it and I have to admit, he did listen to my worries about him doing too much.  We collect our new car tomorrow, so I just hope that all will be well.  

So having got quite a lot of shots of him I decided to have a play with my iColorama app and this is the result - plenty of twists and turns - but gentle ones, because we don’t want a repeat of our early morning episode!  I have also insisted he takes painkillers every four hours during the day at least for a few days and he has agreed he will. 

I guess this quote is quite appropriate, given that I was praying as I was massaging Mr. HCB’s back!

“I believe in miracles...
     prayers that are answered 
          and healing hands.” 
John McLeod