August Catch-Up

An August Catch-Up post seemed like a good idea cos it’s been a hot minute (nearly a month!) since my last post so I thought I’d fill you in on what I’ve been up to!

I broke my foot!

It all started on 15 July when I walking along a footpath on the way to get my 4th Covid jab. I was going somewhere new and so my eyes were searching around to find the place I was to go when all of a sudden my left leg went from under me and my ankle and foot twisted in an awkward way. I remember saying “sh*t!” and being embarrassed because there were people walking not that far behind me. It hurt, and I hobbled my way to my appointment. I was standing in a queue and I recall shifting my weight to my right foot as there was a bit of a throb in my left one. I figured it would settle down. I went in for my jab and had been sitting in a chair for a bit. When I got up to go my foot was noticeably worse and I limped my way out to the area where we had to sit and wait our 15 minutes before we could leave.  When I got up to go things were even worse. I struggled to walk at all and had quite a long walk back to my car. It was a very embarrassing kinda limp/hobble/ouchy! to get to my car. I drove home. I climbed onto my bed and elevated my foot and for several days I could not weight bear on that foot at all.  The Tennis Player went and hired me some crutches but OMG I am not good at driving those things and they hurt my arm pits!

The day after the incident I was in so much pain and couldn’t walk at all so figured I should get some medical advice. Couldn’t get a doctor’s appointment and was advised to go to the Redlands Hospital ER so that is what we did. An x-ray showed no break so home I went to get on with things.  I eventually could weight bear on that foot but only if I put the weight on a certain part of the foot but I couldn’t walk without a very obvious limp and still with pain. After two weeks with no improvement and constant pain in the foot, I went to my GP.  I got sent for another X-ray.  That x-ray also showed no breaks.  After over a month and still experiencing pain and mobility issues I went for an ultrasound of my foot.  This finally showed (after 5+ weeks) that I have an ‘UNDISPLACED FRACTURE of the CALCANEUS‘. Undisplaced simply means that the bone is not displaced (moved or out of place). If it had’ve been displaced it would have shown that on the x-rays.

I could’ve then gone for a CT scan to see the fracture in more detail but what would that achieve? I could’ve then been fitted in a moon boot but it was a bit late for that. That is what I should have been in all this time. My GP called an Orthopaedic Surgeon for advice and he recommended painkillers if needed but to basically just wait it out and be sensible. Wear supportive and safe shoes (I already do that) and basic short walking avoiding long walks (I’m doing that also because it’s too painful to walk far).  Most breaks tend to heal within around 6 weeks but a break in this bone (calcaneus) takes around 6 months to heal so I’ve got a bit of a road ahead of me! As long as it keeps improving than all should be good but if it doesn’t then I’ll be back to the doctor for Plan B.

I had 5 nights at Tamborine Mountain

I’ve written about my love of Tamborine Mountain before. Mostly we only ever go there on day trips but this time it was so nice to stay there for longer.

I hadn’t been away anywhere since I had two or three nights at Burleigh Heads with my sister (in November last year) and prior to that I had five nights at Burleigh Heads in February last year with The Tennis Player (our daughter was living down the coast at the time which is why we chose to go there). I was desperately in need of some time away and as I always love a ‘winter’ getaway I was keen to squeeze one in before winter was behind us. It was a last minute thing so lots of places were all booked up. Anyway I managed to book us in to The Escarpment Retreat for five nights up at Mount Tamborine.

It was fabulous. Just what I needed. I only wish we could’ve stayed longer. We arrived around morning tea time on the Sunday so that we could go to the Tamborine Mountain Country Markets and left the following Friday.  Where we stayed was lovely!  You drive into a rainforest setting and we stayed in one of the six villas. We had a complimentary glass of champagne on arrival which was lovely. The villa was so peaceful and relaxing. It had a huge bathroom with a massive spa bath and most importantly it had a fireplace.  Considering I was limping around on a broken foot we managed to do quite a bit. I’m a stubborn thing and I was determined that my foot was not going to ruin my time away. We still managed (just, and with sit down breaks) to do the gallery walk and we visited BirchGrove Nursery and Cafe which was so incredible – wow the selection of plants!!  We visited the Tamborine Mountain Botanic Gardens and met a lot of the volunteers who do work there. What a beautiful place! Ohhh I struggled though walking around these gardens – stubborn though – so did it! We visited lots of different little quirky shops and met and spoke to lots of locals. That’s the beauty of being up there during the week rather than on the busy weekends. We went and saw the Glow Worms and learnt about them and their life cycle. We had coffee and the most beautiful cake at The Polish Place and enjoyed the beautiful birds that visited us while we were there. We lay on the grass and watched the Hang Gliders take off from the lookout (check out this video I posted on Instagram). We went to the National Park and though I couldn’t do a proper rainforest walk all the way to the falls and back, we wandered a little way in so I could experience a little bit of rainforest and take a few photos and then I limped my way back out again. I read a book, we  went out to dinner on Thursday night to The Monkey Tree Bar and Restaurant – Thursday nights is locals night where you get a special deal of a two course dinner for $20 – a main and a dessert (fixed menu). We went to my much loved St Bernards Hotel for lunch one day and because we stayed up there through the week I saw the dogs (St Bernards) being walked early mornings on the days we were out and about to see them. I loved every moment up there at the mountain. I could seriously live there – love it that much. I took so many photos during the five days we were there. I’ll include a snippet in a gallery below, but I may have to do another post completely dedicated to Tamborine Mountain where I can share them all! These are straight out of the phone camera – resized but no time to edit.

I’ve been looking after Mum

Every second week I’ve still be going over to Mum’s from Monday to Thursday or from Tuesday to Friday (alternating weekly with my sister).  Funding for our home care package has come through and I’ve found a provider. At the level Mum has been assessed at we only get 4 hours per week but we are going to supplement it by paying privately for an extra 2 hours to bring it up to 6 hours per week. 3 hours on a Tuesday and 3 hours on a Friday. Our Friday CareGiver is on board now and a Tuesday CareGiver will start on 6 September. Once that all gets going then my sister and I will still alternate visiting each week but will reduce the stay to going on a Wednesday and leaving on a Thursday. We’ll also take Mum out on weekend outings every now and then as well. Fingers crossed we get a good system going and better balance for one and all!

I’ve been doing the Fat Mum Slim Photo-a-Day Challenge for August

I decided to do this for quite a few reasons including – 1) I enjoy doing them and it had been many, many months since I last did one; and 2) I was struggling to think of anything of value to post on my social media so this is really helpful for that and it helps followers get to know a bit more about me.

The word prompts for each day are below and you can see what I have posted for each one on my Instagram grid or my Facebook Page.

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Aside from those things I’ve listed above, I’ve been trying to keep up with housework and chores at home when I’m here and medical checks and appointments and see my friends when I can. So with everything that’s been going on I’ve had very little spare time to write here on the blog or do any art. I also haven’t had much chance to read any blog posts to know what’s going on with my blogging buddies and I’ve lost touch with many. I’m a bit overwhelmed with stuff at the moment. I’m hoping that will change soon and I can get back into those things a bit more again.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy September which will soon be upon us. Can you believe it?!

Ciao for now,