Chilly.

Today I had my first gym session at the hospital. It started at 8.10 which made for a lot earlier start than usual. (I'm still catching up on a year's worth of poor sleep.) Not only was it cold and grey outside but the kitchen wasn't that warm as the rayburn had gone out! While it was being serviced the other day Peter had mentioned the importance of checking that the box on legs which holds the oil and wicks was perfectly level. You'd think that a metal object wouldn't change shape but because the legs are steel while the box is cast iron things happen when it is burning. End result the wicks burn unevenly and char and the system grinds to a halt. (You can see why everyone hates having to work on this particular model.) By the time I came back home the engineer was here and we have a working rayburn once more. This is the same engineer that Peter encouraged to join the gig club. When he left he gave us 2 dozen free range eggs. A family member has 30 hens and at the moment is getting 30 eggs a day and giving them away to everyone they know. I feel a baking session coming on.

I enjoyed my gym session today, all 90 minutes of it. There were 6 of us patients there and 2 physiotherapists so it was all very much on an individual level. Everyone starts with a 10 min warm-up on the exercise bikes. For me it was more of a boil-up as I got redder and redder and the sweat began to drip. I did try and keep my pulse level down but at one point the physio came over to check which difficulty level the bike was on. Slight humiliation when she said it was on the easiest setting. I'm definitely going to walk up and down the hill every day to improve my fitness level. We were all working on strengthening and flexing our core muscles so we sat on big gym balls wobbling this way and that, writing our names or waving arms and legs in the air. I also worked on a wobble board and several of us practised standing up and sitting  down correctly while holding a ball and moving it at the same time. Hopefully the 5 more weekly sessions will see a great deal of improvement. Of course I wore my snazzy new gym leggings which made me feel all sporty.

From the hospital I went on into town and bought myself a new hat. Not only did it fit, a rarity in itself, it was also on sale. I'm not so sure about the green string hanging off the back but that's nothing that a pair of scissors won't cure.  I also called in at the carpet place and yes they are going to fit the carpet at no extra charge apart from £10 for the gripper strips which that room doesn't have.

Today's gardening was even more minimal than usual. Just a bit of hoeing as the cold dry weather will speed the demise of weeds sliced off at ground level.