Self Medicated - Updated with Photograph!!

No, I haven't been ill, apart from having a few days given over to migraine and nausea, but I have been self medicating, without drugs.    I occasionally suffer from the type of migraine which completely wipes me out with pain and sickness, which usually last three days, then they go, leaving me feeling worn out, but pain free.

I know the food/drink which triggers them, so they don't feature in my diet.  However, something was causing this fresh crop of them.   I decided that perhaps it was stress.

My mornings were spent reading/skimming half a dozen British newspapers, of all colours, I like to get a balanced view, make up my own mind instead of relying on the bias of any one journalist or paper with their inevitable political leaning.    I would move on to reading papers from Germany, France and the States.

Lunchtime would see me dipping in to watch an hour of the news on assorted television channels, including RT and Al Jazeera!

In between times I kept an eye on the worldometer, Johns Hopkins, and reading blogs; no wonder my stress levels were increasing.

I admit that I am avoid medication wherever possible, so I decided to try a total news blackout.  Jump off the merry-go-round.  Step away from those things which were winding me up.

I have taken time to enjoy even longer walks with Toby, gardening, organising my (far too many) shelves of books, baking, reading, and I have even watched a few very enjoyable films:  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Bookshop, and The Bookthief. 

It was really difficult to keep away from the news, etc, but I feel much better for it! 

I have emerged a calmer person, free from headaches at present!

The only thing it didn't help with was my hair.   I haven't been to the hairdresser since very early November...so you can imagine how much it had grown.    It should have been cut in January, but the episode of the broken ribs meant that I couldn't do that.

The ribs have healed, slowly, although I still feel as though I have a strong bulldog clamp on one rib.  Time will sort that out, or I will learn to live with it. 

Time drifts, my hair grew longer, which was nice at first, but then it reached tipping point.   It made me feel a mess, which was making me feel grumpy/grumpier.

What to do?   Watch a few clips on U Tube - how to cut your own hair...  It didn't look too difficult.

I searched my drawers, found up an ancient pair of thinning scissors.   Decided to have a practice -  on husband's hair!      At first I was nervous, but once I relaxed and just did what looked right, it became easier.   Result, one pleased and very neat-looking husband.

Time to have a go at my own hair.

So I did.   Result: one slightly asymmetrical Old English Sheepdog-style hair do, just what I was aiming for.  😀 

Cutting the back was difficult, but I just clipped away until it felt right.    I know it is messy, far from perfect, but I love it, which is just as well because now I have to wear it for quite a while!

(Eeeek!  Never mind the haircut, look at that double chin!  Lockdown chin?)

Owl Wood and Village Life

This is Owl Wood and Parsonage Cottage viewed from the barley field.    It looks like a little village because of the number of sheds which seem to be an essential part of country life!  Log stores, tool shed, workshops, old chicken house, polytunnel, plus large compost bins and assorted log storage and cutting areas. 

I should say here, Owl Wood is not as large as it looks in this photograph, it is merely the portion on the left, the other trees are across the lane and belong to assorted farmers!   The barley field doesn't belong to us, either, it just feels that way because Farmer T calls it our lawn. 

Most of the leaves have fallen  and the majority seemed to find their way to the main patio, in drifts several feet deep, thanks to the wild and mischievous winds.  I love the trees throughout the seasons, the splendour of the foliage in spring, summer and the glories of autumn, but in winter I take pleasure in seeing the graceful elegance of their form.   

Owl Wood is always interesting, at this time of year there are lots of berries and fungi, a few crab apples still cling to the trees and the ground is strewn with lots of fallen branches and twigs.    There will be plenty of warming exercise in clearing that lot up, the payoff being that there will be lots of kindling to be dried and used throughout the winter.

I have spotted all manner of mushrooms, some nibbled one day, gone the next, nice to think that they made a good meal for a hungry animal.

I would love to know who ate this - squirrel, deer, rabbit?

Some fungi nestling among the undergrowth, others growing on the old trees stumps and dead wood.

One of these days I will take my camera with me, these are all snapped on my phone, though I should really call it a camera, because I hardly ever use it for calls.

At this time of year it is a real joy to see the texture of old tree trunks, green ivy leaves and red berries, they never fail to delight me.

The north side of the old hen house - the roof is covered with beautiful green moss.

I headed into Louth, to get my hair cut.      It isn't the easiest salon to find, you have to walk down a tiny dark alley, head towards the light and you come out into a small courtyard.






Earlier in the year the courtyard is filled with masses of beautiful blooms, even in November they still manage to keep it looking attractive.    This is only the second time I have been there, it is a bit more down market than the place I used to visit, it costs less, but the hair cuts so far have been very good.

My previous hairdresser worked in a much more upmarket salon, and had magical scissors.   On my last visit to her she was running on time, but ended up at least twenty minutes late, because the customer before me had just returned from a holiday in Disney World, which just happened to be where she had booked a holiday.

They spent most of my appointment time oggling photographs on the customer's phone.   I really needed to have my hair cut, so I bit down my impatience at their rudeness and her unprofessional behaviour.    I should have left.    Her head was still filled with Disney, she gave me the worst haircut. 

So far, so good at the new salon.

Can you tell that I am taking life at a slower pace?    I have the time to make a start on a lovely Christmas jigsaw puzzle - I bought it from a charity shop, so I hope it has all the pieces!   I also made a huge batch of Ginger biscuits to fill up the biscuit barrel, they keep really well and seem appropriately warming for this time of year.

No time for puzzles today, though.   I need to bake a cake this morning, once I have walked the dog and seen my grandchildren onto the school bus. 

It is the second Monday in the month, which means that our village hall will be a meeting place for some of the older people in the area.    A sing song has been planned - oh joy!   If I play my cards right, I could man the kettle and serve the cake, keep busy and avoid having to sing along.

There won't be a meeting in January, but in February we are having someone in to give us a lesson on marbling paper, which should be fun.   It will cost us about £5 each, but to be honest, I would pay that just to avoid having to sing.  😳😸