Monday 19 February 2018

Very Big Print


Hello Folk.  You may be wondering why things have been quiet on Rambles lately, and on the sending of postcards and snail mail to my friends abroad.

The answer is that I have been unwell for much of the year so far and, of greater relevance, my eye muscles have gone on strike.  As a result I am presently only partially sighted and need everything to be in 


BIG PRINT.  

Or, rather, in 

I am anaging to read incoming postcards thanks to a 10x magnifying glass but it’s not easy to write while holding a magnifier and shining an extra bright light on the paper.  As for reading books – that is very difficult, incredibly slow and headache-making.  I’m really missing reading.   And I have my computer screen on x300 but that causes its own problems… 

I have a new round of opticians’ appointments beginning in March and hopefully they will help but because it is the muscles that are the problem the vision varies by the minute and a prescript[tion lens that may work at 9 a.m. may not work at 1 p.m.

I’ve been playing with speech to text apps and one or two of those are working fairly well though some of the attempts are hilarious.  The principal moral is ‘Don’t cough in the middle of dictation!.’

That is my moan for the month and my explsnation to those who are missing my communications.

On the more positive side I have a second granddaughter due in a month or so and a great neice or nephew later in the year – congratulations to Lucy and Jay.  Since October 2016 there have been babies popping up (or out) all over the place.  It’s wonderful
.
Meanwhile Son-who-supports-Liverpool-FC had his 30th birthday earlier this month.  They grow up quickly nowadays!

Partner-who-loves-tea and I celebrated Valentine’s Day with coffee and a teacake/crumpet at Isobelles (A great little coffee shop in Heswall which has everything one could want apart from an apostrophe}.  She then further celebrated.by catching flu and has consequently had to cut down her woking hours and is not leaving the house until 6 a.m. and getting back by 8.30 p.m.  She even had a day off at the weekend! 

What else has been happening?  I had lunch recently with a former work colleague I hadn’ seen for an unbelievable 28 years.  One of the three closest colleagues of my working career he kept my head above water by taking the strain when David died and by always being there for me.  It was wonderdful to meet up again and we are doing dinner with our partners soon.

Mac and Annabel have just had their third anniversary of being at The Willows.  Being rescue cats they are a lot older than that but still have the energy to race around the house chasing each other.  According to Partner-who-loves-tea Annabel attacks Mac. I think it’s the other way round.

I have at last started clearing the clutter in the loft and so far eight bags of books have gone to the charity shops and a further ten are awaiting transport.  It takes real courage to get rid of books.

Having now found a way of seeing what i’ve written  on the computer screen you may get more news again soon….

11 comments:

  1. Eye problems are among the worst, aren't they. I have a life-time of insufficient eye sight, and in the past year, things have gone from bad to worse to that I may need eye surgery this year. Fortunately, there are some really good specialists nearby where I feel in good and competent hands. I hope your round of appointments results in a noticeable improvement, too.

    Lovely to have all these babies in the family, and more reasons to celebrate what with your son's birthday, Valentine's Day (the bit about the apostrophe made me laugh!) and meeting a former colleague.

    I hope all goes well for you, and well done on the loft clearing - you are right, it takes courage to get rid of one's books!

    Cats... don't you wish you'd know what goes on in their minds sometimes?

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  2. So sorry you are having all these problems and hope they can be resolved. I miss your regular posts.
    PS...I like the HUGE print!

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  3. My heart goes out to you, i am so sorry to hear about your vision trouble. Congratulations on the expected new babies, and i will be praying for you that they find a way to help you consistently.

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  4. Oh dear John, sorry to hear that your vision is not so good these days. My husband is now registered partially sighted, but Arrowe Park and Harris's in Heswall look after him very well. Great news about the babies, my first grandchild arrives in 6 weeks, so very excited. Take care and good to see you back posting again.

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  5. Also sorry to hear of your eye problems. Books on tape might be a partial remedy to losing the ability to read books. Our library carries a good collection and maybe yours does, too. Anyway, delighted to have you back in whatever manner works for you!
    Kris

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  6. My hubby has had many eye issues also and I do sympathize...prayers and hugs and I hope your Doctors can find some help in March. Take care John! Big hug to you from Ohio!

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  7. Just found this update of yours. Sorry about your increased eye problems, that must be so frustrating. I'll see if I can find a BIG postcard to send you... (I know I do have some) As always, I also recommend audio books as a great way to keep on reading even when one has to rest one's eyes.

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  8. I am very sorry to hear this, and I hope it will be solved soon.

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  9. How are things going with you? Miss your posts so come back as soon as you are able.

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  10. A long time with no post from you. Hope you will be back soon. We miss you.

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  11. I have missed your posts and hope you will find successful treatment for your sight problem, it sounds complicated with muscles being involved. Best wishes.

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