Summer

Well summer finally arrived — only about 2 months late. The garden's been pretty confused this year but the growing season is all but done now, but i'm hoping for a few more chillies yet.

My leg is slowly healing, unfortunately I developed bursits due to dealing with the degrading joint and that has lingered beyond the hip replacement. The implant is particularly perpendicular which seems to be adding additional stress on the bursa but I was probably too active pre and post-operation and aggravated it further.

I've got some daily physio exercises to move through and that seems to be helping but it's frustrating I can't ride as much as I'd like to. Cycling seems to be the main aggravator for the bursitis which is a bit of a problem when I don't drive. I can get a cortisol injection if I want but I'm trying to avoid is as frankly I'm sick of hanging around hospitals and doctor surgeries. While it's mostly just annoying it can be quite painful and the main problem is it interfering with sleep which I don't get enough of anyway. Anyway it seems to be getting better, albeit very slowly.

I've been spending way too much time and money at the pub drinking way too much; at least it's mostly been for fun and my mood has generally been a bit better this year. I've had a couple of low episodes but I just push through it and try to get out of my head and my house and they haven't persisted, very much not looking forward to winter though, It's quite a bleak time even with the relatively mild winters we experience.

Retirement?

I've just got so much spare time it's hard to fill so I've been looking at things to do such as reading, cooking, exercising. My key-lime tree has been shedding excessive fruit so I've had lots of limes to use up — so I've been making pickles and chutneys and marmalade's and cordial, and hot sauces. I fermented 1.5kg of chillies that I turned into tobasco-style sauces. I found a local place to get sauce bottles and small jars although it's not particularly cheap. I tend to give away a lot of what I made and the jars and bottles rarely return.

In part due to the hip replacement and in part because I have the time I've been keeping pretty fit and healthy, right bang on 'ideal weight' for my height. Apart from the obscenely excessive beer and a bit of a gout flare-up I'm eating very well, it basically turned into a Mediterranean Diet without intending to. Greens from the garden, lots of citrus, chillies, nuts, legumes, soups, a bit of liver once in a while. Not a whole lot of meat — not because I don't like it I just can't be bothered cooking it.

Yesterday I did a bit of a budget review and I'm going to have to either cut back on spending quite a bit or consider working again at some point. Still I'm going ok considering I haven't worked for over 3 years and have zero income so there's still no real rush. I'm getting a bit too comfortable with not having to deal with all that bullshit and I simply blanch at the thought of having to work again. Lucky me I guess.