Heavy workshop which went OK with all exercises finished and some more progress on the BTE but still feeling a little tired. Next session wont be for a week because of the bank holiday, but hopefully I'll manage some Yoga in the meantime.

Quiet day with a short dog walk, but long enough for Peggy to roll in something extremely smelly, needing a hose down in the garden followed by a bath and shampoo.

Stroke Management Group this afternoon which involved a chat about causes and risk factors for strokes, much of the same stuff that I'd been reading on the Stroke Association website. Not much I can change with my life style to reduce the risks. I've never smoked, always exercised, had a reasonable diet (been mostly vegetarian for the past 25 years) never drank excessively (not had a drink since my stroke - but may start this weekend so brought home a unit calculator), I'm not Afro-Caribbean and there is not much I can do about being Male.

Also had a chat about medication and currently the thinking is for folk to stay on Dipyridamole/Asprin for a couple of years and Simvastatin indefinitely unless there are side effects. Something to discuss with my Consultant in a couple of weeks time.

Still feeling tired today so no Yoga or turbo training, a few of the others in the group seemed to have overdone it as well at the weekend and were having to take it easy, must have been the nice weather.

'hot in bed'

Running a bit of a temperature last night and not feeling on top form again today. After dropping Lottie of at her work placement, I headed out to Chesterfield to visit my mum who has just moved into Ashgate Hospice for some respite. Stopped off on Beeley Moor on the way home to sit in the sun and let Peggy have a bit of a run round Hell Bank Plantation.

Feeling tired this morning after a busy weekend. Delivered Lottie to her work placement at Fox Design then to the Heavy Workshop. Despite feeling tired I managed to complete all the exercises within the hour although I did notice my balance wasn't quite up to Friday's efforts, but I did increase my score on the BTE ladder (improved technique rather than strength or stamina?)

Spent the rest of the day taking it easy and browsing the Stroke Association website. I think this combined with not feeling great contributed to a bit of a wobble, some of the statistics I was reading are quite frightening and not the sort of odds I want to be dealing with. Hopefully I will have some sensible targets and questions ready for Wednesday.

Trip out to Stanton Moor today with Orla and Isobel revisiting the geocaches that Lottie and I had done previously and to have another fine picnic. We then all went to the Cactus Nursery at Darley Dale, well worth a visit to see the national collection of Lithops!

An afternoon trip, first to visit the geocache shop in Ashbourne and then to meet Dean and AJ for an ascent of Thorpe Cloud. The plan to avoid the crowds worked well and we pretty much had the top to ourselves for a picnic. I coped well with the steep path although it was early to bed for me when I got home.

Heavy workshop this morning managed to get through all my exercises except the foam balance beam. Ran a little faster on the treadmill, balanced a little better on the Balance Master and improved my scores on the BTE.

Spent the afternoon in the hammock in the garden resting, making the most of the sun and thinking about targets and goals, more of these later. Tomorrow the target is to walk to the top of Thorpe Cloud for an evening picnic with Dean.

After a short visit to the office to find out the latest on reorganisation, the rest of the day was spent at my Mothers. She had a visit from a Speech Therapist to look at her swallowing and advise on food consistency, custardy or syrupy!

And the photo? Well a short walk with Peggy revealed a large area of the Riber hillside that had been blackened by a bracken fire and it was this photo or one of daffodils and an aircraft vapour trail in a clear blue sky!

Vote for Froglet

I was woken this morning by Nick Griffin on Radio 4 which gave me even more of a reason to vote on the 6 May than just the notice of election that I viewed last night. Luckily Radio 4 then ran a party election broadcast by the Clangers that had first been aired in 1974.

20 mins of Yoga plus 10 mins of Turbo Trainer to Them Crooked Vultures.

This afternoon I had my first of six Stroke Self-Management and Information meetings at the Revive Centre. Its a small group and we all seem to have been effected differently by our stroke but the meetings will be tailored to the information we need and they will be getting different experts in to help. We were asked to set ourselves some targets this week to bring along to the next meeting so I need to give this some thought over the next few days. I've got a few in my head but haven't put them in writing yet. I also need to have a think about the medication I'm on and any questions to ask on this subject next week.

Went to Queen Street Baths this evening to watch Dan kayaking. He seems to be getting very confident, will see how it goes in a couple of weeks time in the Derwent.

Namaste

20 minutes of Yoga this morning with Jason followed by 10 minutes on the turbo trainer to the sounds of Animal Collective, followed by a short lie down on the sofa straight after! A visit to the office after lunch to catch up on things, then a trip out to The Paddock for a walk along the Great Northern Greenway with Peggy.

The visit from the Speech and Language Therapist yesterday really helped my confidence when it comes to swallowing, so this morning I had a mug of Tea. It didn't taste quite as expected for some reason, but its good to be off the custardy fluids. I'm still thickening most of my drinks to a syrupy consistency as its much easier to swallow but I'm confident I'll be back to a normal diet soon.

After walking Lottie to her work placement this morning, I pedalled back home on my Brompton before heading to the Heavy Workshop. Managed all my exercises except for the trampette and foam balance beam in the hour I had. I even had a go on the ladder attachment for the BTE.

Home visit from the Community Speech and Language Therapist this afternoon. After a quick update on my progress so far and a couple of viewings of the videoflouroscopy it was time for the swallowing tests. Syrupy fluids seemed to be ok and a small sip of plain water seemed to go down ok. As the follow up videoflouroscopy is only a couple of weeks away and its not possible to see exactly what is happening, it's suggested I keep turning my head and dropping my chin and only try normal fluids when I'm not tired. Then a couple of bites of buttered bread and I was upgraded to a soft diet. It looks as if I've already been on a soft diet for the last week or two but it's good to have someone confirm the improvements that I've felt. I just need to keep up the exercises for another couple of weeks and keep my fingers crossed for a successful video.

A lovely relaxing day spent at Rachel and Roger's. Whilst Lottie and Dan swam in their pool, I took a dip in their Hot tub and I'm convinced it helped with stimulating the sensation on my left side :-)

Spent Saturday in Cannock at Go Ape, as Lottie and Dan were kindly invited to join Dave and Kerri on a works outing. A lovely warm sunny day and whilst Karin walked the dog I took photos. It was very busy in the woods as they were also relaunching all the mountain bike trails. A return visit is required with a little more stamina and more toys.

Finished the day with a barbecue at Dave and Kerri's and Dr Who on their new big TV.

Balance Master

Heavy Workshop again with some additional exercises thrown in this morning. Not exactly Captains of Crush but I'll be able to add some elastic bands and I'm on the green extra firm therapeutic putty. As for the Balance Master I'm expecting great things and should soon be walking up slabs with my hands in my pockets!
I was also taken into a side room to have a go on the BTE a computerised work simulator machine. I had my grip measured today but on Monday they may try adding the ladder/campus board attachment ;-)

Witness the fitness

Visited the GP this morning and instead of a sick note I've been given a 'Statement of Fitness for Work'. I don't see much difference really, I've been signed off for another 4 weeks but with the additional comment that I will need a graded return to work. I've another appointment with the GP the day after my Videofluoroscopy and I picked up a load of Folic Acid tablets to add to my growing cupboard of medication.

The rest of my day was taken up with a meeting about my Mothers continuing and increasing care requirements, lunch with my Sister, and then a short dog walk and catchup with Tom.

Maybe inspired by Heston but more likely the Lemon cake from Calver I did some baking this morning. Black bottomed cup cakes with cream cheese frosting and Lemon Loaf

This afternoon I got to go for a walk along Froggatt Edge with Simon, Gabriel and Peggy. Gabe found a 'stress chicken' in a geocache and Simon ventured into the finishing chimney of Cave Crawl to find another cache. Finished off with a trip to the cafe at Calver for a rather nice piece of lemon cake. Coming back into the City 'Connecting Derby' was in full swing with Quaker Way now open, Abbey Street car park looking very open with the temporary loss of trees and the traffic signals on Normanton Road in the process of being replaced. There did however still seemed to be a little life left in the old signal heads!

Thanks to BBC iplayer and 4OD watched some decent TV this evening:
*Wonders of the Solar System - must head north at some point to see the aurora.
*Heston Blumenthal - not a big fan of cooking programmes but Heston's take on food and cooking is rather special and I didn't realise cock's testicles were so big!
*Misfits - Hadn't heard anything about this so I was expecting a gritty drama about kids on Asbo's until the lightening struck!

Heavy workshop session this morning went well and a chat with the OT suggests I'll have a revised program for Friday, hopefully some light upper body stuff thrown in which doesn't put any strain on my neck. I still notice a change in my throat and swallowing still becomes more difficult after exercise, but my stamina does seem to be improving. Watched 500 days of Summer and Jumpers this afternoon.

A day spent reading the Sunday papers, listening to Radio 6 with brief forays into the garden to advise Dan on tree surgery! Hotel for Dogs was this evenings film, not one that I'd recommend but it brought a tear to Lottie's eyes :-)

Visit from Bruce, Rhonna, Aidan and Erin today. It was such a lovely warm sunny day we all went for a walk from Curbar Gap along to Froggatt. Then back to Derby for a curry from the Shahenshah

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

A quiet day spent mainly on the sofa. I watched Watchmen on DVD in the afternoon don't think I'll let Dan watch it just yet!
Picked up a bargain of a turbo trainer this evening thanks to Rachel, Mark and Mark's mate.

Spent the morning sorting out a new mobile phone for Lottie and the afternoon with Dan and lots of Lego. Constructed a semi-automatic rubber band firing contraption and two lethal Lego brick firing 'pistols' which made short work of the Lego targets! Feeling very tired today suspect I've done a little too much over the last few days. The kids are back at school tomorrow so a quiet day is called for as I've got a session in the Heavy Workshop on Friday.

Chocolate and banana pancakes are fork mashable :-)

A day out in the Peak with Dave and Matt, under strict instructions that I'm not allowed to climb. First call was Raven Tor but Chimes was wet so a short drive to Rubicon to look at The Sissy was plan B. I thought I'd perhaps made the wrong decision by coming out when Dave and Matt started to warm up. All I could do was make sure I was wrapped up well and find a comfy spot. But Dave had his new camera with him, so I soon had something to do and it was great just being able to sit around outside, watching the swans, passing walkers and the steady progress Dave and Matt were making on the route. Dave finally conquered the awkward match and had the route in the bag, Matt came very close and I took a lot of pictures.

Headed to Robin Hood's Stride this morning to walk the dog and also to find some geocaches. I was slightly disappointed to find a rash of signs had appeared on the back road. Looks as if some inconsiderate parking has resulted in some complaints and hence the advisory signs. I'm not convinced the new signs will help as the only car parked here when we arrived was parked directly opposite the field gate! There weren't any signs in this location but I'm sure it would have made it difficult to get a tractor out. Anyway rant over, the tree clearance underneath Cratcliffe has made a real difference and come the autumn I'll have to make a return visit. Geocaches all found including a couple of Easter eggs I hid for Lottie and Dan. Picked up a Travel Bug that had come from New York, been to India and was on the way to Japan to raise awareness of Diabetes. A couple of Guide stoops from the early 1700's were also found. Afternoon on the sofa taking it easy and watching Romancing the Stone!

Lottie, Peggy and I headed out this afternoon to go for a short walk around Stanton Moor on a beautiful sunny day. We found a number of geocaches as well which added some fun to the walk. Stopped for a Bradwell's ice cream on the way home. Lottie gets to eat my cone but the ice cream slips down a treat.

'you're scottish fry me something'

A quick trip to see my mum this morning was followed by lunch at Scarthin Books. For the first time I'd remembered to come prepared with my thickener so I could have a drink, some soup and a piece of Victoria Sponge. Back home for more Sofa action and to wait for Dr Who.

A walk round Darley Park today with Karin, Linda, Lottie, Dan, Ellie, Isaac and Peggy, unsuccessfully searched for a couple of Geocaches. Must have been the furthest I've walked in a while and my legs were aching and I was feeling very tired by the end. Spent the rest of the day on the sofa being subjected to High School Musical 3 ! Also put an unsuccessful ebay bid on a turbo trainer, not to worry I've my eye on a few others that are coming up soon. Did a little more investigation on geocaching so we've a better idea of the sort of things we're looking for, will have to have a return visit.

Spent an hour in the heavy workshop this morning. Treadmill, Bolts, Trampet, Swiss Ball, Exercise Bike, Sponge balance beam. OK a few of these may need some explanation I'll try and get a photo of the bolts next Friday and the balance beam is a 5 inch wide, 1 inch deep sponge strip which looked easy but took a while to get the hang of, suspect it'll be a while before I progress to a slackline! Think I'll have a look for a second hand turbo trainer so I can do some pedalling in the comfort of my own home.
Afternoon visit to see my Mum then back to Derby where I went out for Tea. Thanks to Linda for the Lasagne and Plum Crumble and to Karin for going back to collect my thickener so I could have a drink, must remember to carry some supplies around with me in the future.