fatigue

Four Days That Felt Like Ten

~ beetleypete ~ 68 Comments

Back on my blog after four days away, a break to attend a family wedding in Kent and catch up with one of my oldest friends. So much coming and going during the month of September, this last trip was so tiring it felt as if we had been away for ten days, not four. Fortunately, there were no mishaps, everything went as planned, and Ollie was lovingly cared for during the two days he was left with my friend.

Some things I have taken away from the trip are worth noting.

‘Early Start’ weddings are unbelievably tiring when you are over 70. Having to be at a wedding venue before 12:30 for a 1pm outdoor service is all very well, but when the wedding party doesn’t end until midnight, it feels like an incredibly long day. For me, it felt as if I had been at the wedding for two days, not one. I had to give up and leave twenty minutes before midnight, otherwise I would have been too tired to make the short drive back to our bed and breakfast accommodation.

After living in a quiet part of rural Norfolk for eleven years, going back to driving on multi-lane motorways at high speeds for three hours comes as a shock. How soon you forget just how much traffic is on the roads the closer you get to London. And the crazy driving that comes with the frustration of the queues and merging roads feels like a new experience after all that time away. It amazed me how many risks people are prepared to take to change lanes at high speed just to get one car in front of where they were previously.

It was good to take Ollie with us, even though he was left at our friend’s house for two nights while we were at the wedding. He is far more settled when he is in the car with us, than when he is left back in Beetley.

The ‘fallout’ from multiple journeys over a four day period of living out of bags and a suitcase is long-lasting. Arriving home late yesterday afternoon, we were both exhausted, and had to go to bed much earlier than usual. Luckily, we have no plans for the next few weeks, as it is likely we would have had to cancel them just to get over the month of September with all its rushing around.

Eating out for half of a month is not healthy. We now have to get back into a routine of smaller meals, and healthier options. It is also very expensive, compared to our normal shopping and cooking expenditure.

If we have any family celebrations in the years to come, I just hope they liaise with each other, and stagger the dates. 🙂

I am unable to catch up on all the posts I missed, but will reply to comments and view new posts from today’s date.

Tired

~ beetleypete ~ 78 Comments

Do you ever get tired? I don’t mean because you worked hard in the garden, or didn’t sleep too well last night.

I get tired now. Bone tired, exhausted. Mostly from doing very little. A couple of hours dog-walking. Sorting out the evening meal.

How tiring can that be? Well, quite a lot, apparently.

Age and tiredness seem to go hand-in-hand. Everything I do feels exhausting now.

That might be just cutting the grass, or buying the ‘big shop’ at the local supermarket.

How did this happen? Where did it come from?

Okay, I am 69 years old. Far from ‘ancient’, in the 21st century.

Whatever the reason, I am still tired.

And often completely worn out too.

I have to say that I don’t like it that much, but I will have to learn to live with it.

Undoubtedly.

Symptoms?

~ beetleypete ~ 137 Comments

You may remember that I was too tired to post an episode of my serial the other night.

Then I woke up feeling much perkier yesterday.

But by 9 pm, I felt completely exhausted, and could hardly keep my eyes open.
I was in bed and asleep not that long after 10 pm.

I slept for over 12 hours, without stirring. When I got up late this morning, I felt as if I hadn’t even been asleep. As the day went on, I did my usual stuff on the blogs, feeling sleepier than ever.

But Ollie has to go out. So I had a bath, got dressed, and took him over to his usual favourite places. After 30 minutes, I had to sit down on a fallen tree, and could easily have stretched out and slept on it. But I had to press on, for Ollie’s sake.

After 90 minutes, I was so tired, I had to come home.

I don’t have a cough.
I don’t have a high temperature.
I don’t feel unell.

But I found this online.

‘According to the WHO, the most common symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, tiredness and a dry cough.’

Oh dear…

I will let you know what happens. Meanwhile, there may not be any more blog posts from me today.