i really am never taking up sports...

had confirmation today - my golfer's elbow has mutated into tennis elbow.

at the weekend i began getting little twinges on my outer right elbow, but thought i'd banged my elbow on the doorknob, since i do that quite often (all doorknobs are now wearing insulting mittens) and i'd never had outer elbow pain before. woke up this morning, and after merely an hour of being awake (in which all i'd done was eat an apple and review an article i'm editing - reading a printed copy, no computer involved) my outer elbow was excruciatingly painful.

tears followed, as did anti-inflammatory gel and painkillers. in the end i made an appointment for the afternoon at the chiropractor's. she massaged the affected area (owwwwwwwwwwww) and suggested ways of dealing with it (like, never ever typing again. oops).

the saga continues. sigh.

i'm not sure what i'm more amazed by. that i bruise so easily from soft-tissue massages, or that i paid £30 for my chiropractor to do this:

How does your garden grow?

Today I got my first flower on a Borage (Starflower) plant:



My phobia prevents me from having a proper garden (ie., one in a garden), but I've covered pretty much all the window sills with plants. Mainly Borage (about 30 seedlings) and Soapwort, though there's the 3 Peace Lillies and a new Aloe Vera, and the four mystery weeds that sprouted out of the compost. Sadly none of my Soapwort seeds have sprouted, but I have managed to turn the one plant which I bought into 3, with a further 4 cuttings hopefully about to take root. All of the Borage seeds which I planted have sprouted, which is why I have so many plants (and I've only planted half the packet!).

I'm hoping to experiment with using the Soapwort to wash my hair with, although I doubt it will work while we live in 'agressively hard' watered Cheltenham. Borage can be eaten, and apparently the flowers taste like cucumber. I don't like cucumber, but I love the idea of Starflowers in star shaped ice-cubes! Now we just need to work on getting the freezer to keep things frozen...

Birthday goings on

We didn't go to the Nature Centre, opting to head for a local National Trust property instead so we could get in for free.

Unfortunately, neither of us were really paying attention, and the map in the National Trust book really isn't that specific, and although we were aiming for Packwood House, about 11 miles south of Brum, we got within a mile of Stratford before we realised we'd totally missed it and had to turn round.

However, we had a nice picnic 'lunch' at 4:15pm in the Yew Garden when we finally got there (sadly too late to go in the actual house). The Yews were very impressive though, most just shaped like cones - very tall and in close lines. It would be a great place to play if you were a kid! And then there was this one:



Fun!

I did get some money for my birthday (thanks mum & dad! :) ), and decided that before I blew it all on frivolous things like food and train fare to university I should buy some Primark pants!



I like the navy ones. Only in Kenya, ya know.

Happy Birthday to MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Well, I'm sat here waiting for the postman before I head off to Brum for some birthday festivities. Not sure what we're going to do, but we might go all out and visit the Nature Centre. Maybe even buy a lolly :-0

Matthew is in London right now - he went yesterday morning - which is why I'm going to Brum.

Hurry up postie!

New arm diagnosis

Bleurgh. Well, I either have hayfever that gets worse day by day (but not worse while walking outside), or a really slow burning cold. Although I feel like crap and really don't want to be ill, I also really don't want hayfever, so I guess I'm voting for cold.

Yesterday I had an appointment with what I thought would be a physiotherapist, but turned out to be an orthopaedic practitioner (who is also a physiotherapist). Apparently I have golfer's elbow. And rower's shoulder. Gods know what would happen to me if I actually took up sports! I have lots of new exercises to do, and she seemed confident that I can be cured. After 8 months of pain I hope she's right, but I know it's not that easy.

I'd still like new arms for my birthday. Please :)