Yup, I Really Can...

I drove for the first time with The Aid in the ear. My, it was loud... and the cat screeching from the basket didn't help any, not to mention the birdies tweeting much louder than any birdie ever tweeted before... But I got there. And back. Without hurting anything or anyone, which is always a bonus! Advo is fine, by the way. His wound is 'healing nicely' and he's finally allowed out into the garden. Problem is, of course, that everyone is now used to having the door opened, so there are queues by the catflap every time I look. It's the first time that Merlin being incredibly thick has been an advantage; he was nutting the catflap madly every day when it was locked, trying to make it open. Now, he just strolls out, but presumably doesn't have much of a headache...

I'm dancing with the depression demons today. They've been lurking in the background for a while, but decided to come out to play. No idea why. So I went and played with some yellow paint, and felt better for a while. Think I'll go back and play some more. And if that fails, I'll have a nap. And if that fails, I'll have a bath with lovely smelly essential oils (lavender and geranium work for me, can't afford rose, sigh). I can live with this; I know the feelings will go away, and I have these strategies for dealing with it. And yellow paint is a new one, must add it to the list...

The image is Autumn Pavane, not terribly seasonal, but it's too cold to go out snapping snowdrops!

I CAN HEAR...

sorry to shout, and all, but it's important! I was fitted for a hearing aid yesterday, and I'm now marvelling at the amount of sound that I just wasn't hearing. The television volume has been lowered by several notches... I don't ask for things to be repeated as often... I can hear what people are saying on the phone... it's amazing! It's also invisible, it hides under my hair magnificently, and unless you show it to someone, they wouldn't know it was there. Hearing impaired? Moi? Not any more!

Of course, there is a small drawback. I do hear sounds that I don't 'need' to hear. For instance, the click of the keyboard is remarkably LOUD, and I have to go out of the kitchen when the kettle is boiling, because the hiss is loud, too... but that's a small price to pay, and I'm assured that when my brain gets used to having all this audio information thrown at it, it will begin to sift out the important things again. Isn't that wonderful?

Poor Advo...

...and poor me, too. Advo, because the vet found that he had a piece of Someone Else's Tooth lodged in his leg, which they tried to get out and couldn't, so he is wandering around the house with an open wound, in the hope that the tooth will dislodge itself. He is therefore not allowed outside. Poor Advo, and poor me, because I've become a slave to the other cats and their whims and foibles. Lemme out mum. Lemme in mum (yes, I know the catflap is opening that way, but I like to see you open the door...). No, really, mum, I do want in...sort of... I'm sure you know the drill. But I'm not feeling well, a tummy upset that kept me up half the night... so this is not a fun game, at all. Grrr. Still, Advo seems to be doing well on it...here he is on the spare bed, looking as if butter wouldn't melt. He was supervising the taking of some photographs for Etsy when I took that particular photograph... Noone would think he was a tyrant in fur...