Work expands…

I weighed Anastasia yesterday and she’s gained 9 grams since I woke her from hibernating.  That’s quite a relief as it took her a week or so to start eating much.  She still mostly eats lamb’s lettuce, but she ate nearly half a rose petal today.  Variety in a tortoise’s diet is quite important.  Did you watch Esio Trot the other night?  I am not usually fussy about detail, but I found the tortoise husbandry bit quite hard to take.  Cabbage is not recommended, certainly not as their entire diet, and being kept indoors with no sun lamp is no good at all for their shells.  And sitting cuddling them doesn’t suit their temperament.  I had to deep-breathe a bit.

I’m sleeping extremely badly at present.  I think it was the realisation that Christmas was over and I had to get back to reality.  I fall asleep, wake after a short nap and then worry for the next few hours.  To distract myself from worry, I can read or play a game on my phone, but the light from it isn’t conducive to great sleep.  Nor is worrying, however.  Last night, I was in bed before 11, asleep by half past, awake again well before midnight.  I went downstairs at 3, cleaned the kitchen, made porridge and a cup of tea, had breakfast in bed and finally slept around 4 o’clock, fitfully, for a couple more hours.

No, this is not good.  I need lots and lots of lovely sleep and I have to think my way through the problem.  For a start, I think I should go to bed later.  I sometimes plan to watch a film on my iPad, but it isn’t happening at present because I’m too tired. I’m even too tired to read a book – yet, if I nap before midnight, I wake refreshed after a short time.  The trouble is at present, of course, that I’m too tired to go to bed late.

The other thing is to crack on and get the damn work done.  It’s going to take ages to do it all, months if not a couple of years.  My friend Sophie, whose husband died after a short illness when he was in his early fifties, told me that it took her four years to get everything sorted out.  The worst was their property in France because French laws were so difficult to deal with (and this was fifteen years ago, I think it’s a lot worse now).  She also was the one who said that emotionally she found the second year worse than the first.  But I can’t think about that and have to do what I can right now.  Today, Al and Dilly kindly came over and helped me with some papers and we found a few more important documents.  There are still quite a number that haven’t turned up yet, but we have a little more hope there.

The good news is that I’ve arranged to go and spend a few days with Zig again soon.  Her daughter is still with her at present, but I’ll go down after that.

The other good news is that I’m really enjoying the dramatisation of War and Peace that was broadcast over ten hours on New Year’s Day.  I’m not sure how I’d get on with the size of the cast if I’d not read it and I do find not giving the correct names is patronising and it brings out my more feminist indignation  – in Russian, a man’s surname is Bolkonsky and his wife or sister’s is Bolkonskaya: Petrov or Petrova – this is not hard to grasp and not doing so takes away any authenticity.  However, I’m not letting it get to me.

7 comments on “Work expands…

  1. sarah

    With regards to the light on your phone, you could try an app which reduces the blue light. I use twilight on my android tablet. I’ve looked and it doesn’t seem to be available for iPhone, but there is an app called f.lux for iPhone, which I happen to use on my pc. It’s obviously no use if you’re doing something which needs precise colours. It is worth noting that these apps are not scientifically proven but I certainly find the colour change easier on my eyes in the evening.

    Reply
  2. 63mago

    Music ?
    Meditation ? Half an hour of lovely plain nothingness, It depends on your constitution whether this is something enabling (thus waking you up) or something relaxing – thus making you sleep better.
    This just popped up in my head, sorry.

    Reply
  3. kipper

    Sarah’s suggestion is excellent, as is Mago’s recommendation for meditation. There was an article on t.v this morning where the guest said to dim computer/cell/ etc. screens as the brighthness is not good for the eyes. They also said to look up every 20 minutes or so and look in the distance. This helps prevent eye strain and tiredness.
    Please don’t be so critical of yourself. Things will get done eventually; not as fast as you or your family would like, but no one ever said legal or insurance stuff was resolved speedily!

    Reply
  4. Z Post author

    Thank you, Sarah, I’ll try that. I don’t actually feel that the light from the phone keeps me awake – if anything, I feel that it tires my eyes and makes me want to close them. However, those who know these things say that the blue light stimulates the brain.

    Mago, I can’t clear my mind at present, I’m afraid. However much I try the right techniques, I’ll go from calm to panic in a moment, it’s less unsettling not to try.

    I’m not critical of myself, Kippy, or rather not unduly – no one is holding things up except me at present. There’s just so much to do and, however much people help me, there’s a lot that only I can do. I don’t fuss about this, but if I leave it until I feel better, it’ll never get done and I have self-imposed deadlines (for excellent reasons).

    Reply
  5. sablonneuse

    Wish I had some good suggestions for getting off to sleep as it is so tiring when you don’t get a good rest isn’t it?
    Roll on the Spring and your visit to France – not that that will solve any sleep problems – but they say a change is as good as a rest!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.