I suppose I blogged it, but we don’t often look back at the Zedery. Last time I donated blood, I fainted as I was walking across the landing and I woke up, puzzled, at the bottom of the stairs. I realised why I’d heard a lot of bangs and thumps a minute – or however long – earlier. Who knew that you could hear while unconscious?
I left it for 9 months instead of the usual 4. I was going to be busy in the summer and autumn – I would have booked in November, but nothing was available. I went along in December and owned up about the fainting, though not about the falling downstairs, because that wouldn’t have been useful. No, I didn’t go to hospital. Nor the doctor. No one who isn’t a friend here or on Facebook, or immediate family have been told because it’s boring. We talked about it – it was taken quite seriously – and I said I’d probably overdone it, I thought I’d been careful but I’m used to being quite busy, so maybe not careful enough. My sister was cooking me dinner and I would do nothing all evening.
This was all true and I had a busy morning to prepare for it. I fetched in coal and logs, shifted Hope and Polly’s coop up to the porch for the winter (it’s been dismal for them in the recent wet weather ), which meant a dozen trips up and down the garden, and did all the chores for several days to come. I also drank water. A lot of water.
I was fine. Wink fed me scallops and I did pretty well nothing. I remember to not do anything when I wanted to. I went to bed and texted Wink to say I’d arrived there safely. I haven’t been tired since either.
I don’t think I’d had enough protein, back in the early spring. I’d not been eating much in the way of animal products, except for yoghurt in the morning and I find lentils and beans so filling that I can’t manage much of them. Since, I’ve been eating more fish and meat – apparently you need more protein as you get older and I appreciate that – the summer after Russell died, when I was very busy and very stressed, I didn’t want a hot breakfast of eggs, so ate cheese instead. I felt I needed that. I’m not so much in touch with what’s good for me now, so I have to think it through. And what I think is that I need to eat small helpings of meat and/or fish and/or eggs, most days.
Today, I made medlar jelly. My children will each receive a small jar in their Christmas hamper.
I suspect that you are in tune enough with your body to know what it needs and when.
I agree that more protein is needed as one ages… we now have a permanent bowl of quartered hard-boiled eggs in the fridge to ‘snack’ on. That or cubed up cheese, and cheese is good for calcium and therefore preventing osteoporosis.
Sadly, when Mr BW has finished those he heads straight for the chillis crisps (Aldi’s are best, I am told), which is an obsession I cannot break. Mind you, the amount of manual work he does these days, he can afford to eat a few carbs. Unlike me… Luckily I hate any crisps but plain, and fortunately we don’t usually buy those.
He’s tall and muscled and he works hard, so I’m sure he needs carbs. Frankly, I don’t. I only like plain crisps too and I do have some in the house, but I don’t often snack, luckily.