A Marvellous Weekend
Hi, welcome to another weekly instalment of what’s on my plate: health updates, meal creations and smile-provoking experiences.
My Back is Better
I had to cancel my week’s work shifts, because of the ongoing back pain and related sleep deprivation – I was forced into attempting to sleep in a somewhat seated position, rather than my usual on my side preference. Thankfully, by Thursday the pain was almost gone – I reckon the heat wrap and hot water bottle helped ease things up. When I spoke to the Physio, we decided I need to be more mindful of my posture at work and move about when possible.
Shoulder Physiotherapy (2nd appointment)
On Thursday, I had my second shoulder physio appointment. I was a bit worried, because I hadn’t done my exercises for a week. But my Physio confirmed I’d made good progress, with increased strength and range of movement. I was given a couple of new exercises and encouraged to think about re-introducing swimming when I feel more Covid-safe.
Histamine update
On Friday, I had a phone appointment with my doctor. I updated I’d received my Allergy Clinic referral and had booked the first available appointment, but it’s not until the end of August. I explained I’m often taking the Loratadine antihistamine twice a day (instead of once) to minimise symptoms. So, since my mast cell stabiliser prescription is unavailable, we decided to try a combo of two antihistamines with different active ingredients – Loratadine in the morning and Cetirizine before bed.
Ben Cooks Plants (incredibly well)
I decided there wasn’t any point in writing about my homemade meals this week, because there wasn’t anything new and they were completely overshadowed by the massive food treat I had on Sunday. I’d headed over to Tina and Ben’s garden for the afternoon and was invited to stay for dinner. Now there’s absolutely no way I could decline Ben’s cooking – it’s my favourite! How fortunate I am to have a friend who is not only a vegan chef (fence replacer too – Week 82), but also up for the challenge of producing a low histamine meal. I have to say it was as excellent as my memory remembered his meals to be – so yeah, superb! You can check Ben’s food out on Instagram at Ben Cooks Plants:
Positive Thinking: What Made Watson Smile
The amazing food above definitely made me happy and here are a few more things that made me smile…
Al fresco dining with friends:
I really do love socialising and dining outside when the weather is good. I had a lovely Saturday in Tina’s and Ben’s garden. I was only planning on visiting for a couple of hours, but we were having such a good time and the weather was gorgeous and another friend (Mark) arrived in the evening, so I ended up staying until 10.30pm (I’d arrived at 2pm!):
Upcycling old stuff:
There’s something incredibly satisfying about livening up an old item to make it something better than it was originally. In this case, a couple of our outside seat pads had faded to a horrible grey colour in the sun (unfortunately, Mum didn’t take a photo of them before she started her magic). So, instead of just throwing them away, Mum found a design she liked and used her acrylic paints to liven them up. They look great, don’t they?:
More kitten cuteness:
On Sunday, I visited Bevy’s and Harry’s garden to get to know their kitten, Loki, better as I’m due to be cat sitting for them. Well, Loki is just adorable, I could watch him for ages – serious kitten cuteness overload! And of course it was wonderful to sit in the sunny garden with Bevy and catch up on each other’s news:
I hope you enjoyed this week’s ‘What’s on Watson’s Plate’. Please feel free to follow my bite-sized updates on Instagram or Facebook. See you next week for another catch up.
What's on Watson's Plate 
Glad to hear that your back pain has lessened. I can sometimes get flares of pain in my wrist and shoulders because of the constant amount of pressure I put on them when I’m in my wheelchair. It comes and goes. That five kilometre swim for charity looked incredible – I hope that you will be able to get back to swimming soon post-Covid. I miss it too, it used to be one of my favourite sports. Wow, Ben’s food loked amazing, not just the dishes, but also the presentation. He truly is gifted in the culinary arts. Also, this isn’t really related to anything, but thank you for always having captions on your pictures. It’s really handy for blind readers who use a screen reader. You’d be surprised how many bloggers don’t add captions [not just to source the picture but to also describe it]. Those seat pads looked great, what a creative solution! Hats off to your mum. My friend used to have two cats – one named Thor and one named Loki. They’re really cute cat names. ❤
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Thank you. I’m sorry to hear you get pain flares from pressure on your wheelchair. I’m prone to injuring myself due to my combo of dyspraxia and hypermobility. I would love to swim again some time. I’m very grateful to have a friend who creates such amazing food. And I’m proud of my Mum’s seat pads – I wish I was more creative. Thanks so much for mentioning the picture captions. I try to be as accessible as possible, but I always welcome advice☺ 💚
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Ah, where would we be without out hot water bottles? … and cyoot kittehs, of course! 😀
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Indeed, both are necessities in my humble opinion 😁
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Love those chairs!!!! Glad your back is better…back pain is the worst!!!!! I know… Hey can you send rain and coolness to Minnesota? Please????? We have 90+ days with high dew points on tap for days…maybe weeks!!
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I tried to send the rain and coolness your way 😁 Did you get it? I think somewhere must have, because its been super hot and dry here this week 😃
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Thanks for the effort!!! If anyone doubts climate change/global warning they can come here…my gosh! Just when you think “it’s safe to go back into the water…”…there are high heat warnings!!!!!!! Oh well…football in less than 2 months!!!!! 🙂
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The food looks delicious! And your mom is so talented. Wish you well! Thanks for sharing this. 🙂
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Thank you so much 🤗 Wishing you well too 😊
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