August 2026 Goals

July was a much better month for me, especially with some of the health issues. There's been some progress on the home improvements and I'm hoping that the majority of the remaining work will be completed in August.

Home: There are three rooms still to be completed - living/dining room, 3rd bedroom which will be my study, and the hall. Two of the rooms have to be plastered and then all three rooms decorated. All three rooms need new flooring and the living/dining room and bedroom will need new curtains and blinds. 

The living/dining room was plastered in July and the plasterer is working on the bedroom and hall as I write this. He should be finished by Wednesday 5th August so there is plenty of time for it to dry out before the decorators are here. They are due to start work on Saturday 15th and have set aside 7 days to get all the decorating finished. They are starting in the bedroom and then the living room, so as soon as I know they have started work I can get the two carpets ordered and hopefully fitted without too much delay once the skirting boards and doors have been done. 

The target is now to get the living room carpet fitted as, once that's done the furniture can be put back and the other bedroom will be available for me to find a lodger. The key point is getting the piano moved out of the room and put back once the carpet is down. In the end it wasn't moved to my bedroom (too heavy, and too difficult to manoeuvre it through the two doorways) so it is still in the living room and the carpet fitters won't move a piano. I need to somehow get people to help on the day of the carpet fitting to move it out of the room and then back to the correct position once the carpet fitters have finished - I need to work out the logistics for that!

Garden: The garden work was supposed to start on July 13th but the landscaper was delayed and he will now be starting next week ... hopefully. The delay has work out quite well for me as I now have a clearer idea of the shape of the flower beds and paths, and have had a rethink about the planting. I've decided to stick as much as possible to drought tolerant plants and am busy compiling a list of the ones I'd like. I'm also going to have some sort of irrigation system from the start; looking ahead, I think an irrigation system on a timer will make it easier for me to manage that aspect of garden care, so I'll see what the landscaper suggests.

Music: By the end of the month, the piano should be back in place and I'll be set up for daily practice sessions again. I'm excited at the prospect!

Photography: My aim for July was to complete my monthly photo challenge, Joy's Ten on the 10th, and at least one of the 30 photos challenge prompts. Well I managed two out of the three, so am pleased with that. I started the AYWMC photography course and took photos as required to reinforce the learning, but I haven't made a start on the Make 30 Photos challenge. I also ran my Something Snappy u3a group and spent an hour or so taking photos and reviewing them with friends. I'll repeat the same aim in August. 

Swimming: There was no change in July. This is what I wrote at the beginning of April - I'm not sure whether to keep this in the list as we never seem to get to the pool! It is an activity that will be good for me so maybe I'll just leave it here as a reminder to myself with the aim of getting back to swimming once I've finished with the home improvements.

Reading: I've decided against subscribing to Audible, so this month will make a start on clearing the backlog of books on my Kindle. I'll aim to read two books - it's going to be too busy here this month to expect peaceful afternoons for relaxing and reading!

Healthy lifestyle: Things are definitely starting to improve! 

I'm still waiting for the results for my adrenal gland function but am back on my normal BP medication so that's much better for me as all the side effects of the alternative medication have stopped.

I collected the CPAP machine on the 9th July and have been using it every night since. It's made a huge difference. The mask itself was a lot easier to get used to than I was expecting and I now sleep through the night, with maybe one or two toilet trips instead of the seven or so that I was needing. The knock on effect of this is that I have a bit more energy during the day although mobility and balance issues continue, so my day is still very sedentary. However, I no longer need to go back to bed during the day now, so there is scope for improving other health issues. The next thing to do is sort out my sleeping pattern (advised by the hospital) so I need to get my routine sorted; I usually go the bed at the same time so the focus needs to be on getting up at the same time - I have to get into the habit of setting an alarm every night. Once I'm back in the routine I won't need to set the alarm any more, so hope that is sooner rather than later - I much prefer to wake naturally rather than the rude interruption of a noisy alarm!

I had my eyesight checked and thankfully there isn't a serious problem. My actual eyesight measures 100% in both eyes so I don't need glasses. The problems with the blurry vision is due to blepharitis, which thankfully is easy to deal with and just involves using a heat mask every morning for ten minutes, and then drops three times a day. I'm relieved that it isn't another infection and that there isn't a serious threat to my sight.

Socialising: The only things in my diary for August are medical appointments and things to do with the renovations. I can't make the regular canasta meetings or my own Something Snappy group because I need to stay at home for the various renovation things going on, but I will try to arrange some social meets with friends before the end of the month. I'm still not allowed to drive so, as Niall is away for a lot of the month, I will be dependent on friends and family for lifts if any socialising is going to happen.