Wednesday 10 October 2012

REACHING 57, RUNNING A CATTERY IN AN OLD VILLA, FROM A WHEELCHAIR!!





My 57th birthday was awful.  Stuck in a wheelchair with a broken ankle, the phone kept going like mad and I eventually rushed to wash my hair midday....the girls from Costa Blanca News (where I had been working two days a week) were coming at 4 and I tried to dust the lounge from the wheelchair with a feather duster.  I overdid it and came over dizzy again and had to lie down.....I took the phones with me to bed, as the road was dug up outside to lay drainage (not to our old villa unfortunately) and I knew the girls would have trouble getting down our cul de sac.  One of them fell down a hole in her high heels, and they had to leave their cars in the next street.  It was lovely to see them.  They spoiled me with birthday cake, flowers, cava, etc. and answered the phone for me as all 3 phones were going at once.  It was strange to see my boss saying "Albir Boarding Cattery, how may I help you, No she is tied up on the other line".   However, I felt faint and as soon as they left, about 8 p.m. I flopped into bed with nothing to eat....as I saved my slice of cake for after my Indian takeaway, Leo my son, had kindly got from Haweli in the village, but I felt too ill to face it....cava didn't suit me.  There were bottles of cava all over the place, crisps on the floor and dirty dishes in the kitchen.....just what I needed!!  The phone went at 10 p.m.  Thinking it was my husband who was working in the UK, I answered "Hello Darling" as he normally calls at that time when he's finished work, but it was my old friend Thelma and she thought she'd surprise me....the way I sounded, she nearly sent for an air ambulance.  Saturday was wonderful, I felt good all day, sat outside with a vodka in the early evening chatting to OH on the hands free phone, came in as Leo was warming up the curry and watched the X Factor on TV, singing at the top of my voice (terrible voice, but who cared)... I was lying on the sofa showing off my athletic skills with my ankle, then went to bed with a DVD and a glass of wine, so I didn't drink much but I woke up feeling terrible. 

On Monday, I sent Leo to buy a new clean bowl to soak my foot in which was peeling badly and pick up my prescription and get the “off sick letter” from the doctor for my job as they wouldn't pay me without it....and you will never guess what happened, the ignition wouldn't start, so the Opel went on the back of a tow truck!!!  The night before, Leo took the car up the road as they were digging up the street again.  I was on the phone for an hour directing the driver to our car where Leo was waiting....liaising with Opel and Direct Line insurance in Spanish and going nuts....just to top the lot, Leo gave the man the car key with his gate and house key on it.....so I had to plead with the driver to return, a sob story about a broken leg and could he come back to give Leo his key so he could get in the house....meanwhile Leo was trying to jump over the wall....but the neighbours (holidaymakers) were staring at him trying to break in and he thought the police will come and well let's not go there. 

What a nightmare....you have to laugh.  He got a taxi back from Opel in Benidorm..... the taxi was 12 euros each way, which I didn't think was bad as it's right in the centre.  Speaking of taxis, Leo got a free ticket to see Spurs in Alicante and he took the coach from Benidorm which was fine, but when he left the football stadium at 11 p.m., there were no taxis and the last bus was at 9 p.m.  Thank God for mobile phones....he got two taxi numbers from a policeman and they were on answerphone and then he had to walk a mile to find any civilization in the shape of a bar and the waitress didn't understand him, so I rang her and she said Taxi 144 will be at Gate 1 of the stadium waiting for him (surprising how the Spanish gets better when your son is in the middle of nowhere)....I waited up for him and was singing Happy Birthday to Me in bed.  I paid for the taxi all the way back to Benidorm where the car was parked...that's what mum's are for!!! 

When I had the cast off I hired a ramp to get the wheelchair to the car and a Spanish friend came with us....I was told not to walk yet and there was a 2 month wait to see a physiotherapist, so I  just took each day as it came....good days and bad days

On a good day I soaked it for the first time in dettol....all the skin fell off and I managed to take off the crummy nail varnish with some contortioning and rub in Lancaster body creme with the help of ear buds, so it began to look more like my foot, not an alien I was frightened to touch.  Seeing my leg for the first time after removing the cast was a shock, so hairy, bruised, crumbling that I couldn't touch it for a few days.

In between all this chaos we had to take care of the cats boarding with us, make sure they were fed, fussed and cleaned, buy the food and cat litter.  Leo took care of the practical things and I did the paperwork.



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