Where Did Summer Go?

Autumn has arrived, and with it, plans for the next growing season.  It's got to be better than this year.

Not a good summer for me - my painful knee has turned the dial up to agonising, leaving me effectively housebound for the past few months.  I've tried to get help from my GP, but due to government constraints, the most I can get referred to by him is physiotherapy.  First appointment with them is next week.  But at least I got to see my GP before the Home Office decided to pull the plug on his work permission due to being a Commonwealth passport holder (in spite of having been here for years, married & raised a British family).  So for the foreseeable future, the patients at our surgery are stuck with one GP with zero bedside manner and even longer waits for even shorter appointments.

In the intervening time, I've been woken up most nights by the pain - a deep, burning sensation in the middle of the joint, causing me to almost convulse in discomfort.  And if I'm not sleeping, neither are Howard or the cat.  With Howard having a job now that requires him to have his wits about him, that couldn't go on.  So on his first day off that week, we got a cab up to the Urgent Care at Chase Farm, where, after a slight meltdown in front of the triage nurse, a very understanding doctor arranged x-rays, which confirmed absolutely no damage to the bones (in fact he said they were in excellent condition & perfectly positioned), which pointed to ligament damage - possibly cruciate (which having researched, looks a pretty nasty, long term restoration prospect).  So he referred me on to the fracture & joint clinic at Barnet General, who offered me an appointment in little over a week.  Having seen them (after a 2 hour plus wait & another meltdown due to the frustration) I now await an appointment with a knee specialist.  The week after the appointment at Barnet, the letter asking me to book a physio appointment finally came through my door.  Well, I made an appointment, if only to give them an earful.

Howard has been enjoying his job as a cargo bike courier.  It can be hard, physically, and some nights he comes home beyond dog tired, but it's boosted his fitness and confidence.  How he feels about the work in the depths of Winter remains to be seen, but he's enjoying getting out & about, at times providing a vital service to the community, after over a decade in a deskbound job with a long, frustrating commute.

He's has to manage the allotment & much of the garden pretty much on his own, but as ever we've managed a decent haul of potatoes & onions, plus some salads & other greenery.  After such an abundant harvest last year, the fruit trees seem to have taken a break, but the erratic weather, all timed wrong, must have played a part in that.

This coming weekend sees us taking a break and heading out to the Malvern Autumn show.  My favourite show of the year, so I plan to make the most of it, even if I need a walking stick & regular sit downs.  We plan to take in visits to a couple more villages that feature on my family tree, plus a couple of our regular favourite haunts along the way.

So hopefully I'll return next week with renewed optimism & determination to grow as much of our own food as possible.  After all, if Brexit is as bad as we expect it to be, we will no longer be able to rely on the shops to feed us.