“It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.” —Confucius.
A month or a month and a half has gone past since I posted about my new and old illness progression.
Today (Sunday, 8th September 2024), I took Jacek’s usual once-a-week job to fulfil his requests, and he told me about the Paralympics in Paris. As you see, most of you may know Jacek, but other people may not. He has had CP (Cerebral Palsy), is speech impaired, and has been deaf since birth. He told me how amazing these Paralympic athletes performed in games despite nothing stopping them from doing physical games. Jacek did not realise how much tricky challenge these athletes have, the adapted ability to do rowing, running, and cycling with their physical and sensory impaired bodies over many years until he watched television over two weeks.
Some days were good or bad, whether for me at work or home. For the last two weeks, Aotearoa has been mourning because Maaori Kiingi passed, and now we have a new young kuini (Queen) on the same day as the nehu (Burial) and the announcement of the new monarch. The only culture remaining is Kīngitanga – the Māori King movement, but the Kuini in this movement now for the second time. The latest young kuini is the second line of the monarch, as her grandmother was kuini for forty years.
Bishop Emeritus of Rarotonga, Auckland and Hamilton – Dennis Browne- passed away, and his funeral mass took place on the same day as the Māori Kiingi. My mother, sister, and I have known Emeritus D Browne for many years, since my sister and I were young.
It is spring season, and it is a massive challenge for my supported partner and me to do the tasks around the vast garden and field – 1 hectare. We drew up the DIY lists from last year to the present, and every month, we ticked each task to do. Sometimes, it was not easy because other issues were thrown at us when health issues popped up, wild weather stopped us from doing chores or work increased load. First of all, in New Zealand, so much bad weather caused significant problems in the city and the rural, even coastal inland. For example, several floods created huge houses that damaged roads, water pipes, homes, and landslips, causing several bridges to collapse and destroy homes. Our property was not badly damaged; only a few trees fell over and snapped in half. We used these trees for our firewood. My partner had to refix the gutter along the sunroom and replace the ceiling in the doorway after the sunroom, but it was not very bad.
My health has not changed and has slowly improved from time to time as I get older and sixty years old. My eyesights are okay, and I continue to use night eye drops, which annoy me. I have a problem with long eyesight vision now, and I often find it difficult to read the interpreter signing or watching subtitles/captioning on television in daily life. I am waiting for the appointment at the Eye Clinic to have a conversation before heading out to the Optometrists for bifold glasses.
My other health issue is Cervical Disc Spine Degenerative – Radiculopathy. Note what this means to you. Cervical radiculopathy describes a compressed nerve root in the neck (cervical spine). Because the nerve roots in this area of the spine primarily control sensations in your arms and hands. Last month and early this month, I suffered several times with horrible pain from the neck to the elbow on the right side, and it took under 72 hours to recover than 48 hours. I was so exhausted despite the rainy days keeping me inside and resting.
Last week, I walked around the fields and checked fruit trees and other trees to see if there were flowering times. To my delight, plum trees are blossoming now, while apricot trees are starting to produce leaf buddings and tiny flowers opening up. Blueberries start producing flowers now while I do the weeding job and lay down the weeding mat. I still need to complete the wall barrier wrapping around the section of the blueberry shrubs. Later, I will lay down the bird netting over the poles like a tent roof once there are fruitings in sign to come within a few months. I was pleased with our three dogs that stayed beside me and checked on me after their run around with the wild rabbits in the field. I did have a break in between to allow my body to rest for an hour or so. But tonight, I am tired, and my body is not as sore as tomorrow. I am still determining whether I will be sore before work.
I must complete one blog about last week and seven days of blogs to make our International Deaf Awareness Week—Sign up for Sign Language coming up.
Life in Eureka 
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