It was as if hairs were growing in my throat. The coughing made me flee from the bedroom. The next night Shirley slept in the front bedroom while I faced the night alone with a glass of water and a bottle of "Deathwatch"cough linctus. Radio 4 hummed on low volume like a never ending bedtime story.
On Thursday I was a big lump stranded on our sofa, waiting for the next cough to rise up from The Great Pudding Volcano. My energy was in retreat and my rib cage felt sore with all the coughing exertions. I hardly moved all day.
On Friday morning I felt slightly better and seeing the bright skies outside thought I might risk a little motorised peregrination in order to snap some photographs of the countryside west of Sheffield. Long time visitors to this blog will have been there with me before so I apologise if some of the pictures that accompany this post seem a touch familiar.
In Underbank Chapel's graveyard west of Stannington I had an awful coughing fit and steadied myself against one of the stones. It crossed my mind that I could have saved Shirley some money by falling into a coffin shaped hole near the perimeter wall. But I lived to hopefully get through another weekend.
It's Sunday morning and though the beastly condition has still not fully departed it is certainly on its way out. Fortunately I am generally strong and healthy but it is clear to see how a virus like the one that I have just been fighting could easily kill a weaker or more elderly human being. The physicality of the coughing and chest heaving itself has been a feat of endurance - like a four day cross country run.
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Pictures: 1.In Underbank Chapel's graveyard with views over The Loxley Valley 2.Eighteenth century milepost on Bolsterstone Road 3.A view of Hill Top with St Nicholas's Church, High Bradfield beyond 4.Sheep above Agden Reservoir 5.The Post Office and Village Shop in Low Bradfield
Thought you'd been quiet (apart from the coughing). Hope you feel much better soon.
ReplyDeleteThank you nurse. Oh and nurse please may I have a cup of tea... and a chocolate biscuit... and a copy of "The Guardian". Thank you nurse.
DeleteHope you are feeling better! The news is is similar here (in Ohio); so many people ill.
ReplyDeleteTried one of the Bosh recipes yesterday (potato lasagna); was delicious!
Hi Elle! Thanks for calling by and leaving a nice comment. I will tell my son you liked his potato lasagne when I speak with him later today. Where in Ohio do you reside?
DeleteWe live in a small town about 30 minutes outside the beautiful city of Cleveland and Lake Erie.
DeleteI'm sorry to learn you've been unwell, Yorkie. That's no good, but from what you say, you're winning the battle. Kick it to the kerb...and take no prisoners - while taking care of yourself!
ReplyDeleteLove the photos.
(Sorry if my cigar smoke aggravated your condition)!!
Are you being kind to me? I am somewhat taken aback though I should remind myself that cough linctus can have strange side effects.
DeleteYou must have a fever and are delirious, Mr. Pudding! I'm always kind and polite to you.
DeleteGo back to bed and keep taking your meds. You need to shed your ailment before it spreads.
The poem at the end sounds like a witch's incantation!
DeleteWonderful photos. Hope you get well soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks for both remarks Christina.
DeleteOh,I love the pictures so nice the space.... Greetings,Joan
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping in and leaving such an encouraging comment Joan.
DeleteBeautiful photos. I like dry stone walls and I enlarged your first photo and wondered if the green colour on the wall is moss?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that cough gave you such a rough time Mr YP! I wish you get well soon.
Greetings Maria x
It's not really moss Maria but a green algae-like coating because that side of the wall doesn't get much sunlight. The graveyard is perched on the north-facing side of the valley.
DeleteYou will sound like Typhoid Mary for ages
ReplyDeleteI have had a cough since Christmas
Is it possible to contract a nasty computer virus by reading "Going Gently"?
DeleteMust remember to use some screen wipes next time I pay your blog a visit.
DeleteIt's been a similar situation here, YP. Hope you will soon be completely better.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenny! I seem to have turned the corner on this one. I hope that you and Keith are okay. May I advise that you wear face masks when out and about in Wrexham.
DeleteSo sorry about the nasty cough, Mr. Pudding. If you get that terrible flu that's been going around it could be curtains. That bicycle in your last picture with the flat front tire (?) looks like how you feel. Nice photos.
ReplyDeleteThat yellow bicycle is a lasting reminder that the Tour de France cycle race passed through the village in 2014.
DeleteWe had a flu last year that was pretty much as you described yours, except we were laid up longer. And teh cough lasted six weeks. We are hoping to skip it this year, thank you very much. I get what you are saying about it taking a greater toll on the elderly or already ill. I was so thankful my mom didn't get it, and actually thankful my father had passed the year before, because if he had taken it, it would have been the end of him and I wouldn't even have been able to get to the hospital or nursing home to see him. The things we think of when we are too sick to distract ourselves with other activities! I hope you recover more quickly than Mr. Gray.
ReplyDeleteThere seem to be so many different bugs around. It's hard to know which particular one you have picked up. I shall call mine The Nova Scotia Virus in honour of your home state.
DeleteThanks, I think. And we live a province, not a state! Canada has ten provinces and three territories, and that will conclude our geography lesson for today :)
DeleteI apologise for my stupid error. The Nova Scotia Virus has clearly befuddled my provincial brain.
DeleteMay I recommend that you ask your doctor to be able to have one of those asthma puffers to help dilate your lungs when you have a really scary coughing fit after having a bad chest cold. It opens up your chest so you can suck a good amount of air in to be able to cough out the phlegm stuck in your pipes. Aloha
ReplyDeleteThanks for this tip Stellamarina. Now you come to mention it I have one of those puffers from a previous episode.
DeleteNot the Aussie flu I hope? I hear it is very nasty and has an awful cough that goes with it.
ReplyDeleteI had a flu jab in November. Why is the Australian government sending over your flu?
DeleteI wish you a full and rapid recovery.
ReplyDeleteI may never be the same again but thanks for your good wishes Red.
DeleteWe have the cough stuff in the US and my daughters family had it but I stayed away. Hope you feel better soon and I love your photos. I was in England in September and loved it. I want to come back again!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your positive vibes Judy. I am pleased you enjoyed your trip to England in September and hope you got away from London which isn't really England at all.
DeleteI rub Vicks Vaporub on the soles of my feet to stop a cough. Do you have a version of that? I thought people were crazy, but after three nights of coughing day and night, I gave in and used it.
ReplyDeleteYes we do have "Vicks" in England Linda. Normally people rub it on their chests - not their feet but thanks for the tip. BTW - In German-speaking countries, the brand name Vicks is changed to Wick in order to avoid possible sexual connotations!
DeleteThat is true! I have a tub of Wick Vaporub at hand as we speak. Certainly not going to apply it to my feet, but to my chest, where I can inhale its beneficial vapor.
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ReplyDeletei am so sorry for such terrible coughing my friend!
ReplyDeletewish and pray that may you be blessed with complete health
my husband is having same since almost 2 weeks and it gets worse at night times ,he often ask to sleep separate as if i am being disturbed but thank God to tiredness that gives me deep sound sleep
glad you had lovely sunny day and felt better while walking except little negative feeling you had while coughing
you must not give up it's just seasonal flu and will leave for sure soon so stay positive and strong
best wishes!
Thank your for your care and positive encouragement Baili. I hope your husband feels better soon.
DeleteI guess Shirley has a bit of extra time to dig you a new hole!
ReplyDeleteIt will be cheapest if she buries me in the vegetable plot. It will be good to enrich potatoes in the afterlife.
DeleteHope you are feeling better today. There's a lot of it about. Reminds me of the saying... It wasn't the cough that carried him off, it was the coffin they carried him off in.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the old rhyme. It makes me feel a whole lot better..cough...cough...splutter...THUD!
DeleteGlad you felt good enough to drive out and take those beautiful pictures, YP!
ReplyDeleteI can not remember when I last had a cold, but this past weekend, I caught one. I am snivelly and my eyes water and I am most unaethetic to look at. Poor O.K. - I hope I did not pass it on to him, as he was at my place from Friday night until Sunday evening.
Today, I am "working" from home (with plenty of rest in between) and will do the same tomorrow, hoping to be back at the client's on Wednesday.
True love is sharing bad colds. When OK coughs and blows his nose he will think of you.
DeleteOh no! Sorry to hear you've been unwell. I hope it's departing by now. Love the post office picture! Is that a "ghost bike" in front?
ReplyDelete