I'm blaming my late Mum!

About 5 years ago I had a horrible ache under the ball of one foot, it felt as if something was nipping together, very painful especially after a good walk. So I went to the doctor who more or less told me I was wasting his time, it wasn't bad enough for NHS  and I should buy a pair of insoles and cut a hole in them where it was hurting! ( I've NEVER been back to see him again - what a weird thing to say). Anyway I went to the chiropodist in town and she said it was because the arch was not supported and she sold me some carbon -fibre arch supports which solved the problem straight away. She said that feet problems tend to be inherited and it makes very little difference if you've always bought "good" shoes or not. Which is why I blame my poor old late mother! All those years of taking us to have our feet  measured and all those proper Clarkes shoes that we hated but  were made to wear made no difference at all. Even the 10 years of wearing Dr Scholls exercise sandals when I worked in the library and was on my feet all day didn't solve the problem I now have inherited from her - poor OLD feet!
I can't wear wellies anymore and I can't slip slop around indoors in slippers or flip flops. All my shoes have to have arch supports, be wide and comfortable, not too flat and not too much heel and meeting all those requirements means they are NOT cheap. Which is why we had to go into Ipswich today to find something that I could wear indoors ( to replace an old pair that had split right across underneath) - something easily slipped on and off as I seem to spend much of my days going in and out to the garden or campsite. I got a new pair of blinkin' expensive soft arch supports from the Shuropody shop that I can stick in to sandals but they had no suitable slip ons and then I  was forced to spend out another blinkin' fortune on some wide slip on sandals from Hotter. Aaaaaagh That's my gooseberry profits nearly vanished straight away! Pain in the pocket but comfy feet!

This afternoon Him Outside took the trailer to go and collect the hay mower from the repair place. He bought it off ebay last year and when he started to use it found it was totally useless, we ended up borrowing one but now someone else has broken that mower so it was a good thing that we've been able to get the ebay one repaired, and just in the nick of time because the 10 day forecast in 3 different places on t'internet all say GOOD WEATHER! Hay making weather. I'm not sure how it's going to work this year as neither of us can lift small bales  around  anymore so what we sell will have to either be collected by whoever wants it straight off the field or made into big round bales and moved by the loading forks on a tractor.He has  got three fields to do- ours, one just along the road at a second home ( yet ANOTHER second home- they are everywhere around us) and a 5 acre field in Saxmundham that we have rented for hay for years. So that will be his job for the next week, cutting, turning, turning and turning again and then baling. Prayers required for good weather and good health please!

Old Tractor, old mower and not-so-old man - all getting 'past it'!