September 2018 – Autumn is here

September 2018 

Here we are then, Saturday 8^th September and autumn is well and truly here, the mornings are crisp and misty and the leaves are turning already – red and golden coloured leaves are more and more visible every day.  It is a beautiful sight but a precursor to the cold of winter.  We have been treated to some awesome aerial displays by the house martens as they prepare for their long flight to Africa for the winter and the hedges are full of blackberries and, another sure sign of a harsh winter on its way, the holly is full of red berries.

The first indicator of autumn is the sound of ‘la Chasse’ – the hunt – which started last Sunday and was announced by the baying of dogs and the crackle of assorted gunfire – shotguns and large calibre rifles.  They hunt everything and anything here – deer, wild boar, foxes, squirrels – and seem to take no notice of the laws that govern their ‘sport’.   We don’t allow them on our land and have, in the past, chased off them and their dogs – and that won’t be changing.

We had a great summer, the temperatures were well into the 30’s for weeks (even now it’s well into the 20’s) with little rain save for the occasional thunderstorm, but the slightly cooler weather comes as a relief because in truth the heat is very debilitating, especially for Karen.  My injuries mean I don’t feel extremes of temperature, which is good in the summer because I don’t feel like I’m melting although I do have to take great care not to burn – I wouldn’t feel it and then be at risk of the dreaded autonomic dysreflexia.  The cold of winter is easier to manage in many ways – I just wear lots of jumpers and fleece jackets and park my chariot in front of the stove in the kitchen.

We were hoping for a few visitors this summer but unfortunately that didn’t develop as we hoped, Ryan Air will fly you to Limoges or Clermont-Ferrand for next to nothing out of season but summer prices get plain stupid.  Add the cost of a hire car and it soon becomes way too expensive.  Karen’s niece Nathalie came a calling in July and brother-in-law Peter came with his two youngest – Kira-Tai and Joe – at the end of August for a long weekend and we had a great time with them.  The firewood is piled high by the stove, ready for the colder weather, and we introduced them to the pleasures of Chinese checkers, which has superseded Scrabble as our board game of choice.  I was introduced to ‘Les Dames Chinoises’ as it is called here as part of my Ergotherapie when I was in le Mont after my shoulder replacement and was really bitten by it – it’s simple but complicated at the same time, if you know what I mean, in that the rules are simple but it is tactical and differs dependent on how many are playing.

Talking of my new shoulder, we went to see the surgeon last week and he has discharged me from his care.  He was really happy with the mobility I now have and impressed with the way I now use my arm without even thinking.  For some time it was a case of preparing myself to use my arm before actually doing whatever was required as I had to take into account some serious limitations and discomfort.  Now I  can just reach for things without really thinking about it although I do have to be aware of things like weight and heat – so picking up boiling kettles is still to be avoided, but at least now  can put a full kettle on the burner to boil.  Me and my right shoulder have been on a long journey together but I’m feeling the benefits of extra mobility and no pain and things are looking a little rosier.  I owe a great deal of thanks to the French medical services for the skill and care of all those I came into contact with, but also to Karen for encouraging me to have the operation and my physio Dolf who talked me through what to expect, what benefits I could expect and then for pushing me through numerous pain barriers to reach this position.  Thanks all.

One of the immediate benefits is that I am now quite confident driving again and indeed have started bombing round and about over the last couple of days.  As I have already commented on in previous blogs my spaz van has been adapted to allow it to be driven by someone with my physical handicap, but it isn’t that easy.  Because I have no control of my abdominal muscles I struggle to sit up straight and still for any length of time.  I can compensate for this to an extent but I do need to make sure that I am well positioned so that I can use my arms and elbows to help support my top half.  Steering with one hand is becoming easier, as is pulling a lever to accelerate and pushing it to brake, but they aren’t as natural as driving with both hands and feet were/are.  It will never be as simple as just jumping in the car and driving off – Dolf likened it to a pilot having a pre-flight check list and it goes something like this; press remote-control to open back doors and lower the loading ramp, drive onto the platform, raise the platform, drive into the back of the van, stow the loading ramp, put the remote control somewhere safe (if I was on my own and dropped it I’d be in trouble as I can’t touch the floor when I’m in my wheelchair), take footrests off wheelchair, tilt seat back, drive chair towards docking station, check feet aren’t in the way, tilt seat forward, drive into docking station, engage seat, bring headrest forwards, put on seat-belt, press ignition button, wait for ignition to initialise, start engine, apply brake, engage drive or reverse (it’s an auto), release parking brake (it’s been converted to being electrically operated) and then it’s off we go!  Getting out of the van is all of the above but in reverse and it is all complicated by the fact that the van was not built for me and my chair, so whilst it all works and is safe it’s not quite a perfect fit.  One thing I do have to figure out is if there are any restrictions to me driving now I’m paraplegic, it was never mentioned when I was in Stanmore but then again I never asked so who knows?  If you do know please let me know (quietly) at jem@jembrookes.com – we don’t want the bizzies finding out do we?

I’ve still not managed to get the van French number plates yet, and the clock is ticking on the failed Controle Technique.  The department responsible is insisting I provide French proof of my disability and the department responsible for providing that aren’t proving very helpful, so we’re a bit stuck at the moment.  We’ll try calling them (again) on Monday and see if we can chivvy them up a little because without a road-legal van I’ll be stuck indoors.  We have been told that they will visit us at home and see what support they can offer so these people might actually prove of great help to us as they might be able to offer financial support for any adaptations they identify as needed and also offer a French support network.

Talking of road-legal, the front tyres on the van are wearing oddly – the camber on the wheels is off which is wearing the outside edge of the tyres amazingly quickly.  The van’s only done 11,000 miles so I’m a tad concerned but I’ve booked it in with the local garage for next Thursday and we’ll see what our man can do for us – fortunately he’s a great spanner man and a nice bloke and hopefully a bit of wheel-alignment will do the trick.

On a different note, I’ve been indulging myself with some new music (did you notice how I did that? On a different note – I might even be getting good at this writing lark LOL).  I pre-ordered new albums by a couple of my favourites through Amazon which all turned up within days of their release.  The first to show was the new Boz Scaggs CD ‘Out of the Blues’.  I’ve been a fan of this bloke for years – even before his disco years singing ‘Lowdown’ when everyone liked him.  His back catalogue is well worth investigating, at heart he’s a bluesy, soulful, jazzy singer and he covers all these genres with aplomb.  Try the album trailer here.

The second artist with new albums on offer is Richard Hawley.  He has just released two live albums – ‘Live at the Devils Arse Cave 2008’ and ‘Live at the Devils Arse Cave 2017’. The Devils Arse Cave is actually Peak Cavern in Castleton and the acoustics are amazing.  I have an affinity with Peak Cavern and the Castleton and Edale area as, long long ago when I was a youngster with working legs I was introduced to the joys of pot-holing by my old BT mate Howard Taylor and spent years exploring the underground delights of the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, Northern Ireland and Spain.  Happy days!  I digress.  If you’ve never knowingly heard Richard Hawley look him up on YouTube or follow the links above – he’s brilliant!

So then, that’s about 1,500 words done, my magic number which I hope keeps you interested enough to keep reading and not get too bored with an old spaz’s ramblings.  It also gives me a worthwhile target to try to achieve and so exercise my addled brain.  I’ll bring you more news from Creuse in due course, and hopefully there’ll be good news about the van, it’s tyres and it’s number plates.

Speak soon.  Jem.