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All Part of Life’s Rich Tapestry, But I Could do Without This!

If you have read my earlier blogs you will know that I was diagnosed with diabetes type 2 at Christmas time. I was back in the UK and went to the Dr’s with my sore feet and two blood tests later it was confirmed. My blood glucose levels were sky high but I had no other symptoms to speak of, so why me???? What have I done wrong to become diabetic at 50 years old, (possibly younger, since I have had sore feet at night, for over 3 years – and I mean uncontrollable burning, pins and needles, numbness, truly excruciating)? The answer to both questions, is of course, that we don’t know. I do know that my foot pain is neurological nerve damage, caused by the diabetes and of course that does not happen over night and it is non reversible, unfortunately! Why did I not go to the Dr’s earlier? The really annoying fact is, I just ignored the signs, but to be honest the only sign was sore feet! How was I to know that this was a sign of a much more serious disease – a silent disease of the modern age? I wasn’t.

To be honest it is still a huge mystery, what has caused my diabetes and I will probably never get to understand it fully. What I do know however, is that I can no longer binge on chocolate, sweets and cakes (not that I did very often) and my diet has had to change drastically. Since Christmas I have adopted a very controlled, low carbohydrate diet based on my Dr’s advise. I have had to learn what foods contain high levels of carbohydrate and sugar and avoid them completely (banana’s!!!???). I have read all there is to read on the internet about type 2 diabetes and record everything that I eat in a day, into a special Low Carbs Diet Program to help me calculate the total carbohydrate content of each meal. I also have to read the nutrition panels on every packet of food I buy, looking at Carb. and sugar content and that is not easy at my age. The writing is so dam small, I need to carry a magnifying glass now too! Col and I have each managed to lose 7Kg in 3 months. I probably could do with losing another 5Kg, but I would never have considered myself obese by any means.

All this weight loss should have helped my glucose levels drop to normal. That is what I was hoping anyway. But guess what, after 3 months of a low carb diet (less than 130g per day), my glucose level have only reduced slightly. I have been monitoring my bloods weekly, with a home test kit from Boots. So, on Monday this week I attended the Diabetic clinic at Bosa hospital. After reviewing my glucose test results (which I have recorded for the past 3 months) and carrying out their own tests, I have been given Insulin to inject x 4 per day before meals and at night. I still cannot believe this is really happening. I am diabetic and having to inject myself with Insulin at 50 years old! WHY ME?????

I have been back to the hospital again this week for a review since starting the Insulin injections 4 days ago and my dosage has had to be increased but only slightly. Thankfully my blood glucose levels are now in the normal range. I have to monitor my bloods x 2 per day and can adjust my dosage accordingly.

It has to be said that diabetes has totally taken over my life (and Col’s). I have to plan every meal, when to take an injections, when to take bloods. Nothing can be spontaneous anymore. I have to carry a ruck sack around with me containing all my drug taking paraphernalia. Worst of all, and this is a real bummer, I am facing my 1st Easter ever, with no Easter Egg!

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Rainy week in Villanova Monteleone

We still have a lot to finish off on the boat before next week which is Easter. We want to be ready for paying guests by 19th April. Our pre season on-line bookings are very slow this year and we think maybe Brexit is to blame. But that is all I am going to say about that! Our volunteer crew arrive from the UK on Sunday too, which will mean lots of training needs to start next week and we hope they catch on quick!

So back to Villanova Monteleone, we came here at the weekend due to the rain forecast in Alghero. I have posted some pics which I took this morning from our roof top terrace. As you can see the sky is a bit gloomy, but we never tire of the fantastic views across Monte Minerva, Rocca Doria and beyond, which we overlook from our roof top vantage point. Isn’t it stunning? We are 576 meters up above Alghero and on average it’s about 5C cooler up here, so today it was 8.5C when we go up, a bit chilly!

Our mountain top village is very rural and very traditional Sardo, that’s why we love it. It’s worlds apart from bustling Alghero city, but only 23 Km away. There are about 2,000 inhabitants who rely heavily on a Pastoral existence, most men being farmers, shepherds mainly. Families tend to share a small holding, somewhere in the surrounding countryside with small numbers of sheep, goats and cattle (and of course the loyal sheep dogs) which provide both their food and livelihoods. There is a large, local modern looking dairy cooperative in the village, which employs locals making very well known Pecorino cheese for the export market mainly. The locals speak Sardo, not Italian (so much for us trying to learn Italian, which we are doing, all be it very slowly) and are predominantly erderly. Life here is very simple and very family orientated. The young leave the rural villages (once they have finished school) for the busier towns and mainland Italy, where they try to find work. English was not taught in schools in Sardinia until very recently, so only young Sardinians know any English.

Views from our roof terrace in Villanova Monteleone
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Time to celebrate! 2019 Operating License signed

Blog no.4

Rain stopped play today, so we have a days break from boat maintenance in Bosa. We decided to take a trip into Alghero to inquire at the Guardia Costiera as to whether they have approved this years license (4th visit to their office this month) and luck was on our side as we were able to collect our 2019 operating license this morning, signed by Alghero Guardia Costiera Capitaniera. So our 2019 season can officially begin! Its always a bit nerve racking going into the officials office to get approval each year. Our Italian is not great and of course we are trying to impress these important people, so we panic somewhat more than usual, when we are put on the spot and they ask us awkward questions, which they do each year. We always seem to get there eventually however. Its like we have to play their little games by their rules before we can get an official signature!

We have made great progress this past week in Bosa and are now at the painting stage. Wait until you see our new colour scheme! Colin has had a lot more hull re-caulking of the seems to do this year and he has been doing it the traditional way with tarred hemp and Black Pudding mix (no not the blood sausage). The hull paint work really needs stripping back completely but we are not doing that this year, maybe we will tackle it in 2 years time if we can muster up some extra helping hands! It will be a big job!

We think we have 1 more weeks work at Bosa then we will head back to Alghero. We have 2 Help Ex volunteers joining us for the summer season and they arrive on 14th April ready for Easter. We will be embarking on a weeks training before the season starts, so that they can start ‘learning the ropes’! It will soon be upon us, all hands on deck!

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Our Story 2019 (told by Rachel) part 2

To see the start of our story (part 1), please scroll down.

Our alarm is set for 7.15 am, we wake each morning with the sun beaming through our bedroom window.  That’s the big difference between here and Scotland. The days of wall to wall sunshine here equals the days of rain there and that was a big motivation for us to leave Scotland behind and start a new life here. Owning a boat in Scotland can be amazing, but it can also be very cold and wet, which does take the edge off it a bit.

Whilst still lying in bed we hear the now familiar distant pastoral sounds of dogs barking, a donkey braying, heeeeh haw and goats bells clinking!,  That’s when we know we are back in Villanova Monteleone.

We have been back for 2 and a half weeks and the long list of maintenance jobs is not getting any shorter despite our hard efforts, because Colin keeps adding new jobs to the list.  Cross one off, add two!.

As usual after being shut up for 2 months, Andrea’s interior was dusty and mouldy, when we took the covers off and opened up her hatches, though thankfully, not as bad as previous years. We have fixed a lot of leaks in the deck over the last 3 years and as a result she is a lot drier inside.  Still she needed cleaned from top to bottom before we could start any real work.

We have actually achieved quite a lot in this first few weeks. Our first big job was rewiring. We set about ripping all the old electrical cables out of the galley and saloon. No longer will we have to look at all the exposed cables trailing over the saloon ceiling, beams and walls, covered in layers of old paint. Colin has rewired the entire electrical circuits through conduit and concealed much of the wiring under the saloon seats. My job has been prepping the ceiling and walls for painting, (filling in holes left by the old wiring) and sanding, my forte apparently. We also decided to take out one of the saloon sky lights, as it still leaked really badly and needed re-bedded and resealed in place.  In between doing all this, Colin has disconnected and removed the main toilet from the heads and ripped out the rotten floor it was sitting on (years of being soaked with water from the shower is to blame). The hull of the boat is exposed  and is now open and drying out before Colin attempts to rebuild it and re-plumb the toilet back in.

Prep work almost complete and saloon nearly ready for repainting!

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2019 Our Story (as told by Rachel)

We arrived back in Sardinia on 4th February, at Porto Torres from Toulon.  We have been away in the UK for 2 months, staying with friends and family, doing absolutely nothing.  A lovely break. We are both looking forward to getting active again however. The sun was out to welcome us on our return and whilst driving to our hill top home in  Villanova Monteleone, we both commented on how green and lush the island was looking.  It was also striking, how much water was lying in the fields and in streams at the edges of the road. The water level in the lake on the road to our neighbouring village, Putrifigari, was also the highest we had seen it, in the 3 years we have been living here. The island looked refreshed after the winter. It is a good feeling being back and Sardinia is definitely feeling more like home for us I think.

I have  a new challenge in my life that I now have to deal with. Whilst in the UK, I visited my doctor to get a diagnosis for my sore feet, which I have been suffering with for years. Surprisingly I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.  This has come as a big shock to both of us.  I would not consider myself massively over weight and have no other diabetic symptoms and with no history of diabetes in my family, it really is the last thing I expected to be told.  I have been advised that the best way of bringing my sugars down and to beat diabetes is through a controlled low carbohydrate diet and exercise program.  So there we are, Colin and I have to do more and eat less!  Well if I do, he does too! Great when can we start?