After yesterday’s hard work in the garden, sleep didn’t come easily or comfortably to me last night. I tossed and turned, groaning each time I shifted in position, muscles across the small of my back going into painful spasms that froze me immobile for a few seconds each time. I should know better but I enjoy gardening and there are always so many jobs to be done.
So this morning I could barely roll out of bed and straighten up. I briefly considered painkillers butI don’t like taking them for backache because I feel a need to be aware of the pain. Pain is there for a reason – it says ‘Don’t go any further!’ and I suspect I might be less careful if painkillers were suppressing my body’s natural warning system. So I took one of the tablets that the doctor prescribed for my lumbago a while back, since that was the characteristic of the pain, and fortunately it helped ease the backache.
I also made sure I kept moving because I know, as sure as eggs is eggs, if I adopt a policy of making the least movement possible, that my body will seize up and be even more painful. The best solution is to carry on as normally as feasible and the aches will gradually diminish. So I continued with my work at a reduced level, including hoovering and other housework.
The backache did ease very gradually over the course of the morning and I was feeling reasonably comfortable by lunchtime. Of course, sitting down for lunch made my back seize up again but not as badly as this morning. I made sure I got up from my chair in the office at frequent intervals this afternoon, especially to make copious mugs of tea 
This evening, sitting at my office chair typing this, I am conscious of my back stiffening again but I’m headed off to bed early and will take another of the lumbago tablets before I go to sleep. I’m hoping to get a better night tonight …
On a more cheerful note, students on the A215 open conference on First Class are reporting that the first of their course materials turned up this morning Most of them seemed to be in London and other cities so I’m not holding out much hope of receiving mine any time soon 
The Post Office was always pretty good but if it’s DHL then I expect my parcel will still be several days away from delivery, especially since I signed up for the course quite late. Now where did I put that notebook?
