Rhino relationships

Equally sunny but cooler than yesterday. We had a lunch date at Burton Upon Trent but managed to find Barrow Upon Trent instead, but the problem was quickly rectified and our friends had only a short wait for us. No malnutrition suffered. The photo is of the Tardis Two early days in the welding shop, now a distant memory. No comparison with the newest pictures. After our last visit to MCC we stupidly decided to "pop" into IKEA looking for a cutlery tray. Sounds reasonable until you realise it is impossible to just "pop" into IKEA. We got lost several times again. Many hours later we managed to tunnel our way out, exhausted but complete with a cutlery tray. I still think someone should introduce an IKEA sat-nav into which you tap your required department, plug in your earphones and off you go. Tap exit when you want to leave. What could possibly go wrong? A £5 deposit should ensure return of the gadget each time.I made a remarkable discovery yesterday whilst walking home from the village Our rhino has always appeared to be alone, poor soul, but on the other side of the same tree are the heads of a female and calf, not visible from the house. Good news indeed. The Black rhino population is therefore considerably higher than previous estimates

Guided tours

A very sunny and WARM day, note Lynne and Brother-in-law Brian sporting dark glasses. Tardis Two is now virtually complete, bar for a few window surrounds to be completed tomorrow. Due to my previously arranged visit to Kingston hospital on Tuesday we will be unable to start boarding until Wednesday, which is very frustrating considering the length of time we have waited for this moment. But Wednesday it will be. Whilst showing Tardis Two off to our relatives today a young man approached to ask if he could have a tour. We naturally agreed. There is no point being proud of something if you can't show it off, is there? Like us he loved it and ran off to make enquiries with Marian regarding buying one. We'll charge commission. Moments later a couple around our age (old) also requested a tour. We considered charging them but pride came before profit. Apparently they have lived on a boat for fifteen years and are keen to replace it with a more modern version. On the tour we did our publicity blurb for MCC and off they went to get a quote from Marian. Again we'll charge commission. This sounds a good get-rich-not-so-quick project. I remembered bread for the swans so am back in their good books. After yet another lunch at the dragon one of the owners offered us a parking space in their car park anytime whilst we're out on Tardis Two. That would give us an excellent excuse to re-visit again and again. No change there then.

Eat your heart out, Cunard

same old, same old weather, Cold wind with sunshine unfortunately filtered by fluffy cloud formations. Tardis Two was back in the workshop today having the finishing touches applied. The snags we spotted last weekend have all been dealt with and the wine chiller is fully functional, minus the wine. During my long hours in bed yesterday Lynne slaved over a hot sewing machine, between serving me coffee and meals, virtually completing the boat blinds. With the addition of my skilfully sawn wooden lathes this morning they are now ready for hanging on Tardis Two. I know I've said this before but T T will be the best boat on the British and European Canal systems for many years to come. A combined winner of the Miss World and Mr. Universe competitions. She will be ready to board on Tuesday of next week, typically coinciding with my next scheduled medical appointment in London, this time for my annual diabetic check-up. As you can probably tell, I am much recovered from yesterdays ailments. We have yet to formulate a plan for getting our worldly possessions on board and heading out into the great unknown, but I'll keep you informed. My true travelogue will commence immediately we set sale (the main reason for starting my blog). Better late than never. Excited or what?

Playing God

The rhino's head is bobbing up and down, indicating a very windy day. The big yellow blob is in the sky yet again. It's starting to be a habit. Following my fruitless trip to hospital yesterday I suffered the mother of all dizzy spells during the evening and two during the night, complete with my previous early warning system of acid indigestion. The trips to the bathroom were via a very wavy route and I fortunately kept upright via the help of nearby furniture. I woke with a thumping head. The only plus point was receiving breakfast and lunch in bed thanks to my tireless carer Lynne. My head is still thumping as I write this. My intention is to return to bed but get up for tea. The trip to see the boat has been delayed till tomorrow, which indicates just how bad I am feeling. Reflecting on yesterday I am now fully aware I am simply a bar code number on NHS records. The neurologist making the decision on whether to change my anti-seizure drug (there are several on the market, all with different side-effects, depending on the patient) or vary my present doseage again made the decision to change nothing after talking to my carer (not me!!)from the end of a telephone line. Diagnosis by Skype? I always thought it best to make an assessment of bedside manner when the doctor was at your bedside, not someone else's. Anyway, if he feels confident enough to play God from afar, good luck to him, but he's lost another patient. (gone away, not died, thankfully). The Liverpool pathway (a cunning NHS plan to reduce costs and meet performance targets by removing treatment, food , water and basic care, particularly for older patients) seems to have a lot going for it at the moment. I have also "chased" my GP again (chance would be a fine thing)for a counselling programme to tackle my depression but it takes time to organise apparently. This Liverpool pathway seems to have spread like foot and mouth disease. The pathway is so called as it started in a Liverpool hospital and quickly spread across the UK, apparently undetected by Hospital Managers, undertakers and the Minister of Health.

St. George

Blissfully sunny summer day when viewed from a warm house or car but sub-arctic when actually out in it. Having scraped ice off the car windows we set off for London at the ungodly hour of 0600. Even so we arrived for my 0900 appointment at St Georges hospital late, due to underestimating the volume of rush-hour traffic in Wimbledon and Tooting. The wisdom of moving to "the sticks" was yet again confirmed, as was our resolve never to return. In the event my appointment was considerably less than exciting as the decision was to leave my current drug regime unaltered for a further three months. If my current relative good health continues so be it, but if not an alternative to limotrigine will be tried. We had a further discussion over what actually constitutes a fit, but we left non-the-wiser. The consultant considers my dizzy and vacant spells as purely reactions to the drugs, whilst the neurologist is convinced they are fits. I have opted to agree with the consultant. My support nurse was surprisingly supportive today and will chase-up my GP for depression counselling, whilst the aforementioned cancer tumour support nurse (not mine) was once again ultra supportive and sorted out the issue of two scan appointments less than two weeks apart next month, confirmed as administrative errors. I now will have one scan next January as per original arrangements. Having spent over six hours being driven around I opted for a "fitness" walk this evening, making the most of the extra hours daylight. I discovered a recent plantation of commercial apple species in the country park, supposedly filled only with native plants. A plaque explained it is part of an award winning project by the local primary school pupils and young boy scouts to replace an historic orchard previously on the site. We,re off to see Tardis Two tomorrow, hoping to see her ready for boarding (again). Fingers crossed.

Bl***ingly obvious

Very sunny today with the odd fluffy white cloud or two, but no formations unfortunately. A quiet day with the highlight being a visit to Laura Ashley (the shop, not the girl) to pick up the blind material we originally chose but decided was too expensive at the time. Delay upon delay in the supply of our second (cheaper) choice and the ever nearer completion of Tardis Two forced our hand into returning for the original again. Our second choice was just that, so we are happy with the result despite the expense. We're up very early in the morning as I have a 9.00am appointment at St. Georges hospital, London, for my "support" nurse to review my tumour drug regime. As I am sure she will be of great support to Lynne at my funeral the lack of such prior confidence hardly fills me with enthusiasm for tomorrow, but hey-ho, that's life (or not as the case may be).

Snagging

This photo is of Tardis Two moored outside the workshop for the first time, nearly complete. Believe it or not the bow Tardis Two names are obliterated by sun reflections. For those of you too young to remember, the sun was a large yellow ball-type object high in the clear blue sky from which heat beamed to earth. Countries like Africa and India tended to see it more than we did and thus were warmer. Thanks to global warming this has all changed and yesterday northern Scotland was colder than the arctic. Over the weekend we had two opportunities to show relatives the boat and were able to check for interior "snags" (minor issues requiring attention). Fortunately very few were found but on our next visit we will be fully armed with a snag-list. The swans were as grumpy as ever, particularly when they realised I had forgotten the bread promised for their tea. A couple of angry taps on the window and they were off in a huff, ganging-up on an unfortunate Coot as they went.