The last post

With my boating days over this will be my last daily blog of this particular series,thanks for supporting me over the years,

Decisions, decisions.

A decisive day. We have sadly agreed to sell Tardis Two,signing the sales agreement and arranging for photo's to be taken on a future non-windy day ( today being gale force ). Standing on the stern and attempting to remain upright reminded me of the reason for our decision, my safety. Whether it sells or not remains to be seen, but the agent remains very confident.

Another very sad day

With "reasons to be cheerful" by   Ian Dury and the Blockheads already lodged in what's left of my brain I woke to yet another sad day - and it was raining again.

Alone again my black mood seems to be getting blacker, forty shades of black?

I swear this place is haunted, with creaks and groans coming from upstairs if I'm downstairs and visa versa.    All was quiet until 11.30 am when every phone in the house (3) rang at once. What is left of my brain immediately slipped into confusion and eventually I opted to leave the landline phones to the ansafone and answer my mobile,which was nothing important. One of the other calls was from the company seeking feedback on Lynne's recent massage and beautifying day. Lynne can phone them back on her return. The remaining call was from the Baillifs , checking the amount we are owed, which I was able to deal with. They are in the process of "doing the admin" and will be undertaking the "raid" very soon, apparently. Yet another light at the end of yet another tunnel. The "ghosts" were overcome by leaving the TV playing radio 5 whilst I continued dozing upstairs having demolished a pork pie salad lunch. But the day proved long.......and longer...........and longer.

A very sad day

I am home alone again for a few days,  as usual Lynne received a last minute request to work in London for a few days. Following our decision to sell Tardis Two and having watched "War Horse" on TV last night I awoke in a less than joyous mood, not improved when I found Lynne had already quietly gone and had left a montage of boating photo's on my ipad. A few tears were shed as my dark mood deepened.

Plan B is to take a few sunshine holidays via funds from the boat sale, but my dark mood  and poor health has only highlighted the problem of getting travel insurance or even being allowed to fly.

Arsenal play Chelsea this afternoon which I am hoping will lighten my mood by keeping Arsenal in the hunt for a magnificent triple at the season end.

It ended 0 - 1 to Chelsea, with a pathetic Arsenal performance before and after they went down to 10 men. Champions or a triple? You must be joking.

Progress

The form to set the bailiffs onto MCC arrived this morning and was duly completed and despatched. Mcc's bill has risen considerably as each legal hiccup arises, mainly self-inflicted. Shame.     For the simple price of 1 battery three years ago they could have saved themselves a shed-load of money and us a whole load of inconvenience and heartache.

Confused? You will be.

Having completed the relevant forms for our high court MCC case they were returned, with the cheque, stating we would need to submit a new one to obtain enforcement, easy eh? No such luck.

Lynne spent the whole morning attempting to locate who issues the damn form, before being put in touch with the original girl she spoke to almost 3 hours earlier, who this time offered to send the "new form" for completion and return. Result.

Two plus points. Lynne learned MCC are still trading, but with a low credit rating and they have no other legal issues ongoing at present. Onwards and upwards.

It is raining again but a little warmer.

Regarding the boat we have made the first moves to sell her,regretfully. My health is not improving sufficiently to make it safe for me to handle locks and/or the boat. Regretting not selling her after my death or major injury is not an option worth considering.

We are both very upset at the decision but accept it is inevitable.

Restless night

Most of the night was spent in the bathroom, but rather than bore you with the grim details suffice to say I emerged possibly 2 kilo's lighter !  And, having showered, much more wholesome. 

The mob that were supposed to visit yesterday morning, but failed, phoned to book/impose a new appointment next week. When and if they ever arrive I will enquire where they obtain their customer liaison training, because it is incredibly unique. 

Today is cold and frosty so I'll probably catch up on some sleep in the warm at some time.

Leicester hospitals sheer incompetence

The sheer incompetence of the Leicester NHS has been the subject of my blog on numerous occasions, but they excelled themselves today. Although not directly related to the NHS , someone from the disability payment office had arranged to re-check my details for 2016 at home at 0830 this morning, but phoned at 0815 to cancel, with no reason or excuse given. i received a letter fromLeicester hospital informing me an endoscopy has been arranged for me next week, which was a little disconcerting as I have yet to be officially informed of the results of my last one,about a week ago.

Thoughts immediately go to finding something nasty.  Lynne spent almost 3hours on the phone to a vast array of consultants and doctors attempting to clarify why another endoscopy is necessary but without success. Eventually she managed to speak to one of the diabetic team I have seen recently, and he volunteered to track down my notes. What a brilliant guy. He eventually phoned back, apologised on behalf of Leicester for not letting me know the endoscopy results, but confirmed there is nothing to worry about. The consultant who did the endoscopy apparently forgot to record the size of the gist on my stomach, essential for monitoring it in future, hence the repeat excercise, so as recommended I will attend the next endoscopy and observe at the the subsequent team review meeting in early March. I intend writing to the hospital Chief Executive again in due course.

Snow gone

The white carpet failed to last more than 24 hours although the very cold temperatures survived longer.

Snow

Got up this morning to a picture postcard scene, everything covered in pristine snow. About an inch of it.

Home we go

A fairly leisurely start to our return home in bright sunshine and an uneventful journey arriving in time for  a sandwich lunch. For some unexplained reason next door's neurotic cat was found in our house by another neighbour putting our heating on for us, but no harm done. She was ejected into the garden ( the cat, not the neighbour ), but the cat flap locks appeared intact so  how she got in will remain a mystery, but the lack of smelly evidence would suggest her stay had been a short one. Strange but true.

Our stay with Marlene and Brian had been excellent but it is still nice to get home.

Day 4

A bright morning most of which I missed as I had a lay-in. I appear to be in the dog-house for reasons yet to be established, but I am getting pretty broad shouldered so not particularly worried. Lynne is apparently not working today so all will be revealed in due course. We helped Marlene and Brian set up a meal and raffle for the local Mothers Union which raised over £300, a great result and a very friendly bunch.we assisted returning the hall to pristine condition and washing up.

Day 3

Lynne is starting yet another day at work. Literally no one knows how long it will last, not the shop manager, Lynne or me ( not necessarily in that order) but, for what it is worth, my money is on 4 or 5 days.

Walk off the earth have already released their cover of Adele's hit single ""hello" within only a week of it hitting the charts,and it is remarkably different,as usual. Have a look on YouTube.

I am feeling ok.

Today is a good news day. Apparently Whale numbers are generally increasing world-wide and agreement has been reached to stop keeping killer whales in captivity. 

A late afternoon power cut meant cooking and eating dinner was completed by torch and candle light, romantic but inconvenient. Fortunately the aga was unaffected so dinner appeared ( though slightly dimmer) as usual.

Confusion relegated

Yesterday's confusion has been relegated to memory, following a chat with Lynne. Inevitably Lynne's working week has extended to at least 4 days, no surprise there, so we'll remain with Marlene and Brian a little longer.  It appears I have already missed an appointment with a hospital nutrition consultant, but that seems unimportant to Lynne and not particularly disappointing for me.

Confusion and bye Bowie

Yesterday was a blur of confusion, partly caused by our hectic programme over recent days and not helped by a mix up with my morning insulin injection and the lack of a pencil to record it,resulting in a minor inadvertent overdose,quickly discovered by Lynne on her return from work  No harm done apart from a minor hypo.

Brian produced an excellent roast lamb dinner to rescue the situation and life went on, as usual. it was far less confused this morning, following a major thunderstorm complete with loud bangs and lightning flashes during the night, romantically linked to the passing of David Bowie,who sadly succumbed to cancer.

Lynne returned to work, as did Chloe who had joined us for dinner.

Leisurely Sunday and endoscopy.

With Lynne working once again I spent today With Marlene and Brian near Reading, having completed a couple of hours gardening for "old" Derek yesterday. You are correct in guessing the rain has stopped for a couple of days. Yippee.

The endoscopy was far less frightening or painful than feared and if they could have started the computer it would have been fast. In the event they confirmed the gist in my stomach is not cancerous, subject to the biopsy results. It was weird looking at my gut from the inside as the camera passed through it and I can now differentiate between dangerous and safe gist's.

Ark ordered

Another wet day and with most of the UK literally underwater already, my thoughts have returned to boating , with the emphasis on an ark, although to be fair, whatever they did with our local flood defences last year appear to have worked. The fields which were underwater are still visible to date, a major achievement given the endless days of rain so far this winter.

Today was internment of Sue's ashes day. It rained in gale force winds so luckily the service was short, but moving. Afterwards we all opted to visit a pub in Groby and Derek then proceeded to buy all eleven of us lunch, which proved to be excellent. From there we returned to Derek's for coffee so it was16.30 before we returned home with the wind stronger and colder.

Back to the mundane

After a considerable lie-in it was back to the routine Sainsbury's major shopping trip. It proved good exercise and ended with a tea of muscles with bread. My mood was excellent again.

Diabetic review

My favourite diabetic consultant failed to appear for my appointment but was replaced by a new guy to me, far less interested and far less probing, failing even to look at my blood sugar results book. I could have got away with telling him anything !!  

And then there were two

Bob and Margaret left for their home, the only remnant being Margaret's walking stick, with which she will be re-United very shortly. Their stay has cheered me up no end and I intend maintaining the brighter outlook for the foreseeable future, despite the bleak weather outside. I have a diabetic review meeting with my hospital consultant who I like and respect enormously. I do not foresee any problems, but who am I to say? 

I was given a mug for Christmas bearing the legend "do not count the hours but make the hours count" which I intend to stick by.

Yet more rain and a diet.

This year has started the way the last ended........ Wet, but mild.

Lynne has started Bob on a "healthy eatiing "regime backed by regular blood sugar testing, in an attempt to improve his diet and reduce his burgeoning waistline and weight.

The first day was a great "eye opener" for us all, but Bob now understands the problem with his previous regime and the benefits of the new.

It rained heavily and continuously all day which led us to the Red Lion for Sunday lunch, e good experience as usual. Lynne and Margaret continued completing a full page crossword puzzle from an Xmas newspaper. We think they will finish it around Easter. 

Happy new year

We saw 2016 in watching Bryan Adams live in concert in London and very good he was too. The firework display at halfway was amazingly spectacular,but I dread to think what effect it had on the U.K.'s economy.  Healthwise it is a good start to the new year.