Home again

A good night's sleep and a long wait for Joel and Sophie's return from Vienna . All was well, including the cat.   

Looking forward to being home again,we seem to have been away for ages. The house was fine,but a bit cold, although we were used to that following arctic conditions in Reading and Manchester, but at  least our  boiler worked.

Will, our new decorater, turned up bright and early Monday morning and in the blink of an eye completed our bedroom and started "brightening up" the living room. His work is to a very high standard and he is meticulously clean, even borrowing our hoovers and emptying them as necessary. Lynne was suitably impressed.

The rowers return

I made my October 23rd rowing deadline, and had 3 volunteers to form a quad crew. It was very cold and misty. We managed a smooth kilometre  before I gained a pain in my right hip , restricting my stroke timing until it became too severe to continue. A few minutes and yards later I suffered a right dead leg. My gallant crew managed to get the boat and me back to the boathouse. I needed all hands available to get me out of the boat. Not the most elegant of exits,it has to be said. My leg became fully

functional by the time Lynne and I limped from  boat to the boathouse, a distance of perhaps 10 yards.

Since then I have only suffered a dull ache in my right hip, but overall I was elated at being back on the water. Too early perhaps?

I have emailed my gallant crew personally to thank them for their help and patience. Lynne and I returned to Reading to discover the boiler had packed up, so no hot showers or heating.

From there we headed to  Manchester to commence a few days of cat sitting for Joel and Sophie, only  to discover they too had no heating, but at least the shower worked. 

We sat watching theTV wrapped in a duvet and attempted to solve the riddle of storage radiators. I had  a relaxing hot shower and awoke in the morning to a warm living room. Oh, joy. 

Their young cat quickly alternates between flat -out action and sleep. Good fun though.

Long-range update

We spent a very enjoyable weekend in the lower Lake District/Peak District where we rented a fabulous cottage with Janet (of France/Italy holiday fame)and her friend Gill( of no particular fame) and we had a very enjoyable time visiting an RSPB reserve and underwent a spell of "tweeting" ( bird watching ) but saw nothing awe-inspiring or exciting. We also managed a trip to a small local theatre starring a very eccentric woman who sang songs and read poems about women in war, accompanied off-stage by a pianist. It was interesting rather than entertertaining. As Janet spent her childhood in the area she drove us around in her Jaguar showing the sights and scenery other visitors would miss.

Jersey boys.

Following the success of our Eagles outing we have now booked seats to see "The Jersey boys ", a show based on the career of Frankie Valli and the four seasons.

Eagles

We are just back from spending a few days with Linda and Terry in Colchester. Terry set-up Lynne's new laptop and added "2001 a space odyssey"as a ringtone on my "new" mobile and "From me to you" by Walk off the earth (originally Beatles) as my message ringtone.

Continuing the musical theme we obtained tickets to see " talon" an Eagles tribute band appearing in a  Clacton theatre for one night, and very good they were too. A good night was had by all, taking us back to our teen years, plus half of Clacton by the look of it.

Keep smiling

Back into routine as Tom brought "our old car" up for a service and MOT, already paid for under our annual maintenance plan. The garage tried to take us for a ride by failing it and saying it required repairs   estimated at over £1,OOO . The mistake they made was the car still had an MOT valid for another week so after a bit of a row we took it out of the garage and Tom drove it home to Chessington for a mechanic friend to declare it was OK for an MOT certificate for another year following minor works costing a few pounds. Lesson learned. 

My gym session was tough work again but left no lasting aches or pains. I think. I'm ready for my first rowing session since my treatment. My old club have confirmed they are willing to accommodate me, but my current commitments mean it will have to wait until late October, although it is great news all the same.