Gin & Tonic time

Step-dad left at 2pm on Monday afternoon but not before he’d helped us weed and clear our front gardens.  Well, when I say help, he did most of the pruning, Phil did as he was directed and I was responsible for getting rid of the rubbish in the skip just around the corner.  There must have been a load of weeds because by the time we’d finished the skip was full up.  Not surprisingly it looks a lot better and cutting back has made room for another car on the driveway.  I did get to the gym on Monday afternoon but it was a bit of a half hearted workout, at least it was better than nothing.  The sun was out when I got home and the caravan was stifling hot.  It wasn’t a late night because we were knackered.

On Tuesday we drove down to Lowestoft to visit Daphne in hospital.  Unfortunately she is still in the intensive care unit but is so much better than she was when we last saw her last week.  I have been getting calls from Mandy, her cleaner-cum-carer and also I have been able to speak to staff in the ICU.  Poor Daphne had a bit of a rough ride last week; she had a small bleed and a stomach scan revealed an ulcer.  The doctor decided to take her off the dialysis to see if her kidneys would work by themselves but they didn’t she had to go straight back on the dialysis machine.  Things weren’t sounded too great so I was relieved to speak to Mandy on Sunday who told me that she’d gone in on Saturday and for the first time since her operation, she said Daphne was in the land of the living.  This was a big relief.  When Mandy was speaking to Daph, she said had no recollection of us visiting her in ICU so we decided to visit again on Tuesday.

When we got to the ward Daphne was wide awake and looked so much better.  In ICU she has a nurse with her 24/7 and when I heard Daphne constantly complaining to the nurse; well I knew that she was definitely feeling better.  Obviously still in a great deal of pain and still bed bound as she is still hooked up to the dialysis but thankfully I don’t believe she as at death’s door anymore.  We didn’t want to tire Daphne out with our visit but she didn’t want us to go so in the end we ended up staying for 3 hours.  During this time Daphne stayed awake and chatted; she was having problems every now and then getting her breath but Mary, her nurse said this was because of her kidney problems.  There is some talk about Daphne being moved to a specialist unit in Norwich but I don’t think she will be going anywhere this week.  Although Daphne was pleased to see us, she is very much looking forward to her dear friend Jim returning home from holiday at the weekend.  I don’t know what the long term recovery will be for Phil’s aunt but I do so hope it has been worth all the pain. 

The journey there and back to Lowestoft in wall-to-wall sunshine was so much nicer than last week.  Still 6 hours in total but having left early we were back for tea-time.  Once again the caravan was baking and we felt very uncomfortable.  Phil likes to have all the windows and doors open when its hot but I don’t like the wasps coming in and I also I worry that the noise from the big telly will upset the neighbours. 

The sunshine these last few days has been lovely and I woke up on Wednesday morning feeling quite energised.  I had a good workout at the gym and got quite a few jobs done in the caravan before heading to MK at midday.  Our first stop in MK was the Miiandu restaurant at the Oriental supermarket at Stacey Bushes.  It was more Japanese than Thai but food quite tasty and very reasonably priced.  We just had the one course and after lunch did a quick shop for spicy stuff in the supermarket.  Our next stop was the OU to change Phil’s library books.  He returned his old books, picked out new books but when he went to take them out he realised that he didn’t have his library card.  Bit of a wasted journey really but I did need to pop into Tesco Kingston so not entirely wasted.  The next job was Homebase for some 20ml gravel and then we drove over to Galleyhill to drop off a cheque at Anne & Jim’s. Anne did warn me that they probably wouldn’t be in and sure enough there was no car on the drive.  Phil stayed in the car and I thought before I posted the envelope through the letterbox, best check with Phil that I’d got the right house.  Good job as I did as I nearly posted it through the next door neighbour’s letterbox!

Our last stop was the studio flat in Two Mile Ash.  We were due to meet the energy people to carry out a loft insulation survey sometime between 2pm and 4pm but we had a few jobs to do there anyway so we thought we’d get there and hope that the energy inspector arrived early.  The residents that live in our block do not care about their living environment and sure enough, as with every time we visit, the front garden was covered in all kinds of shit; pizza boxes, beer cans, you name it.  Phil quickly scuttled upstairs with the keys leaving me with the bin bag.  Funny how I always get all the rubbish jobs.

We were dismayed to see that the agent hadn’t had any viewings, evident by the stack of free papers and junk mail which almost made the front door impossible to open.  I soon scooped these up and put out in the rubbish and then while Phil went to the local shop to get some electric for the meter while I went down to inspect the front garden.  It was totally overgrown; it wasn’t too bad the last time we inspected but obviously with all the rain the grass has shot up.  It was whilst I was out the front that I got talking to Ian, one for the neighbours who lives in the next block down.  Funny the different people you meet in life and I must have an approachable face people always chat to me.

Ian informed me that he cut the grass in his block so I asked him if he would be interested in cutting our grass and if so, how much he would charge.  Amazingly he only wanted £25 quid so I gave him the go ahead.  Then he told me that he was a landscape gardener by trade but he couldn’t find any work after coming out of prison recently.  Apparently he was doing time for GBH.  He went on to say that he couldn’t cut the grass on Thursday because he was signing on but it would do the job on Friday.   I do seem to meet them don’t I, but well, if he gets the garden looking less like a jungle then who I am to judge.

The energy inspector hadn’t turned up so we decided to go back to Sue’s house.  We hadn’t been there long when I got a call on my mobile to say that the inspector would be at the flat at 3.30pm which meant that Phil had to get in the car and go back to the flat.  A bit of a pain but when you’re getting free loft insulation then you’ve just got to go with the flow.

Last night Phil picked up all the boys and they went to a pub in Stony Stratford;  Jim has been doing all of the driving recently so it was well over due for Phil to do the honours.  I am sure that it wasn’t very comfortable in my little Chevrolet Matiz but with beer involved they managed.  I stayed at Sue’s and she cooked me a lovely dinner.  I had too much of the red stuff as usual but Sue stuck to only a couple of glasses as she is trying to look after herself in readiness for her operation.  Sue had her pre op tests last Friday and was scheduled to go into MK General next Monday for her operation.  She was all geared up for the op, bag packed and everything and then she found out this morning that her operation has been cancelled.  I won't go into detail but there is a problem with her heart and the doctors have decided to do more tests before agreeing to the operation.  

Sue was upset and I can quite understand why.  Its not that she was really looking forward to having major surgery but she has had this swelling and pain now for so long now that she just wants the tumour removed.  It its all so unfair really, I know life is unfair but why does one person have to take so much shit and others get off scot free????? Believe me, if there were any way that I could physically take some of her shit then I would at the drop of a hat.  Alas I cannot. I just sincerely hope that the heart problem isn't too serious and can be fixed and they do the operation sooner rather than later.

We left Sue's just after 9am this morning and went back to Overstone.  We didn’t go straight back Overstone but instead drove to the caravan park at Cogonhue.   It seemed quite a nice park, smaller than ours but we couldn't explore as there was a barrier.  Another day when we have some time we will park up by the river and explore further.  Phil was hungry so we decided to have a light English breakfast at the cafe at Billing Garden Village.  Unfortunately it was expensive and not all that. 

It was cloudy when we got back to the van so we decided to do some gardening.   Phil sprayed and I had cleared all the weeds from our side.  The sun decided to come out and I was sweltering.  Phil fitted a new smoke alarm and moved all the bikes around.  He also had a chat with Dennis next door and he is going to help him erect a wooden ramp and rail next door.  The steps are far too steep for Phil’s mum and dad, also they don’t work the way they are.  We will need to get plans approved but all being well, hopefully this is a project that they can start next week.

I did briefly think about going for a swim at the pool by the clubhouse but despite the heat I was in the mood for doing jobs around the caravan.  I really don’t know where the day has gone but I it’s almost tea time and I think I am going to finish off, jump in the shower and then pour myself a large gin and tonic with ice and a slice.  I deserve it!