Life Goes On

The business with the FA and GAD’s estate is hanging over our heads like a black cloud threatening to burst at any moment but I have to say that I am trying my best to ignore it.  Phil is currently dedicating most of his time investigating and trying to build a case to go to court and is not able to ignore it.  I understand this to some extent but not sleeping and spending nearly every waking hour with a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach is not good. Neither is being afraid of answering the landline nor picking up your mobile unless you recognise the number.   I do hope that justice will prevail at the end of the day but we keep saying that we should keep things in prospective and we should stick to it.  At the end of day it’s only money, con on no con.

The weekend seems far away now and was mostly dominated by the Grand Prix.  I never mind Phil watching it especially this weekend as it did distract him from the FA case but it did seem to go on forever on BBC1.  First you get the practices, I think 1, 2 and 3 and then you have the qualifying itself.   It seemed that Phil was sat in front of the telly for hours on end.  Not that it mattered, the weather was pants and I kept busy myself busy on Saturday morning by going food shopping at Morrison’s and then I went to the gym in the afternoon.

On Sunday I cooked a leg of lamb and invited Sue over to join us for lunch.  It was a fairly chilled day, a roast dinner, followed by Sunday papers and red wine, not necessarily in that order.  The cooker in the caravan is very temperamental at the best of times but on Sunday my roast lamb turned out perfect.  The roast spuds were a bit crispy and the Yorkshires didn’t rise enough but other than that it was fine.  Phil of course watched the Grand Prix and Sue & I dipped in and out.  The sun came out here and there but on the whole it was quite a windy and chilly day. Sue went home at teatime to watch the football.  She could have stayed at ours to watch it but she knows that we are not really fans even though it was England. Plus the penalties made the game go on and it would have been quite late by the time she got back home. 


After Sue left Phil’s mum called to say that she had just had a call to say that her best friend Glad had died.  It wasn’t a total surprise because Glad had suffered a stroke and was in hospital.  Poor Glad had been suffering for the last few months and I am glad she in a way that she is now at peace but naturally Phil’s mum was upset.  It’s only a month since Daphne died and now she will have another funeral to attend.  Phil & I knew Glad quite well and we really should go to the funeral but I am not sure we are going to have time.

The reason that we probably won’t have time is we found out at the weekend that our 1 bed flat in GP is vacant.  In fact it has been empty since the end of May when the tenant moved out and forgot to inform or indeed hand back the keys.   I can’t moan too much because Carl our ex tenant has been in the flat for 12 years, he mostly paid his rent on time and aside from a new boiler, we haven’t done any maintenance.  We emailed him at the beginning of May and said could he start looking for another property because we wanted the flat back.  We received a letter from an agency asking for a reference which we sent off and I asked Phil to contact Carl to find out what was happening.  Anyway, details aside, he’s gone and now we have a whole new project on our hands.

I had an early start to Monday morning as I had to leave the caravan by 7am.  Actually I was awake at 4am and worried that I would go back to sleep, I decided to get up and make tea. There is something that makes me feel quite virtuous about getting up in the early light of dawn; its like a stolen time and if you get any jobs done like letters or filing then it’s a bonus to the day.   Of course, it’s not a bonus when you spend 2 hours surfing the internet for anything and everything which is sometimes what happens to me.  Not Monday though, I did check emails and FB and then sorted myself out.  I left Phil half awake in bed and left just after 7am.

With it being a Monday morning, I decided to go the back way and stopped off at the BP garage in Newport Pagnell before landing at Sue’s house just before 8am.  Sue had an appointment with the gynaecologist at the Churchill hospital in Oxford and I had promised to go with her.  I had to leave Overstone to avoid the traffic and was probably too early for Sue; we had originally agreed to leave at 9am but in the end we left just after half eight.  Sue drove, the roads were busy with it being a Monday morning but we took it easy and arrived at the Churchill about quarter past ten.

Unfortunately the Churchill at Oxford was the hospital that Alan was treated not long after he was diagnosed and so Sue was all too familiar with her surroundings.  The Churchill is a bright modern hospital and I was impressed with its facilities.   After a wee and a cup of tea, we made her way to the outpatients unit where it seemed we had to wait for ages.   It was busy and the waiting room was packed but eventually we got in to see Dr Kehoe.  Understandably Sue was a little anxious as she really like the urogynecologist at MK but she needn’t have worried because Dr Kehoe was lovely.  He asked lots of questions, did a quick examination and assured Sue that he would co-ordinate all of her treatment at Oxford.   He also sympathised with the long wait and the many tests and appointments and said that he would do everything he could to start the ball rolling.  Lets hope he does what he promised, I think he will.   Sue had to have some bloods and then after a cup of tea in the café, we headed for home.    

It’s quite a drive to Oxford and back and Sue was fairly wiped up by the time we got back to her house.  Unfortunately it’s a journey that we have to get used to because I think there are going to be quite a few more trips backwards and forth over the next few months.   It was another early start yesterday and we were up at 6am and on the road by half past seven.  This time we were heading for Melton Mowbray to see Phil’s mum and dad.  With everything that has been going on, we have rather been neglecting them and only realised at the weekend that we hadn’t been down to visit since Daphne’s funeral

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Phil’s mum as always was pleased to see us.  Although Phil’s dad is a lot better than he was he still sleeps a lot during the day and Phil’s mum gets lonely.  George was never ever a great talker but these days his words are few and far between.    We hadn’t planned on doing any jobs but I am not good at sitting around so Phil sanded the wood above the garage door and I painted a coat of primer.  Next job was painting the bit of fencing between mum and dad’s bungalow and the next door neighbour’s house.  Last job before lunch was a coat of gloss on top of the primer.  Mum and dads bungalow is finally turning round to the way they want it and I am pleased to say that they are enjoying living there.  At least that’s one worry off our minds.  Lunch was home made meat pie with mash and veggies followed by apple pie and custard.  After lunch I popped into their local Tesco for some supplies leaving Phil and his dad to wash up and we weren’t late leaving.  I guess we were back at Overstone for 4pm.  It wasn’t a strenuous day by any means but for some reason we were wiped out by the time we got home.

This morning I have been up early (half 4) and once again need to be on the road to head to MK by quarter past seven at the very latest.  The reason for going early is that I have my car booked in at Days garage in Blakelands to have my cigarette lighter unit fixed.  The part has finally come in and once this is fixed (hopefully today) then I will be able to use the sat nav which will be most handy.  Phil is coming to MK also this morning and I will meet up with him at the GP (Giffard Park) flat and we will assess what work needs to be done.  Phil has already gained access so we already have a rough idea of what needs doing but I need to see it for myself.   I already know that it needs a new kitchen, a new bathroom, probably some plastering and redecoration all round.  Also the gardens need some serious landscaping and we need a new set of steps leading to the front door.  

But if I am honest, I am quite looking forward to this project.  The main reason is that we intend to move in and make this little flat our base.   The caravans are lovely, as is the park when the sun shines, but I have known for quite some time that my heart and soul is not here at Overstone.  I have tried, honest I have but I seem to spend my whole life commuting to MK and it just isn't practical.  We intend to keep both caravans certainly for next season at least, because aside from weekend breaks, it also gives mum and dad a place to get away.  We will however, have to try and let out at least one of the caravans, if not both of them, to recover the site fees and utilities.  I am not sure how easy this will be but we can at least give it a go, and well, if the sums don’t add up then we can always sell.  Right now though, I need to sign off this post, jump in the shower and pack my bags.  There is much to do and time waits for no man.