Neither here nor there

A Winters Walk.

2012-02-04T16:08:00.000Z

We decided that rather than wait until today to go on our usual Saturday walk with Heartbeat, we would enjoy one yesterday instead. After all the sun was shining even if it was giving off no heat whatsoever, the sky was blue, what more can a walker ask for? We donned our warm winter coats and hats and set off in great spirits. First stop down the hill was to chatter to a lady who was busy feeding the ponies in the field with wholemeal bread. She insisted that they loved it and I remarked that they were probably grateful for anything at all as the field in which they graze is more mud than grass at this time of year.

Then it was onward and upward up Catherine Slack where we could enjoy the view looking down onto Harrison’s Dairy farm below us. We spied a man walking quickly through the far field towards a huge fallen tree trunk where another man was waiting with a car. I surmised they were chopping and collecting firewood, but I could have been wrong. At the top of Catherine Slack, I spied some colourful yellow crocus’s peeping out of the grass verge just outside the entrance to some new houses which are just being erected.

We continued onwards, past the golf course and had a brief pause whilst I took a quick shot of one of my favourite houses. Its not easy to get a shot of it as the frontage is obscured by a very high privet, so the only gap where you can take a picture is over the wall at the side, and even then you need to be standing on tiptoe. I love old houses such as this one and note the lovely little lamp on top of the wall.

The next leg of the walk was through a narrow lane that runs behind the houses and which turned out to be quite muddy to negotiate. Mind you, most of the mud was frozen solid, but it took K all her time to walk from one end of the path to the other. She is never at her best on uneven surfaces despite all those walks she has done over the years. She heaved a sigh of relief once we joined the main road, and we both gathered pace towards some horses who were busy grazing in a nearby field further along the road.

Despite the fact that she loves horses, she’s still very wary of stroking them as you can plainly see in this photograph. He was quite a size I will admit, but he had made his way through acres of mud in order to greet us both at the wall and I was only sorry that we hadn’t any treats to give him.

Onward along the road and under the railway bridge to join the main road. The sky was an absolute unbroken blue by this stage of the day but the sun gave off no warmth at all. We had to stride out and keep moving in order to keep warm.

Onward past the park and school then past Lightcliffe church and this gorgeous row of cottages which again are some of my favourites and then down towards the old church tower opposite the Sun Inn.

Unbeknown to me, at the time that K and I were taking a short breather before tackling the rest of the journey home, my brother was not far from this spot walking his dog Willam down Bottom Hall which runs alongside this churchyard. We must have missed one another by minutes. Onward across the road and down passed both the Comprehensive school, where several buses were parked patiently waiting to take pupils back to their respective localities. As we walked past, some pupils were playing a game of hockey and we could clearly hear the clash of sticks echoing through the cold winters air. We began recalling playing hockey when we were at school, and getting frequently whacked around the ankles during a match!

Onward past the newly built Cliffe Hill junior school with its rather unusual modern design a far cry from how it looked all those years ago when I attended! Past the farm and a last photo of the small stream (I’m sure it used to be much wider than it is today when I was a youngster!) back up the hill past the ponies and back along the lower estate road to our humble abode.

Coats and hats removed, shoes exchanged for comfy slippers and a nice hot cup of tea! That’s what life’s all about!

Winter Walk

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Technorati Tags: walk,ponies,house,horses,bridge,church

Incognito.

2012-02-01T16:28:00.000Z

I set off from the safety and privacy of my home. With a furtive glance around as I lock the door, I step outside and walk swiftly along the estate paths with my hands tucked inside the pockets of my warm coat. Its chilly and despite the presence of the sun in a clear sky, it affords no warmth. My face and cheeks quickly become chilled and my feet quicken on the ground as I walk past ‘the house that should have been mine if I’d won the lottery’. Someone is braving the cold conditions and hammering away nearby, the sound echoing eerily in the cold air. So far I have seen no one that knows me. So far so good.

Keeping up the pace, I quickly arrive at the narrow path that runs alongside the junior school. A lady is walking down in front of me, and in exactly the same way that I detest someone walking behind me, she keeps turning round to look at me as if to reassure herself that I am no threat to her. I step up my speed with the intentions of passing her but as I draw alongside, she begins a conversation with me about the weather which moves onto how we both detest walking in the rain and then ends in the subject of people we both know who make the mistake of buying houses out in the middle of nowhere and the problems that can cause in winter. We part company in town and I continue on to my selected destination, the Merrie England Coffee shop. Before entering, I have to visit the cashpoint for some money as I find that my purse doesn’t actually contain all that much in the way of coinage, and cups of cappuccino and sandwiches are unfortunately not free.

I enter the cafe and quickly glance around the tables that I am able to view from the doorway. Thankfully I don’t see any familiar faces, but from that viewpoint the whole seating area is not visible. However the seat where I had planned to sit in order to remain inconspicuous is occupied by a lady wearing a red coat. The assistant, who is obviously a new girl as one of the older assistants is stood at her side showing her how to input items into the till, takes my order.

‘A large decaffeinated Cappuccino please and a Turkey and salad sandwich on Gluten free bread.’

None of the assistants behind the counter seem to be giving me strange glances despite the fact that they know me by sight. Nor do they seem particularly surprised by my unfamiliar appearance. My confidence grows. Still, I wish the lady in the corner seat at the far end would kindly get up and leave. After receiving my coffee I am forced to sit down at a middle table as all the others are occupied. I see someone I used to live near to sat at one of the far tables. She recognises me instantly and says hello with a smile. My nerves are on edge. In order to appear calm and collected I drink some of the coffee whilst waiting for my sandwich to arrive. When it does, I enjoy it despite the fact that its really too early for lunch. Another lady arrives that I am acquainted with and smiles a greeting. The lady in red sat in the far corner folds up her magazine that she was reading and leaves by the back door. I quickly pick up my half eaten sandwich and coffee and make my way to the corner bench seat.

Tucking myself right into the corner as if vainly trying to melt into the walls, I can now observe everyone whilst remaining fairly inconspicuous. Or so I hope. I’m feeling much more confident now. Those people who know me by sight have not stared or looked strangely at me, or worse looked shocked or burst into howls of laughter. I finish eating my sandwich and spend the next few minutes scrutinizing the other occupants. At the opposite corner from me sits an elderly gentleman who rather reminds me of a cow chewing its cud seeing as his mouth is constantly making chewing movements, yet strangely I do not see any food on the table in front of him. Perhaps this is some habit he has, perhaps he is always making chewing movements. I drink some more coffee which has by now gone cold. At the table directly next to me are three people, a man and two ladies. The ladies are sat on the bench seat next to the wall, whilst the man is seated opposite on a chair. I don’t take in their conversation at all, despite the fact that I can hear it clearly as my mind is occupied elsewhere, mainly toying with the decision on whether or not to take full advantage of the sunshine and walk home rather than catch a bus.

Another lady who is familiar to me has sat down at a table directly in front of me and smiles as she does so. My confidence is building with every single smile of recognition. I check the time on my phone and leave the cafe with my usual ‘goodbye girls’ parting to the staff as I walk out of the door into the cold winter sunshine. Having decided that I will walk home using an entirely different route I set off. This route takes me along the main road but strangely I don’t see anyone I know. It ends in a rather steep walk up a hill where I find myself beginning to flag a little and my aching back isn’t helping. At last I arrive back home feeling really pleased with myself. It has all gone far better than I had imagined! What on earth had possessed me anyway? I have never considered myself to be vain at all, and to be so concerned about my appearance to others and what others would think, especially at my age, was in hindsight a complete mystery to me. I feel confident enough now to do the same tomorrow for our journey down to exercise class.

Having the confidence to face the world outside and let them see the new me, that’s all that was needed, so I’m so proud that today I plucked up the courage to go out without wearing my wig!

Technorati Tags: walk,cold,sunshine,merrie england,coffee,sandwich

A Lakeside Ramble.

2012-01-29T13:40:00.000Z

Yesterday morning we set of for a walk which initially was intended to be around the entire area of Shibden Park. A cursory glance outside the window that morning dictated that we might both be wiser wearing our Ugg boots rather than our walking boots because the ground was covered in ice and looked extremely slippery to walk on. I find that walking boots are brilliant for muddy or wet slippery conditions, but not so useful for keeping one upright whenever its icy. Trouble was as it turned out, the boots that we decided to wear were not much of an improvement.

We had a terrible time during the trek through the local cemetery, ending up having to resort to walking along the grass adjacent to the path in order to make any headway. It didn’t help that we had a bus to catch. Arriving at the bus stop outside Shibden Park only to be greeted by a steep downhill walk covered in wet soggy leaves and sheets of ice didn’t fill us with enthusiasm either, and it was only my lifetimes experience of being a pedestrian that helped to get us safely down the hill without a fall. By using a tactic of carefully weaving our way through natures winter hazards did we make it safely to the car park, only to be greeted by a really icy covered path leading to the Cafe. Gripping the fence which thankfully ran the whole way along it with both hands and stepping gingerly one careful step at a time was the only way to arrive safely at the Cafe door without taking a tumble, and we sat down to catch our breaths and enjoy a welcome hot drink. We were very early but catching the later bus would have meant that we would have arrived too late for the arranged meet up with the other walkers.

Although our reasons for braving the icy and thoroughly treacherous conditions was questionable, we were far from being alone in being in the park in this weather. There were not only some dog walkers already walking along the skating rink like paths in the park, but also many families who had thrown caution to the winds and arrived with their offspring. Mind you, children do tend to enjoy this kind of weather and walking in icy conditions probably doesn’t hold the same fear for them because they haven’t as far to fall as adults. Even so, I did question in my head the sanity of the parents. After everyone foolhardy enough had gathered in the car park, and one member had done a quick reconnoitre to inspect the paths for the safest route, it was decided that the lower path was considered safe to walk on, and so after a brief wait whilst all those wearing walking boots added Crampons to their soles, we finally set off.

I was mainly left to my own devices because daughter used her usual tactic whenever the ground is unsafe underfoot, and hooked herself up with the nearest male she could find. At one point during the walk she had one on either side of her. As we circled the lake via the safe path I busied myself taking shots with my camera. The sky was clear and blue and the sun was shining down but not having al that much affect on melting the ice. The party broke into two at one point during the walk, when a few foolhardy souls took their life in their hands and decided to tackle a path which had the additional hazard of water melt running down it, we with more sense took a lower route which all though it was safer, ended up consisting of mud, twigs and wet leaves as it meandered through the trees.

Despite the icy conditions, the miniature railway was running once the engine driver had inspected the route. He passed us during the inspection because our so called safe route took us across the railway lines. If it hadn’t been for the muddy conditions this part of the walk would have been very enjoyable but I found myself spending most of my time climbing up grassy banks trying desperately to avoid the very muddy path. At one point we passed a blocked off area surrounding what appeared to be an old mineshaft which then became the focal point for a lengthy discussion from one member about Anne Lister who used to own the whole of Shibden Park. As interesting as it was to hear the history of Shibden Park and why the fenced off area was probably a mine shaft, I was beginning to loose all interest as it can be so tiring to walk whilst picking one’s way around mud and ice. Eventually we arrived back at the Cafe for lunch where most of the others had to remove their Crampons from their boots before entering.

I ordered a salad, strange I know considering the cold icy conditions we’d just ploughed through, and K ordered a Pasta Bolognese which was far more sensible. We accepted the kind offer of a lift home from one of the other party, and after giving our mud covered boots a good clean I could eventually sit down and ponder on the days walk.

More pictures taken on this walk available to view at https://plus.google.com/photos/108953650503600659897/albums/5702750560137614049?authkey=CISwuuuskcuIGQ

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Packing it all in….

2012-01-21T10:52:00.000Z

This year (fingers crossed) we intend to have a packed year full of excursions, holidays and visits to places I have never been in my entire life. One of the reasons I never hanker about going abroad is the simple fact that there are lot’s of places in the United Kingdom that I have never set foot in but have longed to do so. As my long term future on this planet is not certain, I intend to fill some of my remaining time visiting all those areas of our beautiful country that my meagre income will allow. This means of course, adopting a single mindedness about saving diligently and not wasting a penny on items of little consequence.

One area that I have always wanted to visit is Cornwall. It’s lure for me personally is partly its lore (King Arthur) its breath-taking scenery and I plan to take numerous photos of everything I see whilst there. We will be staying in a mobile home which will be used as a base for our daily visits to such delights as Tintagel, Lands End, St Ives, Carbis Bay and St Michaels Mount. I would love to visit every wonderful place there is in Cornwall, but there will be obviously time restraints on just how much we can cram into a weeks visit and how much our money will stretch to of course!

The artist in me will want to sit down with an easel and paint brush no doubt, but my trusty camera will have to suffice instead. I love the photos of those quaint fishing villages dotted about, and I’m intrigued by the numerous caves seen along the coves and beaches. Just how much we will be able to investigate is open to question and how much our aching feet can stand of course. One activity I don’t see us taking part in is surfing, though we might try some horse riding if there are stables near by. By the time the holiday ends and we return home, I shall probably need a week in bed in order to recuperate!

The other area of the British Isles that I have never set foot in is Wales. We plan to rectify that shortly in March when we join a day excursion on a Compass Tours train to Wales, aptly named the Welsh Mountaineer. This excursion will be taking us through some of the most picturesque welsh countryside where we will be travelling through the heart of Wales and following the route of the River Teme to Offa’s Dyke, Llandrindod Wells the Tywi Valley and onto Cardiff, where we will hopefully have enough time to grab a bite to eat before our journey back home via a different route.

Of course, this journey through the heart of Wales and its enjoyment of the stunning countryside will entirely hinge on whether or not the train staff have bothered to clean the carriage windows sufficiently so that we passengers can see it in all of its glory. If not, you might read of TG having to resort to sticking her head out of the carriage door window in order to get some really clear camera shots. Unfortunately this train will not be headed by a steam locomotive but will instead being pulled by a diesel engine. Mind you, these diesel engines are often the focus of train enthusiasts in the same vein as their steam cousins, and we will no doubt see many photographers and train buffs on the station platforms and along the route as we travel.

That’s the travel plans so far for this year, all hinging on finances (state of) and my ability to curb my ‘money no object’ daughter who is already scouring Amazon every chance that she gets on the computer, so I’m going to have to be vigilant, as always.

Technorati Tags: cornwall,beaches,coves,wales,scenery,cardiff

Walking on the frosty side.

2012-01-15T13:54:00.001Z

We went on a walk yesterday along our local canal. As in other parts of the country, our canal have become a haven for walkers, joggers and also cyclists. Yesterday was one of those days when your not quite sure how to dress, it was bitterly cold and there had been a sharp frost during the night, causing the pavements to glitter with a thousand tiny stars as the sun shone down on them. We were all dressed in warm coats scarves and the like, and in my case gloves as well. Determined to get some really good shots of both the canal and also try to capture the frosty conditions, I also toted my camera with me. As soon as we set off, daughter ‘hooked’ herself up with the tallest member of our walk that she could find who is well over six foot, which looked rather comical as they both strolled along seeing as she is only five feet tall.

I stayed as much in front of the other walkers as I possibly could, mainly because I try not to get too many of the walking party in my shots, and also because every time I stop to take a shot the rest go marching by and I have to run in order to catch up. What was amazing was that the whole stretch of the canal looked rather strange and ethereal because the side that we walked on was shielded from the sun and therefore covered in frost, whilst the opposite side was bathed in sunshine and frost free! This afforded some quite interesting pictures of a contrast not only in light and dark, shade and sunshine, but heat and cold as well.

A Frosty Walk along the canal

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Finally here’s a panoramic stitch which encompasses the strangeness of it all for me, the gorgeous colours on the far bank, the resulting reflections in the still water, and the cold frosty side that we were walking along.

Following the walk, we ended up in ‘The Old Ship Inn’ which as many of my readers will no doubt be aware is currently one of our favourite eating venues, where we both enjoyed a bowl of their delicious warming Copper Dragon Stew with Herbie Dumplings.

Technorati Tags: walk,canal,frosty,contrast,sunshine,ship inn,stew

A most unwelcome visitor

2012-01-06T13:10:00.000Z

Following the last few days of constant rain and gale force winds, which have caused me personally to be confined indoors as I simply refuse to go out in the rain, we were able to venture out this morning and enjoy some glorious sunshine and blue skies at last. ‘Hurray’ I thought as we walked down to town, enjoying the rare glimpsed winter sun in the sky, ‘let’s hope that’s the last of the rain!’ only to have my hopes instantly dashed as we landed home and found the dreaded card laying on our doormat. Yes, you’ve guessed it! He’s been! The best rainmaker in the whole wide world has called whilst we were out! So sorry everyone, it will be rain as usual from today, my blasted window cleaners been!

Technorati Tags: rain,sunshine,gales,doormat

Another year over.

2011-12-30T07:03:00.000Z

And for me, its been a very eventful one, where I have encountered many new experiences for the very first time. From journeying down a tube for an MRI scan, to having a major operation in a hospital I have never been in before, enduring chemotherapy and all that entails including making some new friends, ending with stabbing myself in the stomach daily with a needle following a blood clot and its been a very interesting year to say the least, and one that, although it had its moments, you will all understand I am sure when I say that I do not wish to repeat any of it again. During that time, my daughter has proved how resilient she really is, and also how she continues to demonstrate her ability to adapt to any situation no matter what.

I simply wouldn’t have coped with any of it without her by my side. She’s been my full time nurse, my companion, she’s been there to cheer me up during the darkest hours, and been strong enough to take the brunt of my moods when I’ve been down. Now I know why she was sent to me those thirty odd years ago when I asked him up there why, why me? when she was born, probably in exactly the same way as any parent does when the child they were expecting to receive hasn’t materialised, and they have received an entirely different child in its place.

And she is in her element when the tide is turned, when its her looking after me, calling the shots, being in charge and she is brilliant at it. I have always stated that had she not had learning difficulties or been saddled with the label ‘Down’s Syndrome’ that she would have gone into some kind of ‘caring’ role, as a nurse or some caring profession. Its in her nature to be caring, and she went above and beyond what many people would have done whilst I was ill. She was ‘on duty’ twenty four seven at my side, and during that awful week that followed my return home after my operation, when (as it turned out) I had a septic infection, she became who she really is, a nurse nightingale, oblivious to her own needs and focusing only on mine.

P.S I’m sorry that I haven’t been blogging of late, but intend to return to my usual favourite pastime in the new year, when hopefully K and I can resume our gallivanting around the Yorkshire countryside on numerous adventures and quests, so back to normal! (I hope!)

Technorati Tags: year,chemo,daughter,nurse,downs syndrome

A short walk that ended up long.

2011-10-16T09:54:00.001+01:00

We went on another walk with Heartbeat yesterday, the intention was to catch a bus up to Southowram and then walk back down to the bottom, where we would continue along the canal tow path back to town. We actually began the walk right at the top of Southowram where the bus does a turn around before its journey onwards to Halifax. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and we all set off back down the hill at quite a pace. In fact, K and I were leading the party and setting a cracking pace. You get some wonderful views across the countryside during this walk as you are quite high up in regard to the vista afforded from the road. There are few houses along the route but those people who are lucky to own one of them must enjoy some stunning views from their windows. K was in a rush to see the two ponies which are usually to be found in one of the fields as you begin the steeper descent down to the bottom of the hill.

She was rewarded for her efforts after I ‘clicked’ them over to the wall.

Of course she insisted that the white one was ‘Shadowfax’ from the Lord of the Rings! At this point, the others joined us and both ponies were given various sweets to chomp. Polo mints mainly.

On arrival at the canal, most of the group wanted to continue in the opposite direction along the canal because the weather was so enjoyable, but K had made plans for us to go to Halifax for some serious spending (she needed a new watch basically as her strap had broken) so we parted company at that point as we made our way back to town. This part of the canal is in my opinion, one of the nicest stretches anyway, so I took some more shots.

If you look very closely at this one, you may be able to just make out two fishermen fishing in the river Calder.

As you can see, cyclists often use this stretch of the canal because the tow path is wide enough for walkers and cyclists to use.

Amazingly enough, this is taken just outside town! We are really lucky that you can enjoy sights such as this just five minutes walk from town. Also I took this because there are bull rushes growing in the foreground of the picture.

Technorati Tags: walk,southowram,hill,ponies,canal,sunny

A Canal walk in the October sunshine.

2011-10-02T07:37:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we enjoyed a wonderful walk alongside the canal in the gorgeous sunshine that we are all currently enjoying in the UK. In a way, it’s not the best weather to walk in, simply because you do tend to get rather hot, but we were all armed with plenty of bottles of water to drink in order to avoid getting dehydrated. After all meeting up in the bus station where we all distributed ourselves into various cars for the journey to the start of the walk, we set off at about 11.15am. It wasn’t too warm at this stage, and the side of the canal that we were on was well shaded by the trees. We have both missed going on the walks of late, and therefore K was having a real problem keeping up with the others. She has never been too good at walking on uneven surfaces, and this part of the canal does not have a very wide ‘walkway’, its just a narrow path with lot’s of uneven grass at either side.

It was also quite muddy in parts shaded by the trees, despite the last few days of sunshine. On the return journey, the inevitable happened. K fell in the mud. We were all making our way under one of the bridges, and the path was very muddy where it hadn’t been able to dry out. I told her to walk at the top where there didn’t appear to be as much mud. Her foot slipped from underneath her and down she went. I just couldn't stop her from falling despite the fact that I was holding her arm. She ended up covered in mud, all down her trousers and her shoes. It did dry out somewhat during the rest of the walk though, so she was able to go into Witherspoons for a meal at the end of the walk where we could get the chance to cool down. Hope you all enjoy the photos I took along the way.

Technorati Tags: walk,canal,sunshine,mud,K,witherspoons

My other World

2011-09-20T12:23:00.000+01:00

I’m a firm believer in the reasoning that we all need some form of escape, either from our daily humdrum lives, or from traumas that we go through during our lives. Some use drugs or drink to escape reality. Me? I immerse myself in the other world that is Tamriel, the setting for the Elder Scrolls role playing games. Some of you may (or may not) be aware of my impatient wait at the moment for the imminent next episode in the Elder Scrolls saga, Skyrim. Due to launch on the 11/11/11 (Bethesda, who are the creators of said world have a sense of humour) I along side many others are waiting its arrival with baited breath. Some of my readers may have arrived at the conclusion that a Granny in her sixties must be slightly batty to be so enamoured by a video game, so to try and explain to those of you who have never entered the world of Elder Scrolls, I’m writing this post is to try and explain exactly why I love them so much.

The first important feature of any Elder Scrolls game is that if you can see it, you can go there. There is absolutely no area closed to you, as in real life, you can walk anywhere, swim, climb, open doors to houses ( although if they are locked and you break in, you’ll be put in jail) there is no ‘keeping to a set path that you can’t leave’. Similarly, you can do anything you like, go adventuring into old ruins or caves, or forts seeking out treasure, begin the main quest, stand admiring the view, do smaller quests, join a faction such as the Mages Guild or the Fighters Guild, become a vampire, be a thief, a scoundrel or a goodie two shoes that everyone admires by only doing good deeds. I’ll leave you all to guess which path I usually take.

Elder Scrolls races in Oblivion

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You can fashion your character to look exactly how you wish, and also choose which race to be. Yes, there are different races in the world of Tamriel, Elves (though they look nothing like Legolas in the Lord of the Rings) Orcs, Imperials, Britons, Khajiits, Redguards, Argonians, and lastly the Nords. Each race originally come from a different province in Tamriel, for example, the Nords come from the cold lands in the north known as Skyrim. Each race have their own attributes and weaknesses. The Khajiits for example, who resemble the feline cat family in looks, are good at sneaking. So its up to you to decide who to be and what you look like. The character creation in an Elder Scrolls game is really comprehensive and you can create a very unique looking character. As you move about the world of Tamriel, you can play as I prefer to do, first person where you see everything as if through your own eyes, or alternatively you can choose third person, where you play as if following yourself from behind. Some people prefer this view, I don’t. Luckily Bethesda do give the player the choice.

So lifelike is the Elder Scrolls world, that you become fully immersed in it. Trees sway in the wind as do flowers and grass, it rains ( in fact it rains so much I feel right at home there!) it thunders and lightens, it snows if you are in the higher mountains in the north, its dark at night time and if you look up to the stars, you immediately know that you are not on planet Earth. In fact, the only clue that reminds you that you are playing a game is the health meters, compass etc at the bottom of the screen.

To fully explore everything in Oblivion, the last Elder Scrolls game, would take roughly 200 hours and the next instalment promises even more adventuring! What ends up making the world of Tamriel so believable though is the history. Just like any good saga such as the Lord of the Rings etc, it is believable because there is a full history to the world in which you find yourself. There are thousands of books for the player to read in libraries where just as in our world, you can read exactly how the Ayleid ruins which are dotted all over Tamriel came about and the complete history of Tamriel. It is all so believable, and once you become immersed in the Elder Scrolls world, its amazing how the time in this world passes you by!

Bethedsa’s ability to ‘tell a good story’ or create a ‘good quest’ is initially what sucks you in, you find that you simply can’t put it down, its like being inside a brilliant to read book where you simply cannot wait to turn the next page. The difference is of course that you are the main character in that story, it’s all about you and the in game decisions you make. Like most people, my life is pretty mundane, housework, shopping, cooking etc, the usual daily grind, so you can just imagine how being able to become the heroine who saves everyone from certain destruction can become so enticing! As I always play as a Nord (which is pretty ironic, seeing how I feel in this world about the cold winters!) I will feel that I am returning to my birthplace in November when I set foot in Skyrim and begin my latest adventure. Just as long as my readers are aware that after 11/11/11 I probably won’t be blogging much, I’ll be far too busy killing dragons and adventuring!

For more info http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Skyrim

Technorati Tags: escape,video,games,elder scrolls,skyrim,oblivion

A squeaky walk.

2011-09-08T15:38:00.000+01:00

On the walk down to exercise class, we were accompanied by the sound of ‘Squeak, clump, squeak, clump’ coming from the general direction of K’s feet. As I couldn’t decide whether it was coming from her left trainer, her feet or her ankle bone, I’ll have to oil the lot just in case.

Technorati Tags: trainers,exercise class,feet,ankle,squeak

In and out again in one day.

2011-09-05T11:42:00.000+01:00

My latest excursion to hospital, and one that I will admit I was absolutely dreading, was for a kidney stent fitting. Owing to the septic infection I suffered, it had become blocked. Not completely, or it would have shrivelled up and died within three weeks or so causing me to loose the right kidney. Because I like to do my ‘homework’ about any procedure I am to be put through, I went online to find out more about what it all entailed and read some real horror stories of others who had had the procedure done, so as you can imagine, I entered the hospital with a sinking feeling and very reluctantly.

Back on Ward 12, I was also placed back in, what had been previously referred to as the ‘cold room’ where I didn’t get a wink of sleep for the cold temperature on my last stay on Ward 12. This time however, one of the staff nurses assured me that this was NOT the cold room, that was across the corridor. Hmm. The nurses station is right outside the door of this room which is why it tends to be used for very ill patients and sure enough, no sooner had I placed all of my clothes and toiletries in cupboards, drawers and the bathroom, and got myself settled in, than a staff nurse entered and told me I would have to move to the four bed ward, as a patient was due in who was very ill.

I had been told by the X-ray department secretary in her correspondence to me, that I would be having the procedure done first thing in the morning, but as the time ticked slowly by, there was no sign of anyone arriving with a wheelchair to take me down. I asked one of the staff and she rang to enquire on my behalf, informing me that it wasn’t going to be done until the afternoon. Hmm. I was of course getting more and more nervous by the minute! Transferring into the shared four bedded ward gave me something to take my mind of the upcoming procedure if nothing else.

Then we had a slight disagreement between the staff on the ward and myself regarding whether or not I could have something to drink. The instructions sent to me by the X ray secretary had firmly stipulated that I was to have nothing to eat or drink from midnight the night before. Of course we had the dinner ladies coming round asking me what I wanted to order for my dinner, and by that time I was absolutely starving! The ward staff insisted I could have a cup of tea (at about 10.00am) after consulting with the X ray department about it. (Meanwhile, I was secretly wishing they would all get their act together!)

After waiting all day (and becoming a nervous wreck in the process!) finally at about 16.00pm, a man came around the corner pushing a wheelchair and speaking my name. Here goes! What a ride! He must have been trying to break some record or other regarding how fast he could get a patient down from Ward 12 to the X ray department because I was fairly whizzed down there! I swear we were taking corners on one wheel! As if I wasn't nervous enough already! I wondered what my blood pressure would be if they took it before beginning the procedure, clinging to the hope that it would be postponed because it was too high!

On arrival, I was introduced to all the nurses (well, X ray department nurses dressed in maroon) and the man who was to do the procedure who was dressed in green with matching hat. He discussed the procedure with me and did a little drawing ( which of course I know off by heart from the internet) of my kidney and the stent going down from it to my bladder, I asked my questions, and then they led me into a room which contained a portable Toshiba scanner and a very high bed. I had to climb onto it with the help of some steps and then lay down on my tummy.

I was informed that the scanner was ‘acting up’ and had crashed. Hmm. Mind over matter? Have I finally learned how to control hardware with my mind? I waited atop my perch whilst they fiddled with the scanner. Finally some cold wet stuff was placed on my back, and he scanned the area where my kidney was. I saw him beckon over some of the X ray nurses, then he went into another room, finally returning to tell me that my kidney was now normal size and that therefore there was no need to continue with the procedure!

For a moment, I forgot how high up in the air I was, and very nearly did myself an injury jumping off the bed! I have never been so relieved about anything in all my life! The nurses were laughing with me as I yelled out ‘My prayers have been answered! There really is a God!” and the surgeon thought I meant him and was well chuffed! One of the nurses accompanied me back to the ward, and I very nearly skipped all the way back! A doctor came to see me and I was told I could go home. I was dressed and out of that hospital before you could say ‘Jack Robinson!’

Technorati Tags: hospital,ward,kidney,stent,procedure,blocked

An enjoyable run-around.

2011-08-28T14:01:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we went on one of our much missed run arounds. We haven’t been doing any since my operation in February. As it was such a glorious sunny day, we decided it was about time we did another one, if only to see how Bradford has changed since our last visit there. Beginning with the usual bus ride to Bradford, where we noticed that the route the bus used to take in order to arrive at the Interchange had now been blocked off to make a pedestrian precinct in front of the Town Hall. On arriving at the Interchange we proceeded to walk towards Forster Square. The area previously intended for a new shopping centre has temporarily been made into a park of some sort. Hmm. Lack of money apparently.

Continuing onto the walk down to Forster Square railway station, I took some photos of the walk down and also my favourite ‘Fibre’ sculptures and was really lucky to take some shots with no one walking past.

You can find out more about the ‘fibre’ sculptures at http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMABAF_Fibres_Bradford_UK

We moved onto the Forster Square shopping centre where we visited the Asda Living shop for a browse, then retraced our steps back to the station to catch a train to Leeds. This line from Forster Square to Leeds is electrified and the trains are all Siemens trains. It doesn’t seem all that long ago when they were brand new, now they are beginning to look really scruffy. They are virtually silent in operation though, have air conditioning and tinted double glazed windows. and between Shipley and Leeds, they really belt along! Trouble is that its then we are passing some gorgeous countryside, but you can’t enjoy it as it simply zooms past you!

Arriving at Leeds station, we negotiated our way through the new ticket barriers where you have to use your ticket before the gate opens, bought some tickets for Huddersfield then back through the barriers, up the escalator (well, I went up the escalator, K ran up the steps trying to beat me to the top) and then across to platform 16a for the Liverpool Lime Street trans-Pennine train.

I had noted that the Cross Country train for Glasgow Central was in on platform 6. This is the one I intend to board when I go up to visit my eldest son in October. As usual there were plenty of people waiting for the train to Liverpool, many with suitcases in tow.

Once we had all boarded and as usual on any of the trans-Pennine express trains, plenty of travellers had to stand up. We did all enjoy a laugh though as two ladies having to stand next to us in our carriage and complete with luggage, had reserved their seats and were annoyed that people were sat in them (or so they thought.) I told them to go and seek out the conductor and if the people sat in their reserved seats wouldn’t budge, then he would probably let them sit in the first class. However they found that on close inspection of their reservation tickets they were actually in the wrong coach!

We were also entertained on the run from Leeds to Huddersfield, by a group of about eight teenage girls who were rather loud and raucous as they congregated in between the two doors. Some were sat on the floor, much to the annoyance of the guy with the trolley who needed to get past them. As we alighted at Huddersfield, I told the two ladies that I hoped they found their reserved seats, and also informed the girls in the doorway, ‘ My daughter has christened you all, Girls Aloud!’ which was greeted with howls of laughter from them!

Huddersfield station looks much better from the outside, its not so pleasant to look at inside. We made our way to McDonald’s for some lunch, and then continued on to the main shopping street intent on buying a 7 inch sandwich tin with push out bottom for my home made cheesecakes. We eventually found one in Sainsbury’s.

The journey home was via bus. It had been a very enjoyable run-around and we were blessed with some wonderful weather all day as well. Hope that you all enjoyed it.

Technorati Tags: Bradford,sculptures,Siemens,Leeds,station,Huddersfield,shops

An unwelcome visitor

2011-08-21T08:21:00.000+01:00

As I awoke the other morning, I suddenly realised I was not alone in my bedroom. An unwelcome visitor was perched above my bed. It had cunningly placed itself right in the join where the wall butts up to the ceiling. It was a huge spider. It didn’t appear as if it had any intentions of moving, such as descending onto my bed or skittering along the wall, but I do take umbrage to any creature who decides to enter my bedroom uninvited. They are not welcome, especially when poised over my place of refuge. However, the method of disposal needed a great deal of thought on my part.

I was no longer as agile as I used to be. Would the usual method of ‘get up close and personal and then swoop swiftly and silently with a tissue’ work? After all, creeping up unseen and with intentions to squash is not all that easy with spiders. They have lot’s of eyes and seem to have an inbuilt sense of your intentions. I have in the past had them leap and jump out of the way despite the fact that my hand seemed to be like grease lightening as it descended on their bodies. What was important at all costs was to avoid that occurring or all I would end up with would be a very large spider scuttling around in my bed and that was the last thing I wanted.

As I stood there pondering my next move, I realised that it was probably watching me. It could for all I knew, be reading my thoughts. How do we know that spiders aren’t psychic? I worked through my options in my mind. Because he was firmly planted in the join between the wall and ceiling, tackling him with a tissue or kitchen towel would necessitate my climbing on the bed then teetering about standing on the mattress before I made my lightening strike. Any spider worth its salt would surely see my arrival coming and also read my intentions! The other method of extermination open to me, given that he was perched so high, was to employ the vacuum cleaner, or should I say the crevice nozzle of the vacuum cleaner. Hmm.

Using the nozzle would take time to employ however, as it did need connecting together first. Would he wait around whilst I connected the means to his demise? Realising that I was wasting time pondering over it, I scurried off to the cupboard where I keep the vacuum and hastened back with it. He hadn’t moved from his spot thank goodness, so I quickly plugged the vacuum into the mains, connected all of the pipes and the crevice nozzle and switched on. Would he sense my intentions and leg it along the join? I approached apprehensively, the vacuum sounding like a jet engine taking off. Do spiders have ears? I had to be swift. Up soared the nozzle, he felt the suction and tried to wriggle against it as he disappeared from view down the nozzle and into the insides of my vacuum cleaner.

A feeling of guilt came over me as I quickly packed the nozzles into their respective holders and returned the vacuum to its cupboard. Of course, being me, I still didn’t feel at rest. That night, as I lay in bed trying to drift off to sleep, my minds eye could see him still alive inside the innards of the vacuum cleaner, making his way out of it through all the dust and fluff with only one intention, revenge! He would scuttle along the carpet into my bedroom, climb up the valance and crawl all over me as I slept! Could a spider live through the trauma of being sucked up a nozzle and into the innards of a vacuum cleaner? Only time will tell.

Technorati Tags: bedroom,visitor,spider,tissue,vacuum

Best meal of the day!

2011-08-14T11:10:00.000+01:00

I’m a breakfast person. I wake up hungry. I can’t function properly without a good breakfast inside me. When I worked, I used to feel quite shaky inside until I had my bacon and egg teacake devoured. For me its the most important meal of the day, but over my lifetime, I have noted that we all seem to be divided into two distinctive groups, the ‘must eat a breakfast’ types and those who simply can’t seem to stomach anything to eat much before lunch time. K is not particularly bothered about breakfast. She will eat one if you are doing a cooked breakfast, but otherwise she isn’t bothered.

Yet she will gladly still be eating at nightime whereas I don’t want to eat much after about 17.00pm. I am not a supper person. Those who aren’t bothered about breakfast tend to eat later in the day than I do. In fact I can skip eating at all after lunchtime but breakfast is a must. What type of eater are you? Can you miss breakfast out and if so, are you a supper person? Or are you like me, waking up in the morning ravenous but not so bothered about eating later in the day?

Answers on a postcard please or alternatively in comments below!

Technorati Tags: breakfast,lunch,supper

The Last Chemo!

2011-08-05T06:26:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was my very last session of chemo. As is usual for this Granny and her sidekick, it didn’t pass without incident and I thought I’d do a blog post about it all. We arose early, showered, quick breakfast and then walked down to the bus stop at the bottom of the road because it was drizzling and our nearest stop does not have a shelter. So far, so good. The bus we were waiting for is supposed to arrive at 09.03am and then arrives at the hospital stop at roughly (depending on traffic) 09.45am, so plenty of time for our 10.00am appointment with the chemo chair.

We waited. And waited. 09.03am arrived. No sign of the bus coming around the corner. When it did finally arrive, a double decker at that, it was at least ten minutes late. Hmm, I said to K, let’s hope he tries to catch up on route! But that idea soon went out the window. Every time he stopped to pick more than two passengers up at a stop, the bus stalled. So time was then wasted as he tried to get the engine ticking over again. Sigh. My heart sank, and as we arrived at Elland and the bus stalled again, I saw him talking on his mobile, and fully expected him to get out and tell us all that we had to either get off the bus and catch an alternative as this bus needed a mechanic.

However, he didn’t and we finally made it to the hospital just in time. This time we weren’t in the ‘naughty chair’ but instead, were seated in the ‘final departure chair’ on the other side of the nurses station. It was strangely very quiet as well. We gave the nursing staff a box of chocolates to share between them and a ‘thank you’ card for all their kindness. The nurse dealing with me had some more bad news to relate. Because I had my bloods done this week on the Monday instead of the usual Tuesday, she needed to take some more to test for proteins before I could begin my chemo!

Blimey I thought, what next? My last chemo and everything was going wrong! She assured me that it wouldn’t take long to test, and then we could get going. My cannula was already connected and I was given my ‘cocktail’ of steroids and anti-sickness to be going on with. Trouble is, even when everything is running smoothly and on time, it still takes until 1600pm for all my chemo and the flushes in between before we leave. It wasn’t long before she got the all clear to begin, but then we had another wait because my chemo hadn’t arrived, so instead of beginning my three hourly one at 11.00am as usual, it ended up being way after 12.00 before we got going!

I warned K that we probably weren’t going to be leaving here until 17.00pm or thereabouts and kidded with the nursing staff to make us both a bed up! Thankfully after that, things began to run more smoothly the rest of the day, the weather brightened up outside and as the window next to me was open I was able to enjoy a lovely cooling breeze all day. K busied herself with taking peoples empty cups and plates into the kitchen to keep herself busy (and had a sleep in her chair during the morning.)

Our journey home went quite smoothly, as we caught a bus into town and luckily our bus home was in the bus station so we didn’t have to wait around. So that’s it hopefully. I shall have to go back to clinic of course, I also will have my results of whether my blood has that clotting factor so they can decide whether or not to swing me onto Warfarin now my chemo has ended, and of course I still have the kidney stent insertion to endure. But that’s all.

Technorati Tags: bus,rain,hospital,chemo,chair,blood,chocolates,card,nurses

A solo walk in the sunshine

2011-07-30T12:15:00.000+01:00

As K was off with her Dad this morning, I was left to my own devices. The other members of Heartbeat were going on a walk from Mirfield along the canal where they planned to have lunch in the Railway Inn, one of my personal favourite venues. We haven’t been able to go with them on a walk for quite some time owing to my treatment, so I was upset that I wouldn’t be able to go with them on this walk. Not wanting to waste such a glorious sunny day, I decided to do a solo walk. Setting off from the flat and walking through the cemetery at the side of our estate, then Finkil Street and then down Catherine Slack, up Whinney Hill and back home thereby walking in a rough sort of square.

Of course my trusty camera was tucked in my pocket, and the very first thing I spied was a bunch of poppies growing at the side of the road.

Onward through the cemetery (always a constant reminder of our frailty!) and I spied that tree full of apples again! Remember how I took a picture of it in the middle of winter when it was still full of apples and featured it in a post? Perhaps they are everlasting apples, or perhaps is a magic apple tree, and they simply never rot and die?

Exiting the cemetery gates, I began to run out of puff somewhat as I walked up the road. It’s not very steep, but it did remind me how I am now ‘out of shape’ simply because I haven’t been able to be as active as I usually am of late.

I will have to make up for it once my chemo is finally over. Continuing on to the junction with Finkil street which brought back many memories of taking the children to school when they were smaller and crossing the road with the lollypop lady.

There were no children at all in the small park at the side of the road, but it was only 10.00am so perhaps a little bit early yet, and they were all still in bed!

Next I passed one of my favourite houses. I love this type of house, so full of character and age! Mind you, I had a time capturing it through the overgrown trees which work really well in adding privacy to the house.

Walking slightly further down the road afforded a nice shot of the house from the side. As you can see, its quite a size!

I just hoped that no one was peering out of one of the windows wondering who that strange woman was taking photos of their house!

From now on, it was mostly downhill, so I could quicken my pace somewhat. It was beginning to feel quite warm in the gorgeous sunshine! Had summer finally arrived? I spied some blackberries ripening in the sunshine, but resisted the temptation to pick some and eat them as I usually do.

At the bottom of Catherine Slack the small ponies were all stood by the wall waiting for those passing who might have some treats for them. They looked hot and dusty, and in dire need of a drink.

Up the hill and then on the home straight, passing a young man having a driving lesson who was practicing a three point turn. Quite a few driving instructors use the bottom road for practicing doing three point turns, as its very straight.

I have really enjoyed my walk this morning in the sunshine, and I feel all the better for it. I hope that you have enjoyed taking it with me!

Technorati Tags: walk,solo,poppies,apples,house,blackberries,ponies

Off on another spending spree!

2011-07-23T15:55:00.000+01:00

Dragged out today on some lame brained pretext that I needed (or the world might end) a new pair of grey trousers from Marks and Spencer's by my ‘money no object’ daughter, but at least it gives me something to write about. I haven’t been feeling too well following this last chemo session, it has taken me far longer to ‘come round’ and so blogging took a back seat in the list of things to occupy my time. Sorry about that. Anyway, onto the shopping trip. As many will be aware from previous posts, although we are all led to believe that the shopping trip is entirely for my benefit, its strange how it always ends with K arriving home with more purchases than I.

We caught the 09.35am bus at our local stop and armed with a list written by K which included a new bath sponge (for me) long grey pants (for me) grey jumper (? not sure who this was for) and a new raincoat (for K to replace hers because the zip had gone) we enjoyed an uneventful journey to Halifax.

Usually I can never find a thing I want in Halifax, but for once it all went smoothly. First of all, we bought K’s new raincoat. One item ticked off the list. Then we made our way up to one of the bag shops in the indoor market to look for my replacement purse. Here I expected a big stumbling block. I’m very particular about my purses. They have to be a certain size and type and as I can never remember where I purchased the last one, I always have a lot of difficulty replacing them. The first bag shop had one nearly the same, but we continued onto the other bag shop to take a look there. BINGO! The exact same purse!

We were on a roll, I could feel it in my bones! Two purchases already and it wasn’t even 10.30am! A quick call into Wilkinson’s for a new bath sponge and then onward to Mark’s and Spencer’s to look for the grey trousers replacement for me. It took quite some searching in M&S to find the exact same grey trousers and in between my searches, my daughter had armed herself with a beige coloured t-shirt and a matching grey jogging suit top and trousers.

Spying a dummy stood in a fetching blue jogging top over a black t-shirt and black jogging trousers, I decided to throw caution to the winds and buy the exact same outfit for myself. BIG MISTAKE! K took one look at my choice and decided that she wanted the same thing instead of the grey jogging ensemble. By this time she was already stood in the queue waiting to pay for our purchases, so I had to hastily make my way back to the trousers to search for her a pair. They did not have her size. Size 20 short leg must not often be requested in this vicinity by other shoppers.

On asking the assistant who served us at the checkout whether or not size 20 short length was in stock, she informed me that we could order it at the order counter which was sited just as you entered the food hall. I had not realised that you could order something in this way and although it took some time to fill in some details seeing as I was a new ordering customer, we did manage to order her a pair and I have to collect them on Tuesday. So all in all, not a bad days shopping!

I hope this trip has appeased my daughter for a while, as I am still vainly trying to save up for that trip to Cornwall that I have longed to make next year. Will I ever make it there? Only time will tell, and of course reading this blog!

Technorati Tags: shopping,halifax,purse,raincoat,trousers,marks & spencers

Big Eyes.

2011-07-15T16:33:00.000+01:00

You know when your eyesight is getting bad when you glance at yourself in the mirror and realise your beginning to resemble Mr Magoo.

Technorati Tags: eyesight,glasses,mr magoo

One more time!

2011-07-14T18:25:00.000+01:00

Only one more to go after today! Yay!

Technorati Tags: today,chemo,chair

A trek down to town

2011-07-09T19:13:00.000+01:00

After an early morning discussion following breakfast and with due regard to the weather, we decided to walk down to town and enjoy a lunch at Wetherspoons. It had been raining earlier so we erred on the safe side and wrapped ourselves in our raincoats just in case. We set off at about 11.30, and were in no particular hurry to arrive at our intended destination, hence the rather long chat with one of our acquaintances on the way. We journeyed in a rather haphazard fashion, not walking directly down to town, but taking in our local library so that I could take some photos of the building and the surrounding gardens.

We paid a quick visit to my adopted son who manages the only independent game shop in the town. K had asked him to lend her some videos of one of her favourite TV programs, she often borrows his videos and he willingly lends them to her. Continuing on to our intended destination, we were rather taken aback to find that Wetherspoons was closed. A notice pinned to the door announced that ‘Owing to unforeseen circumstances we are closed’ As we came away we bumped into one of K’s acquaintances who, despite being blind, had no problem in recognising K via her voice which did not go unnoticed nor unremarked upon by myself to much amusement.

We chattered about this and that, and then parted company and continued on to our chosen replacement venue around the corner, The Calder. It was absolutely jam packed with people either just there for a drink or for a meal. I sat down and waited for K to choose something from the Menu and then made my way to the bar. There was only one girl serving and I braced myself for quite a long wait. She came down to serve a man stood next to me, and as she finished serving him I asked if I could order two meals. “We aren’t serving any more meals” she informed me, so I quickly made my way back to table seventeen, told K the disappointing news, and we picked up our coats and retreated outside. Well! Where to now?

We had a quick discussion and decided to try the The Old Ship Inn. On entering the Ship, I was rather glad that there weren’t all that many people in there, and after scrutinizing the Menu I ordered a Tuna Salad and a sweet white wine and K ordered the Chicken Fajitas and her new favourite tipple, a WKD blue. We sat down in a corner to wait for our meals. I have always liked the Ship Inn and the building has been the subject of many of my photos over a period of time. It used to be one of our ports of call a long time ago when I was in my teens and out with my friends on a Friday night when we used to try and do a ‘pub crawl’ and attempt (not always successfully!) to have a drink in every pub in town. As at that time, there was a pub on every corner and one in-between, you can probably imagine the state we used to be in by the time we landed at the last pub, or stumbled over to the Chinese restaurant, now no longer there unfortunately, for something to eat. It wasn’t called ‘The Old Ship Inn’ in those days it was then called the Prince of Wales though in hindsight, the The Old Ship Inn suits it better.

A group of rather noisy people entered and sat down at the opposite side of the room. They were all laughing at various photos on their respective mobiles, and it looked to any casual observer as if they were all couples. Another lady with a girl aged about seven or eight joined them later, and it was pretty obvious that they were all regulars and often met up in the Ship. I had presumed that they were couples, and had unconsciously pared them off with their respective partners, so I was rather surprised when the females suddenly departed from the group leaving the boisterous males to themselves. The pub tended to quieten down somewhat once the females had departed. Males trying to impress the ladies, and were the females simply off to do some shopping, leaving their respective partners to loiter their time away in the pub?

We finished our meal, in my case I simply couldn’t eat it all, whilst K not only emptied her plate but then ordered a chocolate indulgence as well which she also devoured. I have never, in all of her thirty one years, yet figured out how she does it and where it all goes. We exited the Ship Inn in glorious sunshine and made our way to the bus station to catch the bus home. I really like ‘The Old Ship Inn’ and I ended up being thankful that Witherspoon’s turned out to be closed and that we couldn’t get a meal at the Calder either.

Technorati Tags: town,library,witherspoons,calder,ship inn,meal,salad,fajitas

A day out in York.

2011-07-06T07:05:00.001+01:00

Right outside the Railway Museum, you can board a road train which transports you to the Minster. As K is always reluctant to walk and I needed to reserve my energy, we gladly took advantage and boarded it to ride to the Minster. It only costs £2 per adult, so well worth it, and unlike our previous trip on a road train in Bridlington, there were no wet seats or rain lashing into the carriages either! On arriving at the stop outside the Minster, I gazed up to see it peeking through the summer clothed trees. I think its the very first time I have been able to take pictures of York Minster in glorious sunshine!

Here’s the Railway Museum road train looking really resplendent in black and gold.

York Minster in the summer sunshine. No photo can do it justice unfortunately, it has to be seen with the naked eye to appreciate it fully. It’s size, the intricate stonework, the beautiful stained glass windows inside, if you ever get chance to come to Yorkshire, make sure to pay the Minster a visit. It’s a truly unforgettable experience.

This small area is on the right hand side of the Minster, and plenty of shoppers were taking advantage of the shade beneath this monument.

At the back of the Minster, we came across this gorgeous building in this lovely little square. I just had to take this panoramic shot of it. Fancy, living here!

Tucked away at the back of the Minster is this gem that we discovered for the first time yesterday! It’s called the Treasurer’s House and you can tour around it for about £3 per adult. (Free for National Trust members.) It also has a tea room in addition to these attractive gardens at the front.

I couldn’t resist taking a quick snap of these youngsters all sat out in the Mister park. They all had yellow backpacks so this photo is titled ‘the yellow backpack brigade.’

The majestic Minster from the park side.

Probably because traffic is not allowed on a lot of the narrow streets of York, and because there are a lot of students residing there, there are bike parks to be seen everywhere, or they are fastened to railings wherever you look. Its a bike riders paradise!

I loved this building! Gert and Henry’s! Again, I did have to use the photo fuse feature to get rid of the multitude of people walking in front of it to arrive at this shot.

The river Ouse. You can take a trip on the river on one of the many river cruise boats. That’s one on the left hand side of this photo. There are many more photos of our day to see in a slideshow in my photos blog HERE.

Technorati Tags: bicycles,city,cruise,gardens,minster,ouse,park,river,treasurer,york

A Day out in York, the Railway Museum.

2011-07-03T08:22:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we went to York. My all time favourite City and the only one I would ever consider moving to. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, our journey there and back enjoyable, K bought the usual obligatory t-shirt of the Flying Scotsman from the Railway Museum so she was happy, I resisted the temptation to buy yet another fridge magnet so I was pleased that I still have some willpower left, we enjoyed a Caesar salad for lunch and two, yes two ice creams in the midday sun, we discovered the Treasurer’s House tucked behind the Minster, and I took some fabulous pictures of it all, so here they are the best of the bunch for you all to enjoy!

Looking really splendid in the Great Hall, the Evening Star attracted a lot of interest. So much so that I had to take about five shots of her so that when I got home I could use Photo Fuse in Windows Live Gallery to get rid of most of the people from this shot!

Here you can see all the different engines gathered around the turntable on which is perched a very old steam engine.

The magnificent Duchess of Hamilton gleaming and shining in the sun streaming through the roof.

We sat on the Japanese bullet train to watch the video. They travel so fast! Over 250 miles per hour! Pity we have fallen so far behind other countries with our railway network where once we use to lead.

I then took this shot from the front. It does resemble a bullet don’t you think?

Next, onto the workshop where the Winston Churchill was being worked on (although there were actually no engineers to be seen, mustn’t work on a Saturday!) If these engineering skills such as working on the steam locos were to die out, it would be a crying shame as once upon a time, not so long ago, these skills were where we British excelled.

Besides the Winston Churchill engine, you can see a coach is also being worked on. The Flying Scotsman has been rebuilt from scratch here, using the original blueprints to do so.

From the balcony of the Railway Museum, I took this panorama of York Railway station. Note the building work going on on the far left where it looks as if the car park is being extended to accommodate more cars, which I find ironic.

A pair of wheels stand majestically outside the Railway Museum. Next post we catch the road train and journey into York to see the magnificent Minster, and other fantastic sights.

Technorati Tags: York,railway museum,steam,workshop,turntable,bullet train,duchess

To Scream or not to Scream.

2011-06-30T06:03:00.000+01:00

Outside my bedroom window, it is a balmy twenty four degrees. Both windows are wide open, but fail to catch even the merest cooling breeze. I lay there, eyelids heavy, tired, feeling like death, my body aching and in dire need of rest. I had been dozing, my mind drifting thankfully into that subconscious state it craves if only to blot out the aches and pains in my bones. I stare at the opposite wall. How I hate that wallpaper! A dog barks, a small dog by the sounds of it for its a ‘yap’ rather than a bark.

My body feels every bump and lump in both pillow and mattress. I turn over on my side, trying to find comfort. Someone outside laughs out loud, a raucous laugh. I wish I could swop places with the person laughing, for that is the last thing I feel like doing. Slowly I begin to doze again, my mind drifting off into some whirling thought, anything to take me away from where I am. Suddenly there is a scream. A girls scream, not far away from my window. A man shouts some unintelligible word out loud. The girl screams again. I resist the urge to get up and go over to peer out of the window and scream out loud myself. I simply think to myself, as I always do whenever someone screams outside,

‘It’s to be hoped that they are never being murdered, because no one will ever go to investigate, seeing as we are all so used to listening to screams all day!’ and I abandon all hope of respite and go off to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

Technorati Tags: scream,doze,dog,laugh,window

Train Withdrawal.

2011-06-25T10:48:00.000+01:00

Had the weather been brighter, and had I been feeling up to it, we would have been scooting off today to York to have a look around the railway museum, and hopefully catch a sight of my all time favourite steam train, the Flying Scotsman. Because of bad timing i.e returning home from our holiday, we missed the exhibition where the Flying Scotsman was on the turntable resplendent in black ‘wartime’ livery. I suppose we could have set off home earlier, jumped off the train at York, seen the exhibition, and then caught a later train home, but that would have entailed us dragging our suitcase around the railway museum.

We will get there as soon as the weather is more promising, and I feel more up to making the journey. In fact, I am suffering from train withdrawal symptoms so far this year. As some of my readers know, we have usually made at least one steam train journey by now, travelled on many ‘run-arounds' either to Leeds, York, etc, and made many a jaunt or quest out and about.

Sadly, the Green Express Tours are no longer available and we will miss being able to travel on those in the future. Our many day trips with them have included such far away jaunts as Whitehaven, Bath, Exeter, Edinburgh, etc, and we have made many new friends during those escapades. There are other company’s who run steam excursions thankfully, so we will have to look to those in future. Trouble is, they don’t always set off from nearby stations which does tend to complicate matters somewhat.

It has also meant that I haven’t had as much to blog about this year because we haven’t been going on any of our usual exciting train adventures, but as soon as we are able to do so and all my treatment is completed, we shall be once again travelling on some great railway journeys, I promise. I love travelling by train, whether pulled by the latest 125 or steam, though steam is definitely my favourite. When you travel on a train pulled by a steam locomotive, you really do feel like royalty, all the people lined up along the track, taking their photos as your train passes by, all trying to catch a glimpse of a bygone age as K and I oblige them and do our royal wave out of the carriage window smiling as we pass.

It’s such a wonderful feeling, and I urge you all to go on a steam pulled excursion at least once in your lifetime. It’s an experience not to be missed!

Technorati Tags: trains,excersions,green express tours,adventures,jaunts

I've Finally Lost it!

2011-06-21T12:14:00.000+01:00

Well folks, that’s it! Following the slow deterioration of mind and body, I’ve finally flipped. Lost it completely. I might as well face facts. It’s all gone. Off to the clouds or the past or wherever it all disappears to. I will stop being in denial or worse, blaming external sources (or being distracted and influenced by others.)

And which incident has brought about this sudden ‘facing reality’ I hear you ask. I had a shower this morning with my glasses still on my face. More worrying was the actual time it took me to realise that the cause of my very VERY blurred view of the shampoo bottle was actually caused by my steamed up glasses. It took me at least a minute before it dawned on me. Sigh.

It’s all downhill from here!

TG

Technorati Tags: mind,body,shower,glasses

Now Here’s something I could use!

2011-06-18T10:56:00.000+01:00

If I have any long term readers left (or any readers at all) you will probably recall my many rants about the state of my deteriorating body over the years. Creaking knees, rubbish short term memory, (new CPU and new RAM needed I think!) constant back ache, etc etc, and how I wish we could go down to the Doctor’s and request new parts. Well it looks like some kind soul has taken pity on me and other with the same aging symptoms, and come up with this contraption! Not only that, they have kindly named it after me!

I’m seriously considering ordering one immediately!

Technorati Tags: old,body,knees,memory,technogran,mobility,glasses

Discovering Rebus.

2011-06-16T14:56:00.000+01:00

If there was one gain during our recent holiday for me personally, it was the discovery of Ian Rankin. I don’t mean that I found him hiding under the mobile home or anything, but I did for the very first time, read one of his Rebus novels, all instigated because of the terrible TV picture in the mobile home coupled with the lousy weather we endured all week. It just so happened that in the holiday parks shop, they had one of those paperback carousels which I duly inspected during one of our frequent visits for food stocks, and there in amongst the other paperbacks I came across Ian Rankin’s ‘Hide and Seek.’

Quite why its taken me so long to discover him as an author I have no idea, but, like most of us, I’m not in the habit of going into Waterstone’s or W.H.Smiths and spending hour upon hour scrutinizing every crime author currently available just to see who ‘grabs’ my attention. After a quick peruse of the synopsis of the story from the back jacket, I bought it and read it that day. It was so good I simply couldn’t put it down, and therein lies one of my biggest problems as a reader. If I like a book, if it grabs me, I simply can’t put it down and usually read it all the way through in one go.

It was the only Ian Rankin book available from the camp shop, so then I was left gagging for more! As soon as we were near a W.H.Smiths I was buying more books from the Rebus series, and have been enjoying them ever since. Discovering this crime series couldn’t have happened at a better time for me, because if the chemotherapy leaves me feeling tired and unwell, I can prop myself up in bed whilst I am transported to the darker side of Edinburgh and another gruesome murder for Rebus to solve.

It’s also made me realise that there are probably tons and tons of crime writers out there that I haven’t discovered yet, so maybe one of these days I ought to spend a day or two sifting through the shelves of W.H.Smiths so that I can discover them all! Right, I’m off now to read the next book in the series, see you all later ………

Technorati Tags: Rebus,crime,Ian Rankin,book,Edinburgh

Early morning chatter.

2011-06-12T06:51:00.000+01:00

I’m an early riser. I always have been, being schooled well as a youngster by my mother that ‘early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.’ This did not work out for me personally unfortunately, and as time has past and I have grown older, my waking time has gradually become earlier and earlier. These days, I’m usually awake and up and about at roughly about 06.00am in the morning, largely depending on the resident crows and their escapades outside. Of course, this alarm call tends to alter depending on the time of year, and this morning I was rudely awakened by loud shouting and chattering from my immediate neighbours in the tree outside at about 05.00am.

They have obviously built a nest in the tree outside my bedroom window, and on closer inspection through said window by an irate me, were being plagued by a magpie. I couldn’t tell if he had managed to take a chick or an egg, but he was very persistent, hence the resulting racket going on. I often imagine myself with a six bore shotgun aiming it through the window at those noisy chattery birds outside.

By the time it had all quietened down I was wide awake, and so not wanting to waste the extra time gained I decided to write this post. I am a very light sleeper unfortunately, with strange prerequisites needed for sleep, such as my bedroom being pitch black and no sounds at all. I have always been like this for as long as I can remember, even as a small girl. Too active a mind, not sleeping deep enough? Being this kind of sleeper does make you dread going into hospital where they tend to keep lights on etc. it usually results on my discharge in me arriving home resembling some kind of zombie, so tired am I from lack of sleep, having spent most nights during my stay pacing the ward corridors usually frightening the night staff to death.

I can remember a period when I was younger, where I hadn’t slept properly for about three weeks, and as I was working on a machine that I wasn’t too familiar with, I was frightened that I would end up with my fingers trapped in it as I swayed with tiredness during the day. Necessity and desperation took me to the doctors who prescribed tranquillisers and sleeping tablets in sufficient quantity to knock a horse out, so that when I took the first dose I was literally out like a light. Quite what caused this inability to sleep, whether I was worried, tense or stressed I don’t know, but eventually I did return to my normal sleeping pattern.

I do envy those who can doze off at the drop of a hat, on a bus, on a train, in a chair, and unfortunately during my lifetime I have been surrounded by such sleepers, K is one, my sister another, it takes me all my time to drift off to sleep in my own bed never mind somewhere else. Another incident I recall was when we decided to go down to Skegness for a holiday when the children were small, and journey down there via night coach. The whole coach were fast asleep bar the driver and myself. I was absolutely shattered by the time we arrived at Skegness!

Of course, by the time you arrive at my age you have come to terms with your idiosyncrasies, and therefore I tend to lose no sleep over it (pun intended) it’s just the way I am. If going on holiday, or hospital, or anywhere else where I can look forward to having difficulty sleeping, I just accept it and make the best of it. Now who can I get to demolish that tree or lend me a gun?

Technorati Tags: sleep,crows,machine,hospital,holiday,bus,train,chair

Hair today and gone tomorrow

2011-06-08T18:41:00.000+01:00

Owing to the type of chemo I am receiving, I was warned at the beginning that I would loose all of my hair, in fact my consultant expressed surprise during my recent appointment with her, that I still had some left on my head as apparently you usually loose it all following the second session. I shall not be tempted to demonstrate my nearly bald pate with a photo on my blog, I am sure you’ll all understand why, so instead you’ll all have to make do with a cartoon impression of my current appearance.

Technorati Tags: hair,chemo,bald

Spot the Difference.

2011-06-06T06:51:00.000+01:00

It wasn’t all doom and gloom, or gale force wind and rain on our holiday, there were some bright highlights and laughs. So here are some photos I took for your amusement and to give you all a laugh. (Hopefully!) The first one is a sort of ‘spot the difference’ competition, where I took a photo twice but one has an addition to the other. Can you spot the difference and if so, what is it?

You’ll have to look very closely, and no, it’s not those two extra people on the beach in the top one.

Technorati Tags: spot,photos,difference

A walk along the cliffs

2011-06-05T07:37:00.000+01:00

As usual, the weather didn’t promise anything (more rain in other words) on Friday, and as we had our packing to do, we decided a hearty cooked breakfast in the restaurant was called for, followed by a walk around the holiday park and along the cliffs to the south. As it turned out, I didn’t really enjoy the breakfast, I tend to grill mine when I do a cooked breakfast, and it was far too fatty for my liking. K enjoyed hers though. We then set off along the road towards the pitch area for anyone staying in tents etc, or who bring their own towing caravans.

It wasn’t raining thank goodness, and once we set off along the cliff top it turned out to be a very enjoyable walk.

There were supposed to be some newts to see around the walk but I didn’t spot any, despite trying to be as quiet as possible. I only wished that I felt up to walking much further along the path but as it was, I soon felt tired, and so we cut the walk short and returned to the holiday park.

You can just see what the surrounding countryside looks like around those parts, its spectacular, and besides enjoying the breath-taking views, there are loads of attractive wild flowers growing everywhere.

It had certainly been a holiday to remember this year, what with gale force winds and pouring rain, but nethertheless, enjoyable if only for the break away to somewhere different and which held some pleasant memories of when the children were younger.

Technorati Tags: park,breakfast,walk,cliffs,tents,tourers,flowers,wild

A Quest to find the neighing horse

2011-06-04T07:43:00.000+01:00

With the promise looming of more rain on the Thursday, we had decided to a repeat of Monday, and so K found herself swimming alone again in the indoor pool at 9.30am. I sat at the side watching her enviously as she swam to and fro. The pool looked so inviting, especially as it was empty of anyone else. Sigh.

After K had got dressed, we returned quickly to the mobile home to return the wet towel and costume, and then as it hadn’t begun to rain yet, we set off on a walk to find the horses we could so plainly hear from our caravan.

The sound was coming from the general direction north of the park, where there is a narrow lane which takes you to Reighton Village about three quarters of a mile away. Armed with our trusty cameras, we set off in high expectations of horse spotting! It was a very enjoyable walk, there was no traffic and the hawthorn hedges alongside the side of the road were full of flowers.

We hadn’t walked far when we came upon a farm with the horses and ponies we could obviously hear from our mobile home. The first pony had a foal with her, he was so cute!

Further along were some more horses, and I spent some time feeding one with the luscious grass that was growing in abundance at the side of the road, as the grass in the field where he was had been cut really short, and was fairly dry.

Making our way further along the road, it began to spit with the promised rain, and looking down into the valley, I could see no sign of the promised destination of Reighton Village.

Anyway, I was already beginning to tire, so we retraced our steps back to the mobile home and not before time as it absolutely poured down!

Technorati Tags: swimming,horses,farm,reighton,village,walk

A day out at Flamborough Head

2011-06-03T06:26:00.000+01:00

On Wednesday, we decided to make the trip to Flamborough Head. This entailed two separate bus trips, one at 10.00am (first bus in that direction from the Park) to Bridlington, and then another bus to Flamborough Head, north landing. It meant that we would be severely curtailed by how much time we had at Flamborough to look around and walk along the cliff top. I was amazed though to find when we arrived there, that most of the facilities, such as a cafe, were actually not open, the only place that was open for visitors to use, was a sort of pub, which did not serve meals, only drinks and snacks. Thankfully there were some public toilets available, and after use we set off to walk along the top of the cliffs.

We headed to the left by the car park first of all, but as that walk turned into a very steep walk down lot’s of steps, we turned around and went in the other direction.

This walk to the right still had a few steps and climbs but they were short one’s and easily navigable in both directions. K struggled though as she always tends to do on any surface that isn’t flat. We followed the path along the top, and were rewarded with some stunning views. I took lot’s of pictures of the cliffs below where the puffins were nesting, but I am not sure if you can pick them out.

We returned to the pub and had a drink of tea and a packet of crisps to push us on until we could find a restaurant to have lunch in. Luckily we hadn’t long to wait for the next bus (they only run every hour, sigh) and so we returned to Sowerby Hall and gardens. We made our way through the small zoo towards the land train so that we could make our way to the restaurant where we had dined before.

Unfortunately we were too late to dine in the Hotel restaurant, they stopped serving dinners at two o’clock, so we had to go down to their other restaurant, where we both had Haddock and chips, then we caught the land train back to Leisureworld followed by catching the bus back to the Holiday park. Rain was forecast for the day after, so we decided that K would be going swimming again, and we would try to find the whinnying horse that we could keep hearing from our mobile home.

Technorati Tags: flamborough head,cliffs,amenities,puffins,nests,sewerby,train,bridlington

Our visit to Scarborough

2011-06-01T10:56:00.000+01:00

As the weather promised to be blustery but sunny, we decided that Tuesday was to be our visit to Scarborough. Despite the fact that is was still very windy, we threw caution to the winds (pun intended) and took a ride on top of one of the open topped buses. We must have resembled a poor man’s Batman and Robin with our raincoats billowing out behind us as we braved the winds atop of the bus! At least there were blue skies and some sunshine peeping through them.

After our bus ride along the front of the North Bay, we alighted and made our way to my favourite ice cream parlour for a Knickerbocker Glory. No one but no one makes them quite like Pacitto’s Ice Cream parlour! There the best!

We had our dinner later in one of the many restaurants which are dotted along the front and chose the King Richard III to be precise where I enjoyed a roast beef dinner, and K had steak pie and chips. I had to laugh at a very scary contraption hanging on one of the walls by the bar entitled ‘Mantrap’

Following our dinner, I again foolishly decided to begin to walk up through the old town towards St Mary’s church and the castle. Big mistake! It’s a really steep climb, and after reaching about half way up, my legs began to complain, they turned to concrete blocks, and I had to literally keep stopping every few steps all the way to the top! It was with enormous relief that we eventually reached the lovely St Mary’s church, where incidentally Anne Bronte is buried.

Following a brief rest in the church, we continued slowly up to the castle. It was really windy up at the top in the castle grounds, which probably explains why there weren’t many visitors up there! One of the last times we had visited the castle was with J when we attended the World War 2 demonstrations. Remember? Unfortunely that post is not available on Blogger, I will have to rectify that methinks!

By the time we had sauntered around the castle grounds, I was exhausted, so we slowly made our way down the road from the castle, and worked our way to the bus station. What a day, and although enjoyable, I was so glad to arrive back at our mobile home!

Technorati Tags: scarborough,bus,knickerbocker glory,king richard,church,castle

Monday, swimming and the beach.

2011-05-31T13:02:00.000+01:00

On Monday, we had been promised gale force winds of up to 80 miles an hour and rain. We decided that the best course of action was to stay put on the park, and so at 9.30am K found herself stepping gingerly into the swimming pool. She was lucky enough to have the entire pool all to herself, and I really envied her. I had been advised not to risk going swimming whilst receiving chemotherapy because of the risk of picking up an infection, and so I found myself relegated to watching her from the side of the pool as she swam from one end to the other.

We enjoyed our lunch in the restaurant where I chose my usual chicken Caesar salad. We then decided to walk our lunch off by venturing down to the beach, with yours truly not thinking things through as usual, and completely forgetting that the steep walk down would be a doddle, but not the return journey up!

Strangely enough, once down on the beach, there was hardly any wind at all. It was quite sheltered from it. The beach was full of huge blocks of concrete that really spoiled it all. I can’t remember those being there when we used to visit Reighton all those years ago, I am sure I would have noticed them. The walk back up to the park was a real effort, and I was really glad to be back in the mobile home, despite the fact that it was really shaking and rocking in the wind. I just hoped that I would be able to get to sleep!

Technorati Tags: park,swimming pool,lunch,caesar salad,beach,concrete,gales

Blown away in Bridlington

2011-05-30T08:31:00.000+01:00

On Sunday we set off to Bridlington, mainly because K insisted that she had never been there. She had as a little girl, but had obviously forgotten it. She remembered the ‘big dipper’ road though from Reighton Sands holiday park, which dips and climbs with the result that as children they used to yell ‘Whoo’ at every dip the bus encountered. Setting off at Bridlington harbour, we walked along the sea front, intent on going as far as my legs would allow me to.

It was blustery and very windy and rain was promised. My hair has begun to part company with my head, and I could see hairs blowing away in the gusty wind towards the sea. I joked to K that if this wind continued all week I would no doubt be returning home completely bald.

As we walked along the front towards North Bay it began to rain. A ‘land train’ runs from Leisureland up to Sewerby Park and there were various pick up points along the front. We reached the top and began walking along the top where benches were lined up facing out to sea. Every bench had been dedicated to different people who had passed away.

We passed a Hotel serving lunches and dinners, so we decided to have our dinner there. K had the lamb (with mint sauce) and K had Haddock and chips. Her haddock looked beautiful, white as driven snow, and tasted delicious. She also discovered the delight of horseradish sauce for the first time, and loved it! My lamb was also perfect and we really enjoyed our meal. The hotel in question is the Expanse Hotel, and the food and hospitality is second to none. I would certainly stay there if I was ever staying in Bridlington.

Following our dinner, we caught the road train up to Sewerby Park and then rode it down again to Leisureland. The train turns around outside the Sewerby gardens, and then waits for roughly quarter of an hour. It was during this wait that the heavens opened, with the result that we passengers were wet through, as the carriages do not have any sides.

Our wet wait was not entirely wasted, we were entertained by the antics of swallows as they swooped and soared around the trees, and also the deer in the enclosure next to the land train stop. Once we were back in the town, I bought a fringe magnet and K bought a pen as souvenirs of our visit. We also indulged ourselves with some delicious looking fudge as well before making our way back to the bus station for the return journey back to the holiday park.

Technorati Tags: bridlington,windy,sewerby,train,dinner,hotel,rain

Reighton Sands, the arrival.

2011-05-29T13:27:00.001+01:00

I think it was as I struggled with the heavy suitcase down our stairs, that I first had the inkling that maybe this holiday wasn’t such a good idea. This inkling was to be re-enforced every time we alighted or boarded a train. Was I mad? By the time I sank into my reserved seat on the transpennine express to Scarborough, it occurred to me that maybe I was last in the queue when common sense had been doled out. Struggling on trains with a heavy suitcase whilst receiving chemotherapy is not to be recommended!

But I reasoned to myself, K deserved this holiday after the way she had looked after me when I was ill, and she was so looking forward to it! I simply couldn’t bring myself to cancel, no matter how tiring the whole escapade turned out to be. Promises by the weather forecasters of gale force winds later that week certainly didn’t help my general demeanour either.

On arrival at Filey station, rather than continue to struggle onto a bus with the suitcase, I opted for a taxi to take us to the holiday camp whatever the cost. On arrival, we collected the key for our mobile home from reception. Our holiday home was fairly near to both the camp facilities and the shop. Good! No repeat of last year when we had to walk a mile in order to reach all the amenities. Not only that, it was a very nice mobile home as well, and as it turned out, thankfully with heating in both my bedroom and K’s.

After getting my breath back, we emptied the suitcase and then walked over to the shop to buy some provisions. Later, we sauntered around the entertainment block, mainly to suss out the restaurant prices, the swimming pool and general layout of the place. I also took advantage of the many mobile homes for sale, which are usually left open for viewing by guests and visitors, and had a nosey around those as well.

The television picture in our mobile home was absolutely awful. The only channels available via DT were BBC One and that was breaking up all the time, so we had to resort to watching analogue. Funny, I thought to myself, how at home I don’t seem to watch all that much TV, yet it wasn’t long before I began to miss my gorgeous high definition pictures from Freeview, and also my PVR and being able to watch the programs I chose to watch whenever I wanted to watch them! K was forced to watch news programs first thing in the morning, but she didn’t forfeit her beloved soaps, hence the result that yours truly ended up buying some books to read!

After such a tiring day, I was in bed for 10.00pm and so was K! We were both shattered. Plans for tomorrow if the weather held up was a day out in Bridlington.

Technorati Tags: train,suitcase,mobile home,rheighton,television

A Week Off.

2011-05-20T07:31:00.000+01:00

We’re off on a holiday next week. It was booked last year before I knew I had cancer. You can get some real bargains at the holiday camps when you book early. We are going to Reighton Sands holiday park near Filey. It’s another holiday park with lot’s of fond memories for us. We enjoyed some wonderful holidays there when the children were small.

We will be staying in a Super Duper Premium eight berth caravan with all mod cons. K will be able to choose between two bedrooms to sleep in if she wants. She could sleep in one of them one night, then sleep in the other one the next.

I have to confess, I am not particularly excited about going, but that’s probably down to the chemo and everything. Now that I am able to do my own Heparin injections, I will be taking them with me, including a small sharps container in my suitcase to place the used one’s in.

Reighton Sands is another lovely beach on our gorgeous Yorkshire coast, though it does have quite a steep walk down to it. I am hoping that I feel well enough to do plenty of walking during this holiday. We are also on the bus route for journeys to Scarborough, Bridlington, Whitby or Filey, so lot’s of wonderful places to visit during our stay!

We’re also not all that far from the famous Flamborough Head so we’ll probably pay there a visit as well. There’ll be lot’s of photos taken of course for this blog! Obviously I will be keeping my fingers crossed that I stay feeling well and don’t have any problems occur. I also plan to take a jotter with me so that I can ‘jot’ down all that occurs both on the train journey there and back again, and also during our stay. So lot’s of blogging to do on my return!

See you all soon

Technorati Tags: coast,holiday,yorkshire,mobile home,park

Making breakfast in 2011.

2011-05-18T08:01:00.000+01:00

You will require one pair of pliers, a pair of very sharp scissors, a sharp knife and one or two packets of plasters in case of accidents.

Add an extra ten minutes or so onto any cooking time to allow for penetration of the packaging surrounding most of the ingredients.

Method.

1. Open the Tropicana orange juice container by turning the knob anti-clockwise with the pair of pliers. Once you have managed to turn the knob and open the container, pour the orange juice from the container into some glasses.

2. Whilst the grill is heating up, take out the grill pan and using either the scissors or the sharp knife, proceed to penetrate the packaging containing the bacon and also the packaging around the sausages.

3. As soon as you have managed to make headway into the packaging, take out the bacon and the sausages and place on the rack in the grill pan. Place the grill pan under the heated grill.

4. If serving mushrooms as well, you will also need to use exactly the same method to access those inside their plastic packaging. Peel said mushrooms and place onto the grill rack with the bacon and sausages.

5. The eggs are fairly straight forward to open as they are packaged in a cardboard box which has a very handy ‘push in’ type opener which therefore does not require any use of either the knife or scissors.

6. Once everything is cooked thoroughly, serve onto warmed plates.

7. Use the plasters if you cut yourself with either the utensils or any sharp parts of the packaging.

NOTE! Dispense of all packaging into the correct containers provided by your local council for that purpose!

Technorati Tags: breakfast,carton,plastic,cardboard,plasters

Incident at the Happy Haddock.

2011-05-14T08:10:00.000+01:00

Yesterday whilst out in town searching for summer tops, we needed somewhere to have our dinner. I haven’t frequented one of our fish and chip shops in town for ages, not since the terrible bout of food poisoning I suffered after one of our visits to one of them. As we emerged across the road from the ‘Happy Haddock’ K persuaded me (as she always does) against my better judgement to have our dinner there.

On entering, there were in total about eight customers already eating their meals. We sat down at a table (plastic tablecloths, ugh!) and soon the waitress appeared smiling from the ‘frying’ area of the establishment to take our order. Since the poisoning incident all those years ago, I have tended to hate the smell of frying oil and as the door between the ‘cooking area’ and the restaurant was kept permanently open, it wasn’t a comfortable time for me. I was already a ‘reluctant customer’ before the incident began to be played out before our very eyes.

It began just as the waitress had brought my tea and K’s drink. She was beckoned over to one of the window tables by one of the ladies sitting there.

“These chips are not cooked right!” stated the lady in an indignant voice to the waitress. “Look at the difference between my chips on my plate, and those chips on that ladies plate!” and she pointed over to one of the ladies sat at the other window table. The waitress protested that they were exactly the same, and then taking the plate containing the offending chips, she marched into the cooking area. We could hear her inform the ‘boss’ about the said chips and the complaint by the lady customer.

Out came the ‘boss’ all six foot odd of him, and he proceeded to march up to the lady who had been served, according to her, the ‘different’ chips. He insisted they were exactly the same as any other plate of chips, freshly cooked as they were served, but she was having none of it.

“I can’t eat those!” she told him, and rose from the table to exit the premises.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with your chips!” the boss insisted as he walked back to the frying area with the offending plate, “and don’t come back to this restaurant!”

This prompted one of the ladies at the next window table, who’s chips were obviously of a superior quality to the complaining ladies chips, to join in the fracas.

“How disgusting to say that to one of your customers, don’t come back!” she stated loudly so that we (and the boss of course) could all hear. “ I don’t believe it! As a customer you have a right to complain if your not happy!”

Meanwhile the first complainant with the ‘different’ chips had paid for her meal alongside her companion, and muttering as she exited the door “Don’t worry I won’t be coming back here!” they both left. A few minutes went by in which K and I were served with our meals, and then the peace and quiet was interrupted again by the lady on the second table (who by the way K knew to speak to) who called the waitress over and told her that her chicken was ‘bloody’ and not cooked right.

The waitress did no more than marched into the frying area with the offending chicken on its plate to show the boss. He promptly marched straight back in with the aforementioned chicken and told the lady that it was cooked through, he had tested it, it wasn’t blood, it was the darker meat and quite normal. She however, was adamant .

“I can’t eat that!” she insisted, now obviously worked into some kind of hysterical frenzy about the cooking abilities of the ‘boss’ who seemed to have acquired ample certificates for his frying and cooking abilities which were all displayed on the restaurant walls. She had obviously caught the ‘complaints’ bug from the previous occupant of the table next to her, and no amount of insisting that he was ‘Gordon Ramsey’ personified was going to placate this lady!

He went back into the ‘frying’ area but shortly returned, now really indignant himself. I was worried that he might slap her across the face with a wet fish, but luckily he had only returned as she scurried out the door to issue his ultimate sentence

“And don’t come back!” as she exited without paying for her meal.

All through the whole scenario played out before us, waitress and boss flying up and down the restaurant with complained about plates of food held aloft, I have to admit that I nearly caught the bug as well. I was just a smidgen from picking up my bag and marching out of the restaurant in disgust, but the sight of K tucking into her huge sausages and chips with curry stopped me from taking flight, so we both stayed put and enjoyed our meals.

Technorati Tags: dinner,fish,chips,haddock,chicken

Body Swap

2011-05-11T06:25:00.001+01:00

I no longer belong residing in here. It has rebelled against me, creating an alien environment that I can no longer tolerate. I ask myself every day, why did it turn against its resident occupier? Why begin to destroy the being it relies on, for food, for warmth, for comfort….

I no longer feel comfortable inside this shell, nor do I feel at home enclosed as I am inside its rebelling interior. I have never loved it, always aware that when compared to others, it was far from perfect. Too skinny all those years ago, with hardly any curves or attractiveness, now misshapen and ugly, covered in bruises, veins that hide and disappear, legs that complain in creaks and groans, hair that is too thin, skin that burns and itches, and now, it has turned against its occupant and rebelled.

Walking along the road, I pass a young woman, sleek and slim with a carefree expression, maybe thinking of her weekend and all the fun she might enjoy in the arms of a lover. She reminds me of how I used to be at that age with not a care in the world, and as we pass one another I mentally jump into her young lithe body and become young and carefree once more.

Technorati Tags: body,occupier,swap

We need a bigger fridge.

2011-05-06T19:45:00.001+01:00

Technorati Tags: fridge,freezer,food

Jabber Day

2011-05-03T11:41:00.000+01:00

My first visitor today was the District Nurse. Not one from my own practice and therefore a new and unfamiliar face. She had in tow a young Doctor no less who was obviously in training judging by the way he followed her up the stairs and listened intently to her detailed instructions as she performed her duties on me. After checking the dosage to give and informing me that if I wished, I could give my poor bruised abdomen a rest by having said injection given in my legs or in my arms, she proceeded to eject some contents from the syringe first in order to arrive at my particular dosage, and then injected me in a small vacant space on the right hand side where bruising had not yet had chance to appear.

Following that, she then took two empty phials, one pink and one brown, and proceeded to fill them from my right arm which is the only arm left with a vein wiling enough to display itself sufficiently so that some blood can be taken, the left one having withdrawn itself sometime ago between previous cannulas, blood letting and CT Scans.

After she and the doctor had left, I began thinking how ironic my life has ended up! Was this the very same person sat here resembling some kind of mauve and yellow pin cushion, who had to lay down in a near feint at work when younger before receiving her first flu jab? Had someone said to me then that I would end up having a daily injection for six months solid and not bat an eyelid, would I have believed them? I wonder….

Technorati Tags: jab,district nurse,doctor,syringes,pin cushion

Lifelong Habits

2011-04-28T14:17:00.000+01:00

Sitting at my desk yesterday, I was suddenly conscious that I was rocking on my chair. It’s a habit I have had since being a youngster and one that I can lay firmly on my Granma’s lap, for it was she who bought me that old wooden rocking chair that instigated this particular habit. Not only that, she was also instrumental in causing my life time love of liquorice via ample supplies of liquorice Pontefract Cakes.

The chair was wooden with a circular hole in the seat where you could presumably place a potty of some description. I was probably safely tied into it via a scarf or some other method to ensure that I didn’t fall out. I can’t remember sitting in it of course, but my mother kept it until her demise. It would have been worth some money if it had not been cracked all the way down the back. I have been able to find a picture on the internet of one which is very similar the the one I had.

The Pontefract Cakes might have been bought in a tin, I am not quite sure whether Bassett’s were around in those days so it’s not certain who made them, but I still enjoy eating liquorice to this day. My Granma is a very hazy memory for me, as she died when I was only about three or four from breast cancer. She spoiled me something rotten or so my mother used to tell me, and I just wish my memories were more clear of her. She was probably already unwell by the time I was born, and my mother and I lived with her during my early years. My father was away serving in the Army during that time, so I suppose it made sense for us to remain at home with Granma and Granddad. This was just after the war had ended of course, when things were really tight. I don’t remember much about Granma’s house either, only the basic layout of it and the back room which we all used most of the time. The front room was never used unless there were guests. It was always kept for ‘best’.

t’s just a good job I have never worked in an close office environment, I would have driven everyone batty with my constant rocking and the trouble is, it’s not until someone remarks on it that I realise I am doing it, so by that time everyone would be heartily sick of seeing me out of the corner of their eye rocking to and fro as I enjoyed my liquorice Pontefract Cakes.

Technorati Tags: rocking,chair,granma,pontefract,liquorice

A Spring Clean

2011-04-25T07:32:00.000+01:00

I’m currently having a spring clean of my blogs, so don’t think your off your marbles if every time you come a visiting this way, things have changed beyond recognition. I’m also toying with the idea of changing my Wordpress blog title to ‘Neither here nor there’ which sums me up so much more than ‘Technogran’s Tales’

However, my ex Spacers friends (if I still have any that is) know my diary blog as Technogran’s Tales so it might be confusing for them. (or if they are used to me, then maybe not)

Please be patient and bare with me during this faffing about that I seem to have to do at least once a year. If you want to blame anyone, blame Wordpress for constantly bringing out all of these lovely themes!

Technorati Tags: spring cleam,blogs

A Cafe Tale

2011-04-24T07:06:00.000+01:00

The weather was so beautiful yesterday that we decided to walk down to the park and not waste the glorious spring sunshine. For the first time ever, we stopped at the small Cafe just inside the park entrance where we sat down outside to enjoy an ice cream each. As we sat there, I cast my mind back to the history of this now very popular resting place. It has enjoyed a very chequered history, and not one that would have ever encouraged the thought on any long term resident of this town that it would end up in its current popular guise.

It was built originally as public toilets, the nearest door you can see in the photograph was the entrance to the Ladies, and at the other end of the building was the Gents. Unfortunately it was not furnished with any windows at all, so as I recall from any of my very infrequent visits there, it was dark and dingy and not a place to hover around in. In fact that goes some way to explaining why I can’t recall much about the exact layout, because I would have avoided using it unless really desperate.

Most residents must have felt the same, because over a period of time it ended up neglected and uncleaned as did most public toilets. Before it was finally shut down and closed however, it was the venue for a local scandal involving men meeting up there for clandestine goings on of I suppose a sexual nature. I can’t remember the exact details, but the police must have been ‘caging the joint’ (our local police station is only down the road) and several men were arrested.

It stood then for a while not being used for anything until a Brighouse couple decided to take it over and turn it into the very popular cafe that it is today. On warm days such as yesterday, tables and chairs are placed outside on the paved area in front of the Cafe, and when its raining, there is some room (but not much) to sit down inside.

In the photo are three bike riders, all dressed in full riding gear, who propped their bikes against the fence in front of the Cafe and sat down to enjoy a coffee or a latte. Sat at another of the tables were two young ladies complete with twins in a twin buggy who were fast asleep as they enjoyed the weather and the inevitable texting on their mobiles. Behind K was a family with a dog which kept barking, causing K to keep jumping out of her skin and have a face like thunder. She hates dogs barking and heaved a sigh of relief when they got up to go.

Of course many people just call in for an ice cream or drink as they walk past the Cafe on their way down to the slides and swings. It has become a very popular stop off for many, and is much more suited to its present role, though I would have added a window to the front of the building as its still rather dark and dingy inside.

Here’s some more info about the Cafe from our local rag.

http://www.brighouseecho.co.uk/news/cafe_is_now_the_coolest_spot_1_796480

Technorati Tags: park,cafe,ice cream,toilets

A birthday with a difference!

2011-04-16T07:13:00.000+01:00

I had a strange birthday yesterday. Spent having yet another new experience sat in a very comfortable chair, being stabbed with needles four times in total on the back of my hands resulting in some lovely blue bruises, (I shall be taken soon for an alien as I will no doubt end up blue all over) and receiving lot’s of different inputs ranging from Steroids, anti-sickness stuff to my two separate chemo’s. K sat diligently at my side, noseying as she always does at everything going on around her.

She had taken a ‘Goonies’ book in with her to wile away the time, but it never emerged from her backpack all the time we were there (which turned out to be considerable) nor come to think of it, did my intended ‘help to pass the time’ book of code words. Instead (as is usual for us, seemingly being known personally by half of Yorkshire, well K is) we knew the lady who was receiving chemo on the opposite side to us, and ended up spending most of our time chatting to her about experiences and good times at K’s infant school all those years ago, where this lady was a dinner lady. (which readers will go some way to explaining there intimate knowledge of each other, as that was even in those days, K’s only reason for existence and attendance.)

As for the allotted four hours of chemo, that went by the board as soon as the nurse who was dealing with me tried to ‘hook me up’ by inserting a cannula into the back of my hands.. First she tried the right hand, seeing as I am left handed. The vein in question promptly moved away to the side. No joy. Now the left hand. First vein, again no joy, so she tried a smaller vein running alongside. At last it began to work but this effort had thrown us about half an hour late. K watched ever move, even down to the tapping of any syringes by the nurses as they cleared the needles of air.

I was hoping that I might make the whole session without needing to journey to the toilet but we ended up making about six visits in total (typical for me, who says one of my kidneys is blocked?) and boy was I glad K was with me because as my left hand now had the cannula and therefore all the chemo stand attached, I was having to use my right hand and I am useless with that hand. I also seemed to have been lumbered with a Chemo stand that was determined to only travel to the right, with the ensuing problem that I ended up doing a sort of waltz with it down the corridor. It reminded me of my usual choice of supermarket trolleys which always insist on going anyway but the way you want them to.

We were served a welcome cup of tea, some dinner ( I had salad, K had a sandwich) another cup of tea in the afternoon, and as my chair was laid down so my legs were elevated, I honestly could have dozed. The nurses were lovely (although before I went home, the one who had dealt with me most of the day said jokingly don’t ask for me again next time you come!)

Presents given to me by nursing staff, some antiseptic mouthwash to prevent mouth sores and some cream for the bruises at the back of hands caused by attempted insertion of cannula’s, two lot’s of anti-sickness tablets and some steroid tablets.

We had to wait ages for the transport though and thought we might have to make a bed up on the sofa for the night. It didn’t arrive until 17.00pm so in total we had been there from 10.00am in the morning until 17.00pm at night. I’m having one of those chairs though. They are so comfortable and just like the hospital electric beds, are ideal for putting your legs up. It’s getting them home without being spotted that will be the problem. Wonder if K has any bright ideas?

Technorati Tags: birthday,chemo,chair,cannula,nurse,K

My big fat leg.

2011-04-05T19:21:00.000+01:00

It weighs a ton weight. It’s stopping me from exercising. It’s twice the size of the other one. It refuses to bend at the knee. I can’t tie my shoes. I can’t lift it high enough to put my trousers on. I can’t put my socks on. It’s driving me insane. Go a short walk and I’m beggared and no wonder. It weighs a ton.

I have actually lost weight everywhere else. Without my huge leg I would probably be down to 9 stone but my leg weighs about two ton. Whilst the hospital and I argue over what exactly is wrong with my leg, I am getting no exercises and no stocking to wear and so no treatment. Tomorrow I have yet another scan to endure to see if there is a blood clot causing the swollen leg. I am beginning to loose count of all of the scans I have had. I must have laid under every type of scanner there is by now. The hospital must have pictures of every single organ, vein, and internal supply of my body you can think of. Well, apart from my brain and I don’t really blame them for missing that part out. There would be very little to see.

It’s worse first thing after being laid down. K and I discussed whether I could go to sleep with my leg propped up against the wall. We both decided that what I really needed was one of those hoists above the bed that hospitals use to keep your leg straight after a breakage when its in plaster. I could lay down and K would have to adjust the pulley to raise my leg into the air. I just hope that tomorrow I get some answers and therefore some treatment to bring my big fat leg back down to size.

Technorati Tags: leg,exercise,scan,heavy,fat,big

Better than any tonic!

2011-03-24T17:32:00.000Z

It’s amazing isn’t it? Battling through the last few weeks, struggling with my body seeming to pack in, throw a strop and have a complete post op breakdown, I have to confess to feeling rather down and low of late. However, today my spirits are lifted and not only by the glorious sunshine and warm temperatures we have been enjoying of late! What has brought about this magical transformation? Well, the answer to that question can be found below in photo form!

A visit to the hairdressers of course!

Technorati Tags: tonic,down,sunshine,photos

Is it here at last?

2011-03-19T18:03:00.000Z

Been out stretching my swollen legs today. A slow walk down to the park accompanied by K which rewarded us with some wonderful sights of crocus’s and daffodils all vying with each other for a glimpse of some welcome spring sunshine. It was a very enjoyable walk, not too cold, and did me the world of good especially to breath in that gorgeous fresh Spring air, though I was absolutely beggared when we landed home! Enjoy the arrival at last of Spring everyone because I am!

Is it Spring Yet?

VIEW SLIDE SHOW

DOWNLOAD ALL

Technorati Tags: spring,daffodils,crocus's,photos,walk,park

A brief moment in time. On the mend.

2011-03-13T05:11:00.000Z

It’s all been a brief moment in my lifetime. A chapter in my life that had to be experienced whether enjoyable or not. Have I been just unlucky? In six months time will I look back on it as an experience I just simply had to endure? Will it make me stronger as a person? I still have the chemo sessions to go through of course, another new experience for me.

My legs need sorting out at the moment, they are swollen and painful, especially the right one, and so are stopping me from being as mobile as I would like to be. I have obviously acquired Lymphedema as a result of some twenty lymph nodes being removed from the groin area. My right leg won’t bend at the knee or the thigh, so I can’t bend down to put socks on etc. But its all a challenge. A battle to be won. You have to fight it. I am exercising them, keeping them moving, trying to help; the waste products that are usually circulating around my legs via my lymph nodes to drain away and continue to be discarded.

I still feel three sheets to the wind brain wise. I can’t seem to get my head around things, but its probably because my sleep pattern is now kaput. I am going to bed at ten, waking up at 01.00am for a toilet break, going back to sleep until 04.00am where I then wake up and can’t go back to sleep, so I usually get up. I then spend any time I am sat down nodding off, which is strange as normally I never ‘nod off’ whilst sat up in a chair.

K is now needed only for assistance with putting socks on and shoes, some helpful feet and lower leg massage and cups of tea making duties. She has been rewarded for her dedicated nursing duties with a new ‘shark bite’ t-shirt and also a new CD of 100 hits of something or other. She deserves more of course, a medal would not go amiss, as she has had the patience of Juab all the way through nursing me back to health. I have told everyone about her and how I couldn’t have managed without her, everyone who would listen. Would any other daughter have done as much?

So to end this journal of my brief moment in time (wonder if I will ever see any of my ward companions again?) I am including a photo of K in her new t-shirt.

Take Care! TG

Technorati Tags: legs,lymphedema,brain,K,t-shirt

A brief moment in time. A setback.

2011-03-10T10:12:00.000Z

It was later that first night that my problems first manifest themselves. I tried desperately to make it to the toilet, honest I did, but…..and things were to get decidedly worse. Some of my Grape juice I had drunk promptly came back up, and I ended up spending about three hours or so glued to the toilet. Now our toilet is not meant or designed to be sat on for prolonged hours at a time. My legs ended up white, swelled and completely numb. K bless her heart helped to clean me up, fetched the sicky bowl, changed my pajamas and was to take on the role for the next few days of my 24/7 personal nurse.

I have always said that if she hadn’t been born Down’s Syndrome she would definitely have gone into the caring profession, either as a nurse or even a doctor. It all comes so naturally to her to be caring, though she has always said that she wouldn’t be able to cope with the sickness and toileting, she ended up coping far better than even I thought she would. There was no hesitation, she was an absolute star, and had she not been there I would have had to dial 999 and readmit myself into hospital. As it was, we coped together. I rang the ward sister for advice.

“You’ll have to ring your GP” she told me, “sounds like you have some ‘overflow’ so ring your GP tomorrow.” Hmm. If there was anything left of me tomorrow! I did just that. Spoke to a doctor who said that the District nurse would call. She called in the afternoon with one of the practice doctors. She gave me an enema promising that it would solve all the problems as I had some ‘stoma’ stuck which was causing the ‘overflow’ and once I had' been’ all would be well.

Later that evening, the enema worked and I went. However, rather than solving everything, all that happened was it was like opening up the floodgates! I was still also being sick as well. Where was it all coming from? After all, I hadn’t been eating since my operation! If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought that whilst on the operating table, someone had filled my entire digestive system with water. Tons of it. I was slowly getting weaker and weaker. I felt drained. I looked terrible.

On the Wednesday we had an appointment to see Mr N at the McMillian unit at Halifax Royal. We had transport booked but I honestly was dreading it. Would I get there without having some kind of accident? When Mr N and the other staff saw me, you could see the shock on their faces. I was a mess! Mr N examined me and I told him everything that had taken place since arriving home. He concluded that somehow I had picked up an infection and I was placed straight away on two antibiotics to be taken over the next eight days. A sample was also taken to be sent for testing. I felt terrible and the whole hospital visit was a trial to endure.

I began taking the antibiotics as soon as I arrived home. It took a few days for them to begin to work, but slowly but surely I began to pick up. The ‘runs’ slowed down and then stopped. The sickness stopped. I began to feel better. My appetite returned. I began to feel better as each day passed. At last it was over and my digestive system began to return to normal. I did come out in an Eczema ‘flare-up’ everywhere, my body reacting as it usually does to anything it doesn’t like but that was no problem to cope with.

Trouble was, this set back ended up setting me back in my recovery, some two weeks or so as my planned ‘walks around the block’ etc had to be postponed whilst I was in that state. I’m thankfully on the mend now but the whole incident was like being in some form of endless nightmare. I asked Mr N had he had patients go though the same thing or was it just me and my ‘oversensitive’ digestive system? He assured me that yes, it did sometimes happen to others, I had been unlucky unfortunately. I think my digestive system just simply shut down. It stopped working. It went on strike. I’m just glad its all over!

Technorati Tags: setback,overflow,sick,toilet,enema,district nurse,doctor,K

A brief moment in time, break up of the fellowship.

2011-03-08T04:30:00.000Z

On Thursday, our merry band of fellowship, brought together in comradeship; and kindred spirit for a few days and nights spent together in a closeness that many would never experience, began to break up. First to leave was Mrs C. We parted company with hugs and good wishes given as if we had known one another for a lifetime. Even her close family, who’s acquaintance had been made at visiting time, made fond farewells as if we were all close friends. It was strange. We would in all likelihood never see each other again.

Mrs C was soon replaced by C who, following the very swift cleaning of Mrs C’s bed following her departure, was soon its new occupant. We hit it off straight away. She was a teacher in Halifax at a High School, so really not all that far away from me in the grand scheme of things. In the meantime, M was very down. Remember that she had hoped to have keyhole surgery and therefore be returning home on Friday at the latest. As it had turned out, this was not to be, and she was very down and upset, Of course we other members of the Ward 8 fellowship tried our best to console her.

Personally I was not in a bid fat hurry to be discharged from the hospital. In practically the opposite scenario to M, where she had a large family who were all eager to get her home and would be no doubt assisting her, I would be arriving home to an empty flat until such time that I could arrange for K to return from respite. Not exactly a pleasant prospect I am sure you’ll agree. In fact the best day for me to be discharged would be Monday, as the Day Care staff could then collect K from respite and then bring her back home in the afternoon.

Br was the next to depart. And to M’s delight, she was also allowed to leave on the Friday, which left me and C the sole occupants of Ward 8. Mr N paid me a visit that day to announce that I could go home on the Saturday. I asked if it was possible for me to remain until Monday and explained my dilemma about being able to get K home. I was in luck. There were plenty of empty beds over the weekend and hardly any admissions, so I was free to remain until Monday. I would make the best of it and have a wonderful bath every day! With lots of bubbles!

C and I ( she had had her keyhole surgery on the Friday) were now firm friends. It was during one of our conversations about the fact that I would be having follow up chemo, that I learned that she had had chemo following breast cancer. She told me about the wigs you could have to wear, and showed me a picture of herself with long hair before her chemo therapy, one taken after she had her hair cut very short for the chemo, and a recent one at a wedding. All of her photos were on an iPhone. I was very impressed by not only the quality of the pictures but the iPhone itself. Hmm, I thought. I wonder if I could get one when our current contract runs out? I was very impressed.

During Friday night, we had a scare. The fire alarm went off. It didn’t scare me as I was already awake, but C nearly jumped out of her skin. It seemed ages before the fire brigade arrived to turn it off. It turned out it was a resident up in the Penthouse suite who had accidentally knocked the alarm whilst showering. ( Yes readers, this Burley Suite has a sort of hotel on the top floor where people can stay.)

The weekend flew by. I still wasn’t eating much, I still wasn’t sleeping very well, spending large amounts of time at night walking around the corridors and usually frightening the nurses as they sat at their station. Just a good job I didn’t have a white nightgown!

Both C and I were going home on Monday. After breakfast, we packed our suitcases and were ready for the off. My transport arrived and C and I promised to go for a coffee if we bumped into each other when she came to our town, as she frequently did.

The journey home was uneventful. The ambulance driver carried my suitcase upstairs for me, and I then spent time unpacking and putting all my things away. It was strange to be back home. I longed for K’s return in the afternoon. It was no fun being home alone.

Technorati Tags: ward,discharge,bed,clean,alarm,iPhone,home

A brief moment in time. Up and about.

2011-03-06T07:24:00.000Z

True to their word, the next day our catheter's were removed, all cannula’s no longer required were also removed from the back of our hands. One amusing incident with one of mine on my left hand involved my asking the first nurse that visited my bedside to remove it because it had been hurting so much during the night. “What Cannula?” she asked, looking at my cannula free hand. Where was it? It was no longer there! Either I had been so irritated by it during the night that I had removed it myself, or it had fallen out It was duly found on the floor at the side of my bed.

Firstly I was asked if I would like a bath. Would I? The nurse went off to prepare the bath and fill it with delicious bubbles for me to languish in. She then returned and escorted me to the bathroom, where I had to sit down on the hoist whilst she carefully removed my pajamas and fetching knee high socks which you all have to wear to stop blood clots forming in your legs. That accomplished, I was hoisted above the bath, the hoist was then lowered into the bubbles and the bath raised. I was given some wipes with which to wash myself with. My scar, reaching from my belly button downwards was covered in some kind of hard ‘lattice worked’ cover. I was assured that it was okay to get it all wet, in fact the bath would help to ease any pain and discomfort.

The nurse told me to take as long as I wished and left me with a push button with which to summon her when I was ready to get out of the bath. Oh what heaven! It was exactly the right temperature, I felt relaxed and could have gladly remained there all day but M was also due to experience this delight, and so eventually I pressed the ‘nurse’ icon on the button, and she returned to get me dressed. Returning to the ward, I did not get back into bed but instead sat thankfully on the high seat chair next to my bed with a pillow at my back for comfort.

In fact, I stayed out of bed and in the chair for most of the day. I was reluctant to get back into bed, and only did so if I felt really tired. We were also encouraged to slowly walk down to the dining area at meal times to eat, not that I felt like eating anything. I didn’t feel hungry at all. I did keep trying to eat, but the only food that I seemed to be able to enjoy at all was the ice cream and the rice pudding. Everything else tasted dire. I couldn’t drink the tea at all, or any of the fruit juice, I seemed to have permanent acid reflex in my throat and constantly there, and eventually had to ask for some ‘Gaviscon’ to help relieve it Everyone else seemed to be eating some of the meals, but I felt so full I simply couldn’t bring myself to attempt more than a few spoonful's of anything.

I was at a loss what to drink. I had asked my sister and brother to bring me some of my favourite Grape Juice in, but this just seemed to add to the acid discomfort in my stomach. I told the doctors all about it. It did sometimes happen. The Gaviscon did help. I would just have to stick to plain water for mow which seemed to be the only thing I could drink without making the acid reflux worse. I also began to walk around the corridor whenever I could. Slowly at first, taking my time and holding onto the grab rail that ran all along the length. This I knew should help to get things moving internally which let’s face it, was the mainstay of conversation with every resident on there. Wind. It was as if we had all been filled with it whilst down on the operating table, like so many car tires blown up too far.

Now we were all paying the price. It had to be got rid of, it was the cause of our pain, staff also were preoccupied with the subject as well. Questions were asked. Had we heard any grumblings or rumblings? Had we passed any wind down below? Physiotherapists called with exercises for us all to do to help to get the whole thing moving along. ‘Lay on your back on your bed. Raise both knees up. Slowly rock both of your knees from the left to the right and back again. Try to go as far left and right as you can. Repeat about 10 times.

We also had a very enjoyable visit from a lady from McMillians who was a qualified masseur and who gave M and myself a hand massage and Br a foot massage. We couldn’t have the foot massage as it would have meant removing our stockings which was a task to be avoided at all costs.

Well, I should sleep tonight! I thought to myself after enjoying such a busy and energetic day. Of course I didn’t sleep any better.

Technorati Tags: bath,chair,bubbles,hoist,acid,stomach,rice,ice cream

A brief moment in time. Post op.

2011-03-04T05:09:00.000Z

“Sandra. Sandra! It’s all over!” Someone said. I opened my eyes. Several blue clad persons, including my lovely young student nurse were hovering in around my bed. There eyes were fixed on something behind me to the left. I was offered a drink of water from a straw clad beaker. My lips and mouth were dry. I drank it thankfully.

“We’re a little concerned about your blood pressure Sandra, its very low. We’ll have to raise it before we can take you back to the ward.” Hmm. My blood pressure is always low I told them. It never reaches 120/80. As I was to eventually find our later, the epidural also lowers your blood pressure. At one point as I lay there, it dropped to 65/ I was encouraged to drink more water. Eventually my blood pressure was high enough for my return to the ward. As my bed complete with me in it entered the ward door, I remembered to wave to my fellow companions. From that point it was an endless round of being constantly monitored, especially my blood pressure which again took a dip.

M still hadn’t gone down to theatre. I kept drifting into and out of consciousness. On my left hand were two cannulas with two more on my right. One of them on my right hand was really painful. I had a catheter attached to my bladder. From the waist down I was completely numb. I could feel nothing at all. B’s magic concoction of epidural pain killers certainly worked! Eventually, M left for her operation. She was hoping that Mr N could do a keyhole which would mean she would be home in a few days. I kept drifting off to sleep. I had told everyone not to visit today as I would be ‘three sheets to the wind’ I asked the others what time I had returned. Roughly about dinner time. I had been down a while then!

Various persons came to examine me, ward staff kept a constant vigil of checks blood pressure, temperature, breathing, oxygen levels, checks on my bladder function, etc and this continued into the night. Eventually M returned, some four hours or so later. Apparently following her op, her breathing had not been too good. She has Asthma, and in a similar law to my blood pressure, they would not return her to the ward until her breathing was stable. She and were kept a very close eye on all through the night, and were constantly monitored.

“In the morning, we will remove your catheter so that you can get out of bed and sit in the chair. You can also have a bath or shower as well. We want you to begin to move around as it helps to ease the wind pain.”

Blimey! I couldn’t wait. I wasn’t very comfortable in bed, there is only so much gazing up at the air conditioning outlet above your head that a body can take, and as nice as the recent bed bath by two of the nurses had been, the thoughts of being able to soak in a gorgeous mass of bubbles in that huge bath was really something to look forward to. Roll on tomorrow!

Technorati Tags: blood,pressure,recovery,water,ward,catheter,canula,nurses

A brief moment in time. Arrival.

2011-03-03T06:27:00.000Z

We came together four strangers, having never met before, to share for a few days and nights a closeness and comradeship brought about by the common experience we all went through. Ward 8. The fellowship of Ward 8. M across from me in the opposite bed arrived on the same day, and would have her operation on the same day. Br on my right hand side had been here some days, and was desperately trying now to eat and drink something and keep it down. Mrs C over in the far corner had also been here some days. She was helpful and filled M and I into the nuances of the ward, showed us where everything was, explained about baths, showers, meal times, and other tips for making life bearable whilst being part of this exclusive club.

On the Monday of our arrival, M and I were hardly left alone in order to have time to think. One body and another visited the side of our beds, taking blood pressure, temperature, blood, administering two, yes two enemas to each, one about tea time and the other later that evening. I was not concerned at all about tomorrows impeding operation, but I do hate waiting, so I was so glad to be informed that I would be the first down in the morning at 08.30am. That suited me fine! M was informed that hers would be later, about dinner time.

A lovely young student nurse came to ask me if I would mind her watching my operation? Of course I didn’t mind at all. I was also asked if the removed organs could be used in research and again I consented to this. Everyone seemed to be asking the same or similar questions as they filled in their paperwork. Mr N my consultant came to see me as did his registrar. All were polite and friendly and were willing to answer any questions or reassure you of procedures to be taken. Before you knew it, it was 22.00 and time for lights out. Hurray! ALL the lights were turned out including those along the corridor! It was nice and dark, my favourite state to induce sleep, and I turned onto my front and slept like a log on my tummy, because I was sure it would probably be a long time before I could do so again after tomorrow.

Before I knew it, it was 05.30 am and my usual time to wake up. I quietly tiptoed out to the toilet outside our ward door, and then had a circular walk around the H shaped ward simply for something to pass the time. I knew I wouldn’t get back to sleep, once awake that’s it. I made my way to the Day room and turned on the TV. I didn’t want to disturb the ladies in the next ward to the day room, so I had to keep the volume low. I watched the news. Another few turns around the ward to kill time and then it was soon time for me to walk down with my lovely student nurse to the operating theatre.

“I’ll give you all a wave on my return!” I told my three trusty companions on Ward 8. “See you soon!” I had been told I would be down there about two and a half hours or so. We walked down together chatting away about this and that, I remember a lift was involved somewhere along the journey. I was in a fetching gown tied around the back. On arrival at the preparation room, we were greeted by staff all dressed in blue hats, blue tops and blue trousers. I had to lay on a trolley type bed on top of a green ‘bag’ with grab loops at each side to enable them to lift me from there to elsewhere. My student nurse needed to change into her operation outfit and she went off to find one that fit her. She returned looking just the part though her top half was a different shade of blue to the trousers.

Next, I was wheeled into the anesthetic room where I met ‘B’ my anesthetist who was in a very jovial mood, cracking jokes left right and centre. He had me sit up whilst he administered his ‘concoction’ of pain relief drugs into an epidural in my spine, then I lay down whilst he injected the anesthetic into my hand. I drifted off to the land of nod.

Technorati Tags: ward,companions,beds,operation,nurse

On the Mend.

2011-02-20T12:08:00.000Z

For those of you who have been wondering why I have not been blogging of late, I had to go into Hospital for a major operation on the 31st January. I expected to be on the mend after being discharged home on the 7th February, but unfortunately on my return home, I took a turn for the worse, and was quite ill for well over a week or so. Quite how I would have coped without my lovely daughter I dread to think. She has been nursing me 24/7 throughout the whole time, sleeping next to me to be instantly on call with cleaning me up and I cannot praise her enough.

Her dedication and patience has been extraordinary, and has gone far beyond what anyone could expect a daughter to do when her mother is ill. When she was born, I can remember asking ( in my head) “ Why?” I now know the answer. To give me 150% and more of her caring, her love and infinite patience.

Of course, K being K she wants a new ‘Jaws’ t-shirt to add to her vast collection and also a CD and she will get them and more.

I am now at last on the mend and gaining strength day by day. The operation was a complete success but I will need to have quite a few Chemotherapy sessions just to ‘zap’ those strays and make sure its all eradicated.

The panoramic photo enclosed in this post were taken from our dining area on the ward at night when as usual, TG couldn’t sleep.

Technorati Tags: operation,K,nurse,home

Round the Bend

2011-01-30T19:13:00.000Z

This blog will now remain stable. There will be no more changes to confuse my two readers, it will now remain as you see it today. No more endlessly typing in a search bar with such mundane terms such as ‘dippy’ ‘geeky’ ‘mysterious’ I have found myself at last! The header above depicts many things about me and my life. The road stretched out in front encouraging you to continue on just to see what lies around the corner, the trees at either side, casting such wonderful patterns over the road and displaying a mired of colours. It’s all there.

Where does the road lead? What lies beyond the bend? Life is a road we all travel along, with many crossroads where decisions have to be made as we go. Which way, left or right, straight on or turn around and go back? But we cannot turn around. We cannot go back. Did we take the right road back there when we decided to go left? Should we have gone right instead? Where will the road take us? Will it ever end? Or will we be forever journeying along it, never reaching our destination?

Life is a road that we all must journey along. The turnings we make as we travel that road may be right, they may be wrong. During my journey along life’s road, I have made many wrong turnings. Turned right when I should have turned left. Gone straight ahead when I should have turned right. But the road I now travel is the one I must take, for I cannot turn back. I wonder what lies round the bend?

Technorati Tags: road,bend,header,blog

A Visit to a Beacon

2011-01-30T09:28:00.000Z

We enjoyed a very long walk yesterday from Shibden Park which took us past the beacon where we were treated to some breathtaking views of the whole of Halifax laid out before our eyes. One of the major reasons why I love living in Yorkshire is how far away you can see on a clear day, our hills and valleys afford such views. Views that you can’t possibly enjoy if you were to live anywhere where the Vista is flat. We thought we were too late to join the longer walk as it was supposed to begin at 09.45am, and we didn’t catch the bus until 10.00am but just as we entered the gates of the park, the others were coming towards us as they headed to the first climbing path up to the beacon, so we joined them.

It’s a winding climb up to the top but well worth it once you arrive there. You can see the whole of Halifax laid out beneath you, and you could spend a few wasted hours spotting and naming all that you can see below you. We were also all intrigued to see that there were quite a few memorials around the beacon where one Granny had obviously asked that her ashes be left up there, so we spent the next part of the walk discussing the merits of whether or not you should stipulate where your last remnants should be placed.

K had made the mistake of putting her boots on for the walk, and she was beginning to struggle. My fault entirely because I hadn’t taken any notice of her foot attire as we left the flat, or I would have encouraged her to change into her walking boots or even her trainers. She was buoyed up somewhat by the sight of some horses in a field that we passed. We didn’t have any polo mints for them, but one of the other walkers did have some boiled mints, so we handed those out to each horse. One of the horses was obviously a bit of a bully and pushed the small pony out of the way. By the time we had finished handing out the sweets to the horses, the others were quite some distance away and we had to hurry to catch up.

By now it was beginning to warm up somewhat although the ground was still frozen and rock hard. At least it made it easier to walk most of the paths which would have been very muddy otherwise. K was obviously still having problems as she kept asking the walk leader to stop for a rest. I encouraged her on with the promise of more horses to come at the bottom of the path. She has never enjoyed walking on any surface that isn’t flat, always finding them difficult to manage. It’s the main reason why my ex husband and I used to take both her and her brother on some of the Calderdale walks when they were younger, to give her experience of walking on uneven surfaces.

We passed some more horses just before the tunnel, and I encouraged one to come over to the wall for a pet and a stroke. He was lovely and was obviously well looked after judging by his gorgeous mane and shining coat. He seemed to be waiting for K to arrive, and she eagerly gave his muzzle a stroke.

Onwards through the tunnel underneath the railway line, and back into the park. The lake was mainly frozen over affording us all a laugh at the sight of some ducks slipping and sliding about on the surface. Most of them were congregating at the far end where the ice had broken and there was some clear water in which to have a swim. Into the Café for some very welcome lunch. As this walk may be the last I can partake of for some time, I enjoyed it all the more in that knowledge.

TG More photos of our walk on my flickr HERE

Technorati Tags: walk,shibden,beacon,horses,K,boots,view

Illustrating ‘Me’

2011-01-29T05:43:00.000Z

If any of my readers happened to be loitering around my blog during this last week or so, they might have been annoyed to see countless changes taking place right before their eyes. I’ve been vainly trying to find a new header and background for both of my ‘diary’ blogs over here and on Blogger. It hasn’t really been successful because I have arrived at the conclusion that I have set myself an impossible task. To try and find a header or background that illustrated me as a person and what I am all about, not easy when I am not sure who I am myself! I’m still not fully happy with the current choice. It does reflect one of my great passions of course, steam trains, and the very mysterious dark figure loitering at the kiosk hints at my love of mysteries.

My long term readers know that whenever we venture out for the day, I tend to refer to it as a quest or an Adventure, reflecting both my love of role playing games and my ever vivid imagination. It’s never just a shopping trip or a day out somewhere for either of us, and K being the born actress that she is, joins in with great gusto. To give one example of my unfruitful hours spent trying to find the perfect illustration of me, my love of murder mysteries sent me on an unfruitful search on both Bing and Google where I typed in ‘murder mysteries’ hoping to spy some wonderful picture depicting exactly that, but all to no avail.

I’m not really a flowery, pink, feminine type of female, and so the countless wallpapers depicting flowery backgrounds in gorgeous soft pinks were not really me at all. Abstracts. Yes, I am most certainly that most of the time. Fantasy. Again, I do love fantasy, and I spend quite a few hours trawling through lot’s of fantasy wallpapers and backgrounds. None really said ‘me’ though. Trouble is, it can become quite addictive in a strange sort of way. Every time I found one that I liked and downloaded it with the intention of bringing my search for a background to an end, I found myself still continuing in case there was something far closer to the real ‘me’ just further down the page.

There were lot’s and lot’s of green themed backgrounds to be found, but since being forced to wear bottle green berets, blazer, raincoat, pinafore dress and skirt and apple green dress in the summer months during my Grammar School years as a very shy and retiring teen, I was scarred for life and ended up with a lasting aversion to the colour green. Rather like nature all around us, the trees and the grass, its very hard to avoid using it as a header or background, but it’s not really me.

Were my blogs all about recipes or cooking, I could have easily found tablecloth type backgrounds and headers consisting of plateful after plateful of delicious looking food. That would have been no problem at all. I did try a search for ‘dippy’ and ‘geeky’ but to no avail. Colours? Well I do prefer the warm colours, the oranges, reds, and yellow shades, and I do like the shade that I settled for as the background for my Blogger blog. It’s a sort of faint mauve rather similar to an accidentally acquired bruise when its fading away. I was trying desperately to match the few azalea's contained in the header but failed miserably. However, it’s a nice shade. The header is not really me though because although I do love flowers, they are far removed from describing ‘me’ and who I am.

Have any of you ever tried to find a header or a background for you blog that goes someway to illustrate who you are and more importantly were you successful?

Technorati Tags: blogging,backgrounds,headers,colours,flowers,recipes,searching

A Mystery Tour

2011-01-26T12:27:00.000Z

On Monday we were taken on a tour. A tour around a building I have never ever set foot in before but where I will soon be residing for a whole week. Modern and only completed a few years ago, it towers above you like some huge ships funnel. It is a very busy building, well used with lot’s of people entering and leaving via its various exits and not only via the ground floor. A lovely lady by the name of Penny was our tour guide for the day. She was dressed in a fetching blue outfit, and was all smiles as she showed us around the very attractive surroundings.

There are single bedrooms complete with en suite bathrooms and which contain fully adjustable electric beds that allow you to adjust them to many different positions for your comfort and some of the bedrooms are for sharing. It’s all so luxurious. The corridors are all painted in an attractive off white which is liberally broken up by lot’s of paintings hanging on the walls. Where the residents sit down to eat, there is a full length window which reaches from floor to ceiling and offers a breathtaking view of the busy and bustling city. I took notice that all of the staff, also clad in blue, seemed friendly and eager to please any of the current residents as we toured around admiring the sleek modern lines and clean pristine look.

We were both very impressed, so much so that I am quite looking forward to my own temporary residency there next week. It will be a new adventure, a new experience and certainly one worth blogging about on my return.

Technorati Tags: tour,adventure,modern,beds,staff,residents

Tropicana twist

2011-01-25T08:49:00.000Z

Opening a new box of Tropicana orange juice this morning I had to resort to using pliers to turn the top round. What is the matter with these people? They want you to purchase their products then make it impossible to get into them! Damn modern packaging!

TG (rant over)

Technorati Tags: breakfast,tropicana,packaging,pliers

A frosty walk along the Canal.

2011-01-22T17:02:00.000Z

I’ve been on a walk this morning with Heartbeat along the canal towards Halifax. Beginning at the The Colliers Arms on Elland Road, we made our way to the canal towpath where we enjoyed a fairly long walk past the Watermill Inn at the bottom of Salterhebble Hill. After journeying under the road we then turned around and retraced our footsteps back to the Colliers Arms where we had a very enjoyable lunch before all returning home. I didn’t take many photos, it was quite nippy so I wanted to keep my gloves on, and in addition we were walking at rather a brisk pace to keep warm. Enjoy the photos of our walk.

In this shot we are just setting off on our walk along the canal towpath. It’s used not only by walkers but also cyclists and owners walking their dogs. (watch your step!)

Apparently this used to be a Flour Mill when the canal was the main method of distributing goods everywhere in the United Kingdom. I loved the two arches.

Here we are just going under one of the bridges along the way and you can see another lock in the distance. Everyone was setting a cracking pace today, probably to keep warm!

This duck looked so forlorn resting there by itself!

At one point you have to go through a ‘tunnel’ which runs under the road. It doesn’t look it here, but it was quite dark and spooky!

This was the turning around point. I would have loved to have carried on further but we had to return.

Loved the name of this narrowboat!

Technorati Tags: walk,canal,heartbeat,elland,halifax,ducks,narrowboats

View from my kitchen window.

2011-01-21T09:35:00.000Z

Two separate mornings, two different skies, an ever changing landscape of different colours and effects to watch from my kitchen window as I do the washing up.

Frosty cold and misty with clear blue skies.

Still frosty and cold but with a sky peppered with tiny fluffs of clouds.

And one from K who went dashing out of the door in her pajamas the other night in order to capture a full (and frosty) moon.

Technorati Tags: kitchen,sky,mist,frost,blue,window

One Track Mind.

2011-01-18T18:29:00.000Z

Looking out the kitchen window as dusk fell tonight, K noticed the reddish clouds in the sky.

“Red sky at night, Turkish Delight!”

Technorati Tags: red,sky,night,K

Meet up at Noon.

2011-01-12T19:55:00.000Z

We arrange to meet at noon. Outside the Central Library to be more precise. She sets off to Day Care. She didn’t want to forgo the mornings dancing class. In order to keep to the noon meet up, I have to catch the 10. 56 am bus. As is usual whenever you are running to a strict timetable of sorts, whenever you have an appointment to keep, when time is of the essence, the bus was late. Nearly ten minutes late. At least I hadn’t forgotten anything. Letter, camera, mobile phone (that’s a first!) bus pass, purse and my watch strapped firmly on my left wrist.

There seemed to be a passenger waiting to get on the bus at every bus stop. The road seemed unusually busy and clogged with traffic. We seemed to crawl into the bus station. I looked at my watch. Half of the town’s residents ambled slowly onto the bus like a line of snails. The other half crawled on at the next stop. I looked at my watch. We stopped at every stop to either allow a passenger to get on or allow one to get off. I looked again at my watch. Time was ticking away.

The young girl on the seat in front was gazing down at the screen of one of her mobile phones. She had two. One in each hand. She shuffled sideways and placed a booted foot on the seat at the side of her. I wondered if she had paid for two seats. Her bag was placed on the other seat as well as her booted foot. A young man sat on the opposite seat to me, he looked about seventeen, had nodded off. Must be tiring work all this studying at college I thought to myself. I looked again at my watch. We picked up another passenger at the top of the hill before dropping down the steep incline into Elland. I would have to ring her if I was late.

The girl in front had long hair. It was draped over the grab rail at the top of her seat. It occurred to me that if the driver suddenly braked and I had to grab the rail, I would probably end up pulling her hair. I wondered what she would do and whether it would cause her to look up from the screen of her mobile phone. She was still busy gazing down at either one phone screen or the other. Nearly everyone seems to spend their entire time gazing down at a mobile phone screen these days, with fingers buzzing around it as they text. Either that or they are have wires sprouting from their ears. Sometimes its both. I look at my watch.

Surely we can move quickly along this stretch of straight road I think to myself but no, we are foiled by a tanker joining the traffic at the junction and moving at a snails pace in front of us until he finally pulls into a garage to deliver his load. We slowly chug up the hill, crawl into town, every set of traffic lights at red, I check my watch for what must be the thousandth time. At last I finally ring the bell and make my way forward to the door.

“Thank you!” I utter to the driver as I step down onto the pavement and hurry onto the Library. I look at my watch. Five minutes to! I am on time! An elderly lady with two shopping bags at her side is sat on the bench in front of the Library. I notice her because of her unusual hat. As I stand waiting, she gets up from the bench and saunters past me. She comes to a standstill on my right and after placing both bags at her feet she peers over the road as if looking for someone. She continues to stare across the road for a good five minutes before picking up her bags and returning to the bench from which she came. She sits back down.

I spy the grey vehicle finally turning the corner. It’s the day care car. Her eager face can be seen peering out of the nearside window and she waves at me, so I make my way across the street to collect her. Despite all those seemingly insurmountable odds, I did arrive here first. I am firmly resolute though that the rest of our days journey will definitely be made on foot!

Technorati Tags: bus,library,meeting,mobile,screen,watch,seat

Against All Odds.

2011-01-06T15:32:00.000Z

Every year without fail I make a new year’s resolution to diet. I it did again this year as I did last year. How successful was I? Well I am now nearly a stone heavier at the beginning of this year compared to last. I try really hard honest! But I am up against it. Eating influences come wafting my way every minute of the day. I should be stronger in will. Firmer in resolution. Go shopping alone. Wear headphones or earplugs. Not be swayed by those pleading eyes, and persuasive tone of voice. Will I manage it this year? What do you think? Sigh………

Technorati Tags: diet,shopping,headphones,earplugs

I wonder what this year will bring?

2011-01-02T20:07:00.000Z

I planned to do a post about my new year’s resolutions. I always vow to lose weight, be nicer to everyone, stop getting annoyed with other people in the supermarket or walking on the pavement, to be more helpful and kind to others, to do the ironing straight away instead of ignoring it until its piled sky high, to exercise more, I could go on and on, and I did toy with the idea that if I placed all of my resolutions in this blog where others could see them, then maybe I might keep to them. But now this blog has ended up being about something entirely different.

Last year ended in rather a strange way even for me. For on the day before New Year’s Eve, I spent nearly all day taking part in and experiencing things I had never ever experienced before. In a strange way its all about one of my favourite subjects, new technology. Dressed in a fetching cross over blue gown with ties, and headphones playing some sixties music, I journeyed down a narrow tube whilst laid on a bed. In my right arm, a cannula, in my left hand a switch to press. I entered into the tube head first.

The headphones playing ‘Standing in the Shadows of Love’ and other well love favourites of the sixties in my ears might just as well have been playing gobbledygook for all the use it was. I couldn’t hear any of it for the racket from the machine. I had my eyes tightly closed despite the fact that I don’t get claustrophobic. I didn’t want to know just how enclosed I was. Or how similar it felt to being in a coffin. Had they not said I would only be about twenty minutes? It seemed like I had been there, listening to the hums, thumps and throbs for hours.

At last I felt movement and emerged out of the tube. Praises were given. My gown remained on and my cannula stayed put for I had another new experience to come. Sat for an hour drinking some aniseed flavoured water from a plastic cup every quarter of an hour until a full litre had been drunk . Into another room and another bed, another machine, I was raised higher once laid down, into this machine legs first, a notice above as I enter stating emphatically ‘do not look at the laser’ or some such.

This one spins around and I tightly close my eyes. The bed moves forward. I keep deathly still.

“Breath in and hold!” a voice says. I comply, eyes squeezed tight, hoping it will tell me when to breath again. It does. A nurse comes and injects something into the cannula. I feel hot. Hot all over. Burning as if someone has set me on fire. A horrid taste enters my mouth. I don’t like this experience. “Breath in and hold!” a voice says. I comply. The burning slowly passes. The taste goes away. It’s finished. I am helped off the bed. I dress. The cannula is removed.

Ending the year with new experiences and new technology. It was interesting to say the least, though not one of my favourite adventures. I wonder what this year will bring?

Technorati Tags: year,machine,gown,cannula,tube,music,headphones,nurse

Trials and Tribulations of Health and Safety

2010-12-30T07:36:00.000Z

We had to go out yesterday via our usual mode of transport namely a bus. The following post is all about our return journey but before you read it, it might be a good idea to point you to a previous post concerning the rules issued to all drivers who are unfortunate enough to have to work on our particular bus route because it will go some way to explaining the extraordinary events that enfolded during our fateful journey. Unfortunately for my two readers, this post will not be liberally illustrated with photos/pictures etc, as I did not have my camera with me to capture the occasion, so you will just have to use your imagination.

The journey began from Halifax bus station at precisely 15.40pm. About ten to fifteen passengers were on board the bus. Exiting Halifax town centre via this particular route entails a very steep and twisty climb up to Southowam which on a fine day affords a spectacular view of the whole of Halifax stretched out below. However on this day as we climbed the winding hill there was absolutely nothing to see as it was very foggy though not dark yet.

The bus dropped off a few passengers at the top Beacon Hill and continued on to the next bus stop. The fog was far worse here. Some passengers alighted. The driver appeared to be messing about with something. He revved the engine up. He stopped the engine. All remaining passengers (us included) looked at one another. The driver got out of his cab area. He went to the doors and tried to forcibly close them. Ahh! The doors wouldn’t close! He stepped off the bus. He tried to close the doors again. He got back on the bus.

“ I can’t go on!” he told us. “I can’t get the doors to shut, and I am not allowed to drive the bus with passengers on board if the doors won’t shut! I will have to remain here and ring for a mechanic.”

Hmm. Note here dear readers, that all remaining passengers (all adults) were mostly seated at the back of the bus. We all began to argue with him about his strategy of remaining put. Questions and rants and raves were issued by each passenger in turn ( me included) such as why not continue into our town, it wasn’t as if we were in any danger!

The reply was I suppose, given this day and age of stupid and idiotic rules that tend to abound, to be expected.

“I can’t drive the bus with passengers on board and a door that won’t shut! It’s Health and Safety rules!”

Oh well! That’s us scuppered then! Stuck here in the middle of nowhere in thick fog waiting on a freezing cold bus (made even colder now as the door was wide open) waiting for some mechanic to appear at sometime in the future. I wouldn’t have cared so much if we could have enjoyed the usual panoramic views of the countryside that usually present themselves from that particular spot during the daytime and summer months, but you couldn’t see a thing for the fog! We all chuntered on to ourselves about the outcome of the situation, with one passenger sure that we would all still be here when the next bus arrived in an hours time as we were unlikely to see any mechanic emerge out of the fog anytime soon.

The driver in the meantime had alighted and was puffing away at a cigarette and talking to one of the female passengers who had also got off to wait for one of her family to come and rescue her in their car. ( Now breaking one rule at least of never EVER speaking to passengers!) They were discussing cats and catnip for some extraordinary reason which we could hear clearly through the now open doors of the bus. I was beginning to slowly freeze. Why couldn’t he keep the engine running? Then I remembered another rule for the bus drivers on our route which clearly state that all heating must be switched off in winter. I was toying with the idea of pacing up and down the bus aisle simply to keep warm.

The driver got back on, started the engine and tried the doors again. They closed! Hurray! Now we can get going at last! He rang wherever or whoever bus drivers ring on occasions such as this.

“I’ve got the doors closed, shall I continue on?” he asked the ~~Fat Controller~~ the person who was at the other end. No! came the reply, he had to stay put! The mechanic was on his way with a replacement bus and wouldn’t be able to find him if he moved from that spot! Blast!

After informing us that he couldn’t set off despite the fact that the doors could now be closed ,we all began chuntering on again about how stupid and idiotic the whole situation was and by this time we were all glowering at the driver with murderous intent. Why hadn’t we been fortunate enough to have a driver who was willing to break the rules? After all, it wasn’t’ as if we were going to hightail it to Metro headquarters and inform them that one of their drivers had driven a bus with the door open! He got off the bus again for another fag, by now decked in his lovely warm coat assigned to all bus drivers on our route to keep them warm whilst their passengers freeze.

“The next bus will be setting off from Halifax at 40 minutes to, we’ll get on that one! “ said one passenger and we all agreed to this new strategy. After all it would be arriving at this very spot in roughly ten minutes! I made sure that the driver would stop the next bus so that we could all transfer to it, but before we could carry out our passenger plan a mechanic finally turned up driving a replacement bus and we all quickly transferred onto that one (including the driver.) So at last and nearly an hour later we found ourselves continuing our journey home.

I can remember a time when buses didn’t have doors and when it would have been taken for granted by those in power that ten adult passengers would have enough sense not to throw themselves through an open bus door, but those ‘common sense’ times were before idiots came up with nonsensical rules all gathered together under the title ‘Health and Safety’

Health and Safety? I very nearly froze to death!

Technorati Tags: bus,halifax,doors,driver,mechanic,fog,freezing,health and safety

Where did yesterday go?

2010-12-24T07:50:00.000Z

I don’t know what happened yesterday. I spent the whole day in some kind of stupor. Having done our Christmas shopping the night before ( at midnight no less!) in a vain attempt at trying to avoid the crowds, I could have sworn we had purchased every available item in Yorkshire. Peering in both the fridge and freezer confirmed this, but ‘the boss’ was still insisting that we had ‘this and that’ still to buy. Some kind of sherry I think called something Hall and a packet of crisps she desperately must have to add to the vast amount we’ve already bought. Granted I was very tired. It was 01.05am before we had finished siding all of our midnight purchases and had finally managed to fall into bed.

So why was I stood at the bus stop on my way to Bradford the following morning? I know I was there because I took a photo of the boss smiling happily as we waited for the bus to arrive. I also took one of the sky as well. Why? Because it contained a plane which had obviously managed to take off.

The next thing I remember was being stood in the queue for the auto tills at Morrison's supermarket in Bradford. There are four auto tills but as usual one of them was broken and there were about six thousand of us stood queuing with our few purchases. (well perhaps a slight exaggeration but the time we spent stood waiting to go through them it certainly felt like it.) We had just three items in our basket. A bottle of Sherry, a large packet of crisps and a bottle of Asti Spumante sparkling wine. We had journeyed all this way for three items. I also took a photo of the Christmas tree stood in the middle of Bradford Interchange so we must have walked through there at some point in the days proceedings though I don’t remember it.

Next thing I was conscious of we were entering Sainsbury’s in our little town. There was a brass band playing Christmas carols in the entrance next to the Christmas tree. Not that I actually SAW them but I took a photo (or someone did!) so they must have been there. I vaguely recall K being given a handful of chocolates as we entered from Santa Claus who was hovering conveniently in the entrance area as you walked in. Thinking only of my spreading waistline I refused one. She couldn’t care less if she looked like Tweedledum and Tweedledee combined.

What on earth were we doing here? I thought we bought absolutely the whole of West Yorkshire last night? Some bottles of Beck for youngest son, yet another bottle of Asti for his girlfriend, some profiteroles for the buffet, a calorie laden pudding that looked absolutely gorgeous and that I foolishly admired when I spied it on the shelf (mustn’t have been entirely unconscious then!) appeared in my basket before we managed to hit the checkout.

Next thing I knew we were sat in Witherspoons drinking wine ( not a very good idea when you are already in a stupor) and I was sat trying vainly to eat a Beef Casserole. K had some kind of Wrap, can’t remember what but I did take a photo of it, so perhaps you may be able to recognise it. Then I found myself carrying a basket in Tesco’s next! What was this? A ‘let’s see how many supermarkets we can shop in in one day!’ Quest? I don’t remember what was purchased in Tesco’s. By now I was still upright and walking but my mind was completely numb and my brain was obviously back at home laid on my pillow.

We arrived home with bags stuffed with items I didn’t know we needed and all had to be somehow accommodated inside our already bulging fridge and freezer ( quite how people manage with small fridges I haven’t a clue) and after very careful management, accompanied by some choice cursing, we achieved it. I finally collapsed into a chair and tried to get my head around the day. Trouble is the shops are still open tomorrow……….

Technorati Tags: supermarket,morrisons,sainsburys,tescos,wine,crisps,witherspoons,stupor

Temperate thoughts.

2010-12-22T14:10:00.000Z

I recently ventured out in the cold clothed in several layers consisting of a short sleeved t-shirt, a long sleeved t-shirt, a sweatshirt, a fleece and finally my fleece lined outer coat. On my feet I had two pairs of socks and some warm fleece line boots. On my head, in order to help contain any heat therein , my knitted hat. On my hands a pair of gloves. Despite the multitude of layers I still ended up shivering. The cold was biting into my cheeks and face and was slowly seeping through all those layers to my skin, and then my bones.

As we quickly made our way to the bus station on our way home a young man passed by. On his feet, some sneaker type shoes. A pair of jeans hanging down around his torso as if ready to part company from his thin wiry frame and fall to the floor. I spied some bare flesh at the knees through those tears that seem all the rage in jeans these days. Above the low slung jeans and the peeping undergarments, he wore a thin sweatshirt with a hood. The hood was not atop his head which was bare and uncovered.

Admittedly he was walking by fairly quickly, more quickly than I can move these days, but I must confess to wondering how the young can get away with dressing as if we are in the middle of summer with the sun streaming down and all the warmth that brings, in such low temperatures and not seem to feel it at all, whilst I with my layer upon layer of clothing end up in some frozen through state?

Casting my mind back ( or trying to) to when I was that age, was I able to venture out in thin clothes in the depths of winter and not feel the cold? Could I leave the house in a thin dress or coatless in those days of carefree jaunts either with friends or a boyfriend? I can vaguely remember coming out of our local coffee bar and then feeling faint because I had gone from those warm surroundings into the bitter cold of the night. I didn’t faint as it happened because I’m not the fainting sort, I have never fainted in my whole life, but the resulting horrid feeling that you endure without losing consciousness can be far worse I feel, but I digress.

I simply don’t understand why as you age and get older, the cold simply ‘soaks’ itself into your very being like water soaking into blotting paper, penetrating all those layers of clothing and then through skin to bone and into your very soul. It takes so long for me to return to some sort of temperature normality after returning home because it has penetrated right through to my inner being. Perhaps when young you can retain heat better or are warmer blooded than when you are older or maybe you simply cope with it better or are just thicker skinned. I ponder this enigma every year. Sad I know.

Technorati Tags: cold,clothes,layers,young,old,bones

A Meeting in Merrie England.

2010-12-17T15:12:00.000Z

Most of my readers will never ever step foot in one, more’s the pity.

There are only seven in total, five in Huddersfield, one in Halifax and the other one is to be found in our little town. In these parts they are the most widely used coffee shops around and used by all manner of customers as a meeting place and for lot’s of different reasons. To rest one’s weary feet, a place to get warm out of the way of the biting cold, a place to catch up on gossip or the latest episodes of a favourite soap, a place to rest a while and perhaps read a novel or newspaper, a place to do some business or as I often find myself doing of late, simply to sit and wile away the time waiting for K to finish her Yoga class.

You can read all about their founder and origins here and also get a feel for what makes them so special and such a favourite meeting place for both young and old, rich or poor here . We had arranged to meet up with my youngest son’s girlfriend and Merrie England was as always the chosen venue. Their Cappuccino coffee is second to none in my estimation and K swears by their hot chocolate. As we waited sat on our wooden seat, I couldn’t help but notice four or five ladies gathered round a table across from where we were sat and who were obviously friends who met up regularly for a coffee and a natter about this and that.

I began to realise that its one thing I never do and haven’t enjoyed doing since my teen years. Meet up with a ‘gang’ of friends either as a prelude to going elsewhere or just for a coffee and a gossip or natter. In a natural progression from that thought, memories came flooding back to me of ‘Bills’ coffee bar where anyone who was between the ages of sixteen to twenty five or so used to hang out, congregate, meet up, listen to music, play slot machines, drink endless amounts of Coca Cola and more importantly, meet the opposite sex. It was usually in Bills where first dates were made, either through a friend or directly and where many a love story and happy marriage began. It was the only place we had. All the other meeting places in our small town in those days were public houses, I don’t remember any other coffee bars except Bills. Or perhaps I just never ever noticed their existence.

It was handily placed just as you lighted from the bus. You couldn’t miss it. The jukebox was placed right at the back next to the entrance to the other room, which I seem to remember was always dingily lit and housed the slot and pinball machines that most of the guys used to play. The entire coffee shop wasn’t very big in size, and on a Saturday most of us used to have to stand, either propping up the counter or just stood about willy-nilly in groups. Bill himself used to work behind the counter with his younger assistant Tony. He must have made a fortune in that place. It was all we had. Every teenager in the town used it which explains how we all know each other so well even now, all these years later. Bills has been long gone. I can’t remember its demise to be honest with you or what year it occurred but it’s now a locksmiths shop.

As the group of ladies laughed and joked and swopped conversation with each other, I couldn’t help but feel sad. I used to love those days in my youth. The conversations then were about the latest boyfriend or an outfit just bought. Or often work as most of my friends in those days were also my workmates. Gossip about who fancies who or the latest record by the Ronettes, the Beatles or the Supremes. Today its usually about the latest TV soap or reality show, or what the grandchildren are up to.

Eventually my nostalgic trip back in time was interrupted by the arrival of my son’s girlfriend and I was brought sharply back to the here and now. Thank goodness we still have coffee shops to meet up and gossip in! Long live Merrie England!

Technorati Tags: merrie,england,coffee,chocolate,meeting,bench,tables,friends

He’s Back!

2010-12-15T08:46:00.000Z

It’s that time of year again, when he shows his face

Standing in the window in his usual place

Looking oh so jolly wearing a huge big smile

Welcoming all those shoppers who loiter for a while

And every year I say the same as I take my usual shot

My take a look K at how big his tummy’s got!

He must spend all the rest of the year near where the food is stored

Eating all those pies and cakes so that he doesn’t get bored.

Because every year I’m sure his tummy’s had to grow

So here’s my usual shot of him standing in the window

Technorati Tags: Christmas,Santa,cakes,buns,pies,round,jolly

Supermarket Rules during Christmas.

2010-12-09T06:08:00.000Z

In light of the upcoming chaos and mania that will no doubt ensue as we all attempt to do our shopping during the last few weeks before Christmas, I thought it was about time I did a Rules of Supermarket Shopping post. Feel free to print it out and ask your local supermarket manager to consider enforcing it for the next two weeks or until some semblance of normality returns. Not only will this help to keep us all sane (and alive) but also hopefully avoid any lost tempers and screaming tantrums.

1. All shoppers on entering the Supermarket will keep to the left hand side at all times and especially when navigating any of the aisles. A white line will be drawn down the middle of every aisle to aid shoppers in keeping to this basic rule. Failure to keep to the left will result in instant ejection from the Supermarket by our resident bouncers and a shopping ban lasting until January the 1st.

2. All shoppers must keep moving at all times when travelling down any of the aisles. Any shopper caught standing still will be forcibly removed from the store by our resident Christmas bouncers. Excuses of ‘I couldn’t find what I wanted’, ‘I haven’t seen so and so for ages’ or ‘I felt faint’ will not be considered by the management as a valid excuse for loitering. This causes Trolley Jams!

3. Only one trolley per shopper. It is not permitted at this busy time of year for couples to take one trolley each. Shoppers will have to return at a later time if they need to purchase more shopping.

4. It is highly recommended by the management that all children be left at home during this busy shopping time but if this is not possible, they can be left with the Supermarket ~~bouncers~~ Staff in the car park where we have provided a tent full of cardboard boxes to keep them amused.

5. All shoppers on reaching the checkouts, must form an orderly queue in a straight line. Pushing and shoving will not be tolerated. Bouncers will be on hand to supervise and control the checkout queues.

6. Any shopper found jumping the checkout queue will be forcefully ejected from the supermarket and their shopping items confiscated immediately.

7. Anyone using the Wheelchair shoppers must also adhere to the left hand side rule above. No exceptions will be permitted.

8. Any shopper found deliberately ramming other shoppers with their trolley will be banned from using the supermarket for life. Cameras are employed in every aisle in order to check the conduct of shoppers.

Your full cooperation in adhering to the above rules over the busy Christmas period will be greatly appreciated. Wishing all shoppers a very merry Christmas!

The Manager

Technorati Tags: rules,supermarket,aisles,trolleys,children,bouncers,christmas,shopping

Stir Crazy!

2010-12-07T10:30:00.000Z

Look Familiar?

TG (Reminder to self. Miss the whole thing out next year by hibernating around October and not emerging until March.)

Technorati Tags: crazy,christmas,shopping,freezing,snow,winter,hibernate,scream