Shiralee at Willington #2

Monday 6th September

OK, so I’ve already written about today, but that was all about our problems with the waste tank, which we will be emptying today.

I also have to report that I have an appointment with our new doctor at the surgery in Willington. In this instance I’m hoping he’ll give me something for this water retention. Actually, the extra water I’m drinking is certainly having the desired effect, but I still need some advice from an expert. I’ve also almost weaned myself off the painkillers and that’s helping too. We also need to order medication that we are currently running short of.

Incidentally, Brian finally sold his Peugeot yesterday, but he had to give it to the runner up because the winner was something of a waster. That’s two he’s had on this car alone. I don’t think I’ll be trading cars on eBay any time soon.

Tomorrow is a free day in that we have nothing specific we need to do, so we can just chill out for the day.

Tuesday 7th September and I lied, today is not a free day because I have a blood test today. The pills I am taking for water retention are not working fast enough but, if I want to increase the dose, my kidney and heart functions must be checked. Apparently, if the pills are used to excess they can damage the kidneys, although what they are likely to do to the heart I have no idea.

I am becoming increasingly fed up with my inability to sleep in bed. Although I am able to rest for up to two hours, I still find I am spending more time in the armchair. Sadly I forgot to tell the doctor about this yesterday, so it seems I am stuck with the situation. Last night we went to bed at 10 pm, I was in the armchair by 11. I went back to bed at 2.30 and was up again at 4.30. You could think that I’ve had 6½ hours sleep, but much of the time in bed is trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. As for the armchair, that’s more like cat-napping at 40 winks a time.

Sheila, bless her, is forever reminding me that I’ve had major surgery and shouldn’t expect everything to be perfect within a few weeks, and she’s right of course. But the lack of sleep is the main problem and is really getting to me. And it doesn’t help when the doctor tells me that the water retention could have been caused by mal-functioning kidneys or heart, when I thought that the test was to see if it was ok to increase the dose of the pills.

That cheerful soul who once inhabited this body has temporarily departed, leaving this miserable bugger, and this miserable bugger is beginning to wonder if he’ll ever regain full use of his legs. Of course, once the legs become fully functional, this miserable bugger will hand this body back to the cheerful soul and all will be well again.

In my present state of mind I am unable to generate any enthusiasm for anything to do with making money on eBay. There’s much I could do but I simply can’t be bothered.

Thursday 9th September

Yesterday was like an Indian summer and the trip to Glenfield Hospital for my physio session was a very pleasant one. We arrived in plenty of time for a coffee and cake at the Costa Coffee Bar.
Surprisingly enough, Michelle, the very nice physio nurse, was well impressed with my progress. Being able to bend my knees beyond a 90 degree angle was, she said, a bonus and they are usually happy enough if the 90 degrees is attained. So, I’m just a wee bit chuffed at that.

Over the two weeks since my last session, she has noticed a marked improvement in my walking and my ability to flatten my knees on the bench, although there is still room for improvement there.

I managed to drive to and from Glenfield; a journey that takes about 45 minutes each way; without too much discomfort. Wifey could be heard breathing a heavy sigh of relief when we arrived home. So, unless she needs to take herself and Marian somewhere that’s too far to walk, I am now firmly back in the driving seat.

There is only one problem with this, with my swollen feet I am unable to wear my normal shoes, so I’m going to have to buy some a size bigger until the swelling goes down.

So much for my foul mood on Tuesday and all that talk about this ‘miserable bugger’. Obviously my current situation is nowhere near as bad as I had imagined.

Rusty received an email from (not so) Big Ian yesterday, for which she was most grateful. After waking her a 5.30 am to read it to her; a state of affairs that she did not appreciate; I do believe she quite enjoyed the attention. She is not the easiest mutt to understand, but I am hopeful of conveying her meaning in the reply. I did forget however, to include our best wishes to the aforementioned family member. We all hope everything is on the up and up for him.

Our friend Brian, who managed to finally dispose of the Peugeot, now finds he has a problem with the latest acquisition, the Renault Scenic. Apparently this model has two coils, one of which has packed up. He’s ordered a new one which we will collect from some place in Derby on Friday morning. It really doesn’t pay to buy these cheapo brmm brmms on eBay.

Wifey will be off to Willington this afternoon for a hair-do, leaving me with the pooch again. Actually we get along rather well when Wifey is out, sometimes for several hours, especially when going into town with Marian. For the past couple of months however, I have been unable to take her out on those days but, now that I am walking better, especially without crutches, that situation will soon change.

Now would be a good time to include a recipe. For this blog I have chosen the Bedfordshire version of Spare Ribs.

Spare Ribs

This recipe is also from Bedfordshire

Probably as good, if not better, than the modern day Chinese
variety.

Ingredients:

2½ lbs meaty pork spare ribs
1 finely chopped onion
Garlic to taste
Juice of a lemon
1 teaspoon ginger
4 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar, rounded
6 tablespoons tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 dessertspoons French mustard
Pinch of celery salt
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons water

Method:

Preheat oven to medium heat and roast off the excess fat from the ribs
Soften the onion and combine with the other ingredients
Pour off the excess fat from the ribs
Add the other ingredients with the ribs and cook for 2 hours at Gas Mark 4/180C/350F turning occasionally
These ribs go well with jacket potatoes

Your comments are always welcome.

Saturday 11th September

Yesterday morning I drove Brian down to Derby to collect that coil. Even with the help of a SatNav we still managed to go wrong, but the nice lady giving us directions soon put us right again. On ‘normal’ cars of a similar age as the Scenic, the plug leads would go into the top of a distributor, but this thing has two, quite hefty looking coils that take two each of the leads. Obviously this arrangement works well because, as soon as Brian had fitted the new coil; a matter of just a couple of minutes; the car fired up easily. There was none of the distributor nonsense of ensuring the timing was OK.

Last night was another total disaster where sleep is concerned, I think I managed a total of one hour in bed, the rest of the night was spent intermittently dozing in the armchair. I’m due to see the surgeon at Glenfield on Tuesday and will ask him about this and of course the swollen feet and legs. I’m also due to see my GP on Thursday for the results of my blood test, so I will ask him also. With luck and between the pair of these experts, I should find some answers.

Sheila popped across to the shop yesterday morning before going in to Burton upon Trent with Marian, and she came back with some interesting information. There is a village called Repton not too far away and, apparently, they not only have a good village store but also a pub and a butchers shop. Of course we are going to investigate this today, assuming this infernal rain stops for long enough.

Actually, at the junction with the A38 where the Services are, there is a Beefeater kind of pub, which Sheila and I are quite fond of. We haven’t checked it out yet but, if Repton fails us we’ll probably give it a try.

Sunday 12th September

Talking about Repton has reminded me of the discs I have of Photochrom Pictures. For those of you who aren’t familiar with them, a definition is printed here for your perusal.

“What is a Photochrom Picture? It is a lithographic print made by a process which turns black and white negatives into colour photographs. This was popular during the 1890s when there was no such thing as colour photography. The finished appearance is similar to that of an 'old postcard' and has a slightly grainy appearance. (Photochroms are not crisp and clear images as we have become used to today) Photochrom pictures were made using colour impressions from multiple lithographic plates. They have a charming appearance and are sometimes mistaken for paintings.”

These three disc contain something like 3000 of these pictures, many of which are of places in the UK, one of which is of Repton, which is only a short drive from here. We’ll probably be giving the pub there a visit today and it will be interesting to compare the ancient and modern views of the village.

Yesterday was a chill-out day for we three on Shiralee, except for Wifey trotting off to fetch the paper and such. I did quite a bit of reading and finished a book by Michael Connelly called The Last Coyote, which is not, as you may imagine, about the wild west. Mr Connelly is an ex-crime reporter who writes crime novels whose hero is Heironymous ‘Harry’ Bosch, a detective with L.A P.D. And, yes, he was named after the artist of that name.

Monday 13th September

We changed our minds about Repton yesterday, instead paying a visit to the big pub at the junction of the A50 and A38. That place is huge and is similar to Beefeaters and such. It lies within a service area that also includes a hotel, garage and KFC.

I don’t think we’ll be using it again as a regular Sunday lunchtime watering hole because it is far too busy. We arrived at about 12.30 and found the car park was almost full and, with all the bodies inside, far too warm an atmosphere for me, so we sat outside. Fortunately the weather was kind to us, although it did threaten to rain at one point.

Today we will visit Repton because we want to see what the butchers shop is like. The shop should be open as they also supply fresh bread; many butchers don’t open on Mondays which is the day they go off to purchase and order their supplies for the week. Whilst we are there of course, we will investigate the local pub and any other shops they may have.
Tomorrow is visiting day with the surgeon at Glenfield Hospital and we have to be there at 9.45 I think, so we’ll have to leave earlier than I would like, in order to miss the rush hour traffic.

Tuesday 14th September, hospital day and of course it’s raining. At the moment at 6 am, it’s only a drizzle but, as promised by the forecasters, it will be bucketing down by 8 am, which is when we’ll be leaving for the drive down to Leicester. Hopefully we’ll arrive on time so we’re giving ourselves an extra half hour in order to make up for heavier traffic.

Back home in the south it’s not unusual to find yourself amongst a whole bunch of people with the same appointment time. Up here in the north however, they have notices in the hospital telling you to mention it to a member of staff if you have been waiting for more than 10 minutes over your appointment time. Also, when sending an appointment notice out, you are warned that if you are more than 10 minutes late, your appointment may be cancelled. So, best to be on time or early.

Wednesday 15th September.

We left here yesterday morning at 07.45 and arrived at Glenfields at 08.50, which is about 20 minutes longer than a normal trip outside of rush hour. The surgeon was very pleased with my progress, although he did warn me that it could take up to a year for calf and thigh muscles to recover and strengthen. Meanwhile I suppose it’s more of the armchair at night.

Now, apart from a trip to Morrison’s today, we really don’t have much to do. However, before I leave you and post this blog, I’m going to include a few adverts that came my way via and email from Carole, who received them from our cousin Pauline. Personally I found them quite hilarious, how about you?

Subject: for sale

These are classified ads, which were actually placed in a U.K. Newspaper:

FREE YORKSHIRE TERRIER.
8 years old.
Hateful little bastard.
Bites!

FREE PUPPIES
1/2 Cocker Spaniel, 1/2 sneaky neighbour's dog.

FREE PUPPIES.
Mother, a Kennel Club registered German Shepherd.
Father, Super Dog... Able to leap tall fences in a single bound.

COWS, CALVES: NEVER BRED.
Also 1 gay bull for sale.

JOINING NUDIST COLONY!
Must sell washer and dryer £100.

WEDDING DRESS FOR SALE.
Worn once by mistake.
Call Stephanie.

*** And the WINNER is... ***

FOR SALE BY OWNER.
Complete set of Encyclopaedia Britannica,
45 volumes.
Excellent condition.....£200 or best offer.
No longer needed; got married last month.
Wife knows f#%#%#g everything!
All abreast from Dave, Sheila and Rusty.