It's a jungle out there!

It's been a while since I've blogged but life has continued a pace, days have merged into weeks into months.It really doesn't seem like six months since we spent our first Christmas in our Irish house.

Hubby has been working hard both on the house and also on our house and garden in UK, whilst I have been working two jobs meaning usually only having one day off every ten days.

It's been exhausting and family and friend catch up time has unfortunately gone by the wayside.

We spent the full month of April in Ireland and the weather was really kind to us again, meaning that we made great progress on painting the outside of the house.

We have just had another week there with equally favourable weather and we've finally finished the outside.

When you compare it to what it looked like when we first voted the place, the difference it makes is so heartening and hopefully it looks a lot more friendly and welcoming than it did.

 

  

                                                                                        

As well as trying to get some decorating done we have also welcomed quite a few guests already this year.

It's great to be able to entertain at last but it does mean that decorating has taken a bit of a back seat, the house is in the sort of state now that everything has been painted and needs its top coat and final touches. To the unknowing guest it looks ok and I suppose it sort of means we don't feel the urge to paint so strongly! To be honest its nice to sit and enjoy it rather than be working all the time.

With such good weather our attentions have also turned to the outside space. The site our house stands on is apparently 1.3 acres. Essentially it was a field with house built on it and as such it still looks like that. Over the winter everything had obviously died off but when we came back this last time, with the recent run of hot weather, it came as no surprise that everything had grown slightly.

It can be a bit daunting but we have enlisted the help of a local garden designer. He runs a local garden centre and we first came across him when we were listening to the local radio station on a Saturday morning. He does an hour long gardening Q&A show and as his garden centre was fairly local we decided to pay a visit. We found out he offered a garden design service and we decided it would be a good idea. Hubby and I like a nice garden but we are no experts. We have a fairly small garden in the UK which doesn't take too much work to maintain and have over the years developed some raised vegetable beds. 

With such a large area of land we knew we needed some help and really felt that we would end up saving ourselves money too. Trees, plants and other things for gardens can be so expensive and we could easily have bought loads of things and found that they didn't grow properly resulting in a large waste of money.

So Padraic from the garden centre has visited and we have discussed our ideas with him. He seemed very positive and we await his first set of plans. Once we have agreed on a design we like he will put together a 3 years plan for us to follow in order to achieve it.  

So hopefully we wont be looking at this 'field' for too much longer.

                 

                  

Maisie has enjoyed exploring the garden. She runs off and hides and waits for you throw her ball, sometimes its a bit hard to see her properly.....

 

Fuelled up ready for winter

Its very important when living in a  cold climate to have ample fuel to keep you warm.
In our new house we have opted for two lovely multi fuel stoves as part of our heating system and this last time we visited it was time to stock up on fuel.
After talking to local friends and neighbours hubby had tracked down the man to supply it and had ordered half a lorry load of wood and half a lorry load of turf (peat). 


"Peat is commonly known by the Irish as 'turf' and has been harvested for centuries by a method known as 'cutting.' Peat has been an invaluable source of heat and energy throughout history in Ireland. It was found to be a useful alternative to firewood for cooking and heating throughout Ireland and other parts of the European continent. Harvested from the bogs scattered throughout the Irish landscape, peat forms over time from decaying vegetation"(Irishfirelogs.com)

Given that we didn't know how big the lorry was so didn't really have an idea how much fuel we would be expecting!
Luckily on the day it arrived I was there and my parents were also over visiting us too. 
First the wood arrived and was dumped by the garage and the man kindly and probably quite wisely said "I won't come straight back with the turf".

We started a chain of log throwing from pile to garage and in no time at all (probably an hour or two) we had piled the logs neatly in the garage and so we rang the man to come back with the turf.

I had seen turf before but when its delivered in such a large volume it is quite daunting. We set about moving it but it seemed to take ages to feel like we were making any sort of progress.

Finally it was all stacked neatly with the logs in the garage. One project for next year is to build a proper wood/turf store at the side of the garage so that it can be covered but also get sufficient air to it to dry it out for burning.

Even Maisie dog is in in awe of the fuel mountain

It was very nice to sit down in front of a real fire that evening

We have lights.......and they work!

We had another trip over to Ireland recently and were really pleased to see the progress made in the months since we were last over.

Firstly on approaching the house we could see Kevin our builder had been very busy with the digger driver not only installing our septic tank and percolation area but levelling out a lot of the ground around the house. The large grassy mound from the side of the house had disappeared and let us see what a huge job we have got in front of us with regards the garden!

Before

After a bit of landscaping

We also noted that several drainage trenches had been put in, a great relief given Ireland is such a wet country. 

Another brilliant surprise was seeing the stonework on the front of the property. Given the fact that we had chosen it by walking into a showroom and been confronted by a huge selection of stone. We had to think about what other colours were around so the dark blue/grey colours match in with the dark roof and the lighter brown colours blend in with the windows. We were really pleased with the finished result.

The view from the entrance of our driveway looking back down the lane

 Inside the house we were further excited to see our staircase now in situ. Ok so it isn't complete but it gives a lovely idea of what it will look like. Again very pleased to be able to walk upstairs on a proper staircase and not a rickety temporary ladder/staircase.

The biggest result was realising that we finally have electric power to the property! So we ended up going round each room and switching on each switch own turn and we oohed and aahed, a bit like when at a firework display. As we had only seen our light fittings in the boxes it was brilliant to see them all in their places and finally be assured that they were the correct purchase. Of course my wonderful designer  light switches and sockets looked brilliant. I am so pleased with the choice.




So whats next? Well the plumber is in now, fitting radiators and the heating system, then we can warm the place up and then start fitting the woodwork. We have chosen the doors and handles (who knew there was so much choice). Also hoping the kitchen will be fitted in May/June
We are visiting again in a couple of weeks to finalise our choices of tiles so the tiler can get on and start work in the bathrooms. 

A sneaky peak at one of our tile choices - purple has to be included somewhere !

The view from the window

Low grey rainy clouds cloaking the distant hills
A bright sun, lighting up the green fields
casting rays of light and happiness on soggy bogs
White dots of sheep, stood firm against the blustering, windy wind as it blows the clouds racing and scurrying across the sky.
As quick as the rain and hailstones are bashing and knocking on the window, they are gone.
Gone to knock somewhere else.

A weekend away in Tenerife

I've never done it before and it sounded so outrageous when I told someone I was going to Tenerife for a long weekend that I didn't bother telling anyone else.
There was a simple reason.
Hubby was there and I was going to visit him.
After a truly awful three weeks away at sea, hubby came home and uttered the dreaded words, " I need to go away, can you get some time off",
As hubby works away on a ship he is out of the UK for over half the year, and so is in the fortunate position to be able to claim back the tax he has paid. He keeps a very careful eye on his 'in' and 'out' days because once you have more days in the UK than out then that's it, you can't claim your tax back.
Every now and again, the numbers get a bit low and he declares that we have to go away, now, anywhere out of the UK. That's all well and good if only I could just turn round to my foot patients and say, 'sorry, I'm off on holiday for a few weeks, your feet will just have to suffer until I come back". Sorry but that ain't going to happen! I wouldn't have a business to come back to if I kept doing that. Anyway we are fairly good and plan ahead as much as we can so i know in advance when we are going away and just don't book people in.
Anyway this trip away saw hubby's ship have a major mechanical failure which saw them alongside for repairs in the UK and then him and his entire crew were transferred to another ship, which had been laid up due to no work in May. The company wanted them to bring this ship back out into working order because the repair time estimate on his ship is five weeks! Five weeks is a long time to have no ship working!
So they spent almost all of his three weeks away in the UK getting this other ship ready to sail.
You can't just turn up, put the key in, start her up and off you go though. Oh no, there are surveys to do, inspections, certificates to be re issued, crew safety inductions to do, fire drills, engine testing, everything basically!
So when he came home I wasn't surprised to hear that panicked, "we'll have to go away somewhere, now"
'Well, you'll have to go on your own' I said, 'as I've got patients to look after, they need their feet doing and I can't postpone them all at the last minute,
So he organised a two week holiday for himself to Tenerife and then when he noticed I had a four day gap in my diary he booked me a flight to go out and join him, he is a lovely man, isn't he?
Never before have I flown to Tenerife for a long weekend, it seems rather extravagant really but when I reasoned in my head that if I was to go to London for a weekend it would take as long, I decided that I didn't mind after all.
We had a lovely weekend although it has rained most days, very unusual for Tenerife apparently. We had hired a car so we drove to the other so of the island and enjoyed the sun over there instead on one of the days. Sadly hubby got the dreaded sickness/diarrhoea stomach bug whilst I was there so spent yesterday in bed while I went out between showers to explore a little.
I felt awful leaving him this morning as I knew he didn't feel 100% yet and was going to go back to bed.
Anyway we had a great time together, catching up really. We won't have seen much of each other in this three weeks before he is off again back to sea. The good point is that in three weeks he'll be back home again and it'll be Christmas!!!!! Joy!
But before that I've arrived home to a house with no heating, hot water bottle tonight, sort it out in the morning.
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Paddling down the River Severn

A few years ago we went on holiday to the Dordogne in France and whilst there we tried our hand at canoeing, in open Canadian canoes. We had a great time and this prompted us to buy our own. We have used it most years during the summer months and it has come on holiday with us to Ireland and France too.
We have done a lot of paddling down parts of the River Wye but not so much on the River Severn.
On Saturday we woke up to lovely weather. Good job as this was the day we were going paddling.We set off for Welshpool about 45 minutes drive from us. Just north of Welshpool is a small village called Pool Quay.This is where we were launching from.

Our route - from Pool Quay (bottom left) to The Royal Hill Inn (top right)

This part of the river is narrow and meandering. Not many villages lie close to the river bank so it is a great place to see wildlife and animals.
Our plan was to paddle down river to meet hubby's daughter, her partner and grand daughter (E&N)for a picnic lunch.  Although by road the distance wasn't far, by river it would be about 15miles.

Getting ready to launch from Pool Quay.

The first few miles were narrow and meandering. In some places the canoe could just about fit through between fallen trees. In past months and years the river has flooded and it was easy to see how high up the water level had gone. This had caused such obstructions to impose themselves on the river. Often we had to bend forward to avoid low hanging branches. The river was followed by the Severn Way - part of the path following Offas Dyke.

As we paddled, Maisie sat in the middle of the canoe, enjoying the views as they passed by. We thought that on such a lovely day we would perhaps see other canoeists, fishermen or walkers but the only other person we saw was a lady walker, who had stopped for a break to read a book on the left bank. She looked rather amused as we came floating past with a dog in a lifejacket.
As the river twists and turns we kept coming round a bend and seeing the imposing view of Breidden Hill in front of us. "There's that hill again!" At the top of this is an obelisk or pillar. Apparently it is called Rodneys pillar, a monument named after an Admiral Rodney. As we snaked our way along the river, our view of Rodneys pillar and the hill changed. It became apparent that half the hill is now being used as a quarry. Huge steps have been carved into the hillside, such a shame. As we continued Breidden forest came into view on the hillside.

We saw a beautiful heron on several occasions who would fly off ahead of us down the river, as if acting as a look out, telling the river inhabitants of our imminent arrival. We also passed several groups of swans who seemed quite taken aback by this strange watercraft.

Round one bend we came across some unusual bathers-

As well as bathing cows we also passed sheep with their young ewes, sat on the river bank.
After two hours of paddling we had covered about six miles and we stopped for a quick break, bums and knees were getting numb and Maisie fancied a quick run around and a swim.

We started off again and as we approached the first of only two bridges on our journey we encountered a small shallow patch which creates a riffle, almost a rapid type effect. It is best to kneel down as you go through these and keep paddling as the water is flowing much quicker here and you speed through, trying not to get too wet! Although when you see it, it can give you a dull ache in the pit of your stomach with dread and anticipation, once you have gone through it, you feel wonderful and almost wish you could go back and do it again.

Lower down the river we felt the effects of the wind much more. As the river widened, the wind was sometimes blowing against us. If we stopped paddling we found we were actually going backwards. This was more hard work now and we realised that we weren't going to get to our rendez vous point by 1pm as originally planned. Luckily we had intermittent mobile signal so phoned ahead to let E&N know we would be late.

After 12 miles we passed the River Vyrnwy tributary. You can actually paddle up there if you are feeling fit. This is where we passed back into England from Wales. From this point of the river the border between England and Wales actually runs down the middle of the river. We passed under the second bridge at Crew Green. Its an interesting looking bridge as it is an iron bridge, once a locomotive bridge,and was converted to a single track road bridge in 1962.

Finally after 4 1/2 hours in the canoe we arrived at our final meeting point, the Royal Hill Inn near Edgerley. It has a beautiful outlook onto the river and also boasts a small campsite. We dragged our canoe out of the water and fell into a heap on the picnic blanket to refuel and catch up with the family.

We had a brilliant day, saw all sorts of wildlife that you would never see if you were driving along a road. Life from the river is worth looking at from time to time.

Useful links:

Click here for a canoeing guide to the River Severn.

Click here to visit the website of the Royal Hill Inn and campsite.

Anchor watch

This morning was interesting! The day started at 3.30 for me, I was on watch at 4am. Its only when I'm at sea that I appreciate just how early it gets light! It was already getting light by 4.30am. We were anchored in Great Yarmouth Roads about 3/4 mile of the beach and about a mile inland from a large sandbank area and a wind farm. One thing I have noticed this trip away to sea is the amount of sea wind farms that are popping up everywhere it would seem.
Anway i got some lovely photos as the sun was rising,.

Windfarm at dawn

 It only takes a few minutes for the sun to rise and its so beautiful.

Its a Sunday here so there was quite a lot of activity on the beach, its a sunny day after all. At about 10am I heard a couple of the lifeboats calling in on the VHF radio to say they were going out on an exercise. Probably to have a spin along the beach and practice.
They were from the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Lifebaot Station.

They came across to near our ship and did a circle round us,

Click here to see details of this Lifeboat Station

Wow I thought how good was that, being an RNLI committee member I was pleased to see them and glad to get some photos too.

At the same time there was a ship sailing out of port behind and also a little sailing boat. It was sailing to the east of us, between us and the sandbanks, heading north towards the wind farm.

A little time later, after the lifeboat had gone back into the port, I heard a yacht calling Yarmouth Radio on the VHF. When  I looked out the window behind me i could see the little yacht again but this time it had its sails up but was getting quite close to the sandbanks and because of the tide etc there were quite a few waves breaking near it.

I didn't catch what exactly was wrong, perhaps the engine had given up because the man on the yacht was explaining that they were drifting onto the sandbanks and couldn't seem to get off.  Sadly the wind was westerley so he was being blown further out onto the sandbanks.

Great Yarmouth radio explained they were launching the lifeboat and asked the man to drop his anchor in an attempt to stop him actually going aground.

In a few minutes the lifeboat was back in sight, zooming along towards the yacht. However once he got nearer it became clear that the water was too shallow for the lifeboat to get close enough to get a tow rope to the yacht. So the inshore lifeboat was called to assist too,

At the same time another ship at anchor volunteered its fast rescue craft to assist. Their offer of help was accepted and soon there was two small fast craft and the larger lifeboat all on scene.

Luckily they got a tow line to the yacht and managed to get him clear of the sand banks.

Well done to the crews who helped rescue him.

This is one of the reasons I support the RNLI - no matter what the situation they will come to your rescue at sea and they are all volunteers!

It does highlight though that if you are a small craft owner it pays to carefully plan your voyage and  clearly know what direction wind and tide are going and what effect this is likely to have on your vessel. Also make sure your equipment works and your engine is in good working order.

Below is a video I have put together of photos and video footage of the rescue  - make sure you have the volume on!

 

Brugge to Tees

We arrived in Brugge on Sunday. It is approached from the sea through the port of Zeebrugge and then down a canal where we berth just before the city of Brugge. It's about a 30minute walk from the ship into the centre.
The Captain went up into Brugge to have a look round. It's a lovely city, hubby and I have visited once. More recently I have seen it as the star of the film 'In Brugges' starring Colin Farrell, an actor who is very easy on the eye! I have seen this film a few times now, which as a non film person is quite an achievement.
Captain came back very happy. He'd taken a few photos of the lovely buildings and then had come across a big group of people gathered in the square. On closer inspection he found that the subject of the attention was a group of British 1970's cars, Capris, Cortinas, escorts. More photos were taken of these.

Discharging ashore

We commenced discharging our cargo at 5am on Monday morning, just as it was getting light.

Prior to discharge



The bucket wheel in the middle of the photo turns and discharges
the cargo onto the discharge conveyor belts.



Looking down the canal to Brugge.

Cargo discharge took about 5 hours and then we set off back down the canal again. We stopped at a berth in Zeebrugge to load fresh water, we were getting low and we don't go to many berths where you can easily take fresh water. This done we set off back upto a dredge area near the Humber Estuary. We washed and cleaned out our hold because the next cargo was a sand cargo to Tees.

Sand cargoes don't usually take very long to load so in no time at all we were on our way north. It was lovely clear night on the passage up the coast. When I came on watch at 4am it was already beginning to get light.

We passed Flamborough Head, Filey Brigg, Whitby and I took some lovely early morning photos of the sun shining on the land but with the moon faintly visible. As if it didn't quite want to go to bed yet!

Good morning



We  anchored for a few hours before the pilot came aboard and we sailed up the river to our berth and we discharged our cargo of sand.


Clinker

We arrived in Dunkirk on Thursday evening. I had an eventful watch across the Dover Straits which included seeing hubbys ships sailing past at about 10 miles away.
The Dover Straits is like the equivalent to the M25 - it is always busy with ships. Those heading in a South westerley direction do so in a lane nearest the English coast and those ships heading North do so in a lane closest to the French coast.  I should point out perhaps that the lanes are not marked out like lanes at a swimming pool, they are marked on a navigational chart very clearly and the occasional navigational buoy will mark the edge or centre of the channel. When crossing the lanes from England to France you have to do so at 90degrees to the flow of traffic so it is clear what you are doing. You only do that however if it is safe to do so.
So when I came down to cross from England to France there were loads of ships about.

Electronic chart showing my ship
position and our intended route in
green across the Dover Straits

There are Rules of the Road like the Highway code at sea so when I was crossing the South west lane it was the duty of all the ships coming south bound to keep out of my way but once I was crossing the North east lane it was my responsibility to alter course for any ships in that lane that were on a collision course with us.
So I started altering course for one ship and then I was on a collision course with another so I came round a little more and that made me on a collision course with yet another ship! It only takes about an hour or so to cross the lane but it was full of actitvity and I really really enjoyed it, Its what i love most about this job. Problem solving. Making sure I don't crash into anything or run aground!

So I went off watch at 8pm just before the pilot boarded to take us into the port. By the time I came on watch at 0400 we were safely alongside and waiting for the French stevedores to turn up to start loading the clinker.
At 0500 there was a flurry of activity with a few forms to sign and off we started. By the time i went off watch at 1200 we had just about finished.

Our cargo of clinker waiting to be loaded

Our hold nice and clean ready to load

The first grab of clinker

A piece of clinker

Hubby's ship sailing by - so close and yet so far

When I came back on watch at 8pm last night we were already back on the English coast heading for the Thames and guess who came sailing past again -  Hubby! He was also Thames bound too.

By 0400 this morning we had reached Gravesend. A pilot came out to meet us and take us the last few miles up the river to Purfleet to discharge the cargo, We are moored right beside the QE2 bridge at Dartford. We have no more orders for cargo and the weather forecast is not good so we are not sailing today. Hubby is further back down the river and is not sailing either.

A view of the conveyor belt which carries the cargo ashore

Loving where I live

My dog Maisie and I went for a bike ride today. About 5-6 miles. It wasn't a hot sunny day and in a way that was good. There's a hill near us which hubby likes to cycle over and we went up that way. Halfway up the lane there is a farm where 3 sheepdogs (Border Collies) live. One of them, Pudsey, is really friendly and everytime hubby goes past Pudsey always comes out to say hello. Maisie(also a Border Collie)isn't too sure about this friendly dog and sometimes goes to snap off poor Pudseys nose. However they get used to each other and after a few minutes of fuss we set off again off up the hill.


Sometimes at the top of the hill we take a short cut over the top of the hill, through pasture land with sheep and horses. We didn't do that today but when we were up there the other day I took these photos. The views were stunning and it always makes me feel happy, smug almost that I live in such a wonderful and beautiful place. I love standing at the top looking all around me, watching how the sun changes the view so quickly. Its spotlight moving around, highlighting different areas.

Free wheeling down the other side of the hill gives my legs a rest and gives Maisie a chance to really stretch her legs and we often race each other down. Theres a stream at the bottom where she can have drink. Then I strap her back in the basket on the back of my bike to complete our journey home along the main road.
Theres a pub at the bottom of the hill too which we sometimes go into. Maisie likes going in there because they know her in there now and she always gets a free biscuit or two. Pity they don't give away free drinks to the dog owner! That would be nice.

The First Day......

Today was the first day we have had lunch out in the garden this year. I would never have thought it would be possible in March but there again the weather today has not felt much like March.

We have been working out in the garden for the last few days,making the most of the sunshine, doing the jobs that we probably should have done before winter set in.

We're not keen, knowledgeable gardeners but we do like a few pretty flowers around about and for the past 3or 4 years I have become a vegetable gardener. I pick up tips from a very lovely neighbour Mrs M down the road, her garden is always immaculate. Last year hubby told her that our hanging baskets would be far better than hers and then turned round to me and told me to order some nice plants to put in hanging baskets so they were better than Mrs M's. Well needless to say I rose to the challenge and although I thought our baskets were very colourful, no independent adjudicator was available to decide who won the battle of the flowers!
Many of foot patients grow their own veg, I have often been the lucky recipient of excess crops. They are a good source of information too, I often ask, 'so what are you planting now?' and then dash home and start planting mine too.
So today I was digging over our raised veg patches, designing in my mind where to put the next crop of veg. I noticed hubby had disappeared inside and wondered what he was up to. As I continued digging I noticed him emerge into the garden and start moving the table and chairs from under our covered patio area to the open patio in the sunshine. Mm I thought, he is definitely up to something. Eventually I got the call and wandered from the veg garden out to the patio.

What a sight to behold. Lunch was served on a table, with a tablecloth and wine!! What decadence!

It was delicious and a lovely excuse to have a break from digging and relax in the sun. My neighbours have gone off in search of sun abroad, they needn't have bothered today!

Bikes!

This week has featured bicycles in a few different ways!

On Monday I went out for a ride with my dog.  Now I should explain here that about a year or more ago my husband came back from sea ( he works in the Merchant Navy too) with a big basket. He sails into Amsterdam a lot and as you may know the Dutch are quite a biking nation. So he had sourced a basket big enough to fit a dog!
Normally what happens is that the dog sits in the basket, securely fastened with her harness on and we cycle along a short stretch of main road until we turn off down very lovely quiet country lanes. At this point its time for her to get out and run along next to the bike. Hubby and her travel many miles using this method and she gets lots of exercise, well needed for a border collie.

Mad dog and Englishman!

We have plenty of comments about it and have seen many  heads turned as we have cycled past. I often go out with them and find it fun to cycle behind them because I get to hear all the comments - "Did you see that dog?" is the most common. Its funny cos she just sits there looking very smug at times especially if we pass another dog.

When hubby is away I do try to go out and use his bike and take her for a cycle run but with work etc its not always possible so we do tend to stick to conventional dog walking!

Anyhow on Monday I decided we would go out for a short cycle in between rain showers.
We had done our main cycle run and were just entering a small housing estate near were I live which is still in the process of being built. There is a short cut through to where we live so I thought I would go through that way as the occasional droplet of rain had turned to a constant shower.
I stopped and put the dogs lead on and got back on my bike. She trots along easily on the pavement as I was going to freewheel down the slight hill to the gate. As I set off I had my right hand on my handlebars while holding the lead in my left hand. I have done it so many times but on this occasion it didn't quite work out. As I turned my handlebars slightly to keep away from the kerb, for some reason I also yanked on the brake and before I knew it I was falling, slamming onto my right side.
Wow that was hard.
The dog just stood looking at me on the pavement 'What exactly are you doing?' she seemed to be thinking.
'Are you alright?' said a voice as I picked myself up, trying to understand the stupid thing I had just done. The occupant of a nearby bungalow had just come out their front door and had seen me sprawled on the road. 'Oh yes, I'm just fine' I replied and proceeded to brush myself off and clamber back on the bike. 'I've got to get out of here quick, 'I thought, I was so embarrassed.
I came home and got straight in the shower, bruises had already started to appear on my right knee and elbow.
I have to say my shoulder has been the worst casualty, especially first thing in the morning but after a visit to the doctor yesterday I've been reassured that I have broken nothing. Anti inflammatories and Tiger Balm are the prescribed solution.


Yesterday I had a more cheerful encounter with a bike. As well as spending time at sea my main form of income now is as a Foot Health Practitioner. I visit people at home, trimming their toe nails, removing corns and callus and generally cheering them up so they can walk more comfortably until I see them next.
I was visiting my last patient of the day, I had made up some time in the afternoon and was about 20 minutes early for my appointment.  This particular gentleman, I'll called him Mr Posh,  is a lovely chap, who used to write plays and Radio & TV scripts. He is very well spoken, 'Posh' even but is sadly going blind. I don't leave him an appointment card as he wouldn't be able to read it so I always phone him a day or two before the appointment to remind him I am coming.
 He can no longer write which I know saddens him very much.  He lives on his own and I know he enjoys listening to audio books a lot now using headphones. He is also a great font of all sorts of knowledge, every time I visit he always asks if I have an ancestor who did one thing or another. I think he must look up my surname and find out information about different 'Greenways'. One was apparently deported to Australia!
Anyway I knocked on the door several times and after getting no reply was feeling a bit worried. I know he rarely goes out so hoped nothing terrible had happened to him. I thought maybe he was listening to a book and couldn't hear my knocking so I rang his phone. He answered but seemed a bit out of breath and I was aware of loud music in the background. Slightly puzzled I explained I was a bit early but I was on his doorstep waiting to be let in.
After  a few minutes he arrived at the door, a bit breathless and as I apologised again for being early he said,' Oh I was cycling'
I wasn't quite sure what to say but I think a quiet 'oh' came out of my mouth followed by a louder, 'Cycling? what do you mean?'
It appears he has an exercise bike in one of his rooms and goes cycling on it every day. No wonder he is still quite fit at the age of 91!


Finally today I have been updating my local RNLI fundraising page on Facebook. We have recently met a chap, who has decided to do a cycle ride in aid of the RNLI.
At the end of May /early June, this recently retired railwayman, will attempt one of France’s more exacting long distance cycling challenges, the Brest to Strasbourg “Diagonale de France”. All ‘Diagonales’ have extremely rigid rules and regulations which are strictly monitored throughout the selected route; departure and arrival times are administered by the Gendarmeries!  Brest to Strasbourg is over 1050 kilometres and is given a maximum time allowance of just 88 hours which includes all eating, sleeping and comfort breaks.  On average a Diagonale is successfully completed nine times each year though many French cyclists will try.  Despite basic survival French and the enormity of the challenge he has set himself he is looking forward to it and hoping to attract sponsorship for the RNLI.   I suggested writing something for the Facebook page to raise awareness of this particular feat.
It did get me thinking about how brave he was to decide to do such a  thing. When I was 16 I cycled from Lands End to John O'Groats. I did it with my father and 4 other people from our cycling club. Although we were a cycling family, having done a few cycling holidays etc, cycling such a large distance was completely alien to me. 'Oh yes, I'll do that' I said and off we went. I remember doing a practice ride a week before and after about 10 miles I was knackered. I think we all doubted if I would succeed so much so that I never got myself any sponsorship until after I had completed it and then told everyone what I had done. We cycled 1000 miles in 2 weeks, the longest day being over 100 miles on the last day. We stayed in Youth Hostels along the way and were supported every day by my mum, a friend of my parents and my brother. They travelled in a big yellow minibus from youth hostel to youth hostel and stopped at various points during the day where we would stop and refuel!
It was the hardest endurance thing I have ever done and I'm not sure I would do anything like it again. We did it in July so the weather was fairly good to us until we arrived in Scotland and then it rained. The worst day was cycling into Scotland, on a very main road with rain pelting me in the face and wearing a cape which ballooned up making me feel  like a giant plastic bag or umbrella  being blown along the road. Traffic was thundering past us as we pedalled along in a line. I had got to the point of wondering why on earth was I doing it and had started to cry. It was at this point that the big yellow minibus came past and I remember seeing my brothers face peering out of the van at me. Apparently he tried to make my mum stop to see if I was alright but on such a main road it wasn't possible so I just had to carry on.
I have to say that there were many times before that, that I could have given up. One of the men would say, 'Get in the van luv' if I ever looked weary or sounded fed up but I always thought, well yes I could, but I would feel better again in a few miles and I could get out again and carry on BUT I wouldn't have cycled ALL of it, so I always carried on.


So I shall be wishing this chap much luck in May when he sets off to France for his endurance test - rather him than me!

Us at the finish line in John O'Groats - July 1991

Hot and Cold

The white stuff is falling

A blanket of snow

Inside the fire's on

Embers aglow

Lets finish this walk

Paws and fingers getting cold

We'll get in, dry off

There's a mug of hot chocolate to hold!

This poem was my first contribution to Poetry Jam