Phil April

Another month ends but at an inconvenient time this month.  Only just got home from our holiday in Corfu where I have been blogging since we arrived so you are all fed up of me.  I finished last month thinking that I would be starting work during April at Rexam again.  This hasn’t happened yet.  I know what their IT department are like and all they needed when I last visited them was the software installing.  They bought a new machine for me to use but by the time the software has been installed it will most likely be out of date and need an upgrade.  Maybe next month?

The main event this month was Sue’s birthday parties.  She had several but they were all great fun.  The first proper party, Jim and Shirley and Steve and Jan were also invited along with Claire and I and all Sue’s other friends.  We had a great night until near the end where drink got the better of some and a street fight developed.  The less said about that the better, but we didn’t get home until 4am.  Unfortunately, Sue’s second event was Sunday lunch, the following day, or rather the same day just a few hours later.  Sue had invited all her family and children along with Claire and I.  It was a nice way to sober up - or not.  In any case it seemed to delay the inevitable hang over that always follows these days.  Sue was meant to be having another party at Pink Punters but thankfully it was cancelled.

We also had a nice meal at the Blue Orchid at Aspley Guise.  This was the first time that Brian had been for a Thai meal but he seemed to enjoy it as much as anyone.  I chose to drive for this event as you can have too much of a good thing.

I also had my 6 month blood tests and results for all my ailments this month.  The results of my prostate PSA level was good.  It hasn’t changed since my treatment so they only need to see me once a year from now on.  They usually say that if there are no changes for 5 years then you are as safe as everyone else.  Three years to go for me but as the first two years have started so well its seems unlikely to change.  The results for my other ailment were not so good however.  Cant say Im surprised with all the parties and chocolate I have been eating.  I have to take another Metformin tablet to help reduce my blood sugar which means that I am now on the maximum of 4 tablets daily.  I have already cut down on my sugar intake but not on my calorie input.  Just waiting to get in the right frame of mind.  Not sure this will ever happen with our circumstances at the moment.  I also still have higher than normal blood pressure so I have been given yet another tablet to take for that.  Good job its a little one else it wouldn't fit in my weekly tablet dispenser.  However, my cholesterol, liver and kidneys are acceptable.  They must have been looking after themselves without much help from me.

My dad has had little change this month although he seems to have improved slightly this last week.  Mum has got worse and her sciatica has returned.  She is not sleeping as she should as dad is waking most of the night.  We took him to see his consultant on 19th for the results of the Xray and CT scan that we didn't even know he had been given.  While he was in hospital for investigation into his confusion, they found an 80mm diameter tumor on his kidney.  This was incidental and not the cause of his confusion.  They think he has had another mini stroke which has been causing his confusion.  His lethargy is from lake of heart function.  He doesn't have enough blood being pumped around his body.  He has gone from taking tablets for high blood pressure to taking them for low blood pressure.  He also only has 35% kidney function which they do not think is due to his tumor but rather to natural processes.  As he is in no pain at the moment and would not survive an operation it makes sense to do nothing but monitor him until things change.  He is more likely to live longer and happier than if they were to undertake invasive surgery, hard drugs or further traumatic investigations.  When we come back from our holidays we have a lady visiting mum to help fill in forms regarding help for her with dad.  They have already been told that there will be no financial help for continuing nurses help because they have more money than the threshold allowed.  Good job they have saved all their lives or they might have got it free.  Anyway, Claire will report on this or it will be in my May entry; probably both.

Regarding my Aunt Daphne’s financial advisor we have been to see a top barrister in London the other day.  He says that regarding her house trust, knowing what has happened and proving it are two different things.  It is not straight forward at this time because we have so little information to aid our case.  Regarding her late husband Les’s trust things are different and I have been able to obtain far more information because I am a trustee.  This is the one to pursue first and bring to a close.  According to the outcome of that trust we can re-evaluate the house trust at a later stage.  Unfortunately, as it is on the market it most probably will be sold and the money split.  However, it is possible to claim this money back at a later stage if any wrong doings can be proven.  I do have very good evidence regarding Les’s trust that criminal wrong doings have taken place and we have formed a strategy for our following actions.  It is time for Claire and I to regather our lives and take more of a back seat for now while the professionals work for us.  For as long as I am alive I will never completely let it drop until justice prevails.

It was nice to finish the month off with a holiday.  We were not expecting to be able to take it right until the last week so we hadn't arranged our transfers or parking.  Mum and dad have slotted into a routine which is pretty stable now and they still have the home help for another couple of weeks.  Looking back on this holiday it was great fun and great value for money but, as I have said before, All Inclusive doesn’t suit us.  We wouldn’t have booked it if it hadn’t been so cheap which is mainly due to it being all in so Im not complaining.  It just restricts you so much because you have more than enough food and drink in your hotel than you can manage so you are paying twice when you go anywhere outside.  If it hadn't been for the quad bike day we would have seen nothing but the inside of our hotel.  We should have hired a car for another day and visited Corfu Town and Paleokastritsa but it never seemed to happen.

We had two games of bingo which was fun and we decided to share any winning between Shane and Holly and ourselves.  On Saturday night at the pool bar Holly won so we all won.  Great at least it payed for our bingo cards.  It was quite good that night as they had a fire eater that also walked on broken glass and a bed of nails.  I think he was a relative beginner because we could smell singed pork during the act and he physically had to pull out the bed of nails from his body.

Our quad bike day will be the day that we all remember so I’n not quite sure why we don’t just bite the bullet a bit more and get out there.  Next time I will book a self catering and a car.  That way you don't have to wear a helmet.

The cave was quite good to see but difficult to get there and back.  My legs were still aching on the last day of our holiday.  We are not scheduled to get home until very late on Monday 29th and I have to drive to Melton on Tuesday morning early so I have scheduled this blog to come out while we travel home.  Maybe that way it will get a day before Claire writes her account of the same holiday and overwrites this.  I am really looking forward to getting back to normality as I am sick of eating and drinking all the time.  The three most memorable things of our holiday would have to be the Quad’s, cave and our meal at Junipers; all of which we did when we put our hand in our pocket and got outside the hotel.
We are very close to Albania where we are situated.  The mountains across the Aegean is Albania.  In fact I get a better phone signal from Albania than I do from Greece.  Trouble is the tariff is 28p per minute for Greece and £1.49 a minute for Albania.  I had to switch my phone off because I keep getting silly advertising texts all the time which are costing me a fortune.

Well, next month no holidays booked and I should start back to work again.  But then again, I said that at the end of last month.  I hope we get some reasonable weather so we can spend some time in the caravan.  Have a good one!

Quad Bikes

We certainly have enjoyed our evenings on this holiday.  Its the best all inclusive we have been on, the beer is good, the wine is usually good and the cocktails are strong but a little sweet for my taste.  The food is very consistent and they make a special effort with their presentation.  Since the weather changed for the better on Wednesday, its sunshine all the way and even the evenings are not cold.  We discovered the pool bar on wednesday night because it was Greek night and they held it there.  We have been out with Shane and Holly every night so far; there is usually a few others join us as the night progresses.

The only trouble with the pool bar is that they serve all drinks in plastic cups.  I guess that everyone walks around all day with bare feet so they cant risk broken glass in the area.  By the time we go to that bar we switch to vodka and sprite or orange so you get more for your small cup.  They only let you get two drinks each but you don’t all have to be at the bar so we tell them that there are twice as many of us as there are.  Once a cup is empty we stack them in the middle of the table; last night we counted 50 by the end of the night.  I guess its a good rule that they stop serving free drinks at 11 pm because the night naturally slows down and stops then.  However we do tend to stack a few up ready for the end.  Otherwise we would never get up the next day.  It works for us because we don’t like late nights these days anyway.

Here is one of all the girls together, plus a pink panther?  He is a Romanian guy, he's really good with the kids in the early part of the evening.

Nine o'clock sharp on Friday morning they turned up in a van to take us to get our quad bikes.  There were quite a few people hiring them so one person had to drive a quad bike back for us all to fit in.  That was Shan because both he and Holly have driven them quite a few times.  Because he helped them out they said that we could have their largest 250cc bikes for the same price as the 150cc ones we had hired.  I though that I would take to it like a duck to water because I have been driving all sorts of vehicles all my life and always do when confronted with a new one.  How wrong could I have been, I was hopeless.

I had a little drive around a green before going onto the road but I couldn't steer it.  I wanted to drive it like a bike and lean with it but you cant with 4 wheels, in fact you have to lean the other way if anything.  You just turn the handle bars like a wheel but it was totally unnatural to me.  When we went on the road I followed Shane towards the petrol station but I was so unsure and couldn't seem to get around the corners and went really slow.  Shane stopped to wait for me but as I approached to stop behind him I lost control and drove straight into a parked car.

I decided then that I would put a little petrol in and take it back to the shop and swap it for a motor bike.  I just put €5 in and we turned back to the shop.  The guy was very helpful but seemed reluctant to let me on one of his bikes because I haven't passed my bike license.  He talked me into trying the big blue monster quad as the steering wasn't so heavy and I had another go around the green first and I did find it a little easier.

Once we were off proper I soon picked it up and we were away for the day.  I was a nightmare, both Holly and Shane were experts, I felt like a real fool.  Especially because I had my normal problem; finding a helmet to fit me.  They had dozens in the shop and the lady said that she would find something but after I had tried the Xlarge and the XXlarge she had to resort to the old favorite.  It was more like a First World War pilots hat than a crash helmet, but it did fit.  It had no visor and didn’t go over your head, but it sits on top of your head like a cycle hat.  When the lady first put it on me Claire almost wet herself.  How come everyone else looks really cool in their helmets and I look more like a comedy character than the Steve McQueen I imagine myself.  All that choice of colour and design with helmets like Lois Hamilton and Sebastian Vettle’s and I get the one thats like Billy Bunter goes Biggles.  Shane was doing donuts around a bit of waste ground and Holly drove like a demon;  all I could manage was to crash into the occasional car looking like a numty.  It seemed that everyone we drove past started laughing when they saw me.  Several people on bikes actually fell off laughing.  While we were driving through Kassiopi I caught a glimpse of my reflection in a shop window.  If I hadn’t been on 4 wheels I would have fell off myself.

Anyway we drove west along the north coast as far as Sidari then turned back and stopped for lunch at Junipers in Kassiopi.  Not all the restaurants are open for the season yet so we had limited choice.  However, our choice turned out to be a good one, we all had a two course for €10 each.  Really good value and quality home made food.  Claire had a giant prawn cocktail and we all had mushrooms in garlic and cream sauce.  I ended up with a chicken curry because they recommended it and it was fabulous; first class.  As they made the food fresh you could have it as hot as you like but not at the expense of taste.  The girls had the home made burgers which turned out to be superb but a little too large for Claire to finish.  The best thing was the proper home made chips, I was so pleased I had half and half rice and chips.  Definitely worth a try if your in the area.

The lady told us that there was a huge cave not far away and gave us directions.  The roads went a bit off road but perfect for our quad bikes.  It was right at the top of a mountain so the views just kept getting better.  Once we reached the end of the trail we had to park the bikes up and climb the rest of the way.  Hard going with rugged stones and nettles lining the trail.  Wasps and bees were buzzing all the way down there so Claire turned back and waited for us.  You know what she is like with wasps.

The trip down was worth it the cave was much larger than I had imagined.  We took some photos and headed back but it was far tougher going up hill than down.  Especially if you are my size, it nearly killed me, I couldn’t even talk.  Worth it though for the sights.  Photos never really catch things of this proportion or size but I did my best.

Claire was glad to see us when we got back because she had to keep swatting and running from all the bees.  We headed back down the trail and then stopped at “Ice Dream” for one of their famous home made treats.  All the ice cream is home made and they certainly pulled in the customers.  The lady at Junipers also told us where this was and said that people come from all over the island for one.  They also do home made waffles and other sweets with ice cream; what a great way to finish such a great day off.  All we have to do now is get in the shower and wash of the days dust and sweat and get ourselves back down to that pool bar.

Mareblue Beach Resort

As you all know, we like our cheap holidays.  This one so far has turned out to be a gem.  We really like the hotel and service and the food is great which seems to have made us very lazy.  Its Thursday already and these are the first words I have written and its the first time I have downloaded my photo’s.  In fact I only just booked the internet for a week with only have of our week remaining.  However, it doesn’t seem to work; another trip to reception I suppose.

We arrived in Corfu about 15 minutes early but had to wait for an age before our bus left.  When he did leave, he went so slow it was painful.  We were desperate for a drink before the bar closed at 11pm.  If we had a man with a red flag walking in front of us it would have gone faster.  There were five drops at different hotels but thankfully ours was the second drop.  However it still took an hour and thirty five minutes of driving and an hour before we left.  This is the reason that we don't normally take the transfers.  We had about 20 minutes while the bar was free then we had to pay for it.  We had been talking to the couple behind us on the coach, Shane and Holly who are both 25.  We ended up with a session at the bar with them until about 2.30am and couldn’t find our room in the dark.  We hadn’t even took our cases back to the room.  Claire gave up and went to sleep in the middle of the path while I eventually found it, dumped the bags and when back for Claire who was being helped up by two couples.

We felt like death in the morning and following breakfast went back to bed and not emerging until lunch time.  We had a shower, went for lunch and then back to bed for the afternoon.  It was raining anyway.  We met up with Shane and Holly again for dinner and had another session.  Shane had started at around 10am so we had some catching up to do.  The following morning it was sunny so we went for a walk to the beach and around our surrounding area.  Very little around other than a restaurant and a supermarket.  There is not even an ATM so I am very short on money.  Good job we don’t need any.  Claire lost her handbag last night and it had all her credit cards, phone and Kindle in it.  Luckily someone had handed it into reception.  Tomorrow we have booked a quad bike for the day so we are looking forward to that.  Shane and Holly have one as well so it should be fun.

Sorry I haven't took many pictures yet but we have either been in bed or at the bar.  Claire has gone down to the pool but its too hot for me; I refer to stay in bed and read as its nice and cool.  I took a picture of this little bush because it plays music.  They have them all around the grounds and I love them.  Shame I cant find Claire’s camera because I know she has took more pictures than me.  I need to take my computer to reception to see if I can get wifi reception there and log on to post this.  I guess that I will do another post after our little outing on the quad’s.

Corfu

The Greek Island of Corfu is the second largest of the Ionian Islands.  The first settlers were from Corinth around 730BC but it appears to have previously had a stream of emigrants from Eritrea.  It appears that everyone has had a piece of Corfu throughout its long occupation but from about 1400 onwards, Corfu was controlled by Venice for many centuries which repulsed several Turkish sieges, before falling under British rule following the Napoleonic Wars.  Corfu was eventually ceded by the British Empire and unification with modern Greece was concluded in 1864.  It was occupied temporally by the Italians in 1941 and again by the Germans in 1943.  During German occupation they shipped the local Jews to Auschwitz where only 200 out of the 1900 escaped.  It was liberated on 14th October 1944 by the 40th Royal Marine Commando’s and they weren't even wearing underpants.  Until the early 20th century, it was mainly visited by the European royals and elites.  It was then visited by middle class tourists, mainly from the UK, Scandinavia and Germany.  More recently it has become the Greek lager lout Island.  As usual, I found this holiday on the internet at a bargain price that I couldn’t refuse.  Claire had been wanting to go to a Greek Island for some time as we had never been there together.  I had been when in previous relationships and Claire had had previous relationships there while she was a travel rep on mainland Greece in a previous life.

Corfu is about 40 miles long by 20 miles wide at its widest point.  The Island is divided into 3 parts by 2 well defined mountain ranges.  The northern part is very mountainous, the middle part undulating and the south is low-lying.  Corfu is located near the Kefalonia geological fault and so does experience earthquakes from time to time.  The highest point, Mount Pantokrator is 911 meters high.  It has a coastline of 217km that consists of 92 shingle and sand beaches.  It has a Mediterranean climate but is far greener than most of the other Greek Islands indicating that it has more rain than most.  There are over 2 million olive trees in Corfu.  The capital, Corfu town is just off the Albanian coast.  At its closest point its only about 2 miles away and the Albanians sometimes swim across to steal boats.  In my experience there are lots of illegal Albanian workers hidden away in the kitchens and the like.  Corfu Town still has lots of 16th century architecture from its Venetian rule around the city although some were destroyed by the Germans in WWII.

We are staying in the Mareblue Beach Resort in the north east of the island.  It is supposed to be a 4 star all inclusive holiday, which including flights at £199 each.  There followed the extra’s such as, transfers, luggage and booking charge.  They also even have a payment charge these days, where not only do you pay extra to cover credit card charges but you also pay extra however you chose to pay.  These cannot be avoided which is a con.  Trouble is, if that loophole is closed, another one will open.  Anyway, on the north east side of the island is another, smaller island called Lazaretto Island with an area of only around 17.5 acres.  A monastery was built on this island and they used to ship the lepers there.

Corfu is twinned with the Gold Coast, Queensland Australia.  Prince Philip was born in Corfu as Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark.  Phil Krause had his first honeymoon in Corfu.  Looking forward to my All Inclusive Moussaka and chips and my second honeymoon!

A Dolly Mixture of a week

This past week has been like dolly mixtures, a real mixed bag.  Personally I would have preferred Starbursts, they are simple and sweet and from the wrapper, you know exactly what to expect.  Mind you, we didn’t help ourselves much by starting the week with hangovers but that was self-inflicted so no sympathy is expected.  Phil was really suffering but I had arranged to meet Harriet at David Lloyd so no time to linger and feel sorry for myself.

I didn’t have time for a workout so I met up with Harriet & Billy in the Jacuzzi; Billy had to leave to go to work and me and Harriet did a few lengths in the outside pool which blew a few cobwebs away I can tell you.  We would have swum longer had it not been for the ducks that decided to join us.  This meant a swift exit, Harriet has a phobia of birds and I was worried about them pooping.  We swam some more in the indoor pool but Harriet takes longer to get ready than me so I left her to beautify while I went back to the flat.

Despite his sorry state, Phil had the roast chicken dinner under control and even had time for a shower.  Harriet joined us for lunch and Phil served up dead on the dot of midday and very nice it was too.   The fold-up wheelchair that I’d ordered on the internet was delivered just after I’d shoved the plates in the dishwasher, which was just as well because time was of the essence.  We chucked Harriet out and drove to the hospital for Phil’s appointment at the hospital but not before she had a whizz round in the wheelchair.  Children and I include Phil in that statement!

We had to wait forever to see the consultant at the MacMillan unit at MKG.  Phil saw a new consultant but he was very nice.  Thankfully Phil’s PSA result was 1 which was brilliant and he won’t have to go back for another 6 months.  Unfortunately his blood sugar was the highest it’s ever been and Phil promised me that he would cut out the sweet stuff.  He came back from his mum’s the following day with a Tesco trifle so this promise didn’t last long. After hospital I caught up with a cup of tea with Sue who was worn out after visiting her dad and meeting with a social worker. Monday evening was early to bed.  How middle-aged are we?

Phil was up early on Tuesday morning and on the road to Melton Mowbray to see his mum by half seven.  I did some jobs and then went to DW for my workout; I wanted to do some food shopping in ASDA and I also wanted to pay a quick trip to Primark so it made sense.  There was just enough time after the gym for a little bite to eat at the flat before I had to go to Rachel in Newport to get my hair done.  Rachel is cheap and good and although I hate getting my hair done, my grey roots were really showing.  Harriet popped in for a cup of tea and Rachel gave her a quick free trim.  Phil wasn’t late back from Melton; he just had time for a shower before being picked up by Jim to go to the cinema to see ‘Oblivion’.  I gather it didn’t have a good write up but the boys enjoyed it and they got their escapism.

At the end of the afternoon I nipped over for a cup of tea with Vanessa as I hadn’t seen her for ages.  There is a lot going in the Ford household.  Chris, Van & Alex have just returned from a 10 day holiday in Turkey.  Alex is just about to start his GSE’s, Shannon takes her ‘A’ levels next month and Vanessa has been busy training for the MK marathon on the 6^th of May. I have the greatest respect for this girl, only 2 weeks after running the marathon she is climbing Mt Toubkal in Morocco.  Of course all in aid of Willen Hospice which is such a worthy cause and one close to my heart.  Vanessa has raised nearly 7.5k for this charity so if you haven’t done so already my MK friends, please sponsor her.  You just never whether you or yours will be in need of our local hospice in the future. https://www.justgiving.com/user/10128899

On Wednesday morning I went to David Lloyd; it feels a little weird going back there and funnily enough it’s not as good as I had remembered.  But it is on the door step which for one saves on my travelling time and also saves money on petrol. Lunch was something out of the freezer and straight after we drove to Overstone to pick up the post and sort out the caravans.

Our objective was to turn on the water, turn on the gas and make up the beds and generally make good everything for when Jan & Steve stay, giving both the mums a little bit of a mini break next week. It should have been easy but it wasn’t. Phil got the water turned on easily enough but had problems lighting both the boilers.  In the end he had to call Dennis next door for some help.  We had to pay him for cutting both lawns anyway and Den is always happy and willing to help.  He soon got the boilers lit but suggested that we get them both serviced.  We should do this every year but with everything going on with mum and dad there just hasn’t been a chance.  I came away happy, sofas cleaned and in place, showers scrubbed and hopefully J&S will enjoy their stay.  I just hope the sun shines for them but I have no control over that one.

Wednesday evening I picked up Sue and she came round for our usual Wednesday night supper. I did lamb chops which were good but I bought cheats potatoes daphonoise and these were pretty crap.  I don’t think she or I much cared after consuming the red stuff but hey ho, some old.  It wasn’t a late night which was just as well because Phil & I had to be up and out and on the road by 9am to go to London to meet with our solicitor and a barrister.  We drove to Finchley central then took the northern then the central line to Chancery Lane. 

It was a big day because by hiring the barrister we were to find out whether we had a chance of taking our case to court and winning.  The barrister was very thorough, mind you, I expected him to be for a fee of 5 grand.  The meeting was intense and went on relentless for 2 hours.  Phil has specifically asked me not to mention the outcome and I must respect his wishes.  He is being I feel, a little paranoid and fears that the bastard FA and the handyman is able to read our blog even though I have been forced to make it private. I don’t think is the case but anyway, if you want to know the outcome please email either me or Phil directly.

I felt both physically and mentally exhausted when we got back from London, totally wiped out as did Phil.  Perhaps a slight exaggeration but you get the gist and I make no apologies.  I can be a bit of a drama queen sometime and I know it. Thursday night was quiet.  It would have been nice to lie and dwell on the events of the day before but no chance for us Krause’s as we had to be up and back on the road again to Melton Mowbray by 7am.

The purpose of our visit was to take dad to Leicester General for an appointment with the Oncologist and Urologist.  We kind of thought this appointment was a generic one, i.e. a patient must be seen within 2 weeks by a consultant after being discharged from hospital.  My gut feeling was that I should cancel but then I would have never forgiven myself if we didn’t get dad there and he were to miss out on any treatment.  This didn’t happen but nonetheless I was glad we made the effort.

Mum had to arrange the carer to come in early specifically for the hospital appointment.  We arrived at 8.30am, and bar a slight toilet mishap, we successfully manoeuvred mum and dad into the car and were en-route to Leicester by quarter past nine.  I am pleased to say that my newly purchased portable wheelchair worked a treat. Phil dropped us all off, chair and we were all in outpatients 2 in no time. Unfortunately the OP2 was packed and we had a half an hour wait but all was good. No toilet accidents and actually P’s dad was alert and awake for the whole time.  When we finally got our slot we saw the registrar rather than the consultant but this was fine.  To be honest, we all didn’t know what to expect and actually I am not sure what or how much dad or mum understood.  The bottom line is that dad has kidney cancer, prostate cancer and the brain scan shows evidence of a recent stroke which explains the confusion.  They are not certain that it has metastised but they confirmed that surgery or radiotherapy is not an option and they will not be doing biopsies or any other tests.

I feel I think, more for the loss of dignity than the loss of life, or to be blunt the end of life.  Why oh why did the consultant have to put his finger up dad’s bum to check the size of his prostate. Phil has had this done and knows not just how embarrassing this is, but just how painful.  I would have stopped this intrusive test had I of known what they were doing when they closed the curtain.  If it is a given fact that every 87 year old man has prostate cancer, and given one with other cancers then why?????  I have to give all credit to Phil’s dad, he was brave and he was very polite.  Part of his lucid brain was there on Thursday but maybe some part of me wished it wasn’t.

The one good thing is that George currently, as I type, is not in pain; if he develops pain at a later date, then the only treatment he will get is end of life care and/or palliative care.  We learnt that actually, the kidney tumour is not making him unwell, it is his failing heart; it will be cardiac failure that will finish him off. It’s so sad, but I suppose at least we know and if he goes without pain and his heart gives up in his sleep that will not be so bad.  I sound heartless, I know, but such is life.  87 is not a bad age to say goodbye.

I sound sad but it wasn’t such a bad day on Friday, in fact it was quite a positive one.  Between the two of us, we managed to get dad and mum to hospital and the newly acquired wheelchair was a success. On the back home we stopped off at Aldi in Syston and that made mum happy.  We picked up their prescriptions from the chemist and afterwards got fish and chips which made for an easy lunch.  Just a shame that dad had a toilet problem as soon as we got into the bungalow which meant by the time mum got to the table we’d already wolfed our little bit of fish, chips and mushy peas and mum’s plate must have been stone cold.

Phil cut the grass and we left Melton around quarter to three.  A good ride back and we were back in MK by 4pm.  I was up bright on early on Saturday morning and did Sainsbury’s, Primark & Lidl before half nine.   I did an hour in DW and then got some bits in Asda.  Phil too had also had a productive morning, he’d booked our transfers and written a letter to dad’s GP.  It was such a lovely day that we decided to walk to the pub for a spot of lunch. I really wanted to go to The Nags Head but Phil made me to the Giffard.  Yesterday afternoon it was domestics, washing, ironing and manicures and pedicures in readiness for our week away.

We have deliberated and deliberated as to whether to go away or not but we finally made a decision on Wednesday.  We did ask Steve & Jan if they wanted to go in our place but the dates didn’t work for Jan.  Also we received an email from Purple Travel on Monday to say that actually the change of name cost wasn’t £35 as originally advised but no, it was £195.  So when you factor in the Ryanair fee on top, the change of name would have cost more than we paid for the holiday in the first place.

And so we are leaving on a jet plane tomorrow morning for a week of escapism in Corfu.  I am feeling a little guilty about leaving mum and dad and there is a worry that something may happen in the week we’re gone but if it does, we shall simply fly home.  I think Phil & I both need a break away, if nothing more but to make us strong enough to face the months ahead.  I have a feeling in my waters that they are not going to be good.....................