Still so much to do

Phil has been working his little socks off at the Caldecotte flat, so much so, that he is making himself ill.  I am worried about him; I know he is a man on a project or is that a mission and he wants to do as much as he can whilst he can but he is really taking it to the limit.  I don’t know if he mentioned that he had a stinking cold over the weekend which is obviously as a consequence of an already weakened immune system.  The kitchen in the Caldecotte has been a challenge for Phil.  It may only be a small kitchen but it has not been easy.  Okay, Phil has made himself more work by replacing all of the electrics but actually they needed doing, there were far too few sockets and those that were there didn’t work.   Phil also didn’t make his life any easier by fitting lights above the wall units and into the plinths.  But that’s just Phil, or is it that he wants to highlight his lovely marble floor of which he is so proud of?  Who bloody knows but it has certainly given him extra work.  Phil / we have done a fair few kitchen refits over the years and we have been asked by friends and family to fit theirs but we have declined, because whilst Phil has the skill and generally does a good job, it takes him a long time to fit and he really doesn’t enjoy the work.  Plus, when you take money for a job done there is real pressure to make it picture perfect.

But the kitchen at the CF is looking good, all of the hard work is nearly finished.  There is still stuff to be done of course.  Tiling around the window and touch up paint and we also need to find Perspex plastic to cover over the wallpaper splash back.  We are still waiting on Snake to plumb in the washing machine and fit the taps on the kitchen sink.  The emersion heater is still f****d as is the power shower and we need to find a solution for the pressure of the water in the shower.  But without hot water, this can’t be sorted.

As to the other jobs in the CF, well there are still many I’m afraid.  We need to refit the bathroom warm air heater and replace the extractor fan.  The internal doors need to be brought, fitted and painted. We need to fit the electric wall mounted fire that we brought yesterday in the fireplace.  We have never done this before so it will be a first.  I’ve already tried (and failed) to get the fake fireplace out but it wouldn’t budge.  I won’t go into the nitty gritty, but I don’t lie when I say, there is still to do.

Whilst Phil has been working himself into exhaustion, I have had a relatively easy week.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not afraid of hard work but even with Phil taking over as project manager, there really hasn’t been much for me to do.  Sue stayed on Monday night for my birthday curry and on Tuesday at 9am I took her to the city centre for a laser eye free consultation.  She had to have eye drops and couldn’t drive; I was allowed to sit in and it was very interesting.  I would have it done myself but my eyesight is unstable; I was certainly impressed though and I think (but don’t quote me) that Sue is going ahead.  The cost was certainly much less than she’d expected.

I went round to the flat on Wednesday to repaint the kitchen where Phil had re-plastered and sanded.  I had planned to go to the gym afterwards but there was no time.  In the afternoon Phil drove me to Northampton because he knew I wanted to spend some of the birthday money from Phil’s mum. We parked at Morrison’s and headed for Primark, my favourite shop.  When I go to Primark in London, which is about once a year, I can buy a full wardrobe for about 80 quid, but you know what, I struggled in Northampton and only spent the total of roughly 18 quid.  The funny thing was, Phil loved Primark in Northampton and got himself shorts, shirts, knickers and socks.  LOL, he loved the place or is that the price???

Today we fly to Spain for the weekend.   It was going to be a fairly easy day just getting ready to go away and out for lunch but it’s not going to pan out that way. Rhona from Ampthill Glass phoned late yesterday afternoon to say that the glaziers would be going into the CF today at 8.30am.  This is good news but we really aren’t ready.   Also Phil has his zapping at 8.00am this morning so it just means that I’ll have to go to the flat and he’ll have to go to Northampton General by himself.   I wasn’t too fussed about going away this weekend but I am glad now that Phil booked.  The side effects from the radiotherapy are beginning to kick in and yesterday Phil had a really bad day.  I felt really sorry for him but there was nothing I could do.  His tummy was upset and his bottom was sore and stinging and probably not helped by curry on Monday and leftover curry on Tuesday.  The hospital did warn us about diet and what to eat and what not to eat but because Phil has been good up until now, we have been a little lax.  Not any more though, no more spice for Phil, he is burning enough inside without adding to the heat.  Yes, what my boy needs desperately is a break, if nothing else a break from working and a chance to relax and do nothing will do him the world of good.  Thankfully he is feeling a little better today.  We don’t fly until tea-time and between now and then there is a shit load of stuff that we still have to do. Best get going. 

Next blog from me will be tomorrow from our apartment in Calas de Mallorca.

A great day at the Spa

I had a great birthday.  Thanks to everyone for all the Facebook birthday messages, telephone calls, emails and for all the lovely birthday cards that I received in the post.  I also got some great gifts including a Sanctuary spa set from Jan and a hot body mask and Harriet gave me some holiday toiletries and a body brush.   As Phil said in his blog, Sue very kindly treated me to a day at Whittlebury Hall. I’m not sure I deserved such a generous gift; after all the help that Sue has given me at the CF over the last month it really should have been me treating her but I was very excited about being pampered for the day. I’d never been to Whittlebury Hall before and it turned out neither had Sue, had so it was a first for the both of us.

Monday was a bright sunny day and we got to Whittlebury Hall around half nine.   It took time to get down the drive to the hotel and spa because loads of campervans were leaving, presumably having camped over the weekend for the Silverstone Grand Prix.   At the reception we received our welcome packs and instructions and straight away got changed into our white robes and slippers.  It took a little while to suss the place out but we got there in the end and soon we were indulging in the spa experience.  We tried them all, the Aromatherapy Crystal Steam, the Caldarium, the Experience Showers, the Foot Spa, the Hydrotherapy Pool, the Ice Cave, the Roman Salt Steam, the Sanarium and the Tepidarium and the sauna.

My personal favourite was the Roman Salt Steam as it really did make my skin feel really smooth.  The spa was certainly busy but it wasn’t overcrowded, there weren’t any queues or anything like that.  We easily indulged ourselves for two and a half hours, eliminating toxins and exfoliating and then it was time for lunch.  Feeling very relaxed and rejuvenated we floated into the café.  We did have a laugh when we found we had to wait to be seated and were shown to our table by very nicely turned out waiter.  It seemed a little formal when we were still dressed in wet cosies and robes and slippers.   Still, it was a nice touch and the lunch was excellent.

As one would expect from a spa, there were healthy foods on offer. Sue had a Caesar salad as a starter and I had the fish salad. It was good. There was a jug of water on the table but Sue brought us a both a glass of red. It wasn’t cheap but went down very well with the lamb casserole which was delicious. After lunch we were feeling very chilled and sleepy so decided to find a sun lounger by the pool. We both put on our glasses and got out books but it wasn’t too long before we were nodding off. As another birthday treat Sue had booked me in for an Elemis facial so just before 3pm we headed up to the treatment rooms.

My facial was glorious. I had the facial for oily skin, I can’t remember now all of the ingredients but my skin felt great afterwards. I especially liked the lavender eye mask. My beautician knew her stuff; she was firm but not too firm and an hour passed very quickly. Afterwards I went to seek out Sue. I found her on the terrace, deep in conversation on her mobile. The plan was that she would read her book and drink coffee whilst I had my facial but she ended up spending the whole time on the phone trying to sort out problems with her dad. She managed to sort out her dad and we had coffee outside in the sun to finish our day and then went to shower and change. I had a great day; it was lovely to be spoilt and pampered for the day and just nice to relax and do nothing for a whole day.

I finished off my birthday with wine in the garden in the sun. Having spent the day getting rid of toxins, I spent the night putting them back in!Steve Pemberton dropped in on his way back from work to say hello. He had a beer and it was nice to catch up with him as we hadn’t seen him for ages.When Phil got back from the hospital we ordered an Indian takeaway, which when, it arrived was good.In hindsight we might have been better with a Chinese because Sue doesn’t do hot curry’s and neither does Harriet, plus Phil really should avoid hot and spicy because of the radiotherapy, he’s burning enough already on the inside.Still, it was a one off and a bit of what you fancy doesn’t hurt once in a while.I had a great birthday and went to bed on Monday night, one very clean and happy girlie.

Happy Birthday Everyone!

It’s a while since I last did a blog entry so I will start off with work. Once our smoking machine was shipped and everyone was happy I only had a limited amount of work to do. It was the following week that I was given my notice as they are waiting for order confirmations. This is fine by me as I hate having nothing to do anyway; especially as I have a kitchen to fit at Coldecote. I spent most of my time in my final notice week messing around with their new 3D printer. The timing wasn’t perfect for me as I would have preferred another month of work which would have given me a couple of weeks to finish off the kitchen while I completed my radio therapy. I have 37 days of treatment so we can’t really go away for a holiday until it’s finished anyway, so I may as well be earning money while I’m stuck here. Well, we are managing to get away for a weekend break next weekend as I have booked a quick trip to Majorca for Claire’s Birthday. I like it when it’s Claire’s birthday as it means that I get a holiday too. I have the first appointment this Friday at 8am and then we fly from Luton. We return on Monday lunchtime and my appointment is at 4.30pm so it should leave time to get there. We are trying another all inclusive as it was only £20 more each than bed and breakfast so I expect that we will be getting value for money for that last £20 each. On the down side, the transfers were £25 each but they had such bad reviews that we opted for a taxi instead; especially as not expecting to get there until early evening. It turned out to be around £137 for a return taxi which is ridiculous so we opted for a hire car at £65 for 3 days. It’s the cheapest hire car option but I don’t mind as we should have a smart car. Looking forward to that as I always wanted to have a go in one of those. I can just imagine Claire driving one of those little smart sports cars.

 

Getting back to my treatment; it’s a bit of a pain having to drive to Northampton every work day especially as the parking is so unpredictable. Also you never know when there will be a delay and you have to attend with a full bladder and empty bowel as Claire has mentioned before. I’m usually bursting by the time we arrive but try and hold it until my treatment is over then rush to relieve myself. One day they said that there was no delay but I was waiting for an hour before finally being seen as Claire complained that I was nearly passing out. Friday was the reverse; we arrived to see that we had an hour delay so I decided to visit the loo and start drinking again for the next hour. By the time I had come out of the toilet the hour delay was erased from the board which we didn’t understand. No sooner had I sat down as I was called through for the treatment, bizarre.

As the external beam gamma rays are so energetic and travel through your whole body, they split the treatment into 3, shining the beam at different angles which collect on my prostate (hopefully), so as to minimise the damage to normal tissue. The main trouble is the middle beam that shines just under my bellybutton but exits via my arse. So it appears that the sun really does shine out my arse. I have just started to notice certain places getting a little sore, especially by the Friday. Its so nice having the weekend to recover, but they seem to go even quicker than when I was working. As it’s a little like sunburn where the entry and exit points of the beams are you can only use certain products to wash with. There must be no metal particles in the soap or shampoo otherwise they will reflect the beam and your radiation dose won’t be as intended and the particles heat up intensely. They recommend Johnston’s baby shampoo and baby or simple soap which I use all the time now. I also have an aqueous cream that I have to apply to all the entry and exit points on my skin; it’s called “liquid paraffin” which smells terrible. I even have to put it up my bum which is horrible as it squelches when I walk; takes some getting used to I can tell you.

Having not been to the Newport Pagnell Carnival for 12 years we decided to have a walk there on Saturday but had only got as far as the Giffard when it began to rain. Claire was starving and I had the beginning of a cold so we snicked in for lunch and walked back home along the canal when we had finished. We had barely settled in when Steve and Jan popped around to deliver Claire’s birthday card and present for today, Monday. They also had a voucher for the Black Horse where if you bought a bottle of champagne at discounted price you received a free mezze for 4 so they invited us along with them for an early dinner as it was Steve’s birthday on Sunday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVE, hope you had a good one!

The mezze was a disappointment but we had a great evening as we had such good company.Last weekend I took Georgina over to Melton Mowbray to visit my parents for her last time before her travels to find that they had been having a clear out ready for their move to Milton Keynes. They had found my “Blue Tent” in their attic. I thought that I had better erect it for the first time since the 1979 Reading Festival. To my surprise, it’s still in reasonable condition; it just stinks a bit. Georgina’s off to Shrewsbury today for 3 weeks work but she will no doubt enjoy herself as last time she was there she paid to go. She also managed to get a days pay at her old school only the week after she had left when the teachers went on strike. As luck would have it, this was the school sports day so another easy days pay.

All last week I have been around the Coldecote flat fitting the kitchen but I won’t dwell on that as Claire has been covering it in her entries. However I will pad out this entry with some photos so that you can see our progress which is a little slower than normal as I have been finishing at lunch time. No point rushing as my treatment doesn’t finish for 5 weeks. Once 1pm comes, I pack up and clean up with a nice steam and shower at DW before coming home to pick up Claire for my daily treatment in Northampton. This pattern continued on Saturday except earlier as we were going to the carnival, which was a big mistake as it was packed out. I got there around 10.45 just as all the kids were pilling into the pool for swimming lessons. Nightmare! Of course, these weren’t normal kids; they were the kids of hairy arsed, tattooed Bletchley body builders. By the time I wanted a shower, so did all the kids and their Dads so all the showers were full up with a couple of blokes waiting so I decided to use the communal showers. Another big mistake, especially as I was using my, “No more tears” Johnson’s baby shampoo and my Asda “Little Angels” baby wash. I got some funny looks, I can tell you. To make things worse my usual black towel had been replaced by Claire’s pink one. One fellow seemed to take an instant dislike to me. It might have been when I bent over and asked him to have a look if I’d got all the soap out my bum. I opted not to spread my Aqueous cream up my bum until I got home, barely escaping with my life.

Sunday arrives and it’s another quick visit to the flat for some final touches to the kitchen, fitting the doors, handles and slow close mechanisms before being joined by Claire for DW again. I went home to watch the recording of the British GP qualifying while Claire went shopping and picked up Sue who is staying with us Sunday and Monday nights. She is generously paying for herself and Claire to visit Wittlebury hall for a girlies spa day today. Claire has wanted to go there for years as most of her friends have been several times. This is also my birthday present as it saves me taking her, thanx Sue!

Once Claire had arrived with Sue, we all walked down to the Ship Ashore for Sunday lunch before returning home to watch the recording of the British GP. What a race; probably one of the most boring qualifying sessions but one of the most exciting GP’s I have ever watched; just a shame about the result. Another cock up by the FIA resulting in yet more controversy. Anyway we had a great evening but consumed a little more wine than necessary for a good time resulting in a slow start to the week around the Coldecote flat. I had to be here for 7am as we have the morning slot for the delivery of our new fridge freezer and washing machine. Claire also asked me to do the blog entry today as she is having a well deserved day off to celebrate her birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAIRE! Have a good one.

I have written this blog around the flat prior to starting work but at least it’s an easy start to the day while I eat my sandwiches and fruit. However, I have no internet connection so wont be able to publish until I get home.

While we are on birthdays, Claire’s twin sisters also share their birthday with Claire but are 1 year younger. This almost makes them triplets. They are like the bus company of sisters; you have to wait all year for a birthday, and then 3 come all at once. The 11th July is celebrated almost as much as Christmas day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOUISE AND JULIA! Have a great one!
If there is anybody else reading this that shares their birthday today?
Happy Birthday Everyone!

'No Sex Please, We're British'

Phil was so excited about his new freedom when leaving work it was almost funny but I had to laugh to myself because he’s probably worked twice as hard since he left his contract.  Poor sod, he’s not had a minute to himself.  I knew there wasn’t much I could do to help on Monday but I did turn up at the CF to show willing, only to find that he’d decided to change all of the electrics in the kitchen.  Now Phil can do electrics, but his sausage fingers don’t make it easy and he struggles.   I hung around for an hour or so but no coffee to make because the electric supply was off and it was obvious that Phil had many channels to chisel out which meant that the electric supply would be off for a while, so I sneaked off to the gym.  I had a reasonable workout but I did feel guilty, which is silly when I have been working pretty much non-stop since the 19^th of May.

I did fleetingly think about going to see Phil after DW but decided against and instead, because I was so close to Caldecotte, decided to drop in on Sue.  I vaguely remembered her saying that she had a free day on Monday and whilst I don’t normally make a habit of dropping in on friends unannounced, I thought if her car was outside then I would ring the buzzer and see if she fancied a walk around the lake. Luckily as it happened, she was home, she made me a cup of coffee and as it was such a lovely day was up for a stroll around the lake.  I do so like doing things that are impromptu, as it makes it all the more fun.  I kind of wasted my free time on Sunday and wanted to make the most of the sunshine. 

Unfortunately I had forgotten how long the walk was around Caldecotte Lake; Phil and I had done it many years ago but boy it was a long way round and took us nearly 1 hour and 40 minutes.  I didn’t have the hindsight (do I ever?) to think of taking water or even money for the Windmill pub, which was probably a good thing because once Sue & I start, we keep going.  But keep going we did, and we made it all the way round and back to Sue’s flat for a much needed glass of water, we were bloody parched I can tell you.  I said to Sue that I can’t remember how much I’ve enjoyed a glass of chilled water above wine in ages!  We said our goodbyes and I had just enough time to get home and changed ready to go to the hospital for Phil’s blasting.

Poor Phil is working himself to the bone even though there is no need.  He has friends that would help him; Steve B would help him willingly but no, he wants to do it all by himself. He was awake at half three on Tuesday morning and working at the CF flat by 6.30am.  He is a man on a mission.  Phil worked until 1’ish then took himself to DW for a gym workout.  Silly sod, he was all worn out when he got back at 3pm and ready to drop, but of course, we had to go to Northampton General (NG from now on) for zapping.   Needless to say, he was in bed by 7pm, absolutely knackered.  We are now part of a little prostate club at the Luke Radiotherapy Unit; I talk to everyone and now know all their personal health stories.  In a way, it’s a little sad, but we all laugh at the inconvenience and moan about the parking. Better laugh than cry I say, but all the prostate cancer sufferers are really brave and strong. Maybe all bar Phil.  We met one chap and his wife on Tuesday who said he’d not suffered any side effects and he is halfway through into week 6 but on Wednesday night whilst talking to him and questioning him (as only I can do) he joked that he couldn’t go away for a long weekend or undergo early morning radiotherapy because he has to spend 3 hours on the loo before he can go anywhere.  He is so obviously hiding his difficulties about his treatment but his wife did comment on the lack of sex.  This guy and I’m sorry I don’t know his name yet, is very open about everything, but when his wife mentioned sex he went very quiet.  I can understand where she is coming from, 100%  It’s interesting that these prostate sufferers can talk all day long about the flow of their pee, their bowel movements, hormones and hot flushes BUT what they don’t ever discuss is ED (to you and me that is short for erectile dis-function) and the ‘S’ word.  Sex is never discussed, it’s a ‘no-no’ – a taboo. Don’t even go there! None of them discuss it; is it the great British reserve I wonder or the fact that it is not, in the scheme of things, high priority? I think a bit of both. Okay, its crap for the guys that their man-hood is taken away, or shrunken and possibly never restored, but what about the wives, partners and the girlfriends??? We suffer too.

Actually, this is not a rant or a raving and nothing personal, but it’s generally an observation about prostate cancer and cancer in general.  It’s terrible enough to see the one you love suffer, or be in pain, endure cancer treatments that you know will make them suffer even further or perhaps even die, but I also think the partner of the cancer patient suffers too. Maybe not in the physical sense, but certainly emotionally; we have to appear to be strong and positive when maybe we don’t feel it; we have to smile and can’t admit when we’re scared. Cancer is an all round real-roller-coaster-ride.  Some highs, many lows, you hope for the best of course, but mostly you are scared of the unknown.  I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.  And of course, there are good cancers of which prostate is one of them and there are the worst cancers but mostly they are the same whatever the Gleeson score or the PSA or whatever the outcome of the CAT Scan or the MRI; at the end of the day you hope for the best; if you are diagnosed early you’re in with a good chance but at the end of the day it all depends on the surgeon, or is that the radiologist, or oncologist or simply your registrar nurse? Or your postcode even.  Phil is doing okay on the treatment so far and isn’t feeling any side effects from the radiotherapy.  Yesterday he had his first review and they confirmed that he is doing well.  So far, so good and long may it continue.

A little girl that has so much to say but that’s what happens when you don’t blog mid-week.  Phil says its for the best, but I don’t know, there is always so much to catch up on from Monday to Friday. I have to say that this week, I have felt quite redundant since he finished work.  I almost feel like I have been sacked; Phil has taken over as project manager and I feel like I am surplice to requirements.  I didn’t go to the CF at all on Tuesday but I did go with him on Wednesday.  We went to IKEA as soon as it opened to buy the 6.2 wide worktops and what a bargain they turned out to be.  Solid oak was what Phil really wanted and me too if I am honest, but the budget didn’t allow. IKEA don’t offer a cutting service like B&Q but the range is great and the price is even better.  It wasn’t a big deal to get them in the Land Rover and up to the first floor flat and we cut them to length ourselves.  It wouldn’t have been so easy if we’d had to get non-standard worktops, so I suppose me, and my back, got off lightly.   The appliance man from Fishermead Domestics came and condemned the fridge/freezer so our last job of the day was to visit Curry’s where we ordered a Zanussi washing machine and Hoover fridge/freezer.

Yesterday, Phil went to the flat early whilst I stayed at home to catch up with some jobs. I prepared a liver, bacon, kidney, carrot and onion casserole and threw this into the slow cooker and then went over to join Phil at the CF.  I helped tidy up, held the work tops whilst he cut out the hob and the sink.  Not much of a help really; but I also sorted the rubbish and hovered up and made a coffee.   Phil has done great this week and we have finally turned the corner in the flat.  Things are beginning to look better rather than worse. 

We will be back there today and tomorrow and Sunday but I am pleased to say only half days.  Besides it’s a GP weekend and we plan to take it easy. Things are finally coming together. Prestige has found a tenant for the OB flat and he moves in hopefully next week.  We should finish all the jobs in the CF by the end of next week and should be at the stage where we can move in the furniture. And when that’s all done, we are probably going to rip out our bath-shower unit.  Phil thinks we can take it all apart and clean it up and fix the bits that have fallen off but I think we will end up replacing it for a regular bath and shower.  We’ll see. But before that project, first of all, we’re going on a mini holiday.  We’ve managed to move Phil’s radiotherapy session to the morning, and next Friday, a week today, we fly to Majorca for a long weekend.  Phil found an all-inclusive deal on the net and booked it.  By then he will be almost halfway through his treatment. I wasn’t too bothered about going away because we’re paying almost as much for 3 days and nights than we would for a week but I think Phil really needs some R&R in the sun.  And of course, I can’t let him go away by himself can I?  We’ve hired a car which cost less than the cost of a transfer and Sue said she take us to the airport, so we’re sorted.  Calle Antenna next week, here we come!!

Bottoms up

Phil finished work at lunchtime on Friday so that’s the end of income for the time being.  His boss gave him a box of chocolates and promised that he would have him back when they got another contract.  Phil was on a high and it was nice to him in good spirits for a change.  We just had enough time to go to Howdens and IKEA to look at nonstandard size worktops then it was off to Northampton General for some more zapping.

Unfortunately we didn’t sleep well on Friday night.  I went up at 9.30pm and made Phil turn off the light and then he woke up at 10.30pm for a pee.  Then I woke him up at midnight when I got up to go to the loo and he couldn’t get back to sleep, so he was on his laptop until Harriet rolled in at 2.30pm.  And then pretty much, he was awake until 4am when he managed and succeeded in waking me up too.  As a result, we were at the flat before 8am.  The first job was to place all of the units in the kitchen and double check measurements before chopping into the units.  It was a good job we did this because with a bit of jiggling around, plus laying a few more tiles, we worked out that we could get away with standard worktops.  This is good news because not only does it save us a lot of hassle but it will also save us some money.

Sue called to see if we wanted some help and came around just after half nine.  There wasn’t a whole lot to do as we’ve pretty much finished the painting but together we scrubbed the bathroom and Sue touched up with the emulsion and gave Phil a hand with the units while I tidied up. Phil couldn’t resist snappy our backsides with his iPhone when he was passing the bathroom, cheeky sod!  The flat still looks a mess a moment but progress is being made and things should be well on the way to being finished by the end of the week.  Phil had to cut and lay the last few tiles but we finished at half twelve and then went to The Falcon for lunch. 

Sue came with us and we took 2 cars.  The sun was really hot so we sat outside to eat and drink which was nice.  When we first sat down a few wasps had me on the hop but they went away so I was able to relax.   Sue had pasta, Phil went for fish and chips and I had a 5oz steak which unfortunately was tough.  We didn’t hurry lunch as we had no plans to go back to work and after saying goodbye to Sue we drove to the health club for a Jacuzzi and a shower.  When we got back home, we walked round to the Lion Hearts Cruising Club Open Day.  We had a scout round the stalls, shared a hot dog and then headed to the beer tent.   The Lion Hearts have cut back on the festivities this year, there was no live music and the Open Day closed at 5pm, in other years it has not finished until much later in the evening.  Still, we had a nice hour out in the open and Saturday evening was a film and early to bed.

Once again, Phil was in the wide awake club before 4am on Sunday morning.  I did suggest that we sleep in separate rooms because I am permanently knackered from the early starts.  Phil doesn’t seem to need much sleep but this girlie is different, I need my 8 hours.  But the only spare room is the office which has the futon bed which is very hard.  Phil wanted to do stuff in the kitchen at the CF so after a quick cup of tea he drove off even though it must have only been half six in the morning.  I let him go alone and went back to bed with my book.  He came back for 9am with Sunday papers, a pack of fish fingers and a loaf of freshly baked tiger bread.  Very naughty and I can see I am going to have to monitor his shopping habits closely whilst he off work.

Phil went off to Melton Mowbray to have lunch with mum and dad, picking up G on the way which meant I had the whole day of yesterday to myself.  I did think that I might treat myself to lunch out somewhere and then go to the cinema, but in the end, I bunged a chicken in the oven and went to the gym.  I had hot chicken and salad for lunch and then spent the afternoon doing domestics, cleaning, washing, ironing and paperwork. Not very exciting I’m afraid but at least it frees me up this week to go and work in the flat with Phil.  There isn’t really much work for me to do, although Phil has tons of stuff to do.  But I can be his gofer, provide encouragement and moral support where needed and if nothing else, I can always make the coffee.   

A lazy week with no pressure

I’d be telling porkie pies if I said I had a hard week because I haven’t at all.  Monday was the only day that I worked in the flat and then I had Sue over to help me.  I knew that Will would be at the flat chopping down the garden, so I picked up Sue to ease the parking but actually it would have been okay.  Will and his 2 helpers were already at the flat when we arrived and it looked like they had been there a while.  With all their equipment it was very noisy.  There wasn’t a whole stack of painting for us to do on Monday but there was enough to keep the two of us occupied.  We moved all of the kitchen units out of the kitchen and into the lounge and then sanded down the walls where they had been filled in.  Then it was a quick hoover up before painting more of the plum colour where the tiles had been scraped off.  We will probably wallpaper the splash back areas and cover with removable plastic sheets but I wanted to see if we could get away with emulsion.  Unfortunately we can’t on the main wall but we can on the fridge/freezer wall so it was worth a shot. 

After the kitchen was done, we moved the units back into the kitchen and glossed the skirting in the lounge.  We’ve pretty much finished the gloss work in the flat now which is amazing.  The new doors in the bedroom and bathroom will need 2 coats of gloss but we haven’t even brought them yet.  At midday Will finished the garden and he took away a truckload of weeds and bramble.  As always, he did a great job and it really has made a big difference and the garden now is twice the size.  The bedroom window of the flat below was in a bit of a state and badly in need of sanding and a coat of Sandolin.  I was just about to go and knock on their door to introduce myself and ask permission if I could sort out their window, when I saw them get in the car and go out.  Too late, so I said to Sue we’ll just go ahead and do it.  When we started sanding, the paint just peeled away¸ the window was in a worse state that it looked.   Sue gave the window ledge a paint and then she got on with the woodwork above the front door while I touched up in the hallway.  I have to say the external of the CF is looking good especially as the neighbour the other side and cut her lawn.

Sue & I finished work at 2’ish and this just gave me enough time to go home and shower and change and be ready to go the hospital with Phil for his radiotherapy.  Unfortunately the unit was running late and when Phil did eventually go in for treatment he was much longer than usual.  This was because Mondays is the day for weigh ins and wee samples.  We had to queue to get out of the hospital car park but once we got out the traffic wasn’t as bad as we expected.  Sue arrived not long after we got back; I’d invited her to share roast chicken, new potatoes and salad that I was going to cook on Sunday but didn’t.  A simple supper and I had envisaged that we’d be able to eat outside in the sunshine under the shade of the umbrella, but it pissed down with rain so ate in the conservatory.  Never mind, Phil went to bed early because he was very tired and Sue & I did sit outside for most of the evening, drinking wine and discussing all kinds of stuff like you do when you’ve had more than 2 glasses.

I was going to go the gym on Tuesday morning but it didn’t happen.  Instead I got stuck into housework.  My house has been horribly neglected after the last month and it badly showed.  Actually, it wasn’t as bad as I thought so it didn’t take long.  At lunch time I picked up Jan from the OU and we went to The Ship Ashore for lunch.  Jan looked really well and is slowly regaining her strength.  We had a catch up but it wasn’t really long enough and I had to drop her back at work an hour later.  In the afternoon I caught up with the ironing and cooked a coconut curry in the slower cooker.  Then it was off to Northampton General for Phil’s ten past five appointment.  We are not keen on appointments after 5pm because of the traffic but the clinic runs until 8 o’clock so it could be worse.

On Wednesday I did get to the gym, I managed a 5k run but it was a struggle. On the way back home I went to the CF to collect my white paint tray and then popped into Kiln Farm Delivery office to pick up the PO Box post and also collect the new sat nav system which Phil ordered on eBay. After lunch I put down some dust sheets and painted my hallway.  This is a job that I’ve been meaning to do for months.  The hallway wasn’t too bad but there were some ugly wear and tear scuff marks and some marks from where we’ve shifted furniture about.  I also wanted to paint a wall in the lounge when I’d tipped over a glass of red wine and it splattered all over my white wall. Before I could paint I had to lift up the rugs and pull out the sofa.  God it was disgusting, all kinds of crap and dust and fluff which I had to clean up.  It didn’t take long to paint the wall and while I was at it, I touched up in the kitchen.  Now all of my downstairs looks a lot fresher and I am a much happier bunnie.

Got to the gym again yesterday for a workout and even had time for a swim and a steam which made a nice change.  Pool was busy but I kept hold of my lane and managed 20 lengths. On the way back, I stopped off at Superdrug in the city centre to get my eyebrows and moustache threaded.  I didn’t enjoy the experience but once I was done I felt much better.  Back home I changed all the towels and stripped my bed.  I was pleased with myself because I managed to turn my mattress which normally I can only do with Phil’s help.   My weight training must be paying off. 

Yesterday lunch I met up with Jane at the Wavendon Arms.  If you were reading this blog posting for the first time you would really think that I am a lazy girl that lunches, but I go for weeks without socialising so twice in one week is usual.  Jane looked amazing; she was sporting a great tan from a recent holiday in Gran Canaria. Jane always looks stunning but yesterday, more so than ever.  It’s been a while since we saw each other so we had loads to talk about.   We both had the same pasta dish that we had the last time we met so we didn’t have to ponder the menu which gave us more talk time.   Service was attentive but they didn’t have the house white in stock and we also had to move tables because there was a very noisy table of 12 women who were making a huge racket.  Jane had to go back to the office after lunch, but because she’s the boss, she didn’t have to rush.  Not only did Jane bring me complimentary bottles of UPV & glass cleaner but she also treated me to lunch.  I am lucky; I really do have some lovely generous friends.

I didn’t leave the Wavendon Arms car park until nearly 3 o’clock which just barely gave me time to get home and leave for Phil’s appointment at Northampton General.  After today Phil would have done a week and a half of treatment and he has a further 6 weeks to go.  Most of his appointments seem to run late, yesterday was on time and we have been lucky and managed to get a space in car park 5 every day this week.  The radiotherapy is going okay and Phil at the moment, is comfortable and not really experiencing any side effects.  Although saying that, he wasn’t feeling too good yesterday and emailed me to say that he might come home from work.  I was thinking that it might have been down to the beer and a late night but Phil says he left the pub early on Wednesday night which is a first for Phil.  Anyway he managed to stay at work and last night he was feeling much better.  Everyone tells us that the side effects from the radiotherapy can kick in any time after 2 weeks but it’s different for everyone. Today Phil finishes his contract so maybe after his zapping we might walk down to The Giffard to celebrate.  Friday is normally a no drinking day but it is the weekend after all and sometimes you’ve got to live a little.

Le Weekend

I was all set to go to the CF to wait for the kitchen to be delivered on Friday morning when I got a text which said that I was a ‘pm’ delivery.   This didn’t please me because a pm delivery could mean that I wouldn’t be able to go to the hospital with Phil but there was nothing I could do. As I was ready to leave home, I decided instead to go to the gym but when I got there I was anxious about the kitchen delivery so I just had a swim and a steam.     After the gym, it was Asda as usual then back home to clean out the cupboards.  I had just to enough to throw a Jalfrezi curry in together in the slow cooker and was just going out of the door to exchange cars with Phil when the kitchen couriers called to say they would be delivering at the flat between 12pm and 12.15pm.  I went straight there.

Sure enough, the delivery arrived at just after twelve but unfortunately it arrived on a pallet and the delivery man said he wasn’t insured to take the boxes up the stairs.  This was a bummer and I had to separate the boxes so I could get them upstairs.  I struggled with the big base units because they were really heavy and in the end the delivery driver carried them up for me. He had no choice really because the hall in the CF flat is small and the boxes meant that the front door wouldn’t close.  Nightmare but we got it all up all bar the integrated oven which I could only get to half way up the stairs. I signed the sheet for the driver, checked it after he’d left and then went home.   I should have stayed and painted but I only had 2 hours and I just wasn’t in the mood.

Phil’s zapping on Friday went well.  We arrived about 20 minutes early for his 4.30 appointment; we got a parking space and were very surprised to find the Luke unit virtually empty when we walked in.  A big change from the day before when the waiting room was choc-a-block with some very unhappy people, moaning about the delays.   Phil was lucky and got into be zapped as soon as we arrived.  Whilst he was being treated I got talking a guy who also was being treated for PC.  He was in his 4^th week of treatment and was experiencing some side effects in the toilet department.  Of course I wanted to ask him about these problems but even I can’t ask toilet questions with someone I have only just met.  I also got talking to the receptionist who can be a little on the grumpy side.  I have a feeling that by the end of Phil’s treatment I shall be friends with all of the staff and patients.

Saturday was a busy day with an early start.  We were in B&Q’s at quarter past seven buying plywood for the kitchen floor and then at the flat at 8am.  I phoned Sue when we got there because once again she’d offered to help.  She says its good occupational therapy for her and plus she likes to keep busy but I’m not so sure.  She works just as hard as me and we hardly stop for breaks.  And Saturday was no exception; Phil grouted the kitchen floor, cut the plywood to size and built up all of the kitchen base units.  Sue & glossed the hall rail, the skirting boards and finished off the doors.   We went for lunch at the Tawny Owl, we had planned on going to The Beacon in Bletchley but then Phil found a £5 off voucher at the Tawny so we went there.  Amazingly the sun came out and we were able to eat our lunch outside.

After lunch it was back to the CF for another couple of hours although it wasn’t as intensive as the morning.  Harriet came round to see how works were progressing and we packed up for the day at 4pm.  The plan was to go round and finish up at the OB flat but we both had enough so it was straight back home for a shower and some serious slobbing.  I was back to work on Sunday though and we started at the OB flat.  Phil screwed the aluminium in the kitchen doorway and I got stuck into chopping down the bushes in the front driveway.  Really this is the council’s job but once I started, I couldn’t stop and ended up filling 2 green wheelie bins. 

It was too early to start making a noise with the doors so we went round to the CF.  Phil put together the corner units and scraped the walls; I did a couple of trips to the dump and went to B&Q in Bletchley to buy some more paints.  We finished up at 11am and then went back to the OB flat to plain the doors.  This didn’t take as long as I expected and after all the doors were rehung we packed the car with tools at midday and went to the Ship Ashore for lunch.  I don’t know why we had lunch out because I had a stack of food in the fridge but never mind I guess it saved me cooking.

We had a lovely afternoon yesterday; Phil watched the Grand Prix and I sunbathed in the garden.  I read all of the Sunday papers and just chilled which made a nice change.  Actually it was a little too hot for me and I had to keep going inside.  Phil enjoyed himself too and I was glad at least he had half a day of relaxation.  Mind you, not that it’s so important now as he was told on Friday he was given notice at his contract and will be finishing work this Friday.  Phil would have liked to carry on working to get some more cash but actually I am pleased in a way that he is finished.  We don’t know how he is going to be feeling a couple of weeks into treatment and at least if he’s at home he can rest.  Right now I need to post and get going.  I have been up since before 5am and I am running behind schedule.