Harry has a thing about cars, when he calls for Kevin he pretends that he has a car and parks it up and locks the door before knocking on Kevin’s door. Apparently yesterday, Kevin was still in bed so wasn’t able to come out to play, which was hence, why he knocked on my front door. Fortunately, and I don’t want to appear mean, I was able to lose him at the health club and sneaked out after only a 20 minute workout on the cross trainer. There was no pain with my back but I know there is still a weakness which I still have to get sorted. After a quick trip to Asda, I went round to the CF expecting to find Phil but he wasn’t there. I left a message on his answerphone and after loading the car, I was driving home when Phil phoned me to say that he was at the flat and could I bring his health club bag. I got home to find Harry on my doorstep waiting to get his bike from the garage; I unpacked then went back over to the CF with Phil’s bag. He had both the doors off and was planeing them down in the bedroom and I can’t begin to tell you how much mess he was making. It was distressing me so much that I had to leave almost straight away.
On Tuesday afternoon I decided to clean out the shed and sort out my paints. I got everything out and made 2 heaps on the lawn, one to stay and one to go. It wasn’t as bad as I expected but it was a hot job in the sunshine. I just had enough time to take the stuff to go to the tip before Phil got back. I did get the tools out of the Wendy House hoping that when Phil got back from the CF he would be in the mood for sorting them out. But unfortunately he was done in and wasn’t playing ball. I would have done it for myself but they are his tools and it’s a job only he can do. Never mind, I swept out the Wendy House and put all the stuff back in.
It was a hot sunny run to the hospital and the radiotherapy unit was running late which was a bit of a shame because Phil had planned to cook hotdogs on the BBQ and also I’d invited Sue round for a sleep-over. The rain came and then went as soon as it started so Phil ended up cooking the sausages inside. I had done chicken-chilli-men for all of us but after Phil’s last spice experience on my birthday where he really suffered he didn’t want to chance it. Harriet had Phil ate the sausages in crispy French bread and it was really sociable, we had a nice evening. Sue and I ate in the kitchen, I said dinner but really it was a light supper and in spite of the rain we chatted outside for most of the evening. Phil was able to catch up with his TV programmes and Harriet got an early night.
Both Phil & Sue were up with the lark but yours truly slept in until half seven. We left Sue to lock up at quarter to ten and went to view bungalows for Phil’s mum and dad. We saw 3 in total and have arranged second viewings for Sunday when Bet & George are coming down for lunch. The bungalows that we saw are immaculate but small and I’m not sure they will be right for them but I do think they need to know what they can expect for their money in Milton Keynes.
We came home after the viewings only to find our Ian our friend, the MD of Ampthill Glass who’d come over to Neil’s next door to quote for a new front door after we gave him Ian’s number. Ian didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get back to work, which we found rather odd, given that he always talks about how busy he is, but no worries, we had nothing pressing, the sun was shining and we quite happily wiled away an hour on the patio catching up over coffee.
When Ian left, Phil had a few jobs to do. I had planned to got to Cranfield to start painting but first I need to wait for the professional cleaner to go in. There are a few maintenance issues that need to be sorted but thank god it’s nothing major. Steve had already agreed to go to Billing to check out the site and then to accompany Phil for his treatment which was good of him. It left me the afternoon to get on with some domestics. I sorted out my wardrobe and took all of my old ‘work’ gear to the charity shop in Newport. I did some more of the Shed, changed our bed, washed and ironed and was so hot and clammy that I had to take a second shower at teatime. Poor Steve and poor Phil, they didn’t get on very well at Billing; I only had a quick chance to catch up with but apparently the sales woman was crap and they both hated the site. What a shame and the time-scale that I’d allotted went to pot, which meant they arrived at the hospital early and the unit was running late. The boys had a quick pint in Stoke Goldington on the way home but what a shame, on one of the hottest days of the year, that they were stuck in the Luke Radiotherapy Unit.
Jim very kindly picked up both Phil & Steve from our house; the original plan was to go the Indian in Stony but this wasn’t good for Phil because spice doesn’t work for him with his bowel at the moment. He didn’t expect anyone to change plans for him alone but the boys did and they ended up going to The Crown in Stony. I think when Phil finally finishes treatment he needs to treat all of the ‘Wednesday’ night crew to a meal of their fancy.
Initially I was pleased to hear the pitter patter of rain on Thursday morning but I regretted this by mid-morning because it really turned into a dreadful, miserable day. Unfortunately this was the day that we allocated to clearing the attic. Our attic is boarded out and it was boiling up there but thankfully there wasn’t nearly as much junk as we thought. I seem to remember that we had a good clear out when we rented the house out. Phil climbed up and handed the boxes down and I guess we ended up with about 10 boxes to keep and a car load to take to the tip and a few boxes of mostly books for the charity shops.
We then went over to the CF to put the boxes in the loft. It’s a massive space and as it not being used and we are not doing the loft conversion, we have decided to store as much as we can to save paying out for storage when we move. We will probably still need a storage unit for the big stuff unless we rent a place, which is probably what we will end up doing. It was hot and heavy work getting the stuff up in the loft because the ladder blocks the space and the hatch space isn’t massive but we got there in the end. Phil then took himself off to Fenny Stratford to take his camera in for repair and I got on with glossing the 2 new doors that Phil had hung. I hate glossing and I especially hate painting doors. I didn’t have half the stuff I needed and my new paint brush was unyielding. Phil came back at midday to pick me up, I hadn’t finished but I’d had enough so I cleaned up and we went home.
There was just enough time for a sandwich and a shower then we back in the car and driving to Northampton for an appointment with Andy on the sales team at Billing Aquadrone. It was pissing it down with rain and after Phil & Steve’s disappointing visit to the park on Wednesday, I was very tempted to cancel. But I wanted to see for myself, if only to cross caravan living off my options of where to live. We got the full sales presentation from Andy and a tour of the whole park in his jeep. Having ascertained that we were cheap skates, he showed us a second hand caravan for £15k and a slightly newer van for £24k.
I don’t think park living is for me, certainly not at Billing. I didn’t like the site, I thought it was cramped with small pitches and was VERY kid orientated. I have lived in little houses and that’s not an issue but I like to have a nice space around me and I don’t like the face that it’s not easy to change it. Plus the site fees are really expensive. We are going to look at Overtone and revisit Cosgrove again before finally ruling out park living but it’s not looking positive.
We had to cut Andy short as we only had 10 minutes to get to the hospital for Phil’s zapping. We were about 5 minutes late but that didn’t matter the unit was running an hour late because one of the machines was out of service. The unit has been late all week and there is likely to be delays next week as well. Thank god, we only have 4 more visits, big celebrations when Phil finally finishes me thinks.
I had quite forgotten I had nothing in the fridge for tea so Phil said he would treat me to a meal at The Lamb in Stoke Goldington. Once inside, the pub isn’t the most salubrious of places but boy was the food good. I had the steak and ale pie with new potatoes and vegetables and Phil had chicken with chorizo and cheese and chips. The vegetables were fresh, the chips were homemade and my pie was probably the best steak and ale pie I have ever tasted. It’s not cheap as chips but sometime you pay for what you get and we will definitely be going back sometime in the future.
I’m running late this morning but not because I’ve been idle. Phil got up and left for his appointment at NG at 8am. After the delays yesterday, he decided to change it, which was a good decision because he was first in. I didn’t go with but instead went to drop the boxes outside the charity shop whilst it was quiet and I then went to dump the rubbish at the tip. Luckily for me, there was a nice young man who helped me unload which saved my back.
After posting this blog entry, we’re going to get some stuff down from the eaves in the garage. We’re getting ready for our house move, figuring that if we can clear all the outbuildings then the internal stuff is going to be easy. So far, so good; the attic is clear, the paint shed is done and that only leaves the Wendy House and the tools. Well, I’m guessing the eaves in the garage is going to take 2 or 3 trips from home to the CF but the garage itself is pretty empty. I am looking forward to giving it a good clean and a scrub and I’m thinking I might give it a quick paint where the stuff has scuffed the walls. We’ll see, right now and I must post and get going. Photo's to follow
No comments:
Post a Comment