Time Goes By

 Sunday. 7.35 a.m. I was awake at around 4 this morning. You know how it is, you need the loo, then go back to bed, lie awake, not a chance of sleep. Someone in Dexter House, in a flat which is close to mine, has a radio or something on, not loud, but has a voice chattering. It's enough to keep me awake. I do all my washing up, which I normally do a good deal later. Tidying up my space in the lounge, my coffee table, which gets cluttered up, so I sort rubbish, which goes in the recycling bin.  I have a wash and a shave, then sort my medication out in the kitchen. I'm fussy, having it all in the same plastic box I bought just after I had my first heart attack in 2006. I have two glass shot glasses, which have measurements on the side, which I got from Amazon. The meds get put in one of those, and the other has Feroglobin liquid.I  do, eventually, go back to bed and sleep.

Monday. 8.35 a.m. A somewhat lacklustre sort of day. What more can I say?

The digital thermometer currently reads 22ºc.

I have managed to finish the sequence I have been working on for months. Now, to develop the next stretch of writing. My creative muscles will be put to use.

4.40 p.m. I attended the U3A Shakespeare Group at Dovecote in Newport Pagnall. As I drove there, I was shocked by the amount of building work which is going on at the junction of the road I would have driven into from Bedford when we first went out before we were married. There is a roundabout on the A509, which, if you follow it on into Milton Keynes, becomes Monks Way. There are also traffic lights, which make it easier and safer to cross over into the road which leads into the centre of Newport Pagnall. So much building is going on, with vast warehouses on one side of the road and houses on the opposite side. Every time I drive around Milton Keynes, there is more building going on. When Carol and I married in 2007, we lived in Crownhill, and it must have been the last estate grid going out of Milton Keynes towards Stony Stratford.  That estate is called Whitehouse. Now, the farmland on Watling Street has been built on, and further along Watling Street there are more houses. 

Mild and Sunny Weather

Sunday. 8.15 a.m. Well, here I am again, once more writing this blog. I haven't real;y wanted to write it, but after such a long break, I did decide to continue.

I now have my bed reconstructed. It came with me when I moved from the house in Eaglestone and had come with us when we moved from the house in Crownhill. It is a rather nice IKEA king sized bed and because of it's construction, it didn't really appreciate being dismantled and then reconstructed. I think there were parts that got mislaid, and I had broken it up and put the mattress on the floor and attempted to sleep on it. I asked someone at church if there was the possibility of him being able to reassemble it, so he came to have a look one Saturday and then got some brackets which were used in the reconstruction. It is now in one piece and my sleep-pattern is getting more or less back to normal, thankfully.

Around three weeks ago, a Wednesday, at around 6 a.m., I had a sharp pain in my chest. Having had two heart attacks, I have a fairly good idea what a heart attack feels like, although in some ways if I have heart burn, it can feel very similar. I used my G.T.N. spray, but it didn't make a lot of difference and then I took a  Gaviscon, a tablet  which usually relieves heart burn fairly rapidly, but this time it didn't.

By about 9.30 the discomfort hadn't gone away, so I thought it necessary to get assistance from Vashti, the Dexter House S.H.O. She wasn't in the front office, so another tenant went to find her in a flat with another tenant, and she eventually came to talk to me. It ended with me using my mobile to dial 999 and the paramedics came within about 20 minutes.

The paramedics ran a few tests on me, one hooking me up to their portable E.C.G. machine and from the printout they could see I had an irregular heartbeat. From this they decided that I should go to Accident and Emergency at Milton Keynes Hospital, but then they decided that I should avoid A and E and go into the Maple Centre.

I was left in the reception area by the paramedics, who handed me over and I was eventually taken into a triage room and a nurse took my blood, which was somewhat difficult as I might have mentioned in earlier posts, I don't like giving blood, or needles and at one point in the past, I passed out. Anyway, she did eventually manage to take some blood and I was then taken through to wait in a corridor, which seemed to be for a long time.

I texted someone from church, just so they knee where I was. I was eventually texted back to say where I was and part-way through the afternoon I was joined by Margaret, who sat with e in that corridor.

I was eventually seen by a doctor, who had seen the various blood tests and E.C.G. readings and informed me that I had had a abnormal heart beat which would have caused the pain I had felt earlier. He informed me that I hadn't had a heart attack, which was a relief.

So, having had this piece of news I was free to go home, and Margaret, bless her, drove me there.

The following Wednesday night I woke up to use the toilet, but on the way back to bed I collapsed on the floor. I had no idea why, but it was somewhat unexpected. I told Vashti when she came to my door around 9 o'clock. The next thing I know is I'm laying on the floor, but having absolutely no idea why. I think I must have blacked out and, as a result, collapsed on the floor in the space between the bathroom and bedroom. It was the oddest sensation, and Vashti was standing over me, calling my name. She got me to sit up and said that, because I'd collapsed twice within 24 hours, it would be advisable for me to go to Accident and Emergency.

I had intended ringing 111, but I could not get through, so, instead, I rang 999 for an ambulance. It was around 30 minutes later that paramedics were knocking on my door. I was soon given a check and then an E.C.G. was connected to me. From this, it was possible to read the print-out and see that I had a somewhat irregular heart beat.

I was whisked off to A and E (although I noticed it isn't called 'A and E.' It's referred to as the 'E.D' department, which is short for 'Emergency Department.' But it could be mistaken for something else which has those initials. 

A great deal of being left waiting, which is the usual thing in any A and E department. I had bloods taken, several E.C.Gs and at one point, because I had fallen heavily when I'd blacked out, I had a C.T. scan and an X-ray, which didn't show any breaks, fractures or anything else. But they had to take a fresh blood sample because the first one wouldn't take, for some reason or other.

After a doctor had seen me, it was decided that I should be fitted with a heart monitor. This consisted of similar contacts  that are used when you're connected to an E.C.G. machine. This had contacts stuck on my chest and then to a machine, so I had to lay on a bed in the A and E department, which made moving around quite difficult, particularly if I had need of the toilet, because I had to get a nurse to disconnect me from machine. If I pulled any of the cables off accidentally, the machine made a noise. All this made life very difficult.

Quite late in the evening, it was decided that I would need to stay in over-night. At around 2-3 a.m. I was eventually taken upstairs to Ward 1,  a new ward and part of the Maple Centre. It was dark when I was eventually taken in, being pushed in a bed by a nurse. The unit had only 4 beds and t was very spacious.

A doctor came to see me on the ward during the morning. He said that my blackout was a rare occurrence, but, since  had had two heart attacks, it was likely to happen. He also said that I was on far too much medication and took me off caesarean and isosorbide mononitrate

I had breakfast and lunch and I was eventually discharged at around 3.30 that afternoon and was collected by Margaret Jobling. She managed to find a place to park at the front of the hospital. I had intended walking there, but I wasn't allowed to and had to wait for a porter to take me by wheelchair. I don't actually think I would have managed to walk as it was quite a distance, but I was glad to be out of the hospital environment and soon back in my flat.

Happy New Year!

Thursday. 9.00 a.m. I haven't written any posts for the past few days, as you will have realized if you read them regularly. There has been little to report, so there is no point in writing.  

I went into the central shopping centre yesterday, more to escape Dexter House than anything else. I bought a Rugby shirt in the Marks and Spencer sale. I do like their shirts, not just Rugbys, but also polos, of which I have quite a few. They are quite expensive, but they last through many washes, so in the end, they are worth every penny.

I have ordered a new iPad. I have been considering upgrading my current iPad, which is somewhat basic. I want to be able to do painting and drawing, using an app called Procreate. It is somewhat confusing when you start on the journey of buying these devices, as there are so many in the Apple range I went into the Apple Store in Midsummer Place and asked a staff member what was the minimum requirement for drawing and painting with Procreate, and using an Apple Pencil. I have now ordered an iPad Pro from Very, and it should be delivered within the next week, and I don't expect it to turn up this side of the New Year bank holiday. I can't wait to have it and to start experimenting with its various features. I can get the old iPad recycled and should get a price for it in much the same way I did for my old MacBook.

I washed Alfie's bed yesterday. It went into one of the machines in the laundry room. Fortunately, I took out the padding, which zips out. If I hadn't, all that padding would have come apart in the machine and might have caused problems. I was wondering if the bed would come out any cleaner, and, it did. It's so much cleaner. I'm really pleased with the result.

2.00 p.m. It's actually quite bright and sunny, but it's really deceptive, because, once I went out with Alfie, I found it was windy and chilly.

Friday. 7.40 a.m. It's cold, dark and somewhat dreary windy out, but I took out Alfie a bit earlier than usual, the main reason being that I need to load up the washing machine and I like to have it done around 7.50. 

Saturday. 3.10 a.m. Here I am again, wide awake and writing this blog post. I have been looking through emails and found one from Royal Mail, telling me the iPad I ordered is on its way. Lovely. The only trouble is, there have been strikes by the Communications Union and my parcel is probably stuck in a sorting office somewhere or other. Okay, these people have a right to strike, but I'm concerned that my parcel is in danger of being damaged. I'm hoping it's likely to be delivered to me today and not held up too long.

12.40 p.m. I had a further email from Royal Mail, informing me that the parcel from Very, containing the iPad, would be delivered sometime today. There was no indication of what sort of time to expect it, not even a window of, say, an hour or two, so I can't go out, as the parcel has to be signed for.

New Year's Day. Sunday. 12.15 p.m.  So, another year begins. 

There have been fireworks being let off yesterday evening, starting around two hours before midnight. It was more like bombs going off, quite loud and disruptive. I imagined it was in and around the open space of Oldbrook Green. I couldn't understand the sense because it wasn't like an organized firework display, just a couple of quite spectacular displays of rockets going up over Milton Keynes, which I could see from my kitchen windows. Then it went on for a further hour and a half after midnight. 

I went out with Alfie as usual around 7.30 a.m. and we walked around Oldbrook Green I was shocked by the debris left by those setting on fireworks, as mentioned above. No attempt to clear up after themselves and boxes of rubbish were left by a couple of the bins around the green. I would have been only decent of those responsible to clear up after the fireworks were let off. It does say, on the signboard on Oldbrook Green, that you aren't supposed to let off fireworks in and around the area, although who will prevent you, such as the police. Those responsible for the fireworks would have been better off giving the money they had spent to charity.

I have now set up the new iPad. I had a few issues getting the Apple Pencil to connect to the iPad, but with just a bit of effort, it connected and I have tried it out, quite successfully and will have to spend time experimenting with Procreate. I bought a manual for its use on Amazon, and I can use that to take me through the various functions. I will post how I get on with it on here, so look out for more on how I get on.

Quite a traumatic time at church this morning. There had been problems in the servery area of the cafe, as there had been flooding from the water boiler, which had been the case on Christmas Day, so it wasn't clear whether there would be tea or coffee to serve after the service, although it got resolved. Then, the lady who was due to lead and do preach wasn't able to get to church as her car broke down and had to wait for Green flag, the rescue service, to arrive. She had to sit in her car in a lay-by near Crownhill, and wait for Green Flag, so someone stepped in at short notice, but you wouldn't have known it.

Vaccine Vacillations

 So, we now have a vaccine against the coronavirus. Will it make any difference to lockdowns, restrictions on everyday living, social distancing etc etc? It seems very unlikely in my opinion. It's all very well having a vaccine against this wretched virus, but getting people to have it is another matter. In a democracy, you can't make people have such a vaccine. It really against you human rights and liberty. There will be those who will believe conspiracy theories regarding it's use, for example, the government is putting microchips into people's bodies to track their movements (false, but never the less, this theory would be spread via social media etc.)

(Monday) It's a good deal milder this morning. As I write this at 8.50a.m., it appears sunny, or at least it seems so as I haven't yet opened the curtains. Alfie is sitting on the sofa next to me and waiting in anticipation of me taking him out for a jaunt around Oldbrook Green. I usually wait until past 9 o'clock because otherwise we will be inundated with children going to school and have to wait for the traffic to go by crossing the road onto Oldbrook Green.

I've been for a drive out in the car. As it's been sitting on the parking space at Dexter House and not being driven anywhere in particular, I thought it advisable to give it a run out to keep the battery charged and avoid having to get it started as I had to a few months back. No problems. It starts fine. It should do, as it's recently been serviced. I just need to keep it in good running order.

I drove past Crownhill,  which is where we lived after we were married in 2007. I can't believe the changes. The road layout is different because there is  now a housing estate opposite Crownhill,. which used to be open agricultural land when we lived there. The wooded area which borders it was where we used to walk the dogs, which now has an entrance driven through it into the estate, with a roundabout. Just unrecognisable.

(Thursday) I went to Sainsbury's in Witan Gate after 8 o'clock yesterday morning as pension money went into my account earlier. I had things to get for Christmas. As I will be staying here over the festive period, I wanted to make sure I could get stuff which was likely to be in short supply, such as mince pies, Christmas pudding, brandy butter and turkey, although I didn't intend buying a whole turkey. Just be far too big, would never fit in my oven, so I had a look on the Sainsbury's website and saw you could buy a turkey roast, boneless (presumably) and made of turkey meat and stuffing. So, ideal for my purposes. There was one on the shelf when I went to look in the store and snapped it up immediately as if it was the last one, what was the chance of there being more the next time I visited? Probably too big for one, but I can make the most of it when it's cold, in sandwiches etc, after Christmas.

I drove into the centre of Milton Keynes to meet up with a lady I met on a Christian website. We have met up several times before. I wanted to go to Costa for coffee to try out their limited edition drinks based on Nestlé chocolate products and had an After Eight hot chocolate which came with a very generous dollop of cream on top and a single After Eight mint and at the very bottom of the drinking glass was some gooey and thick chocolate sauce which you can only eat with a long spoon. I can recommend this and want to try the rest of the range, which I think is only available over the Christmas period.

When I got home I found that a card from the Post Office had put through the door, informing me that a parcel was at the sorting office, because the postman had attempted to deliver it. Having walked so far over the past couple of hours, I wasn't ready to drive to collect it from the sorting office in Brinklow (I knew exactly where it was as I've had to collect parcels from there before now.) According to my FitBit I had walked approximately six miles! I can well believe it. 

My anticipation for whatever the parcel contained knew no bounds. So, on Friday morning I drove to the sorting office in Brinklow. There was a queue outside as only one person at a time was allowed into the waiting area. I eventually reached the window and handed over the card which had been put through the door. I had to provide identity so I showed my Driving Licence. And, lo and behold! The lady behind the counter handed over a parcel and it was clear that it was from Chloe and Steve. In her usual style, Chloe had written humorous messages all over the box and it reminded me to 'not open until 25th December. Alfie had a good sniff when I put it on the floor in the lounge, so I imagine it contains (amongst other items.) some sort of food item, possibly some doggy treats for his nibs.

Moving On

Carol's funeral was yesterday (Friday 11th January). It was at the Crownhill Crematorium. I had been concerned about how it would go for the past month. Infact, from the day that Carol passed away. I wasn't sure at one stage how things such as the music would go, who was going to do the eulogy, what hymns to choose, even what catering would have been required at the wake, down to how many people were likely to attend. I had to make all the decisions myself. As it turned out, they were the right ones, thankfully.

As I've mentioned in an earlier post, I went to stay with my daughter Chloe and Steve, her husband, who live in Worcester. I took Alfie with me. But unfortunately, when I was packing up to come home, I forgot one or two items. I have to admit the funeral had been on my mind for the entire time I was there. Alfie's bed, my slippers as well as my shaving kit. I was thinking about the journey home and was eager to get going. Fortunately Chloe bought all these items with her when she and Steve came to the funeral on Friday. Alfie usually sleeps with me on my bed, but sometimes he goes downstairs and sleeps on the sofa. I think it's because Carol spent a lot of time laying on the sofa, usually in great pain. I think that Alfie expects her to come in the house and he spent time with her on the sofa. But now he has his bed back, in the corner near the patio doors in the kitchen, he goes and sleeps there at night. It's really difficult to know what's going on in his little doggy head. He must miss Carol. Why would he not? How do you explain to a dog where their mistress has gone and why they're not coming back? It's difficult enough for me to comprehend, but a dog?

I don't intend just sitting at home dwelling on things. I know that Carol wouldn't expect me to. I went to the men's breakfast at the Oaktree Centre this morning, from 8a.m. We had a beautifully cooked breakfast, sausage, bacon, egg, baked beans, black pudding, the works, or 'Full English' as they call it. Alfie was expecting his usual early morning walk, but, because it was too dark and I had to get to Shenley, he didn't go. I promised him I'd take him when I got home.

Unfortunately there was a problem when I got home. I went to Morrison's on my way home from the men's breakfast. I unloaded the shopping and went to put the key in the front door to open it. But for some reason the key wouldn't open the door. It just would not turn. It's one of those doors which has to be opened by twisting the handle up. I think it's called a 'double lock' or something. It was as if someone had changed the locks when I'd been out, although I knew it wasn't that. I panicked a bit and then had to go next door to get Garry to open the door for me. He came and said it might be something to do with the screws in the lock. I hope that's all it is, because I don't need to not be able to get into the house when I go out.

I managed to sort out the problem with the front door. I used some WD40 on the lock and the various moving parts of the door and it now seems fine. It would appear that that was all it needed. Amazing what a short spray of that product can do, thank goodness! It was worrying me that I would have further problems when I left the house, but I managed to go to church this morning, as I usually do, but I didn't take Alfie out for his usual morning walk through Eaglestone Park, because I wasn't convinced that the front door would behave itself. But, when I came home from church, I put Alfie on his lead and we walked across the park until we came upon two ladies walking there dogs. Alfie was his usual self and went up to the dogs, but they didn't want to be friends. One of the ladies told me that there was a man walking several dogs, not on leads, through the park, and I was somewhat concerned. I didn't ant Alfie to encounter these dogs, just incase he got bitten or at least hurt in some way, so we cut across the park and got to the Redway which runs along the side of Marlborough Street and then came back home along the Redway behind the house and the route I used to use when I walked to the hospital. So, Alfie got his walk, as promised, and I clocked up quite a few steps and got some good exercise.

Bringing Things Up To Date

I haven't posted on here for well over a week. The way things have been going I really had no desire to write anything. Carol's passing has hit me hard. We had such a wonderful life together. The funeral is arranged for 11th January at Crownhill Crematorium at 2 p.m.  Postcode : MK8 OAH. The finer details are beginning to be put in place, such as what hymns and songs will be sung and the numbers for catering for the wake, which will be at the Oaktree Centre, the address of which is: Wallinger Drive, Shenley Brook End, MILTON KEYNES, MK5 7GZ.

I was invited to stay with my daughter Chloe and her husband, Steve, in Worcester over the Christmas period, from the Saturday before Christmas until the Wednesday after the New Year holiday. It would mean I wouldn't be on my own in the house in Milton Keynes, and I could take Alfie, my Yorkshire Terrier, with me. I had, at first, asked if I could be collected from home to be taken back to Worcester, but it proved impossible. Then Chloe suggested possibly going by railway, but it would have meant at least a two-hour journey and a change in Birmingham. It would have been difficult taking Alfie, probably on a lead or at least a carrying case of some sort along with luggage. Not going to happen. Then I thought, I've got a perfectly good car, which has only recently been serviced, in good working order. I can drive to Worcester, fill up with fuel in Milton Keynes and go across country. It'll be a lovely journey. I didn't envision using the Motorway as I'm not a good driver on a Motorway. So I left mid-morning on the Saturday and it was fine driving from Milton Keynes, through Buckingham and then out towards Banbury. I didn't need to set the satnav for that section of the journey. I had intended then finding the road for Evesham and then onto Worcester, but I got into Banbury at exactly the wrong time. Nose-to-tail traffic, of people doing their last-minute Christmas shopping. I could not find my way out. I eventually had to set the satnav for Chloe and Steve's postcode and just followed the directions. It took me via the M40 and eventually the M5. It was fairly straightforward and the traffic wasn't too heavy and I just stayed in the slower lane most of the way. When I got to Worcester I had to reset the satnav for the final stretch to Chloe's address and arrived at their front door at around 3.30.

When I'd unloaded Alfie from the cage in the boot (incidentally, he'd been absolutely quite for the entire journey. Probably because I'd put the parcel shelf in which would have meant it would have been quite dark in the back of the car and he'd be safe in the cage.) I took him into the house. I don't think he was expecting two young children to be running about, George, age 3 and Eddie, just turned 1 (not quite walking but getting there.) so whenever George ran around, Alfie began to bark. It took him a while to settle down and by the weekend he had got used to having them about.

So, we had a lovely Christmas Day with Steve's parents and his sister, Katy, as well as other family members, which included Steve's grandfather who is in his mid 90's I spent a lot of time chatting to him. They Skyped other members of the Wilson family who could not be in Britain, spread far and wide, a couple in Australia. I've never used Skype before, so it was a new experience. The picture and sound quality is amazing when you think how far away some of the family members are. I'll have to give it a go sometime. In the evening we sat around a table and played games, one being Linkee which is similar in some ways to the BBC1 show 'Only Connect.' Another one was to identify objects from a very close-up photo.

We walked to a park, or, at least, a large green space. It seemed to be a popular place to walk dogs and Alfie made friends with one or two, but one large dog kept following us. It wasn't on a lead, which was annoying, and I don't think Alfie liked being followed. It took some while to get any mud off his paws when we got back to the house.

On Saturday we went to what is called Worcester Woods where there was a run. I don't know how many participated, but probably several hundred. Alfie came in the car, but he sat on my lap but he wouldn't sit still. Then, when we got out of the car, he didn't appreciate the crowds and I didn't appreciate all the mud. None of this made life easy for me, but never mind. He had a lovely run around a large field. Not really my sort of thing, but never mind.

I didn't leave Worcester until Wednesday morning. I thought it probably best not to travel back to Milton Keynes over the holiday period as there was likely to be heavy traffic on the Motorways. I left at around 8.45 and got to Milton Keynes at around 10.45. I had managed to reset the satnav the night before, but I couldn't get it to work once I left Worcester, so I just decided to get on the M5 and make for the M42, then the M40 and got off onto the road I know reasonably well and went through Buckingham and back towards Milton Keynes that way. I really need to spend a bit more time looking at the satnav in the car before I go on another long journey and set it up properly.

Wednesday and Thursday Mornings

Wednesday, early. I've put the rubbish out for the binmen. Several black bin bags and one pink recycling bag. The sound of a bin lorry came before 8 o'clock but they didn't pick up the rubbish. I've been out with Alfie round the park and back. It's bright and sunny so let's hope it stays that way all day. Carol's mum and dad are coming up to visit today, but not sure what time they're arriving. Yesterday I managed to cut down some of the grass with the rechargeable grass cutter. It was beginning to get really long. Also, cut down some of the colts foot growing in the grass at the front of the house.

They turned up around 9.30. Carol said she'd had a text to say they were about 15-20 minutes away. I'm not sure which way they came up from Bournemouth. I think via the M25 and then M1. If we go down to Bournemouth, as we have done in the past, we go via the A34, crossing to Buckingham and then down that way.

We had to decide what we were going to do all day. Until 4 o'clock when Carols parents were due to be picked up again for the return journey to Bournemouth. Not too far to drive and somewhere to have coffee and possibly something to eat. Carol suggested going to the Bell Plantation garden centre in Towcester, which we've been to on several occasions. There's a good restaurant there and plenty to do and look at and would keep us busy for an hour or two and the drive up the A5 Watling Street a pleasant journey through some attractive scenery. So Carol decided to drive as she hasn't done so for a while. So, after Carol had got in the car and altered the driver's seat, because when I drive I have to have the seat moved back quite some way before I can drive comfortably, we drove out of Milton Keynes via Standing Way and then onto the A5 near the football stadium.

As we drove towards the large roundabout on the A5 near Stony Stratford, where the road went off in various directions, one into the centre of Stony Stratford and another onto the A5 towards Towcester, we saw signs reading that there were roadworks in the centre of Towcester. It then seemed likely that had we continued up the A5 we weren't going to get to Bell Plantation so we had to decided where to go. It was decided to return to the centre of Milton Keynes or to go to either Frost's garden centre at Woburn Sands or Dobbie's on the A5 near Fenny Stratford. Carol didn't want to go into the centre of Milton Keynes, so we decided on Dobbie's. It's off the A5 on the roundabout just below Fenny Stratford. We had a browse in some of the concessions within the store, mostly in Cotton Traders. Carol's mum tried on some sandals in their sale and bought a pair. We did look through some of the sale items but didn't see anything that caught our fancy. We then went into the café and had lattes and had intended buying scones in the farm shop, but those we came across, really large, around the size each of several ordinary scones from anywhere else, but when we learnt how much they were, around 80p we declined and then drove towards Milton Keynes, with the intention of going to Morrison's. We found that a road was closed off along Watling Street, near Crownhill and Loughton  and had to take a quick decision where to go and ended up driving around near Denbigh School and eventually went to Westcroft to park and shop in Morrison's, buying some scones there along with clotted cream.
Alfie has taken to Carol's dad. He ingratiates himself with most of our visitors. He sat with him on the sofa while we had scones, jam and clotted cream. We watched Countdown on television. When Carol's dad fell asleep (I don't know whether he was really asleep, or whether he was pretending, but making a fair impression of sleep.) Alfie behaved really humorously, attempting to wake him up, prodding him with his paw. He really is a smart little dog. I think he missed him when they eventually left to go home.

Thursday morning. As I write this at 7.15 on Thursday morning, the weather has changed quite considerably. It's raining quite hard. So, it means I can't take Alfie out for his early-morning walk round the park, otherwise we're going to get soaked. We'll just have to wait until it stops. I don't think he's going to like being disappointed.

We have heard nothing as I write this as regards the Housing Benefit claim. I had intended going in to the Council offices on my own, to give them a copy of the newly-signed tenancy agreement. Carol decided to come with me. She was happy to drive and we parked in the multi-storey carpark near Debenhams. It is undergoing maintenance. Probably because it is under new management, like the entire shopping centre, Midsummer Place.

We walked through the shopping centre towards the Council offices and signed in at reception and took the numbered ticket and sat and waited until our number came up. Carol saw two of her former pupils from the Academy who had just got their 'A' Level results. Very good and now ready to go off to university, one to Coventry and the other to Northampton. We didn't wait too long to be seen by a staff member. I have to remember that the desk you go to isn't the red digital number, which is the number you get given on the ticket when you first arrive at reception, but the one above the digital display above each desk. It appears our application for Housing Benefit is currently being dealt with and the delay is because of a backlog of applications. We should get some of this back dated and hopefully by the end of the month when our rent is due. We gave them a copy of the newly-signed rental agreement which the lady on the desk photocopied.

Having done with the Council offices we walked back into the shopping centre. Carol said she needed a coffee. She hadn't drunk her tea she had at breakfast. At first I suggested Marks and Spencer's, which is the first shop you encounter as you walk in through the entrance. There is also a Costa, but she didn't fancy that either. We went through to Midsummer Place and went to Pret A Manger. She needed the loo so I stood at the till and ordered, two lattes, mine with caramel, hers without and two chocolate croissants. They were made very swiftly and I went to a vacant to wait for Carol to reappear. We sat ate the croissants and drank the lattes. Very good. I will say Pret is very good. This particular branch is well stocked and pleasant. There is another branch further along in the main shopping centre near Middleton Hall. You don't have to queue as long as you have to at, say, Costa's, which only has one till. I think most of their branches are like that and the queues can be considerable. It makes sense to have several as Pret have. From Pret we walked back towards the carpark near Debenham's and drove towards Lidl where we bought some food for tonight's meal. When I got home I went out again to top up the gas and electric at One Stop at Garraway's. No good running out of electricity, because it might mean the freezer defrosting which could be a disaster. I then took Alfie out for his walk, because by then (around 1.15) the rain had stopped. Alfie came across a Great Dane being walked. He did his usual running around in circles thing and attempting to be friendly, but the dog wasn't interested. Alfie was small by comparison to this dog, which was around five times his size. I don't think it knew what had hit it, and looked somewhat dazed. It might be large, but somewhat thick in comparison to Alfie. Small in stature by large in his mind. Alfie seems fearless somehow, regardless of his small size.

Reading and Watching-1

As I've mentioned in an earlier blog post, I have an interest in history. Our lounge is full of books, infact, one of the two IKEA bookshelves, which we bought from the house in Crownhill when we had to move (see earlier blog post for more information on this.) is crammed full of books and magazines, one of which is in serious need of attention as it's not fixed to the wall, and leans at a slight angle. Many of these books and magazines are on history. I'm always looking for more history books to read and such shops as The Works are always good places to find a bargain, the last one being on The Norman Conquest' and another on 'The Battle of Waterloo'. We have now managed to order a new bookshelf unit on the IKEA website. Paid for and it will be delivered next Thursday. We decided to have it delivered as it would unlikely not fit in the car, so to have it delivered means someone else will have to lift it into the house. As we have a similar unit in our bedroom it shouldn't be too difficult to assemble and it's possible to buy baskets, drawers and boxes which can be slotted into the unit to make it even more flexible.

I've been reading 'Never Had It So Good,' by Dominic Sandbrook. It's 'A History of Britain From Suez to The Beatles.' Which is about all you need to know about the subject matter. I read a later volume of his set of history books called 'Seasons In The Sun,' which takes his series up until 1979. At the time I read it, I was unaware that it was the latest in a series of books (of which 'Never Had It So Good' is the first.) So I decided I wanted to read the series from the beginning and managed to buy all the books on Amazon. As I lived through the period covered, I thought it would we worth a read, although I wasn't old enough at the time the first book covers to be aware of the incidents recorded, such things as the Suez Crisis or the Profumo Affair or the 'Night of The Long Knives.' As with any account of history, it's interesting to see how we got to where we are today, what with Harold Macmillan's attempts at negotiating a possible membership of the Common Market or 'European Economic Community,' as it was called in the late 1950's and early 1960's (now the E.U.) and how the President of France, Charles De Gaulle kept blocking our entry. Interesting when you compare it with the Brexit negotiations following the Referendum vote to leave over the last few months.The rest of the Sandbrook series are 'White Heat,' and 'State of Emergency,' which I will read in the fullness of time. Each book is very thick; the first book is some 800-900 pages long.

I'm a real fan of Alan Bennett. I enjoyed the plays he wrote for the BBC in the 1960s and 1970s, in particular the very first one called 'A Day Out,' which was made in black and white and about a group of men who go on a bicycle ride in Yorkshire and set just before the First World War. Not a great deal happens, but his attention to detail, particularly his depiction of the individual characters is very detailed. It's directed by Stephen Frears who went on to make some large-scale cinema films such as 'Dangerous Liaisons' and 'The Queen.' Alan Bennett is interested in the small things in peoples' lives, the every-day, the mundane. He has also written for the stage, most notably for the National Theatre, with plays such as 'The Madness of King George III,' and 'The History Boys.' I have read most of his diaries which get published on a  regular basis, and was given the latest collection, covering the millennium, and called 'Getting On, Getting On,' and given to me as a Christmas present by Carol last year. I am about to read it.

I've watched the first episode of the new Sky drama series, "Britannia," which is on Sky Atlantic. It's set in a Celtic Britain at the time that the Roman invasion is about to take place. It's somewhat preposterous, so if you watch it don't expect an accurate history lesson. I had serious doubts about this when I first heard it was being planned, but it turned out to be a good deal better than I expected. It has David Morrissey as the Roman general (I assume he's a general) who leads his troops across the Channel and then pillages and burns the Celtic villages and murders a few in the process. It also stars Zoe Wanamaker as a sort of tribal leader. Another actor who is in it is Iain McDiarmid, who I have a connection with as he was in the company when I was working as an A.S.M. at Liverpool Playhouse in the early 1970s. I did the book for a production of Alan Ayckbourn's play 'Relatively Speaking,' which also had Thelma Barlow in the cast, who went on to play Mavis Wilton in 'Coronation Street.' It's good to see Sky producing stuff which at least has some sort of British connection, however accurate it is. I notice that all the episodes are available to view on catch-up, obviously in an attempt to follow the same principle as such on-line television services as Netflix and Amazon, where all the episodes of their shows, such as The Crown are available to view instantly. Apart from some strong language (which, frankly, adds absolutely nothing to the thing in my opinion.) it's a good rollocking yarn and will no doubt attract a young, male audience, who no doubt enjoy such shows as 'Game of Thrones,' and a good many video games. I shall watch the rest of the series with interest.

I'm glad all the episodes of 'Britannia' are available as a box-set, because you can watch all the episodes one after the other if you so wish. I've watched the second episode. I'm really hooked on this show and can't wait to see the next episode. It's got a real 'have to watch the next episode' something about it, rather like a good novel where you can't put it down. Generally I need to get through about 15-20 minutes of a new drama series to know whether I'm going to continue watching and this certainly has that 'something.' Unlike a lot of similar shows, the dialogue is convincing. They seem to have avoided the somewhat stilted dialogue that you tend to get in a lot of dramas set in a 'certain period,' and the whole thing is rather tongue-in-cheek, it doesn't take itself too seriously. It has a sense of humour as well. And they haven't made it pretentious in any way, unlike a lot of costume dramas that are precious and rather unrealistic, not that you can make a show set in 43 A.D. as nobody knows what they spoke like. It's not exactly historically accurate, but who cares? Definitely entertaining and that, in all honesty, is what one needs at the moment. The fights are convincing, too, and you get the feeling that the Romans have more than a hand-full of soldiers in their invading army, they've spent quite a lot on extras to fill out the scenery. 

Alfie's Little Ways

Alfie, our little Yorkshire Terrier,  is flat out asleep on the sofa as I write this. He's become a bit of an attention-seeker at the moment. I think he's concerned about Carol being ill. He doesn't seem to understand why she's at home all the time as she's off work, sick. Its strange how he knows there's something not quite right.  He becomes very attached to us both, particularly me. Apparently, when I went off to church this morning, he sat and waited for me until I got home. He barks at me when I come in, as if he's telling me off for going out of the house and leaving him. If Carol is in pain and in another room in the house, for example, the bedroom, he often comes to find me and barks as if telling me to do something about it. I have no choice to go and find out what I can do, to get pain-relief medication or whatever. He also goes outside into the garden and barks for no apparent reason, possibly if there is a noise beyond the garden, someone going past on the Redway or in the road outside. 

Alfie, modelling the blanket that Carol made for him

There are some things that Alfie doesn't particularly like, particularly when he's on the sofa. He seems to dislike cushions, and if they're in the way, he will push them off with his nose. He has a couple of blankets which he likes to arrange into a bed. Carol has croched him one of his own (see the above photograph.) and if it's folded across the back of the sofa, he will attempt to pull if off by clawing at it until it falls off.

I usually check emails just before I go to bed, or watch something on television. He has his dinner at virtually the same time every evening. If Carol has gone upstairs, he will stay with me in the lounge. If I'm on the laptop, I end what I'm doing and he knows that I'm about to go upstairs and immediately barks. Sharp little dog, has worked out that as soon as I shut down the laptop I'll go upstairs. So he barks to remind me, or so I assume.

He'll ask to be let out into the garden and usually goes outside, but there are other times when he gets you to open the sliding patio door and then just pokes his head outside, as if to see whether it's raining, but doesn't go out. Other times, and this seems to be a terrier trait, he will just sit in the opened space in the door and just stare out at the garden. Our dog, Poppy, who died last February, did the same. Another typical terrier trait is sitting on the back of the sofa. My parent's little Jack Russel terrier used to sit in a similar manner on the armchairs or even the back of the seats in the cars we had when I was growing up. Also, Alfie likes to lay on the floor, flat on his stomach, with his back legs stretched out. Seems that this is also a terrier trait.

Alfie is quite good at asking whenever he wants something. He gives you eye-contact . He loves the Comic Relief ball (which I've mentioned in earlier blog posts.) If he wants to play with it, he will usually sit directly in front of you, usually whenever we're watching television, and stare at the ball where it's placed up on the bookshelf. Then, if I pick it up and throw it on the floor, (it has to be hard enough to set the thing 'laughing.') he goes into his backing routine, throwing back his head and yowling (not sure that's the right word.) and also barking until the thing stops it sound. The thing has been running down for the past year or two, so Carol had to do an operation on an older one and transferred to the newer one. I just wish they'd bring out a new version as these things are difficult to replace.

Generally, Alfie is quiet and makes very little noise, apart from the occasional bark. We don't have a door-bell, but what makes us laugh is when we're watching television and during the action a doorbell rings and he barks. How does he associate that with our front door, someone being there or that it requires him to bark for whatever reason? I have described on many occasions on here how, if he realises that we're going out, for a walk, or he's going to go with us in the car, he becomes a completely different little dog, going into what we call 'Tasmanian Devil-Mode,' growling, barking and even getting hold of his lead  with his teeth and not letting go and also becoming quite aggressive and even attempting to bite if you get your hand in his way or scratching with his claws, which can be quite painful.

Alfie is very playful. He has this little game he has with things like dog biscuit or any treats he is given. Usually if you give him a treat, one of those chunky treats for example, he will eat it immediately, but he also does this thing where he will sit and watch whatever it is, then barks, then gets up and does a sort of spin around, pokes it with his nose and spins around again. When Poppy was alive, he used to shoot off upstairs when he was given a treat because Poppy would often pinch them off him. He is somewhat schizophrenic as I've described in his 'Tasmanian Devil mode. Considering that, when we lived at the house in Crownhill and the house was invaded by rats (read the earlier blog post for full details of all this.) Alfie caught and eventually managed to kill a huge rat, it just goes to show how a little dog of his size could manage to kill something so large. It goes to show how plucky a Yorkie can be when confronted by such a thing as a rat.

Alfie has become very concerned if he's done something wrong, for example, that he's done a wee on the floor. These little accidents do happen, particularly if he can't get outside if it's raining or we don't get to open the door for him on time. He knows perfectly well when he's done something wrong. You can generally tell when he's upset because his ears are laid back against his head. They're a good sign of how he's feeling. If you say 'bad' he knows he's done something wrong, but of late he puts on this act of being pathetic, as if he thinks he's done something wrong, when it's clear to us that he hasn't. He's a very sensitive little dog, one of the charms of Alfie. He picks up any emotions we have, particularly at present with Carol ill and at home.

Alfie can be very picky about what he eats. It's no use changing what he's given to eat as he's not likely to eat it. He's usually fed at around 7-7.30 each evening. He gets mixer and canned dog food, usually meat in jelly or gravy. If we're eating he will often come and sit in front of us and try and get something from us, scraps of food, but we don't encourage this too much. But if he's offered anything he can sometimes sniff at it or lick it and then not eat it. I know dogs should never eat of our plates, but he does finish off whatever we leave on our plates. He is somewhat addicted to tea, and if we're having a cup of tea he gets to finish the dregs at the bottom of our cups or mugs. Poppy used to be very tea-orientated and I think the habit of letting her have the dregs passed on to Alfie when we first got him as a puppy.

Outing and a 'Little Bump' with The Car

Carol was determined to get out of the house. I couldn't blame her, as she hasn't been out for quite some time, except to go for hospital appointments, such as to the Oncology Suite and doctor's visits. We had to go somewhere which wouldn't compromise Carol's health as she can't get infected because of being on chemotherapy, so it wasn't a good idea to go somewhere which would mean she was likely to catch something nasty from someone or other. We headed off down the A5 and could have gone to Dobbie's at Bletchley, but when we got to the roundabout we decided to go the opposite way and headed for Woburn Sands and either Frost's or Wyevale garden centres. Carol has been looking for a diary so she can keep a track of her appointments, one with a page for each day. I had been into the city centre this morning and didn't find a decent diary for her in any of the shops but got a calendar in The Works. Generally a good place to browse in for not just books but also calendars and a wide range of odds and ends. We went into Wyevale first and had a good browse amongst the different stores within the garden centre and went into The Works (for me, again, although a different branch to this morning) and we found the ideal diary for Carol. She then had a desire to have cake (as you do) so we had a look round but found nothing, not so much as a crumb, unfortunately. So we left and went to Frost's only a few hundred yards back towards the centre of Woburn Sands. Not much room to park the car, but we did manage to eventually find a place and then went into the food hall. We wanted custard, and we found some in the food-hall, but we then discovered that it cost over £3. I hadn't noticed, but Carol pointed the cost out to me before we got to the till. I decided to put it back on the shelf. We could easily find ready-made or at least custard powder and make our own if we visited another shop. We couldn't find cake of any description, going into the restaurant in the main building of the garden centre. At more than £3  slice, we decided it was somewhat over-priced. Probably very nice, but you could find a whole Victoria sponge for less than that elsewhere. At which point we decided to leave.

We got back to the car, got in and I began to reverse out. A difficult enough manoeuvre at the best of times. You have to be sharp as there are always people walking past as well as other cars reversing and turning. I moved extremely slowly and, unfortunately, seemed to hit the car behind. The driver shouted that I'd hit his car. He wasn't going to let me go without making a scene. I got out of the car and spoke to him. I apologised and he asked me if I wanted to pay 'in cash' or claim 'on your insurance.' No possibility that he'd made an error with his driving? He had his iPhone out and was taking pictures with it of the damage to the rear of his car. Hardly a scratch. Also, taking shots of the rear of our car. Thinking about it now, I think he may just have been taking photos of the registration number. Only a slight scratch, if even that. I gave him my phone number and my name. There was something a bit odd about all this. How come he had his mobile out so quickly and taking shots only mere seconds after the 'crash'? You could hardly call it that. I was moving extremely slowly. I didn't hear any sound when the car ran into the other car. Neither did Carol. The other thing was, his wife was quickly on the scene with a note pad and pencil, taking down my name and phone number. Handy if she had a notebook and pencil so readily to hand.  I would contact our insurance company, Swinton, and they would deal with the claim, if indeed there was a claim. The other man said that he'd ring round to get a quote to have his car repaired. It was hardly worth bothering, to be honest. If I had been driving at speed, it would have made a far bigger dent in his car. What I saw on his car was hardly a dent, more like a tiny scratch, if that. Why couldn't he just accept that it was a minor accident and drive away without making any fuss? I reckon he'll get a quote and then hike up the amount and pocket the difference. There are people 'out there' who are quite determined to make money out of insurance claims, even staging car accidents deliberately just so they can claim on either their insurance or the other driver's. I reckon that driver could easily 'ring round' for a quote and then hike it and get me to 'pay in cash,' regardless of the actual quote he would be given. All these things adding up to be rather suspicious. It makes me wonder how many innocent drivers he's tried this sort of scam on.

On the way home we stopped at the Co-op in Broughton. This is a newly-opened estate which is growing fast. It's really incredible how much Milton Keynes has grown in the little over ten years that I've lived here. Out at Crownhill, where we lived when we were first married in 2007, the open fields going out along Watling Street towards Stony Stratford are now developed into more housing estates. The road into Milton Keynes from Junction 13 of the M1 has been extensively developed as a duel carriage way and a whole expanse of warehouses has grown up, mostly belonging to Waitrose and John Lewis. Anyway, we managed to find some suitable cake in the Co-op for Carol and also, when we got to the till to pay, the young man operating the checkout was a former pupil of Carol's which was nice for her. She was pleased to see him settled into a job and making a life for himself.

We'd been home a couple of hours when the telephone rang and the driver of the car spoke to me, asking for my insurance policy number. Well, I wasn't likely to have it immediately to hand, now was I? I hadn't bothered to look for it and had really no intention of doing so. I gave him my full name and told him that Swinton would deal with the matter. It was then that Carol was a bit suspicious. Was this man trying to make a claim which was really not much of a claim? It was odd that he had his mobile out so quickly and was taking photos of the 'damage', if you could call it that, to his precious car. I began to wonder if he wasn't trying to make a false claim on my insurance. Carol said to ring Swinton on Monday morning and tell them that this so-called claim seemed a bit suspicious, particularly as the damage, if you could even call it that, was so minimal, not even that, barely a scratch. We'll have to see what they had to say and let them decide. I have driven for very nearly 50 years and in all that time I think I've only had to claim on my insurance no more than half-a-dozen times. We watch daytime television programmes about such things as false insurance claims, or at least, some which are very suspicious. I have an idea that this person makes a habit of such things and would do anything to get money out of a car driver, when the damage is so minimal it can hardly be described as such. No more than what you'd expect if you were to brush against a branch of a tree or bush when you parked or if a cat or dog scratched it with it's paw. I imagine that the insurance company would send someone out to have a look the damage for themselves before they payed out to have the car repaired. We'll have to see what happens.

Carol In Theatre

Carol was violently sick several times on Sunday afternoon. It got to the stage, by around 11.30 that evening for me to ring 999. There was very little I could do to help and it was at this point that I decided she needed professional support. I was really surprised by how fast the ambulance arrived, but perhaps not when you consider that we live so close to Milton Keynes Hospital. She went off in the ambulance and I followed in our car. To cut a long story short it was around 4 a.m. that she was finally admitted to Ward 20 and as she was handed over to the nursing staff I returned home but only had around 4 hours sleep before I returned to the hospital. It's somewhat annoying to think you have to pay to park, but there it is. It's around a pound an hour and at £4.50-£5 a time it soon adds up. A disgrace when you think you don't choose to be in a hospital, for whatever reason. Perhaps it's to deter people who park in them for non-hospital reasons, for example, to go shopping.

As I write this blog post, Carol is in theatre. The surgeons are working to remove the bowel obstruction which has been causing her so much pain for the past three months or more. Yesterday evening the surgery team came to her room in Ward 20 to say that they had discussed how they were going to treat Carol. This is an emergency operation but they are yet to find a way to treat the cancer. It's a bit worrying, but I'm sure this will be dealt with in good time. We have been waiting for at least four weeks to get some sort of response in regards to Carol's treatment, and had hoped we would hear by at least last Wednesday or Thursday.

The operation was set for this morning at around 9.30. Carol was prepped by the team and a surgeon came to discuss the procedure. They had got the consent form signed by Carol yesterday afternoon. Carol had quite a few visitors as the afternoon progressed. I went home to have a rest as well as go to Sainsbury's for some food for lunch and then returned to hospital later, this time not driving but walking. Well, as the hospital is so close and it's only a 20-minute walk not only is it good exercise but it saves on having to fork out money for the privilege of parking on a bit of tarmac. We've been going to another church recently, Shenley Christian Fellowship. We actually used to go to this particular church when we lived in Crownhill. It was when they used to meet at Shenley brook End School and then they managed to build a new church on a piece of land not far from the school. We went for a couple of weeks together and then Carol was so uncomfortable when she sat for any length of time that we didn't go again until the cancer diagnosis was given and then I decided to go on my own. I've got to know what a few people there who've been really supportive, including Ross Dilnot who is the pastor. He's been to see us and prayed and he was with Carol when I arrived back at the ward later in the afternoon. After he left I got a call from Bed Searle from M.K.C.C. and she turned up about an hour later and then Lois and her daughter so we had a prayer session and then Pauline, Carol's friend from Milton Keynes Academy who left to get a teaching job who is coming back to work there in the New Year. Apparently Carol discovered via Lois, but Pauline, being the person she is, had to tease poor Carol, who is excited to have her back working with her in the science department. It's a really positive thing and will encourage Carol to get fit enough to be able to return to work. Pauline stayed with us, chatting to well past the time they allow visitors at the hospital and she  said that I could be given a  lift home because her husband, Paul, came in their car to pick Pauline up and it saved me having to walk home.

On Tuesday I got to the hospital very early because Carol had rung me as she was scared about the operation that was to take place later in the morning. During the morning Carol was being prepared for the operation. It had originally been set to be at 9.30 but it was at about 10.15 that she was eventually taken to theatre. I went with her and I left her just as she was wheeled into theatre. I went home and intend telephoning the ward to find out whether she had returned after the operation. It wasn't until 2.15 that I got the news that she had been taken to the recovery room and that some while later she would be bought back to the ward.

Carol was bought back to the ward but she's not in the side room when she first arrived on the ward. She's now in the main ward, which is probably better, as she can at least have some sort of company as most of the other patients are communicative and so she can have a conversation. Unfortunately, though the patients either side of her are noisy. On one side is a girl who I assume has a learning disability and makes odd noises, as well as having a radio on constantly. But I think, in general, Carol prefers to be able to see what is going on around her. Who can blame her? When she was in the side room she had to contend with a next-door neighbour who was always shouting and being offensive and quite abusive to the nursing staff. I don't think they have to put up with this sort of treatment as they do a very good job.

Shopping in IKEA

Daniel is returning home next week. He's got a job-interview in Milton Keynes. He's only here for a day or two and will return afterwards. He's been at university in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. It seems crazy to think he has to come back a good 200 miles for a job on our doorstep. I'm not sure exactly where the company is or what they're called, but never mind. We have to get the spare bedroom prepared as it's currently being used as a storeroom and you can barely see the bed as it's covered in all manner of things, books mainly. I had spent some of the morning cleaning it ready and had to go out and buy a mop and bucket as the floor was in something of a state. On the way to Homebase in Winterhill I took a load of stuff to the tidy tip in Bleak Hall. Old bit of carpet and a bean bag which had definitely seen better days. I think it would have crawled there itself given half a chance, it was so battered and torn and unmentionable. Also a load of cartons, the packaging for some large-scale item we'd had delivered from Amazon or another on-line company or other. Well, I was prompted to do all this because it was bright and sunny, and if the weather is fine it's a good excuse to do some clearing out. I'm not sure what happens when it's dull, overcast or raining. Probably has the opposite effect.

When Carol came in from work I showed her my efforts with the spare room and she was pleased with the results. We usually get a take-away on a Friday and go to the Brother's Fish Bar in Eaglestone. But before going there Carol suggested we visit IKEA to have a look at book shelves as the one's we have currently in our lounge are not really in a particularly fit state and we could do with a new television unit. She said there was one we could have which was a sort of -all-in-one design, having a television unit at the centre with book shelves around it. You get my meaning. Well, I imagine you do. Also, it was a good excuse to replace the bit of rug I'd taken to the tidy-tip. 

I quite like wandering around IKEA. Not everybody's idea of a pleasant outing. I rather like the stupid names the come up with for their products. I'm not so sure of the amount of walking you have to do within their store. If you've never visited an IKEA store, you won't know how strange the layout of the different departments is. You walk in a sort of strange seeming labyrinth of inter-locking rooms or departments and have to go through each to reach the next. It's as well to remember to take a trolley with you and to collect items you want to buy as you go along, otherwise, if you suddenly decide to buy whatever it is that takes your fancy and want to go back, it's not each to remember where that item was and end up walking miles, or what seem like miles.

We started off in the restaurant/café. Carol is diabetic and she said she thought her blood sugar was low so she would need something to eat and drink. We queued in the self-service section of the café and I had a piece of apple pie and Carol had a sort of chocolaty confection-thing made with butterscotch or what looked like butterscotch. We had to get drinks, as you pay once and can fill up your glass or mug several times if you have an IKEA Family card, which we have. Unfortunately we have so many of these loyalty cards that when you get to the till to pay it can take some time to find the correct card. You get points for shopping in Tesco with a Clubcard, another in Sainsbury's if you have a Nectar card, and another in Waterstone's. Every store has one now. Boots has their Advantage card, Costa has one, Holland and Barratt's and so on. My wallet is stuffed full of the things and it gets to the point that we have to leave a lot of them at home or in the glove compartment in the car. They are a good idea and can be good especially when you get money off on certain products or a free paper when you spend so much in Waitrose or a free coffee or tea. We had to spend a couple of minutes searching for the confounded IKEA card.

We sat in an area in the café which had IKEA furniture in it. Well, nothing like being able to try out what a company sells by actually using it. We bought a chair to replace the armchair I used to sit in some while ago. It came with us from the house in Crownhill. It had not worn well; the springs in the seat were coming through and the arms were hanging off and it had been patched up with tape and was certainly past it's best. We went to IKEA to look at a replacement and the one I chose isn't actually as comfortable as it might be, which is a pity. Not something to sit in for any length of time. With my shoulder and neck problem I really need something with a bit more back support. We tried a new model which is more like a traditional wing-back chair and has a good deal more back support and a more padded seat. We'll come back when we have been paid to buy one next month.

Carol went off to find the toilet and I was left with the trolley in the café. There was an older couple sitting nearby, I don't think they spoke one word to each other in all the time I was sitting in there. They looked so miserable. I don't think he wanted to be there. No doubt taken there against his will and wanted to be somewhere else. Quite a few other husbands with wives looking just as miserable. Well, they must have had odd relationships or something to be so grumpy and miserable.

We spent some time looking at rugs in the rug and carpet section. A great many to choose from in every shape and size imaginable in in an absolutely enormous range of designs and colours. We choose a round rug for the spare-room with a sort of spotty design in a radiating pattern and door mats from the front door and the patio door as the old ones had become really dirty and tatty. On the way through the children's section we saw lots of stuffed animal toys. Over the years we have bought all manner of birds, animals and assorted strange stuffed toys, more than one or two mice and rats which the dogs have played with, a couple ending up in the bin due to being over-shaken or sucked by both Alfie and Poppy. We have a rabbit-toy which sits near the television and a few other assorted creatures but Carol saw a puffin toy which we had to buy.

So, we wended our way through the remaining departments and ended up at the checkout where we paid and ended up back at the carpark. We had to decide where to get out Friday-night take-out. We had to drive back towards Eaglestone and the traffic was building up along the road near the football stadium. It took about ten minutes to reach the roundabout where Saxon Street meets Groveway and then near Beanhill, near the junction into the road where Ashfield Medical Centre is located. Not surprising as the time was around 5 o'clock, going-home for most businesses in and around Milton Keynes. We were making for Brother's fish and chip shop and it took us some while to get through the heavy traffic. We parked near the shops in Eaglestone and took some cash out of the A.T.M. machine near the shop and then  noticed that the fish and chip shop was closed, with the shutters down. There was a notice stuck to the shutter. 'Closed due to family bereavement.' Sad to read this, but there was no way we were going to get our weekly fish and chip supper. So we decided we would have to go back the way we'd just come and go to get a meal from the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet near the stadium, which we had only just driven past about twenty minutes earlier. Having collected our K.F.C. meal we drove back home and were glad that we had completed our evening's travels.

Funny Alfie!

Our Yorkshire terrier, Alfie, is a real character. He has lots of toys which not only keep us amused, but he gets a great deal of amusement himself from them. He has a typical Yorkie habit, no doubt how he would kill a rat (which is what they were originally bred for) by picking it up and shaking it vigorously and growling noisily. We witnessed his ability to kill a rat when we had them running around our former home in Cownhill. One morning he managed to corner a huge rat in the kitchen and he dispatched it by shaking it. This is mentioned in more detail in an earlier post on here. He has a basket of his toys (shared, I hasten to add, with our other dog, Poppy.) He can be most protective of these toys which we have managed to purchase over a number of years from supermarkets and pet shops in and around Milton Keynes. This evening he was playing with one such toy, which is a sort of monkey creature. He shook it so hard it flew across the room and behind the television set. I could only reach it by using a broom handle. He then shook the toy and it again flew across the room. He darted round behind the sofa, came out the other side and bounced- or appeared to bounce- from one side of the sofa to the other. Really amusing. He has a Comic Relief ball, which is bright red and with a silly face embroidered on it. When you drop it on the floor, an electronic chip inside is activated, and it has the sound of a rather over-acted giggle and laugh, which sets off Alfie barking. It is quite amusing when he throws his head back and howls at it. He even knows that if he prods it or drops it it will start making it's giggling sound. This ball is kept on the bookshelf in the lounge and he knows exactly where it is kept, and when he wants to play with it he will go to the shelf and stand with his front paws on the top of the first shelf and stare at it until you take the ball down from it's place and drop it on the floor.We don't allow this much more than once a day as his bowing can begin to get a bit annoying and may upset our neighbours.

Car Clutch Temporary Fix

One of Carol's students at the Academy has a father who is a car mechanic. She mentioned to the child that our car needs the clutch repairing, so she obtained his mobile telephone number and she rang him when she got home from work yesterday evening. Around half an hour later he turned up on the doorstep, just as we were making our evening meal. He looked at the car and has done a temporary repair to the clutch cable. He has given us a far cheaper quotation for the work and tells us that it just needs a new cable which shouldn't cost anywhere near as much as the first mechanic who came out the other evening. He told us we could drive the car but advised us not to go too far. He should ring me today to give me more details of prices for parts and labour to do the job, which can't be done until next week when we are paid. I did think there might be a problem with this before it eventually went a few weeks ago when we went to shop at Morrison's at Westcroft. I did think that the clutch was likely to go as there seemed to be far too much 'play' when you put your foot on the clutch pedal.

It has been raining hard over-night. I could hear it distinctly when I had to get up in the night. Alfie insisted on going outside and came back soaked to the skin. When he gets wet his coat goes very curly and crinkly, almost as if he has been permed or had hair rollers put in. He is still obsessed by the cats who come in from next door and sit on either the fence on the shed roof. It seems that Yorkshire Terrier behaviour is to sit and stare for a long time at something or other, which is what he did when we lived at the other house in Crownhill and we had an invasion of rats. He managed to kill one early one morning, managing to corner it in the kitchen and eventually catching it and shaking it until it died. The noise was horrible but it was amazing that such a small dog could manage to kill something which was considerably bigger than himself. Just goes to show what a strong-willed little dog he is. Small in stature but bold and brave by nature. I can see now how they came to be used in Yorkshire cotton mills to keep the rats and mice down. Their persistence and perseverance is one of their very strong characteristics. He plays with his toys a lot and has this habit of shaking them, very much how he shook that rat until it died. He loves the Comic Relief ball, which is a red, soft ball made of red material with a face on it, which, when you hit it or drop it hard makes a laughing sound which has the effect of making Alfie howl along with it. He throws his head back and makes the most amazing howling sound. I have never had a dog which does this. He seems to know how to set it off and can 'throw' this ball which starts the laughing sound. If he wants this ball, and he knows very well where it lives on the bookshelf, he will stare at it and then at me and this is to tell me he wants to play with it.

If you scroll down you will see a YouTube video of Alfie playing with the Comic Relief ball and somewhere on that he is playing with the 'dinosaur' ball which makes growling sounds. He gets carried away with that and throws it about on the sofa!

Changed Doctor's Surgery

Carol and I have changed our doctor's surgery. We were with The Grove Surgery in Netherfield and had decided, after some consideration, that we wanted to change our doctor as The Grove hasn't been exactly pro-active. We haven't been all that impressed with the service we've been having there. For a start, you can never see the same doctor more than a few times in succession, whenever you make an appointment.  I can say that I was annoyed by the lack of action over my blood tests, and when Carol had her recent eye infection the doctor poked her eye with the swab and appeared to make it worse, and also the ridiculous appointments booking procedure that it was time to change.  Whenever you ring up (if you can ever get through on the telephone system) the receptionist asks 'what's the appointment for?' I don't see why you need to tell the receptionist; it should be confidential and between you and the doctor, in the privacy of the surgery. On one occasion Carol and I went in to book an appointment and the receptionist was giving out her details so that everyone waiting could hear. Also, when we first registered with the surgery, it was done in the open reception-area, and not in a private room, away from other people who could hear. We had to change doctors when we moved from Crownhill, which we actually didn't want to, but it appears that it Health Authority rules that when you move away from a certain doctor's catchment area you have to move doctors surgeries, even though we had build up quite a good relationship with Hilltops, the health centre we used to go to in Great Holm.We knew that there was a new surgery, Ashfield Medical Centre, opened in Beanhill,  not far from where we live (actually closer than The Grove Surgery.) so we went to investigate whether we could transfer, and learned that we could, so we got the relevant paperwork and got it filled out, and went back later that morning, together with several forms of identification. At least this interview was done in the privacy of an office, away from the reception area. Once this was done, we had to make further appointments (which could only be made the following day.) as each of us is on repeat medication. So this was done, and new prescriptions issued. At least at Ashfield Medical Centre there is far better parking, and there is a chemists next door which means we can take our prescriptions in immediately to be made up.

Now It Can Be Told- Part 1

We had to go to Court on Wednesday and Thursday this week. I was called as a witness. Let me try and explain what the reason was. It may take some time, but bear with me. It goes back some time.

A couple of years ago we lived the other side of Milton Keynes, in Crownhill. We got into financial difficulties, and rather than getting into arrears with our mortgage we decided to find someone to buy our house and let us rent it back.  We want to eventually move to Yorkshire, and it would have made it a good deal easier to move  if we had a rental home which would mean we could have moved quickly and easily once a teaching job came up for Carol to go to, rather than going through all the hastle of selling a house in Milton Keynes and transferring to Yorkshire. Also, we could use some of the equity from the house sale to pay off some of our debts.  We saw an advert in the local paper by a company called Copper Homes. Someone came to see us, and the house was eventually sold, and we then became their tenants and paid them rent. It meant that we didn't have the worry of getting into arrears and they would take responsibility for the maintenance of the house. There were one or two problems with the state of the property, one being a hole in the kitchen ceiling which was caused by damp, which was due to the hot water tank leaking. Copper Homes agreed to have this tank replaced. We were told that the hole in the ceiling could not be repaired until the woodwork and the surrounding area had dried out.

All went well for quite some time until we got a letter from another agency telling us that we shouldn't pay our rent to Copper Homes and that it was to be paid to them instead of Copper Homes. We paid by Direct Debit each month, so we would have to close that down and make the Direct Debit payable to this other agency. They would do any repairs necessary to the house and keep up the maintenance of the house. So we did as we were asked. The rent was then paid to this other agency.  This went on for a month or two until we got a letter from Copper Homes telling us to NOT pay the rent to this new agency and that we would be acting illegally. if we did so It turned out that one of the company directors had a dispute with the rest of the company directors and had gone to Australia. We had to change the Direct Debit back to being paid to Copper Homes. Throughout all this, the hole in the kitchen ceiling was still not repaired. Also, the kitchen sink was deteriorating, when we emptied the sink the water would leak out onto the floor through the unit. Over time this got worse until the surrounding kitchen units began to get damp and eventually rotted. There was absolutely no attempt by Copper Homes to come and repair the hole in the ceiling (which meant we had bits of plaster and other debris falling into the kitchen.) or the kitchen sink. We had to use a washing-up bowl to do the washing-up and empty the water in the garden. Meanwhile, we had to contend with some rather unpleasant visitors, rats, which had got into the house through a hole in the floor outside near the patio doors into the garden. We could hear them scuttling around in the space in the cavity in the walls. Eventually, they came into the house and would appear in the kitchen. I would come downstairs in the morning to make tea and find them running along the work surfaces and coming out in the gap over the washing machine and the work surface. Not very nice. They ate through the electric cables on the back of the microwave, and the pipes that were fixed into the back of the washing machine, so eventually these appliances were unusable.

Drive To Bedford

I took Carol to the Academy early this morning. I should really say that she drove and I drove back. There has been a fall of snow over-night. It seemed very fine and almost like granulated sugar. The surface of the road going through Crownhill was really slippery. We got to the bottom of Hendrix Drive and the intersection with Munro Drive, and Carol put her foot on the brakes and the car almost didn't stop. A rather nasty grinding noise which was the tyres on the surface of the road. There was a possibility that we were going to end up in the house opposite and join the family inside for breakfast! It was quite traumatic, to say the least. We managed the rest of the journey without further mishap.

I dropped Carol at the Academy, came home and had some breakfast and then drove over to the Registery Office in Bedford. I was somewhat reluctant, considering the snow and ice, but as it turned out there was very little snow or ice on the roads.  It seems that the estates within Milton Keynes are the worst hit by the night's snow, and I had no problems. Bedford's traffic system seems just as bad as it always was when I lived there, particularly going into Bedford from Bromham, and all along Shakespeare Road. I got to the Registry Office and could find nowhere to park the car, so had to find a space off-street in one of the roads off Brickhill Drive and then walk into the office. There seems to be no problem getting a full Birth Cirtificate , although it costs £7 and they will post it out to me 2nd Class and so it should get to me in a couple of day's time, so that is one less problem to worry about.