Sunday 7 July 2024

Been a long time now 2024

 July 2024.

Been a long time since I have done a blog. Lots has happened. 

Lost my Mum & Brother. Long story do not want to bore you. David left £200.000 but no will all money went to mum who had zero life dementia. BUPA kept her alive for 5 years purely for the money. December 2019 I rung the home told them the £200.000 had gone and in 2020 she will become council funded they withdrew all her drugs and within 2 weeks she had slipped away.  Utter disgrace.

We sadly lost our rescue doggie Beau who moved down to North Devon with us. That was a real shock how it happened and was not happy at all with the vet. He is buried in the meadow which he loved.


The house was so empty without him. So we went Margaret Green Rescue Centre had a 3 night stay in Dorset and picked up Bertie Greyhound an ex Irish Racer he was very fast in his day he won 3 firsts 2 seconds and 1 third. Made the owner £3.200 in one season, sadly he was retired with two broken metacarpals.He is all mended but with a slight flat foot. It was a steep learning curve taking on a greyhound but has settled in a treat. A very clean boy and regular and I get up at 8am every morning for him. He has lost a lot of muscle mass with the change of diet but new vet very happy with him. He hates having his nails trimmed. He loves his zoomies in the 3/4 acre garden and he is a real lounger especially on his outdoor bed in the sunshine he loves his freedom from the cage he was looked up in for 4 years. 


April 27th we celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary and July 4th was my 70th birthday.
Champagne was very nice on both special occasion. This was after a visit to NT Arlington Court.




On the radio front my Amateur Radio hobby I have got back into Morse Code after a 32 year lapse with older brain matter. 19.5.1985 I took my 12 WPM send and receive morse Code exam at Portishead radio which has sadly all been knocked down. Back in 1985 to operate the HF bands I had to become a class A  operator. Since morse Code in shipping has been replaced by satellite communications the exam for Amateur Radio has been dropped. Thankfully Radio Amateurs are still using Morse Code in the hobby and a lot of new licensees are using it so a big surge with the mode. I practice every day with CW files on the PC and I also have an interface to help with my sending.

One of the reasons I got back into CW was because of the SOE brave men and women who would drop behind enemy lines with a suitcase radio in WWII set up in a field or bard and sen messages back to England. I love to read books about SOE and Bletchley Park and what Turin did to bring the end of the war earlier.   



  

  


Sunday 31 December 2017

Bye Bye 2017

Well what a start to the year for Ros! Wednesday the 11th January 2017 Ros thought she was having a heart attack pains across her chest took her to the doctors they saw her straight away did blood pressure tests & ECG all clear. They thought it was an oesophagus spasm.

Saturday 14th Ros got up out of chair at 10pm & said I am going to bed I will let Beau out. I was finishing off watching a program & switching everything off. I then thought Ros has been a long time I walked out the back door flood light switches on automatically & there stood is Ros crying with blood over her face! I said what the hell has happened, I don't know was the answer! Looks like you have fallen over, she smashed her glasses, cut above her eye brow, face, arm & knee were grazed her watch was broken. She was more upset breaking her glasses! She is 5ft 9 got osteoporosis so could have been a lot worse thankfully no bones broken. Outside the back door is a tarmaced parking area I think she hit it face down. On the Sunday took her to Bideford Minor Injuries unit & on Monday took her to Barnstaple A&E for a CT scan but they did not give her one due to radiation! Checked blood pressure & another ECG all clear, they think she got up to quickly. She had a black eye & other bruises on her shoulder arms & legs. Really shook her up for a few days & lost her appetite so it was soups for evening meals. She was a little nervous when she went out at night into the garden but I was watching her from the house I also watched her get up in the mornings once she is on her feet. Had to get her new glasses she was using 10 year old ones which did not help her eye but it was them or not see at all. Her old ones were only 12 months old a cost we could have done without, but glasses can be repaired quickly bodies take longer. We looked a right pair with our silly glasses on I was wearing my ex BT safety glasses due to the coating on mine breaking down only 2 weeks out of guarantee! Again just over 12 months old.

In March went on holiday to Polperro stayed in a barn 4 miles outside of Polperro on the Sunday the brakes failed! Thankfully managed to get the car back to the barn the 4 mile lane from Polperro was very narrow & full of pot holes hence why they split the brake pipes. On Monday recovery truck to Liskeard after a 5 hour wait the garage said will not be done today! okay, have you got a courtesy car NO was the reply, you will have to take bus or train back to holiday let. 1-1/2 hour bus ride to Polperro then a taxi to the barn got in at 5pm L next day had taxi all the way back to Liskeard so with final bill £180 & only done half the job! To top of the week Ros slipped in the en-suite room bruising her side so we came back a day early was glad to get back home. Car went in on the Monday for the front pipes to be changed was another £112 bill should have sold the car years ago we have had so much work done to it nearly new!

In April had a week in Malvern visiting my mum still in a care home now over £5,000 a month in costs & it is sad to see her like she is.

In May had a fabulous warm sunny week Watchet. We wanted to ride on the longest stream train ride in England was not disappointed. Walked on the ex-mineral line. Watchet harbour was great had amazing sunsets as well. The boat museum there is very interesting. Rented a cottage in the village but one night the guy next door started to play very loud rap music! So I went into the kitchen turned around the speakers on the stereo put on a crap music station & turned up the volume full blast then closed the door he got the message after an hour he stopped only happened once, looking at him must have been on benefits. Said to Ros we are a magnet for bad neighbour’s L

Came home to the sh*t neighbour he had started cutting down the shrubs on his side but making it even more open. So we have had enough should have done it 10 years ago we booked a fencing contractor to give us a quote for 12 metres long 2 metres tall feather edge fencing. I contacted the planning sent in the photos & there reply was not one is entitled to light! So with them putting windows overlooking our garden & them keep staring at us all the time & us seeing even more hot tub sexual activity with the lesbian daughter & her lover the fence has put stop it. The funny thing was we timed it just right he was away on holiday he was ranting & raving loudly about the fence saying going to report it to the planning lol all posts & rails are on our side & no fixings to his property.

In July had a very emotional weeks visit to Worcester managed to get a late booking with an extra day as the funeral was on a Friday & we were able to leave Beau in the cottage in Upton. Sadly it was for our niece funeral only 34 years old picked up a virus which damaged her vital organs it also killed her heart she was doing well on life support machine in the QE & was 2nd in country to have heart transplant then sepsis set in & she bled to death through her lungs so the doctors made the decision to turn off machine, so very sad. All happened within 3 weeks! She was a lovely girl, just brought her first house with her partner, she was a manager in housing with the council & had her life ahead of her. She had a wicker coffin & a humanist burial, no vicar all done by a celebrant. Her dad was the grave digger in St John cemetery & they did lived in cemetery house for many years so she is laid in the cemetery where the two girls used to play & learnt to ride their bikes.

Only managed a few hours in Malvern on the last day Thursday, wanted a wee & used the toilet by the theatre walked in on 2x 50 year old men having a hand job off a scanky old bloke they quickly turned around trousers around their knees. I walked over to the cubicle as I came out the scanky man was outside I told him to f*ck off as I got outside the men were talking to each other in cars then drove off. Ros said why do they not do it in their own homes I said I expect they are married & the wives do not know what is going on! Tried to report it as I was worried if a little boy had walked in on it! but police station not open. When we got home did ring West Mercia police & reported the incident they will step up patrols in the area. I remember they closed down the toilets in West Malvern road when we lived there due to the same reason

Motorway journey was a nightmare again took us 6 hours to get back home. I got off at Bridgewater & took the coastal run back home.

Couple of weeks ago I was cutting the hedge in the meadow on what we thought was the nicer neighbour anyway it was 4 metres tall so I asked can I reduce it to 2 metres as I have a new chain saw the wife said but you will have to throw the stuff back over to your garden as husband is too busy! After spending 2 days cutting & clearing there was a large amount of his brambles so I did not throw that over & left him some small logs to have a fire in his garden. Well the next day I could not believe what the small mind twat had done! He threw the brambles over the hedge & the small logs & other items I was fuming.  There was Ros & I thinking we would get a thank you, or a bottle of wine or chocolates but no nothing. I said to Ros it will not happen again! I saw him in his van he smiled I just hope I gave him a dirty look. Last week after hanging out the washing to dry first sunny day in a long time he lit a filthy smoking fire, I was covered in smelly smoke getting in the washing.

To top the year off we had a mouse in the utility room he/she managed to get into the washing machine and nibble a rubber hose so we had a water leak all over the floor! I stripped down the machine & awaiting a new part in 2018.

Today 31st December had a drain blockage which I have just cleaned out! 

Anyway that is our year & will not be sad to see the back of it.

Saturday 13 May 2017

Fowey

 On the car ferry
 Fowey Lifeboat
 Wonderful house sign
 Name of House
 Roof top view of river
 Another roof top view
 River Ferry
Lighting shop in the village photo as little blurred
Always an enjoyable visit to Fowey weather was dry with a few clouds, being an ex BT auditor it was good to see so much new technology in the village with fibre optics being fed underground & overhead, sad I know that I noticed it.

Polperro

A short video of the village of Polperro it is a very quaint fishing village thankfully not to busy as the holiday season had not started. The car park for the village is huge and very expensive!

Nostalgic Visit To Looe in Cornwall

 Outside the nightclub where I had my 18th birthday
 Looe beach 
 Looe old bridge
For my 18th birthday I holidayed in Looe at a caravan park never been back. Ros had never visited so booked a early stay in Polperro. We stayed in a barn 4 miles outside of Polperro which at the time of booking we did not know it was so far out! Sunday took the ferry over to Fowey then did the food shopping for the week at Sainsburys at Bodmin, Okay getting into Bodmin but a nightmare to get out took me an hour to find a lane to get back onto main road. As we arrived at the barn on Saturday my hand brake warning light came on I just thought a faulty switch how wrong was I. On Sunday driving back to barn the brakes failed! Thankfully managed to get the car back to the barn the 4 mile lane from Polperro was very narrow & full of pot holes hence why they split the brake pipes! On Monday recovery truck took me to Liskeard after a 5 hour wait the garage mechanic said will not be done today! okay have you got a courtesy car NO was the arrogant reply, you will have to take bus or train back to holiday let! 1-1/2 hour bus ride to Polperro then a taxi to the barn got in at 5pm L next day had taxi all the way back to Liskeard so with final bill £280 & only done half the job! To top of the week Ros slipped in the en-suite room bruising her side so we came back a day early was glad to get back home. The garage in Liskeard only did half a job so on the Monday the front pipes had to be changed another £150 bill should have sold the car years ago we have had so much work done to it nearly new!  

Ros Had A Fall

Well what a start to the year!
Saturday 14th January Ros got up out of chair at 10 pm & said I am going to bed I will let Beau out. I was finishing off watching a program and switching everything off. I then thought Ros has been a long time I walked out the back door flood light switches on automatically and there is stood Ros crying with blood over her face! I said what the hell has happened, I don't know was the answer! Looks like you have fallen over, she smashed her glasses, cut above her eye brow, face, arm & knee were grazed, watch was broken. She was more upset breaking her glasses! She is 5ft 9 got osteoporosis so could have been a lot worse thankfully no bones broken. Outside the back door is a tarmaced parking area I think she hit it face down. On the Sunday took her to Bideford Minor Injuries unit and on Monday took her to Barnstaple A&E for a CT scan but they did not give her one due to radiation! Checked blood pressure & another ECG all clear, they think she got up to quickly. The black eye and other bruises on her shoulder arms and legs. Really shook her up for a few days and lost her appetite so it was soups for evening meals. I was doing dressing for off couple of weeks.  I purchased a new torch XML-T6 LED torch it lights up the garden used by the police & military.  I also watch her get up in the mornings once she is on her feet. She now has her new glasses she had been using 10 year old ones which did not help her eye but it was them or not see at all being short sighted. Her old ones were only 12 months old a cost we could do without, but glasses can be repaired quickly bodies take longer. We looked a right pair with our silly glasses on I was wearing my ex BT safety glasses due to the coating on mine breaking down only 2 weeks out of guarantee L Again just over 12 months old. They were sent off to Nikon who stated been by heat! In the end had to have new lenses another £100 spent.