Tuesday 26 January 2016

My house and other animals

Ben



Spike
 
 
Very little dog walking over the past four months or so, but I have fostered a couple, Ben was only for a week, just to give him a break from the kennels, but Spike ended up nearly six weeks. Spike had been adopted but after a month or so he was brought back because he had eating issues, what dog doesn't! So I took him in until we found a new permanent home. To be fair he does like to eat, whole packs of butter, my salad and even bean bags, but he was left in a garden for a long time, only been thrown scraps now and again, so hardly surprising. Spike is the most loyal and affectionate dog you could meet, he was so much fun, and once you keep everything away in cupboards, food really wasn't an issue.
 
New kitchen

Office
 
 
Work on the house has ground to a halt at the moment, partly due to being in Yorkshire last week and also because I am bored with it. Once I have been to Clatterbridge tomorrow I am sure I will get on with it, it really wont take an awful lot to finish the upstairs and the stair case, which will only leave the lounge/diner, but I did decide to sand all the upstairs floors and staircase, so that just needs a final sand and sealing, which is one of the messiest jobs, hence why I am baulking at it, a week or two and it will be done. bit of wood work to paint, skirting to fit, finish the floors and I will just be left with the lounge, ok so the lounge is a big area, but I will have the end in sight. I can easily say this is the last lot of decorating I will ever do.



Six Months

Six months since I last posted, so much has happened, but at least I am still here.
Three very close friends and an uncle died within the space of a few weeks last Autumn, a difficult time to say the least.
My best friend Alan, who I had known for nearly 40 years passed away very suddenly, bless him, he left me his house in his will, sounds good, but it was a mixed blessing, either I sold up and moved back south, or updated the house and stayed in the North West. I have no desire to move south again, but the house was in awful condition, nothing had changed since Alan moved in, in the mid 1970s, I don't even think he had cleaned anything! I have completely gutted the house, emptying it of piles of rubbish that had accumulated over 40 odd years, central heating installed, re wired, new windows and doors, I am now half way through decorating, something that I loath, I have far more interesting things to do with my time, especially as I am on borrowed time, but it has to be done and will be well worth it in the end..





Some of the chaos
 
Despite all the work and upheaval, my health has been pretty good, apart from inflamed Tendons on both shoulders, so bad that I can now barely put a jacket on, but at least it has kept my mind of the cancer. Ah the cancer, that horrible word that is everywhere today! My cancer is slowly growing and I have now started a Clinical trial, which involves visiting Clatterbridge every three weeks to have Atezolizumab and another un pronounceable, injected into me, its all very civilised, comfy chair, good book, cup of tea and feet up while it is dripped into me over three hours or so, tomorrow will be my second dose, side effects so far have been very mild, bit of nausea and headache the first week then very flu like symptoms last week while I was in North Yorkshire, but that didn't stop me doing some old railway exploring, but yesterday my Blood Pressure shot up to 212/111, so I spent all day in A&E, no real reason was found, and today it was back to 140/80 which is normal for me, it scared the life out of me, as I live alone, I went to bed last night thinking I would have a stroke, and there would be know one around to notice, but lucky me, I woke this morning still in the land of the living.
 
 
Despite what the tourist board of Whitby says, near here at Kettleness is where Dracula landed

Kettleness Tunnel
 
 
The writing on the brickwork at Kettleness Tunnel, says " A curse on all who enter here" unfortunately the writer has put it on the wrong end of the tunnel, as walking this way in, you are going back to freedom and the real world, where as where the photo is taken, is on a ledge high up the cliff above the north sea with another tunnel behind the camera, so the only escape is either through one of the tunnels or jumping off the cliff!