Getting my life back

At last my house is finished, bar a bit of snagging and putting photos up, it now feels like home and does look pretty good if I say so myself. It has been very hard work, and it most definitely will be the last serious bit of DIY I ever do. It has been very hard work, as always I had to complicate things and make them harder than they need be, like sanding the floors upstairs and the staircase, all this on top of starting my treatment in January, but its done now so all is good.

 

 

 

Talking of treatment, on the whole it has been going very well, I really am very lucky so I don't like to complain. There has been a marked reduction in the size of the tumours since January which is amazing to see a difference so soon, side effects have rather crept up on me, nothing major, just getting progressively worse, general aching, lack of energy, disturbed sleep and even a constant running nose, the poor sleeping has not been helped by the tremors that I get, especially in my feet, bit like restless leg, keeps you awake for hours. I also get strange feelings sometime, can't explain it, just a feeling that things are not right, bit shaky and wobbly on my feet, very odd sensation, with the amount of drugs that are being pumped into me there has to be some adverse reaction. Going to hospital every three weeks has given me a real aversion to having needles stuck in me, but as I say I am very lucky, lucky to still be alive, lucky to have been chosen for this trial and lucky that it seems to be working.

 

Motivation is a big problem and my level of fitness has suffered this past six months, so I have set myself a target of cycling forty miles a week, really not very difficult, just motivating myself to do it, three weeks in and all is going ok, will take some time to get back to decent fitness but I am determined to get there. I have been out on a few minor explores, mainly by train, I enjoy using the train as driving is not a lot of fun these days, and if you commit yourself to buying a ticket in advance you can't make any excuses on the day, so some day trips to Lancaster, Preston, Wigan, Blackpool, London, Glasgow and Edinburgh so far this year, again I do realise how lucky I am to be doing things like this, ok so its not Paris, New York, Rio etc but I still get a lot of enjoyment, and to be honest you could drop me and my camera almost anywhere in the world and I would enjoy it.

 

 

Edinburgh

London

Preston

Blackpool

Glasgow

 

 

As you can see in the Edinburgh photos I don't really do the normal tourist thing, I much prefer the more seedy side of places, also there has to be a few disused railway tunnels, like Buchannan St in Glasgow





Riding in the rain

As the title suggests, against my better judgement I went out for a ride this morning, I am pleased I went, and the exercise has to do me good, especially my Blood Pressure, but I got soaked through, the roads seemed to be flooded everywhere as well, so no escape. I can't be a fair weather rider, but if I got a bad chill I could get myself in a lot of trouble, hopefully better weather is on the way.
The local dogs home that I volunteer at has taken in a male German Shepherd and a 3 month old puppy, sadly they were abandoned and there has been no sign of the mother, I have been offered the puppy for fostering, I adore German Shepherds, and to be honest I would love to foster the fully grown male. Seriously I don't think either would be a good idea, neither is house trained, so they would probably wreck all the work I have done on my house, so we shall see, I am sure I will at some point take them home for at least a few days, and once the puppy has put on some weight she will soon be homed, as puppies never have to wait long to tug at some
one's heart strings.

 

Burn the Clocks, Brighton

 

 

Burn the Clocks in Brighton is an annual parade through The Lanes ending up on the beach at Mediera Drive with a Bonfire and Firework display, watched by thousands of people. It is a very Pagan event and I wouldn't begin to say I understand it, but it was a great evening and many thanks to Nikon for the invite.

 

 

Summer

 

 

 

A quick look back at my Sunflowers from last Summer, seems an age ago now, but they were very successful, one in the back garden reached over 12ft, unfortunately the world record is over 16ft, but still very impressive.

 

 

Sandsend

 

 

 

The above two photos are of the old railway from Whitby to Saltburn taken last month, it meant so much to get out on an old railway line with my camera, it has been a long time, and I keep thinking each one will be the last explore I can manage, but I not giving in yet. 



 

 



 

 







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!





New Bike

Cannondale

 

 

Yup at long last I bought myself a proper road bike, and very nice it is too. So easy to ride, makes you realise why so many people you see out riding seem to be going so fast, as it does literally flatten the hills. Not only am I pleased with it, but it will be very good for me, extra motivation and  I realised one of the reasons I have been getting so tired is the amount of walking I have been doing, 6-7 miles a day is quite a lot by anyone's standards, so I have been taking to the bike instead, at least cycling you can pace yourself where as walking you either go or stop, and a lot better I feel already. I now have three bikes, Mountain Bike for when I feel like some peace and quiet on the trails, Road Bike for when I want to go further afield and get some speed up and an ancient Road Bike that I use when I am going into town, as I can lock it up on the street and the chances of someone being desperate enough to nick it will be pretty slim.

 

 

The garden is looking really good this year, I have made a special effort and it shows, the hanging baskets are now enormous and as for the Sunflowers, I don't know when they will stop growing as some of them are 7ft now!

 

 

 

I have also discovered a really gorgeous Walled Garden not far from where I live, its a real oasis, not huge, but well laid out very quiet during the week and its free to visit, lovely spot to while away an hour or so after a ride on a hot afternoon.

 

Grappenhall Heys Walled Garden

 

 

The other Saturday I went on an organised walk around part of Liverpool, exploring some of the disused railway sites near Exchange and Riverside stations, fab day, and capped off by RMS Queen Mary 2 being moored at Pier Head, it was there to celebrate the 175th anniversary of regular Transatlantic crossings, and also it was the first time since the 1960s that a Cunard ship had embarked fare paying passengers in Liverpool, very impressive and a lovely atmosphere in the city.

 

 

Queen Mary 2 alongside the site of Riverside station







Summer

Don't even get me started on the summer, this is when I really would be happy to up sticks and move abroad!
That said we were in Belgium and France last week and it was 26deg, and that is not that far away, so who knows, maybe that is the thing to do.

Kortrijk

 

 

A short road trip took us to Kortrijk in Belgium and a night on a boat, lovely place, like a lot of Belgium, quiet, very clean and very friendly.

 

 

 Ghent

 

Ghent is a gorgeous historic city, full of interesting buildings, odd corners and fab cafes, so few cars in the city make it a real pleasure to walk round, we stayed in a rather dodgy place, a room above a beauty salon, lovely big and airy, little balcony with a view over the city, but it was ever so slightly run down, the wiring was dangerous to say the least, but there was a toaster, strangely there was no lead from it, must have been solar powered, we seemed to be the only people staying there and it was a little creepy, but you get what you pay for, and we really didn't pay much .

 

 

 

Lille

 

Lille was a complete contrast, very busy, loads of cars a bit dirty and quite a few homeless people, much more like home, but I loved it, a real contrast, lovely old town with loads of fascinating buildings and shops, a bustling square with many cafes, and the modern shopping streets which had a good busy atmosphere, also a lovely big park with some great areas to explore. Where we stayed was on the western side of the city, a small hotel right above a Metro station, and next to a large market selling lots of fab food, bit of a run down area, reminded me of the Edgeware road, but it was fun and the hotel was pretty good.

 

Earlier in the month I met up with my m8y Lu, who recently came back from a couple of years in New Zealand, we met in London and took a trip out to Kew gardens and have a superb day, really was lovely, first time I have been to Kew since I was about 6, we were there half the day and didn't get to see half of it.

 

The Palm House, Kew

Lu

 







A tour around my garden and other things

Ok so actually my garden is very small and a tour would only take a minute, but I quite proud of it and have loads growing.

 

I have some tomatoes on the go, would like to be able to properly grow some veggies, but I really don't have the room.

 

A regular dinner

 

 

I do eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, and I use the NHS app for healthy eating, some of the recipes and tips are very good, but the main benefit I find is it makes you aware of what you are eating and how you are cooking things. The last couple of weeks I have been suffering with stomach pains and bloating after meals in the evening, for some time I have had to watch how much I eat as too much leaves me in a lot of pain for the night, the main reason is obviously only having one Kidney, and it having a tumour attached which will be effecting its efficiency, also the upheaval in my stomach following the operation could cause problems for a few years yet. This is why I am trying to be sensible about what I eat, actually I have always been quite sensible, but some foods I have a habit of binging on, like nuts, can cause all sorts of problems, bit annoying as I have never had any problems with eating whatever I like, but hey ho, those days have gone.

A very good friend of mine, and elderly lady called Joan has had a really tough time recently, she has been in hospital almost continuously for the past two and a half months and has now been transferred to a home. She had a very nasty fall and now her cancer has come back in a big way, it has spread to her bones and she has been given only a month or so to live. I try and visit every other day, she doesn't get to many visitors so its the least I can do, so sad to see, some days she is quite chatty and still has such character and spirit, but she doesn't understand why all her left side is swollen, she hasn't been told about the cancer, which is understandable as it would just confuse her even more. While she is so much better off in the home, and it is quite a nice place, airy and good staff, but it is so depressing, you walk along the corridors and hear people shouting out for various things, none of them really understanding what they are shouting for, and in the main lounge some of them are in such a bad way they just stare open mouthed with vacant eyes, I do have a bit of experience with various homes so I realise this is the norm, and there really is not any alternative, very sad, looking at these people who are just a shadow of their former selves and imagining what they used to be like and what  they may have done in their life's.

I went to visit the grave of my lovely friend Roz who died of Kidney cancer last September, the headstone is now erected with a photo of her. I am in two minds about photos on headstones, while I understand it possibly gives some comfort to their family, I also find it rather sad to see photos of  people as they were, maybe I am just in a rather a dark place at the moment.

 

 

Roz

 

That's enough talk of suffering, ultimately the living have to carry on living and we owe it to those that are sick or have passed away to make the most of our lives.  

 

I couldn't finish this post without a mention of the dogs, below is a before and after shot of a ball that they managed to destroy in only one day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is one of the culprits trying to deny all knowledge.

 

 

Jack