Garden Statues

We were walking past the recycling bins at Sainsbury’s this morning and spotted these 2 stone statues dumped in front of the bins, so we brought them back to our garden and made a home for them, we do love freebies!

Keith

Successful Nose Operation

Tuesday afternoon I had my nose operation at Warwick Hospital. The procedure is called Septoplasty.  The procedure usually involves a judicious excision/realignment of a portion of the bone and/or cartilage in the nasal cavity. My procedure was conducted under general anaesthesia, the surgeon worked through the left nostril, making an incision in the lining of the septum to reach the bone/cartilage targeted in the operation. Sufficient bone/cartilage is preserved for structural support whilst removing enough to afford the nasal passage to be larger and thus to remove the restricted airflow. After the septum was straightened, the nasal passage was blocked with a temporary gel pack which dissolves in time, to allow the wound to heal without interference from breathing, mucous production and sneezing.

I was supposed to only stop in over night, but they kept me in for 2 nights due to the nasal bleeding, especially the bleeding from the right nostril, which wasn’t supposed to happen, but this all stopped during Wednesday and the doctor was happy for me to go home Thursday morning when he checked it was all ok.

It has been uncomfortable as both nostrils started off to be blocked, and I could not blow my nose, breathe through my nose or especially sneeze, which I do a lot normally, but I have to make sure that when I do sneeze I only do it through my mouth. I have had to breathe through my mouth which dried my mouth out.

I have some spray that is French sea water, which is supposed to help clean the nasal passages. Today I can actually now breathe through both nostrils which is a bit more comfortable, although there is still some discomfort around the nasal area, hardly surprising considering what has been done.

I am looking forward to being actually able to breathe through it more easily than I was, which is why I opted to have the operation. I didn’t have to have the operation, in fact my GP said I could just leave it and live with it, but fortunately operations do not scare me and I would rather have it, than suffer as I was.

Keith.

An Extended House

All made possible since buying the Set 4 instruction booklet, which has some much larger buildings, but this is the only one I can build at present as the others require parts that I do not have. I am keeping an eye out on eBay for them though.

This afternoon Jo and I went to Warwick hospital for my pre-op assessment for my nose operation next week. Everything was going well until the nurse wanted a blood sample, we did warn her. Two nurses and 3 puncture wounds later and some blood did come out.

Keith.

Modified Bayko Roof.

Yesterday I modified one of my Bayko roofs which was broken, to create larger extension options.

It can extend a building by 2x4 bricks compared to the original size as seen in the lower photo of 1x3 bricks. Unfortunately my attempt to saw the original roof was not too successful as it cracked, and as can be seen in the top photo, a chip appeared. The missing piece is somewhere down beside our engine, which will have to be recovered at some time.

Keith.

More Bayko Creations

A Pair of small semi-detached houses and a detached house with garage.

A pair of larger semi’s and a modified detached house with garage. This is about the limit of what I can make with all the Bayko items I have.

This is the box in which I keep all my Bayko, it is pretty much full when everything is inside it. It measures 18”x12”x6”.

Keith.

Our Garden is Coming Along Nicely

Our Yucca plant flower is very much in evidence now.

Our fruit bushes are also starting to sprout.

Our sole Blackcurrant bush.

 

1 of 3 Raspberry bushes.

 

Gooseberry bushes.

 

Even our potatoes are making a good show.

Jo has some other vegetable seeds to plant in the near future, the recent overnight threat of frosts has stopped us from sowing them just yet.

Keith.

New Printer

Today we bought an HP Deskjet 1050A All-in-One Printer for £30 to replace our old Epson one, which we have been having problems with for some time now. It is a lot smaller, due to not having the capability to handle A3 paper, which we don’t need to do anyway. Being that much smaller is a distinct advantage on the boat.

Some good news, yesterday and today for the first time I have not had any abdominal pain, it has been a long time, over 3 months, but probably the final step to full recovery, apart from continuing to build up my muscle strength.

Keith.

At Least We are not Listing Now.

Even if we are not against the pontoon.

Our garden is starting to look good.

Especially the bluebells.

Our Yucca plant is sprouting a flower.

Our honeysuckle is taking shape.

Our Clematis’s are also starting to spread.

Even the rockery is coming along nicely.

Keith.

All at a List.

We were woken at 2:00am this morning when one of our Perspex windows which was leaning against the galley cupboards fell over, Jo though that Paddy had knocked it over, but soon discovered that we were listing at a jaunty angle. I rang C&RT immediately. At about 4:00am I had a call back to say they had found a paddle left open at Cape locks. However having slept for a while, we arose to discover that we were still listing and found out from Ian that in fact there was something jammed in the paddle, which they are now attempting to remove. Presumably they have kept the water level down to aid this work at Cape locks. Only damage so far is we snapped one of our mooring rings, but I have shackled a spare one on for now. Hopefully it will be resolved sometime today.

It is amusing to watch Marmite walking up and down the boat, she is obviously aware that the boat is at an angle but doesn’t understand why.

Paddy’s bed slid across the floor with him still in it!

This is him halfway through his second slide.

Keith.

Measham Teapot

Yesterday I purchased this Measham teapot to add to my collection.

Keith

Jo’s Birthday

Yesterday was Jo’s birthday. to celebrate we went out for an Indian meal at the Saffron Gold in Warwick.

We were accompanied by our friends Richard and Chrissie on nb Mandalay.

The birthday girl with Chrissie.

Richard an me. We all had a wonderful meal, and Jo and I look forward to revisiting the restaurant again in the future. It was a trial run for me as to whether or not eating later in the day would agree with me, as we have been having our main meal at lunchtime since I left hospital. So far this morning everything is ok, another step forward. It was great to have Richard and Chrissie join us, we all had a great time together.

Keith.

St. Georges Parade through Warwick

Keith.

Unveiling Bernard’s Plaque

Bernard with his plaque ready to be unveiled.

The speeches.

The mayor of Warwick unveils the plaque.

The attendees.

The plaque.

Keith.

Bernard the Willow Bear Arrives at Saltisford Arm

Bernard the willow bear arrives in Alan and Chris’s trailer, more accustomed to transporting Alpacas around.

He is maneuvered towards his ragged staff in the orchard.

Lining him up to his post.

Alan poses with his creation, which amazingly looks just like a real bear. A bear is on the coat-of-arms of Warwick.

Keith.

Final Hospital Visit

I had my final visit to the hospital today, the bag was removed (along with all the hairs on my tummy!) and now just a sticky plaster until the hole completely seals. To celebrate Jo and I went into Leamington Spa, as we had day tickets for the bus, and had a lovely Chinese buffet at the “Oriental Star”.

 

Of course when I say final visit, it was for my gallbladder problem, this coming Monday we have to return to the hospital, but this time for an MRI scan on my spine.

We can also send off the form for my nose operation.

Keith.