Great Bedwyn to Crofton.

Heather we are heading to Devizes, very slowly, the trip can be done in 3 or 4 days, we are taking weeks.

Flis, not everyone who lives in a boat lives clutter free, some boats make my teeth itch as they are full of bric -a-brac, trinkets and whimsy. A sudden move would cause a tsunami of broken memories.

Some boats are owned by hoarders and the only way they can get into their boat when they moor is by emptying piles of rubbish into the towpath. Some leave their rubbish behind and some return all the rubbish to their boat before setting off again.

Our boat is quite bare apart from my yarn and Steve's piles, he keeps all sorts of crap in small piles beside the places he sits, he has cleaning cloths for his glasses, three or four masks, the disposable ones, mainly with broken elastic, rags in case he spills something, antihistamine cream, sun cream, pots to keep his hearing aids in, a torch, a fan, a charger for his kindle and three phones. His current phone and two old defunct ones, they move from pile to pile as he changes seats.

Janf, our friends are on their own boat, this is why every lock has to be done twice, once for each boat. You wouldn't be impressed with my cooking today I'm doing ham, egg and chips a very lazy meal. 

There is a shop in Great Bedwyn, unfortunately they didn't have the bread Steve likes so he's stuck with baguettes and wraps. He only likes soft white bread, nothing with any bite or flavour, it will be a few days before we reach another shop. 

Wind and rain

 I had a list of jobs to do today as today is a rest day when we stay put and don't cruise.

Yesterday I cleaned all the windows bar one, I need to clear the kitchen surface before I can do the last window. I shall clean that last window after I've posted this.

I sweep and mop most days as the boat gets dirty as we walk through with muddy boots. When we moor up I need to pass the front and back roles to whoever is on the bank. I don't take my boots off as I will be going out to hold the ropes once I've passed them out.

Today I cleaned the bathroom, I hate this job as the bathroom is very dark with dark wood and a tiny port hole. There are two large mirrors that always need cleaning, I swear Steve must wave his toothbrush around when he cleans his teeth.

I had intended to clean the back seating area on the boat but we've had strong wind and heavy rain so I gave that a miss. 

Instead I decided to sort out my clothes, I don't have many clothes, they fit on two small shelves in my wardrobe. I made a pile of the items that are really fit for rags, the teeshirts I put under the sink to use as cleaning cloths. The rest I'll put in the rubbish bin tomorrow. I hope to find some good charity shops soon as I'm now down to two teeshirts, two cotton tops, one pair of leggings and two summer dresses.

Froxfield to Great Bedwyn

Love the Canal no 5 Jaccs.

Rambler, we are travelling with friends, I wouldn't consider  this trip otherwise. Steve is managing but only just. If we weren't with friends we would do 1 lock and then moor up for a few days so Steve could rest.

Our mooring at Froxfield was very noisy as we were so close to the railway line so we moved on to Great Bedwyn. The trains were across a field so not running right beside the canal so it was a little quieter. Great Bedwyn  has a shop and Post Office which sells fresh bread that is delivered every morning by a nearby bakery. It also has rubbish disposal, a water point, pump out and elsan. 

Hungerford to Froxfield

 We travelled from Hungerford to Froxfield, unfortunately at one of the locks Beano discovered the corpse of something grey and furry. It was too decomposed to determine what it had been. Beano decided to roll it it!

He stank to high heaven, I washed him with a sponge but he still stank so instead of travelling on the boat with Steve, Beano and I walked from lock to lock.

When we finally moored up Beano had yet another shower!

We only stayed a couple of night at Froxfield as we were so close to the railway line so it was extremely noisy.

We have now moved on again.

Beano's had a bad day.

Unknown, yes correct.

Weaver, we were in Hungerford, it's very pretty but we're moving on now. We've filled the freezer with meat from the local butcher, the cupboards are full, the water tank is full and the poo tank is empty.

Janf, we have to keep moving, we have to abide by the 'constant cruiser' rules. Tow path moorings are two weeks, this mooring on Hungerford Wharf a is two days, some places are one day, some are seven day.

Ellen as our boat is 10ft wide there are parts of the canal where the locks are too narrow for us to travel through.

Beano has had a couple of bad days. In Thursday he had a shower, as soon as I turned the water on he ran and tried to hide. When I tried to pick him up he scrambles away crying. Eventually he ran to the back of the boat and jumped on Steve's lap. There was no escape, I lifted him down and carried him to the shower. I have no idea why he hates being washed so much but he does hate getting wet. 

By Friday he'd just about forgiven me for getting him wet when my son in law arrived to take Beano to the vets with me. Poor Beano had to have his jabs, he also had his claws clipped and his skin checked over. The vet believes Beano has an allergy as he doesn't have fleas or mites. He now has some tablets to take, apoquel a four week trial. I left the vets £116 lighter! Beano has forgiven me again.again

Here he is asleep beside me despite the thunder, lightening and heavy rain.

Still sunny

Thank you for the info about the app, I think Steve has it on his phone but hasn't used it. I've tried to download it but I can't get it to work. 

This was the view from my side hatch yesterday, we will move on soon as we are on a 2 day mooring although we can stay for 7 days if we need to.

Give me strength!

 I've always had problems with the pharmacy I collect Steve's prescriptions from.

Most visits take about 20 minutes because they can never find the prescription I'm trying to collect.

They couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery.

Every time they tell me there is no trace of the prescription until I show them the email confirming it. 

It's always my fault that they can't find it, I've always been too early or too late. There must be a three minute window when the prescription would be ready to collect, I miss this window and after that the prescription disappears into some sort of black hole.

Today, they excelled themselves, not only did they claim there was no trace of the prescription but when they did eventually track it down they weren't happy with the address on the prescription and wanted chapter and verse about why the address had been changed! Why now? It was changed months ago, are people not allowed to move now without permission from their pharmacy?

Then just to be  really helpful when I asked for my prescription which is issued three monthly on something called Fast Track, I was informed that they don't do that any more! Common courtesy would suggest that informing me of this before I had run out of tablets would have been a good idea!

So do I have to contact my surgery for more tablets? Their only answer was a shrug. Can I get through to my surgery? Of course not!

Hot, hot, hot

I think most of us are. I'm not complaining though as we have had weeks of grey overcast weather.

I've had Wi-Fi problems, computer problems and a few other things too, the problems won't be resolved but hopefully I can come to terms with them.

Kate, yes I know about the problems getting car parts, if you they just said that I would understand. I'm annoyed at the constant changes and lies.

Beano has had a few short walks along the tow path as it's shady. 

Despite the heat Steve still wanted a full cooked breakfast and a roast dinner, beef today, I bought it from the butchers near where we are  moored. I shall buy another piece to put in the freezer.

Our old friend Micky the Bodger turned up this morning and is moored behind us. We've also been keeping an eye on another boater who is having difficulty walking in a straight line. Nice chap but permanently pissed.

Calling bullshit

 My car is still not ready, firstly they were waiting for parts.

Then I was told the parts have arrived and the car would be ready on 8th July, then the 15th July. Today I was told that they were waiting for parts. I explained that was wrong as they have used that excuse already. Then they changed it to the car is being re-sprayed.  

No it isnt, the vandalism didn't cause damage to the paintwork. I called bullshit, and told them to get on with the work.

Now the garage are blaming covid and saying the car cannot be collected and must be delivered, more bullshit!

I shall get my son to drive over to the garage and check it out. He's a trained mechanic and will find out what's going on

Jaccs has asked why I'm giving up driving.

I had macular traction in my left eye, I had surgery to correct it but the surgery failed, my retina was split instead. Because I had the surgery I'm now developing a cataract in that eye.

I have now developed macular traction in my right eye, because I had a severe reaction to the previous surgery and because it failed I am not eligible for further surgery.

I can still see well enough to drive for now but had decided to give up when I reached 70 later this year.

I have now decided to give up a few months earlier.

.

Decision made

 My car should be ready for collection on Thursday, I shall phone tomorrow to confirm. If it's ready a friend will collect it from the garage and it will be taken to the marina where we overwinter. If it's not ready by Saturday my friend will be on holiday for 6 weeks and will not be able to collect it. In which case I will ask DD2 to collect it. It will need to be sold but it may have to wait until we return to the marina. We are booked in for the 1st November and I'm giving up driving on the 21st.

All you can eat buffet

 The local mosquito population seem to have descended on my arm last night. 

They obviously decided it was an all you can eat buffet.

I've spent the day trying not to scratch, my arm is very hot and swollen.

Beano

Beano is sat on the back of the sofa hoping I'll share my KitKat with him.

Car

My car should be ready today but I can't get a lift to collect it until Saturday.

I think I'm going to leave it on DD2's drive once I get it back, hopefully it will be safer there. I'd rather just sell it, I'm giving up driving in November so it's not really worth keeping it. I just need to convince Steve! He needs me to keep driving so I can take him for his blood tests and collect his prescription.

In response to some of the comments.

We can't change Drs as we are classed as No Fixed Abode, we have been with our current surgery for 15 years and they agreed to keep us on their books. Our only other option would be to change to The Drs in DD1's village but we have no way of getting there.

The last time I contacted the practice manager it was to complain about being diagnosed as diabetic. I am not diabetic and know enough about the readings the Dr was quoting to know it was bullshit. He was pushing the Cambridge diet, his wife was a Cambridge Consultant, I complained and received a very shitty reply from the Dr concerned. He has since left the surgery.

I know that Drs have been told to offer more f2f consultations but most still aren't.

Steve's symptoms aren't new, they are from his stroke, as for depression, the surgery are aware of it but there is no cure for that or his anxiety. Hence the "Go away and live with it" reply, as Lame Wolf says, she was given the same response as many others have been. 

When Steve first left hospital I was assured that there would be lots of help available. There wasn't, we had six weeks of daily  visits from the early discharge team but nothing else. The local stroke club meant I got a couple of hours break every week but that closed once the pandemic hit.

Steve has good days and bad, I try to ensure we do a little as possible on bad days. In three weeks time we will be travelling with friends which will make things easier.

One I made earlier

 

A hat and scarf for me for the winter, hopefully we will have a summer before winter arrives.

The hat is large as I have very long hair that I wear held up with a clip comb, this hat will fit over my hair.

The scarf is short and stitched together at the ends. Short, neat and it will fit under my winter coat.

The Dr has always refused to discuss Steve's stroke with him and Steve has been signed off by the consultant so there really isn't any help. We have had help from the stroke association but our local group closed due to covid.

Claification

Our surgery has a triage system whereby the receptionist asks why you wish to see the Dr. 

The receptionist then makes a decision about whether or not you need an appointment

When Steve developed gout he phoned and spoke to the receptionist, he was then offered a telephone appointment. 

After the telephone consultation he was offered a face to face appointment. 

This time because he wants to discuss his stroke recovery he can't have an appointment of any sort. The advice is go away and live with it.

Blood test

 Steve went for a blood test this morning. Because my car hasn't been repaired yet it meant he had to catch a train to Theale where DD2 picked him up and drove him to the Drs surgery. Once he'd had the test DD2 drove him in to Reading so he could go shopping and have breakfast.

He left here just before 9 and returned at 2:30, he was absolutely knackered and went to bed for a hour. He has managed to buy new trousers, tee shirts and underkecks so it was a successful day for him.

He asked at reception if he could make a Drs appointment but no, just carry on and make the best of things.

Calmer today

Steve has spent most of today in bed.

He has had MRI scans in the past.

He sees the Dr only about his gout.

There is no follow up with regards to his stroke, his consultant's advice was for him to go away and live the best he can with what he's got.

Obviously there is no help or backup available.

Three years

 We had a Chinese takeaway this evening, it was delicious.

We worked out that it's three years since we last had one.

Where we are moored its about a ten minute walk to collect the takeaway.

Steve isn't well today,  we went shopping but he couldn't remember what he wanted from the hardware shop. He forgot to take a mask but fortunately I had a spare with me. He insisted on going into the butchers to chose the bacon for tomorrow's breakfast but came out with six gammon steaks instead of six rashers of back bacon

He walked straight out into traffic but fortunately I was able to grab him. 

He has Beano either on a very long lead which means he gets in everybody's way or he has him on too short a lead. He gives Beano loud and contradictory instructions, fortunately Beano ignores Steve but usually obeys me.

It's like Steve has scrambled eggs instead of brains, he is aware that he's struggling but this just means he tries to do everything. He has to hold my hand, the dog lead and the shopping trolley, gets hopelessly tangled and gets extremely cross when I take one of them, usually Beano, away from him. 

He can't bear me to go shopping without him, I think he sees it as a loss of control.