Sunday, 27th August, 2023
This morning I remember my lovely Mother-in-Law who died aged 96 in 2010. Today she would be 109. If I believed in a life after death, I would wish her the best. Unfortunately, I don’t.
Instead, I will tell her a joke.
Your Mother has been with us for 20 years, said John.
Isn’t it time she got a place of her own?
My Mother? replied Pauline. I thought she was your Mother.
I had a run round the modern (old) Olympic Stadium in 36C of hot and steamy sunshine. Pauline did what she does best ….
There is only so much you can do in this heat. Quite a bit of my exercise is done in the slightly cooler evenings on the ancient, marbled and glassy streets of Athens.
I walk under darkening, azure skies in the much cooler 28C past the imposing building that is the Grand Bretagne Hotel and on up the road to Kolonaki and all the foreign embassies. The couple of hours exercise is rewarded with two scoops of the most wonderful and refreshing Tiramisu Ice-cream.
It is the perfect antidote to burning up on Athens streets unless, of course, you are on the mean streets of Manchester, in which case, you’ll need an umbrella and a blanket!
Monday, 28th August, 2023
Coming home is always a strange and multi-levelled thing. I used to feel disappointed that our time in a place had come to an end. I no longer feel that because I know that I will be back and could go back whenever I chose. The difficulty is rationing myself. I must admit, I think of people back home as soon as I begin to travel. Up early – 6.00 am – this morning because we are going to the airport. We (Pauline) packed last night. Breakfast at 7.00 am and then checkout.
The checkout desk announced that I was now a Gold Card Guest which entitled me to considerable reductions and benefits. They called us a taxi for the airport and we were off.
At the airport by 11.00 am, we didn’t bother with a Lounge today. Actually, the airport was reasonably quiet and we had a coffee and then went down to air conditioned Gate. I contacted my friends in UK. Kevin wished me safe flight. Julie winked. Michelle wished me a good time and Dee said the sun was out and she would save it for me. One or two other people didn’t reply but that’s OK.
I was hit by an incredible sadness, loneliness and separation as I sat on board. Life – Past, Present & Future – has an incredible depth at the moment I really don’t understand what’s happening. It has huge meaning for me if not for others. I am a basically a good person. I have good intentions towards others. I know they find that difficult to understand. I love them come what may.
Never eat on short haul flights but the time difference meant we were starving and ordered ham& cheese toasties. Disgusting but necessary. The plane arrived on time. Took off more or less on time and I read and snoozed for the 3hrs. 20mins to Gatwick. In the early 1970s, it used to be 4hrs. 30 mins. This is so easy. As we landed, I sent kisses to friends to let them know. The news coming in was quite a shock. There had been an air traffic control IT problem with real knock on effects across Europe. We only learnt as we landed.
We have never been through the airport so quickly and down to the Long Stay Carpark which I had recorded on the way out because I remember nothing. The shuttle bus was waiting for us and the car was just a short walk away. I drove home in 45 mins and the post was waiting along with Welcome Home notes from friends and neighbours.
How incredibly lucky I am to have such nice people in my life. Jason had cut the lawns and John had put the bins away. The plants had all survived and we even picked some vegetables for our meal. Pauline unpacked while I cooked sea food Linguini. We drank champagne which immediately reacted with tired bodies and we went to bed.
Tuesday, 29th August, 2023
Went to bed early last night because our body clocks were 2 hours ahead and we had drunk a bottle of champagne. I never need a lot of sleep and woke at 3.00 am. Lovely, quiet time of night. Felt really happy.
The more I listened to the News, the luckier I felt about yesterday’s flight. In retrospect, I now realise why certain things happened at Athens Airport. When we got to Gate in readiness for Departure, our Boarding Passes were not checked. The Easyjet official called for Speedy Boarding passengers – which we always buy – to go on board first. Usually, they would check our Boarding Passes which indicate that but no one checked anything. We were rushed on board and the plane went down the runway unusually quickly.
Normally, the passport e-gates at Gatwick are like a cattle market as we are forced to snake around taped off lanes and queue for ages. We landed at 2.00 pm and found the airport almost deserted. We were told not to queue but to go straight through the e-gate. I have never been through an airport so quickly and we didn’t have to wait for Baggage reclaim so we were driving home very quickly. Foreign travel should always be like this.
Rather overcast this morning. Already missing that stark, brilliant blue, Athenian sky from the past week and the searing wall of heat. From 37C yesterday to 20C this morning is quite a contrast. Still I am very happy and thankful that I have the freedom to do what I want in my life. If I can get the all-clear in December, who knows what we will do, Dear Reader. Actually, I have felt quite positive this morning, floating on a wave of optimism.
Self indulgence is now over. Got quite a grim few weeks leading up to the middle of November. Really working hard on my weight and fitness prior to an intensive month of radiotherapy. I have never experienced anything serious like that so I don’t really know any more than I have read. I am going to have IGRT which is said to be less likely to damage me while killing the tumours. I have already been scanned to provide the images. I have now had 6 months of hormone treatment with two more to come. Let’s get it over with!
Wednesday, 30th August, 2023
Beautiful morning if a little Autumnal. Blue, cloudless sky. Strong, warmish sunshine but the temperature did go down to 12C/54F last night and there is a dew outside on the grass, spiders webs stretch out across the bushes, glistening in the sunshine and the patio flags feel distinctly cooler than Athens streets.
We have to face it, Dear Reader, that the Summer is over (already) and Autumn begins. Kids around the area are enjoying their last few days of freedom – many oblivious about what is to come. Parents are getting their heads down and facing the long, working stretch up to Christmas to come. I am starting my second day of hard diet and renewed exercise programme.
I use two apps on my phone that many others use also. When I met up with Kevin a couple of years ago, I was slightly surprised that he was using exactly the same apps: Garmin Connect and MyFitnessPal. They mesh together to provide an input/output data recorder.
My radiotherapy begins exactly 6 weeks today, on Wednesday, 11th October. That is my first fitness target. A month later, I will be fighting through the after effects and I don’t intend to take a backward step if I can avoid it. The rehabilitation programme will continue until I meet the Oncologist on December 29th.
My in-house chef is making strawberry jam while I have a number of ‘Office’ jobs to complete but exercise has to be incorporated into that day. Gave up constructing the cold-frames so got to engage a handyman to come and do it for me. Have to look at our energy suppliers because our 2-year contract is up at the end of December.
Our new car is only 6 months old and we have learnt of a new, plug-in hybrid model coming out in the new year. I have been asking Honda for this for ages. We may be changing our car sooner than we thought.
This morning I’ve given myself the arduous task of researching the details. It will probably be available in the early months of 2024 and will cost around £54,000 so a bit of an increase on our model which, at this rate will only have done around 6,000 miles. Still, I’ve only got a finite number of new cars left in my life so I won’t be waiting too long for it.
Thursday, 31st August, 2023
Well, we reached 22C/70F yesterday but it felt cold after Athens. This morning has opened gloomily grey. We are expecting rain so I will be in the Gym quite a bit. First I’ve got a practical problem to sort out. I know, I’m not a practical person at all but it has to be done.
Got home from a walk yesterday and heard the house Bleeping. First thought it was the Answerphone? No. Smoke alarms? – We have 4 around the house which are mains powered and interlinked. They have a battery backup system. When the batteries in one die, the unit bleeps and flashes.
Stress rises as each unit is checked in turn and the bleeping continues. Smoke Alarms not guilty. What the hell can it be and where is it coming from? Eventually, the noise is isolated to the Utility Room and a little unit on the wall that I had never noticed before – a Carbon Monoxide Alarm. After all, we’ve only been in the house 7 years. Why would I go in the Utility Room?
I understand what they are and what they do and now I’ve found it and it is next to the central heating boiler, it makes sense. How to stop it bleeping and what did that bleeping mean? Getting off the wall was easier than I expected. It is a free-standing unit just fixed with a plastic headed stud to the wall. How to open it to replace the batteries looked much more difficult. With all practical problems, I just use brute force. It makes me feel better even if it doesn’t solve the problem. It was flashing Fault. Not for long. I stuck a screwdriver into the front panel to prise it off.
Well, Dear Reader, I have never know my own strength and it flipped off immediately to reveal …. no batteries … but it was still bleeping! I thought I should start to read about this. I’m better at reading. Suddenly, on the side of the unit, I spotted the words: Replace by May, 2023. When I looked it up on the web I learned it was Battery powered by a sealed 10 year lithium battery.
By the time I had found all this, I realised it had stopped bleeping and I could research a replacement. That’s where I am going this morning. Even I can manage to hang the new one on a pin in the wall.
Friday, 1st September, 2023
I know I say it many times but time is seriously running out. The start of a new month just underlines and emphasises that feeling. It is interesting to me the psychology of that feeling. I go from a panicky sense of Stop the World I want to get off and seeing my remaining life ambitions receding as the timeline shortens to a determination to address those ambitions more urgently and with more determination. Strangely, although I know people celebrate a new month and I try to recognise it, I can’t really join in.
Why should I want to leave August? Can it ever be better to move from Summer to Autumn and then Winter. If it was practical, I would buy permanent Summer. Alas, Dear Reader, it isn’t and we are already in the Autumn of our lives.
Had a bit of ‘fun’ with the old, CO2 Alarm yesterday. Having removed and replaced it, I had left it on the worksurface in the Utility Room while I worked out where to dispose of it. Having Dinner, we were shocked to hear the dying alarm suddenly start bleeping loudly from the other room. Because I am incredibly practical (not), I thought, I can’t put this outside to risk waking my neighbours in the night. I couldn’t work out how to disable this ‘sealed’ unit. My highly attuned scientific understanding led me to submerse it in a bowl of water in the Laundry. Seemed to work. At Breakfast this morning, still under 6″ of cold water, it bleeped and flashed.
I took a hammer …. and a couple of screwdrivers … and with a bit of brute force, broke open the unit to reveal a perfectly ordinary, Duracell battery. Ridiculously, the sealed unit had to be destroyed to find that out. Good fun though … and before you say, Get a Life!, as I’ve already pointed out, that is a diminishing possibility.
Got to go to the Eye Clinic this morning. Had to go out for an early, 2hr walk. It is quite warm. Overnight, we were 18C/65F and now, at 10.00 am, we are 21C/70F. Looking forward to an Indian Summer over the next few weeks. ….
Been to the Eye Clinic which is in an old, scruffy, ex-hospital. I suppose they think people who need their eyes testing won’t notice the scruffiness! I do. It makes me uncomfortable as if I’ve re-visited 1950s Britain. Suppose that appeals to the Brexiteers. Anyway, eyes tested and photographed. Confirmed I still have two but only one works. As I’ve never known any difference, nothing has changed. Before the scan, I have powerful drops put in to enlarge the pupils. Helps to show up unusual things for examination. The drops sting like hell and leave me intensely light sensitive for 3 or 4 hours afterwards.
This afternoon, we’ve got a carpenter coming over to construct two, huge cold frames and look at a wonky door handle. Might tap him up to construct some shelving under the stairs as well.
Saturday, 2nd September, 2023
Hot and humid morning eventually reaching 24C/75F. Shopping day – Tesco & Sainsburys. Have a real craving for Dolcelatte but it is off the menu at the moment. It will be back SOON.
Lawn mowing day – for ourselves and 7 neighbours. The list is growing nearly as fast as the grass. Yesterday was really successful. The first carpenter we chose turned out to be perfect. I bought two, heavy duty, cold frames from Robert Dyas for £300.00 but the ‘sleeper’ logs they are made out of proved too tough for me to reconstruct. Had to get a man in.
When Ben arrived yesterday afternoon, I immediately liked him and felt I could trust him. It turned out he was an ex-policeman who was married to a teacher, lived in the next village and completed the job in under an hour. Asked him if he could look at a wonky door handle while he was with us and he soon sorted that out. I didn’t ask him up front how much he charged. It didn’t matter. I wanted the job done. Turns out, he charges just £40.00 per hour. I had predicted £100.00 so everything was good.
We have been incredibly lucky in the past 7 years. For 5 of them, everything was covered by our house warranty. Since then we have found wonderful tradesmen: Electrician, Plumber, Security and now Carpenter.