New Year Poem

New Year’s Eve, brisk start.

It was –5.1 c last night, making that 3 nights below –5 c. The canal has taken on a new magic.

Canal still frozen over.

Frozen out on the main line.

Brrrrrrrrr.

Paddy and Bernard.

Winter moorers waking up, fires being lit.

From the end of the Arm.

So New Years Eve is here and a New Year is now just a sleep away.

Where did this year go?

May 2015 be kind to us all. xxxxxxxx

Happy New Year.

Here we go head long towards a New Year and so Keith and I wish all our readers and friends A Wonderful 2015. May it be kind to you and yours. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A Quiet Christmas.

I hope that this posting finds you all keeping well and that you enjoyed a wonderful festive time.

My Christmas was made all the better this year, because on Tuesday 23rd December Keith came home from the hospital. having had blood tests, the consultant and doctors found that Keith’s liver was improving on its own and so they were happy to let him come home. He has to return to see the consultant in four weeks time. This was good news. The bad news was he was supposed to come home on the Monday. He was all dressed and excited at coming home, only for him to come over all poorly. Sickness and an upset tummy then took over, so the doctor said he should stay in. Now the hospital has five wards closed due to the Winter vomiting bug, so you can imagine I was praying this was not going to happen to Keith. I left Keith in the hospital and waited for a call from him, which came Tuesday morning, to say “I am coming home”. I dropped everything and rushed down to the hospital, to find Keith sitting outside the ward ready and waiting.

Back home he could spend as much time in the loo as needed and I could look after him. Our next thought was, would he be well enough to go out for our Christmas Day meal, which we book back in October. Thankfully Keith was well enough and we went to Wetherspoons as planned.

Keith was actually really looking forward to his meal.

He managed the soup, but could not manage all the main course or the pudding. Considering that he had been so poorly, I was amazed he managed so much, but he did look better for eating.

We both had a lovely time and felt quite spoilt by the team there, who made us very welcome and the food was fantastic.

Back at the boat it has been a matter of chilling-out in front of the TV.

We were treated to a beautiful sunrise this morning.

It is so quiet here, which is a blessing, because at the moment all’s we really want to do is have a quiet time after such a difficult year. I sincerely home next year will be better for us and for all those who have had a difficult year.

This past couple of years has been very difficult for friends of our Les and Jacqueline on N B Valerie. But this Christmas they received the best news ever. Les had his CT scan to check how he was doing and he is Cancer free. Long may this continue and we wish them all the very best for 2015 and hope we will see them somewhere on the cut. I hope good news comes in three’s like bad news does.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ricoh Arena.

On Friday Keith went into hospital for 24 observations and he is still in there, because with it being a weekend, there is very little done. The consultant is also waiting for the results on tests done on Friday. All’s we know is he has an infection in either his Liver or Bilary Tree, so I will update when I know more.

A few weeks ago we booked tickets with a friend to go and watch Wasps take on London Irish at the Ricoh Arena. It was to be Wasps first match in their new home. Unfortunately Keith could not make it due to him being in hospital, but he said I should still go as we had paid for the tickets. Fortunately a buyer was found for his ticket.

We set off for the Arena at 11.45 am and when we got there we parked and then walked to the stadium, which was very busy, but well organised. There were helpers along the route giving directions and advice for those who required it.

We have seen the Ricoh Arena from the Canal, but now I was standing outside of it wooo hoo.

We had a look around the fan zone whilst we waited for 9 other people to join us.

The ground filled up very quickly. There were 28,254 people there to see a fantastic game. Jake Quickenden was there singing, he sounded amazing.

The mascot did the rounds.

The first half was a quiet a fair with penalties swapping ends, with Wasps going in at half time in the lead 18-16.

No game in the two decades of Premiership rugby has been watched by more people. There were old and new Wasps fans me included, watching a heart warming match on cold winter's day in Coventry.

Andy Goode was man of the match. He set a new Premiership points record on his home patch as Wasps overpowered London Irish to make a dream start to life at the Ricoh Arena.
The Coventry-born fly-half scored 33 points, bagging a try and kicking eight penalties and two conversions in a terrific performance. London Irish in the end were over-powered by a better team, but I also think the crowd made a difference.

It was my first ever rugby match and it will not be my last.

Maria dropped me off at the hospital on our way home and I sat in with Keith for a couple of hours and told him all about the game. I felt so guilty him not being there, but we will go again I am sure.

A Very Happy Christmas.

We hope you all have a wonderful festive time and that 2015 is kind to you all.

I have not posted this much over this year, because as you will all know we have not been on the move due to Keith being poorly. We are hoping to be out and about next year, so you can expect more posts.

Update on Keith. He had an appointment with his consultant on Tuesday this week and the consultant was not that happy with him, and wanted him in hospital. The consultant suspects there may be a stone in the Liver or tubes, left over from his Gallbladder removal. But the hospital has the Winter Vomiting bug and four wards closed and a bed crisis, so we are waiting a for a bed. In the meantime, he has had blood tests done and an MRI and we await to see what happens next. It appears we are ending the year the way we began it, with the hospital at the top of the list for Keith.

I will update when we know more.

Santa has come to town.

Early on we strolled up into town, because I wanted to get some Christmas cards. Santa’s grotto was being built. The market was in full swing and there is now a definite Christmas spirit going on.

Today is Small Business Saturday, when we the shoppers are encouraged to shop in the smaller shops and give the larger stores a miss. That is very achievable in Warwick, because many of the shops are independent retailers. Having walked around the market, we made our way back to the boat and I got on with cooking lunch, which was Liver and Onions. I had left it cooking in the back cabin stove whilst we were out. The smell was sublime as I opened the slide.

After lunch, I decided to walk back into the town to go to the post office to post a parcel and some cards. The price of postage is really getting stupid and I can see us not sending cards if the price of postage goes up again.

Santa has arrived in Warwick. Santa was sat in his grotto meeting and greeting the children and some of them were adult size children. We are all still kids at heart aren’t we? I know I am. Not sure he would of allowed me to sit on his knee though.

One of Santa’s little helpers. One of Santa’s helpers seemed to have a frightening affect on small children and animals and yet I thought it was very cute, but I love a bear. One thing was certain, he/she was nice and warm. The market place was very busy, as was the rest of the town from what I could see.

Christmas is coming and this year for us will definitely be better than last years.