Wet, wet, wet.

Hi Friends.

The picture at the top say's it all really. It has been a wet old day and miserable to boot.
This morning we were awake at 6 am, now this was not planned, I had set my phone alarm for 6.30 am, but it seems that because I did not have my glasses on at the time, I set our little alarm clock for 6 am, so the alarm went off at 6 am and awake we were. The reason for the early morning call was due to the fact I had a GP appointment at 8.30 am. Because of the early hour, I made us our first cup of tea of the day and the TV went on. I did not need to open the back cabin door to see the wet weather, because Carol Kirkwood as always gave us a very concise weather forecast and yes it said it would be wet, this meant a wet walk to the surgery. I do not drive and we have not had a car since 2005. The GP surgery is about a 15 minute walk from the boat and when the roads are busy it can take longer, because crossing the road can be a bit of nightmare.
Having drunk our tea and listened to the news, which is pretty much all about Donald Trump and him being swore in as the 45th president of the United States later this week, it was time to turn the TV off, roll the bed up and close the cupboard door. Dressed and off walking Paddy by 7.15 am, which Paddy was so pleased about NOT. He took one look at the rain and thought Arghhhhh no mum, please do not make me go out in this. But needs must, he had to go out. Because it was still dark, I took a torch with me, in order to make sure I could see what I was picking up. With leaves on the ground, it can sometimes be hard to see where he has gone. Paddy was quick to do his business, because he was desperate to get back on the boat. Paddy and Marmite then got fed and whilst they ate I got on with stoking the fire up for the day. With having two coal stoves on board, we do get a lot of dust, so that needs clearing away every day, this I do with a damp cloth. Using polish is a waste of time and money, because it just spreads the dust over other things I have found and to be honest using a damp cloth does the trick.
8 am it was time for me to don my waterproof jacket and head out into the doom and gloom of a wet morning. The traffic was horrendous outside the Arm, which is pretty usual on a weekday morning. I was however very lucky because the nice drivers out there allowed me to cross the road between the cars, which was very kind of them. The walk was rather soggy, what really annoyed me more than the rain, was the speed in which cars came past me, because the puddles on the side of the road, then found themselves all over me, even though I walked right away from the edge of the pavement. Some drivers I am sure do this on purpose. I arrived at the surgery a little sodden, my trousers came off worst from the puddle drenching. I had 15 minutes to wait to see my GP, this gave me time dry-out a little, so when I met him I did not look like a drown rat.
8.30 am I was seen by my GP, and I have to go for a chest x-ray tomorrow. I also have to stay on the Amitriptyline for another month and then stop taking them to see if the Costochondritis has settled down. I am still having problems with pain, which I think is associated with my Hiatus Hernia, so I am still on Omeprazole twice a day and  to add to that I am taking Ranitidine twice a day, to see if that works. I have a month on the Ranitidine which is supposed to help with Acid reflux and this associated with stomach issues. We will give it a go, because it would be nice to be totally pain free.
The GP I am seeing is so nice, he is with the practice until August and I hope he stay's because I prefer him to the one I registered with. He was the one who told me to take Ibueprofen, which is not good for people with stomach problems. He has done a couple of things which I now question, so have decided I am not seeing him again. So I do hope my new GP stay's.
8.45 am I left the surgery and walked into the town to go to the chemist, but with it not being 9 am, I went to the Tuckery cafe for a coffee, whilst I wanted for the shops to open. The Tuckery is a common cafe, non of this expensive tea or coffee, just good old plain drinks and food. I cannot abide Costa or Starbucks, they are over rated and over priced, give me a common old cafe any day.
9 am off to the chemist to hand in my prescription and came out £25.20 p poorer. I had a 10 minute wait for my tablets, so went for a wander around the charity shops. After a wander around the charity shops, I collected my tablet and wandered home in the drizzle.
I booked my appointment for my x-ray on returning home and made a nice hot coffee. Marmite was the first to greet me. It always feels like she is is giving you a dressing down, because you have been out without her, either that or she just wants to know where you have been and what you have been doing.
I spent the afternoon doing more to the family tree, this time I am doing Keith's family tree, so keep watching, I think I may find some interesting things, because there seems to be an awful lot of Lodges who came from High Easter, Essex.