Trains, Boats and Christmas Cards.

Hi Friends.

It has been a manic day in many ways. Keith had his check-up at Kettering Hospital with his Urologist, so we knew it was going to be a busy old day. Our day began early as I set the alarm for 6.30am on the clock and as a back-up I set my mobile phone alarm as well, just in case the clock alarm did not go off, or the battery ran out, which would have been my luck. At 6.30am sharp my phone woke me to the tune of "Hey Sexy Lady". and then the alarm clock followed, as it was we were already awake.
Up and about and all jobs done, including walking the hound, we downed our breakfast and a cuppa and then walked round to David and Viv's boat. David very kindly dropped us off at Market Harborough's Railway Station. We bought our tickets, which would get us to and back from Kettering. Having been stood on the platform for 15 minutes the 8.42am train arrived on time and we climbed onboard the train like everyone else. It felt a little bit like being herded into a cattle truck. Some 10 to 15 minutes later we were at Kettering Station. We then had a 20 minute walk to Kettering Hospital. The hardest part of the walk is the up hill bit to the hospital, it certainly gets the heart pumping. You would not want your blood pressure or heart rate taken as soon as you got to the hospital after that climb. We arrived half an hour early, but booked in anyway. We had only been sat down for around 10 minutes when we got called into the Consulting room. Thankfully the news was excellent. Having had his operation in May, the test results came back clear and Keith was signed off by the Consultant, who was very pleased with his progress. Keith still has xanthogranulomatous prostatitis, but it is under control at the moment and not causing him any pain thank goodness. We have been told that it could flare up at anytime, but at least we now know what we are dealing with. With that news that we no longer need to go to the hosptial, we celebrated with a meal at our favourite Chinese Buffet Restuarant Lee Garden. We then did some retail therapy, which I am sad to say included buying Christmas Cards and some lights for our small tree.I did try to resist from buying Christmas things so early, but they were a bargain and I am always happy to bag a bargain. Arghhhhh Christmas is coming folks. All the shops we went into today have their Christmas stock either on the shelves or being put out. After a lovely few hours in Kettering, we caught the train back to Market Harborough and the boat. We checked to see if we had any mail, as my dear friend Tina had posted our mail to us. We also received a new battery to replace the faulty one which was under a year old. Before we settled down to a bit of peace and quiet, we connected the new battery up, under the floor of the back cabin. This ment taking the Rag Rugs and the floor up, but the job was soon done. It was then definitely time for a coffee. It has been a great day all in all and I am now looking forward to a good nights sleep. I hope that you have had a wonderful day??

A People Watcher.

Hi Folks.

This past couple of days, have been a little strange, because on the one hand I have been worried and on the other happy, this came to an end with K and I visiting the hospital for his pre-operation assessement this morning. Hopefully he is having his operation next week. I was up at 6.30am after a really bad nights sleep, to walk P, make breakfast and gets us ready for the train journey to Kettering. The journey is only about 10 minutes, but it takes a lot of preparation when living on a boat. Having got K organised, we walked to the station, which is a 15 to 20 minute walk. We then caught the 8.47am train which was 10 minutes late. Whilst we waited for the train, my people watching began. It amazes me that men dress themselves up in posh suits and elaborate ties and yet they do not clean their shoes. Yep 11 out of 12 people had dirty shoes, which had not seen polish for sometime. That is really letting the side down guys. As for the women, well this one lady in her mid 50's I would say, was wearing jogging bottoms tucked into her high heeled ankle boots, which looked really awful, it has to be said, but she clearly thought she looked the bees knees, the way she was swaggering along the platform, either that or she had one to many.
Men multi tasking is another thing I noticed. Now it is always said that men cannot multi task. I can report they can when it comes to their mobile phone. One of the work men at the station, was managing to talk on his phone and was washing windows at the same time. I could actually see him losing his phone in the bucket of water, which would have been very funny. Another young business man. One of the ones with unpolished shoes, had his mobile phone wedged between his ear and his shoulder, whilst he ccarried bags in both hands. So ladies men can multi task when they want to ha ha. The train arrived and we took the short journey to Kettering, where we then walked from the station to the hospital, which is another 15 minute walk. By the time we arrived at the Treatment Centre, we were both in need of a drink, but there was no time for that, because no sooner had we booked in, we were filling in forms and talking to the assessment nurse, who it has to be said was extremely nice. She gave us all the information we needed for K's operation. K had more blood taken. His veins are shutting down now, no sooner they are shown a needle, but eventually the nurse found a vein willing to give up it gold. he had another MRSA swab and yet another urine test. With leaflets in hand and advice given, we said goodbye and headed for the cafe for a much needed coffee. After coffee we decided to take the short walk into Kettering town centre, which is looking very sad indeed, with more shops having closed down since we were their in February. Kettering has really suffered in this recession, which is a real shame. It does make you wonder if they they will be able to recover. We did the Charity shops and the Shopping Centre and then it was time for some lunch, so we went to our favourite Chinese Buffet for lunch, which as always was fabulous. Our train home was not due for another hour, so we had a further stroll around the shops, before walking tiredly up to the station.
We are now back home and completely shattered. Thankfully I do not have to cook for dinner tonight, because we have already eaten. We are expecting some friends to drop by later, I just hope I can keep my eyes open long enough. I know I  will be going to bed early tonight.