Reminiscing.......

Its a strange and surreal time I'am going through at the moment.

After spending the day with Elaine, I take the doggies for a walk to the pub and chill for a while then its home to dinner open the laptop and check out facebook, emails etc. I often check out the blog to see what we were doing this time last year the year before that etc.

This time three years ago we were in London with the boat and of all our adventures its the one that we both loved so much, we were blessed with a month of hot sunny weather plus Kate was preparing to have the royal baby at St Marys hospital which is located right next to Paddo basin.

How lucky were we to not only get some photos of Kate but also have a chat with her!!!

You can read about it here 

Huge Thanks..

I managed to get a walk in this morning between the downpours.

First stop was the stables to say good morning to the horses.

I found a new pathway that also happens to be a shortcut to Sutton Hall  

Many thanks for the generous donations  to my Niece it is appreciated more than you can imagine.

I reckon they will hit the target today after one day of fund raising and its all down to you guys. I shouldn't be surprised if it goes well above the target which wont be a bad thing.  

On the subject of good things Elaine seemed a bit brighter today, I'm really hoping that maybe we will be able to get her into the car this week and go for a bit of a jaunt....fingers crossed. 

I Don't Like To Beg But.........

As you all know Elaine has been fighting this cancer for three years, its been pretty damn crap but financially it hasn't been too hard so I don't need or expect any help.

Elaine's lovely sister is also battling cancer, once again she doesn't require any financial help.

Now for the real bad one....my niece Leigha has a 11 month old baby Alfie he has just been diagnosed with a rare cancer, he has already undergone a 4 hour operation to remove the tumour and has now started chemo.

The difference is that this is a young couple who are both working and this is going to hit them financially.

A Go Fund Me page has just been set up, any help would be so much appreciated by Elaine, myself and of course my niece Leigha and her husband Brad.

Please help if you can....... here is the link.....   https://www.gofundme.com/AlfieWilmsTumour

I'm Just Walking The Dog

The farm campsite is a reasonable size and is licensed for eight caravans and motorhomes, it is generally empty during the week so you can moor up anywhere as the electric points are dotted all around the perimeter.

Imagine my surprise when I came back from visiting Elaine when I found another motorhome moored up just a few feet from me. 

He did move later on which was good I do like to have a bit of space...

When I walk the dogs I walk up some steps to the canal, we pass a window of a little cottage. About two weeks ago there was a cat in the window, and the boys and the cat had a good old boxing match against the glass.  Now they have a nose through the window, every time we walk past. 

My walks generally pass the canal at some point. 

Yesterdays walk across the fields were blocked by some rather large bovines, all laying down beyond the sheep, I decided to back track rather than get trampled, it really could ruin your day. 

And finally past the Sutton church before arriving back at base.

Elaine had a blood transfusion yesterday so hopefully it will perk her up a bit.

My thoughts today are with Les (NB Valerie) his cancer has come back and its not good, it really is a bastard disease!

Cows!!

The visitors continue to come, a couple of day ago it was my brother, sister, brother in law, nephew and his girlfriend that popped up from daan saaf.

As per usual I have been walking the boys around the country side in the morning before I go to the hospice.

We had  a good chat with a lot of cows yesterday. 

Life is still going good on the farm, even the weather has improved. 

We have also had one day with no visitors, Bombo just loves crashing on the bed with his beloved mum. 

My brother and his wife also visited but I forgot to take a pic.... 

I think it is now to stop any more pics from the hospice so I'm not quite sure where the blog will go from here, probably more pics of cows!

Flasher Mac

When we left Spain to head back to the van it was all a bit of a rush, Elaine left me a list of stuff to take in the van, plus I went from room to room picking bits and pieces to take.

I forgot one very important bit of a kit, mainly because they had all been stashed away and not been used.

WET WEATHER GEAR!

I have been here now exactly one month, the first 5 days were hot and sunny,  unfortunately after that it was situation normal with rain rain and more rain.

So yesterday I bit the bullet and went looking for a raincoat, I went around all the charity stores first because the new me doesn't like spending money on nice stuff, I prefer the dero look!

Unfortunately none of the shops had a coat so I had to resort to Millets and buy a Peter Storm wet weather jacket.....Do you want a bag the shop assistant said, Have you seen the weather out there I replied, I'm wearing it! 

I have only had it a day and its seen a months worth of rain, I'm pleased to say it is very dry underneath!

This morning I woke to brilliant sunshine, perhaps  should have bought it a month ago!

A selfie pose this morning and yes ladies I'm naked underneath!!!

Yesterday we had visitors from Swindon, namely Elaine's brother Terry, wife Jill their daughter Callie and son Jon. Jons girlfriend Jema also accompanied them. 

The lovely chocolate lab Ruca came along for the ride. 

Elaine has been on a very boring diet since being in the hospice, but has been pining for a Thai takeaway, so last night her wish was granted, I picked up a lovely dinner from the Maliwan Thai in Macc town centre, plus a couple of beers so we had a lovely dinner back at the hospice.

Today my sister and her family are driving up from Milton Keynes. 

Its Not All Bad.

Its quite tough going to the hospice everyday and watch Elaine struggling, so every morning I go for a walk with the dogs through the countryside to get myself ready for the visit, its just such a shame that Elaine cant come with me on the walks :-(  

I cant imagine what she is going through, but she does it day after day with no complaints.

Back to the walk... My favourite walk is along the Macclesfield Canal and down the Bosley flight, its just magical.

Even had time for a selfie.

The top lock cottage is pretty special as well .

Only one visitor yesterday, and that was my niece Kimberley, she drove up from Milton Keynes and stayed with me for a couple of nights in the motorhome.

Today Elaine's friend Jane (on the right) visited with her aunt Maggie. Jane has been a fantastic support for the both of us, with flying out to Spain to bring Elaine back plus lending me her car.

We met her Aunt Maggie when she and her hubby Steve were driving their motorhome through Mojacar last February, we also met them about 10 years ago when they were driving around Oz.

And what a great win for Wales tonight!