Well Susan is her father's daughter after all?

Sue needed to go to Stella's flat to feed her 2 hamsters this morning as she is on holiday in Scotland.

Having got up and had breakfast, showered and dressed I was ready to go. 

Sue also needed to go to the bank to change the machines we use for logging into online banking so I dropped her in the square and came back home.

At about 1210 I get a phone call to say could I pick her up?

So off I trots and when we get home it transpires that Sue was unable to find her keys'. So then it was a case of "hunt the keys" which reminded me so much of the late Ronald Dowdle, Sue's father. He always had a problem with losing his keys'. He would have been a hundred years old this year, bless him.

Anyway to continue the saga she went through all her drawers, everywhere she could think of as they had not been seen, it appears since before we went on holiday to Scotland, blimey that was mid September and Sue had put them in a "safe place" while we went away as she would not need them and this on top of mislaying the spare car keys before we went away?

In the end it occurred to me that I had not seen her look in the light handbag that I remember her using before we went away, you know the one that you left at Danny's! Lol.

Well needless to say that was where they were when we cleared all the DVDs out from in front of the old wardrobe there it was.

It is still a total mystery to me as to why Sue did not check she had the keys before she left here? 

So another trip out tomorrow it seems to feed the hamsters? Better luck this time hopefully?

Thoughts and fears about the impending operation?

Whilst we were on holiday I missed an appointment for an echocardiogram. That has been rearranged for the 28th of October and was I think perhaps arranged to see if any damage was done during the episode or event before we went away when I ended up in A&E.
I think what has brought it home more and brought forth these apprehensions and fears also arriving while we were away was a Cardiac Pre-admission Appointment for the 7th November. That usually means that the operation is planned within 2 or 3 weeks from then?
In answer to the above it seems I am to be admitted on 3rd December and the operation is planned for the 4th? This is as long as no emergencies come up in the meantime that will delay it.
Strange as it seems I am not particularly worried about the operation, I think that is because I have complete trust in God and the path He has chosen for me! Yes there will always be little niggles but I put that down to Satan trying to put fears and unfounded concerns into my mind.
Funny thing is I know nothing as yet as to whether it is just a bypass, double triple or more and to be honest it is totally in God's hands and I am sure it will be revealed to me in good time?

New corner suite

Well today it arrived. After much procrastination.
It is quite comfy but I am sure it will get more so over time and use.

Why we could not stay at Rose Cottage!

Why it was no longer possible for us to stay at Rose Cottage!
There were a great many issues within the property that Sue in particular did not feel comfortable or safe with and they were:-

The en-suite, step and basin.

Shower over bath, no handrails.

1a) Both showers were very difficult for us to access, the en-suite was difficult to use due to 2 steep steps and also had a loose basin you could not hold onto, 1b)the one over the bath was impossible due to lack of aids (grab handles/handrails)

Step from lounge to kitchen.

2) The step down from the lounge to the kitchen was onto a polished tile floor that was slippery and quite steep.
3) Accessing the garden was nigh on impossible because of the gravel and uneven surfaces which became slippery when wet.
4) The off road parking was a joke as it took so long to manoeuvre the car to a position where it was possible to access the doors, so it was only really convenient to park on the road at the front. Also see 3.

Sofa with packing.

5) The sofa in the lounge had collapsed springs and it was almost impossible to rise easily from without packing it with cushions to raise you up.
6) The spare room was hazardous to get into the bed one side due to a mantle that blocked one side of the bed. (We did not use this room so was not an issue for us) but felt it needed noting.
7) There were notes here there and everywhere with house rules on them which were mainly common sense but made it feel like you were children not to be trusted!
So that is 9 reasons in all and here are a few photos to back them up.

S.R.T. Day 23. Thurs 10/10. The Trip Back Home to Cornwall.

Ah it seems the Satnav surprises us again!

What a pleasant surprise it was as well. I had in my head that I was in for a boring ole trip home via the A1, A1M, M18, M1, A42, M42, M5 & A30, how wrong could I be? The Satnav being programmed for the fastest route had other ideas!

We set off from Rose Cottage at 0640 toward Berwick-upon-Tweed along the B6470 for about 1 and a half  miles and it turned us down a lane for about a mile or so and right onto the A698.
We followed this (A698) via Kelso and by now it was starting to get light and we could see a lovely sunrise behind us. This road carried us on via Selkirk where we picked up the A7 going via Hawick (Hoik), Langholm and Longtown following the Scottish Borders Route to Carlisle, finally picking up the M6 at jcn44.
This was a beautiful road that we had followed in parts before whilst staying and touring about from Jan Murray's at Glencaple.
By now it was time for breakfast so we stopped for a bacon roll before the long drag down the M6 and M5 as far as Michael Wood services for a lunchtime KFC, stopping only the once in between to do my blood sugar and urinate.
Then it was a non-stop run on home via the M5 & A30 arriving at around 1620.
480 miles in 9 hours 40 minutes with stops! Not bad for an old 'un? Lol.

Scottish Road Trip. Day 22. Weds 09/10. Prep day.

Well today is the penultimate day of our time away on holiday!
Sue is getting the cases packed and I am getting the car fuelled up and oil & water checked then to try to put it into what is described as "large parking area" in the rear of the cottage which I more describe as a postage stamp sized, seeing as the car has to be put in at an angle even to get the doors open and the gates closed!
I will then get it mostly packed for the trip back tomorrow.

Liz is in the BRI.

Had a call from Liz on Saturday to say that she has a DVT. I am sure that I am the only person who does not know what the hell she was talking about? Anyway to cut a long story short I had a message today to say that she had a trip in an ambulance at 0500 this morning to the BRI as it has moved and is causing her pain.

S.R.T. Day 21. Tues 08/10. Lindisfarne & Bamburgh Castle.

We were up by 7am and had a shower nearly falling yet again so had a discussion about it over breakfast and we finally decided that enough is enough and with all the issues concerning the property in which we are staying (link to rose cottage). We have had enough of living with the possibility of falling from the shower and from the step down from the lounge to the kitchen. We have decided that we are going to return home on Thursday, Sue was ready and quite willing to go on Monday but I have persuaded her to stay until Thursday! I will go more into this when we are home and in another post?

Well we were out by 1000 and heading for Holy Island aka Lindisfarne and going over the causeway noticed how near the water was to covering it and reaching the other side decided we possibly did not want to be stuck there for 5 to 6 hours so returned to go down the coast to Bamburgh and following that to Alnwick to visit the castle there.

Bamburgh Castle from the town.

Needless to say this as it normally does changed by the minute and seeing such a beautiful castle at Bamburgh decided we would have a look not realising that it was not English Heritage. £11.25 each later and the cheeky sods even charge £3.00 on top of that for parking!

Saddleback pig and British Shorthorn Bull.

I will admit though that it was worth every penny that Sue spent. I bought lunch there and Sue got some lovely bone china tea mugs with animals on for my silver wedding anniversary present.
Three and a half hours later and very tired we limped back to the car and had to admit that it was worth every penny.

Sue's mug from Bamburgh.

We are going to have to return to the area to revisit Holy Island when perhaps I have had my operation and am more able to tackle the hill up to the monastery.
Photos to follow when home.
Returned to Rose Cottage for tea and nap!

S.R.T. Day 20. Monday 07/10. Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Rain forecast for the day so planned a ride out stopping at a wayside pub for lunch.
The precipitation failed to materialise so went for a short ride and ended up in Berwick-upon-Tweed about 1200 and decided lunch here would be nice then a wander after. Found a very helpful fellow who recommended a pub called The Brewers Arms saying it was reasonably priced and the food was good, he even told us where to park near it.
Had lunch, gammon and pineapple for me and the same but with egg for Sue! Turned out he was right and we are going to trip advisor it when I get home it was so good and unfortunately they do not have a web site.
Back to the cottage for tea and a nap!
Goodnight all.

S.R.T. Day 19. Sunday 06/10. Yet Another Recovery Day.

I tend to call them lazy days but I have come to realise especially after long drives that I do definitely need recovery time. I am so pleased that we took 4 days doing 3 stages to get up to Thurso for the start of our holiday.
I must admit that the closer we get to the final day travelling the 479 miles to get from here to Cornwall, the more I look at it with trepidation and wonder how long it is going to take me to recover from this one?

S.R.T. Day 18. Sat 05/10 Banff to Norham (Berwick-upon-Tweed).

Up and car packed before breakfast which we had at Ocean View as there were no suitable paces we knew of on the way!
Away at 0930 ish deciding to call at a viewpoint overlooking the three bridges over the Forth so put that postcode in the sat-nav expecting it to take us via Aberdeen?
Obviously and I am so pleased to say that there being a major hold up in the Aberdeen area the sat-nav had other plans for us!
Firstly I was mystified as to why it turned us onto the A97 Huntley road so we had a conflab and decided there must be a reason for this so followed instructions and went via Huntley and Lumsden (sorry Timothy for those old enough) Then it turned us onto the A944 via Bellabeg and into the Grampian Mountains, from here on the scenery just got better and better!
We followed the A944 until we were turned onto the very lovely B976 which is a single track road with passing places.
Imagine our surprise and delight on coming to the end of this road at seeing a RED SQUIRREL cross the road in front of us and paused for us to get a good look before vanishing up a tree.
We then turned onto the A93 following this all the way to Perth via Braemar, Spittal of Glenshee which is big skiing country seeing another Red Squirrel crossing the road on the way to which I remarked to Sue, "If that had been a grey I would have put my foot down to hit it" and I meant it!

Shortly after this we stopped for a cuppa and cake lunch at Cray pottery tea rooms called "Wee House of Glenshee" where they had the strangest sign in the toilet and I quote, "Please do not flush anything except toilet paper down the toilet. Please use the bin provided. Thank you"!! Of course with my literal mind I imagined the bin to become pretty full very quickly as it was very small! Ha Ha Ha!

Following continually on the A93 until we reached Perth, skirting the outside to get onto the M90 and her it gets boring as it then started to rain quite heavily.

Just about all we got to see of the Forth Rail Bridge!

Alas this meant we would not be stopping for photos so on we went around Dunfermline and over the Queensferry Bridge for the first time as I had been over the Forth Road Bridge when up here in 2004 and picking up the A720 Edinburgh ring road, crawling, until we came off on the A68 at Oxton then the A697/B6456 to Duns/B6460 zigzagging on different roads until we reached our home for the next week in West St. Norham.
Unpacked and off to Tesco for supplies.
Sue came out with a face like thunder as they did not have a cooked chicken that she had planned for meals for the next couple of days. In fact she was so cross that several other things we required were forgotten!LOL.
Back for curry and rice for tea and a quiet evening watching strictly.

S.R.T. Day 17. Friday 04/10. Fish and chips yummy.

View from window of Ocean View.

We rose reasonably and were supposed to go to Duff House and Gardens locally but decided instead to enjoy this lovely property for one more day and have a fish and chip lunch before packing to hit the road again tomorrow.
So we sat on a lovely day and enjoyed the sea out of the window, I think if Sue could rent this place from today on a permanent basis I would have been sent home to pack and arrange removals!

The last sunset at Ocean View.

Just to cheer us (not) there was the most beautiful sunset since we had been here.

Scottish Road Trip. Day 16. Thurs 03/10. Elgin and Lossiemouth.

Penultimate day here so went along the coast road to Elgin stopping at Christies Garden Centre at Fochabers for coffee which was atrocious.
Looked for a cup there as my reminder of the trip but alas nothing in bone china let alone the size I want!
Had a lovely KFC in Elgin and filled up with fuel at 129.9ppl. Nice price  so filled to the brim.

Back to Banff via Lossiemouth (video)and a couple of jets took off while we were there, noisy or what! Took some pics, bought a cake (mint shortbread) each which I had not seen before, very sweet but very nice.
Got back to Victoria Gardens at about 1600 in time to watch Antiques road trip which is in Scotland this week!

S.R.T. Day 15. Weds 02/10. Stormy Night, Lazy Day!

After a very stormy and windy night we slept until 0700! Yes that was 7 I said!
We decided looking out of the window that the visit to Huntley Castle and museum was a non-starter.
Off we went when it died down a bit to get milk at the Coop and listened to a book and music then watched the athletics world championships.
Doc Martin at 2100 to round off the day!
OH WHAT AN EXCITING LIFE WE LEAD! LOL!

S.R.T. Day 14. Tuesday 01/10. Coast Road to Pennan and Fraserburgh.

I was up about 0635 but Sue never rose until just before 0800 after a very bad night of not being able to get comfortable.

The quiet beauty that is Pennan.

Decided on a ride along the coast to Fraserburgh via the B and unclassified roads. Found a very beautiful place called Pennan. Down a 17% hill (that is 1:6 in old money) for half a mile but the cove and harbour at the bottom were worth the struggle. Sue found the house that was in the position of her dreams but needs bigger windows!!!

Sue's dream house "but needs bigger windows"!

After a few more detours to lovely places we then arrived at Fraserburgh in time for lunch. Parked in the centre of town outside as it turns out a Wetherspoons! Ordered 2 steaks and 2 drinks = £16.10p, now thats' more like it except we had to send both steaks back as both were well overcooked. When the replacements came mine was perfect but alas Sue's was a little undercooked.

Fish sculpture in Fraserburgh.

Had a wander around the town looking at the architecture and the docks before a steady drive back to the cottage for a relaxing evening.

S.R.T. Day 13. Monday 30/09. Our Silver Wedding Anniversary.

A lie in until 0700 then up and wishing each other HAPPY ANNIVERSARY and a long lazy preparation before going out to see Fyvie Castle.
Set off about 1030 as they do not open until 1100. National Trust for Scotland only open fully for 3 months of the year. The 1st of July until the 30th September, then it seems that due to lack of tourists outside of that time they only open Fri to Mon which seems strange as 2 of those days are change over days!
Arrived about 1115 due to confusion in signing missing the first guided tour which is really the only one that it is practical to take for us, mainly due to my illnesses. The other problems it causes is that we are slow as we are not as young as we were being 70 & 69. It is very awkward when everyone seems to be waiting for you? Also then of course your time in each room is curtailed due to arriving late from the last one!
We decided to give the house a miss and go to see the shop and get a drink. Usual stuff in the shop and an antique dealer had a cabinet there which had a lovely present for Christmas for someone.
It then started raining and that cut our visit even shorter.
While we were in the shop we asked the ladies about a nice place to eat?They recommended the Fife Arms in Turriff! Oh why do we listen to others when it comes to getting food. Folk for some reason seem to think that we are made of money as this turned out to be one of the most expensive burgers we have ever seen! Steaks varied between £29 and £38 for 8oz sirloin and fillet respectively.
By this time I had no choice but to eat or go hypo, beginning to wish I had chosen hypo as by the time we had finished we had run up a bill for over £43 for 2 drinks, 2 burgers and 2 coffees! Well I suppose it is our anniversary and Sue is worth it but we both felt we were like fish out of water!
Ah well back to earth, shopping at Tesco and back home.
Another day tomorrow.