It is actually 8-05 p.m. on Saturday night. I have just opened my first tin of John Smiths as we draw to the end of a good day. We took my boat Silverburn out on sea trials this afternoon and managed two circumnavigations of Castletown bay. The wind was from the Northwest, blowing at about force 5 with sea conditions slightly choppy. Silverburn performed with flying colours and rode the waves nicely, shipped a little bit of spray but only managed a top speed of 6 knots with 5 people onboard. Non
10 a.m. It isn’t a bad day today. I was hoping for the wind to have died away as I would like to take my boat Silverburn out on her maiden voyage this afternoon. Thankfully that is the case, so later we will circumnavigate Castletown bay several times. This is because I think there might be around 10 passengers and I only have life jackets for 5 or 6, so I will do it in relays.
Dad is very much in my mind today, as he usually called on Saturday lunchtime. At 12 o’clock it would be nice if I
9.10 a.m. I'm just back from morning walk. Its raining and I never met a soul on my wanderings. I was really hoping to take my boat Silverburn out on her sea trials later this afternoon, however, those nasty men at Ronaldsway have forecast the wind will go round to the southwest and increase to about force 5 which will mean we put off our sea trials until tomorrow.
Listening to the radio this morning I hear that the 45 million pound extension to the runway at Ronaldsway is going ahead. It s
It is 8.22 a.m. I’m just back from my morning walk and there is a touch of rain in the air this morning. I have managed to get a 45 minute walk in without Skipper chasing anyone or harassing any other dogs. Mind you he still has his ASBO in place and I have to get up earlier and earlier to get my walks in, before the rest of the dog community on the island join me.
Today is going to be busy. We still have an aunt over from Dublin for Dad’s funeral. I have promised to take her out later this
It is 8.45 a.m. and I have just returned from walking two laps of Poulson Park with Skipper. In about half an hour, I will take a wander down through Golden Meadow Mill. I have woken up feeling better today. I have started to feel a bit breathless over the last 3 days or so and was getting a bit worried that the cancer might be returning. I started taking antibiotics yesterday and I do feel better this morning so hopefully we have had no more than a chest infection.
It is a lovely spring mo
Its 7.45am. Another day has arrived. Exactly one week ago today, at this precise time I was sat in this office doing exactly the same thing. I was writing the blog when the phone rang to tell me of my Father's death. That changed everything that day. However, it began just like any other day as this one has. I suppose it goes to show whatever plans we think we might have, we only play a very minor roll. The boss or whoever is up there in charge will pull all the strings.
Signs of spring are
There is only one way to begin this blog and that is to thank all of you who have contacted me over the last week with your kind words of support. I didn't know it was possible to have so many friends that I have never met.
This past week has been a long one, as indeed have been the last couple of months. I suppose with every storm that passes, there is at least one less to blow. Anyway the purpose of restarting the blog again is so I don't dwell. I know we have to move on and yes, we can a
Well here we are, just back from chemotherapy. Yesterday I didn’t know whether I would blog again and here I am already, at it again. I felt I had to write a quick blog just to thank all of you who have emailed me with your kind thoughts. You all given me so much encouragement, it is difficult to imagine not blogging again. I am not sure which of my therapies is doing the most for me at present, chemotherapy or the blogging therapy.
Dad’s funeral will be at 1pm on Saturday. A horse dr
It is actually 4.15pm on April 1st. Today began just like any other day. I woke at around 4 a.m and I noticed the birds were singing at 4.45 this morning which is the earliest so far this year. I came in to the office at around 8 a.m. this morning and began writing just like any other day. The phone went at about 8.15 which was my Mother to tell me that Dad had just died. He was not feeling too good the day before and yesterday morning I called an ambulance as he had been in pain all night. I wa
Well I am now just one day away from the 3rd chemotherapy course. It’s on a bit of a wing and a prayer at this stage, as to whether I pass the tests or not. There are a few blood tests to get through and a bit of a general health check. Even though I feel fit, you can never be sure about the blood tests.
Life does seem to be getting more and more bureaucratic these days. You can’t even open a bank account now without having to show passport and utility bills. Even if you have been a c
Its 9.50 a.m. and I'm just back from a walk. I only managed one lap of the park today with a bit of free running for Skipper along the river bank. The walk and talk lot come to the park between 10 and midday. Seeing as Skipper still has an ASBO on him, I thought I had better get out of the way. I have been thinking during the night about all the mistakes I have made and mistakes made by others regarding myself.
Last November I first visited the doctors because I felt generally unwell, short
Its Sunday morning 8.40 a.m. and this is a day that will be marked in history. Not only have the clocks gone forward but the smoking ban has arrived in all public places. I guess there will be quite a lot of grumbling going on in bars throughout the Island at lunchtime today. Well at least the brewery will hope there is, for if not, it will mean folks have stayed away. I do find it a bit strange though, how pubs will still be able to sell cigarettes. But then I suppose chemists sell condoms but
Today I want to begin with an apology. If you were the person walking along the Silverburn River yesterday morning minding your own business and all of a sudden some nutter came charging out from a gateway shouting “GO” and thereafter a mad looney of a Collie came charging after you, barking like mad and trying to bite your backside but couldn’t because of the muzzle, I am extremely sorry. Yesterday morning I walked Skipper alone. I walked through Poulson park and then through the gate that lead
It is actually Still Thursday the 27th. I'm cheating again and writing this blog on the day before. I have just returned from walking Skipper along the Silverburn. It is cold, raining and the wind is from the southeast. They are forecasting force 8 tonight and over an inch of rain. Of course we don't always take any notice of forecasts. When I smoked, I chose to ignore them and look what happened to me. I almost got blown on to the rocks. I did eventually and hopefully not too late, change cours
Well here we are now 6 weeks in to chemo therapy and time for a little review I think. I am just back from a walk around Langness so things can't be going to badly. I feel now just as fit as I did before I knew there was anything wrong.
At the start of chemo, I could hardly walk anywhere without difficulty. Stairs were becoming a problem, doing things around the house like lifting the washing basket and other simply little tasks were difficult to perform. Now life is almost back to normal.
When I was a child, sight fascinated me. I didn’t understand eye sight. It was almost like my mates had two lights in their heads, but they didn’t work in the dark. I remember one night, when I must have been about 7 or 8 years of age, asking my play mate, “How far can you see?” After getting no response, I followed up with, “Well, can you see the stars or, the moon?” “Yes”, he replied. “Well then” I said, “can you see Ballasalla?” “No” he replied. Ballasalla is a small village about 2 miles nor
It is Easter Monday at 6.37 p.m. However, it will be Tuesday when you are actually reading this blog. I am just back from a very wintry walk through hail and sleet. It is freezing out there and I wouldn’t mind, but we got caught in another hail shower out on Langness earlier today. Most folk would say that it has been an awful day. Yet it is only the weather that has been awful. The rest of the day has been absolutely fine. Every morning I listen to the weather forecast on the radio, but the wea
I am 5 weeks into chemo. I still have a little hair left and apart from my skin drying up a little, everything else seems to be normal. I am indeed very lucky and very fortunate to wake each day feeling good and in reasonable health. When I think of my situation just a few weeks ago, I was waking every day breathless and in pain. I have indeed much to be grateful for. Back then, I was tempted at one stage to ask the question. Why me? Then I remembered an incident that took place back in the 80's
It is 6.20am on Easter Sunday morning. The dawn chorus is now beginning at 5.10 for those of you who have been following my dawn chorus time checks.
Well here we go, another day and, who knows what it will bring. At the time of writing this blog, I haven't a clue what I am going to write about. We could be just about anywhere by the time I reach the end, from the law courts, the media or hopefully just you and me. Not everything that appears in these blogs is original. During the course of
What if you were suddenly to discover that those pills you have been taking for whatever ailment were nothing more than Smarties. Well, God bless the Smarties as far as I am concerned. My little story for today did not evolve around a packet of Smarties, it was water. However, the principle is exactly the same.
I seem to have spent a lot of Easters off the Island for one reason or another. Where ever I have been, something always seems to have taken place that has marked the event and etche
8.40 a.m. It’s Good Friday. Well, what is good about it? I guess it will come down to me as to whether today is a Good Friday or not. If I look at it from my position 6 weeks ago, when I could hardly breathe and was heading fast down the pan and compare that to today’s situation where I am 5 weeks into chemotherapy and everything looks much brighter, then today is not just Good Friday but a wonderful fabulous Friday.
So, let me now share a few of my Good Fridays of the past with you.
I
7.35 a.m. Today the wind is blowing hard from the Northwest and according to the forecast it is going to increase throughout the day. Rain will arrive by lunchtime. The day is going to get steadily worse. Or is it! Do I have the power to decide what my day is going to be like? Can I change things for the better? Well probably, a few lines at the end of this blog may help you to decide. For those of you who have been following my dawn chorus time checks. I noted Mr song thrush at 5.22 this mornin
8-45a.m. Another fine day. We’ve just returned from walking the Silverburn and never met a soul throughout our entire journey. The river is in a very gentle mood today. The lack of rain means that it is simply ambling along. The collared doves are plentiful now and there seems to be an abundance of pheasants. On the way home, I stopped off at the garage and bought some jelly fruity sweets. I am eating them now as I write. They taste like eels, very rubbery, I won’t be buying anymore.
Soon th
7.30 a.m. It’s a fine day once again and I’m going to head up the Silverburn to Ballasalla and back. As I write, Orry the parrot is shouting his head off; Skipper is primed at the door and all ready to leap into action. The sun is not shining yet. However, it is not raining and, the kettle has just boiled. How much more wonderful could any day be.
This coming Friday is Good Friday. When I was a kid Easter was indeed a very special time of the year. The most important aspect of Easter of cou
7.50 a.m. I have woken feeling fine again and to quote Mohammad Ali, I am feeling so fit these days, I make medicine look sick. Well perhaps a slight exaggeration, but I’m sure you get my drift.
Increasingly these days, it is not simply the weather or my state of health that contributes to how I feel, it is when I logon in the morning and read the ever increasing inspirational emails that have arrived over night from around the World. Some readers have said that they find the blog inspiring
