.png)
Friday, the beginning of Bank holiday weekend. It was all going on. The alarm went off at 6am, the final items were stashed in the motorhome before Chris (double glazing) arrived at 8am to install a new porch, back door and a couple of small windows.
For a change we were ahead of ourselves. I decided to have a coffee. I ground the beans and set my little coffee machine into action. The biscuits had already been packed. I decided to retrieve them because I thought there was a couple of chocolate Hobnobs lurking in the container. I popped out to the van, grabbed the biscuits and trotted back. Now what you need to know is the front of our house is littered with uneven steps and changes in levels. Some sloping, some flat. An HSE nightmare. My treatment has a significant effect on my agility. I fell. I didn’t even have the alertness to try to save myself, I went down like a bag of spuds. I landed on my left side, very heavily, on the corner of a step. The end result is I have a very painful side and a very swollen finger. My immediate worries were – Have I broken a rib? Have I broken my finger? Have I broken the Hobnobs? The answers to these questions may have a significant and detrimental effect on Vicky and Tam’s wedding............we are the reception! Anyway the answers are; probably not, not sure, no. Wait, the coffee is ready and the biscuits are intact. Things aren't all bad.
We set off on our adventures stopping for bread, ham and diesel en-route. Yummy. (Not the diesel). We went via Plymouth to get a top up of LPG then onwards.
We continued on to East Chinnock through bright sunshine and heavy rain stopping only for a coffee and a Nile’s Chelsea bun.
At 1.30pm we arrived at our camp site. Just delightful. We levelled up just in time , the heavens opened. Rain and hail on the roof which for me is about as soporific as it gets. I only just managed to eat my ham sandwich and drink a cup of tea before surrendering into the arms of Morpheus.
Pain and rain just did me in. All I seemed to do was sleep and eat for the rest of the day.
Saturday morning. Ouch ouch ouch! That's it, I’m doing nothing today. Hang on there’s a gazebo to erect, picnic tables to move, waste to empty, chairs to wipe down, bunting to put up groundsheets to put down. Tricia did loads, I helped as much as I could. The cavalry came charging over the hill to help (in my dreams). Cream crackered again, back to bed before lunch. I know how to live! Out of bed for lunch then back to bed. Somewhere in the distance I hear “Neil, it’s 3 o’clock” I put my thumb up, it’s time to get ready.
The focus of the rest of the day was on Vicky and Tam. It’s Saturday and they’re getting married. They were probably the very last couple in South Somerset to actually sign a register. From now on it’s all going digital. So the last entry in the register is Mrs and Mrs Loveridge-Pryde.
Wedding ceremony sorted it’s back to the campsite for the wedding breakfast or in this case wedding picnic. Lauren (Pretty as a Picnic) www.prettyasapicnic.uk provided the food and setup. We provided the venue and fizz. I think everyone, including me, that's all 14 of us had a real good time albeit a bit chilly (flippin freezing). I got cold, proper cold to my bones. The motorhome was marginally warmer but it really did nothing to keep me warm. At least everyone else seemed warm enough. By 8pm everyone had drifted away. There was still work to do but first get warm. We finally shut the motorhome door and put the heating on. I warmed up a bit, enough to venture out to help with the rest of the jobs that needed doing. By 9pm I was in bed. By 9.15pm I was asleep.
1 day of activity = 1 day of exhaustion. Sunday I woke up knackered. Abbi and Cal came to dis-assemble the gazebo and take a few things home for us. We emptied our waste and bid farewell to and thanked our hosts. What lovely people.
On the road again. This time to Goodiford Mill and Fisheries where we have 2 nights booked. It’s at Kentisbeare where Marilyn lives. This is an unusual Monday for me. It would normally be a chemo day, my 17th but I have a week off to try to ease the worst of my side effects. The fear is that some of the side effects will become irreversible. Normally, by this point in my treatment cycle, I have no discernible side effects. Alas this time it’s not the case. My feet are uncomfortable (think having another pair of socks shoved in your shoes then putting your shoes on), my digital dexterity has remained decidedly diminished, everything tastes a bit like aluminium foil and my teeth (new side effect) have become cold sensitive. Let’s hope my side effects diminish by next Monday otherwise I fear I’ve been a little bit over cooked.
Of all of the above side effects, this weekend, I found one particularly distressing. I settled down to write Vicky and Tam's wedding card. My crappy hands simply wouldn’t work well enough to write.
I asked Tricia to write;
A message from Dad
“I know I won’t see what the future holds for you and I know that in a few years from now many things will have happened that we can’t predict. But whatever happens and wherever you go, I know you’ll always have each other’s love and you’ll always have mine.”
I think that’s enough for one post.
Don’t forget Coffee Club, on Tour, tomorrow. I’ve decided I’m going to eschew the chocolate Hobnobs, I’m sticking with Marilyn's apple cake!
Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime
or visit www.itscamcernotcivid.com and join via the front page.
Oh! Before I forget I’m still planning to walk on Thursday even if it feels like my spare socks have been shoved in my boots. Details are here. http://iwkc.co.uk/w/205 Turn left off the St Austell to Mevagissey road just past the Kingswood restaurant. Bear right, drive to the second carpark, further down the lane (follow the river).
See you there.