A place to have a chat.

Hi Guys, Love hearing about all your trips and visits. I think it’s great we are all trying to do our best under what can be difficult circumstances.

We just had a little weekend trip down to visit friends on Exmoor. Bit of a trek from Essex - 6 hours with a quick wee break but we had a lovely time. The village Pub is lovely and we joined the Times Crossword group Sunday afternoon. No teams we all just try to get the answers together - good fun, especially with the amount of alcohol consumed. Saturday we went to see a play in a tiny Minehead Theater and we had such a laugh. Nice Indian in the Taj Mahal beforehand too.

Blood test and Bone scan this week….. 😬. Hoping the drugs are starting to work or i suspect we will be talking about the surgery at my consultation next week.

Talking of the Bayeux Tapestry, we are off on a wine run to Calais soon 😁. Not quite so high brow I’m afraid …! If you pre order over £250 you get the ferry crossing for free. Pretty easy with 2 couples. Nice day out with a nice meal, and tops up the wine cellar for a couple of months. The wine is so ridiculously cheap still over there.

Keep up the stories guys. 👍 Come and join me for a pint. Im the one in the corner nursing a half finished Guinness and a pork pie.

Take care 

Phil

You're a sponge. Soak it up. 😁

Hi Phil,

I don't think I could go to the Giants Causeway. The sight of rigid, upright things, all naturally produced, would make me too envious. 😁

Have you had your scan and blood test yet?

That's lovely mate.👍

The other week, I managed to get two 'jumps' out of one Invicorp jab. I felt like I was a teenager again.

Wow! Wonderful, I thought. 🎆

The wife didn't share my exuberance. 😁

Edited by member 18 Apr 2024 at 19:13  | Reason: Typo

Hi Phil,

Glad you had a great weekend. 

I love Sherlock Holmes. I thought Jeremy Brett's portrayal of him was the best. I must have watched each episode of that TV series at least 10 times over. I still forget 'who did it' in some of them. I suppose that's one of the rare advantages of going senile.😁

I suppose you know, but in case you don't. The police when investigating serious or complex crimes use a computer system called HOLMES. (Home Office Large Major Enquiry System) but they're still nowhere as good at detecting crime as Sherlock.

We had our usual very uneventful weekend. Pottering about and having a few bevvies in the garden. At times, it was over 80 degrees in the suntrap back corner. 

The grandkids got back from Turkey early Saturday and spent a lot of time here. I watched the footy with my grandson, who got very frustrated with his red devil's performance.

I got a letter from the hospital, to prepare myself for some more drilling out of the main artery to my heart. I think it'll be in the next couple of weeks. It's a strange op. They  go through an artery in your wrist and push some sort of fine tube all the way into your heart then start drilling away at the calcification. Apparently my blockage is in a difficult bit to get to. So it could be a long job. The strange thing is you're awake when they do it. You can see what they're doing on a screen and you can certainly feel them prodding about. The last one I had done was 90 mins, I think this one could be even longer. I'd rather have another prostatectomy! 😁

Is your consultation tomorrow  or next Tuesday?

Edited by member 22 Apr 2024 at 11:09  | Reason: Spelling

😂 Thank heavens, I'm no longer incontinent. I'd have just wet myself.

I remember coming home after having a camera up the jacksie. "They stuck a camera up your bum!", said my wife. "That wasn't too bad. It was the clapperboard that stung a bit" I replied.

As for angioplasty, I'm having symptoms, hopefully the op will help alleviate them. It's the fourth angiogram I've had. It's a doddle when they just pop in for a quick shufty or whack in a stent. It's when they start having to do a lot of unblocking (rotablation) when it becomes less pleasant. Like all ops the risks are minimal, but my cousin had a stroke whilst he was having the same op and never fully recovered from it, and a friend told me, in great detail,  of a relative of his who died on the table. With friends like that, who needs enemies. 😂

Morning Phil, 

Funnily enough, he's actually a brilliant mate. He had prostate cancer and has been fantastically supportive but he perhaps would have never got into the Diplomatic Corp. 😁

He bought me a bottle of whisky just before my prostatectomy, saying "You'll bloody need this to cheer you up after the op. You'll be suffering for months." 😁 

But, if I ever needed help he'd be there straight away, he's got a heart of gold.

Edited by member 23 Apr 2024 at 10:16  | Reason: Additional text

Hi everyone. Following on from Spongebob's French Road trip..

We had a great weekend in Norn Iron with a road trip of our own. 

I have to say that the Giants Causeway is stunning! We visitited on Friday evening and watched as the sun set. The visitor centre was shut so access and parking was free. The coach loads of tourists had gone, leaving maybe only half a dozen people including a pair of newlyweds having their pictures taken. 

A couple of years ago my wife bought me a book called "1001 Drives you must experience before you die" they're all over the world and I'm 60 so probably won't complete the challenge. I think I'll leave it to the kids in my will insisting they each complete a drive from the book before passing it on. We followed the causeway coast and Antrim coast and were not disappointed. 

We were staying in Ballycastle which so happens to be the starting point for both drives in the book. Saturday we drove from Ballycastle to Londonderry or Derry (depending on your persuasion). There are plenty of parking spots to stop and admire the views. The road between Portrush and Portstewart forms part of the Northwest 200 motorbike racetrack, the grandstands and padding are already up, and the grid markings painted. This route is really popular with bikers and the weather was perfect!

Sunday we visitited some waterfalls and a couple of villages on the east coast, another perfect day and the bikes were out in force again, I miss biking.

Monday we drove down the Antrim coast from Ballycastle to Belfast where several motorways seem to converge on one junction. We managed to get around the Crumlin Road Jail and the Titanic quarter before dropping our hire car at the airport. 

I would highly recommend taking this trip, the views alone are stunning, the drives are great and the Guinness is well worth it (when in Rome). We didn't manage to get into Bushmills distillery as we had crammed so much into the weekend, so I bought a miniature bottle in the local Spar. Might drink it or might just keep it as a souvenir. 

Cheers all.

Kev.

Edited by member 24 Apr 2024 at 11:23  | Reason: Punctuation

So did mine. A new pair of Marigolds cheered her up.

Morning guys. ForestJohn that’s great news on the PSA . We are all hoping it stays that way for years , or for ever.. now that would be a result wouldn’t it 👍

I did the poop test a few weeks ago and all came back ok. I must remember to tell my consultant at least I haven’t got bowel cancer 🤪. 

Im knocking off tiled skirting in the conservatory in readiness for the plasterer. Then I need to get all the floor tiles up as they are a strange pink colour 😬… running laminate through from the kitchen as we are also making the opening bigger from the kitchen so it’s like one room. Much warmer in here in the evening now the roofs done.  Big difference, the insulation must be 300mm thick . 

So onwards… with my trusty hammer and chisel. 👍

take care guys

Phil

Enjoy your cuppa Adrian. I do also like to sit in the garden with a cuppa ( or a glass of wine) … ! I’m just not good sitting around much. Plus I’ve always got my jobs list. 

Done one wall, the one he’s plastering and the tiles come off pretty easy so going do all round now. 

Once I’ve done that I’ve got a remote wireless light switch to put up in the summerhouse so we can switch the outside lights on without traipsing up there. 

No peace for the wicked 🤪. I must’ve been pretty wicked.  Funnily enough one of my girlfriends at school told me I was too nice once 🤷‍♂️🤔 I seem to recall thinking you really don’t know me 🤣

Phil

🤣🤣 I was in the 4th year and she was in the 5th year and hot so I just counted myself lucky … 😉

Hey Phil, your ex girlfriend lost out on a DIY God, I bet she rues the day she said you were too nice 👌🏼

I think that was the last thing on her mind, it definitely wasn’t on mine 🤦‍♀️😳… 

Off to do the light switch now as I got all the silly skirting tiles off. Hopefully it’ll be easy. 

My outside lights worked forever in our old house and seem to be ok here. But over at my MiLs she seems to put the Hex on them  🤷‍♂️… 

Phil

My doctor wanted me to provide, urine and stool samples. I just posted him my underpants.

Edited by member 29 Apr 2024 at 19:30  | Reason: Additional text

For me, summer is officially here. ☀️

I'm frightening the neighbours, and putting on my shorts! 😱

The fridge is packed with beers. 🍻

Good lad Phil, that's the spirit! 

I wanted to keep some chickens in the back garden but the wife wasn't in favour.

To defy her I'll have a few Old Speckled Hen. 

Edited by member 30 Apr 2024 at 12:01  | Reason: Not specified

Another poor nights kip, just keep tossing and turning. After getting my great PSA result today, I thought I'd sleep like a log; but I'm afraid that was very much offset by Phil's bad news.

I hate this disease, it's so unfair.

Edited by member 01 May 2024 at 05:53  | Reason: Additional text

Yesterday, just emphasised the up and downs of this disease. Someone gets good news, someone gets bad news. I just wish, especially after the past few weeks, when I've got to know you, that we could have both got good news. 

Maybe it's why there hasn't been a chat area before?

Here, you actually get to know the people. How the disease impacts them and their  loved ones. Rather than just knowing their cancer staging, PSA levels and treatment plans.

Honest mate, if I'd lived nearer, I'd have dragged you out for a real pint last night.

I've often been accused of being too caring, but I'd rather be that way, than not caring enough. I will heed your advice though, and tilt the balance a little.

Edited by member 01 May 2024 at 10:35  | Reason: Additional text

😁 It got worse Kev, I went topless!  

It was only when, the wife shouted from the kitchen, "Marie (her mobile hairdresser) has seen enough!" That I sprang to life and covered up.