Life is just a bowl of All-Bran…

…but not a lonely one, as it turns out.

Much of the latest news is also on L’s blog, but I’ll try and summarise.

We are now thoroughly back in our house after the drains were replaced. We went on holiday to Winforton Court’s holdiay cottage soon afterwards. Glorious weather, though cold. We even got to take E on her sledge for the first time, which was wonderful.

Whilst our car was parked in Winforton Court a builders’ merchant lorry managed to put a big dent in our car roof and boot door. They accepted liability (how could they not??) but a merry half-day was spent entertaining L in in their premises. Quite easy actually. The car has now been fixed.

Life seems to be settling down somewhat now. L has had her last two doses of Epirubicin, which went without incident. Long waits, however, are unavoidable. She is beginning to get more and more tired, but is still going to work one or two days a week. E has been a little bit poorly lately, but is over it now.

I had an appointment with the orthopaedic consultant last week. The scan shows I have torn my meniscus on the inside of my right knee, and I will be having an operation on Weds 29th March to try and fix it. It will be a keyhole procedure, which should try and trim the frayed part of the meniscus back. It’s not without its possible drawbacks, but it’s become evident it will not heal by itself.

More to come….

It’s been a while, and here’s why!

The last post was Wednesday 15th. The next day, we innocently flushed the toilet, and the whole lot backed up. Thankfully, it didn’t overflow.

We knew there was some kind of problem because the gullies outside the house didn’t seem to be clearing too well, and I had it in mind to have a go at clearing them. The toilet was the last straw.

I beetled off to Homebase to get noxious chemicals, plungers and the like, and started trying to clear the gullies. Nothing budged at all.

I started going through the ‘phone book looking for drain clearing people. One firm came out within the hour, but without immediate success.

A friend who lives round the corner was on holiday & we were minding the house for him. Taking this responsibility to its logical conclusion, we moved in there that night (thanks Rich). As he was coming back the following day, and the house was still not habitable, we booked in to a local hotel, with the distinction of being the only licensed premises on the Bournville estate.

We stayed there until Wednesday morning, by which time the drains guys had done all their work and the cleaners had tackled the kitchen & bathroom. Cleaners? Can’t the Harrisons do their own cleaning?

On Tuesday morning I was sat on the bed in the hotel room tying my shoelaces. I stood up and wiggled my foot around in my shoe so it felt just so…and my knee went again. If that’s all it takes, it really does need some looking after!

L couldn’t do the cleaning, as she shouldn’t be getting in contact with potential sources of infection, and I was walking like an old man again. L’s father suggested we just got someone in to do the cleaning, so we did. And very good No Limits of Hockley were – unlike another company who laughed down the phone and said, “[Company] couldn’t come out on the same day!”. They won’t be getting our business again.

All I can say is: it’s great to be home.