23. Sep, 2020

As we wandered around the buildings and surrounding hiking trails we wished we had allowed ourselves more time and worn our walking shoes, because there were lots of walking opportunities all around the area. Never mind, by the time we returned to 'Freddie Fendt' for lunch, that five pounds parking fee seemed like good value.

Then it was the journey home, as always on this trip, never more than two hours away. After stopping for some shopping at our local Tesco's supermarket we arrived home to begin unloading some of the important stuff before moving the car out of the way and parking Freddie on the driveway. Having done all that where do I find myself? - sat in Freddie typing this, my last entry for this trip. To have typed and uploaded it indoors wouldn't have seemed authentic somehow, stupid I know, but that's just me.

So what next?

Well I have booked an urgent hair appointment with The Chef for tomorrow morning. It's long overdue, and although I had a hack at it myself, I don't think it's ever been so long at the back. It must be ages since I last saw 'Blind Brian' my usual hair-hacker, I think there was a brief window of opportunity to go there after lockdown, but I thought the queues would be so long to cope with the backlog that I gave it a miss. Never mind, his guide dog will have plenty of punters to fuss over him in the meantime.

Next I will revisit the postings on the blog, very often I don't have time to proof read them, so I'll go through all the entries for the trip and tidy them up where neccesary.

If and when I get time I shall progress with my idea of a folding satellite TV dish. The big problem with travelling around Europe is the size of dish you need to carry with you, especially in southern Spain. So I came up with the idea of utilising a folding silver-lined light deflector, rather like an umbrella, as used in photographic studios. What do you think? If it works then it can be adapted to be used with much larger 'umbrella's' and a sturdier mounting.

I did email the idea to Maxview, a company not far from us producing TV aerial products but got no reply, NfN (Normal for Norfolk) as we say around here.

Right now we live in a very troubled world and I do hope that we'll come through it all. We also have the added pressure regarding the forthcoming Brexit 'Deal or No Deal' as Noel Edmunds would say.

After the lockdown and continuing restrictions around social distancing we need to reintroduce GP's to their patients. Maybe getting them to sit in a room in the surgery with a life-sized mannequin that smells a bit. Currently they're enjoying a charmed life working in their surgeries making phone calls and filling out prescriptions for their £100,000 pa salary. I think they're going to be very reluctant to go back to how things used to be.

Our next trip, God-willing, will be next spring when we'll again attempt that planned extended trip around Spain. If we leave it much later than that it will be unbearably hot towards the end of the trip. Not only that but Medallion Man, 'Babes', and their brat kids will be there by the planeload, tanning their tits and tattoos whilst trying to drown themselves in pints of chilled p**s.

The format for the blog will revert back to normal where The Chef and I just wing it on a day-to-day basis. No more research to try and find things of interest.....well maybe just occasionally.

As always, short though it was, I wouldn't have wanted to undertake this trip with anyone other than my darling Rosina, who, some twenty-five years ago, rescued me from a lonely and unhappy life, and stood by me whilst I wrestled with my conscience. I love her with all my heart (I can say that because as far as I'm aware she doesn't read the blog).

It looks as if things are going to get a lot tougher over the coming months, but if we ALL do our little bit then collectively it will amount to a lot, and hopefully enough.

If you find yourself tortured about whether to visit and comfort a member of your family who is elderly or suffering, then do it. This virus is going to be around for a long time yet, but your loved ones may not be. Just make sure you take all the sensible precautions.

When all of this is over we're going to discover that the death toll due to the pandemic went far beyond those who were infected by it and died. We'll have to add all those lives lost through missed hospital treatments and diagnosis, the elderly who were under strict instructions from well-meaning family members not to go out, only to then lose their mobility and end up housebound or moved in to a care home (use it or lose it as they say). Then add to that huge figure those who were elderly and just lost the will to live due to loneliness or a broken heart. That's why I get angry about those who flout the government rules and advice, flawed though it often is.

If it's of any help I posted what advice I could offer (Home/More/Advice & Tips/Infection Control) back in March, and I've yet to feel the need to amend it having listened to the 'experts'.

As I said at the time - 'Don't be afraid - be resilient'. Nothing in life is risk free, what we can do though, is reduce those risks to a minimum, then get on with our lives.

Stay safe, be kind, and we'll see you again in the spring.

23. Sep, 2020

23. Sep, 2020

23. Sep, 2020

23. Sep, 2020