He He

This afternoon I had to go to the Surgery, primarily do discuss my results of my Diabetic Blood Test. while I was waiting to be called in I could not stop myself from listening to a conversation.
 It was at the Dispensary and the Man who was being seen to kept saying he was deaf. The Dispenser kept talking louder but all the fella kept saying was he was deaf and could not hear her. She was trying to inform him that she was going to fax his prescription to his preferred Chemist. This sort of non conversation went on for quite a while. I must admit the lady dispenser didn't get upset at all. After shouting to him several times the man then asked her to write down what she was trying to tell him. Eventually this did the trick and off he went. It took me all my time not to bust out laughing as I though it very funny.
 Eventually it was my turn to go to see the Nurse. As it happens all is what she calls  satisfactory and that I was given an MOT. for another year.
 It was the blood that was just satisfactory but as I informed her it was the amount of medication I was on that made my blood that way.
 I then informed her that I would NOT be having my flu jab this year as last year's episode was a disgrace. My B.P was sky high after that performance. What she told me then was a little surprising. She told me that everyone's B.P. was high, even hers was high mainly due to the stress the operation caused. She did tell me that this year will be totally different. I then told her that if there was a queue I would not be waiting and I would just leave and go home. Hopefully I will now be free from the Surgery until September.  Finally I asked her about my kidneys. She looked and told me that the last test was normal but the one before had shown some abnormalities but as the last one was O.K. then that was fine. More soon.

A little surprised

This afternoon I saw the young man from next door. I asked him if he could get me 3 eggs as I had an egg salad yesterday.
 True to form he came round a little later. As I am trying to teach him a little about gardening I decided to take him down to my broad beans and show him the trouble with black fly. I have managed to more or less control it. I then took him to see the greenfly. This is more difficult to eradicate for as soon as you spray and kill them, the next day more take their place.
 I could see he was excited and I wondered what it was. He told me that he was getting some more glasses. Reactolight ones so he told me he will come round to show me them next Tuesday. Not that this was the only thing that made him excited, he asked me to look at his garden. I had set some carrots and beetroot for him.
 In due course I went to see his garden. I was astounded. It really was very very good and the produce is progressing well. I gave him 3 shallots earlier. They have bulked up great. His carrots are fantastic and beetroot coming on very well.
 before we went to look at his garden, next door's couple had just come back from holiday and we were discussing gardening. His Wife told me she had set carrot seeds and nothing had come up and only 2 beetroot had shown. I told her that this was not her fault at all as I had suffered similar failures and the Postman told me a long time ago that his carrots had not germinated. Incidentally he has been off for quite some time but I found out today that he was back at work on light duties.
A couple of light hearted comments.
 On Tuesday I went for further blood test and I was called in almost immediately. It was some Nurse I was not familiar with although she was very nice. She informed me that I was her first patient of the day. I jokingly remarked that I was fortunate as it meant the needle would be sharp. After a little laughter she then retorted that this did happen years ago.
Yesterday was recycling day. I only put my bin out once a month a s a rule. Anyway I was outside when the bin men called. I informed the driver who was collecting my bin that I only put it out once a month. He immediately replied  "I wish everyone put it out once a month". I just laughed. More soon.

Warm start

I had to go to the Surgery for a blood test this morning. Most unusual for me I went with just a short sleeved shirt on. I usually wear a Harrington Jacket but it was such a nice morning.
 After my blood test I went to collect my State Pension then went to have my haircut. After that I did my shopping and then arrived back home soon after  11.00am. I can't remember going out before in a short sleeved shirt feeling warm and comfortable.
 I prepared my mid day meal(dinner to me). Then sat and listened to the radio for a while. I ate at my usual time of 12.30pm. I had noticed that it had turned cloudy. Anyway after eating my meal I went to wash my pots and looked out of the window and saw it had started to rain. I immediately went out to my polytunnel to water inside. No sooner had I got inside when the heavens opened up. It was torrential rain for about 20 minutes. I, of course didn't move from there but did manage to water the plants. Eventually it eased a little and when I ventured outside I noticed that there was standing water in places on the garden. This was primarily due to the ground being hard as we have not had any rain for a while and the sun had baked the ground. The rain will do good though.
 I went out later to see if all was well, I noticed that although it was still cloudy the temperature had dropped quite a lot and it was what you call it fresh.
 Around 6.00pm. the sun put in an appearance so I strolled down the garden. I noticed that some broad beans were about ready, also my peas will be ready in a couple of days, there is a cauliflower in my polytunnel too that is more or less ready, so hopefully I will soon be self sufficient with my summer vegetables.
 On a less than positive note I noticed that my apple tress are suffering from scab. I have ordered some fungicide to try and improve the health of my trees. The first thing I will do is prune them heavily in the Autumn. Hopefully that will be a start, so I will keep a keen eye on them. I will, of course keep readers informed as to my progress, or failure.
 By the way, when I had my blood test I was told that if, once again something was found  I would once more be summoned to the Surgery. Let us hope all is well. More soon.

Football

The first picture is of Little Marvel peas, damaged somewhat by the strong winds. The second is of the trial dwarf French bean Castandel, some are now just producing very small fruit so hopefully they will once more provide nice dwarf beans and plenty of them.
 England have, unfortunately been knocked out of the World Cup. It bought back to mind several ye4ars ago when I used to play golf.
 I used to play with a guy who played semi professional football. He had retired some time ago. He was just over 10 years younger than I was. Anyway it was approaching the World Cup and England had qualified to the Group Stages as they had done this year. He told me that he was sure England would win the World Cup and he was going to have a good bet on them at 16-1. I told him that I was surprised as England would NEVER win the World Cup again as long as the set up stayed as it is. He asked me to explain. I then asked him what league was the best in the World. He replied the Premier League. I then told him that as it was at present, most Premier League clubs often fielded no English players and when it was the First Division hardly any foreign players played so the Manger of the day had the 22 Football League teams to select from. Now the most the current Manager
would have to choose from is about 30 Premier League players. Most would be say defenders or mid field players so the chance of England winning the World Cup is zero.
 I think it sank in because he didn't have a bet on England and of course England didn't progress that far.     More soon.

Taking it easy

I must admit that this year gardening wise has not been great. I set some broad beans in my polytunnel early February hoping to get plenty of produce from them. I was a little disappointed as I only managed to get 3 meals and they were not much earlier than my wind damaged beans that I did post on my blog. I have only had one boiling so far and to be honest, they were a little small but still nice. The other ones I set a few weeks later are doing fine, I just have to watch them for black fly, one had been affected but they are beginning to set fruit.
 I set my little marvel early in the year, the weather has played havoc with my garden. My little marvel peas have grown so tall. Some of them are well over 5' tall. They are called little marvel as they should be about 1/2 that height. I will be honest though, there are plenty of pods and it looks as if I should get plenty of peas.
 Last year I was given a trial dwarf bean packet of seeds. Well I saved some as they did particularly well. This year there seems to be quite a few beanlets on so I am hoping they will produce plenty of dwarf beans. My tomatoes are looking good now. A couple of weeks ago when the weather was very hot, they didn't set but they have more than made up for that now.
 I have had disappointments with both my carrots and beetroot. There are now a few carrots now showing and I have about half a row of beetroot.
Runner beans are coming on but here on the East Coast we suffer from strong winds and runner beans do not like strong winds.
 It looks as if some of my apples have some disease but should still get enough. Cherries are not plentiful this year but I will have more than enough for me. As for plums, I just can't  believe it. I think I will have about 1cwt of them and I have taken loads off the trees. Also the June drop has reduced the crop a little.
 I can't close without mentioning another appointment. This morning I received by post a notice informing me that an appointment had been made for me to attend my eye clinic. This is where they put drops in your eyes to enlarge the pupil and take a photo of the eye to see if they are healthy. The date is the same day I have an appointment at the Hospital. Thank goodness the Hospital Appointment is for 9.00am. My Retinopathy is for 1.35pm. So I will have time to go to Louth, hopefully call and see my Italian friend, get back home, have a bite to eat then off to my local Surgery. Yes local. This is the second year in succession that they have sent me to my local Surgery. I'm certainly not complaining. Next week we start to go once more on a regular journey to my Surgery. More soon.

More calls

I had a call on my telephone answering machine informing me that I must make another appointment so I went down to the surgery. Sure enough the Nurse who had seen me had left a note on my records on the computer. The receptionist then gave me a date and time to see the follow up Nurse.
 Later that day I had a call from the Nurse who I had seen informing me that the receptionist had made a mistake and that another appointment with a different Nurse would have to be made. She did however arrange for another appointment the end of June.
 Today I had yet another call from the surgery stating that I must have another blood test. I then asked her for what? She told me she would go and ask for she didn't know. I told her that I must know if it was for the Hospital. Back she came and told me it was for Kidneys. I am none the wiser but I must go to the surgery on 24th. June. I am getting a little fed up of all this messing about I am putting up with.
 It didn't end there. I had a letter from Spec-savers stating that my annual eye test was due. I decided to go online and request a time  and date.
 A little later I had a phone call from them and when I told them the day and time I was informed that this was not possible. I had asked for a certain person to perform the eye test as I had the same person for several years. Unfortunately he was on holiday and would not be available until the 2nd. July. this is when I will go to Grantham.
 I hope that things will soon be back to something like normality. More soon.

Surgery Again

My mate called on Friday and while he was here the telephone rang. I told him that it would be nothing at all. Wrong! It was the receptionist from the surgery. She informed me that I was due for my annual review. Like an idiot I thought it was a G.P that was wishing to talk over things. When she told me that I was going to see a Nurse in Mablethorpe and that it was my diabetes that was being reviewed I was angry. I told her in as many words that my review was not due until September at the earliest and beside that I had been  3 days earlier to have a blood test. Of course she informed me that this was for diabetes. I then told her that as my blood test was for the Hospital a couple of ticks on the form I provided was all that was necessary and that it would save a lot of expense.
 Anyway as she was only the receptionist I reluctantly agreed to her request. She then added I should take a specimen of urine with me. My mate reminded me that this meant a trip to my local surgery to collect a specimen bottle.
 Well this afternoon I went to Mablethorpe ready to give the nurse a mouth full. However she fully agreed with me and that the organisation was not good at all. She then updated the computer and told me that I should not get any more requests before next year. The proviso being that once she had taken my blood and the results were returned. If anything was out of the ordinary, then there would be a recall.
 As my Blood Pressure was fine according to her and she checked my feet and was fully satisfied with them, I expect something to be not quite normal when it comes to my diabetes.
 Incidentally I was on News 24 this morning, a BBC. News channel. It was stated that about 1/3 of the general public were at serious risk of type 2 diabetes. I'm certainly not surprised as the medication that was prescribed to me for over 25 years is still being prescribed. Well was a few months ago.This medication caused my type 2 diabetes.
I will wait and see if I am recalled to the surgery. More soon.

More disappointment

As I said the other day I would post these photos of produce out of my polytunnel. I have managed to freeze well over 1lb or 500 grammes for those who don't understand the old weights. I am pleased with the strawberries and must not grumble with the peas I have picked. I think I have, or will have by the time I have finished them, 6 meals of fresh peas. The trouble I have had this year is the amount of greenfly, I just can't seem to get control of these pests. I have, this morning while it was raining heavily picked the last of the peas and pulled the all of the pea haulms up so that I can set something else in their place. Before that I did give the ground a full watering. As it is completely covered no rain can enter the polytunnel.
I did manage to put about 12 gallons on the ground, dug it over and raked it so that it is now ready for what ever I wish to plant or sow.
 No sooner had I walked into my home when the phone rang. It was my mate, I asked him if he had rung up before because I had been in the garden. He told me it was the first time, remarked on the dreadful weather and I remarked that I had more potatoes rotted in the ground. I then stupidly informed him that although it was still raining it had turned very light. We talked for another 20 minutes or so then I told him I would look forward to seeing him on Friday.
 Within 30 minutes of our conversation the heavens once more opened up and this lasted for about 3 hours. Once more my garden is flooded. The good news is that it MAY stay mainly dry for the next couple of days. Let us hope so because my mate is coming to fix my clothes posts.
 Finally for now, I am beginning to get forgetful. The latest thing I forgot was to put my domestic waste out for the refuse men to collect. As my Mother used to say. "It will not get any better only worse". I can certainly believe her as I do forget things more often. More soon.

As expected

 The broad beans severely damaged by the recent heavy rains and strong winds. Hopefully I will get some beans off them but certainly not as many as I would normally get.

these next photos show just how 3 days of constant rain have waterlogged many parts of my garden. The most worrying is the two photos showing my potatoes standing in water. This is very bad news for they will soon rot if the water doesn't disperse very very soon.
 Unfortunately, as expected most of my new potatoes have been ruined. I noticed this morning that the tops had gone yellow so I tried to lift the tubers up. I knew that this was too soon to get a decent crop but as soon as I lifted the first one I saw that the potatoes had  rotted and  gone rotten and were  completely ruined. I only hope that other places fared much better than us on the East Coast, we certainly have had more than our fair share of rain. Unfortunately the forecast for the coming days is not promising.
 I have had some produce out of my polytunnel. I have had some strawberries and also a few boiling's of peas. I have taken a couple of photos so will post them.
 The young man came round to see me from next door, he hadn't seen the growth of my tomatoes and other produce in a week and was surprised with the difference.
 He had asked me about the man next door and I showed him what they had done. With that the couple next door appeared, we had several minutes talking together. He told me that a couple who visited me when I was in business was asking about me. He then told me one of their names. By some sort of miracle I did remember them. Mind you it was 1997 when I finished work. Actually they were a nice couple, they came to see me regular.
 While we were talking I asked if he could give me about 1/2 a bucket of cement which he duly gave me. Now I am more or less ready to have my clothes post concreted in. It is planned for Friday as this is when my mate will come to see  me. More soon.