… and we’re still here! Thank you to everyone that sent through messages after last weeks’ blog! It means a lot to hear from people and hear of their own experiences / receive their positive messages of support – both Pete and I really appreciate it ❤️

We have had a pretty mixed week really – mixed from a weather point of view with sunshine and rain in equal measures, and mixed from a house selling and personal health perspective…

We have, of course, enjoyed some time out in nature with some nice walks, one of which was over to Keighley Moor Reservoir. It’s only a few miles from where we live (and further from Keighley itself) but we haven’t been over there for ages. The weather was lovely as you might be able to tell from the pictures below…

I’ve been to the Chiropractor again this week – that’s my 8th session already… although I always feel great afterwards, it only takes a few days and I start to feel like nothing has changed with the pain in my neck… particularly in the mornings and during the night! I have decided to give it the full 14 sessions that I’ve already paid for and see how it is by then… if it’s still as bad, I’m not really sure what I’ll do… maybe give the GP / NHS a go as I can’t really afford to keep paying to get it not sorted privately that’s for sure! I will miss going to the chiropractor though as I really enjoy my walk around Golden Acre Park afterwards – it’s the best part of the day!

Thursday (3rd July) was my little brother Steve’s Birthday! Happy Birthday to him! Hope you enjoyed the British GP little bro!

Thursday was also the day that Pete was supposed to have his biopsies taken, but it got rescheduled to next week due to an emergency case coming through. I think Pete was a bit disappointed as he had worked himself up to the event and we only picked up the call a couple of hours before we were due to be at the hospital… I am sure Pete will be glad when this test is out the way as it’s pretty invasive. We had already rescheduled the bone scan to next week as, when the appointment for that came through, it was for the same time as the original biopsy appointment and, when Pete checked, the nurses suggested the biopsies were the more important… ho hum!

We also had two viewing requests for the house come through for Thursday which we had rearranged to Friday 4th July due to Pete’s appointment… but then, come Friday, after we had got the house ready for the viewings (which were due in the afternoon), both people cancelled – grrrrr! To say that we both felt a bit deflated is a bit of an understatement! It seems like we are never going to sell this blumming house ☹️

Yesterday (Saturday 5th), despite the rainy, overcast weather, we decided to go for a walk around the Strid at Bolton Abbey. Fortunately, we didn’t get too wet and the weather brightened up quite nicely. We were surprised at how high the river was after it being announced that Yorkshire was in drought and actually, I’m not sure we realised how much rain we have had recently…

As I took some photos of the water rushing along and through the Strid (which is in the middle of Strid Wood where the river Wharfe narrows and the pressure of the water has hollowed out a 15 foot deep ravine that it gushes through…), it reminded me that JMW Turner (the “Master of Romanticism and the Painter of Light”) painted this area as he apparently loved Yorkshire… I thought I would look up the paintings when I got home and below is what I found compared with the pictures that I took yesterday! I’m no art expert but I can’t say I’m a fan of JMW Turner’s work as I think his paintings are a bit dull… like they have been sitting in full sunlight for too long! 😆

I think I might have mentioned it before but some people consider the Strid as the “most dangerous stretch of water in the world” – see this article if you want to read more! https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/region/the-strid-in-the-river-wharfe/

Other pics from the walk…

Today, we have been for our walk and I’m sitting watching a bit of Wimbledon and now moving on to the Women’s football (am not too worried about England’s performance last night yet but come on ladies! Must do better!), after listening to the start of the British GP on the radio on my way back from Mum’s… I don’t usually see Mum twice a week but I had a call from the Raikes on Friday (4th) to say that she’d had an “unwitnessed” fall in her room, they think, on Friday morning… She seemed in good spirits and, of course, has no memory of having a fall or that she has quite a striking black eye forming having bumped the corner of her face during the fall!

My brother Chris remains in hospital whilst, sadly, they try and find him a place in a nursing home now… having had a stroke when he lived in Singapore, he was medically repatriated to the UK back in 2021, and has been living in the front room of the family home down in Kent (due to his lack of mobility) which has never been completely suitable and is even less so now as, although the Docs are not sure what’s wrong with him, his blood pressure is so up the wall, he cannot really stand at the moment due to dizziness ☹️ Once we know what’s what with Pete, I think I will try and get a trip down to Kent to see him, hopefully by the end of July… but you know, as they say, there’s often a silver lining in everything and I have to say, for me, Chris being hospitalised, although absolute crap for him, has meant that I’ve re-established fairly regular contact with my Niece, Emily – which has been very nice! Can’t quite believe the little girl with the boney bum has now grown into an almost 18-year old, 6 foot tall young woman!

Anyway, enough ramblings for today… thanks again for those who have been in touch – as I said before, it’s much appreciated… until next time, as Jerry Srpinger would say, take care of yourselves and each other!