Month: June 2025

A work day. It is Bowel Cancer month and we have to raise additional funds by asking customers for roundups and lottery and tombola. It isn’t easy and now I have got to know that Head Office are tracking how much volunteers are raising and will get managers to retrain VOLUNTEERS that don’t perform well enough. I am shocked we don’t get paid, give up our time free of charge!! Shocking.

We went to Shepherdswell  and took Ellie round Knees Wood. She loves all the sniffs in there.

We watched the French Open Final in the afternoon , all five and a half hours of it. I told Mal that Alcaraz would claw  his way back and he did! Excellent.

I went shopping at Westwood and vowed never again. The roads were horrendous and queues for the car parks and I went early!! Whitfield, Dover or Deal in future.  By the time all the houses are finished being built I can imagine the place will come to a standstill.

More torrential rain but Mal managed to take my surplus tomatoes to the allotment to plant.

We watched the England game – not inspiring!

 

We took Ellie to the park in Minster and drove back past the house we used to own in Sevenscore. We could have made a fortune!! They have sold off half the garden and another house has been built next door!

In the afternoon our Red Hatter group met up at the Walpole Bay Hotel for afternoon tea. It’s a lovely quaint hotel with a museum on the second floor.

We had a new lady join us, Marta, who is a steam punk! She certainly fitted in to the group. We had a lot of laughs.

 

Rain was forecast and so we went out early and just about missed it. We went to Wingham Orchards. The apricots are coming along well. Ellie even had a little bit of a run, I think it is old bones with her, like the rest of us , that after she has rested she seems to limp a bit.

The rain was so light that I soaked all the garden as I have so many pots, then of course late evening it rained!

More strawberries from the allotment and lots more broad beans.

I went to the first session of “Oneyou maintaining a healthy weight”. This was suggested by the nurse I saw in January . A popular course as I have waited until now! It’s not about losing weight but all sorts of things. I found it really informative. Yes, we do eat healthy foods already but my theory is every day is a school day and maybe I can learn something new….it’s a long time since I did biology! Jane the lady who runs the course is so lovely. But a man sitting next to me was so “know it all” and kept interrupting. I have to admit, I don’t look at the AMOUNT of sugar there is in so many foods, the manufacturers ploy to get us hooked some of the ingredients they put in. Today was about food grouping and swaps to make.

In the evening we almost caught up with “Race Across the World”.

We walked Ellie across the fields in Eastry and then went to the pharmacy to collect my ear drops.

I spent some of the day sorting out Red Hatter future things. Some other Hatters from Norfolk are coming to Broadstairs next week and so we are all going to meet up. Also a show booked for next February and afternoon tea this week.

Mal now has daily visits to the allotment to try and keep up with everything. Another punnet of strawberries and loads of broad beans.

My ear has been a problem while I was on holiday and still is and Mal told me to go back to the docs. The only way is to queue outside at 8am or you don’t stand a chance of getting an appointment. I did try phoning last week and the receptionist  just told me to ring on Tuesday and make an appointment to see a “practitioner” OR  a doc in 6 weeks time!!  So, I tried the queuing method.

I was 5th in the queue at 7.50! Then it grew in the next ten minutes. So many waiting when they opened the doors that two of the practitioners started calling people into their offices to make appointments. I was lucky I had the one I did. She asked me loads of questions, looked up my notes and said as I had been twice before with the same problem then I needed to see a doc and one would phone me. I was on the way home when the doc phoned, again lots of questions and then said I needed to see a doc and gave me an appointment for later on in the day!

I went back to see the doc and she had more questions, and looked in my ears said she would not give me antibiotics as the last ones had but different ear drops and made another appointment to return in two weeks time.