It’s been a costly time here. Recently, the Deckhand and I both needed new glasses which left the treasure chest reeling. Both of us have been having issues with our phones, so each bought a new phone. In the past I’ve always bought a cheap phone, however they haven’t lasted long and my current phone is ‘eating’ the battery, and sets the alarm for midnight on an all too frequent basis. WTH? I bought a Doro (recommended for us old ‘uns) smart phone. My first ever smart phone lol. I like it! It didn’t take long to set up, though we both had issues with the sim in that my sim is too big for this phone. Who knew they came in different sizes? A quick visit to the phone shop, and they transferred my number etc to a smaller sim for free. The Deckhand just needed to ‘pop’ out the inner part of his sim to make it fit.

Ship-wide, I recently needed the toilet flush repaired, a new kitchen tap fitted, still waiting for a new shower pull to be fitted, and a man is coming in the week to repair the back door. I mentioned it was very hard to lock, especially in the hot weather, and the handle has dropped. It needs a new handle and spring, and the door needs to be re-squared because it has dropped. After he’d gone, I noticed the patio door has also dropped a little, and will get him to look at that whilst he’s here. The treasure chest is still pretty-healthy looking, though it has taken a little robbing here and there. On a plus note, I rang the pensions people, and although they won’t give me any figures over the phone, they did say that my tax payments have been sorted out, and I have a tax refund in this month’s pension. Not counting my chickens, but I hope it’s a good refund.

As suggested by my GP, I rang x-ray at the local hospital regarding my CT scan, only to find that 2 months on, the neurologist hasn’t done anything about it. Good grief! The receptionist said that she’d sort it out and I should receive a letter soon. My GP was also going to chase them up, so hopefully they’ll get on with it. Until I’ve had the scan, my GP won’t/can’t give me any meds, or painkillers stronger than paracetamol, and she can’t refer me to anyone until they rule out any physical issues in my brain. It all takes so long and this is an issue with the NHS. On the plus side, anyone who can’t afford treatment, can still get treatment and this is the good side of the NHS – though it is abused by all and sundry who come to the UK as ‘medical tourists’ but that’s a different story…

The past few days the weather here has been glorious, with a few more days of sunshine forecast. It’s been sunny without being too hot, and we’ve had some lovely cool mornings which are nice for walking the Ship’s Dog. On that note, last night I dreamt I was the dog lol. I’ve always said he has a very nice life, so maybe it was wishful thinking? No worrying about bills, no job hunting, no house repairs; basically, no worries bar where’s my dinner/walkies/cuddles… Who wouldn’t want to be a dog if you have a nice owner?

I've said before: we live in a very built-up area with lots of houses and not nearly enough trees. In the week, I spied a small hawk sitting on the back wall of the garden. After a few minutes, he quietly swooped away. Wow!

Have a lovely week. Enjoy this late sunshine if you can.