Blog - Ivor’s Daily Gallivant

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Sunday June 25, 2023 Unable to sleep I got out of bed and wrote up my food and exercise diary for yesterday. And worked out I spending’s on monthly standing orders, and how much I have over until my pension comes, in just under three weeks. I went back to bed and slept until late morning and got up took my blood sugar which was easily within target range, had a bowl of fruit and fibre followed by two squares of dark chocolate and washed down with tea. I didn’t go to Marcella and made myself some cottage pie using red wine with the mince for more flavour and a sweet potato with ordinary potatoes for the topping. It was another of those days and there’re been many of them when I didn’t do anything very constructive, but who knows next week may be more eventful.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Saturday June 24, 2023 Got up at about five and had the last of the carton of milk I bought while away in Devon. It seemed to be creamier than our local milk but that may just be imaginary. (I remembered during my phone call with the diabetes nurse in Devon, she had told me to take blood sugar readings in the morning and evening after stopping the metformin. This morning I took a reading.) I put off having breakfast until the shops opens, because I thought there was no milk. At around seven I put on my trainers in readiness for a run to the Co-op. There was a Facebook post this morning with a photo of Dibden Inclosure from someone who’d had a two-and-a-half-hour morning run there. As I was about to leave, and remembered running to the Co-op yesterday-to buy a carton of milk and leaving it on its side in the fridge. (I hope I’m not going senile) I went to Marcella and for a while was the only service user with two members of staff looking after me. I chatted with Margret about taking care of diabetes, covid and combating mental decline. Josh came out with a sandwich which prompted me to run to Lidl and buy a ready meal and a pizza slice and I ate them as soon as I got back to Marcella. Ben and David arrived, and we all four of us went for a walk. And were fortunate enough not to stumble across any suicidal transvestites on our travels. After Marcella I had a much needed haircut in the new Hythe Barber Shop next to Waitrose. Then I got home finished the last of the beef in red wine stew with a potato and took my blood sugar again which was still in target range.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Friday June 23, 2023 The first thing I did in the morning was write my blog post for June 19 to 22 the days I was visiting Devon. I needed a power cable and connection lead for my iPad and was going to buy one in the Apple Store in West Quay but realised I was expecting a fire safety assessment at 11.00. The conclusion of the assessment was I needed to clear some of my clutter, and I was given a carbon monoxide detector which was put on top of my dishwasher. After he’s gone I did a little de-cluttering in the kitchen. Made myself some boiled rice mixed vegetables and chicken for supper. Later I remembered the diabetes nurse told me to take my blood sugar morning, and evening so I set up reminders on my organiser.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Monday June 19 to Thursday June 22, 2023 I set out for my four-day trip to Devon, thinking I’d got everything but on the bus into Southampton realised I’d left my weekly diabetic injection the fridge which I was due on Wednesday. It was too late to go back, and I would have to make arrangements when I was in Paignton. The day was spent travelling which was made complicated by getting separated from Andy at Exeter where I had an urgent need for the gents. Using our mobiles we agreed that he would wait for me in Paignton….. We met at Paignton station and had a Harvester meal, an underwhelming and exorbitantly expensive experience. And went to our separate hotels. My hotel was the Hotel Bonair and the first thing I did was try and get the WiFi set up for my iPad. Which I asked for help with three times whilst there and then gave up. (I’m writing this on this Friday after my return) The first morning at breakfast I met a lady named Hilary who turned out to be a couple of months older than me. She had lived in France and Spain and learnt French and Spanish to be properly integrated into the countries. She believes Covid is just severe flu and hasn’t been vaccinated. The hotel was run by young men whose nationality I never established, but I suspect they were of middle eastern extraction. The next morning there was a tall boney old bod ‘The lexicographer’, sat where Hilary had been. I sat a few tables away from him thinking he would prefer his own space. We had a few words and he told me he was from Westbound Bournemouth. He had a pile of crosswords which I used to start our conversation. My first priority was sorting out my injection, so I Googled and found my way to the closest Pharmacist and phoned my GP’s secretary who sorted it out. On Wednesday morning I had a telephone appointment with the diabetes nurse who told me my blood sugar was now low and I should stop taking Metformin. My hands have been shaking recently which is a symptom of low blood sugar. One less tablet and firm hands- life is good! Andy and I caught the train to Exmouth, we had lunch at the Sunrise Café in the square and made our way to the coast where I took a photo. The second of the British Coastline Locations was completed. The following day we went to Dartmouth using the steam railway from Paignton.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Sunday June 18, 2023 Woke up early and made plans for the trip to Devon tomorrow. I have decided to take the absolute minimum of things with me as we’ll only be away for four days. The trip is part of an ongoing project to raise money for Diabetes UK and have fun. I’ve set up a Just Giving Page and any contributions would be greatly appreciated. https://www.justgiving.com/page/ivor-minard-1677067588148 My mission is to visit each of the British Coastal Locations illustrated in Becky Bettesworth’s 2023 Diary of the British Isles. And write about my experiences on a blog. One of my friends Andy Burch is coming along for company. After I’d finished planning, I remembered I’m going on a boat trip this afternoon on The Alison Mac Gregor around Southampton Water with Hythe’s most exclusive club. At one stage one of the lady inmates pointed to what looked like a mansion on the shoreline and said: ‘My summer residence’ ‘Do you mean you’re only got one summer residence? I asked. She stuck out her lower lip as if saying ‘yes’. It was very pleasant getting out on the open water in the fresh air. Did me a power of good. I did a sketch of the emergency fuel cut-off, and they gave us all to a cup of tea or coffee with biscuits. A detail which would be missed by the majority of people but a challenge to draw. It started to rain when the Alison Mac Gregor was in the Hythe Marina lock which made things cooler, I ran to the bus stop and caught the bus home.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Saturday June 17, 2023 Got up latish feeling hungry and cooked myself a couple of rashers of bacon which I ate with my last two slices of seeded whole meal bread and washed down with tea…. Feeling deflated at my poor performance booking the train tickets yesterday I comforted myself with the thought that my idea that diabetics could share food diaries was good. It would be nice to feel I could help make the world a better place and perhaps I have. Got off the bus at Hythe Pier where Ron was waiting for the bus into Southampton. We exchanged a few pleasant words, and I made my way to Hythe’s most exclusive club and met Chis coming in the opposite direction. When I got to the club, I wrote some notes on what to include in today’s blog post. And made myself a tea some of which I split because of my essential tremor. At lunchtime I bought a beef and vegetable pasty in Tilly’s Bakery which I heated up in the microwave at the club and ate with some HP sauce. As I queued for the bakery a lady who was over from the Isle of Wight to do some cycling asked if it was a good shop I replied yes. I got into conversation with David at the club: he’s an Electrical Engineer who had studied Electrical Engineering at Liverpool University and now works designing microchips. (Clever man) We went for a walk to the Marina, and I did a couple of sketches. I bought a few things in Lidl and while I waited for my bus Eduardo walked by and we had a brief chat.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Friday June 16, 2023: all set for the next episode of the 2023 Diary Adventures…. Exmouth and Dartmouth Woke up extremely early and started working on making reservations for the Exeter Paignton train which I messed up cancelling two lots of bookings. I requested refunds which will be credited to my account within five working days, but I’ll still have to pay cancellation fees. I wrote up and published on the blog hosting site and Facebook my blog posts for June 14 and 15. Then I found there was still a problem with the reservation and almost gave up the whole scheme. Andy came round for our weekly Scrabble Tournament and sorted everything out seemingly without effort. We agreed he could be responsible for making the reservations in future. He also won both games of Scrabble.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Thursday June 15, 2023 After my exertions of yesterday I was enjoying a pleasant sleep when the phone rang. I went into the living room to answer it. At first, I thought it was another bogus call about my internet speed and almost issued fourth a stream of expletives. Fortunately, I didn’t. It was the Eye Hospital at Southampton General who told me I was due in for an all-day examination for my glaucoma. I was in dire need of a shower so had one before buying a chicken and mushroom slice, and a banana milkshake in One Stop and making for the bus stop. The bus was late and when it did arrive painfully slow because of the roadworks coming into Southampton. Eventually I got to the Eye Hospital but there was some confusion with the receptionist.As I was booked in for a surgery and not an appointment. The surgery consisted of pressure readings of my eyes every two hours. I had four in total. And sketched as I waited. Came home absolutely drained and made myself some beans on toast followed by a long sound sleep.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Wednesday June 14, 2023 Unable to sleep I got up and had a cup of tea and stayed up most of the night. I had a shower and had a laid down for a while and then remembered I had a couple of appointments at my GP surgery. One for blood and urine tests and the other for my annual diabetes check. I left getting there with too little time for the journey so ran for it, but despite my best efforts was late fortunately they were running late too so I was okay. After dealing with my medical issues and full of energy through running I didn’t feel tired and decided to go to Southampton General and join the picket line for the doctor's strike. When I got there, I couldn’t find it despite looking all around the hospital. I came home and exhausted slept soundly through the night.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Tuesday June 13, 2023 It’s another sunny day. I’m in a lack lustre mood, things are just too much bother at present. I’ve had something to eat and am drinking a cup of tea. After my tea I go and lay down, and daydream time passes, and I came to understand something about myself: I like daydreaming. Prefer it to the more productive ways of spending my time like cleaning and tidying my bungalow or reading catching up on the news. Or at least for the moment. Perhaps it’s one of the nice things about retirement. I bought some brushes recently and would do some do some more to my latest painting. I almost said work, but I don’t really see it as work, it’s play. I looked around for the brushes and when I thought they were completely lost found them. In need of some sandpaper, for the painting: I ran to the nearby Hardware Store and back and bought a sheet. When I got home, I felt better for having exerted myself. The idea of selling my post cards to dementia and Alzheimer’s patients has been abandoned. I don’t think it’s a very good idea after all.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Monday June 12, 2023 I checked to see if the invention (a filling stand for hot water bottles), I made yesterday in the evening of June 11 after writing the post had already been invented of and it had. Not very surprising looking at it from today’s perspective:it is an obvious idea. (When I went to the club yesterday:I didn’t have my iPad with me and couldn’t do a Google search.) I had great plans for today but because I was very tired just slept. One of the triggers with epilepsy is having too little sleep and sleeping through the day wasn’t a waste of time but a total necessity. I woke at 15.50 got up and dressed and felt great. Doing anything else would risk causing a lot of trouble and distress to onlookers (seeing someone having a fit isn’t a pleasant) and would cost the NHS at least £300 (the cost of a hospital bed for one night). From a purely selfish perspective it would be undignified and dangerous.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Sunday June 11, 2023: An inventive and productive day It was pleasantly cool this morning and there was a light gentle rain which had covered the roof of my conservatory with tiny water droplets. The never at odds with life birds sang joyously. Yesterday afternoon the postcards based on one of my pictures arrived and I was pleased with how they turned out. All that remained to do now was find a way to sell them and make a profit. After a little more thought I don’t think my idea for a lottery for one of my paintings was very good, so I’ve scrapped it. I am going to try and sell the postcards and last night looked up card shops in Southampton. In need of some friendly company, I went to Hythe’s most exclusive club and showed everyone the post card of one of my paintings. One of the members of staff who had worked with dementia and Alzheimer’s sufferers said when they received a postcard they would really treasure it looking at it time and time again. Whereas if a relative phoned, they’d forget about it shortly afterwards. I decided to share this observation with Age Concern and The Alzheimer’s Society in an email. If I could make a little money and the world a better place: Wow! yes, please. I also invented a solution to another problem which had come up in a conversation at the club and draw a thumb nail sketch of my idea. It was something which would be easy to produce and easy to make, which would also make money and improve lives…. ‘What a clever little chap I am’ to thought. Despite all the trials and tribulations life has put before me: My Delusions of Grandeur are ever present and continue to give me great pleasure.

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