July 15th 2018 - Brother Rob Walker's 80th Birthday Party at their house in Walmer - showing the birthday boy holding a glass of Yorkshire Bitter, made by me, in France at my Pigstye Brewery. It was indeed a brilliant party with all Rob's direct family in attendance. Lucie, as ever, played her part doing much of the cooking - pre-prepared in Body and Soul and transported to the UK in the back of our car. She and Di Bailey (Rob's lovely partner) were a good team producing several delicious meals for 14 people each time.
There was much home-grown music and laughter and everyone played their part. Simply memorable! Here are the Birthday song lyrics; sung rather badly by Lucie, Judy and me (on piano) to the tune of HMS Pinafore - Gilbert and Sullivan.
Soon after Rob's 80th came the brilliant news that Emily (Jake and Rosemary's eldest) had been awarded a First Class Honours Degree in Ophthalmology, by Sheffield University. She has since landed a good job, which she richly deserves for her hard work and dedication....she is now a registered "orthoptist". She also won the prize for "best pathology essay" about "uveal melanoma" and will get it published in a text book at some point in the near future, by all accounts. Gosh!
Sadly my Pigstye "Just a Pub" brewery has had to be closed for "re-developement" - there is a joke there somewhere! We have plans to move it all to a site in Tinteniac, yet to be disclosed but it may well be back on board Body and Soul on the Poop Deck - at least, if we cannot find another suitable site.
Talking of medical matters, I have been suffering from what I assume to be some sort of rheumatoid arthritis in both hands for about five years now and it seems to have become progressively worse. Unkindly, some say my piano playing has improved because of it, but there you go!
My Symptoms. I have a bent middle finger in my left hand which does not hurt but looks very ugly. My right hand is always tender and swollen at the knuckle of the index finger and can be extremely painful if squeezed or accidentally knocked. Quite by chance and coincidentally, Lucie and I have started drinking Goat's milk and making Goat's yoghurt and avoiding cow's milk dairy products and Cow meat for reasons that I need not explain but - believe it or not, scoring pain levels from 1 (low)to 10 (high), I can honestly say that the pain level and swelling has dropped quite dramatically over the past week or so from 10 to level 2. In fact both my hands have become noticeably more supple.
Spurred on by Google to research this matter for the benefit of other sufferers, I came across this letter from a long time dairy farmer written to a Mr Cohen.
To read it click here.
But as readers (both of them!) will be aware It ain't all plain sailing y'know - and it may well be just a fluke.... we will see.
Summer has been full of good things. Life on board has been quite relaxing as we have necessarily decided to stay in one place this year whilst Lucie can concentrate on recovery - there's good access to the local GP who is in charge of her treatment by Rennes Hospital. We have both enjoyed a lovely weekend exploring St Malo on her 71st birthday...all organised by her, of course....
Her treatment is going to plan and she is on good form. Her blood is tested regularly by the local nurse, on board before 9am and the results are made available by 12 noon, each time on line. Fantastic!
Our recently found friends (Fred, Anne-Claire and family) suggested that we could use their house for any visiting family whilst they went on holiday. The house is situated less than 50 yards from our mooring and has a Cat (Hercule) to be cared for by the incumbent.
Five days with Nick, Laura, Skya and Archie who were delighted to take up the offer, resulted in a very energetic time including, amongst other things, two visits to the Beaches, on the Brittany coast to the west of Dinard, complete with picnics made by Lucie, and with brilliant weather.
( you can click on any photograph to enlarge)
A day trip on Body and Soul to Hede, four locks there and back, for an ice-cream or so with our friends Guillaume and Catherine who live in the lock house there. It was fun getting our old boat "back on the road", as it were - no problems there - she managed without a hitch.
Maintenance is now all important as the summer comes to an end and Lucie and I are wizzing about with paint brushes and cleaning tools trying to keep Body and Soul in good order.
Yesterday we managed to remove and replace all four internal radiators in order to flush them out, (click here for a good video on this task) in readiness for winter central heating.
The problem with that is that we have yet to afford a replacement to the Eberspacher. So far we haven't decided whether or not to change to a "Kabola" or something else. Either way, we have our Jotul wood burner and electric radiators to keep us warm. We have been given a friendly neighbour's small microwave oven which is surprisingly useful for heating small amounts of water - enough for a shave- and for cooking vegetables.
As August ends with less stable weather, pidgeons continue to flap lustful wings on the boughs of beautiful birch and pine trees above us, showering wind blown seeds and bits of sticky resin (and worse) onto the barge and our car; but, like "Brexit", it is a costly, but natural and essential inconvenience - well worth the trouble in the overall scheme of things - taking the longer view.
( you can click on any photograph to enlarge)
Breaking News
It was lovely to hear from Charles and Pam Biggs who we befriended at Vias on the Midi whilst waiting for our lift-out at Agde and for our great journey up to Brittany where we are now..
Click on the line below for their Blog or, alternatively, on the link at the top of this posting in the left hand column
www.xeniaboatlog.wordpress.com.
Breaking news from "Family Blair" and other Walkers not yet included.
I try to keep up with the technology....patience please; it never is plain sailing!
Remember one can enlarge most of these photos by clicking on them.