Nurse!!

Monday 20^th February to Sunday 26^th February 2012

Diane’s cold/flu has not got any better – in fact it was worse, so nothing for it but to confine her to bed – which of course then made me the nurse – I didn’t mind the work so much but it is those damn heels and the uniform which I have the most trouble with.

Tuesday she felt much better and before I could see how she really was, she was out of bed, showered and dressed – it was about 11am that it hit – “I don’t feel so well” – a bit of a false hope earlier on was now replaced with the fact that she should have stayed where she was on Monday.

So Wednesday came along and it was back to bed with her and it was under very strict supervision – toilet breaks were the only excuse for leaving bed.

Thursday was such a brilliant day – warm and sunny – and of course the no.1 son was coming later on; she who must be obeyed (except in times of illness) was most definitely looking much much better and so she was allowed out of bed, but told to take it very easy. Off to the station about 3pm to pick up Mitch – Diane was even well enough to pull a joke on me, saying that he had missed the station and was still on the train – until of course he appeared from the overhead walkway.

Mitch was well, after his New York experience and a couple of days in Watford and London.

Back to the boat for a bit of a look around and something to eat and then we (Mitch and I) were off to Manchester for the match against Ajax. Diane was sad-faced as we left but she only had herself to blame for her Tuesday effort. In any event she wouldn’t have had the ability to climb the stairs to the seats – not with her coughing and spluttering.

The match was not much in the end – a 2-1 win to Ajax – congratulations to them for their persistence – a Man United team with a very young back 5 (average age - 21).

Mitch was off to Ireland the next day so I dropped him at his hotel near Manchester airport and arrived back at the boat at around midnight.

Friday came and the improvement from Thrusday continued and Diane was feeling much better – finally I could get out of the uniform, kick off the heels and put my feet up.

So well in fact she was that we went out to the movies that evening with Gill and Malcolm (nb Shoehorn) to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – it was an interesting film and reminding me a lot of the reactions of people who decide to take on living aboard a boat – some take to it and involve themselves in the culture, some want to dislike it and find reasons why not to do it but in the end it transforms them, whilst others adapt it to what they are used to doing, and of course there are still some who utterly detest it all and go back to what they are used to.

After the film we had a light dinner at the Weatherspoons in Stafford at The Picture House – which is the old Stafford Cinema after undergoing a modernisation with a retention of much of the character of the old building – a truly magnificent place has been created/restored.

Not much happened on the weekend – it was pretty much a routine couple of days – the weather though, was still very good – a little rain and a little sun – our seats for the stern of the boat are seemingly within our grasp and Jon paid another visit for more measurements and we keep our fingers crossed that they will be sitting in place (with us in them) in a couple of weeks time – we will finally believe all of this when it is a completed job.

 The good thing by Sunday night was that Diane was a lot better and had been for a few days now, so hopefully she is over the very worst of it all and the uniform stays back in the cupboard (until she feels like more role-playing).