A Celebration!
Adrian and I drove to Lancashire/Yorkshire on the weekend 9/10 June to celebrate Brother in Law Tom's 90th birthday-a round trip of 300 miles during which I stayed awake all the time I was driving! (The relevance of this will become apparent later)
It was a lovely do hosted by Martin and Valerie (Tom's daughter) and the spread was magnificent as was the weather. If ever there was a testimony to the benefit of whisky Tom is it. On great form. We look forward to 100.

Whilst in Yorkshire we visited Standedge Tunnel on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal-This is Ady blocking the view of the tunnel

Talking of Adrian I am pleased to report that after much buggering about he has now got a mooring at Cow Roast and moves in during July. He's paid through the nose because of the silly auction procedure that CRT utilise which once again left me with doubts as to its provenance. 
 The important thing is he's got it and will be a valuable addition to the clan.
Sadly for every Ying there's a Yang and Chris and Gill on Eulalie are leaving for Aylesbury. They will be missed as very active and sociable  boaters who I hope will remain part of our gang. They are having a farewell bbq on Saturday, 23rd June. Here's hoping for the sun to shine.

We've had a few lovely sunsets at Cowroast. This was last Saturday

We've had a few storms as well. Last week in Waitrose at Berko it took a three minute cloudburst to flood the car park, unseat the manhole covers and leave  a number of 4x4 drivers stranded in the shop unable to reach their vehicles.

 And talking of Cow Roast rumour has it that Heineken are to spend 300k on refurbing the pub into a major food outlet so that would be good. Co-incidentally, my other local, The Lamb in Berko had a couple of worthies working on the windoes this week so who knows? We might have both pubs up and running sometime.

I took Roy, Annie and John P to Luton airport for their week on the Caledonian Canal and pleased to report they had glorious weather though from the few pictures they sent it looks like Annie did the navigational clever stuff and Roy and John got stuck into the grub. George Pattle would have joined the cruise but son Tom and partner Amber produced baby Fern so congratulations all round.

And now we have the World Cup which is saving my sanity being boatbound for much of the time.

The England opening game against Tunisia certainly had all the usual English frustrations but the right result.

I liked this following a warm up friendly at Wembley

There's nothing more boring than other peoples' ailments but mine is the exception. Ha.

What an exciting time I've been having !

If you like medical dramas that is.
I don't but just a paragraph on where we are medically then move onward and upward.
When last I blogged I had pneumonia and had missed Ollie and Jessica's wedding. I was not impressed.
Anyway after the antibiotics were finished I booked in to get the all clear from the GP and saw a v keen locum who did his best to pronounce me dead. He certainly scared the wotsit out of me.With much sucking of breath and tutting I was sent for an ECG which apparently showed I had an atrial fribullation. No I'm none the wiser either but apparently it's what they used to call a "dodgy ticker" in "Ello Ello"
He also sent me for a chest X Ray and prescribed anti-coagulant pills and a blood test. I am also to have a Spiro test. (29th June) No I don't really know either but its something to do with lung function. 
The following week I was at Harefield Hospital for an already arranged appointment to follow up on a Sleep Test for Sleep Apnoea which basically means you don't sleep properly, wake frequently, don't get enough oxygen and put yourself at risk of all sorts of deep joys.
The Consultant explained that the test indicated that I had been waking  47 times an hour for many years and this explained many of my problems including feeling knackered, high blood pressure, breathlessness and probably the atrial fribullation.The good news was that its hereditary so they couldn't blame "lifestyle" though oblique reference was made to weight loss helping.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/obstructive-sleep-apnoea/

I left armed (No not using my left arm silly)  carrying a machine with an attractive Monster from the Black Lagoon Mask which I am to wear till I pop off.** 

The equipment forces air up your hooter which stops the throat closing, snoring, mouth dropping open and waking. Well I found it bloody hard at first but leaps and bounds this week so last Saturday night for the first time in years I had 7 hours uninterrupted sleep and woke feeling not rejuvenated but certainly hopeful that things were on their way up. 18 days since I was issued with the mask which I hope will now become easier. And another 7.5 hours on Sunday!
The really clever thing is that the machine sends data to somewhere in the stratosphere which I can view the following morning. Hence it was excellent news 6 days ago to get my first read out showing 100 per cent and no sleep interuptions; a situation I am pleased to say has repeated 4 more times since. The one non-100% was the result of a very disturbed night thanks to the sodding leg so doesn't count,

**Only at night of course.

Who's a pretty boy then

Back to my regular GP to discuss where we are at.The blood tests had confirmed the Atrial doings so a heart scan is required and the X Ray showed a shadow on the lung so another X Ray required. Purely precautionary I hasten to add.
Enough medical nattering. Except the Consultant told me I had to tell DVLA (and my car insurers) so that's something else to worry about.Just to add salt to the wound my leg has flared up again so I'm doing Long John Silver impersonations which coupled with the mask make for a very pretty, albeit foul-mouthed, picture.