LAST POST 2015

I cant believe its the last day off 2015 and we are both ill not the start to 2016 we hoped for Helen is still in bed poorly i started with the symptoms she has whilst i was at work by the time i had finished work at ten I had been sick and been to the toilet numerous times not good.
I manage to get home without incident but went straight to the toilet , and went straight to bed Helen  slept in the spare bedroom i was up numerous times either  being sick or to go to the toilet or both .

At half past eight i called work to say i would not be attending technically we are supposed to be 48 hours clear of any sickness or diarrhoea but if i feel better i will go tomorrow it is New Years day .

I managed to get out to the shops bought four fresh containers of tomato and basil soup along with tiger bread , milk coffee and brown sugar  , a tray of pork chops  packet 16 rashers of smoked bacon and pork  sausages.

I stripped the bedding of our bed and washed it I also cleaned all of the bathroom sink and toilet with bleach . The floor sink taps and all of the door handles i also threw the floor mat in to the washing machine.

Helen wants the Christmas tree taking down i cant be bothered doing it today although it does seem like Christmas never really happened .

Happy New Year to all. and  here's hoping that 2016 will bring more joy and peace  , less or no wars , a end to  terrorism world wide and for everyone to be thankful and to stop polluting for this beautiful plant we call Earth.

ROLL ON 2016

Helen is still not 100% but is better enough so i can go to work ,She still has had nothing to eat no soup or toast or has she even had a cup of tea , although i have made her a raspberry jelly which she might have later , but what is stranger she has not had a cigarette in over 36 hours it would be a very good time for her to try and stop , but i doubt she will.

The winds have returned due to storm Frank and looks like parts of Scotland and Cumbria are going to get more sever warnings with more risk flooding.Leeds where i work seems to have recovered and water has drained away but we have had the worst floods in the city history something as altered we never use to suffer with flood water so what as change should be the question on every ones lips.

I have driving on this road loads of times in my life it is Kirkstall Road it takes you from Leeds to Horsforth .Once a friend was driving his old car with me as a passenger we were in our early teens the car was more or less a classic and his breaks failed .He was talking about crashing in to this viaduct to stop but we didn't have to the car came to a halt on its own we did go through a red light but came away unscathed .

I have to take our  car in for its M.O.T on Saturday i reckon it is going to cost me a few hundred quid which is the last thing i need after Christmas but i need to be road legal .

Cooked steak pies and roasted sweet potatoes for my dinner was absolutely gorgeous simple yet filling and tasty with English mustard forget the rest you cant beat good old English mustard.

Watched - Legend The story of the gangster twins the Kray,s both of the  twins are played by Tom Hardy . Also tried to watch Spectre the latest 007 James bond film  to be honest i couldn't get in to it will try later.

HELEN IS ILL NO WORK

Helen was  up in the middle of the night with the runs she was also violently sick similar but worse than what i had a few weekends ago , the smell was horrendous i work in a hospital it was bad  poor Helen the day after her Birthday she is so unwell it is not good. If it was me officially i could not return back to work until it has been  forty eight hours clear from any sickness or diarrhoea .She does not want to eat or drink leaving her on her own is not a good option even though there is very little i can do for her .

I called the doctors surgery for advice they reckon its a bug and she should be fine in another 48 hours to feed her nothing but to give plenty of fluids and she should be fine , Rang work don't think they are too impressed but what the heck i worked Christmas Eve , day Boxing Day and I will be working ON New Years Eve and New Years Day , and all is well i should be back tomorrow .

Whilst Helen slept i watched a couple of films cooked a jacket potato with beans and cheese and at Helen's request made her a raspberry jelly.
For my tea i will have beef burgers egg onions and chips .

It will be 2016 in a few days this year we have done lots and made big changes hopefully more changes will be made in the coming 12 months but at this stage we can can only guess we all know nothing stays the same .

WET STUFF

Merry Christmas everyone hope we all had a great day looking forward to 2016 so  bring it on.
I was working at the Hospital it was very quite which is what every body wanted no major dramas .
I had my Christmas dinner micro waved first time ever i have had it nuked instead of eating it out of the oven.

I have a bottle of Jack Daniels and a bottle of Bells to get through and a chocolate orange .

BOXING DAY
Leeds and near to the city centre is under water due to flooding from all the rain  we have had over the last 24 hours ,The hospital I work at is now on its own emergency generators we have the capability of going of grid.

EVE OF CHRISTMAS

My wage went in to the bank just before one a.m  ,as soon as I could see the money in my account we jumped in the car and drove to the supermarket , the roads all the way was quite a good sign .

it was quite empty in fact it was less busy then a normal shopping night , lots of the things we required we got ,  all 2 litre bottles of semi skimmed milk had sold out so we got two one litre bottles , they still had turkeys i knew they would everyone gets them early so they never sell out to say we only wanted bits and pieces we spent the best part of £200.

We got home at around half past three .a good chunk of my wage already out of my account , i also filled up with petrol just under thirty pounds it 99p a litre at the moment i reckon i did have gallon or two already in the tank a full tank will do me over the festive period i should get about 360 miles driving .

We got up just after nine also less than five hours sleep we went to the farm shop we dropped  lucky and got a parking place  ear to the entrance it was raining again . We bought a cheese and bacon quiche  freshly made pork pies and some salad stuff and more milk , Helen panics because we cant get frozen sausage rolls , Christ  the shops are open on Boxing day ,  what we don't have why worry.

My sister Irene rang me just has we got back home to the van . She told me that she is putting some money in to my bank account paid out  from any old pension policy my parents or my Dad had and for some reason he and my mother never surrender  its like a belated Christmas gift from my parents from beyond the grave .
My  Father died over  twenty - five years ago my Mother must be ten years  , so it is a very nice time to receive it , it will go towards the M.O.T for the car due 2nd of January .

STROKE OF MIDNIGHT

Well Wednesday is here and pay day is tonight , in time  for Christmas Eve last few hours shopping if we don't do it today our goose or turkey is cooked . We will be in the supermarket just in time for my wages being paid in to my account at midnight. i am not sure how busy it will be i guess be either manic or quite but regardless we will have to battle on and get the stuff we require for our 2015 Xmas.

This is our number eight Christmas first year in the van third year away from Leeds our home city.

I need to buy  a Christmas cake with marzipan , a rice Christmas pudding with pour over rum and extra special mince pies a large tub single cream otherwise it won't be Christmas .

Whiskey for my Irish coffees and of course some Irish whiskey .

It is now just twenty minutes before it is Christmas Eve 2015 and we will be going shopping in a few minutes .

SICK

SATURDAY

 woke up  in the morning throwing up and really bad  diarrhoea i must have gone four times in a few hours it was late in the afternoon when i got out of bed .
Went to the supermarket bought a turkey crown so we will at least have a turkey it feeds 11 to 13 people there is four of us having dinner it should be more than enough we will also be having a gammon joint with it as well .

SUNDAY
 we went over to Dobcross to see the village cottages  christmas lights and decorations  we were a bit too early it was still day light we did not want to hang around so we  left will have to go back will post the photos will be after Christmas day might do it boxing day .
Had nothing to eat yesterday , tonight i ate for the first time w had a gammon joint  and roasted veg

HIGH AND LOW

THURSDAY

This week has really dragged have done nothing great at either work or at home . Everyone seems to be stressing out over christmas , money and buying presents , its getting to be a pain in the backside i be glad when its all over and we all get back to normal , its just not worth the fcuking hassle.

FRIDAY
Fire stick loaded with Xbmc or Kodi as it is now better known as all i can say is i am disappointed it is nowhere as good as i was lead to believe i guess its no big surprise , i was that disappointed i  signed up for Amazon Prime which is better than i thought it would be so all is good in the end .

Cant believe this time next week it will be Christmas day as i have already mentioned another major let down , and  i am working or at least going in to work .We still need to get a turkey crown , fruit  cake laced with brandy and xmas puddings and stollen as well as pear cider and whiskey .I get paid the day before Christmas great timing not.

A friends father is in the local police  cells tonight for driving whilst under the influence of cannabis's  oops , guessing he has a merry Christmas every day  , on a plus side at least he did not injury anyone or ruin anyone else christmas only his wallet and license is suffering , which i guess he won't see for a another couple of christmases  .

TILL CHRISTMAS

TFIF
My Amazon tv fire stick is better than i thought  i want to start and catch up on certain tv series such as Black sails , TWD , The Hand Of God and Vikings .
I want a Scan disk expand flash storage device to go with my iPad and phone £109 for 128 gb when you consider the cost of a 128 gb iPhone or pad its a big saving plus still have the original 16gb store on the Apple device its self it really is a  no brainer .

Part of my job is to take blood and platelets from the blood bank  to theatres and wards throughout the hospital  i have to scan a bar code on my i.d badge to open the fridge then there is a bar code on each  bag of blood which has to be scanned  out once you get to your destination the same procedure applies and you re scan it in , this is to check the blood is still usable . it also as a brown tag on with the patients name and ward or theatre number  on  , It  is transported in a green disposable carrier bag , some wards take it straight from you and it is given straight to the patient i handed on bag of blood to a health care assistant  and she so squeamish  i though she was going to faint weird .We had a new starter working on a ward and he saw some blood being taken from a patient and he did faint this guy is at least six foot six if not taller .

I am also taking my Mac book pro lead in to work to the med physics departments so squeamish  to see if they can re join the wire the dog chewed through ages ago we still only have the one lead for both Mac books.

We need to source a turkey farm so we can purchase a turkey crown for our Christmas dinner even though i am working on Christmas day i won't be starting until two in the afternoon not sure if i will have dinner before i go or on my return in the evening .

My manager asked me yesterday if i wanted to work Friday ten at night till six in the morning Saturday of course i declined why mess my weekend up for a few hours extra pay i did not even have to think about it.

SATURDAY
Its raining its grey but its not windy we are going out to get food think i will get some Nandos peri medium rub for the chicken legs that  i am defrosting that's  if i can be arsed going to the freezer out side in our outhouse in this rain  . Later  i will be watching the following  movies Crimson Peak , Robert De Niro in Heist and M.I. Rouge Nation.

Went to Asda and it still rains it as been pouring down with rain  all day , and the cat rescue where we got Minnie from is flooded all the kittens and cats are fine , cant believe how much rain has fallen Cumbria is awful all the people houses have flooded is sad specially so  close to Christmas the government should stop all foreign aid and build better flood defences and pay compensation to all those effected by the floods.

SUNDAY
No rain this morning so i cleaned out the gutters both sides of the van it took me around a hour and i filled a bin bag half full of leaves .I dare not empty the water butts on a already water logged garden i will leave if till the ground has had a chance to dry out.

In the afternoon we went back to our old street Upper Bank End Road to hand deliver Christmas cards all our old friends where out we did see Ken the deaf and dumb man who is out all weathers walking the country side .We do miss Holmfirth there is no the place quite like it .

Had a proper Sunday lunch with roast pots and Yorkshire pudding .

CRAPPY WEEK

MONDAY
Emptied the water butts and bagged up some of the leaves that are still about , whilst i was out side the postman called he had my package from Amazon my Kindle Fire Stick i set it up and was using it within ten minutes ,  i had slight trouble at first connecting to my wifi the screen kept disappearing not sure why but i managed it in the end to be honest i think it's a great bit of tech  i would recommend it to anyone and in some ways as good or better than Apple tv , i have to admit i am getting a bit pissed off with Apple i don't reckon its any better than using Microsoft or Android in some ways its less good with its own set of problems.

Christmas is fast approaching and  i am working on Christmas day . On my break i will take some  photos of the city centre it will be desolate and eerie as they will be no one around. The last time i was in the city centre on a Christmas day was in 2007 my first yuletide with Helen we had moved out of the Travel lodge and in to our apartment  this was three days prior to xmas day we did not have time to get a tree and decorations but we did have a great dinner and after we went for a walk by the canal in to the city centre we saw one Japanese couple who looked like tourist taking photos.

TUESDAY
Boring day work was ok survived it and went home had pork chop for supper it was so tasty bought from the local farm shop the taste is so much better the cost is more but it is worth it , with out a doubt the highlight of my day i live such a great life , i am grateful for the little things i do appreciate what i have .

WEDNESDAY
A worker from the night shift called in to see me to tell me he couldn't attend his shift tonight he told me that he was returning home to stay with his daughter whilst she dies , you cant really argue , so sad so emotional it's not the season to be jolly for all of us out there , so  be grateful for what you have .

YORK

Went to York to their Christmas market we used the park and ride it is nearer home the Park and ride was cheaper .

Helen bought some ear muffs from Fat Face although it was not that cold , we had hot pasties from the Cornish pastie company the river Ouse in places had burst it's banks and fields and farming land was flooded no houses where effected unlike Cumbria people had to be evacuated .

Bought a pyjama set for my Grandson from the White Company it as aeroplanes on it's  for a Christmas gift he is still not one yet.
This time i had my back pack no more juggling with plastic carrier bags .

Two Christmas Markets two Minsters two park and rides in two days Lincoln's Christmas market is on a grander scale but York as a lot more nicer shops and pubs .

One the way back home we stopped at my sisters house and had a coffee she had been putting  up her Christmas tree and lights .

Watching - "The Walk"

Listening to Coldplay "A Head Full of Dreams"

LINCOLN

SATURDAY
Went to the Christmas market at the historical town of Lincoln it was only a hour and twenty minute drive the roads were very empty .
We used the park and ride and caught the bus to the centre of town it was still light it gets better when its dark and all the lights go one.

This time we actually went inside the cathedral which is impressive as York Minister i am not sure which one is the oldest , they had a candle lighted for those who died in the Paris terrorists  attacks .

Went also to the medieval market it was it pound to get in it was all canvas tents and straw on the floor it was all lighted up and the stall holders was in old fashioned dress looked like from a bygone age we bought some hand made soap , some Christmas pot pour with orange and lime pieces and cinnamon scented  candle .

Had some slow cooked beef brisket and horseradish and a coffee and brandy Helen had turkey crown sandwich and a mulled wine i am not keen on mulled wine .

The medieval bishops palace the  building of the Cathedral commenced 1088 and was at one time the highest building in the world this was in the 1300's .York Minister is bigger  and older was built in 637 ad .

it

LIFE IS OK

I was that engrossed at home i forgot to go to work when i looked at my phone it was twenty five minutes past one i start work at two and it takes over thirty minutes to get there on a good day plus i had to get changed in to my work clothes eat my dinner an d generally get my arse in to gear in the end i was only fifteen minutes late not sure how i did it i was expecting to be a lot later than that .

THURSDAY
Our R.A.F bombing Syria cant say i am impressed so far it's so obvious its about oil and nothing else which is wrong ≥

Went to the farm shop bought some pork chops and Barnsley chops also some chicken legs and other goodies cant beat meat that is reared and killed locally .

Another great band releasing their album in time for Christmas  Coldplay "Head Full Of Dreams" follows Adele's 25 Album.

We are supposed to go to Lincoln this Saturday to the Christmas market should be a fun day out .

FRIDAY
So glad its Friday for some reason its been a long week and i have had enough unlike a wife the job still sucks and i cant see it ever getting  any better anyway no point dwelling on it .

I have finally started watching The Walking Dead it was hard getting back in to it guess i overdosed on it catching up on five seasons all at once it was a bit of a  overkill.

Good news i have chicken in the oven , pear cider in the fridge and ice in the freezer and Coldplay on my iPod .I am at home chilling life could be a lot worse than this ,  life is ok if not brilliant.

OIL WATER MEAD AND APPLE

SUNDAY - The wind was howling last night and rain was lashing down it was quite noisy i woke up just after 02.15 am put a t-shirt on and went to the kitchen to make myself a nice refreshing cup of coffee , Helen was fast a sleep so i left her tucked up in bed .

When i went back to bed George our ginger tom followed me and jumped on to my side of the  bed once i had got in  he laid down on my chest purring , which made it a lot harder to get back to sleep , when i woke up at eight i was knackered , we had a shower before having fried egg sandwiches for breakfast .

 Bought some anti freeze for the car i knew the water would want topping up i as i have not checked it for a while a good sign its not using loads of water i also bought some oil and checked that which also needed topping up i am always careful  about the amount of oil i pour in  too much and you can blow your oil seals which is not good , i placed half a litre i will check tomorrow and add another half litre if needed.

Bought some Christmas's presents only three but i thought i better start seeing its only a month away .

I bought a bottle of 11% mead which is made from fermented honey people have been drinking mead since 700 bc .

Apple issues i have made an appointment at the genius bar at the Apple store at the  Trinity centre in Leeds for this coming  Friday at 19.30 i will have to walk there from work to take my phone regarding the charging issues i am currently having  .
I also having trouble playing audio books every time i close my iPad it looses it place and starts from the beginning so annoying . I think i will try and add the files as a play list in music maybe that will work .Make me wonder is switching back to Android such a bad option know i would work out cheaper for the cost of the devices .

MONDAY
Rain rain and more rain for the start of the week,  at work at two enough said.