Drive down to Dover to pick Gwen up for Christmas

Down to Dover to collect Gwen for Christmas

Caught the 7am ferry from Dunoon to the mainland and headed south. The boat was full considering it was a Sunday morning. Looked like a group of Ice Hockey players heading away to go and play a match.

It’s a good job we left when we did, as one of the worst storms of the year hit our part of the world. Gale force and above winds, snow, high tides and horrendous thunderstorms.

 
  

They called it a Weather Bomb

Our neighbours said it was horrendous, very scary. All the power was cut and the noise was unbelievable.Yet from all accounts the lightening was an amazing scene, viewed from the comforts of your own home.

Meanwhile the south basked in sun, and we were totally oblivious to it until we started getting phone calls from friends worrying about our safety.

 
Monday afternoon we went over to Howletts Zoo park near Canterbury. Judith had found a special break that included a visit to the Zoo, a night in the Grounds of Port Lympne Safari Park in their newly converted Mansion Hotel, followed by a morning in the Park.

Both were truly magnificent and enthralling, especially the conservation work that is carried out for endangered animals.

The house itself is a glorious look into the colourful past of the previous occupiers, especially that of John Aspinall.

It is a one off experience that is totally unique with buckets of atmosphere in amazing surroundings with a dedicated enthusiastic staff.

The gardens and grounds with the backdrop of an interesting and all absorbing safari park are superb and very special, we can’t wait to return to stay at both the Hotel and also The Livingston Lodge experience which we will definitely do in the new year.

As you can see from the photographs it rather cold first thing, but they have been out with the salt and grit and its safe underfoot.

We kept out of all the big stores - just could not cope with the crowds

 

Wednesday we took Gwen out for the day shopping in Canterbury with lunch out and then we headed over to see Auntie Joyce. She had been transferred from the hospital to a rehabilitation unit in Deal after fall and subsequent break in her arm. This was about the third or fourth incident in two years. She lives by her self and is not too good on her pins anymore. But then again she is 92.

We found her in fairly good fettle, enjoying the TV ( she has been without since the changeover) and the three meals a day and of course the cosseting.

She was saying she could get used to this, so it may be that she will move out of the flat and into a home. Give everyone peace of mind, and a better quality of life for her.


Took over her Christmas presents as we were told that she was going to be kept in until 13th January. Best thing really. Christmas is not to be spent alone if you can help it.
Drove back to Dover for tea, only to find that Gwen was complaining about pain in her wrist. It had started swelling up, so wanted to take her to the hospital but she wouldn’t have it. The following morning told her we would go to the doctors, but she insisted it only needed bandaging up.

So l took her to the pharmacy under the pretext of buying bandage. Once there l had the pharmacist look at it. He advised going to casualty, so off we trotted, she couldn’t argue.
X ray couldn’t find a break, but they said it may be a small bone in the wrist called a scaphoid bone. From all accounts it is the most common carpal bone to break (fracture). But as the sister explained  the diagnosis of a scaphoid fracture can sometimes be difficult, as it does not always show up on X-rays.
So they fitted a Velcro splint and said we need to have it x rayed again in seven days if there isn’t improvement.



Gwen being Gwen, took the splint off overnight. So we had to refit it the splint the following morning. Problem was that she had completely forgotten that she had been to hospital and been diagnosed with a break.
After tree days we are into a routine and she is now happy to keep it on, but it doesn’t look like it is getting any better, so we will take her into Dunoon hospital on Tuesday and get it x rayed and checked. Then l presume they will fit a proper cast.

A full house of relatives in Dover with breakages.