The end of the year and some thoughts on 2015

I must thank my friend Mykle for reminding me that I had forgotten to post of my adventures for some time now hopefully rectified, I have been catching up whilst visting my son and his family in Southern Ireland,  more of that later.
Unlike last year there have been no huge trips rather a number of short ones in the British Isles,  seeing pkaces I had often promised myself to visit over the years but never got round to, having Jane as a travelling companion has definitely made a difference with some as with Brian and Andy on others.
My health has been a bit of a seesaw this year for no terrible reasons rather the time taken to get issues resolved. For example I started with severe breathlessness and was worried about the cause, so eventually it was diagnosed as asthma and I now take inhalers for it. The problems I started having last year with ingrowing toe nails I am hoping will soon be resolved now they have operated to remove part of the nail. Unfortunately the problems with my hearing seem to of got worse despite new aids a couple of months ago and at present no improvement is in sight. This makes it had now to listen to music which has always been a pleasure,  also to be able to hear people clearly other than in a quiet room with no background noise, I now start to understand the life those born with this must cope with every day, not sure though if its worse to of lost the ability,  I sm hoping with more knowledge to explore solutions in the new year.
Sadly there were health issues for my elderly neighbours this year,  he due to ill health has now moved back to the area he grew up in and his wife who has some degree of dementia is coping on her own not really sure what happened or when, although somehow she is still managing with some help from her family, the lady who lived below me has moved out so it will be interesting to meet her replacement in due course.
The nicest piece of news was to find out my grand daughter was to become a mum at the end of this year making me a great grand father, not sure how I feel about this,
Well will close for now and do another update soon

Christmas 2015 in Milton Keynes

This year Jane and I were invited to her daughters to spend the period with them, she was uncertain whether I would be happy with this, but I quickly explained that being in the company of 2 young children who believed in Santa was just up my street
We drove down and a trip thst should of taken 3 hours took nearly 5 there was that much traffic going away I presume for the period,  we were made welcome by the family and it seems that my full Christian name was to be used whilst there by the children,  so often I would hear " Jeffrey  " from the children who were lovely and seemed to take to me.
Janes daughter and sil were very busy on Christmas eve sorting out orders for turkeys they had bred over the last 12 months, think there were something like 50 to be delivered or collected,  another issue it seems was that because they had been so wrll cared for people were getting birds that weighed more than they had paid for or ordered, so more negotiation and sorting out.
They had their own 2 pet cockerals that were quite inquisitive about all the coming and going so were in the habit of looking through the living room window, I do wonder if they realised how fortunate they were as with the 2 pet turkeys also enjoying the break.
Normally I would not of mentioned the problem I was having but with Christmas lunch fast approaching it was quite important to me in that I was suffering acute constipation so unsure how to cope, particularly with all the effort the family had gone through.  I ended up going to the chemist and by the lunch the problem had reduced. I suppose this is a good time to mention that the new hearing aids I had fitted a couple of months ago were not up to the task so in normal conversation I struggle but 2 very excited children made it very hard for me to follow the chat.
On Christmas day morning I went to the toilet about 4am to be greeted by the little boy who was aware that Santa had been and left presents for him, fortunately I was able to return to bed with the promise that I would come down later to see whay had been left for him.
So thats what happened,  its so nice when every gift is so special and the children struggled to open the wrappings, but then which for them to play with.
I enjoyed the time I was down there and appreciated the effort everyone went to to include me, we went to visit Janes aunty and uncle whilst there which was another change
Janes sil and grand daughter got dressed up to ride with the hunt on the bank holiday, now for me I did not and do not want to get into the rights and wrongs of this, but it was nice to see all the different colours of horses and riders, whilst they were gathering so I enjoyed the chance to take photos of the grand child who suddenly was no longer the little tomboy but a confident horse rider and at ease, also it was the first time I saw the sil dressed and riding a horse. I obviously misunderstood how they would set off because instead of them heading cross country they went down the main street resulting in me missing what would been some really good photos.
The trip was soon over so back home very slowly,  again over 5 hours, I think it was just sheer numbers of cars on the road, on our return all the essential tasks like washing of clothes, also I had not left the heating up so as the temperature had dropped a lot at home, it took a long time to warm the flat.  We had seen on the news about the floods in our area but luckily neither Jane nor my home were affected, so the end of Christmas for another year.

Our trip to Liverpool The cavern, Mersey Ferry and the Snowflake Trail 17 December 2015

Last year Jane went with friends to Liverpool and mentioned how good the Christmas lights were there compared to those in Manchester,  so we decide to go there this year and see them properly.
We decided to travel there by train and stayed at the Adelphi Hotel a former grand hotel not quite run down, but first at the station a chace to be photographed with the statue of Ken Dodd the well known Liverpool comedian.
It was a shame at the hotel because it was possible to see how beautiful it must of been in the past, our room was spacious,  but poorly lit with old out dated furniture, but a huge bath with plenty of hot water.
We had learnt of the Snowflake Trail through the Internet and we enjoyed the many set pieces and lights in the centre.  Our first stop was the Cavern, famous a place the Beatles had first played all those years ago when first starting out, it was not actually true as this place had replaced the original. We had to climb down a series of steps to the basement where loud music was being played but with no connection with the Beatles, there were few people there on the day so we only stayed a few minutes, before continuing on our journey down to the pier and the Mersey ferry. We had timed it well as one was due to depart in a few minutes, it was 5pm and not very busy, but still played the classic music Ferry Cross The Mersey that Jane sang along to, we travelled over then stayed on for the return, Liverpool looked quite beautiful at night. We them went along Albert dock which was deserted as it was early evening but nicely lit up, then a meal and return to the hotel
The following day we set off again to look at more of the lights and explore the shops,before returning to the ferry for their excursion along the Mersey, ido have to say the commentary was the clearest I have ever heard, but soon the hour was up and we docked again. Just by the ferry there were larger than life statues of the Famous Four Beatles so another photo opportunity,  we did some more shopping and looked at more of the lights before it was time to return to the station and catch our train home

Trip to Milton Keynes and Southampton 20 September 2015

The 20th was the anniversary of Jane and my first date here, so we decided to return again but this time to stay over in the hope Jane would not lose her way in the woods this time, we stayed at Willen Lake which is a nice setting
All went well and this time we had the chance to enjoy walking through the woods and round the lake just relaxing
We then continued to the caravan park at Southampton that Jane had stayed at in previous years. Trying to find it using sat nav was not a solution but finally we got there. It was on the banks of the Solent and the caravan we were staying in was well equipped in a good location. We spent the next 5 days there wandering round the area and along the beach, due to being out of season it was peaceful and quiet with many of the caravans privately owned,  buy it was well away from public transport so not very helpful if you did not have transport,  we had taken plenty of food plus there was a restaurant on site
On the way back we met up with my granddaughter and and her boyfriend whilst taking a break on the way home at a hotel near Stoke for a meal and catch up, then back home again