Spa day and a countryside drive.

Paul was on a course this past week so his sister, Gwenny, and I met up on Wednesday went to a Elysium Wellness Resort/spa.

It was pointless that Gwenny and I went in 2 cars to go to the spa so I drove to Gwenny's house to fetch her and then we could go to the spa together.  Getting to her house in Zoetermeer wasn't a problem but I got a wee bit stressed out from the traffic getting there.  Also the satnav took me via a route that I didn't recognise so I thought I was lost (which was rubbish of course).  I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally started to recognise where I was.

Whilst at the spa Gwenny and I had a lovely massage - it was so good that we almost fell asleep.  It was a matter of "can you let me stay here fore a couple more hours?" - but of course we didn't.  Instead we made most of the day, going for a swim, going to a sauna, jacuzzi and more.  By the time left I felt almost 'legless' - very relaxed!

I got Gwenny to drive us back to her place and then I would drive back the rest of the way to Rijsbergen.  As we were passing a traffic light and turning left into a dual carriage road the car suddenly 'died'.  There was not a peep from the engine.  Quick as a flash Gwenny hit the hazard light button before trying the car's ignition.  Fortunately the car started after a 2 or so tries.  Whew!  We got back to Gwenny's house but we were worried that the car might stop again altogether so I had strict instructions to telephone Gwenny if the car broke down; and she would come out to fetch me or get a recovery vehicle sent out to me.  Fortunately the car behaved herself and I had no problems getting back to Rijsbergen.  I sent Gwenny a message though to say that I had arrived.

Today's route, more or less.

Today we took a drive to Monschau in western Germany, near the Belgian border.  Paul's mum mum came with us to get out of the house and have a change of scenery.  There have been reports of snow but not where we were so it was a good time to see a bit of snow.  We took a nice winding route, trying to avoid some of the motorways.  It was getting quite late by the time we got to Monschau so we didn't get out and wander through the town.  It is a bit of a pity because the centre of town is still in the old medieval style.  I'm looking forward to visiting and exploring Monschau properly another day, if all goes well.  Unfortunately we didn't stop to take photographs during our drive - the scenery was very pretty.

An expo in Antwerp and a bit of sightseeing.

We went back to Antwerp today and went to an expo,"Erotica", at a convention centre.  It had all sorts of stalls that tantalised or boggled the mind; there was a bondage demonstration and a few strip side shows.  There was even a pop-up swingers club.  It wasn't really our cuppa tea, so to speak. We didn't see the strip shows nor even stick in an eyeball at the pop up swingers club.  At least we went to the expo out of curiosity and with an open mind. 

Afterwards we had a wander around Antwerp city centre and stopped for a hot home-made waffle with ice cream before heading out back to Rijsbergen.  Yum.

Tomorrow Paul will be going on a week long course at CSMART Academy in Almere (east of Amsterdam).  I will stay with his mum, Betty, and have made arrangements to meet up his sister mid-week and go to Elysium Wellness Centre/spa together.  I will miss Paul though, during the week.  He will be staying at the Csmart Hotel right next to the training centre rather than driving to Almere and back again every day.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Antwerp

 

 

 

All sorts.

This past week we have been chugging along, watching a bit of the Olympic winter games on TV and also been doing a bit of clearing out of Paul's stuff and his mum's, taking it to the recycling centre or second hand shop.  There is still lots to sort out but all in good time.

On the news we learnt that the South African President resigned.  Zuma's government was corrupt as hell and hopefully the next chap will bring more stability to the country.

We ended up putting in an offer on a 2nd hand campervan but the guy would only accept cash-in-hand.  Paul wasn't happy about a cash payment and the bank refused to release the cash, advising it was safer to do a bank transfer.  Eventually the seller was ok with the bank transfer.  Before doing the bank transfer though, Paul wanted him to sign a basic AA of contact of sale (the template of which can be found on the internet).  It  basically covers the buyer in case things went wrong.  The seller initially agreed to sign it and then refused.  So we backed out of the deal altogether on the basis that something 'dodgy' was going on. 

The T@B 400, similar to what we looked at.  (Photograph off the internet
to give you an idea of what we saw.)

Yesterday we looked at tear-drop shaped small caravans (also known as T@B or TAB) and then headed to Antwerp to pick up some plastic boxes for storage.  They are more durable than cardboard boxes and eventually, as and when we can buy or rent a house, we can move and empty the plastic boxes and perhaps sell or pass them on to people who might need them. 

It was getting a bit late to do anything else so we had a meal in Antwerp and went to watch a film, "Murder on the Orient", based on one of Agatha Christie's books.  It was fun and nice to go out for a change.

Vein surgery.

Back to the Netherlands

We got back to the Netherlands safe and sound yesterday, leaving Wales at 8am and arriving here at around 4.40pm.  Paul did all the driving as usual while I zzzzz'd, yawn.  There was a bit of sleet on the way through Belgium and we learnt that more snow had fallen in Wales after we left.  Darn! 

Oh.... and Paul left his shoes behind in Wales by mistake he so may end up spending the next few weeks in flip flops until we can retrieve them (bear in mind it is winter...  But then again I, myself, spend most of my time in flip flops throughout the year even in winter.  Mad??!!!  But my African-born feet need to breathe, feel fresh air ....).

Today Paul had an incompetent vein in his calf zapped today.  Tiny valves in the vein were not working properly and he developed a blood clot (fortunately not a deep vein thrombosis/clot!) quite a while back during his last cruise contract.  He has been on a low dose of blood thinners since then and has had to wear rather 'fetching' compression stockings.

Apparently the ablation (cauterise/burning) of the vein didn't hurt.  Paul had a local anaesthetic beforehand and a small laser probe was manipulated up to the bad vein and a laser beam was used to burn and close the vein.  I had to wait in the waiting room while the treatment took place and wished I could have been allowed to go in to watch. 

After the procedure Paul had to walk around for about 15 minutes to ensure everything was ok before he was re-examined and discharged.  He feels fine, with no pain, but is not allowed to drive.  So I drove us back to Paul's mum's place.  Paul will have to wear compression stockings for the next 2 weeks at least and will eventually have a consultant review to make sure that everything is going well.

It's "broke" but can be fixed - another time.

The garage thought the headlight washer part would arrive on today but it didn't.

According to the law, if headlight washers are fitted as part of the car - they have to be included in the roadworthy test.  If they fail then the car fails the test altogether.  Unfortunately we had to collect the car away today without having its roadworthy certificate because we need head back to the Netherlands tomorrow.  Paul has an appointment on Monday that he has to attend.  We will come back to the UK re-MOT'd later this month to get the part fixed and car.

When we collected the car the technician at the garage advised that the headlight washers were broken and someone had glued them back on, ditto the washer covers (small flat plate cover in the bumper). They are washer and washer covers are only ever taken off for repair or MOT therefore they are easily accessible.  But these were GLUED on!!??

Paul thinks that when KwikFit in the Netherlands fixed the radiator last year (and did a botch job which left us stranded in Croatia ) they didn't know how to remove the bumper so broke things and patched it up in the hope we wouldn't notice.  Paul is not a happy bunny and neither am I.

Reward!

Paul and I made the most of a lovely day to do yesterday's drive in reverse - because we get to see a different angle/aspect to the scenery that we don't see when driving in one direction only.  We were not disappointed and enjoyed our drive.

Our last evening was spent in the pleasant company of Sue and Ian.  Their dog, Kai, is learning new game puzzles that involve a reward at the end.  E.g. putting a paw on a remote button and a feeder doles out a few treats for him if he manages to press the remote button.  Another thing was to move wooden lids, with a paw or nose, over a hollowed out piece of wood to find a treat underneath.  He started to 'cotton on' a bit and work things out.

Tomorrow we head back to the Netherlands tomorrow via the Chunnel.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Brecon Beacons

New puzzle game for Kai

Why is mum putting my treats in THERE?

What do I do with THAT thing?

Something like this?

It flipped over so now what?

If I can just somehow flip the darn thing over or
do something to somehow get my treats....

I jumped on the thingumy and heard the sound of treats
somewhere

Success... oh yummy.

Tigger at the catnip again, almost 'out of it'.

Scenic drive.

Today's scenic drive.

Today we got a call from the garage that they had been in touch with their other branches in England for the spare part but it wasn't in stock.  So the part was ordered from Europe but it still hadn't arrived and they hoped it will come tomorrow.

Standoff between Strawberry (left) and Tigger (right).
Photograph taken by Sue.

Once again we couldn't sit around all day so we headed off into the Welsh countryside for a scenic drive within the Brecon Beacons, driving slowly and taking in the scenery.  We were not disappointed and might do the same route tomorrow!

This evening at Sue and Ian's house there was a standoff between Tigger (younger cat) and (elderly) Strawberry for some kitty reason.  Eventually Strawberry won - he managed to cuff Tigger when he tried to get out of the situation in a dignified way!

Today has been a bit of a sad day.  Dad (Ian Epton) passed away in 2014 from lung cancer despite never smoking in his life.  The wonderful memories of a loving father and caring husband come to the fore.  Emotionally things are not that easy at times because I miss him.

PHOTOGRAPHS

The cows are lucky to have such beautiful views every day!

My twin and me on either side of dad, and our younger sister
on dad's shoulders. Malindi, Kenya.

Coal Mine Museum

After yesterday's saga with the car we had hoped everything would be sorted.  Uh oh. ...  The garage got a new right washer for the car and fitted it but unfortunately the car failed its MOT test again because the right headlight washer didn't work!  A new part has been put on order for tomorrow.  So we have extended the van rental until tomorrow.

It was useless to sit around and 'mope' so we went to the Big Pit National Coal Museum (https://museum.wales/bigpit/) in Blaenavon, south Wales, not far from where our friends, Sue and Ian, live.  The coal mine was a working mine from 1880 to 1980 and opened to the public in 1983 as a museum.

As Paul and I waited to do the underground tour we noticed that there were lots of children also waiting to do the tour as part of a school trip.  Fortunately we were not asked to tag on to the tail end of the group but ended up being with a group of (quieter) adults.

Tigger 'high' on catnip (photograph taken by our friend Sue)

We were not allowed to take photographs whilst underground (for safety reasons) and so they, and anything else with a battery (including watches), went into a locker.  We enjoyed our visit tremendously.

Being underground was fine but above ground the air was icy so we didn't go around much of the rest of the mining site after the underground tour.

Whilst relaxing back at our friend's house Tigger, their cat, got crazy on catnip.  We had a few minutes of delightful entertainment as a result!

PHOTOGRAPHS

Visitors getting coveralls, hard hats and lamps.

The mine shaft cage

Tigger loves that catnip toy!