Keeping busy.

Snow at last!

Last Saturday it was Paul and his mum's (Betty) birthday.   Family members popped in to see Betty to wish her happy birthday and to wish Paul a happy birthday too. Gwenny (Paul's sister) arrived on Thursday night and we took her to the train station in Breda later that evening.  It was snowing (for a change!) so I drove carefully - fortunately with no mishaps.  It was good to see Gwenny again and also to see other family members too.

The snow was lovely but it didn't last very long.  We keep hoping that the canals will freeze solid enough to skate on them but the freezing weather doesn't last long enough.  Hope springs eternal ! ??

We had hoped to go to England this past week but didn't want to leave Betty because she wasn't particularly well and could hardly walk.  To to be idle, we have been busy sorting and clearing out Betty's garage (still so much to do!).  Paul also managed to fix the broken car spoiler and put it back on the back of the car (it was destroyed in an automatic car wash...).

We also bought a small secondhand
T@B (teardrop shaped) caravan

and brought it to Betty's place and have been getting it ready for our travels - flushing out the water system, filling the water tank, getting some linen out of storage for it; put in the camping cookware, etc.  With a bit of luck we may head over to England on Sunday or Monday for a short break and bring the caravan with us.

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.

Down time.

Kunstijsbaan Breda (picture off the internet to give you an idea of
what the venue looks like).

After a hectic few days it was time to have some fun.  Paul and I have not ice skated for many years so he thought it would be a nice treat to go to Breda to an ice rink for a change.

We nearly gave up going there, initially, because of traffic and the near by car parks were full.  We wondered what was going on at the rink!  Fortunately we persevered and found a spot.  The ice rink venue wasn't very busy so we think there must have been an event happening somewhere near the ice rink.

Having not ice skated in years, I was very wobbly on my feet for the first round or two.  Eventually I got into the swing of things.  Paul was much better than me right from the moment we stepped on the ice but he was patient enough to wait for me.  We stopped after a while because the muscles in my legs started to cramp from the stress of trying to hold me up.  After a breather we headed back out on the ice.  We could have skated for longer but I started to get blisters and gave up when they became too sore. 

The rink building was nice and spacious with a cordoned off area in the middle of the ice rink for beginners, very young children or for anyone who felt unsure of themselves on the main rink.  The way to get to the middle area was to go down a tunnel beside the rink and up into the middle.

We enjoyed ourselves and didn't fall on our derrières once!  I wonder how stiff we will be tomorrow 😐

Time to Fly!

We woke up early and was ready for the taxi collection at 7:15am.  Paul's mum, Betty, was awake too so that she could say goodbye.  Our taxi's arrival time came and went and Paul started to get a bit worried.  I stood and waited outside while he telephoned to find out where the taxi was.  He was told that the taxi was on its way.  It eventually arrived about 15 to 20 minutes late.  It was very foggy outside so people were driving carefully.

We got to the train station in  Breda and were well in time to catch the high speed train to Schiphol Airport.  The train was full and there were no seats available so we stood, with our luggage, in the bicycle storage area of our carriage.  We weren't the only ones making use of the space.  Fortunately nobody brought their bicycles onto the train at that time.  The train made a stop in Rotterdam before continuing on to Schiphol Airport.

We had arrived in plenty of time and were treated to self-service baggage check-in which we had never seen before.  Usually one goes to a counter to drop the bags off and the ground steward/ess will weigh in the suitcases and sticker them.  This time we had to put our suitcases into an open cage one at at time, a sticker was issued which we tied to the suitcase, the open cage door  lowered, the suitcase emptied onto a conveyor belt and the cage door opens for the next piece of luggage.  The process is then repeated. The airport is certainly becoming more and more automated.

Next, Paul went to an enquiries desk to find out if there was an opportunity to upgrade our seats to business class - if the price was right.  Fortunately the price was within reasonable limits but we would not be able to sit together.  It doesn't matter too much - from the aeroplane seating plan it looks like we will be sitting behind each other.

We went through security without any hiccups and had a bit of a wander around before going to the business class lounge for a bit of a late breakfast.  We have been able to relax for an hour or so but must head to the boarding gate now!

Time to board the flight!

Oh... about the saga with the car breaking down whilst in Corsica.  Paul submitted VW's invoice and, to chance his arm, our ferry invoice (that we couldn't cancel therefore get our money back for) and extra accommodation cost invoice to KwikFit.  They have paid it back!  Wow!  Good result from KwikFit Netherlands!