It has taken until August but, at last, I made it to Trent Bridge, on a gloriously sunny Sunday afternoon, to see a T20 cricket game between Notts and Yorkshire. It was the same afternoon that Ben Stokes was scoring 135 not out to secure an unlikely win for England v Australia. It soon became clear that the 15,000 crowd at Trent Bridge was also following events at Headingley via mobile phones. Loud cheers greeting 6s struck by Stokes, quite out of context with events on the local field of play, must have been disconcerting for the players, but realising what was happening, the boundary fielders were soon looking to the crowd for updates on England’s progress. An already electric and jubilant atmosphere was heightened by Notts’ last ball victory.
August brings up another milestone in my MND ‘journey’. It was in August three years ago, while Doreen and I were at the Edinburgh Festival, that I first detected a lack of ‘zip’ in my lower legs walking uphill. I didn’t know it at the time but it was the first noticeable symptom of MND. Progression of the disease is measured by the monthly questionnaire I answer for the clinical researchers. I am now answering ‘occasional but mild’ to questions such as ‘Have you had any choking episodes?’ (MND can affect swallowing but a weakened cough also makes it difficult to eject food particles that have ‘gone down the wrong way’). The answer to the question, ‘Can you dress yourself?’ has progressed to ‘not without assistance’. I have to answer ‘yes, with considerable difficulty’ to ‘Can you cut up your own food?’ and ‘Can you turn over in bed unaided?’ I wonder how long it will be before those answers progress to ‘no’?
For those eagerly following the saga of Dean the builder and our new patio, a text on Monday 5th confirmed that he was on his way to pick up the paving stone; it must have been a long journey as it was Tuesday mid-morning before he arrived here. Meanwhile, his assistant Gavin had miraculously reappeared from wherever he’d been. We learned that Gavin was back living with his girlfriend, but she had now gone on holiday to Greece, so there could be no more falling out until her return.
Good progress was made that week, but the final grouting was delayed by heavy rain. Dean and Gavin arrived promptly on Monday 12th, decided to start by taking the final load of spoil to the tip, and never to return that day! With the wheelchair ramp due for installation that Wednesday, Dean thankfully arrived on Tuesday morning to finish the grouting, but Gavin had disappeared again!
The ramp was duly installed but it would be another week before Dean returned to clear away. Gavin had re-emerged, explaining his latest absence as being needed to clean up the house before his girlfriend’s return, but Dean had had enough and didn’t re-hire him. Instead, Dean brought back his nephew, Christian (whose broken hand was much better), to help load his heavier construction equipment onto the lorry. In so doing, Christian trapped his finger under the wacker plate, losing a nail in the process. Dean couldn’t understand why he was upset!!
I mentioned 3 months ago that I’d given my electric golf trolley to Jim, an old university friend who had not long taken up the game. He told me recently that he is still struggling to master the complex folding of the trolley, so he puts it into the back of his estate car only partly folded. He said I should have warned him to disconnect the battery as recently, after a round of golf, shutting the tailgate somehow activated the trolley switch. The trolley set off at full speed across his boot and began to mount the back seat of the car before he could get to it and switch it off. Jim should really have had the course of trolley-folding lessons I had from the pro’s shop when I first bought it!