My wife Barbara is terrified of flying and our Border Collie, Skipper, hates aeroplanes with a passion. Living very close to the airport means that Skipper has plenty of opportunity to vent his anger at the flying intruders to his space. Each plane is chased out of Poulson Park or from the meadow, and every time he returns from chasing a plane from the area, he counts it as another successful mission. He now regards himself as having a 100 % success rate at chasing aeroplanes from the park, the
I’m just about to have breakfast. Well it’s a good job I’m not hungry. I have been out in the fields to collect my breakfast and the two mushrooms I picked are at this minute frying in the pan. Well at least Skipper enjoyed himself, both he and I have had a good walk, and unlike golf, mushrooming does not ruin a good walk. I am never disappointed if I return from mushrooming with only a couple of mushrooms or even nothing at all. Neither I am I disappointed when I return from fishing with only o
Today the rain is teeming; as I sit here I can hear the swish of the cars passing below my window on the soaking wet roads. It has rained every day this week and I am really grateful to whoever it is that organizes the weather. The sun has been a real headache for me lately. I have had to restrict my movements and apply really strong sun cream as direct sunlight stimulates my radiation. If this glorious rain remains with us, I can be out and about all day. It is much more pleasant to be wet than
I have been having some problems these last few days. It has felt as if I have been going backwards. My skin started to peel and dry up again. My eyes began to run again, and all the little devils that plagued me during radiotherapy seem to reappear. Of course I have been out in the sun walking Skipper and now I discover that I am not suppose to venture out in sunlight without some protection Of course I still use the moisturizing creams, but it seems that the cream was not enough. I am now told
Does anything taste as nice as a mackerel caught on your own rod, brought ashore in your own boat, and then within two hours of landing fried and served up for breakfast. Well maybe. On Sunday morning we went out to Langness walking with Skipper and whilst out there, we picked a bag of mushrooms. Yes, I think the taste of wild mushrooms fried up and served with bacon and eggs probably taste as good as fresh mackerel. I woke up feeling good on Sunday. I have not been so clever these last few days
Hi folks, I want to begin today by saying a big thank you to Bluemonday. I hope bluemonday reads the blog. If he doesn't then I will have to find some other way of saying thank you to him. Last night I wasted a couple of hours in a debate as to whether Jaffa cakes were biscuits or cakes. This morning I extended the debate to the forum, and Bluemonday gave me a much defined definition of whether the Jaffa is a cake or biscuit. It seems the court decided back in 1991 that the makers of Jaffa cakes
So here we are on the last day of July. It’s a sort of special day for me. Today for the first time since I returned from Clatterbridge, I walked Skipper around the park alone. Yes it was and still is raining, but at least I really do feel now that things just might be starting to get back to normal, whatever normal is.
My friend David from across the road called the other night to tell me that he had booked a cruise on the Queen Mary for next September. He and his wife and a couple of frie
Its almost 9 a.m. and the rain is absolutely pouring down. I have just returned from Ronaldsway Halt. It was difficult to know whether I was actually trudging through the river or on the path. It always seems to be pouring rain every time a cruise ship visits Douglas. Today the cruise ship Black Prince will arrive at lunchtime. If anyone out there wants to make a quick buck today, then get yourself down to Mouchers market and buy all the umbrellas you can find and locate yourself in the sea term
Good morning folks, well I promised to explain the pig in the ambulance story, apologies to those of you who have read my book. For a number of years Dad kept some live stock on a small piece of land on the airport road. We had Goats, a couple of young calves, 2 or 3 sheep, a little Welsh Cob pony, and a couple of pigs. It once got to the stage where we had too much goat's milk, so we started feeding large quantities of it to one of the pigs. By the time Mr pig was ready for the slaughter house,
This weekend has been the Southern agricultural show. Saturday of the show used to be a really special day for my Dad. He loved going to the show to meet up with old farming friends. Some of those old farming hands only met up once a year, and that was on show day. When we were kids, every year we all used to troop off to the show. My younger brother Kevin and I even made a few quid selling programmes one year. I say one year because we were never invited back to sell programmes for a second tim
I woke this morning at around 4am, and of course I have been awake since. It is now 8.5am. My favourite part of the day is at the point of wakeup. It is simply just so exciting to glance at your watch and see that it is 4 or 5 a.m.; a brand new day, those first gulps of virgin air, the sound of the dawn chorus as yet unspoiled by traffic noise, aircraft, telephones, and flaming police sirens. It seems to me that every police car these days is on their way to an emergency. If that is the case, wo
Good morning folks. Well I guess I will start by explaining that at present I am writing the blog the day before you actually read it. I have found that if I write the blog through the day, Barbara can just come along and post it on to the site at around 7 a.m. This also gives me the chance to update the blog in the morning if necessary. So, it is now 10 a.m on Thursday morning. We were supposed to be taking Aunt May on the steam train to Ronaldsway Halt today but it has fallen through. We could
I have just returned from my morning romp with Skipper. We have Barbara’s Aunty May staying with us this week. She is 79 and lives in Warrington. She made her way here on the sea slug last Monday and completed successfully her first ever journey on her own. This morning as she has done every morning, she accompanied Barbara, me and Skipper along the Silverburn. We began our trek from Ronaldsway Halt. Aunty May can’t believe that this is actually a real railway station. Tomorrow we shall prove it
Well folks, this week will see the kids on holiday from the schools for the long summer holidays. As a kid, this time of year was pure magic for me. Just the idea of coming home from school in Liverpool for two whole months sent the blood pulsing through my veins. Long before my shoes touched the timber deck of the Isle of Man steamers, my head would be full of thoughts of the beach, Langness, romping along the Silverbur River, and chasing balls and tin cans during the evenings through Castletow
I woke this morning at 2.45 a.m. and I have been awake since. Yes, it's going to be a long day. On the radio this morning I heard about a lady who has run around the world to raise money for cancer research and promote cancer awareness. She began her 20,000 mile round the block jog back in 2001. Today she passes through Carlisle and will finish in her home town in Wales later this week. She is doing all this because she lost her husband to cancer and couldn't stand the loneliness. I bet there ar
Good day folks. I begin today by saying a big hello and welcome to Pauline in South Carolina USA. Pauline has emailed me and has become the latest blog reader from the US. She left Castletown with her husband Mike when Castle Indurstries went to the States and I am not sure when that was. We almost have as many US readers now as we do Manxies. Mind you, Pauline is very much a Manxie. Not only is she from my home town of Castletown, but from the same housing estate on Janet’s Corner. America of c
I woke up at 5.45 yesterday morning. I am starting wake up at my normal times once again. I also woke up feeling really good. For the first time since I finished with radiotherapy, I woke up with no pain whatsoever. I also ate a bacon sandwich for breakfast which is something I have not been able to do now for a couple of weeks. I walked Skipper along Castletown beach. We had a stiff Westerly breeze which the forecasters said would become a full Northwesterly gale by the afternoon. The beach was
Last February when I first began writing this blog which was just after I had been diagnosed with lung cancer, I was unaware that an American lawyer was also suffering a similar fate. Some of my blogs have found their way across the Atlantic and hopefully have played a small part in aiding her recovery. As far as I know she is still going through the various stages of chemotherapy. She is updating everyone by keeping a thread going. Well I am not exactly sure what a thread is, but it seems it is
I woke up this morning at 5.45. The rain was hammering down then and that is still the case and the time is now 9 a.m. I have not walked Skipper yet as I am hoping the rain will take a rest soon. However, Manx rain is pretty fit and has lots of stamina. Today I am tired before I have even done anything. Since returning home from treatment I have noticed that I tire easily these days. I am usually all in after a moderate walk of about 2 miles or so. At present I have done nothing at all and yet
On Monday evening we drove to Ronaldsway Halt along with Skipper. After crossing the railway line and passing through the gate on the river side of the crossing, we headed for the little wooden foot bridge that spans the Silverburn a few yards up river from the railway crossing. We crossed the bridge and I sat on the steps while Barbara and Skipper foraged deep in to the meadow. There was a breeze from the southwest that made the wheat on the meadow side of the river make a sort of fizzing sound
One day last February I was sitting in the doctor’s surgery in Port Erin. I had already been diagnosed with cancer and life in general did not look to wonderful. While I was waiting a lady came over to talk to Barbara and I. She was a friend we used to drink with in the Sidings in my days of frequenting public houses. She said how sorry she was to hear of my situation. Her only problem that day was how to make ice-cream in her ice-cream maker without most of it sticking to the sides. I can’t rem
Good morning folks. It is just a tad on the wild side today, a stiff wind is blowing from the Northwest and high tide tonight at about 10.30 which means no fishing for me tonight. Well I am not really sure if I am up to fishing just yet. I think I just might struggle a little getting on and off the boat. However, another 24 hours and I will be even better than I am now. It is now 8 a.m and as of yet, I have neither breakfasted nor taken Skipper for his morning bounce along the Silverburn. I will
I want to begin this morning by saying a big hello and a very warm welcome to Marla in Los Angeles. Marla has contacted me through Stan and Mo Bradbury from Castletown. Marla is a regular reader of the blog and when she read my account of the Grand Princess berthing at the cruise terminal in Liverpool last week she got in touch to let us know that onboard the Grand Princess were her parents, an Aunt and several cousins. So, it is not just the blog that circumnavigates the globe, real people also
