All posts by Tim Lenton

9 August 2008

Uncategorized,

Haven’t seen the family for a nearly a month, and it will be the end of August before we see them again – must be the longest period we’ve been without seeing them. They’re off to Nottingham today and then to France on the 15th. So here’s a picture of us all together at Fred’s caravan at West Runton four weeks ago. Clearly the food was good.

Weather has been a bit up and down this week – the odd thunderstorm and some quite heavy rain, interspersed with warm and calm periods. Like me, really. One minute I feel very positive, the next I’m quite under the weather and suspect something is going wrong with the catheter. Have odd pains here and there, and my stomach isn’t quite right, though it’s much improved. However, in a good moment I decided to carry on living as if nothing was wrong, and I hope to maintain this attitude for at least the next few minutes – and maybe more, as they say in dating ads. Not that I read dating ads, of course.

Andrew seemed to have a good birthday, despite not coming home. I rang him up in the evening, which pleased him, and he was quite bubbly. He got our present and seemed to really like it, and he also got quite a few cards. A friend in Coventry had taken him out for a meal, and The Langleys had made him a cake. Phil has got his car and computer fixed, so quite a good week, sibling-wise. I have been in and around the house, doing some more work on the Paston book for Lucy. Yesterday Dot and I both had our hair cut, and Linda’s partner Mike had a measure-up in the shower room to see what he could offer Dot in the way of shelves, cupboards and surfaces.

Today Dot and I are practising a couple of songs for tomorrow, which is the church day out at Mangeen. I am working on the principle that all will be well, which is an established Norwich attitude originated by Julian, or possibly God.

5 August 2008

Uncategorized, ,

A view of Brancaster beach, which figures in a poem I’ve just written, mainly about the difficult last few days but also a little bit about Brancaster beach.

Yesterday was very quiet: I wasn’t feeling up to much, but I wrote lots of e-mails and spoke to a few people on the phone. Today was busier: I got up reasonably early and walked up to the sorting office to post off Andrew’s card and present. Then Dot and I drove to the garage, where we got a ridiculous estimate for the vandal-created dents on our car: £1500. Pretty straightforward, said the bodyshop man: it just needs a new roof and a new bonnet. Although we’ll only be paying one sixth of this, I still feel indignant.

On we went to Wells and Big Blue Sky, who bought 12 of my poetry books!! Seems likely they would be interested in smaller booklets, too. Had very encouraging conversation with owner, then moved on to Holkham for a sandwich before heading home via the Walsingham Farm Shop. Towards home had violent stomach upset and only just made it. What next? My body should sort itself out.

The weather switched from calm and warm early on to very wet and unpleasant on the way home, but it seems to have reverted to reasonably pleasant again, though with occasional drops of rain. Shortly the Tuesday Gang will appear. Potatoes are baking.

3 August 2008

Uncategorized, , ,

Another very old picture – this time of Dot, which must have been taken in late 1971 or early 1972, because she was clearly learning to drive (see the L-plate on our Austin 1100, which I had bought from a second-hand car dealer on the North Circular: our second car). Could have been taken in Wales, in which case I suspect it was on top of the Berwyn Mountain, scene of a well-known UFO sighting featured recently on television, with Dot’s cousin Adrian an impressive interviewee. Or it could have been somewhere else.

Back to the present, and an extraordinary week, as heat gave way to rain. Nothing extraordinary about that, but if you remember I had a urine infection. I had been given tablets for this at Wells, but by Thursday I had reached a stage where my flow had dried up completely. This was bad psychologically (I was instinctively terrified) and physically (it became more and more painful). I tried the urology nurses and the surgery, but couldn’t get through, so we went to the hospital, where coincidentally I had an appointment at the out-patient clinic to get the result of my blood test – to see if my prostate operation was successful.

Despite the urology nurse (who had picked up my message) trying to get me in quickly, the doctor was still about 15 minutes late, and by then I had lost all interest in the blood test. He examined me, made some phone calls and got me into the Emergency Assessment Unit. I just about managed to ask him about my blood test as I left the room, and it was CLEAR – the operation was SUCCESSFUL! But I was in agony.

Dot and I walked to the EAU, and a doctor tried to insert a catheter – unsuccessfully. There was some kind of blockage. Enter my personal saviour – Wayne, a nursing auxiliary. He gave me a mixture of gas and air (usually used for births), which was the only thing that gave me any relief during the next few hours, during which I was transferred to a bed in the EAU ward. They tried morphine and various other tablets, but only the gas worked – on and off. I can’t ever remember being in such distress.

There was talk about an operation the next day, which didn’t do anything for my mental state, but eventually, after some hard praying by Dot, I got an emergency slot at 8pm (the original appointment was at 2.25pm). Never had losing consciousness come as such a relief. I was told later that as soon as this happened the flow was released, and that they went on to stretch my urethra. It certainly feels as if it has been stretched, and my new catheter is less comfortable than the old one. I am due to return to hospital early next week to have it removed – and possibly to learn how to insert one myself if necessary. Don’t like the sound of it much.

I was in hospital overnight, of course, but discharged early the next day – without speaking to a doctor or being told officially what had happened during the operation. But that’s nothing new. I’ve been feeling very fragile since, but went out for a short walk yesterday afternoon.

I’ve spoken to Big Blue Sky and had hoped to take some poetry books out to them on Friday, but of course that had to be postponed. Also postponed is Andrew’s visit to Norwich next week, which is sad as it’s his 60th birthday on Wednesday. I’ve let The Langleys know, but haven’t told him yet, because he’s out a lot. I’m trying again tonight. It will be nice when things get back to normal, if they ever do.

30 July 2008

Uncategorized, , , , ,

Completing the picture started with my last post, this is Birgit’s brother Joe and his wife Ilona, on their visit to our garden last week. Have taken quite a few pictures since then, and no doubt I will catch up in due course.

These stemmed largely from our two-day ruby wedding anniversary visit to the Victoria at Holkham. But before that we renewed our vows in the old church at St Augustine’s – open because it was also the day of the medieval fair. We also supplied the music for the service, after which Annette V had laid on some ruby sparkling wine for a toast, plus petal confetti! She also supplied red roses for the church. I had to make an impromptu speech, which I’m not good at (I need notice of these things), but it was a memorable and lovely occasion. Afterwards we bought a couple of beefburgers from the “medieval” barbecue to keep us going until our celebration meal at Holkham.

We were in the Stone Room, with a huge double bed, and an outlook on to the courtyard, which meant it was quite noisy late in the evening. Because it was so hot, we needed to have the windows open, so I was kept awake by the huge hotel fridge buzzing away outside. Before the meal, however, we walked up into Holkham park and saw some deer. The meal itself was outstanding: I had one of the best steaks I’ve ever had. We also had a glass of champagne each and an excellent bottle of Pinotage. There was also a surprise – a strange coincidence – our friend Stephanie was having a meal there at the same time with some friends. What are the chances of that?

After the high point of the delicious meal, things went rather downhill when I couldn’t sleep, and then the urine infection that had been sort of threatening for over a week (I wasn’t sure that’s what it was) suddenly got so much worse that I had to ring for an appointment at Wells Health Centre on the Monday morning. I saw the nurse (Sam), and she referred me to the doctor, both of whom were really pleasant and concerned. They gave me some antibiotics, which seemed to be making inroads at first, but as I write still haven’t made a huge impact. Dot wanted to go down to Holkham beach and get in the water, and I initially felt well enough for this, though it’s quite a trek. However, we had to rush back prematurely, though Dot did make it into the water.

I then spent quite a bit of time lying on the bed while Dot walked to the local cafe and had a cup of tea. I felt better enough to pop into a couple of the local shops with her, and we then drove into Wells to get some of the famous French’s fish and chips. which were delicious. Surprisingly, I felt much better doing this – and then sitting by the quay reading – than I had done in the hotel room. I felt the antibiotics were working, but the night was really bad, with visit to the loo necessary every hour. (Even worse last night.) Again in the morning and out of bed I felt much better, and after breakfast we drove to Brancaster and spent a couple of delightful hours on the beach. I took some photographs and read, and Dot went into the sea again.

Afterwards we drove home via Holkham Park, which we have earmarked to show to Dave and Julia next year. Magnificently set out; very striking. Then on to Walsingham, where we stocked up in the upmarket farm shop and then had a cup of tea round the corner in some very modern tea rooms: less than £5 for tea and cake for two. There had been thunderstorms overnight, but it had reverted to the same warm and dry weather during the day, though it was a little windier. In the evening the ten-strong Tuesday Group ate in the garden before adjourning upstairs to talk about prayer. Warm and dry again today.

While in Wells and awaiting my health centre appointment we called in at Big Blue Sky, and I left my poetry book for them to consider selling. When we got home there was a call waiting for us expressing interest. I’ve tried to ring back, but unsuccessfully so far.

26 July 2008

Uncategorized, , , , ,

My nephew Joe and his wife Birgit, who came round on Thursday night with Birgit’s brother (also Joe) and his wife Ilona. Very pleasant 40 minutes or so in the garden before they left for Phil and Joy’s. It continues very warm – pleasant in the day, unpleasant at night, and I’ve not been sleeping very well. However, I am generally feeling better.

Thursday afternoon proved a long session at Paston, deciding what goes in the book, but it turned out to be unstressful. Everything we wanted to get in looks as if it’s going in, and we managed to marry up poems and images quite nicely. Today Lucy came round and printed off some acetates. I had thought she was going to do something much more complicated with them, but in the end I could easily have done what she did. In fact, I did. She just happened to be here at the time – after buying the acetates first, of course.

Yesterday, after a really bad night, I was going round in a daze, though getting one or two things done. Phil and Joy came round to use the computer: Phil found a dead Lenton in the Telegraph with Norwich connections, but she is no-one I know. There are far too many Lentons around to keep track of now.

Today, after Lucy did her stuff, Heather Savigny came round with her friend Simon, and we all went to the Coach and Horses round the corner for lunch. Surprisingly good. They came back for coffee/tea afterwards, and I managed not to get in a discussion about climate change with Simon, who works in the carbon reduction industry. He has a good sense of humour, and we had an excellent time.

Tomorrow is our ruby wedding anniversary, and we’ve booked into the Victoria at Holkham for a couple of nights. That’s after renewing our vows at church in the morning. Apparently they run out after 40 years.

24 July 2008

Uncategorized, , , ,

Rather an embarrassing picture of me on a horse, which must have happened in some sort of alternative reality, otherwise known as the late 1960s. It was unearthed by David in a selection of old slides that I rashly let him take away and examine. The place is Wales – more precisely, Green Lane, Corwen, behind what used to be Dot’s aunt and uncle’s house. The person in control of the horse (clearly not me) is Tish, otherwise known as Julia, one of our lovely bridesmaids, who almost coincidentally, now lives in precisely that house with her sister Gloria. Or she did last time I heard.

This week has been very busy, and I’m feeling extremely tired. I also have a slightly annoying condition (I’m not sure it’s an infection) in the area of the operation, but I’m hoping it will go away rather quickly. It did before. All adds to the tension, though. On Monday I had the blood test that will eventually reveal whether the operation was totally successful. Blood in my right arm proved elusive, but the nurse eventually found it in my left arm, despite the computers all being down.

Tuesday was hectic. Annette R came round and we tried to sort out what was going into the Paston book. This involved a lot of printing out of poems and making of lists. We eventually decided I needed to go out to the workshop yesterday to discuss things further with Caroline and a couple of the poets. So I did, and then we decided I needed to go out there again today, with all the poems (I hope) printed out in the correct font for us on the photographic plates. On the way I’m picking up a book from Jessie which may be of interest to Lucy.

Also on Tuesday Barbara came round to do some work with Dot on their Thinking Skills project. We all had lunch together. In the evening a gang of seven came round, and I cooked chili con carne for them. Towards the end of the evening I felt so tired I almost crept out of the room and up to bed, but I just managed to hang on until the end. Not that I didn’t enjoy it: it was just very tiring.

Yesterday I gave Naomi a lift back to Norwich from Paston, then had lunch at home before walking up into the city to do several errands, including picking up my new reading glasses. Very hot day. I got a bus back. Meanwhile Dot was having lunch with Jessie at Wroxham Barns, and City Care were cutting branches off trees at the end of the road, possibly (or possibly not) in response to an e-mail I’d sent warning about the possibility of more branches falling off and causing damage.

This morning I’ve been finishing off the printing. It’s another warm day, and I leave for Paston in less than an hour.

20 July 2008

Uncategorized, , , , ,

David and son Oliver face the fury of the waves at West Runton last Sunday. I suppose “fury” may be putting it a bit high, but at least they’re in there together and having fun. Now it’s a week later, and Dot is at Ambient Wonder. I was intending to go, but got a stomach upset just as we were about to set off. Stomach seems to be OK now, which is a bit disappointing – not that my stomach is OK, but that I didn’t just ignore it and go. Oh, well. Preached at church this morning and also had to play guitar, because of a lack of musicians. Afterwards six of us went to the Gibraltar Gardens for lunch – a carvery. As the other four were Annette, Ali, Trevor and Liz, it was a lot of fun. The sun came out and we looked at the river afterwards, and wondered about going over to North Wales together. I don’t think it’s likely to happen, but it was nice thinking about it. Dot and I have booked to go to the Victoria Hotel at Holkham next Sunday, which is our ruby wedding anniversary, and we’re going to stay for two nights. Bit expensive, but it should be really nice.

Dot did her church school inspection on Thursday and wrote up her report on Friday, which is a bit of a record. I wrote a request for a second opinion on A’s condition and caught up on my in-tray. Phil came round later, and I looked at the accident report he had to put together for his insurance company: he looked at my second-opinion letter. My new Flip camcorder arrived, but I haven’t had a chance to get to grips with it yet. Looks very straightforward and promising. Later Joy invited Dot and me to a showing of Prince Caspian arranged by Surrey Chapel at the Hollywood Cinema. This was at 10.30am on Saturday, but we managed to get up in time to pick up Phil and Joy and get us all there in good time! The film was excellent. Joy had real trouble with the steps at the cinema, though, and we had to go and get the car from the car park so that she didn’t have to struggle to get back there.

Later yesterday, Mike, Annette R and Lisa popped in, and we had a talk about Paston and Lucy and how things were going. Really good to see them. I shall now probably be seeing Annette on Tuesday to help plan the book, and again on Thursday at Paston, to follow up the Wednesday workshop. I have been feeling quite a lot better, and next week I should be able to drive (six weeks after my operation). I am having a blood test tomorrow morning, which should give an indication as to whether the operation was a complete success. My consultant will tell all on the 31st.

Watched quite a lot of the Open this weekend and was delighted by the result, especially with an Englishman in second place. The Tour de France was pretty exciting today, too.

16 July 2008

Uncategorized, , ,

Dot on the beach at West Runton, where we’ve just spent a couple of days. Following our day trip there on Sunday with our family, Dot and I returned on Monday afternoon, after a brief excursion into the city, where I had an eye test. I need new reading glasses, chose some frames and will be picking them up next week. We had a quick lunch at Caffee Italia, then packed and set off. Cloudy, but warm. We walked down to the beach shortly after our arrival, then made our way back to the caravan for some food and a lazy evening.

Tuesday was a beautiful day – mainly sunny and warm with the odd cloud floating over. We walked down to the beach again and spent some time exploring the rock pools, as the tide was right out. Then back to the caravan and drove to Salthouse, where we had lunch at Cookie’s, the seafood cafe. I discovered I could eat beetroot. Then to the Ian Collins-curated exhibition at Salthouse Church, which was not bad at all. Some quite interesting stuff, especially outside in the churchyard, which has a great view of the sea. There was an egg-shaped contemplation chamber which was also a camera obscura: you had to lock yourself in and wait for your eyes to adjust, then you could see clouds floating past and moving foliage on the walls. Later I wrote a poem in which it featured, along with other nearby items.

After this we drove over to the beach, where we sat for a while on the shingle bank (Dot with a coffee purchased from a van). Watched fisherman for a while, then drove back to caravan, had tea and watched a couple of DVDs – one featuring the Goons which mixed embarrassment with the odd bit of creative humour – probably quite avant garde at the time. Then Inside Man, a film Dot had bought me for my birthday. We kept popping out to take pictures of a stunning sunset, but at least we didn’t fall asleep, as we did when we saw it the first time in Florida. Quite a remarkable and original film.

This morning we did very little except break the shower head which, to be fair, was already broken and had been glued together. Went to the shop and bought some more glue, effecting a fresh repair. Had lunch, Dot tidied up, and we left just before 2pm, taking the country route home. It had been a very relaxing break: the caravan was a pleasant base with a very comfortable bed. On arrival in Norwich, Anton at No 17 had two parcels for us – more birthday books and some wine. Dot did quite a lot of work in preparation for her inspection tomorrow, and I caught up on Tour de France episodes. I seem to have got over my slight problem (see Sunday), with the help of a couple of surplus antibiotic pills.

14 July 2008

Uncategorized, , , ,

My birthday weekend: the picture shows my two cakes, my two grandchildren and my son and daughter-in-law, concentrating hard on the matter in hand. Plus the back of Dot’s head.This was just after they arrived, early Saturday afternoon, and we had cakes, tea, and present-opening. I got lots of books, which is just right for me, plus a couple of DVDs – a film (from Dot) and In the Shadow of the Moon (from David) – which looks at the people who’ve been to the moon and has other features too. He also got me a book on how to build a spaceship, so he might be trying to tell me something. In the evening we had roast beef and pink champagne, which was delicious.

On the Sunday we all went to West Runton and made use of Fred’s caravan. First we had lunch there, then went down through the village to the beach and had a great time with the children in the rock pools and watching the tide come in. It was a beautiful day – blue skies and warm – and I took lots of good pictures. Unfortunately I did have a problem which may or may not have been a urine infection. It seemed to improve a little during the day, and in the end I took the first of two antibiotic tablets that I had been oversubscribed, followed by the second one this morning, when I felt quite a lot better, though I had slept badly.

Yesterday was not a good day for motor vehicles. First Dot nearly hit a car when emerging from Aspland Road with David as a passenger (Vicky and I were ahead with the children). Disaster narrowly averted. Then, or possibly just before, Phil had a crash at the Puppet Theatre roundabout. He was going straight ahead in the outside lane when a woman in the left-hand lane decided to turn right and hit him in the side. She was an American, lost and with left-hand drive, but no excuse. Happily another driver stopped and offered to be an independent witness. He also took pictures, I believe. Phil rather shaken and faced with a wait before his car is roadworthy.

Then just as David and Vicky were packing to go home at about 7.15pm, their car keys got locked in the car. They called the RAC, who came very quickly but took two and a half hours to break in and retrieve the keys. Apparently he could have done it quicker but didn’t want to damage the paintwork. Impressive security, though. At first the children watched proceedings, but eventually they went to bed and to sleep, which raised a problem when the keys were eventually retrieved at about 10.15pm. To go or stay? They decided to go, and left just before 10.30pm, with two sleepy children carried down from their beds. We got a text message at 1am to say they were home safely and the car was unpacked.

I now await sarcasm from certain quarters not a million miles removed from Nottingham about my use of a caravan, but of course there is a world of difference between a static caravan and one that is cluttering up the roads. That’s my story, anyway.

11 July 2008

Uncategorized, ,

This has been a quiet week, really, in terms of physical activity. I haven’t been out much, except on Tuesday, when Dot dropped me at Richer Sounds on her way up to the garage to purchase four new tyres for the Mazda 3 (over £500 – I blame Gordon Brown, since I don’t think anyone has blamed him for the cost of tyres yet). At Richer Sounds I asked for £80 back, as I hadn’t claimed on my warranty cover for my hi-fi over three years. To my surprise, there was no loophole: they handed it over without any problem, once I had worked out how to get in the building. The front door was locked and no-one had the key; apparently everyone arrives by car and uses the back entrance in the car park. I bought a cable that may or may not be useful. I need to speak to my technical expert, who may also advise me on whether or not to buy a Flip camcorder, which seems ideal for my needs. I am very tempted to go for it immediately, but won’t. Probably.

Anyway, on my walk back home I took the picture above from Fye Bridge before walking through the cathedral and realising I was actually very tired. I sat for a while, then continued home. Later on Annette R called and we had a chat about progress with the Paston project, which seems to be going well, though Annette is a bit concerned about practical aspects of putting the book together. Later on in the week I responded to a collagraph from Sharon Teague with a poem I was quite pleased with, using imagery from jousting and chess. I used a title I have been trying to use for ages: Blue Days, Black Knights. Buddy Holly would have approved. Perhaps.

Later we had a good evening with the Tuesday Group, though I had to take paracetamol before they arrived, as I was getting a bit the worse for wear. Surprisingly, it worked very well. On Wednesday Linda came round and did our hair, following which Dot disappeared into the city to meet Barbara. Pretty miserable weather, and I declined the opportunity to join her there to purchase a new anorak, which I will eventually have to do, much as I hate shopping for clothes. The Tour de France has started, which is always a good sign, and Dot and I are following it closely on ITV4, which gives it an hour a night – or about 40 minutes once you remove the adverts. So of course we always record it and skip them.

Dot has been busy completing a distance learning task related to her school inspections: she has almost finished, but it seems to have taken up a huge amount of time, considering that she’s not getting paid for it. I have started writing an account of my prostate adventures and have completed a kind of prologue – the period leading up to my operation. I am intending to include the poems I wrote while in hospital and just afterwards, but can’t imagine who – other than family and close friends – would be interested in reading it. Nevertheless, I feel it should be done. I don’t know the ending yet, or course.

Last night, while I was watching England do remarkably well at cricket, Dot went to a PCC meeting which must have been one of the shortest on record. Why do I miss all the good ones? Apparently Nicholas is thinking of taking three months off to write a book on Developing Consciousness. I wonder if our joint effort a few years ago will feature or if this will be a completely new book. I may get an acknowledgement, but I suspect it will end up as one of the many pieces of writing I’ve completed and then failed to get published. Or to be more accurate, failed to make much attempt to get published.

I got a surprise e-mail from a guy in Weymouth who knew a Margaret Lenton who turned out to be the grand-daughter of my great-grandmother’s sister. There must be a word for that. Facinating stuff, actually, because she was quite a distinguished composer. The guy may even send me a CD of her music. This is possibly the most interesting Lenton I’ve come across in my genealogical adventures. Unfortunately she’s dead, and neither she nor her only sister married or had children.

Had a long phone call this morning from the social worker in Coventry, saying the doctor is quite worried about Andrew, following certain memory tests, and wanting to talk about transferring him to another team and possibly another residence. Phil and I are very much against this, as he seems so happy where he is and enjoys his freedom. A change might result in him having to be accompanied whenever he goes out, and he would hate that. After talking to Phil this afternoon, I will probably write (as suggested by the social worker) and ask for a second opinion.

The weather is calm at the moment, but thunderstorms are forecast for today and tomorrow, followed by much better weather from Sunday. Hopefully this will mean we can use Fred’s caravan early next week.