Still alive...

...bloody hell, adulting is hard work. The global pandemic has been and almost gone. I got hit by the thing 3 times (or more) and still haven't bounced back properly. Even ended up (what a faff) in the back of an ambulance last wee (while at work) when a Doc's app/111 phone call got way out of control. Still waiting for the actual Doc to call me about the entire thing.

Anyway, as I said.....I'm still adulting along. The boys are growing-up far too quickly and are combining to be quite a force. 

Like many things in our life, the summer was a cracking adventure but even that didn't run smoothly. Car and van issues meant we had to be very flexible about how we summered but we are now owners of a scandi-canvas tent and kit. Heavy to travel with but we also now have a trailer. Betty cavan is currently in the driveway still, waiting for the slowest mechanic in the world to work out of she can be repaired.

Both boys are in school and apart from the occasional scrape or strop, they're doing pretty well.

Work is hard work but doable. Using 'hanging-on-in-there' as a reason to allow me to change my motorbike. I'm currently switching from a Triumph Street Triple R to a KTM Duke 890R. Not a huge power difference but the way it puts it out is sooooooooo different.

Little sis still has cancer and now my ol' mum is in a 'home'. To be fair, most of the folk who were involved in her rapid decline are amazed she still hanging about.

So.....I'm still here (just about😅) and if I can get my fitness/health back to close to 100%, then I'll be doing the Blenheim Triathlon in 2024.

 

Moving out of Covid....

 A little behind with my blogging (does anyone still blog?). Adulting, dadding and generally existing in a global pandemic is a little consuming. All is well at this end and the boys are both well. I'll sync my images between phone and Google later and upload some pics but I've even forgotten to do that recently (below pics are from the end of 2020).

Not surprisingly but wakeboarding and surfing have taken a beating recently and i can't really remember the last time I got wet. The mountain bike has been dusted off though and I've been trying to relocate both my old skills and fitness. Taking even what to some might look like a small jump/drop is challenging at the moment and there's no way I'm bike-fit enough for any epics rides.

Back to the boys and they're growing up. The Weedude is coming to the end of his first full year at school AND he's not even 5yrs old yet 🤯 

Both of them are now in the same room and are a great pair of brothers. Little-Zee just wants to be bigger and be able to do the same things big bro can. I can already see that we're going to be in trouble/some adventures when the pair of them are bigger.

Getting personal...

I'm always wondering how personal to get with a blog and over the years, I have just opted to give about  60% picture of my life - obviously the better side of life (usually).

Like a lot of people, I do tend to struggle with this dark side of the year and along with a number of friends, can struggle to keep the black-dog at bay. Had a slight addition to this grey side of life this year....

It'll be 10 years since I lost my dad to cancer(s) later in the year. My mum is what I guess you'd call a cancer survivor and my little sis is presently going through the tail-end of some aggressive cancer treatment. All three of them have had breast cancer and even though we have always tried to give cancer the middle finger and smile about life, it hasn't been and isn't easy. Mum misses dad (as we all do) and my little sis getting hit rather seriously by cancer was a proper kick in the nuts. Obviously it raised a huge number of questions about me and my health. 12 months ago I ripped my shoulder joint muscle and L and the Doc feared I'd had a stroke (I hadn't) but it did result in me having a bucket-load of tests done - they simply pointed out that as a result of a lot of sport over the years, I'm slowly wearing out). They did however find out that I have stupidly high blood pressure but there's not a lot about my lifestyle I can do to change it. So, fast forward a little and you have me talking to my Doc about cancer and cancer in my family. Filled in a huge form and once filled in, it was grim reading and it resulted in me again being sent to see a specialist. My little sis has the geno missing and so she asked me to see about getting tested. I did rock up to see the specialist but after a well-being chat that lasted about 60mins, I decided there was very little point in finding out as I wouldn't do anything differently and my logic is 'what will be, will be'. Getting further tests done to check me out, took a little longer but to reduce the length of this blog, I got the last of the results through last week and I don't have any cancer. I felt  a little bad telling my little sis this but obviously it is very good news. Got to keep an eye on thing but then so does everyone. I might take the geno-test should my boy want to know as he grows up or if I do get hit by the big C but happy not to.

Anyway, I think all this has taken its toll on me a little more than I would like to accept. Thinking I could get some bad news, did get me thinking (I think too much as it is) and I think I have to accept that I'm a grown-up now but there is a big chunk of me that just wants to buy a boat and with my little family, sail away. Being a grown-up is hard work and sometimes it gets to you.

So, there it is. I've shared something a little deeper than usual. I'll return to normal services later.

My little family xx

Our beautiful Tilly died...

I guess if you're not a dog or pet person, then this might miss the mark with you but on Wednesday our 13yr old sprollie dog died. She'd been getting gradually getting slower and increasingly deaf but until the weekend had been in pretty decent health. Sunday night she seemed to be having some odd breathing patterns and by Monday evening we were concerned enough to book her into the vets the following morning. After a few tests, we were told she had pneumonia As such, we assumed (were told it was likely) that after a 24hrs of treatment and antibiotic at the vets, she'd be home with us again for lots of TLC. The next day there was no real improvement and so a different antibiotic was going to be tried (it still sounded as though things would be ok). Then a few hours later I was called to say that things were looking much worse for her. Scrabbling around, trying to get someone to cover me so I could head over to her, I got a final call......I was too late! She'd had a 'fit' and had died.

To say we're all a little lost without her, is an understatement. She gave us so much love and many an adventure. She's been to the French Alps with us, all manners of social and music events (including foreworks - she loved them as a younger dog). She has helped at least 3 children to learn to walk (they used her as a walker). She loved the water (river, lake or sea) but was never a fan of surfing. Canoe or speedboat, she just loved paddling her paws and snapping at the swell. She's helped numerous children and adults alike to get over their fear of dogs. She has been a shoulder to cry on for not only myself and L but even my mum (who is also really going to miss the old girl). Yes, she shed sooooo much hair and would dig holes in the sand behind me as I power-kited (usually resulting in me falling down one) but she was part of out little pack for over 13yrs and so will leave giant hole.

Too many memories to list them all ...