You OK Bob? it’s gone quiet?
Hello Robert, thanks for asking…
Yer, had a couple of crappy runs recently and decided to see if a physio can sort out my back trouble, so I have booked in with one tomorrow…He’ll probably write me off and send me to the knackers yard…Fortunately, I can still get out running, but it’s not much fun.
Friday’s walk was a good day out though, parked up at St Andrews Quay and walked the three miles alongside the river Humber. I decided to go a bit further and go have a look at the Rotterdam Ferry parked another mile or two in the dock. I’ve been up there before, but this time I found the walk was blocked off by this massive factory. Turns out it’s where Siemens manufacture those great big wind turbine blades, it’s quite an impressive site, but unable to go any further, I detoured into the city centre where I happened upon a good cafe for lunch and then returned to the car.
There’s this big Antique Fair in Harrogate on Saturday, it takes place twice a year and I go along with Mrs Fox, not for the Antiques you understand [I like Art Deco] but they have a very good cafe, and I might just have a rummage round the tools section so no walk this Friday…
So no walking this Friday, it threw it down with rain all day here and I had made my mind up earlier in the week not to go walking in the rain after keeping tabs on the weather forecast.
I know what you’re thinking ‘Fair weather walker!’ Well I did have some urgent jobs around the house to complete, which was a good excuse for not travelling down to Nottingham with all the family to see the Granddaughter on her twentieth birthday. Too much fuss for my liking…:-(:-(
Getting my teeth into finding out why the tumble dryer was making such a noise seemed a much more peaceful way to spend Friday afternoon. After everyone had left, out came the toolbox and I stripped it down to the gubbins…Forty years of fluf had attached itself to every moving part, and also to the non moving parts. I can’t believe how it never caught fire!..:shock::shock::shock: Anyway, the noise was coming from a badly worn belt tensioner…I can fix that!..:-D:-D:-D
I was booked in to see a physio on Thursday, but the receptionist rang me in the morning to say they would have to cancel the appointment as the physio had gone home poorly…I hope it wasn’t with a bad back or I’m going somewhere else. So now it’s tomorrow afternoon instead, well that’s a good job because I’ll be visiting Specsavers in the morning to collect my new specs. I turned up last Monday, but after waiting half an hour was told that my appointment was in fact for the 22nd. I had an appointment card in my wallet with the date on but neglected to read it. At least it wasn’t all bad because I had a nice lunch in one of those posh town restaurants…:-D:-D:-D
How’s running going I hear you ask?
I’ve managed to jog my way through another week without mishap, and although the times were fairly good - and I heard my first Cuckoo of the year - I still seem to be having trouble recovering afterwards. Just been out on a ten miler this morning and my back is aching a bit now, but Mrs Fox is impatiently waiting for me to get ready to go out for Sunday lunch, so I’d better move my Ar$e…;-);-)
give it up Bob ya fallin apart!!
Cheers Gumbud, I can always rely on you for support…:-D:-D:-D
I finally got around to visiting the physio yesterday after they cancelled my original appointment with Dan. Turns out my new physio was a young girl [I’ve got shoes older] called Vicky. After taking a brief history, Vicky’s nimble fingers went to work on my Piriformis and Gluteus Maximus…:shock::shock::shock: she then went on to remove thirty quid out of me wallet…:-(:-(
It must be tiring having a manipulation [It certainly wasn’t a relaxing massage] because half way through the great wall of China the drowsiness got too much to ignore and at nine thirty I staggered off to bed…
I set out on this mornings run with very tired legs ‘It hasn’t worked’ I thought, as I laboured past the three mile mark. I had to set off very early this morning [6:00 am] because our neighbour passed away last week and the funeral was scheduled for 10:00 am, so even going early it would be a struggle to be ready in time. Something that doesn’t concern Ralph any more…
The tiredness did wear off a little and to my surprise produced the third fastest time of the year…:surprised:…But during breakfast, the usual stiffness took over and has continued throughout the eulogy and hymn singing…:-(… The food was quite acceptable though - I just love party food…:-D:-D:-D
[CENTER]Robin Hoods Bay to Cloughton – Friday 26th May 2017[/CENTER]
The 10:07am, X93 Coastliner service from Scarborough to Middlesbrough was almost fifteen minutes late.
I stood in the heat of the mid morning sun and kept reading the timetable over and over again, could it possibly be my mistake? Had I missed something, What did that shading mean, Or the asterisk. Just as I was beginning to doubt that there would ever be a bus, it appeared around the corner. There is only one place to sit on a Double Decker, and that is upstairs. It was crowded downstairs but older people don’t like stairs so I guessed there would be plenty of seats up there. I was wrong, but I did manage to find a suitable half seat next to a fat bloke who shuffled up grudgingly to reveal another inch of cushion…
As the bus slowly trundled along the twisting country roads and down the steep hill to Robin Hoods Bay it finally came to rest at the road junction where it would turn to rejoin the main road on its way to the next stop at Whitby. After listening to all the chatter about walking I was surprised to be one of only a few to alight at this stop, and I wondered where the rest of the occupants would be spending their day.
I was soon making my descent of the narrow cobbled street down to the sea front where I would find, carved into the signpost, the Acorn symbol identifying the Cleveland Way Coast path back to Cloughton, some ten miles away, although the Cleveland Way proper starts about ninety miles away in Helmsley and ends on Filey Brigg.
Having dropped almost to the bottom I now have to ascend hundreds of steps up on to the cliff tops. I was amazed how light work I made of these steps, but realised there was still a long way to go, so I’d better be careful if this walk was to be successful and not end up a basket case. I paused to take photos and rushed on to the next set of steps at ‘Boggle Hole’ interesting name! I stayed here once at the Boggle Hole Hotel just a mile up the valley. I was running lots of marathons at the time and with a fellow runner decided it would make a good place to train, plenty of hills and it was miles from anywhere. I remember there were lots of Mr and Mrs Smiths staying there as well who hardly left their rooms.
It wasn’t just a ‘flash in the pan’ the climbs were taken at ease, and I realised that despite having a few bad runs at home recently, I was in the shape of my life. Post Heart Attack at any rate, but the climb I faced now would be the mother of all climbs and by far the steepest and longest of the whole walk. I have arrived at the old alum mines at the foot of the hill, It looks interesting and deserves more investigation than I have time to devote today, I shall return in the future. With this thought in my mind I take a long hard swig from my water bottle and do battle. I manage to make it to the top without pause, I was right, I am in good shape, I could have gone faster if I’d have wanted. I was sweating a bit though as it trickled down from my forehead and stung my eyes.
There is a very nice Tea Room in Ravenscar, I have taken tea and tuna sandwiches there on a few occasions. I had decided earlier that my serial bars would be sufficient to see me through to the end, but I realised that this great big empty hole in my stomach could not be filled by serial bars alone, so in I went and had the usual, I’m glad I did, the vitalising effect that Yorkshire Tea provides is not to be understated.
Thinks…’Must visit the tea room with Mrs Fox sometime’…
Back on track and still following the Acorn emblem I passed by Staintondale with its steep steps down and then even steeper steps climbing out, until I arrived a Hayburn Wyke. Tall majestic cliffs covered in forest with a secluded sandy beach nestled between two headlands, and more steps, but only a couple of miles to the end of today’s walk. The last mile or two is on the small unfenced road that leads away from the sea and into the scattered farmhouses and posh barn conversions in the hamlet of Cloughton.
The last time I did this walk it took me five and a half hours, I managed today’s walk in Four hours and twenty minutes, and got a very nice suntan as well…
Robin Hoods Bay nestled in the cliffs…
http://www.over50sforum.com/picture.php?albumid=1246&pictureid=10141
Nice day for a walk…
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Robin Hoods Bay a long way behind us…
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Ravenscar Tea Rooms, the elixer of life served here, under the guise of Yorkshire Tea…
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A new broom sweeps clean…I just had to take a picture of this impressive example…
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Hayburn Wyke. Hard to walk past here on a day like this…
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The forest covered cliffs of Hayburn Wyke…
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Almost home…
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Great blog and fantastic pictures … thanks OGF 
Beautiful day, beautiful scenery … perfect for your walk Bob 
Really interesting read Foxy, great pictures too.
Thanks Muchly Myrtle Mags and Val.
Although I didn’t feel any serious stiffness after Friday’s walk, I did feel some tiredness in my legs this morning as I set out on my usual Sunday morning ten mile run, so I just laid back and went for a steady jog round. Although it felt quite humid the blustery conditions help keep my temperature down and heaps of thick black cloud were rushing across the sky blocking out the sun, which wasn’t a bad thing this morning. So I managed to get round and in a not too bad time either.
Mrs Fox has left the building and gone to stay with her Dad, leaving me to fend for myself for a while. Her Dad, who is ninety one this year has taken a turn for the worse.
After his mild stroke last year he has recovered well. Speech almost back to normal, and he has returned to reading and doing crosswords again. About three weeks ago he lost his sight in one eye, Giant Cell something or other. He has been put on loads of Meds and now has lost the will to live. Mrs Fox and myself have had to drive the four miles to his flat on several occasions after he has fell and was unable to get up.
His decline over the last Month has been alarming, he has lost weight through not eating, and his muscles seem unable to cope with even the most simple tasks. Both Mrs Fox and our daughter have spent the best part of their working lives in Nursing and care homes and have made the decision that he needs twenty four hour care. He sits in his chair now and resents the fact that he has become a burden and regularly states that he wants to die…
At over six feet tall and a prolific walker [It was he who started me venturing out into the great outdoors] and I hate to see him like this. I feel I’m between a rock and a hard place. I am convinced that the twenty or so tablets he has been prescribed daily are the cause of his recent decline. They may or may not be preventing a stroke or Heart Attack and are keeping him alive, but at what cost…The quality of life. If it were me I would bin the lot…But I have to sit on my hands and allow this to happen…Just had to get that off my chest…
Old age is so cruel isn’t it OGF, I agree sometimes medical interventions can be counter productive… Get it off your chest here all you want, at least here you are among pals of a similar generation who understand. I hope your wife copes ok. Not a nice situation for any of you. Chin up:hug:
It is so sad Bob, my mum was just the same, coming up to ninety and she regularly said she hoped she could go to sleep and not wake up. This is more or less what happened but the sad part for me was that she died alone.
It’s a difficult situation and it’s good that you can talk about it. Hope things improve for you all soon.
That is so sad Bob, I hope you wife can restore a little happiness into her Dad’s life while she is there.
So sad about your Father in Law OGF … I too am a great believer that it’s the quality of life that matters not the quantity.
Thanks for all your kind words of support. I have just left FiL’s flat now as he was taken away in an ambulance. Mrs Fox has gone with him to hospital, it was the only way that he would agree to go. After he seemed to deteriorate further today, the family agreed that he should be seen by a professional, so the emergency number was called and within minutes Two ambulances arrived.
His blood sugar was found to be very high and could possibly be the cause of his symptoms. Hopefully all of his meds will be assessed and corrected. I have been more worried for Mrs Fox who has been run ragged throughout last night and today tending to his every need, I suspect that she isn’t eating or sleeping either.
At least now some of the weight will be taken off her shoulders…
Thanks for listening…Or should I say ‘reading’.
Foxy I recently had a chest infection, and although my doctors know that I am very good at maintaining good blood sugar levels, none of us were able to reduce them. Infections thrive on high blood sugar, so medications need to be adjusted… not easy when you are dealing with an elderly person!
The high blood sugars lead to further health problems and the hospital may have to resort to insulin injections ( if your FIL doesn’t already have them). A few days, of medical people sorting his blood sugar levels, should sort his problems… and hopefully help your wife to relax.
Thanks Twink, and you are right about the diabetes connection.
Mrs Fox and I were advised to attend the hospital early this morning as her Dad had taken a turn for the worst. We were not expecting him to last the day out. We have spent the whole day there with him and during this time we had visits from the doctor who explained that the steroid treatment he was receiving for his loss of sight was responsible for the extraordinary rise in his blood sugar. His deterioration seemed to continue throughout the day despite him being intravenously fed with insulin, saline and dextrose, and after an ECG it was found that he had also suffered a Heart Attack.
Unable to convince Mrs Fox to come home where I would cook us some dinner, she elected to stay and continue her vigil. I left for home and didn’t expect to find the old gentleman alive when I returned. But what a surprise, the colour had returned to his face, and he seemed a lot more coherent. We finally left the hospital at eight, and hope that his recovery continues.
We’ll see what tomorrow holds…
Hi Bob … what a dreadful time you, and especially Mrs Fox, are going through … awful to see a loved one in that situation … the old saying about creaking gates is very true.
Hugs to you both x