Thanks Barry, and may I wish you and your family a very happy Christmas…
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Glad to hear of your steady recovery Foxy.
Am very pleased that you’ve not had “the snip”, since I suspect post op photos of that might have brought about much apoplexy on here!!!
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Ha! Ha! Thanks Dex, it could have been awkward…
Happy Christmas Dex to you and all your loved ones… 
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And you Bob.
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I’m glad it all went well and that you are recovering.
I fell asleep when my device was fitted. Apparently there was a kink in one of my choobs and it took a while to thread the wires through, one of which is thicker than the other two as it’s a jump lead for the built in defibrillator.
Everything was connected up and tested with the thing still outside. I only woke up once they started to fit the device into the pocket they had made in my chest, and it hurt. I think they used tyre levers.
I’m guessing you are on a raft of meds as well as the cyborg components, so if you don’t already, always carry a copy of them, or your most up to date prescription alongside your device passport whenever you leave home.
Keep up the walks, and don’t forget to show us some nice piccies as well.
Was going to go for a five mile walk which finishes with a two mile hike down the lane, but yesterday it was ankle deep in mud, and at the moment the rain is pouring down so I might give it a miss and maybe a walk around the village, that’s if it’s not submerged!
Went out to the summer house on Sunday and did some spinning on the static bike, here are the results after 30 mins…
My heart seems to be more stable since having the pacemaker fitted, but I can’t say I’ve noticed any changes, other than a useless left arm and a big lump in my chest!
Perhaps it need tuning up or something when I attend the hospital on the 17th Jan.
I can’t drive or run yet, so I’ve not been able to test it out properly and just be satisfied with a five mile walk every day (except when is P’ssing it down)… 
Off to Scarborough for three days over the new year, I don’t think there will be any singing or dancing, but it gets us out of the house (haven’t been away for over two years) and the food at the hotel is sommat special… 
I don’t think I will be allowed to do the traditional new years day swim in the sea this year, unfortunately…Perhaps next year…This was back in 2013…
Great to hear from you Fruitcake, and yes, I think they used the same tyre lever to wedge mine in too…and it hurt!
I’ve got the two lead version but I believe it’s got the defibrillator just in case I try to challenge Mo Farrar’s 10K record…
They didn’t give me any meds at all Fruitcake, perhaps when I attend my first one month appointment…Although I don’t think I’ll take them…
The rain seems to have abated now, so I’ll have a nip out. Stand by for rainy day photos…
A Happy and healthy new year Fruitcake to you and your missus…
(man hugs)
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I went through a year of assessments with our local heart failure team who put me on a regime of lots of different meds, then tweaked them each month until they got to the optimum point. Sadly it didn’t rectify the problem so I was handed over to the local institute who offered me the pacewhacker and jump-start kit from Halfords, but kept me on the meds as well.
If you don’t need meds as well, then that is a bonus.
Obviously every case is different, but I cannot fault the NHS since my GP first diagnosed my heart failure. Listen to them and your body, and you won’t go far wrong.
I don’t think man-hugs are a good idea, lest my device induces inverse reactive current in your unilateral phase-detractor, and we both end up getting a belt of a spark.
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I never thought of the inversive reactive currents Fruitcake, perhaps just touching elbows will suffice… 
I agree about the treatment from the NHS, after two heart attacks, six stents, and now robocops engine management system, I can’t fault the treatment I’ve received from the caring front line staff at the hospital. The food was good too…
I managed to dodge the rain and do a four mile walk down the canal…
Through the village and past the 13th century church where I married Mrs Fox almost fifty years ago.
Through the kissing gate down by the bridge to the canal side. Water is pumped into the top of the bridge and it counter balances the weight of the bridge causing it to lift to allow, mainly narrow boats to pass through these days. I remember when ‘tom puddings’ passed through taking coal to the steel factories in Sheffield.
The empty towpath, so good for running…Not today though…
A different type of energy is today’s preferred method, here it is crossing the old means of transmission, coal transportation, now redundant.
Finally, a walk through the woods back to the busy road and the 21st century…
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No shorts?!
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One should not drink and walk.
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Doesn’t seem the same now I’m not running Annie, although as soon as the weather improves rest assured I’ll be pulling them on again…
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He needs to keep cosy!
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Nice walk, and lovely church! 
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Thanks Pixie, I can’t wait to go further afield once the weather picks up and I’ve recovered from my recent op. Just when I think I’m over the worst, it throws me a curved ball. Sleep is good…
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Lovely pics. As you know I lived in Bessecarr in the 60s and 70s, and my cycling and walking jaunts were generally across to Rosso and Tickhill, or down to Bawtry, or around RAF Finningley, or across to Armthorpe and around the three counties loop.
There was a hill near there where I was once clocked doing 55 mph on a push-bike. Luckily I was never arrested for “Riding Furiously”. I vaguely remember it being near something called the Park Drain Hotel.
I wish now I had known about the area around you: it all looks so bootiful. My mates and I would loved to have cycled around there. I’m guessing the cooling towers by that bridge were demolished some time ago now though.
I am not a christian, but I do like an old country church. I lived diagonally across from one in Lincolnshire when I was a kid, and got to tour it all on a school trip including standing atop the tower, and doing brass rubbings as well.
I didn’t care where I got married, but my Lovely Cousin wanted a white wedding, to which she was perfectly entitled I might add 
, in our local church.
Long may yours and ours stay standing. (Churches AND wives that is).
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Great to hear! Glad you’re recovering nicely and getting around. 
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Thanks Fruitcake, I know the ‘Park Drain’ well. There was a Hotel and restaurant there that charged 10 squid for a bowl of soup, so our only visit back in the day meant it was very brief.
It closed in 2003…This is what wiki had to say…
The Park Drain Hotel was situated on Idle Drain. It was built for a coal mine which was never opened. Locally nicknamed Klondyke, this pub closed c2003. and is now used as house/offices.
Could the hill you are referring to have been the one leading up to Haxey? Most of the terrain around Park Drain is flat and excellent for a easy days cycling. A bit further on is ‘Craislehound’ (I know, funny name) but riding up to Epworth produces some nice down hill adventures…There used to be some toilets in the car park at Low Burnham but it got to be a meeting place for queers so they were closed.
Yes, the cooling towers at Thorpe Marsh Power Station have gone now, as has the rest of the station. People fell out with coal powered stations and demolished it. At the time it was the largest power station in Europe 1gW and completed in 1959. I watched it being built from my classroom window. Probably why I’m such a thicko now…Photo from 2003.
The church at Barnby Dun is part of the ‘Five Sisters’ that include Barnby Dun, Hatfield, Thorne, Fishlake and Stainforth and all built in the similar Gothic style.
Keep up the rubbing, and I’ll see you soon…Happy new year to you and your lovely cousin, perhaps one day we will meet…
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It’s a pity they demolished all the cooling towers. They should have made them into art installations or some sort of housing. Some were very imposing structures.
They are very ‘Hollow’ Annie and would not really be substantial enough for housing etc. They have been know to blow down in strong winds. Not here, but at Ferrybridge one fell down during a storm. Also the maintenance is quite expensive so they can’t be left very long without it.
