February 2024 - Part Two - A scary event & a mystical church

Hi everyone! Just a quick note from me to say thank you. I saw yesterday that the blog has now surpassed 70,000 views, and I am amazed by that figure! Thankyou all so much for continuing to visit the blog and read about my life! 

February continued to be a busy month, and I made sure to try and have a quiet day off, where I spent most of the day at home with Husky, relaxing in bed, in front of the TV and snacking. Sometimes a day like that is good for the soul, you've just got to take it easy for a bit.

Husky is just the most adorable dog, and he's very easy to look after! (Although he does like to share the snacks!)

But my quiet day off, was followed by a very stressful incident only a few days later. James had recently had a promotion at work, and as part of that, he was now entitled to free private health care for himself. And part of that meant he got a free MOT of his health. So he booked it at a clinic in Bournemouth, which was the closest one that had an appointment. We talked about it the night before. We'd joked they would probably advise him to lose some weight and exercise more but that was about it.

I went to work as usual, I was on the early shift from 6am to 2pm. I came out of work and switched my phone back on to find several missed calls & a lot of messages. Slightly panicked, I called him back. He explained that the first thing they did there was check his blood pressure, and the reading was so high the Nurse advised him to go to A&E immediately. They had done two chest x-rays & and ECG, and had found something, but he was waiting for a doctor to come round and explain the next steps, but he was going to be in for a while.

I rushed home, grabbed him some clothes, phone charger, stuff like that, then ran to the train station and caught the first train to Bournemouth. From there I caught a taxi to the hospital, and then had to locate him in the maze that was the emergency department. He was in relatively good spirits for someone who'd just been told there was a possible problem with his heart, I think I was more worried than he was. I think I needed to see someone, I had palpitations for the entire time he was in there.

The nurses there were fantastic, they came and checked on him regularly, and then they had to deal with the abusive drunk man in the cubicle next to James. I think if you're abusive to medical staff, then you should be removed from the hospital and left outside to either die or adjust your attitude. He wanted them to pay for a taxi home because he had spent all his money on alcohol. And that, is why the NHS is in such a state. People use and abuse it, and that then causes delays for everyone else. 

Anyway, James was then transferred to another unit, where this lovely doctor came and spoke with him. She had reviewed his test results, and said that he had some thickening of the wall of his heart, and while it was concerning, currently it was something he could do something about to prevent it from getting any worse. She also talked about his blood pressure, commenting it was one of the highest she had seen, and was very frank but kind about it. She told him if he didn't lose weight (he is overweight, there's no debate about that) and change his lifestyle, then he would be departing from this life a lot sooner that he should. She talked us through things to look for, in terms of heart attacks & stroke that can be triggered by the blood pressure and then what to do. But she suspected his blood pressure had been this high for a very long time, due to the fact he was displaying no symptoms with it, possibly even for a few years now. That was a sobering thing to hear. And it possibly would have continued until he dropped down dead because of it. It would never have been picked up until the blood pressure was taken.

She said they would keep him in overnight for monitoring, and then would decide what to do in the morning. By this point it was almost midnight, and I was unsure what to do. We made a decision that I would go home for a couple of hours & try and rest, and then come back in the morning.  

Getting a taxi from Bournemouth back to Southampton cost me nearly seventy quid, and I phoned work just before I got into bed. I just explained what had happened, and that I wouldn't be able to do my four hour overtime shift tomorrow. They were so understanding & kind about it, which really meant a lot. I don't think I actually slept more than about fifteen minutes, I tossed and turned all night, until my alarm went off so I could catch the first train back in the morning. 

I arrived and we sat for a bit, before the doctor came round. James was prescribed some blood pressure medication, and would have frequent medical reviews, but the doctor was happy to discharge after the paperwork had been filled out.  About an hour later we were told he could go home, but to just call into the pharmacy in the hospital to pick up the medication. 

Now here, is where one of the most bizarre things I've ever had happen in my life occurred. We were walking down this very long corridor to the pharmacy, and obviously in a hospital it's busy, you're weaving past people all the time. But we came to a crossing point between two corridors, and a pair of ducks walked in front of us, turned the way we were going and led us down to another junction, where one then qucked and went a different way. It was like they knew where it was going.

I just assumed I was hallucinating. I mean, why else would there be a duck in a hospital? I just brushed it out of my mind, assuming that where I was extremely tired & stressed, that my mind was just playing tricks on me. What other explanation can there be?

That is, until we were in the queue at the pharmacy and James goes "I think I'm cracking up, I'm sure I saw a duck in the corridor". You can imagine my surprise. Maybe we had both gone crazy.

Anyway, we picked up the medication and headed home, catching a taxi back to the health centre where James had first gone for the his health check up, picked up the car and drove home. We got in, and I went to have a lay down for a minute, and while I was laid down, I checked the news, and to my surprise found an article about that said there was a pond nearby, and the ducks had gotten lost in the building while some windows were removed for replacement. I mean in their defence, it's a massive building! You can read more about it here @bbc.co.uk/news/68345934.

We had the day at home, just taking it easy, before James said to me that he wanted to go out for walk. Something in him seemed to have changed, he had a new drive to him, and was making a conscious effort to eat less and exercise more. And that's commendable, I mean he's got more willpower than I have! 

We headed out to Wimborne, they have a farmers market where we stocked up on some vegetables and fruits, before walking around the outskirts of the town for a bit, before heading up to see Knowlton Church & Earthworks. I'd never heard of it before, but James had seen some photography there, and we thought it was worth a visit.

It's one of those places where the air seems to hum with energy, despite the grey day around us. The church is built in the 12th century, in the centre of the Neolithic ring, which could be as much as five thousand years old. The church indicates the change from pagan to christian beliefs, and the fact it is centered in the middle of the ring indicates that when it was first constructed it was trying to appeal to both. 

The church was eventually abandoned in the 18th century after the roof collapsed, and since has just been quietly crumbling away. There's great views both of the church and of the surrounding landscape, but the added cloud gave it a more mystical feeling.

One of the corners of the church, looking towards the tower. There are several rings in the area, most of them barely visible due to years of farming & ploughing, but the ring around the church is still very well defined as you can see in the picture below.

The site is free to visit in any daylight hours, and is looked after by English Heritage. If you want to know more, then check out their website english-heritage.org.uk/knowlton-church-and-earthworks.

We called in the local garden centre to grab a cup of tea and a couple of plants before heading home, and this Robin clearly thought we had cake & wanted a piece! I don't think I've ever had one come that close to me before! 

Don't worry, this isn't the Robin, this was a pheasant we brought from the farmers market. We roasted it over the top of potatoes, parsnips & stuffing. It was slightly drier than I was expecting, but was quite a tasty, almost game style meat. We would normally had had a takeaway, but James decided that we were going to have less takeaways and more home cooked food from now on. I mean as long as the food tastes good, I'm not going to complain, am I? 

Although I am complaining about all the extra washing up!