An old friend

I'm sorry I've not been back before. My present ill-health makes life difficult. Even on the good days I am so tired from the lack of sleep from the bad nights that I'm late up. By the time of done the essential chores the day has gone.

On one of my visits to the doctor, it was suggested that maybe the anti-inflammatory drugs I take are losing their effectiveness as I've been on them so long, so maybe I should try not taking them. When I was so painfilled last week we decided that maybe I should try this course of action. Result - the abdominal pains seemed to have grown & be more erratically spaced, and now I also have to contend with a higher level of pain in my knees. I've gone back to the NSAIDs.  Still, next week it's time for the scan & later this week I should get the results of the wheat allergy blood test.

Life hasn't entirely ground to a halt. The sun is shining for the moment so I've nervously hung out the washing. Even if only a couple of sheets dry it will have been worth it. I'm now writing with one eye glancing regularly out of the window, especially if the sky darkens.

Yesterday we popped out to a pub we haven't visited much of late. We went quite often when we first came her, but since then it has changed hands, going downhill in the process. It's also never been a very convenient pub, with its uneven floors & upstairs loos. All this hardly surprising when you realise that the pub dates from the early 18th century. recently a new landlord has taken over & he's been doing big things. 

First he started with adding a huge conservatory. This means there's now a flat (except the ramp on the way through the door) entrance & disabled loo on the same floor. The views from the conservatory are spectacular. It looks across the river Lune to the city of Lancaster & the Pennine hills beyond.

His next project is a children's play area. Then it's going to be some accommodation units.

One year, a French friend came to stay with us. It was November. We took him to this pub. He thought it was fabulous. The food there was good in those days. But he was awe of the age and that sense of a placed frequented by so many over the centuries. On top of that, we actually went on November 5. In Lancaster every year there's a big bonfire display & fireworks at the castle. From just outside this pub he had a magnificent vantage point without any of the hassle of the city crowds.

The other great joy of this pub is that it is on the estuary of the Lune. Sometimes, when the tides come in, the waters cover the road making it impassable. This meant, even in times when opening hours were still regulated, this was one pub, if you were there, and cut off from being able to leave, the pub just kept serving. The perfect excuse for a longer stay.

It's also a great place for watching the birds, the feathered variety. Swallows & martins swoop all over. In the river yesterday a shag or cormorant was busy fishing. Looking out gives us a great sense of peace, good for the soul.

It sometimes takes us aback how close to the open countryside we live. It is very suburban here. Yet only a few hundred yards away you can be on the promenade looking out to sea, or be surrounded by open farm fields. The best of everything.