Two quiet days

17th & 18th March

It's been a quiet couple of days, both in terms of the weather and our activities. Yesterday morning, Sheila wanted to see if she could get an appointment with the GP we usually see, and started ringing the surgery at 8.15 as soon as the lines opened. Getting engaged every time, she kept redialling until at 8.30 she got through, only to be told that there were no appointments left for the doctor she wanted to see. Since you can only book appointments on the day, unless you want to book about 14 days ahead, this meant she had to leave it for another day.

I trotted round to the dentist for my crown prep – not too bad at all, and I was on my way back to the boat within half an hour of the dentist starting work, with the temporary crown in place. Unfortunately, in the course of eating lunch, the crown broke up, so at two I was back there having a replacement fitted, which to date seems to be more inclined to survive.

After that we settled to pottering in the boat for the afternoon.

Today I went into the health centre first thing, and organised appointments for my routine blood test and follow up with the GP, and an appointment for Sheila – still couldn't get the preferred GP, even at a fortnight's notice. She's obviously getting too popular, or else the whole practice is becoming oversubscribed. Not surprised mind – it's a very friendly and relaxed place, unlike some we've experienced.

My foot has been playing up ever since I overdid a walk last Wednesday, and although it's getting better, I thought I should not push my luck by going on today's Willy Walk. Accordingly, Sheila went off on her own, and I trolled round to the William IV for one o'clock to rendezvous with them. It still made a pleasant sort of day – I loafed in the boat, surfing the net and stuff all morning, and then we had a merry lunch with Will and Jane.

Naturally, that's resulted in another quiet afternoon, but we're planning a trip round to Fazeley tomorrow, staying there until the weekend, so it's an early start tomorrow, Sheila tells me (it's her turn to steer, so she's in charge).