A hygienic day

We'd originally had two appointments with the dental hygienist several weeks apart, but Beatrice at the practice rang the other day and said that she'd got a double cancellation for 11.20 today, and did we want it? This seemed a very good idea, so we caught the 10.25 into Littleover, did some shopping in the Co-op and presented ourselves a bit early for the appointment.

Whilst there, we made further dates for routine check-ups in November and our next hygienist sessions in March. I must say that the practice is very accommodating about our need to go boating in the summer. Furthermore, the scale and polish was very thorough, one of the best I've ever had, I reckon.

We got the 12.12 back. It was running ten minutes late, so it wasn't until gone half past that we were sitting down to pasties and soup in the boat.

On the way out, we'd bumped into Steve of Riverside Escape and Camellia Lodge and told him where we were going. He said that he and Denise were looking for a local dentist, so I picked up a practice leaflet whilst in Littleover. We dropped in at their lodge on our way round the marina after lunch and were promptly invited in for coffee, hospitable folk that they are.

We had a good old natter about this and that and finally dragged ourselves away about an hour later. We still did the walk, though, and bought some milk as we passed Still Waters. We've been relaxing a bit since. I had bought some organic stewing beef yesterday and that is now in the oven in a beef and beans casserole. I'll serve it with mashed potato and cabbage, I think.

An "interesting" day

After all the exercise yesterday, we slept quite well last night, despite the wind and rain. As often seems to happen when we've been on shorepower for a long time, the battery bank has got a bit lazy and lost a bit of capacity. A couple of serious charges whilst boating usually brings it back up to strength, though since it's over three years old now, it will sooner or later need replacing. Mind you, they are Trojans, so should go a bit longer than the basic cheapo ones since I've done my best to look after them.

After a quiet time after breakfast, we set off for the bus just after eleven, crossing Potlocks and walking to the stop over the field path. It came on time, which was welcome as the weather continues to be spasmodically wet and windy. Once in Derby, we made another determined attempt to get the wretched dollar cheque into a bank or otherwise cashed. We queued for twenty minutes in the Post Office, but no, they wouldn't take it. Thomas Cook's Bureau de Change likewise weren't interested.

We could try The Money Shop which is supposed to handle pretty well anything, but at a serious discount, of course. Before doing that, I'll email my sister in New York and see if she can pay it into her checking account.

After lunch we got stuck into a final burst of shopping, Wilko, Lakeland and Sainsbury's. Oh, and buying some shoe laces at Timpsons. We also had a wander round the Eagle Market just to kill a bit of time. We had planned to catch the 3.00 V3 to Littleover to see the dentist, but realised that there is a choice of buses that go that far. In the end, we got a 36, big mistake. I'd checked with the driver that he went to Littleover and he confirmed that he did.

This was true, he just hadn't mentioned that he would take an hour to do it, going via Normanton and Sunny Hill and a lot of other curious places en route. We only just made it in time.

However, the check-ups were fine and we got a V3 back OK after waiting maybe fifteen minutes. I'm now running the engine to ginger the batteries up a bit and to heat some water at the same time. Then I can get a shower and relax for the evening.

Where was I?

I can hear you asking. The answer is that yesterday got a bit complicated, as one of my teeth, the one most recently root treated, twice, started grumbling to itself and hurting if I tapped it. I'd have waited to see if it got worse, but we want to get away as soon as we've had our initial check ups from the new dentist and I didn't want to be told I needed a couple of weeks' treatment for an abcess then.

So I rang them and got an emergency appointment for 4.45 that afternoon. This meant taking the 3.25 bus as the next one might well be late and I'd miss my appointment. Meantime, we had lunch at a very busy Coffee Shop; loads of folk out on the Boardwalk patronising both the Coffee Shop and the Bistro.

Duly caught the 3.25 which did indeed run a bit late. I had to kill three quarters of an hour in Littleover, a chance to explore the bits you don't see from the bus, before presenting myself at the dentist. First impressions are very good; friendly, relaxing even, and efficient service.

An X-ray showed that the root treatment still hasn't reached the tip of one of the roots and that a bit of infection has taken hold. Chris Tavares the dentist lived up to his reputation for giving clear advice about treatment choices. Apparently that molar (the 6) is very hard to root treat unless you are an expert, and he would normally refer on for it. But that would cost, naturally, and the chances of success are not brilliant even so, given that two attempts have already failed.

In the end, I decided (with his support) to leave it alone for the time being and see if it settles. It may blow up suddenly, of course, but quite possibly not for months or years. If it does, his recommendation would be to go for an extraction, at an emergency NHS unit if we're away from the marina at the time.

I got back to the marina in time for a sandwich meal before we went to the quiz. This was a classic type set by Peter and Janet from Sanity and their friends and was very good. Working as a duo, we managed to score 97 out of about 140, in the middle of the pack. We're quite pleased about that. Jo, Wynne, Mike Coates and Julia won, so they'll have the fun of setting the next one in September, I guess.

Hee, hee.


Today, we're doing a serious boat clean. Tomorrow, pooch sitting for 24 hours so that Elanor can go to a works do, plus the visit of the journo from the Burton Mail.

Hope she likes dogs...