Monday 7th June 2021

Long day on the road today. Set off around 0800, Aki driving us to Haverhill and the first inspection point, via a stop off at Birchanger Green on the M11. Stopped and had our lunch in the Tesco car park at Bury Saint Edmunds. Bit off a bit more than we could chew. Wanted to take in inspections down toward Ipswich before heading for our hotel in Yoxford, but ran out of time. Got to the hotel around 1830 after driving 200 miles. Three star country house boutique hotel. 

Looked the part externally, but a bit tatty round the edges inside. Had booked a table for 1900, and enjoyed steak and chips. Started to get some spasming in my left arm, so decided to skip dessert and retire to our room. Aki jumped in the bath, and we watched a bit of tennis, before collapsing into bed. 

Sunday 6th June 2021

Good night's sleep without mishap. Aki off early to Rowing Club. A short sharp spasm in my left arm had me leaping out of bed, but thankfully things got no worse. Stuck the tennis on and did some chores...ironed some stuff for next week's business trip to East Anglia. Aki back in time for brunch. FaceTimed ma and pa who seemed to be in good fettle. Ma complaining of pain in the neck, but we thought father was being quite well behaved today! Kath sent us video of Sally's wedding ceremony on the Isle of Wight. https://vimeo.com/557679686/d818748241 - very amusing. Aki then got stuck into her quota with the iron. 

Saturday 5th June 2021

Pretty good night's sleep, all things considered. Aki cut my hair after breakfast, and we prepared to head for Pinner for lunch at Tokiko's pad. She served up a Mediterranean sardine and tomato with onion and breadcrumbs, followed by a seafood and chorizo paella...we supplied the burnt Basque cheesecake and liquorice sauce. Very tasty. Watched Nadal marmelise Cameron Norrie, then went for a short walk up to Tok's tennis club and sat and watched for a bit in the early evening sunshine. Drove home in time for Federer's night match against an unknown German lad, but although it was a fascinating game, we struggled to stay awake to see it out, having eaten way too much!!! No spasms so far, much to my relief. Aki gave me a bit of a massage. 

Friday 4th June 2021

Bad night's sleep. Pain had me out of bed at 0130, and again at 0430. Once pain had subsided I did a couple of hours work in the hope that i would nod off again.  The 0915 attack was the most painful yet....thought I was going to faint. By this time Aki had gone to the Rowing Club, so no-one heard me scream. Lynne presumably not upstairs, as she would have called the police....it sounded like I was being horribly murdered. Spent most of the rest of the day watching tennis, dreading the next attack, which duly arrived around 1715! Aki looked a bit shocked afterward. She cooked dinner, and I lay about on the floor. Not sure what to do going forward...need to get things moving once the MRI scan done. Aki has been reading up on cervical ridiculopathy (sic) and reckons it'll calm down of it's own volition after two or three months. I hope she's right!!!

Thursday 3rd June 2021

Spasms in left arm got me out of bed at 0130. Went on for about 20 minutes. Another bout at 0800. The medication has a slight deadening effect on the pain, but it still hurts like hell! Spasms on and off pretty much all day! Managed to do some work in between bouts of yelping, and watching a bit of tennis. Booked hotels for inspections in East Anglia next week....took ages! So much seems to be booked up, and my old haunts appear to have gone under during the pandemic!!! Tortellini and a tomato sauce for dinner. Watched Nadal demolish Gasquet...the guy is super human!

Wednesday 2nd June 2021

 

Poor night's sleep....took ages to nod off, despite the Amitriptyline. Got up early and phoned Andy Garratt...who said he'd been up since 0600!!! Did some prep work for the East Anglia trip next week, then drove to Sutton and Wallington to look at a couple of sheltered schemes. Bumped into a Sutton Housing employee in the car park at the first stop, and he asked if I wanted to see inside...I said I'd be up for a quick look at an empty unit, hoping he'd say there weren't any, but he took me inside so I had to get my facemask on...he didn't sport one! Traffic appalling, especially on the way there through Camden, Marylebone, Regents Park and Hammersmith all the way to the crawl over Putney Bridge. Had my lunch in the car park at the Worcester Park scheme. Got home about 1730. Aki pan fried some fish for dinner, with celeriac three ways! Watched some tennis. Had several spasms in my left arm this evening...painful, but didn't go on for too long.

Tuesday 1st June 2021

Slept OK. Nice sunny summer's day in the offing. Couldn't raise the enthusiasm to drive to Sutton, so pootled about on the laptop for awhile...will drive down tomorrow. Decided to go out for lunch, so walked to Upper Street and had baked eggs and halloumi fries at Megan's. Lovely girls serving us, but utterly incompetent! Our drinks never arrived, so we made do with the carafe of tap water, then the fries arrived minus the eggs, so they had to take the fries back to keep warm while we waited for the baked eggs! The waitress took the mandatory tip off the bill. Lovely day to sit out waiting for your lunch, though. Popped into Waterstone's, and Aki bought a face mask from Reiss, and we walked back home via Budgens. Got home and had a brioche ice cream sandwich, then watched some tennis before I cooked up an aubergine and tomato curry for dinner. Watched some more tennis before bath and bed.