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Old 6th January 2021, 19:52   #531
FLYING BANANA
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Default Elizabeth has been admitted to hospital.........

................... by ambulance under blues and two’s. She is in St. Thomas’s in London. I had to phone her Uncle Roger who is in the West Indies. After all he is a blood relative and is able to get the information. I cannot as I’m not a blood relative. I started calling Elizabeth my niece after she kept calling me Uncle Bob.

Further information via Roger is that Tim was taken to hospital on Boxing Day, and not last Friday. But sadly passed away with complications relating to the virus.
Roger is trying to get a flight back to London. Last time he was here he also ended up in St. Thomas’s with COVID-19, last year.

It’s very frustrating that there is nothing I can do. All I can do is pray for a good outcome. I have everything crossed for her.

Many thanks for the kind words.

Please keep safe.
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232750. Be patient Banana, we will soon be back together and enjoying the shows again.

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Old 6th January 2021, 20:49   #532
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Bob, Thought last year was bad enough, but your start to 2021 is even worse. Thoughts and prayers are with you.
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Old 13th January 2021, 12:38   #533
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Cool The news from London.............

....................... is not looking good at all. Roger has got as far as New York but is still waiting on a flight to London, trouble with his passport I believe. The phone call was a bit garbled. Mobile to mobile reception was a bit iffy. But what I could gather is that Elizabeth is none to well. Emma and Kevin are recovering, albeit slowly but at least they have not been hospitalised.

I have the builder in, he is replacing the gutters/soffits/down pipes. Local man, lives less than 10 minutes from me. Really nice guy, very efficient. Cleans up after him and takes all the rubbish away daily. I asked him to take the satellite dish down. I have a Freeview box, not that I watch a lot of telly at the moment. He has taken the dish away to the skip.

He was here this morning sharp at 09.00, knocked to see if I was around. He didn’t want to start hammering or drilling if I was still in bed. I’m out of bed most mornings by 06.30 rarely any later. Work done so far is the back and most of the side. The guttering at the back is in 4 sections and three at the front, so there is a lot of sawing, hammering and drilling going on. And today he will get more done as we have sunshine, outside temperature is currently at 12.5 degrees. Almost like a summer’s day.

Banana went for her MOT which she passed, and to celebrate she dumped her antifreeze and water over the workshop floor. Seems the radiator has split, yet again. Garage has a new radiator on order. This will be her 4th to be fitted in my ownership, last one went in January 2017. Still it’s not like I’m going anywhere soon.

I am so glad that I moved from London when I did. To be perfectly honest I believe I would either be in hospital or no longer here if I had stayed there. I feel ever so sorry for everyone affected by this pandemic. Sad that so many have passed away, so many losing a member of their family. I can only do my bit by not venturing out, only for essential shopping. I only go to the Post Office once a week now to send club shop stuff off.

Being in lockdown doesn’t really bother me as I have lived on my own for nearly 12 years now. So not seeing or hearing from anyone days on end is not a problem. I keep in touch with Michael, Allen, Matt and Roger by phone. Allen does pop in to make sure I’m ok, socially distancing is in order.
I’m catching up on my reading, currently reading “The Flygirl Adventures” by Anita Mays. I met her when she was a guest speaker at the North London MG Club event. Got a signed copy of the book. She asked what name should she address it to, I said “ The Flying Banana”, she laughed about that.

Thanks for reading and the kind comments.

Keep safe and we’ll meet up at some point soon.
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232750. Be patient Banana, we will soon be back together and enjoying the shows again.

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Old 14th January 2021, 15:33   #534
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Cool Found out why Roger is held up.............

.................................. because his passport was issued in Brazil. And no one from Brazil is allowed into the U.K. because of yet another new strain of the Covid virus. Although he no longer lives in Brazil he is still registered there. Had quite a lengthy phone call with him today. He needs to get clearance from a judge plus another Covid test. If everything goes to plan then he could be on his way by the weekend. I asked about Elizabeth but all he would say is that she is very ill.

Found out that my builder, Steve, used to play professional football, he was Exeter City’s goalkeeper from 1978 to 1981. His father had the building and decorating business which Steve took over running in 1987.
He has finished the work but is coming back to touch up the paint on the outside walls, where he took the old guttering and down pipes have left a few marks.
He had his assistant with him this morning. Where the long sections had to go up then he needed help.

Collected Banana from the garage this morning. Only drove her home. But will take her out tomorrow, essential shopping trip.

And it’s 3 years ago today that I put the flat up For Sale in Barkingside.

Thanks for reading and the kind comments, it is much appreciated.

Please keep safe.
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232750. Be patient Banana, we will soon be back together and enjoying the shows again.

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Old 18th January 2021, 16:40   #535
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Cool The power of my local community.............

................................. amazes me.

On Saturday when the post came delivered by a new postman. I just grabbed it from the floor and left it on the side whilst I answered the phone. Then on checking the post there was letter that had my address but wrong name and Post Code. So I went onto the Saltash Community page on Facebook and asked if anyone knew the person whose name was on the letter, lots of answers about who the person was but no address of where they lived.

Scroll forward to this morning when my regular postman knocked on my door with a package for me, from DMGRS. He then asked if I still had the wrongly delivered letter, I still had. And I passed onto him and he told me where the person it was addressed to lived. But he said he would deliver it as it was his round. Amazing.

The builder dropped the invoice in for the work carried out. I said I can pay you now by either card or cheque. “No rush”, he said. “End of the month will do”. No I said I’ll pay you now. “Wow! Never had anyone pay me straight away”. So I wrote him out a cheque for the full amount. I’m well happy with the price for the work carried out. Whilst we chatted a chap walking past called out and said, “the house looks amazing with the new guttering, who did it?” I pointed to Steve and said “this is the man”. And he replied, “any chance you could come round and give me an estimate on my house please”.

So Steve took his details and said he would pop round this afternoon. Since then I have had three neighbours remark how much better the house looks. Happy with that.

No news from either London or Roger, who is still stuck in New York.

Many thanks for reading.

Keep safe.
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232750. Be patient Banana, we will soon be back together and enjoying the shows again.

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Old 4th February 2021, 14:41   #536
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Cool .............................and I never felt a thing.

Had my vaccination jab today. Got a text from the quacks yesterday, 2 choices of venues to have the jab, either at China Fleet here in Saltash or at the health centre at Pensilva. I was not bothered which one I attended. So I ended up going to Pensilva. The staff and volunteers were very helpful. The lady at the door asked me some questions including had I been abroad in the last 7 days, I replied I had been over to England once. That made her laugh.

I never felt the needle go in. Had to sit in the lounge for 15 minutes before being allowed out. I was beside a radiator and nearly nodded off. Got to wait for another appointment for the follow up jab.
The jab has made me feel better in myself, I must admit I was getting very apprehensive about the future of mankind but who knows what will happen now.
No good news from London concerning Elizabeth, I’m now in touch with a cousin of hers, who lives in South London. As far as I’m aware Elizabeth is struggling to breathe, even on a ventilator. So fingers crossed for her.

Roger is still stuck in New York, and is currently in quarantine in a hotel along with 60 others. Not allowed to mix, only one hour a day for outside exercise under guard. Whilst he is out of the room it is cleaned and sanitised. Meals are ordered via the phone and brought to the rooms by staff. He can send out to get his laundry cleaned. Very stringent measures in place. The authorities want to send him back to Brazil once it is safe to do so, so he is fighting to be sent back to Barbados. All very worrying for him and family. I keep in contact to boost his morale as much as I can.

Why is it that the smoke alarm battery needs to be changed in the early hours of the morning. I’m in bed when something woke me, “ping” I heard. So out of bed and tracked the “pinging” down to the smoke alarm downstairs. Never had a new battery so I just disconnected it. Oh! Well! As it’s 2am and I’m awake I might as well put the kettle on for a cuppa. Sat in the chair and waited for the kettle to boil and immediately nodded off. Finally made the tea just after 7am.

Banana keeps me on my toes whenever she throws a hissy fit. 6 days out of 7 she will behave then she decides she ain’t going to start. That has me cursing in various different languages. Then I calm down and threaten to tell my Val. That seems to do the trick as she will start the next day.
I have been in contact with both MarinaBrian and Matt Darke. Brian has sent me some photos to what to look for, but it’s all double Dutch to me. So waiting on the lockdown to be lifted so that Matt can come down and get her sorted out.

The Bear is my daily, not that I go out everyday. Might go into town to the Post Office to send club stuff off, so far sent 41 calendars off since January 3rd. Essential shopping is split between the pair of them.
My neighbours across the road never bothered to take out any insurance on their puppy, just put £25 away each week to cover any emergencies. Well, so far Chester has cost them £450 for a examination on his stomach following a x-Ray. Then another £70 for medication.
Then just over 12 days ago they rushed him into the emergency vets in Plymouth where he had to have an operation to save his life.

Seems Chester had eaten two disposable face masks and they had become entwined around his bowels. So another £2,500 and he was allowed home.
Think I’ll stick to owning a K series.

Had my first venture into a Zoom meeting with the other Mods last night. I followed all the instructions and successfully got through. It was nice seeing everyone, other than Reebs I’ve not seen the others for nearly two years. I met Reebs last December at Sparkford where I collected the calendars off of him.
Another Zoom meeting in a few weeks.

Well that’s the monthly round up done and dusted. I hope you are all keeping well and safe. We will get through this, I know we will.

So until we meet again, keep safe my friends.
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232750. Be patient Banana, we will soon be back together and enjoying the shows again.

onen hag oll
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Old 4th February 2021, 21:26   #537
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Nice to hear you've had the vaccination Bob.
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Old 20th February 2021, 13:45   #538
FLYING BANANA
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Cool We have news from England

Just come off of the phone with news that Elizabeth is breathing without the ventilator. She is still very ill but is fighting back. I'm now in contact with Tim's father, I did send a card of condolences concerning Tim, with a note enclosing my phone number. Both Tim's Mum and Dad are devastated about the loss of their son. But they are looking after the baby so it helps to stop them dwelling on there loss. The funeral is next month.

Roger is still in New York, and his family are also in quarantine in Barbados. On top of that they all are going to be sent back to Brazil when it is safe to do so. I've no idea why but I'll not get involved. I'm no longer in direct contact with Roger but am getting the information via Tim's Dad. Again I have no idea why I cannot contact Roger direct.

My laptop crashed with a virus so I took it to a chap who lives in Liskeard, highly recommended by a lot of locals here in Saltash. Used the Bear to get there, about 12 miles from me. Steve was quite taken by the Bear, another person who had no idea the V8's existed. He used to own a Trophy Blue V6 but sold it as it was too thirsty. The laptop was back with me within 24 hours. The hard drive has been replaced. The laptop is a different machine, works a whole lot better. OK so it cost me £125 but I get two years warranty with the repair.

My new guttering has certainly worked well with the amount of rain we have had.
Been out walking in between the rain. Done quite an ambitious walk to Salt Mill Park. Only took 25 minutes to get there but an hour to get home. Downhill going and uphill all way home. It's the first time I have ever been to the park. Right on the banks of the Tamar.
When I first moved here to Saltash I wanted to walk over the bridge and back into England. I cheated by leaving the car in the car park.

So my 2nd walk to the bridge was all done by walking from home and back. So I set off, just as I got close to the Fire Station I saw Val in her car, she has personal reg on the car. She saw me and waved. I carried on walking up past Saltash Football ground, then past the Police station, past the library and down the hill past Victoria gardens where the war memorial is. Then I was in Fore Street, our high road. Walked all the way down into Lower Fore Street past the Heritage Centre and past the Guildhall. You have go this way to access the footpath over the bridge.

Once on the bridge their is a cycle lane. There is a solid barrier on the right which runs about a third of the length of the bridge, this acts as a windbreak. But once past that then the wind hits you, I stopped to take a few photo's, and I was glad I had put my thick coat on. I walked right across then turned back to retrace my steps home. Just as I got off the bridge the heavens opened up. Right then I'll get the bus home. It finally stopped raining and as there was no sign of the bus I carried on walking home.

Just as I got to the Fire Station I saw a very distinctive MG ZTT in BRG. It was Allen, we waved to one and other. Now what's the chances of seeing both Allen and Val by the Fire Station within two hours of one and other. If I had not waited for the bus then I would have missed seeing Allen.
Got home OK, kettle on and made some tea. Felt OK, no aches and pains, well not till the next day when I hardly could not move.
Still the exercise done me good.

That's all for now.

Keep Safe.
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232750. Be patient Banana, we will soon be back together and enjoying the shows again.

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Old 10th March 2021, 13:52   #539
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Cool This being allowed out on my own..............

.......................needs to stop.

This morning whilst looking out of the lounge towards where the Bear is parked I caught a flash of blue then white and back to blue again. I turned around to see that my telly was not on, the flashes of colour looked like it was coming off of a screen. Must be something on in next doors conservatory, a computer screen on a telly. I was now intrigued. So on went my garden shoes and put a coat on, the rain was tipping it down.

Out onto the decking I stepped closing the patio door behind me, got the keys in my pocket. I walked over to have a look in the window of their conservatory. No screens on, so turned back to see where the reflection was coming from. On clematis climbing frame was a blue and white label blowing about in the wind. Looks like another lay down in a darkened room was needed, again.

Couple of weeks ago my long serving slow cooker stopped working. I just happened to post this useless bit of information up of Facebook. Debbie contacted me to say her Mum, Val, had a brand new one For Sale on marketplace. So a quick phone call to Val secured the deal. So drove around to Val and Allen’s house to collect my new purchase. And all for £10 I have a cracking new slow cooker. The old one was about 35 years old. My Aunt had bought it but my Uncle didn’t like the food cooked in it. So she gave us the slow cooker. Been used for so many meals over the years.

Whilst at Allen & Val’s, Debbie phoned to see if I was there. I took the phone and thanked her for the tip off. She asked if I needed my hair cur, it was last done by her back in July last year. I said yes it needed a cut. So I arranged to pop in on my way home. Debbie lives about halfway home. So after my second mug of tea, I just cannot refuse a mug of tea, I set off to Debbie’s
What I didn’t know was that back in January Debbie had a nasty fall at work on black ice.

Where the buses are cleaned there was no grit or salt put down. So Debbie was totally unaware of the danger. So as she approached her bus to take out, over she went. She ended up in A&E with slight concussion and tissue damage in her shoulder. So no bus driving work for a few months.
So after cutting my hair I innocently asked how she was coping with taking the dog for a walk. Alexa is a Belgian Shepherd, and is very powerful.

So I ended up being taken for a walk by this steam train of a dog, pretty sure I now have one arm longer than the other. Along with Debbie we steamrolled up to the park, once there I took Alexa off her lead. And away she went chasing the ball I was now throwing in the plastic catapult. We walked around the park chatting.
Eventually Alexa took sometime out to have a roll around.
So a chance to get the lead back on. The walk back to Debbie’s was much slower.

I now have an occasional job of taking Alexa for a walk, not every day, only when asked. I’m ok with that, every day would see me dead by the end of the week.
Debbie’s family and circle of friends help out with the dog walking.
But I’m still doing my walks around Saltash. Adventurous walk the other Sunday was from home to the Celtic Cross, you can see that as you come over the bridge from England, then I followed the path under the road bridge and around to our “rebuilt” railway station. Then down to Waterside and home via Brunel Green.

I have walked out to Antony’s Passage via the village of Forder. Past the old Tannery and in the shadow or Tremanton Castle, cannot wait till that is open to the public again. Another walk, back through Forder but keeping left of the creek. Here I met a fellow MG owner. He has a stunning 1969 MGB GT in Teal Blue. It was a chance meeting, but we chatted like old friends. Then onto Church Farm nature reserve. Followed around on the banks of the river.

Ended up having to use the map on my phone to find my way home, I came out by St.Stephens Community School, I had not planned to go that far. I thought I had found the shortest route home but alas it wasn’t. Still a good walk nevertheless.

No new news from London. Elizabeth is still very ill but still managing to breathe on her own. Richards ex-wife who is also still in hospital following a stroke, she too has Covid-19 having caught the virus in hospital. There is no further news on her condition other than it is thought she might not make her court appearance in June.

Even after the lockdown is lifted I have no plans to return to London, I know I should but still have no inclination to do so. I miss seeing my god daughter Kirra, she was 8 last Saturday. I miss seeing Michael and Laura. Missing my friends in Kent. And of course I miss going to the cemetery to chat to Val. On the 19th on this month is the anniversary of her fall in 2009, the fall that would change our lives.

So keep safe my friends, and hopefully we will meet up one day soon.

Thanks for reading the kind comments.
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232750. Be patient Banana, we will soon be back together and enjoying the shows again.

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Old 18th March 2021, 13:40   #540
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Cool The grass out at the front.............

........................ was looking a bit neglected. Not my job to cut it, that’s the council’s job. But since I have lived here they have never cut it. So as the sun was out and it’s very warm, currently 19 degrees, I thought I would give it a trim. I still have my old electric mower, which Allen gave me when I first moved down here. Dug out an old extension lead, last used when I lived in Barkingside.

Now the grassed area is sort of a triangular shape and it’s all on a slope which drops away suddenly if you are not wary. It’s caught me out a few times but I’ve worked out how to cut the grass without falling over. The old mower hasn’t got a grass box so I just let it blow away in the wind or the birds come and take some to pad out there nests.

Using my shears I tidied up the edges. Looking neater now. So took everything back into the garage then indoors for a coffee and some lunch. But a friend phoned so lunch was on hold although I did make my coffee. After chatting to my mate we said our goodbyes. The doorbell rang, not expecting anyone or any deliveries. Opened up to find my neighbour Kelsey standing there. “There you go Bob, a nice hot steak pasty from the Bullers Arms in Landrake”. Took me by surprise but I thanked her and she said, “Thank you for cutting the grass it looks so much better. You are such a lovely neighbour to have”. Pretty sure I must have blushed. (The Bullers Arms is a pub doing take away food)

And as she went to go indoors she turned and said to me, “When this is all over I’m going to give you a great big hug”. You don’t get an offer like that every day.
So lunch was sorted. And I have to admit it was one of the best pasty’s I have ever eaten. The only one to beat it was the one Val, Allen’s wife, made me a few years back. That was bloomin’ ‘andsum.

I have the most amazing neighbours down here.

Thanks for reading and the kind comments.

Keep safe and we’ll catch up soon.
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232750. Be patient Banana, we will soon be back together and enjoying the shows again.

onen hag oll

Last edited by FLYING BANANA; 18th March 2021 at 13:46.. Reason: Additional information
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