Saturday 2 August 2008

Saturday 2nd August 08

Another busy Summer Saturday.... had been booked to start work at Tockwith Show at 10am, so I loaded up what I needed on my trailer and packed my panniers and set off at about 8.40, as I expected to take just over an hour to cycle the 12 miles to Tockwith. As usual when I take this route, I took a brief break at the Battle of Marston Moor memorial, and then continued, getting to the Secretary's Marquee on the dot of 10, where Les the event organiser found someone to take me to the spot he wanted me to occupy.

I did over 2 hours of workshops and then had a break to go and get a meal ticket which entitled me to a veg pie with Yorkshire Feta, green salad with balsamic vinegar dressing, local new potatoes and 3 other salads... with orange juice, followed by a pear crumble 'sweet' and coffee. Delicious... and kept me going til well after 5 when I was supposed to stop... but I still had crowds wanting to try out my various pieces of equipment and get a balloon animal...

Then eventually packed up and went to get paid, and cycled swiftly with the wind behind me back to the memorial, where I had a half-hour sit down and ate my sandwiches for tea. Got back home at 7pm... a very long day and 24 miles cycling.

The day passed completely without incident until I was cycling along Bishopthorpe Road, heading for home, and I suddenly heard a loud hissing behind me just like a lorry with air-brakes or something. However, there wasn't a vehicle behind me, just my trailer with the two unicycles on it. My trailer tyres seemed to be ok, so I guessed it might have been a unicycle tyre. So when it was safe, I pulled in and checked... and yes, my big uni had got a flat tyre. How weird! I wasn't riding it and nothing seemed to have caused the rapid deflation, but it was completely flat. Very odd!

Gill gave me blackberry pie when I got in after I had unloaded the stuff and taken a fruit-fly-ridden box of grot down to a waiting heap. Enjoyed watching a programme on the London Underground, with the lovely voice of Sir John Betjeman narrating, infact presenting... I've never seen him before, just heard him...

And did my 'Carbon Account' gas meter and electricity meter readings.

Gill was not well this evening, with extreme pain in her right kidney area. The previous day she'd had a painful toe and during today, an achey leg. She mused about whether she was having a bit of gout... and the kidney pain could have been a kidney stone. Gill used to be a nurse but I cannot comment about the likelihood of something moving from her toe to kidney.. but every time she moved she yelled out in pain. At 10pm she rang NHS Direct and a bit later, the out of hours doctor, and by 3am the pain was so acute, she asked me to ring her a taxi so she could go to A+E. She was back within the hour bearing antibiotics, incase the pain was simply an infection. Poor ol' Gilly.

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