Week Off :-)

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I had a lovely week off - needed time to do some Christmas shopping and clean the house in time for seasonal visitors!


Singing at The King's Hall

The week started well last Saturday when we went to see my good friend Janet's choir in a sell-out concert at the King's Hall in Stoke. It was so popular that we couldn't park anywhere near the hall - we had to walk quite a way to get there.
We were worried that we might miss the beginning but it turns out that the choir had had a small problem of their own. They had travelled from  Stafford on two coaches and when they got as far as Trentham roundabout they were picked up by a police escort. The police on motorbikes signalled for the coach drivers to follow them and promptly took them to Port Vale Football Club! They thought that they were away fans going to the match. The police were totally embarrassed when they boarded the buses and were faced with only women in evening dresses! Luckily the choir thought it was hilairious!

It even made The Sun, The Telegraph - and The Sentinel.

 They did go ahead with the Christmas concert though - and it was great fun. The first half were songs about love and relationships. The second half was all Christmas songs - with two sections where the audience were invited to sing along. It was great! Went to Hanley on Wednesday to try to get some presents. Did quite well actually. Thursday night we decided to pop over to our local The Wulstan for a well-deserved drink as we had spent the last few days rearranging and sorting out the office at home.

We were sat at a cosy table for two by the window - looking out at the frosty night from the warmth of the pub when the barmaid came over and asked if we would mind moving. She said there was going to be some entertainment on - so they needed the space where we were.



Tonight with Pat and Chris

We moved further down the pub while a couple of guys set up their equipment. We weren't sure what to expect but we thought we'd just have a drink then walk back home.

However, when they started they were amazing! They had guitars, a keyboard and a saxophone - as well as a tambourine. Before each song they recorded a back beat - using the tea chest that Chris was sat on as a drum and the tambourine and a shaky thing that made a rattling noise. Then they sang - songs by Oasis, Dire Straits (Fantastic version of Sultans of Swing)  and even one song by The Smiths (which impressed me greatly!) They both had really good voices and swapped around on the instruments - so were equally good at playing anything.

We were enjoying it so much we stayed until they finished their set and everyone had to go.
It was an unexpected pleasure :-)

In medical news this week: I went back to physio at the local hospital early Friday morning. I could report some progress with lifting my arm straight up - and also that the tingling in my hands was still gone. He told me to keep up the exercises and come back in 6 weeks. Scarily - my next appointment is in February!

Then when I came back from there we jumped back into the car and drove off to Stockport. I had an appointment at the BioBank This is what they are about - according to their website:


"UK Biobank is a major national health resource, and a registered charity in its own right, with the aim of improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of serious and life-threatening illnesses – including cancer, heart diseases, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, eye disorders, depression and forms of dementia. UK Biobank recruited 500,000 people in 2006-2010 from across the country to take part in this project. They have undergone measures, provided blood, urine and saliva samples for future analysis, detailed information about themselves and agreed to have their health followed. Over many years this will build into a powerful resource to help scientists discover why some people develop particular diseases and others do not."


I went a few years ago - there was a testing place in Hanley - I don't know if you remember it. Now they are recalling 20,000 of those half a million people to come back and have the tests and checks all over again. When I got the letter I said yes right away. Obviously with what I have been through this year I feel that medical research is more important than ever!

I was there about an hour and a half. They start with an online questionnaire about your lifestyle - what you eat, what you do, how much exercise you do, whether you ever feel down or depressed.
After that I was whisked off to get my eyes tested - with all the machines you normally see in the opticians. That was funny because the optician doing the tests seemed obsessed with my shoes! He wanted to know what they were, where I'd bought them and how much they were. he said "Ive seen that technology before!" I told him they were Sketchers and call "Just Walk" and were very comfy indeed. The soles are like big bubbles and they really are like walking on air!

After that I had to get my blood pressure tested, my height and weight recorded and my bone density, heart rate and artery stiffness measured. Seems my arteries are still very bendy and my bones are still dense - so that it good! my pulse was good too - but my blood pressure is a bit high. I need to do something about that.

The next booth was the exercise! This was the most fun. I had to cycle for 6 minutes and keep the revs up to 60 the whole time. It made it harder and harder as she increased the resistance - but I did it okay.

After that it was the turn of the vampires to take my blood (7 vials of it!!!) then I was given a pot and a tube and asked to provide urine and saliva samples in the privacy of the loo. There was a fridge in there to put them in when you'd done.



Lego Harry Potter

Then I was free to go. Not until we had eaten some of the free sandwiches and mince pies and satsumas they had thoughtfully provided for us. Nathan had been sat in the waiting room which had free drinks, magazines to read and a huge TV to watch. So it wasn't too bad for him.

 

  So being close to Manchester we thought we'd pop into the Trafford Centre and try and finish off the Christmas shopping. it was a vile day with torrential rain and cold winds. The car parks at the TC were full - with people parking on grass verges and anywhere else they could find! We did eventually find a spot and battled through the wind and rain into John Lewis.





Harry Potter and the Lego Christmas Tree

The Trafford Centre was beautifully decorated for the season - but we were particularly impressed by the Harry Potter and tall Christmas Tree made entirely out of Lego!
Someone must have spent a LOT of hours doing that! We didn't stay too long but I did enjoy going round Selfridges food hall and the Harvey Nicholls pop-up shop where we sampled Rhubarb Vodka made in Hereford out of potatoes! Very nice it was too!

So my week off comes to an end. I am looking forward to being back at work for the week before Christmas with Tracy. In fact the day I go back in on Monday - it's her birthday!! We were both December babies it seems :-)