One of the things I came back to - - - no access to the slipway for dinghy sailing.

The piling barge and crane. New piles are being put in for the new slipway to replace the old one.

The old slipway is used as a work platform for doing the piling. It could not be left until after the end of sailing season incase the banging disturbs the - -  - - - birds! So there is no more racing this year.

Lesser black backed gull nesting on a roof in Ipswich station.
A very cross looking bird - so it is good that there is a glass panel between the gull and the passengers.

Yesterday - I had lunch with Aidan by the Thames near the Tower - in sunshine like summers ought to be. I saw this gull and another one on nests on the roof of a building on Ipswich Station on the way home. I looked down on them as I crossed the bridge and had just enough energy left to take a pic.

Swallows are back -

There is an established nest in the sheltered part of the balcony at the sailing club. They do not yet seem to be improving and occupying it.

Watched racing there today - one squall came through with a hail storm - so those of us ashore congratulated ourselves at being under cover.

Turnstones - next to the shelter along the river at high tide

Nothing much has happened this week - except that the fatigue has lifted. I still get tired and my muscles are out of condition, so I am walking short distances along the river and take every opportunity to stop to admire birds and boats. It has been too cold - but a small amount of sun entices me out anyway. I am also doing resistance training for a short time every day in the gym - to improve the muscles.

Minsmere nature reserve - I went by car so did not get this view

Saturday - Lorna goes to Minsmere. Typically I found more geology than birds - on the beach and near the entrance (bottom right of picture). Needless to say - drank a lot of tea and was exhausted when I got back.

The gravel bank  off Deben Yacht Club at low water

Each time I see the exposed bank - there is a curlew feeding there.  A question. Is it the same curlew every time?

Today - another hot and sunny time spent messing about in boats - not much sign of boredom,

egret

This one hangs out on the salt marsh next to the marina and is easily disturbed - I was hiding behind an old boat.

Tuesday - Woodbridge to Ramsholt

Godwit on the mud bank next to where I picked up a bouy at Ramsholt

It took longer than I expected to load things onto the boat and go back for those I had forgotten - out of practice I suppose. I left the mooring at 15-00 and went with the tide. I could not get the main sail up - too windy (up to 25 mph) and on the nose. So I used the genoa and the engine.

Picked up a mooring (with some difficulty due to tide and wind) by 17-00. The river had some white horses and the boat lay awkwardly to the current for a while.

A wet and windy weekend - with no sailing by me - disappointing.
I had intended to sail in the streaker Open meeting. But prudence prevailed and I did not even think of it when I got up and saw wind and lashing rain. But it was sailed and the topper fleet was especially hardy (and young). I watched in pouring rain under threee layers of waterproofs and did a few helpful things.

The baby swallows flew the nest over Saturday night. Two of them came back on Sunday when it rained. 

They look smug more than cute!

I did not sail on Sunday -  a very long race down the river to windward (and then back) which lasted over an hour and a half in strong wind with squalls - it would probably have written me off.

All a bit depressing really - and bad weather due to continue all the week into the next round of races at the weekend.  I should be used to dubious weather by now - - but I am not.

Swallow's nest above a notice board at Deben Yacht Club.
Three or four swallows are getting very large and the parents fly in and out all the time.
Briefly interrupted by people when there is sailiing

More racing at the weekend - in the evening to catch to tide. Lots of nice food as well. I came second again on Saturday.
Sunday was a reminder of how awful racing can be. I got a good start but thereafter I could not get in the groove - with light and shifty winds against the tide. The wind dropped and it took half an hour to cover about ten boat lengths to the finish line. But - hey - I finished and came 4th (behind a load of Toppers). But half the fleet did not finish. Not great fun - sailing can be awful and I am glad for the reminder - in some ghastly way. I have since read up on sail settings and think I had the sail wrong for the light wind conditions - not enough outhaul.

Swallow on a noticeboard - Deben Yacht Club

The noticeboard is outside the changing rooms. They have nested late here - some nested earlier under the balcony. They stayed with the nest all day - inspite of masses of activity within a few meters. Swallows were here in a similar position last year.

I am surprised not to have a lot of aches and pains today - maybe the good effect of resistance training. I did not expect ever to race again and it reminded me - what fun and enjoyment - what effort and pain.

Grossed in sun and did a minor repair all day.

In the wild - -

A kingfisher - sitting in reeds next to a stream alongside the railway

13-50: Seen along the path to the river, by the railway crossing. It stayed put for a long time and only left when I moved a bit near. I have never seen one so close and just sitting. Awesome.

Wigeon. They hang out along the river on grassy knolls that cover at high water springs. Nice.

21-00 hrs: I do not want you to assume anything in particlar about how I am getting on. This is a bit unfair as I tend to tell you about what I am doing, which always makes me sound a lot more active and positive than I feel. I find it hard to write about anything else  - . So I tell you that last week was focussed on my Joomla! documentation project, interspersed with shopping and cooking and walks along the river and various worries.

But the important thing is that I have been wondering (at some length and in some depth) about what I would be doing if I were normally healthy. This leads me to alternately want to plan ahead and not to plan ahead. 

I rather think the pictures with my two previous posts are significant as an indication of looking ahead and not having a fixed point.

12-25 hrs: Looking downstream along the river wall downstream from Woodbridge. To the left - the river with wigeon feeding on the grassy patches. To the right - pasture with wigeon on the flooded pools. I wonder if they nest here later in the year. The pasture is slightly saline and grazed by large cattle.

I often walk along this path - sometimes it is quiet and empty - at others it is too crowded.

Food between the ice blocks

21-45 hrs: The ice has more or less gone today - very glad to have seen it yesterday. Black-tailed Godwit gets lucky.

Three days on the river; expedition one - Thursday

21-30 hrs: An egret in Woodbridge. There are lots along the river - normally too far away to photo - or I am too busy sailing (or both).

On Thursday - very little wind and too much motoring. I foolishly went too far (to Ramsholt) where I picked up a mooring for lunch and stayed too long. So I had to bang back against the tide to get to the marina before the water over the sill was too shallow to get in. Made it OK. Nice day - sunny intervals. Makes me feel better altogether.

A beach - in sun: and brain stuff

17-45 hours: The shingle beach by Bawdsey - looking towards the River Ore entry. The white dots are the buildings at Shingle Street. I walked along the beach in warm sunshine, but I was wearing three thermals. Back on the footpath - very muddy, so new boots essential. Passed four Martello towers - awsome. I walked five miles - slowly with frequent rests and food/drink inputs.

Heard and saw two skylarks - I have not heard one for years - - . A very pleasurable day.

I felt better today and yesterday - almost 'normal'. In the last few days I have also found that my brain has rebooted and is willing to do some thinking again - long may this last for many reasons. I have spent time doing work for the U3A in East Suffolk around a web site with their web site team - a team meeting (lasting 3 hours!) and various things I volunteered to check out afterwards. I am even going to set up my laptop to learn new technologies - - um.

But yesterday - chemo again, so the graph will no doubt head down again. But today - think normal.

trivia - weather - an upward trend again

21-25: One little grebe (dab chick) - a borrowed picture until I can take one - I am feeling better now than at the start of the week and the graph has crept up a bit.

The most annoying and non-trivial thing - my desktop computer refused to work - so a new and shiny model is due for delivery next week. (This is done on my trusty laptop). I lost about an hour's work on one file - amateur!

I really detest the winter - it is not just the wet, dreich weather - or the ice - or the dark nights - or the gas bills - . It is the complete lack of sailing. I can stand it for a while - but this week sees the beginning of me looking longingly at the water - where I belong. Double frustration because no-one has bought my boat yet - perhaps hardly surprising as the marina has been covered in snow.

I saw dab chicks (little grebes) feeding along the Deben in several groups of about ten - they dive and then spring up when they surface - cool. I puzzled over what they were for some time. There are a lot of other birds feeding in the mud as well - I mention curlew and a shelduck in particular. If it were not wet - it would be nice to walk along the river and watch them.

I have started an earnest attempt to rehabilitate the body through going to the gym. I have had a couple of sessions with the trainer and now have a structured plan - which I have just started and about which I will give detail in another post. This, and the breathing and the stretching, seems to be doing good - I walked faster today than usual, with only a little breathlessness. I actually like doing excersises and going to the gym - or it would not be a viable option!

Kingfishers and the valley

19-00: Sunday: Since Wednesday I have been to see the consultant He seems to think the chemotherapy is working - the cancer is less than three weeks ago and I do feel a lot less ill. It seems that I might be around for longer than his initial thoughts - (the ones that told me to write a will and make my peace with the people I have offended.). All a bit of a roller-coaster - - keep calm and carry on - - the valley continues to feel distanced which might be the sunshine as much as the reality of the situation - but never mind.

I have also had a second lot of chemotherapy - the side effects are just beginning - but I hope I am learning to manage fatigue and a few other minor things better than last time.

The weather here is like a foreign country - warm sunshine from a clear sky. Breakfast in the cockpit in sunshine and then went to Sutton Hoo with my family and wandered around in the woods - only a few miles but feasible now I have my car. I can see the buildings of Sutton Hoo from the marina.

AND - I have seen kingfishers from my boat - scooping food off the surface of the water - cool stuff.