Tag Archives: leuven

Wednesday 30th November 2016 – I’VE BEEN BACK …

… to the hospital as you might expect today.

I saw the doctor and he told me the news. Blood count is down to 10.0 from 10.6, although not as low as 9.7 as it was the other week.

We had a chat about the protein loss too. It’s supposed to be 0:15 and mine is 0:51. But that’s somewhat better than 1:11 that it was last week and nothing like what it was a while ago at 2:98. It seems to be that the higher the blood count, the higher the protein loss. The protein loss is as bad, apparently, as the blood count and a low blood count with low protein loss is as good as a high blood count with a high protein loss.

This is why they don’t seem to be too worried about my blood count right now because the protein loss thing seems to be working for now. They want to see how it goes for another couple of weeks.

One thing that they did say is that I don’t need to continue with a high-protein diet. But that’s not something that I’m going to abandon for now. It has its benefits, apart from keeping up the proteins in my body in the face of this excessive loss.

But anyway, they threw me out at about 14:00 and I have to go back in two weeks time – but I forgot to go to the reception to check on the time. I shall have to telephone them some time.

And so it took ages to go to sleep last night and to be honest, I didn’t think that I’d dropped off at all. But whatever I did or thought that I might have done, I didn’t move from my bed.

At least, so the story goes. I did leave the bed but only in a virtual fashion. I was off to Labrador last night among the Inuit,carrying out a few projects. But then I moved back to the west and I was trying to track down an Asian girl – one very much like the Vietnamese girl with whom I shared a house a few months ago. We’d managed to track her to a student house not so far away and I knew that one of her former house mates lived there. Off we went to this house – it was a modern, expensive type of place and when we arrived there was a big party going on in there; Loads of students about and I remember saying to whoever I was with that I wouldn’t like my house treated like this at all; Anyway we found the girl and she told us where the Asian girl could be found. We had a file of hers that needed to be given to her and so I was all for taking this file around to her new place but the others seemed to think that we should just put a white name tag in it and put it in a pouch that we could stick to the side window of the house where we were. A silly idea, if you ask me, but that was what we did.

I wasn’t alone at breakfast – there were the usual crowds – and then after I did a little work, I set off for the hospital. It was freezing outside – minus 3°C apparently – and it’s only going to become worse apparently.

After the hospital I came back here for a relax and a crash out for a while and then round about 16:00 I went off down to Caliburn to fetch some more stuff back. I remember the hair cutter but I forgot the nail scissors though – I’ll have to find them next time I’m down there.

There’s a good book that I discovered on the internet this afternoon.It’s called “Outlines of the Geography, Life and Customs of Newfoundland and Labrador” and it’s about 800 pages of observations of a Finnish expedition to Labrador and Newfoundland back in 1937 and 1939.

It’s full of observations from a most unusual group of people and contains a lot that is glossed over by more-mainstream historians. And I enjoy reading books like these because I can add the stuff into what I write and recirculate them, to make sure that they aren’t forgotten.

For tea, I finished off the lentil curry from last night and now it’s almost bed time.

I deserve a good sleep. It was quiet last night and the more of this that I can get, the better.

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Tuesday 29th November 2016 – I’M BACK …

… in Leuven now after my two weeks in the hills.

I’m in a different room than usual, one that I’ve never slept in before and it’s cold in here. Flaming well freezing in fact. The heating only comes on at certain times of the day and of course that isn’t when I want it to be.

Mind you, it was cold this morning in the Ardennes. Minus 3.3°C and that was at about 10:30 when I went out to Caliburn ready to leave, and I had to scrape the windscreen. Winter is definitely here.

I had a good sleep for a change, awake quite early before the alarm, and first down the breakfast too. Before the staff again. I’d even had time for a shower and a shave and clean clothes.

After breakfast I paid up, did a few things here and there and then hit the road. The drive up here was uneventful except that I had to stop for fuel at Weilin and that was shockingly expensive, and I did some shopping in a Colruyt- the first time for probably 20 years. And I was impressed by how cheap everything was.

Caliburn is now in his little hidey-hole and I’m now back here, with a few things that I grabbed to bring with me. There’s much more that needs to come but I’ll do that bit by bit.

Lunch didn’t take long to fix and after that it was like Euston station in here with a couple of people bursting in. I had a bit of a doze and a snooze after my drive up here – I’m not as fit as I used to be as we all know.

For tea I made a curry with lentils and garlic and mixed veg, with enough for tomorrow. And now I’m having an early night here in Ice Station Zebra.

It’s hospital tomorrow.

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Friday 25th November 2016 – I’VE BEEN OUT …

… and about this afternoon. But only for a short while because CS Sedan-Ardennes are playing away tonight at Boulogne. And if I had thought on a little earlier, I ought to have enquired to see if there might have been a supporters’ bus going out for the match, and blagged my way on board. It would have been a good day out too.

I’ll have to look into this idea whenever I get back to Leuven, if I ever do.

Despite being tired last night, I found it really difficult to go off to sleep. I just couldn’t make myself comfortable and I’ve no idea why.

But once I was asleep, I was well away and remember nothing – not even anything about a nocturnal ramble of any type – during the night. And I didn’t feel too bad either once I awoke, which makes a change.

Second downstairs for breakfast (before the staff yet again) and first away from the table, and then I attacked my website and the pages on the Coasts of Labrador. And they are all taking shape now.

They have had some serious editing too in places because they were starting to become rather untidy. I must have them being not only interesting, but in logical order too and not have them wandering around too much.

Once I’d organised that, I came down here and carried on with researching some more stuff. I ended up back on the ferries and found, to my surprise, that the MV Apollo, all 46 years of her, isn’t the oldest ferry in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. There’s a ferry, the MV Sound of Islay is even older, being launched in 1968. And she’s been sailing since the earliest 80s on some of the roughest crossings in the world, despite never having been built for ice conditions.

After lunch and a little relax, I nipped out for an hour or so.

The aim was to go across into France and the small town of St Menges for some bread. But I didn’t get very far.

1st panzer division border post st menges france october octobre 2016I drove through the mountains and the woods to St Menges and just a couple of hundred metres across the frontier into France I came across this building – badly-damaged and fenced off.

Where I am is right in the path of the Ist Panzer Division just after they crossed the River Semois at Vresse sur Semois and rushed to outflank the French positions near Sedan by crossing over the River Meuse at Glaire.

You can see how much this building – a border post with pillbox in the basement – has been knocked about by shell fire.

1st panzer division border post st menges france october octobre 2016And not just by shell fire either. The building is thoroughly riddled with rifle and machine gun bullets too.

It was defended heroically by its staff of five soldiers, with whatever arms they had at their disposal, and held up the advance for several hours. But in the end they became the first fatal casualties of the German attack to fall on French soil.

They aren’t the only fatal casualties in the vicinity either.

The Royal Air Force had several hundred Fairey Battle light bombers – totally under-powered and totally overloaded and they were sent in to try to destroy the river bridges in the face of the German advance in order to slow them down.

Of course, they didn’t stand a chance. They were sitting ducks to the German fighters and anti-aircraft guns and of all of the hundreds of Battles sent in to the attack, only a few survived.

beames gegg ross fairey battle L-5581 st menges france october octobre 2016All over Western Belgium and North-Eastern France, there are graveyards with a little corner transformed into a Commonwealth War Cemetery with three graves in it – pilot, navigator, rear gunner.

And in the forest just a couple of hundred metres from where I’m standing, Fairey Battle L-5581 from 88 Squadron RAF crashed into the trees and Sergeant FE Beames (observer), Sergeant WG Ross (pilot) and LAC JHK Gegg (wireless operator/air gunner) were killed.

I shall try tomorrow to find their graves.

sedan france october octobre 2016I continued on over the brow of the hill and had a good look at Sedan down in the valley of the Meuse. Somewhere on that plateau in front of us, the Battle of Sedan was fought in 1870.

This was when a badly-led French Army was overwhelmed by the Prussian forces, a defeat that led to the collapse of the French Empire and the formation of the German Empire, with fatal consequences for Europe on a couple of subsequent occasions.

There’s a new boulangerie opened in St Menges and that had caught my attention. I went in there and bought some bread – they had a beautiful brown whole-grain bread and it was so delicious (I was given a sample) that I bought two (the loaves weren’t all that big), having been assured that it will keep for four or five days.

They also had some small fruit buns, €2:00 for 5 and so I bought a batch of those too for a treat this weekend.

We had some confusion about the price, but that was quickly resolved, and then I came back here. No point going on to Sedan.

Now, I’m off to try the bread and then have an early night yet again.

And hope that I can sleep properly tonight.

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Wednesday 23rd November 2016 – PHEW! I’M WHACKED!

Yes, today was the day that I had to go to the hospital at Leuven.

And how difficult was it to haul myself out of bed at 07:00 to hit the road? You have no idea.

No breakfast of course, but what with having to wash and make myself pretty, it was 07:30 when I finally hit the road. Through the fog, the hanging cloud, the darkness and the drizzle to the motorway and then an uneventful drive all the way to Leuven. uneventful, of course, except for the tractor-trap in the suburbs of the city that slowed everyone up. It took me less than 2 hours all told.

Caliburn went into his hidey-hole and I walked up to the hospital to organise some breakfast. All done and dusted, checked in and in the waiting room long before the due time of 10:50.

I was out by 14:30 too. The highlight, or actually the lowlight of the day was the fact that they have stopped serving bread with the soup. That’s no good.

But apart from that, my blood has gone back up to 10.6 all on its own (although it doesn’t feel like it) and while my water retention has eased, my protein loss has accelerated. So – back in a week.

And as the professor is only there in the morning next week, it means that I have to postpone my eye test too.It’s a good job that I’m going back to stay in the hostel.

The drive back was even more uneventful.

There’s a Carrefour in Leuven as you know so I called there for bread and stuff but I was having a “fruit” moment so I bought a “reduced” fresh fruit salad thingy and a litre of 100% pineapple juice, and scoffed the lot on the car park. And there are grapes for tomorrow.

My route brought me back to Bouillon, which is a soup-er … "ohh, well-done" – ed … place and stopped to take a pile of photos in the dark, falling over the edge of the pavement and badly cutting my right knee.

There’s a falafel place in Bouillon so I had a decent tea as well.

And now I’m back here and seeing how tired I am, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see the photos of Bouillon.

I’m doing nothing more!

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Monday 21st November 2016 – TODAY IS THE DAY …

… that I celebrate – if that is the correct word to use – the first anniversary of my last night at home.

And what a tumultuous year it has been too. I’ve spent nights sleeping at friends, in hotels in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, in hostels, on floors, in hospitals, in student houses, but never again at home and how I am depressed as the seriousness of my position dawns on me.

Am I destined to spend the last years of my life living out of a suitcase and ambling aimlessly around around North-West Europe? What a horrible thought.

But one thing that I have learnt as I’ve been travelling around is that there’s no place like home. I have accordingly for the next three months and maybe even more, negotiated a good place in the hostel back at Leuven. It might not be much, and nothing like what I was hoping to have, but it’s the nearest place to home that I have right now. I have negotiated a good price with the option of a renewal, and in exchange I’ll be expected to do a little work, but I’m as happy as I could be with that.

I had a really late night last night and as a result was in no fit state at all when the alarm went off. It was a struggle to go down to breakfast (I was third, and yet there before the staff was) and then I crashed out again afterwards for a while.

The internet was, well, working something-like and so I found another pile of stuff about Labrador. And that took me ages too. For lunch, I finished off the bread that I had bought in Sedan at the LeClerc on Friday, so after lunch I nipped into Alle to the boulanger for a big loaf and across the road to the Spar for a lettuce.

orchimont vresse sur semois belgium october octobre 2016On the way back, I took a diversion and climbed high into the Ardennes to visit Orchimont.

I don’t know whether to call it a town or a hamlet or what because these days it’s been absorbed into the commune of Vresse sur Semois, and ohhhh! What a come-down that must be for the place because 800 years or so ago it was by far the biggest town in the area.

orchimont vresse sur semois belgium october octobre 2016Perched up here in its steep escarpment, it was at one time the capital of this region and had a fortified castle and city walls to defend itself and the region.

All of tha changed in 1635 when Louis XIII of France laid siege to the town, which was part of the Spanish Netherlands at that time.

fortification orchimont vresse sur semois belgium october octobre 2016

He brought 35,000 soldiers with him apparently, and no town can withstand that kind of siege for long. It fell on 11th May of that year and was burnt, with all of the fortifications destroyed.

When the road was brought here in 1878, it went straight through whatever remained of the remains of the fortifications. All that is left is this, and I’m not even sure if these are original.

orchimont vresse sur semois belgium october octobre 2016But you can see what a stunning defensive site the place occupies. This is the road in from the south.

The roads from the west and east are equally impressive – in fact the road in from the north – which you might have noticed in the first photograph, is the only one that is reasonably accessible.

The spur of the rock overlooking the road that we can see just here was crying out for a castle to be built on it, if you ask me. Any Medieval lord bent on increasing his power in the region, and some of these medieval lords were as bent as they come, would have been proud to have had his castle here.

eglise st martin orchimont vresse sur semois belgium october octobre 2016There’s a church here too, and I asked a local yokel who was taking a most extraordinary interest in me, to whom it was dedicated.

But he wasn’t much of a vocal local yokel and told me to go and enquire in Vresse sur Semois. Miserable ghit!

But seeing as how everything at Orchimont is St Martin this, St Martin that, I shall have a wild guess.

What I do know is that it’s far from being the original church. It dates from 1863 apparently, although I imagine that there has been a church here for 1500 years before that.

christmas trees sapin de noel orchimont vresse sur semois belgium october octobre 2016One thing that I have noticed since I’ve been out here has been an endless stream of farm tractors with trailers fully-laden with Christmas trees disappearing into the mists.

What I hadn’t realised is that Orchimont is the Christmas Tree capital of Belgium and North-East France. There must be 5,000 here all parcelled up ready for shipping.

That’ll keep them out of mischief.

With the laptop being a bit flaky just now, I’ve done a major back-up this evening just in case, and now having done some more research I’m off to bed.

I’ve had nothing to eat tonight so I’ll make a butty quickly and that will be that. I’m not up to much else.

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Wednesday 16th November 2016 – HOW STUPID …

… can you be?

I need to leave Belgium for a while for various reasons, and so I checked all around the area of Sedan, which is not too far away from here but across the border, and I found a place that looked absolutely perfect from my point of view. Isolated in the countryside miles from anywhere up a mountain and probably swathed in fog. And bed-and-breakfast at the same price as my hostel.

And here I am gazing across a river and over the river is in France, and here I am, stuck on the Belgian side of it all in the Hostellerie La Sapiniere at Vresse sur Semois.

Unbelievable, isn’t it?

So why aren’t I heading back to my house then? The answer is that while my blood count has gone up slightly to 10:0, the protein loss in my body is accelerating slightly and that’s causing them some concern. As a result, they’ve changed my medication and they want me back IN A WEEK to see how I’m doing.

And not only that, they have some more appointments for me in the haematology department in two weeks time, and so I’m stuck here yet again. But I don’t want to be stuck in Leuven – I need a change of scenery;

But returning to our moutons as the French say, the trouble with going to bed early is that everyone else comes in later. And so even if you do drop off to sleep by 22:30, then at 23:30 you are wide awake as people come back into the building. and that’s rather annoying, so say the least.

So having had a disturbed night (for many reasons) I was awake quite early as the alarm went off.

And I’d been on my travels too. I had to visit a town that was “just across the border” in some kind of Spanish-speaking area. I’d found a bus that would take me there and so I climbed on board. It wasn’t a journey of 10 minutes either as I was expecting, but one of hours and interminable hours. A woman on board the bus, small and dark-haired, tried to help me out – every ten minutes or so coming to reassure me (although I couldn’t understand what she was saying) and then as we reached the border I suddenly realised that I didn’t know where I was supposed to be going or at what stop I needed to alight, and I had no way of asking either.

There were the usual hordes at breakfast this morning, and we had a major problem with the kitchen area being flooded again. The skylight had been left open and we were in the middle of a torrential downpour.

Still, I’d breakfasted and even showered and back in my room again long before 07:55. THat’s something of a record, isn’t it? And once I’d tidied up and packed my rucksack I set off to the hospital, braving the driving rain.

I wasn’t feeling so good this morning either. All of the joints in my legs were aching and I didn’t have the puff to climb the hill. I had to stop on four or five occasions to get back my breath. This is the worst trip to the hospital that I have ever had.

I was there and registered by 08:30 and sitting in the waiting room. I was seen a little later than my 08:50 appointment , and given all of the tests and the like. My weight was stable which was bad news – I want to lose it all and I can’t do this as it’s all to do with the water retention issues that I’m having and that’s one of the issues that I need to resolve – hence the new medication.

By 11:30 they released me from the hospital and that was that. I went down to Caliburn and we all, Caliburn, Strawberry Moose and I set off for the wilderness.

The weather was pretty miserable – with rainstorms and the like all the way down to the Ardennes. And once I started to climb up into the mountains I was encased in hanging clouds just like home. In fact it made me feel quite at home.

The Lady Who Lives In The SatNav couldn’t find the hotel, which was hardly a surprise seeing as I was looking in the wrong country. I had a beautiful drive through the Ardennes and ended up in Sedan in the driving rain. I took the opportunity to do a huge pile of shopping at the Leclerc – what with food prices in France being much less than in Belgium – and then tracked down the hotel where I’m staying.

It’s a very impressive hotel from the outside but it’s all very 1960s from the inside. And there’s no internet in the bedroom which is very depressing to say the least. I’ll have to sort this out somehow but I’m quite tired after my drive. I made a butty (because I wasn’t able to check on what the surroundings had to offer) and had an early night instead.

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Tuesday 15th November 2016 – YOU MISSED …

… all of the excitement last night.

I was just about getting ready to go to bed when my bedroom door burst open and someone came in dragging a big suitcase behind him.

It turned out that due to a transcription error he had received an e-mail telling him to go to room 1302 instead of 1202. We soon sorted that problem out, but it wasn’t half exciting while it lasted. I keep on meaning to lock the door to my room when I’m in here and one day I’ll remember to do it.

During the night I went on my travels, both down the corridor and out on my travels. I ended up on the Coasts of Labrador again but why and who with I really have no idea now.

There were the usual crowds at breakfast and I shan’t be sorry to leave here tomorrow for some peace and quiet – always assuming that I can in fact leave. I really hope that I can and they don’t want me back in a week. That’s going to be pretty impossible. Even going home for two weeks only leaves me a week or so down there to sort myself out and I need much more than that.

After breakfast, I found to my dismay that the internet it down. I don’t know why but everyone came to me to complain. They must think that I own the place or something. It seems that, according to the message that I saw on the communal computer, that the bill hadn’t been paid for a while. The landlord needs to deal with that problem pretty quickly.

It gave me a good opportunity to crack on with my web pages about the Trans Labrador Highway. As a result, I have now finished my pages about the Coasts of Labrador and now I’m starting to climb up onto the Eagle Plateau. If I keep on like this, I’ll be finished before too long, and then I’ll have to find something else to do.

I had my baguette for lunch in the company of another new arrival. He’s the first foreign person whom I’ve ever met who approves of the Brexit, but then again he was rather weird. He complained at great length that he had been expelled from Belgium and had lost absolutely everything. Now he had moved out to Occupied Palestine and was living in one of these unlawful settlements. The irony of his position had gone right over his head.

In contrast to the last couple of days I’ve been out on several occasions today. Apart from the baguette, I went down to Caliburn twice. The first time was to take down there everything that I don’t need this evening or tomorrow at the hospital. And I went through all of the clothes in Caliburn and brought back all of the dirty clothes, as well asa change of clean clothes.

And when I returned I had a really good shower and shave and a change of clothes. Once I’d organised myself properly (which takes for ever of course) I went off to the launderette and washed all of the clothes and now everything is all ready for my next voyage.

There was a very nice girl in there doing a big load of washing too. Under normal circumstances I would have engaged her in conversation to see what happens, but then again any girl who can’t afford a washing machine isn’t likely to be able to keep me in the luxury to which I would like to be accustomed.

After tea, in which I wasn’t alone yet again, I went back to Caliburn to take back the now-clean clothes and everything else that I don’t need. All that remains here now is what I’ll need for the hospital tomorrow.

So now it’s an early night for me. Whatever will tomorrow bring?

I hope that it’s good news. I need it, I reckon.

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Monday 14th November 2016 – I MADE IT …

… out of doors for a bit longer today. In fact I went to the Bistro up the road to pay for my accommodation for this week, seeing as how it’s been closed for the last couple of days. And then I walked up to the Delhaize for a few bits and pieces.

That’s about it, really. I haven’t done much else.

My night was rather a disturbed one, not being helped by an early riser in the building who was up and about before I was. And I don’t even remember going anywhere – either of on a nocturnal perambulation or for a stroll down the corridor.

There are also some new people here – another group of three students. They are disturbing my usual routine, joining me for breakfast and also using the kitchen when I want to cook my tea. How dare they do that! GRRRRR!

Apart from that, I’ve been left pretty much to my own devices today – not even too many of my friends on the internet for a chat either. All in all, a pretty lonely day.

One thing that I had been doing was to work on my web pages for my last Labrador visits. It’s slow going right now because I’m continually being side-tracked by my research that is drifting me off into all kinds of alleyways off my main highway. I may be none-the-wiser, but I’m certainly better-informed these days. No arguments about that.

And as usual these days, I crashed out for a good hour or so round about 16:00. I’m clearly not up to it these days and it’s causing me some dismay. But I’ll have to become used to it I suppose. I won’t ever be any better than this.

So now I’ll go to see if the kitchen is clear, so that I can cook my tea for tonight. I hate being disturbed like this.

And tomorrow I shall have to get a move on. I’m going to do a pile of washing tomorrow and so that means a trip to Caliburn. I want to be all done and dusted and properly organised because I really am hoping that that I’ll be released for a fortnight so that I can go home for a week or so.

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Sunday 13th November 2016 – I DIDN’T GO …

… very far at all today. I made it down to the boulangerie on the corner this morning for my baguette. That was a stroll of almost 150 yards there and back I suppose.

And at tea-time I went an extra 50 yards there and back to the take-away pizza place for a mushroom and onion pizza for tea.

And that was my lot, I’m afraid.

Nevertheless I did have some good luck while I was out this morning. There was another black plastic storage crate in the bin outside the supermarket – a big one this time – and so seeing as it was quite early and there was no-one about, I made sure that I liberated that. These are really nice and useful, these storage crates. Nice and lightweight and easy to carry.

And I didn’t go far during the night either. Dunno if I went on a ramble because I don’t remember anything at all. I do know that I had to leave my bed several times though, especially round about 01:00 when someone came back and made quite a racket.

I was there for breakfast at the usual time, and after the boulangerie, I had something of a repose. In fact I had something of a repose on and off throughout the day. I must really have had a bad night last night.

But I did crack on with the website somewhat, and made another good find on the internet. A kind of database that has been created to record events, happenings and documents about Labrador. And there were the sailing schedules for the “Alphabet ships” – the ships of the Newfoundland Railway that worked the coastal settlements once Labrador had been attached to Newfoundland in 1876.

And it makes poignant reading too. Never mind abandoned communities such as Battle Harbour, the “capital” of Labrador back in those days. That settlement has been abandoned as a permanent habitation for over 50 years under the Canadian Government’s controversial resettlement plans, and is now merely a summer fishing station. What is even more sad is that many of the mailboat ports haven’t simply been abandoned, they have long-since disappeared from the map and their names are no longer recorded.

Another surprise was that the owner came round to check up on the premises and we had a really good chat for a while. Who knows where our conversation will lead us,

But now, an early night again. I hope that I can have a good night’s sleep and an exciting travel.

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Saturday 12th November 2016 – I HAD A NICE …

… four hours out with Alison today.

She came round at about 11:00 and we went off to the good cafe down the street for a coffee and a chat. We were there for quite some time too.

Once we’d finished we went for a walk to look at a couple of shops and then went down the road to the ALDI where Alison did some of her shopping. And then over the road to Spit, the huge Charity Shop just there. And there was tons of good stuff in there too, much of which is at a decent price. I could quite happily furnish a small apartment from there.

There’s a Troc in the vicinity too, somewhere in between Leuven and Mechelen. The prices in there though are totally ridiculous, even though the stuff looks really good quality. But here’s something that you can buy me for Christmas if you can’t think of anything better – they had a late Medieval suit of armour in there. Wouldn’t that look nice standing up in the corner of my house? But €895 was a bit ridiculous really, although nothing like as ridiculous as the €12,500 they wanted for a bronze fountain that looked like a good well.

Alison took me later to the English shop. There’s a fish and chips van that parks up there a couple of days a week but that wasn’t what excited me. They had vegan pies which will go down nicely with some new potatoes and vegetables, but the highlight was definitely the vegan mince pies. I’ll be back there a few days before Christmas, that’s for sure.

On the way back I picked up a baguette at the Carrefour by the football ground and had lunch once I returned. following that I did some more research for my web pages on Labrador. I’ve found a couple of really good sites of interest on the internet – one that lists every known community in Labrador in about 1910 and the access port where appropriate (and there’s tons of interesting stuff on there) and secondly, an interactive map that shows the location of almost every known geographical feature in Labrador. I could really lose myself in those sites.

For tea it was pasta with a tin of chick peas and vegetables and tomato sauce. and then a nice relaxing evening.

This afternoon I’d crashed out for an hour or so but that is probably something to do with the disturbed night that I’d had. It took me ages to drop off to sleep and when I finally did, I was up and down several times too.

I’d been on my travels too, out to the Coasts of Labrador where there was a very narrow strip of land in bewteen the cliffs that narrowed even more just where I had to cross over the mouth of a small river. There was a young teenage girl with me too, rather like a girl with whom I’d had a lengthy discussion once when I was out on the North Shore of the Gulf of St Lawrence in May 2012. Although what she was doing suddenly making an appearance I have no idea.

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Friday 11th November 2016 – I’VE ONLY BEEN …

… out of the building twice today.

Once was to the supermarket for my baguette this morning, and the second time was to go back out to the supermarket tonight for a black plastic storage crate that I saw in the rubbish. Unfortunately I’d forgotten about it so it was rather too late when I went out there, and it had already disappeared.

Ahhh well!

And it’s Wapenstilstand – Armistice day today so most of the shops were closed. Even though it was only 08:45 when I went for my baguette, there were only three left. That was pretty good timing, I reckon.

Apart from that, I’ve been talking to friends on the laptop, spent some time working on my web pages about the Coasts of Labrador, and … errr … had a little doze too.

Tea was the rest of last night’s kidney bean whatsit with pasta followed by one of these soya-based coconut dessert things.

Last night though I had something of a disturbed night, although my bed is quite comfortable and I’m reasonably-well installed here. And I was on my own for breakfast which makes a nice change. But it’s quite noisy now as a group of people has just arrived.

I hope that I have a good night’s sleep tonight then.

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Thursday 10th November2016 – I HAD RATHER A …

… restless night last night. It took me ages to drop off to sleep. And then I was awake long before the alarm went off.

Nevertheless, I hadn’t had to leave my bed during the night and no only that, I’d had a busy night being away on my travels. And, as usual these days, the whole lot disappeared the moment I awoke.

I was on my own at first for breakfast but I was soon joined by some others. I wasn’t that much alone. And back here afterwards, I couldn’t find the motivation to start on my website. Concentration and motivation seem to be lacking right now and I don’t know why after my successes just recently.

By the time 11:00 came round, I went off to Caliburn to sort out some of the stuff that i’ll need here for the next week, and then down to the Carrefour by the football ground to pick up some sandwich stuff.

On the way back here I went via Caliburn to pick up the stuff that I had sorted out, and found later on when I was making my tea that I had forgotten a storage container for the other half of tea for tomorrow.

After lunch I had a good chat with two or three people and I also crashed out for a while. And not only that, I did manage to do some kind of work on my website.I also went down to the bistro to pay for my lodgings but once more, there was no-one there.

For tea I made pasta, kidney beans, veg and tomato sauce thickened with boulghour. And there’s half left for tomorrow which I had to leave in the saucepan as I didn’t have anywhere else to leave it.

I also had a chat with the landlord of this place about my ongoing health problems. He might be able to work out a good deal for me if I stay here. And I might just accept it too because I don’t really know where else to go for the next three or four months that I might have to stay here.

I’ll have to think long and hard about this.

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Wednesday 9th November 2016- AT LEAST THE WEATHER …

… didn’t let me down today.

I was expecting the sun to be out and that we would have brilliant weather today seeing as I was leaving Oostende today. But instead, it was pouring down and windy just like the rest of the time that I had spent here.

As soon as the alarm went off I was up and about, even before the reminder. And I’d had a really good night’s sleep too, with nothing to disturb me whatever. A long time since I’d had such a deep and satisfying sleep, even though there was only six and a half hours of it.

after a quick shower and a change of clothes, I was downstairs for breakfast. First yet again although I was soon joined by others. And once I’d finished, I was back upstairs, packed and out of the door by 08:40.

I had plenty of time to wait for my train at the station, although it was cold there in the temporary waiting room. I wasn’t half pleased to be on the train. It was bang on time too and really comfortable, so much so that I cracked on with the work that I’ve been doing on my website.

It was still pouring down when I arrived in Leuven, and after gathering my wits I went off to Caliburn to drop off the stuff that I don’t need, and that was a long walk in the rain. And one thing that I did was to find the fleece lining for my rain jacket. I’d been freezing in Oostende.

Bang on time at the hospital, and I was quickly organised. They plugged a catheter in and took a blood sample. And my blood count is stable, as is my protein loss. That’s a surprise. I only wish that the blood was stable at 12.2, not 9.7.

And then – they forgot me yet again. And after reminding them, they finally got back to me at 17:45. It seems, in what can only be really bad news, they need to take two-weekly controls of my urine and kidneys for the next … errr … three months at least. And that’s before we start talking about the blood situation – for which I have an appointment next week.

You’ve no idea just how dismayed I am by all of this.

At least there’s a room free at the hostel and so I’m now back there for a week. And who knows? I might even be able to go home again after my appointment next week if there’s a fortnightly pause. But I want a place of my own. I can’t go on like this living out of a suitcase in a hostel room.

Alison came round later and we went out for a meal and a coffee. And a guided tour of Leuven as a new one-way system that’s been installed led us everywhere except where we wanted to go.

Now I’m off to bed. Thoroughly depressed, thoroughly fed up.

and if my next blog is from Mars or Uranus or somewhere like that, don’t be surprised. What is happening in the western world has filled me full of dismay for the last twenty years and the news this morning has made me want to emigrate to another planet somewhere.

Whatever is the world coming to?

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Tuesday 8th November 2016 – I HAD A BIT …

… of a bad day today.

Not the night though. I had a really good sleep and knew nothing whatever about anything at all.

I was up and about before the second alarm went off, and after a shower and a shave I was down at breakfast even before opening time. A few minutes later I was joined by a crew of workers who seem to be staying here. It disturbed my solitude considerably.

I was back up here soon enough and then I started to have a little crisis. Nothing serious, but I couldn’t concentrate and I couldn’t focus on what I wanted to do. This might not seem significant, especially if I were to say that it’s rather like I’ve been for the last year or so, but it’s a considerable step back from the more dynamic me that has resurfaced over the past week or so.

I had a phone call too. They want to change my medication so we can do that tomorrow.

At 10:30, I struggled out of my room and went right across time to the Delhaize for my baguette and some grapes, and then a walk back along the promenade. I was tempted to go into one of these holiday letting agencies to see if they had any studios to let at a decent price. But I ruled that out when I saw the prices. Even off-season in the middle of winter it’s cheaper to stay in this hotel, and staying at that hostel in Leuven is a bargain. It looks as if I might be stuck there for the foreseeable future if I have to stay in Leuven.

After lunch, I crashed out for a good hour or so – really out of it too – and in the middle of a conversation with a friend too. and it was a struggle to bring myself round. And I certainly didn’t feel like going out for my afternoon coffee. And that’s how it’s been all day.

This evening, I had a major disappointment. That pizza place I visited on Sunday was advertising pasta dishes and they looked absolutely wonderful. I’d set my heart on one of them and I’d saved it for tonight as a farewell to Oostende. How I was looking forward it too and so I went round there tonight for my pasta … and it was closed.

Drat and double-drat!

I ended up with a salad bap and a bag of chips instead and it’s nothing like the same.

So now, being fed up and disappointed and not too well, I’m off to bed. I hope that I feel better tomorrow for I’m hitting the road for Leuven tomorrow.

I wonder what will happen at the hospital?

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Sunday 6th November 2016 – HOW MANY …

eric hall hotel imperial ostend oostende belgium october octobre 2016… Epichalls do you see in this photograph?

The lift here in the hotel is lined with mirrors and you can make some quite interesting images using all of the reflections if you feel like it. I mean, I’m always feeling like it and so I went to take a photo as I was going out for a walk.

I went out early for a loaf of bread. There is a boulanger in the vicinity but as you might expect, it’s closed for the holidays. But the Spar supermarket in the town centre is open and I could buy a baguette in there.

I’d had a really good night’s sleep last night. I had to leave the bed just once and how I wished that I didn’t have to leave it at all. I’d had some exciting travels too but just like all the time recently, everything disappeared as soon as the alarm went off.

I had a lie-in too. The alarm was set for 07:00 and a repeat at 07:15 as usual, but I set the snooze function for an extra 10 minutes. I was still first downstairs for breakfast too, and excellent it was yet again.

ostend beach strand oostende belgium october octobre 2016I said that I was out for a walk this morning, but it wasn’t a walk that I had, but some exercise. Get it out of the way early. A brief 50-yard dash down the promenade after my cap which had blown off in the gale-force winds. It was wicked out there today.

You can probably tell that, not only from the waves out there but also for the lack of people on the promenade. It was deserted this morning.

ostend beach strand oostende belgium october octobre 2016The sun came out while I was out there in the wind, and so I ended up going for a walk on the beach. Hardly a soul about as you can see, but there was something exciting going on out there offshore.

I’ve no idea what it was, but there was an orange rescue launch out there together with some kind of tug or similar boat that was spraying water everywhere. Maybe it was some kind of fire-fighting exercise, I dunno. But the camera on the phone is no good for this kind of thing in this kind of weather.

ostend beach strand oostende belgium october octobre 2016I carried on along the beach which was deserted despite the sunshine. The kiosks were locked up, as you might expect.

But just there further down on the left are the Royal Galleries. They were built at the turn of the 20th Century on the orders of King Leopold II during the Golden Years of the Belgian state and was intended to be part of a royal palace. Nowadays though, the complex is a luxury hotel, a room in which is well out of the pocket of people such as you and me.

Ther’s also the huge skyscraper block of apartments down there, and how I would love to have a studio right at the top of it.

I’ve had a busy, and successful day on the website today. And now, there are five extra pages loaded, one, two, three, four and five, all about the final 40 kilometres of Highway 138 on the border between the Province of Quebec and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was quite an amount of work.

It’s a fairly controversial stretch of road, but nothing like as controversial as the 300 or so kilometres that the Quebec Government hasn’t built. You need to read what I’ve written to find out what is going on. It’s certainly a rather sad story.

I went back out later in the late afternoon for a coffee. Braving the howling gales and driving rain. It was definitely wicked out there this evening.

And to finish off the day, it’s Sunday so it’s pizza night. I found a tiny backstreet pizza place and I had a few slices of vegan cheese left. The pizza was delicious but once again, no-one in Belgium knows how to make a proper pizza base.

So now it’s early-night time. Only three more sleeps here and then it’s back to Leuven. And who knows where I’ll be after that.

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