A right pain the the arse

Just a quick update for you all. We are still in Canoa, a place we are beginning to feel is like home. It's so friendly and welcoming. We went to a fund raising gala day at the local bilingual school which is funded and run by donations and volunteers. I was impressed with the whole set up and how so many people in the community seemed to be supporting it and were clearly very proud of their achievements. Quite rightly so.

Our days have just been slow and gentle whilst Brian has been resting his back to try and get it ship shape for the rest of the journey. It was helped along by a fantastic roast beef dinner put on by Mark at the Shamrock. There were six of us for the occasion and we all spruced ourselves up a bit. Becky and Jonny supplied a lovely apple crumble and cream which was topped off nicely by some cheddar like cheese that Tony had brought along. I can't tell you how nice it was to sit around a dinner table chatting and laughing, drinking and eating in such a friendly and comfortable environment.

It looked like we were on target for leaving here on Saturday and yesterday we agreed to meet up for one last party in the Shamrock on Friday night. Sadly, things have taken a turn for the worse this morning. Brian seemed much better when he woke up, got out of bed and suddenly felt excruciating pain in his back and down his leg. So much so that he is now unable to stand, get in or out of bed. Try to imagine the situation. Neither of us speak Spanish, no doctors, not knowing where the nearest hospital is or how to get there. I decided to go down to the surf shack where Becky and Johnnie are partners to see if I could get some bi-lingual help to contact a 'medico' A guy there called Pete told me of the options. Strap Brian to a surf board, throw him on the back of a truck and take him to San Vicente to a doctor there. If necessary, put him back on the surf board and take him on the ferry to the hospital. But the option we have gone for is to let the local vet take a look at him first. Hopefully he won't turn up with rubber gloves and a big hypodermic filled with horse tranquiliser.

As you can imagine, Brian is taking this all in his stride ....... NOT and though he will say he's not demanding let me tell you - so far I have been to get help, to get medication, to get a pizza, to get juice and the latest was to get a banana smoothie and all before 1pm.

I will keep you all updated on the situation. Really I think it's attention seeking and if he wants to stay here there is no need for all this drama. He just needs to say 'lets stay'

There are some pictures to post on this but it seems that even the blogger.com site isn't fully functional today!