210. Waiting, still waiting

I don’t know how many times I have written reassuring responses, oozing with empathy, to women on the Breast Cancer Now forums, new to Cancerworld and feeling desperate as they wait for tests and results. One of the Community Champions, Shi, always writes that no one has cancer until they are told by their oncologist that they have cancer. I usually wade in with reassurances that the vast majority of lumps referred to breast clinics turn out to be benign and that, with the worst case scenario of a cancer diagnosis, what follows is all doable. And that’s true. But no words can shift that weight of fear and those sneaky what ifs that catch you at the most inconvenient moments.

My first appointment is with a Mr Gout (?) in ophthalmology at St James’s on Tuesday. This was organised over the phone so I have no letter and, more important, no map. I know it’s Chancellor Wing. I know it’s Ground Floor (phew). I’ve been there before to get zapped (the other eye) but I can’t remember. So that means getting up even earlier, to get through rush hour/school run traffic, find a parking space and then slowly walk to the right building. I’ve a feeling it’s before A&E but that doesn’t help unless we can’t find parking nearby.

Dennis insists on coming with me but he’s not proving a tower of strength right now. He’s permanently locked into worry/fear mode in all things health-related now. I have had a bit of a cold for the last couple of days - almost incessant sneezing but not much else - you’d think I’d done it on purpose (I still don’t get how I caught it when I’ve been socially distanced at all times). Now of course, if it hasn’t cleared up by tomorrow, I may well be banned from my appointment. They ring the day before and take you through a checklist and I may fail, though I have no COVID-19 symptoms. Wouldn’t that be dandy?? So I’m eating vitamin C tablets like sweeties as that has only once failed to halt a cold in its tracks. Fingers crossed.

So... the fence. Or fencing.

First, a digger was at work at the end of the garden, with a pretty scary blade (?) that swung perilously close to our property at times. But we have the 5 metre buffer so we should be safe. Dennis commented that they might as well come into the garden.... Next day, I noticed this: 

They’ve clonked into the back fence with such force that they’ve knocked all the upright posts and the first three panels sideways. Then one post has resisted so the panel beyond that has broken. You can’t see much of the damage here but there are slats of wood broken away - a sorry sight. I contacted the site manager. No problem. Send him photos and he’ll consult Head Office. Three weeks on and we’ve not even had an acknowledgement. 

The weeds are there because the patio has been left to overgrown. The ground beneath seems to be flooded with water from the site and the stone slabs were lifting under the pressure. Let it go wild since Den doesn’t have the time and I don’t have the strength. Yes, we do need a gardener. I digress. We did meet with the site manager over another issue. This happened next: 

It may be hard to work out but it beggars belief. Miller Homes has ignored the 5m buffer and erected a fence to plot 27 that adjoins our fence. Just a few feet but strange nonetheless. We are assured that the buffer exists, only it’s being incorporated into the garden of no 27. Not 25 and 26 - they are mere semis - but 27 and also plot 30(?) the house we can reach over and touch. Ok I’m exaggerating but it looks like it:

That’s no 30 (?) just over our hedge. It’s their garage - the house is just a blank wall fr us to gaze at, with 2 windows thankfully just out of our line of vision. The builder did turn and wave! It’s a large detached property with a tiny garden. UNTIL the 5m buffer is conveniently absorbed into their garden, as is planned. Actually, that part of the plan would suit me as I think it’s a security issue to have a strip of landscaped land between the two properties, open for kids to play in or young people to gather in (not much else to do in Bramhope!) BUT I would want to be assured that the same principles are being applied all round the new development, not, as I suspect, just around our road. I bet you anything they will respect the landscaped 5 meters buffer when they build along the back of Creskeld Lane (aka Millionaires’ Row). Grrr.

So I insisted on meeting the site manager with his plan to compare to the plan I have downloaded from the Planning Department, We met. Our plans did not match, even though mine is the latest agreed Landscaping plan. He pointed out that the owners of the new properties were aware that their gardens included the 5m buffer but couldn't say whether the same rules will apply to the ‘posh’ part of Bramhope. Fair enough, they’ve not been built yet but either we are living in a Conservation Area or we are not. Then it got better. He told me that Miller Homes intends to ‘gift’ the residents of High Ridge Way the proposed buffer land and we can extend our fences so we acquire an addition 5m of land. What about the bit already within the fences of no 27? Oh, that’s not a problem. They already know it’s buffer land and we can take it from them. So, by that reasoning, we end up having to pay the costs of moving their fencing to leave them with a minuscule garden AND we lose neighbourly goodwill, just to acquire a 5m stretch of land we don’t really want, we can’t build on and which would leave us with an island of trees!

Anyway, Mr Planning Department is doing a site visit ‘over the festive period’ (one day now, as far as I can tell from our ultra-clear government guidance) thanks to my pals Billy and Barry (councillors) so watch this space. Or don't - probably wiser!

I know I’ve said it before, but if you have followed this and even tried to get your head round it, you must be a true friend! Apologies but it’s a good distraction for me.