Back in the water!

First time back in the water in just a over 5 weeks which was fun. Pretty mellow surf, and with the sun out it was a very pleasant return.

I plugged up with white tack which seemed to do the job, but I have to admit some water did get in which is concerning me slightly today as my ear has begun to feel a little bit uncomfortable. Its doing the itchy, occasional sharp pain thing which is usually the prelude to an ear infection...lets hope I'm wrong.

Surf looks fun again today and I'm tempted to hop in tonight but maybe that's pushing it, will make the call a bit later.

In my other world, I've been busy preparing for the Brighton Paddle Round the Pier Festival this weekend. We'll have the Ollypop stand there with all the clothes and towels. Not sure there'll be too much call for the hoodies with this heat though but the forecast is in a favour with it cooling down at the weekend.

Got the all clear, time to hit the surf!

Except there's no surf ...yet (Monday?)!

Got the all clear from my ENT specialist Ms Grobellar (nice lady) who had a look in my lug hole, grumbled a bit about it not healing as well as it should have done but the main thing is she semi-reluctantly agreed to me going back in the water.

I'm under strict instructions to plug up as much as possible, not let a drop of water in and since I don't have moulded ear plugs yet I'll be opting for my trusty old friend Blu-Tack. Tried and tested time and time again, compared with all other temporary ear plugs, Blu-Tack just wins it every time! Some whizz kid working within the ranks of the famous poster adhesive ought to repackage it with an offering for all water sport enthusiasts - Ear-Tack?!

Blue-Tack, Blu-Tack, we love you, Blu-Tack.

Back in the water this week?

Well the ear seems pretty much back to normal and I'm due to see the ENT specialist on Wednesday who will hopefully give me the all clear to get back in the water again.

So I could be surfing again this week...but no, improbable. It seems huey isn't going to celebrate my return to the water with a nice swell. The Atlantic is full of highs and there doesn't seem much hope for any swell producing lows for a while. On the plus side, at least it will be sunny!

Stag do mayhem

"Olly has to go to the urinals and pee like a 2 year old, trousers round his ankles, no hands."

This was just one of the many tasks I had to carry out as stag over the weekend. We went to Wales, for a water sports weekend with Gower Kite Riders a great outfit run by my good mate Matt Smith. The water sports side of things was a bit limited for me me given that I wasn't allowed in the water with my ear still healing, but I did get a go on the Zap cat and even managed a paddle on the stand up paddle board without falling in.

But the main events were the Friday and Saturday nights out in Swansea, where I, as the stag was well and truly stitched up! Each of my 'mates' took it upon themselves to write down 2 forfeits each for me to pull from a bag every half hour or so. These ranged from asking a burly Welsh lad from the valleys if he liked 'sheep' or 'women' (resulted in a head lock for me) to dangling my extremities in a pint for 2 minutes (the pint incidentally was nabbed by one Welsh lass who delighted in her free pint leaving all in shocked silence!). Aside from my delightful forfeits I also ended up in a wheelie bin, had my boxer shorts wedgied over my head and hung on a banister, and found myself hurled into a bush that happened to be full of bricks!

Fortunately I survived and although somewhat bruised, managed to keep my dodgy ear dry which incidentally is now almost totally pain free and full hearing recovered. Two weeks to go until I can hit the surf again...

The show is over but I'm still hearing in mono!

Well that was a pretty hectic few days at the Cornwall Show but worth it with the Ollypop hoodies and towels proving popular. By day three all the team were pretty knackered but feeling nicely toned from the countless pop-up demos we had to give! I reckon I totalled around 200 pop-ups but aside from working well as a surf aid, the towels really do double up as a good surf exercise routine.

Anyway, the ear is now painless which is good but still the hearing is intermittent. It feels a bit like having water in my ear - every now and again it unblocks and for a few blissful moments I can hear in stereo before going back to mono again. When I do finally get full hearing back again I won't be taking if for granted that's for sure.

Oh, I did promise a photo of the packing which came out last Wednesday so here it is - not as spectacular as I'd hoped!

Was reasonably painless having it taken out but the ear did bleed a bit and I've had blood oozing out on the pillow at night.

Anyway, the good news is that I should be back in the water in 3 weeks time and it's flat at the moment so I'm not missing much.

Show time...

Well it's been a manic few days getting ready for the Cornwall show and then exhibiting over the last 2 days has been even more manic! Lots of great feedback and people generally very positive about the towels and our new clothes so all good. But lots still to do tonight and my manic-ness has meant slackness on the blog hence no update for a while.

Here's a few pics of the stand and helpful helper Jo Jo wearing her new Ollypop hoody

Still to come - a delightful picture of the packing taken out of my ear. Pretty weird sensation having that out and I've got to say my hearing is still pretty muffled with it out but hoping that will improve!??

Light at the end of the tunnel...

Had a great weekend. Saturday I felt almost normal again, ear still throbbing but at least the sea sickness had gone! Went down to the beach with the family which was a bit torturous with perfect 2-3 ft waves peeling in on the offshore breeze. Ended up having a few beers with friends in the sunshine so all was well.

Sunday was a bit hardcore with a small hangover, ear throbbing again and I had to look after my daughter plus my mate's 6 month old and 2 year old - all on my tod! At one point all three were screaming for half an hour and for once I was grateful for the 6 tampons worth of packing in my ear!

Anyway, on the Ollypop front I picked up the new clothes today which look great and things are slowly shaping up for the Cornwall show. Also confirmed that Sharps will provide us with free beer for the duration (Ollypop sponsorship deal - very important!) so come along to our stand (458) to sample some beer and check out the new gear.

Ear packing coming out on Wednesday, it's getting a bit smelly now... there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel.