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.

Curiosity killed the cat...

Constantine surf report: "An offshore breath is blowing gently over those sunkissed wave tops this morning, helping to groom the three feet or so of swell into corduroy lines of reeling glass. Yep, it's a beauty one this morning, with a cloudless sky, the lightest easterly breeze and a steady three foot or so swell steadily rolling onto the recently re-modelled and re-shaped beaches."

Yep, I've done it again and looked up the surf report. It's sunny, offshore and I'm pretty sure I know of a fun sand bank that's less than 2 miles from here doing its thing! Surfer's ear sucks!!

Same again yesterday, throbbing ear with constant weird noise - oddly enough I can hear my pulse when all goes quiet. Slight improvement today and off to have my stitches out later.

Panicking slightly with last minute preparations for the Cornwall show next week. The Ollypop stand is not yet made, clothes not ready and we're not sure if we'll have enough staff for the 3 days! Joy.

Anyway, I'm off to do some more work. It's not sunny out there and the surf is rubbish.

7 days 'till the packing comes out...

Groundhog day again. Struggled to sleep and woke up with pain killers having worn off feeling like someone has sand papered my ear canal overnight! Still got the 'just stepped off a ferry' feeling so keeping dizzy spin outs to a minimum today by staying horizontal.

As the third time that surfing has put me on the operating table I've got to say that this takes the biscuit as the worst. The first time was when I had to have my sinuses drilled out following a blockage. Admittedly the pain up to the operation was quite intense and kept me out of the water as the sinus pressure from duck diving was like an axe in the forehead. But I remember that almost immediately after the op, the relief far outweighed the pain.

The second time under the knife was as a result of snapping my cruciate ligament in my knee. Out surfing at Trebarwith, I took off on a close-out, tried to pull out by smacking the lip on the way but came off worse. With my knee unnaturally bending backwards, I managed to hobble out of the surf to my car where upon my knee now resembled that of an elephant! I drove home, burnt my clutch out in the process unable to change gear properly, and ended up at A & E. Little did I know that I would be out of the water for 18 months. I ended up having key hole surgery with a slither of my hamstring being grafted into my knee to replace my cruciate ligament. Although painful immediately after the op, the pain was still nothing in comparison to what's going on in my lug hole right now.

So anyway, it's 7 days until the packing comes out of my ear which I'm very much looking forward to. It's getting quite itchy now and will be nice to hear in stereo again.

I caught a glimpse of the weather map on the news today. By the look of that decent low pressure system and high sorting itself out by the end of the week, there will be some happy surfers about with a decent swell and sunshine to boot.
Go forth and enjoy, just make sure you wear ear plugs!

Day 4 - Looking forward to stereo sound...

Yet another rubbish night's sleep and no real change today. Ear still throbbing, hearing in mono getting tedious and the world still spinning nicely. Had several spin outs yesterday and it seems I'm going to have to wait a while before I stop feeling like I've just stepped off a ferry.

Had some friends over last night and chanced a couple of Stellas which weirdly enough made me feel more balanced! Looking forward to my new found medicine tonight.

8 days left until I have the packing taken out of my ear, can't wait, it's going to be nice to hear in stereo again. Got my stag do a week after that which is gonna be tricky given the fact that we're doing a pub crawl in the Mumbles on stand up paddle boards! Rumours abound that my caring mates will protect my ear by cling filming my head - something to look forward to.

Managed to get some work done in between the bouts of apparent seasickness. Lots to do for the Cornwall show next week as we'll have the Ollypop stand there for the first time. New 'Kipper's Knickers' gear arriving by the end of the week hopefully.

Anyway, got another wave of dizziness coming on so I'll leave you with a nice shot of my throbbing lug hole taken on my phone this morning....

Day 3 post drill - what's that oozing from my ear?!

Rubbish night's sleep, unable to sleep on my bad ear side, I'm having to adjust to sleeping on my left side which isn't my natural side so insomnia set in nicely last night! Nice and quiet when I'm lying down though, can't hear a thing apart from the low level ringing which is fast becoming my companion when all goes quiet.

I did finally get to sleep and woke up with aching sinus pain as well as the good old throbbing ear. My wife changed the dressing and was a little alarmed with the amount of blood and pussy looking liquid on the cotton wool. A quick call to the hospital confirmed that the puss was more likely to be the cream they stuffed in my ear with the dressing so hopefully it's not infected. They also said that with so much packing in the ear, sinuses are likely to be affected too - hence the sinus pain. Will try to take it easy today as I'm still a bit giddy on the feet with my balance seemingly affected too.

Anyway, out in the real world it seems I'm missing some decent sessions in the surf. It's about 3-4 ft today and by all accounts was pumping last night - note to self - stop checking the surf sites, especially Surfhog!

Also, the kind folk at surfplugs are going to sort me out with some decent moulded plugs when it's time to finally get back in the water. They look the mutts nuts (or should I say 'Kipper's Knickers'!) and they've got some pretty funky graphics too.






Pic left - Pretty sure my daughter is extracting the Micheal!