Hitting the Right Note

We've got a new car! Hooray!
It wasn't meant to be here for another three weeks or so, but the boys in Sunderland must have been working overtime.
And it hasn't come a moment too soon. The old one's needed to be jump started twice in the last three days just because the ignition was left on for 20 minutes or so. That's not the main reason we've changed it though - the 75000 miles on the clock after only three years were also a major factor.


So, after lunch at Livingston with Karlynn and Jim, I picked up Liesl at 4 o'clock and off we went to Bilston to pick up our brand new, cafe latte (beige), Nissan Note with optional extra Nissan Connect.
This is the best bit. It gives you sat-nav, iPod dock, all your music goes on a storage stick and best of all, a bluetooth phone connection. It's great. Oh aye - and the boot's quite quirky too.

We test it out by taking it on a run to Peebles and celebrate with fish and chips beside the river. It's a braw night and a braw run in a braw car. We're sorted!

Chemo 6 - They Think It's All Over?

Here we go then - Chemo 6, the final chapter.
Way back whenever, the 15 weeks or 18 weeks that it was going to take to get the end seemed a lifetime away. And here we are, in just the blink of an eye. It's a bit scary that a real, proper illness can get treated so quickly. I think I expected that treatment would last for months and months and I know that's still a possibility but this could be it. How cool is that?
If it really is the end, I'll probably look back and think that I got off pretty lightly with no major side effects apart from my baldie heid - and I quite like that!

And so, we just go home, feeling a bit deflated if truth be told. It kinda feels as if we're on our own now but of course that's not true. As well as the hospital backup, there's no forgetting the might that it Team Craig.
We'll be ok - chemo or no chemo.

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The Wensleydale Heifer

We're back from our break and it was great - just what the doctor ordered but unfortunately, he wasn't paying.

We stayed at The Wensleydale Heifer - a pub with rooms in the village of West Witton in Wensleydale (obviously). We were in the Four Poster room and it was quite nice ( a wee bit dark) but the highlight of staying here is definitely the food - especially the seafood.

Each night, there's three different menus to look at - A la carte, daily specials and the lobster specials. How can you go wrong?

It's quite unusual for us to be having dinner in the place that we're staying - we usually just go bed & breakfast then drive around (sometimes for hours) in the evening to find somewhere to eat. This is better because it means we can get parked up at 6 o'clock or so and then have a wee snifter in the bar before dinner. Much more relaxing.

Apart from the pub, we spent our time driving round wee villages and stopping off at craft shops and galleries. Tom-Tom, the sat-nav man took us off the beaten track a bit so some the highlights were:

- the villages of Stanhope, Grassington and of course, Middleham (we had a nose around Patrick Haslam's stableyard)

- The Ribblesdale viaduct

- Lunch in a pub while a wake was going on (surreal but true)

- Brymor Farm Ice Cream Parlour

- Tennant's Auction Rooms - There was to be sale the next day so it was good fun looking around the hundreds of lots - some apparently junk, others not. This saleroom regularly features on Bargain Hunt and Flog it! and we even saw Rodney Tennant.

The whole trip was great (apart from the weather on the way home) and has been a welcome diversion from hospitals and chemotherapy.

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Yellow Peril and Daftness

Cancer's no longer the top health story in the news.

Swine flu is the thing that's on everybody's lips - especially if they've just come in from Mexico!

Joking apart - I need to take note of this sort of thing because it's still important to keep infection free and if there's going to be an epidemic (or will it be a pandemic - what's the difference?). . . . . . it's time to be vigilant.

The flu isn't even making the top headlines at the moment. That honour's going to the MP expenses scandal. This has to be the first time there's been a story in the Sunday Telegraph that's worth reading. And how stupid are they? The MPs, I mean. You have to wonder sometimes.

Back in the real world, the real world's looking no' too bad at the moment. This is one of the best times of year for East Lothian. The daffodils and oil-seed rape make a golden patchwork across the towns and countryside. It's spectacular and it's a good time to be off work to see it.

And there's something else to look forward to

- we're off for a wee break to Yorkshire tomorrow. Hooray!

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Chemo 5 - Nearly There

It's all very much routine.
I know the staff in Area 4 and most of the 'customers' are weel kent faces now. Even the time is coming down - about three and half hours today. That's as good as it gets.
I'm even confident that nothing major is going to happen to me after the dosage that we don't have to rush straight home anymore. We can stop off at M & S. What a treat!

The days after chemo are also pretty standard. I feel lousy for a few days (it used to be 2-3 days but now it's more like 5-6) and then I pick up and I'm generally fine for the next two weeks.
Ulcerative Colitis is also under control, thanks to the chemo. A plan is still to be devised as to what the future treatment will be once chemo has stopped. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Last night's tea was a triumph - Arbroath Smokie Risotto. Except I couldn't get Arbroath Smokies so made do with smoked haddock instead. It was still good though.
Cheffy Tip of the Day:
Have the risotto with a good crisp, chilled bottle of Sancerre or Chablis.
Then, if the risotto turns out to be rubbish, all is not lost. You've still got a great bottle of wine!

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This Sporting Life

The rugby season's over and it hasn't been great.
PL finished bottom of the league and were dumped out of the Bowl yesterday by Edinburgh University.
Scotland finished fifth in the Six Nations table but Ireland won the Grand Slam which was quite good.
There's still the Lions tour to South Africa to look forward to - maybe they'll fare better.

So, onwards and upwards - we're thinking about getting a new car. I'll need it for the far away trips to Thurso and Inverness next season!

Also - as well as the Lions Tour, there's Twenty20 cricket, Royal Ascot, the Ashes, Wimbledon (will Andy do it?) and The Open all to look forward to this Summer.
I wonder when I'll go back to work? Sounds like I'll be too busy to work!

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Art for Art's Sake

Today I felt fine and we decided to have half a day in Edinburgh.

We went to the National Gallery of Scotland to see the 'Turner in Italy' exhibition. It was really good - he could paint a bit you know.
This one's 'Rome from the Vatican'.
The whole place is good - especially the coffee shop - and worth a visit.

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