Home again

Readers of the Fox's blog will already realise we're safely home. In many ways it was a successful trip. It was lovely to see some of my family again, especially my cousins. 

We had a wonderful meal at Slater's. All four people who had it would recommend the steak & kidney pie as one of the best ever tasted. I had the sea bass so can't swear to the quality of the pie but the portions were certainly enormous, with loads of big chunks of steak & kidney. 

Equally the buffet laid out by my cousin Trudy & family at the evening golden wedding anniversary party was wonderful. The table was weighed down with different meats & salads, most homemade & delicious. As were the desserts. I tried the fabulous strawberry gateau that one guest had made specially for the occasion. He reckoned he was only invited to supply the gateau. It was certainly delicious, light & airy & full of strawberry flavour. It was good, too, to pop round for tea with my cousin Ann & her husband, to see their new home & meet once more their thoroughly lovable dog, Ben.

On the downside, the Fox is now feeling the backlash of the trip. Yesterday we went along to the Pub. It was noticeable he was limping once more. As the afternoon went on he was once more either cradling his left hand or flexing it. He had found the 2 hour car journey hard going, not so much for the driving as for the being confined sat in the same position for so long at a time. Hopefully all this will pass as he has time to take it easier again. I would be worried if he seemed very tense, as though his blood pressure was soaring, but he seems reasonably calm about things so I suspect it will pass of its own accord. He also discovered how much his hearing has deteriorated as he couldn't hear what shop assistants said in relatively quiet shops. He's off to the hospital later this week for his hearing. Maybe he has progressed to the stage when a hearing aid is desirable. We'll soon find out. 


Our conclusion is that holidays are out for the time being. Maybe as the autumn arrives we'll try a few long days out, or another weekend away, not too far away, just to see if he's doing any better. For now it is clearly demanding rather more than he feels he can cope with.