A celebration

I’m once more waiting for the filling for a pie to cool down before I cover it with pastry. Today we’re having a ham pie, using up some leftover gammon. It’s a substantial meal but I was reassured yesterday when the Fox managed two courses for his birthday celebratory meal.

From that you will realise it was the Fox’s birthday yesterday. As the sun was shining, we decided to go out for a drive. We decided to explore some of the Lancashire Pennine area, heading towards the Beacon Fell Country Park. It’s a long time since we headed that way.

As we cut across country we were stunned by some of the countryside. The gorse shone out goldenly against the dark, still dead, heather & bracken of the Pennines. Then we would wend down a hill, through woodlands carpeted with English bluebells. I do so prefer them to the Spanish ones that abound in our gardens. The flowers are so much more delicate (unlike the bigger, rather plasticky Spanish ones) & the colour so more intensely purply blue.

By the time we got to the country park, the sun had been replaced with heavy cloud & we were thirsty so we headed to the village of Chipping instead. However, there we could find nowhere to park so continued on to Longridge where we found a very pleasant pub, the Towneley Arms. It was a very friendly place, clearly the sort of place locals of all ages come to meet & unwind. In the end we dined there.

The food was good honest food, simply done but very acceptable. We had the homemade mushroom soup, followed by fish & chips. The cod was in the lightest of batters, leaving the cod full of flavour, making the tartare sauce almost superfluous if it hadn’t been so good.

We headed home afterwards to open a bottle of wine. a Mâcon Villages, put on a couple of CDs, one of Ella & one of Dino, & settled down to a quiet chunter to complete the celebrations. It was a lovely day, we both enjoyed.

We’ve decided to do a bit more of exploring this county of ours. We haven’t had many days out of late & usually they’ve been to regular places or for a particular purpose e.g. the need for some plants from a garden centre. I’ve even got a couple of books out of the library to give us some ideas of new places to go.

Colour show

We were just sitting, watching the TV when the Fox suddenly sprang up from his seat. He opened the blinds. There was a beautiful sunset. The sky was a blaze of reds & purples.

Earlier in the day the Fox was surprised, & pleased, to receive in the post a birthday card from an old friend. It was hand-made. It was essentially a photo of a sunset across Morecambe Bay she’d taken herself & mounted. She lives high up on the prom so has regular fabulous light shows.

Only the other day we were talking to our cruising friends. They’re recently back from a Caribbean cruise. While there, they’d seen several sunsets. Fellow travellers marvelled at the sunsets. Our friends’ reaction was to say “If you think that’s good, you should see those in Morecambe”. I tend to agree. I even said as much to one lass enthusing over her photos of the sunsets on Lake Molveno in Italy.

As much as anything what sets off the scenery on Morecambe Bay are the Lakeland fells, rising on the other side from Morecambe. Morecambe is on the west coast, always a good start for seeing a sunset. The water reflects the colours of the sky, adding to their majesty. If the tide is out the wet sands give pockets of reflection adding yet more shape. Often there are shapely clouds adding to the magnificence.

It’s hard to beat Morecambe & its Bay for sunsets.

More colour

It is with great relief that I say that the Fox is getting back to normal. Yesterday, for the first time in over a month, I prepared something like the normal amount of potatoes. He managed nearly half of them. I feel that at last he’s starting to eat adult portions. I’ve parboiled a similar number for sautéing this evening. I’m confident the fish we’re having will not be too heavy for him. He’s at least stabilised as far as his weight is concerned & there’s more colour in his face.

Admittedly part of the colour in his face may have been a mixture of anger & frustration. Yesterday wasn’t a good day.

It started for me when I got a letter from the hospital with an appointment. Earlier this week I’d changed the time on-line as I was already at a different department seeing a different specialist at the original time. You can imagine my panic when I discovered the letter showed that first time again. I hastily checked the on-line time. Still the altered time. Then I realised the letter was dated Saturday. I didn’t change the time until Monday, when I’d got the original notification, so obviously they hadn’t realised I would be changing it.

Then we got a phone call from the dentist changing that appointment time. That didn’t particularly upset me as it is only for a check-up.

We then went along to the surgery for the Fox’s blood let to be told the appointment had been cancelled as the nurse had called in ill that day. They reckoned they’d texted us on our mobile phone. Our mobile phone is only switched on if we need it, once a month if that. I tried switching on the phone. No sign of any text. The Fox tried to rearrange the appointment. This bloodletting is supposed to be done before the Fox’s hospital trip for his abdominal scan next week so there was no choice of a different time. So now he has an inconvenient time at a surgery the other side of Morecambe which we have yet to locate.

We decided to see if we could find this surgery next. Could we find it? No, we turned down the back street we’d been told to. No sign. We turned round at the end of a cul-de-sac. Just as we were coming out of a tricky junction on the main road I glanced back & saw a sign concerning the surgery. We couldn’t be bothered to try again. (I’m thinking of taking the Satnav with us when we next go out in the car & see if the surgery is on its of local medical establishments.)

We went on to the golf club for a sit down & a calm down. The Fox was absolutely fuming by now. What do we find? There is a funeral party being held. As there was 130 guests all three rooms were full. Members weren’t allowed in.

We adjourned to Snatchems with our cruising friends who’d arrived at the golf club at the same time & felt as disgruntled as we were. What’s the point of paying for membership of a club if they’re going to put on dos like this so there is nowhere left for the members to socialise? We all let off steam at Snatchems, feeling pacified watching the swallows & herons on the estuary below.