A Day of Memories

Yesterday turned into a day of memories.

It began before I even got up, as I listened to “Open Country” on BBC Radio 4. The programme was talking about surfing in this country. It started with a couple of questions. Where can the best breakers be found around British shores? Where did surfing begin in this country? Most people immediately think Cornwall. Certainly that is the best known place for surfing in this country. But no, it’s elsewhere. I found my thoughts going around the coasts of Britain, through various holiday memories. I instantly landed on Scarborough. The answer was Cayton Bay just south of Scarborough. It started in 1890 when a Hawaiiian prince & princess first went surfing there.

I must have been about 5-6 when we holidayed in Scarborough. One of the few memories I have from that holiday was going in the sea with my mother & brother. We children didn’t swim, more paddled. However, I was so small then I had to jump over the waves as they came in.

My other memory of that holiday was that in the hotel they had one of those machines you put money in, then manipulate a little crane to get out a prize. I don’t think I ever won anything. My brother did once – a small bottle of hair oil, something which at just a couple of years older than me, he saw no use for. Happy days.

Once up, I set about preparing dinner – poulet sauté à la Basquaise. As I cooked, and later as we ate, we were transported to a holiday we spent in Basque country. On that holiday we arrived first, then some friends joined us for the rest of the time. For the meal to welcome our friends we bought a good portion of ready-made, still bubbling Basque chicken from the local supermarket. It was delicious.

The Fox asked me what was so distinctive about Basque chicken from any other from any other chicken dish. I instantly commented it was the number of capsicum peppers & tomatoes. For our portion for two I’d used 5 tomatoes & 2 red peppers just for the two of us. And then there’s the other extras the cayenne. We remembered the houses bedecked with spicy peppers drying in the hot summer sun. The spiciness of so much of the local food we had there, so unlike the timidity towards spice so often shown in the rest of France. This particular recipe called for a 100g piece of the local Bayonne ham. As this is impossible to find around here I had opted for Parma ham as the nearest thing we could find. Both are raw air-dried hams. Whole hams hung from so many food shop ceilings around there. The smell enticing you in. I did manage to find a place here in the north of England that would cut the ham as a single slice rather than the usual wafer thin ones most people ask for. The chicken was delicious as were the memories.

(I wonder whether that holiday is also partly on my mind as it was our first holiday after may last bout of cancer in 2001.)

Surviving

So far we’re surviving. The first day was very tiring but at least we now had the timetable & could do something to organise our lives around it.

We seem to be going down to Preston at all hours from 8.45am until 5pm. We’ve managed to re-arrange for Linda, our home help, to come at more convenient times to fit in with the schedule. The Fox has managed to fit in his massages. I’m due to start my Indian head massages next week & again we’ve managed to fit it in around the hospital times.

Having said that we were put out today. My appointment was for 10.45am. We got there to be greeted with “Oh! Your appointments for 4.45pm. It’s been rearranged. Didn’t they tell you?” No they hadn’t. We finally managed to be fitted in at about 11.30am. So much for their timetables!

We’ve already driven more miles this week than we usually do in a month. The trip to Preston is nearer 30 miles each way. We’re telling ourselves it will do the car good to have a few good runs.

Yesterday the Fox went for his massage after my hospital trip. While he was having his treatment, I was delighted to look out of the window to see 3-4 jays flying around the wood outside. We don’t often see these birds around here. However, their bright blue flashes on their wings are unmistakeable. I’ve never noticed before how white their rumps are. I was particularly impressed as our calendar for January 2017 features a jay.

The Fox is in charge of the cooking at the moment. I will do my bit at the weekend, although today I did manage to peel some spuds for dinner. We’re having simple, easy to prepare meals at the moment. So today is breakfast-for-dinner with sausages, bacon, black pudding, baked beans & chips. My contribution will be the egg frying. Tomorrow will be something we slow-cooked months ago & froze. That will just need a quick warm up. At the moment the main thing is that we have something to keep us going that doesn’t involve too much effort when we’re both getting very tired. Next week I suspect we might have some meals out as a change. We’re taking each day as it comes & deciding what to do according to how we feel.

The wait comes to an end

I’ve got a ratatouille softening down. I’m either going to use it to stuff an omelette or put some lightly poached eggs on top. I’ve not quite decided which yet.

I’m doing a few things now while I still can. This used up quite a few fresh veg as well as some fresh picked tarragon. The latter never lasts long, no matter how good it looks on the supermarket shelf.

Later on we’re hoping to meet up with friends at the golf club. It might be the last opportunity for a while.

The Fox is going to do a slow cook through the night tonight. That will make for something quick & easy to warm up tomorrow, after our hospital trip.

Then, come Tuesday, the radiotherapy treatment begins. From then on it will be trips to Preston every weekday for the next 15 days. I’m not sure at this point what time we will be going, nor how I will react. I gather it is likely to be tiring. (I could have told them that just from the amount of travelling - about 25 miles each way - & what’s more tiring for both us.) On top of that there’s the possible cumulative effect of the radiation itself. 

With this in mind, I feel I ought to warn you I might not be on-line for a while. I can see life is going to be busy with recovering from treatment & fitting in essential chores. I will try to write again when I feel up to it. Who knows that may be Wednesday!