The Body Beautiful

I’m once more waiting. This time it is for the pie filling to cool before I put it in the pastry casing. Today we’re having another Chicken & Vegetable Pie. We have a soft spot for them, especially when they’re homemade.

While I’ve been sorting out the filling & the potato peeling for the accompanying mash, I’ve had the radio on. “Start the Week: The Body Beautiful” was on. It discussed various subjects within that title.

One was the importance of Nicholas Hilliard, the famous miniaturist of the reign of Elizabeth I. I first came across him when I was doing some research on the Lady Anne Clifford, an extraordinary lady who, when not at court, lived much of her life in her various castles in Cumbria & Yorkshire. Hilliard painted a fabulous portrait of Lady Anne’s father, George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, at that time the Queen’s Champion in jousts. Looking at Hilliard’s portrait I’m particularly struck by the delicacy of the lace ruffs, the fine features of the faces. The amount of detail on such tiny paintings is amazing. What I hadn’t realised was that Hilliard was the first English artist to receive international acclaim.

Another aspect of the “Body Beautiful” is being shown in an art exhibition (in London, of course) based on the nude. One thing it raised was just how shocking the nude painting was. In the age of the Renaissance, where so many nudes appeared, it was regarded as sinful even for spouses to see each other naked, & yet this is the period of Michelangelo with his David & his Sistine Chapel with all its bare figures.

All in all it was an interesting programme that has left me with many thoughts running through my head.

A bit of hope

A mild few days is encouraging the garden to have a spurt of activity. The parsley is showing new green. The chives are shooting up. The mint is reappearing. In the pots by the garage the daffodils are in bud. (In some parts of Morecambe they are in flower, but we’re always behind.)

Today is yet another bright dry day. It feels positively spring-like. I have to keep reminding myself it’s still only February. More bad weather is probably yet to come.

At last the green bins have been emptied. For a while I’ve been feeling an urge to trim around the lawns but the bins have been so full there’s been nowhere to put the cuttings. The Fox is even contemplating a bit of a mow. The grass seems to have continued to grow most of the winter & is now quite long. Again I have to tell myself this is still far too early to really believe we’ve seen the end of the bad winter weather.

But the brightness of the blue skies does encourage me to feel some hope of better things to come, & lift my spirits. They have been a bit low as I’ve not been sleeping well. My knees seem to have been particularly uncomfortable. When I take my braces off in the evening, they’re bursting into flame, as good as any radiators. My bad sleep is due to the fact I’m in such pain. I’ve not been doing much more than usual. That makes me think that the problem is that my knee braces are no longer up to the job. If I don’t get a new appointment soon I’ll be chasing up that one. And in future, whether I need them or not, I will be applying annually for new ones. This re-referral seems to have meant at least a 6 month delay before getting new ones instead of the usual couple of weeks.

Into Lancaster

We’re back from the hospital.

It’s as well we set off early. When we got to Ryelands Park the traffic ground to a halt. It was too early for the carpet of crocuses & snowdrops to have opened out.

Slowly we crossed Skerton Bridge. When the traffic lights showed red we inched forward, green & we stood still.

Eventually we were on the other side of the River Lune. Now you could see the cause of the delay – roadworks due to improvements on the electricity infrastructure.  Great!

On we inched. Now the delay was caused by the number of pelican crossings.  People hurried to school or to work. As one person crossed, the next was pressing the button to cross the moment the lights changed to red.

It was a relief to get to the other side of Lancaster when the traffic thinned out. We finally arrived at 8.55am, having set off on the 5 mile trip at about 8.20.

The clinic was already underway. I settled down to my book while I waited. I managed to read one sentence when I was shown in.

I was thanked again for doing my bit last year to encourage people to turn up for their mammograms. An examination showed all seemed well - no signs of lumps or unusual swellings. After my next lot of chemo next month nothing more will be done beyond a few more annual mammograms. One of those is already being arranged for October. There’s no need to see the surgeon again or for me to have any medication.

All of that is good news. Hopefully this bout of cancer will soon be well & truly behind me. That will be worth celebrating.