A sobering thought.

I went with an ex work colleague to visit another guy we both know, who had a life changing medical event, years ago. We do try and visit him when we can, which is not often enough, but is probably more often than others, not being critical of them of course. We usually share news and have a cup of tea, sometimes helping him with problems with his IT hardware. What is amazing, is his CD collection, his walls are covered in bespoke carpentry safely holding those plastic cases in perfect order. Such collections might seem odd in this streaming world, but it’s interesting to just dive in and see what you find. He has music from genres left, right, up and down the spectrum. I don’t think I would know a musician that he would not have heard of. He has introduced me to many artists, broadened my musical interests. When I was first hobbling around, in Greece, struggling away, I thought of our friend, and that I will get better if I work at it, he sadly has reached the end of his recovery road. 

One thing I have had to do is try and rediscover the level of fitness that I had before that strange flu bug hit me last week. My first walk into the village, that I did when I started feeling better, I felt like I did when I first did that walk. A few days on, I am finding my strength returning. My ankle had started seizing up, and it’s taking an extra effort to get that moving again. I did not get to the physio last week either. On the cake front, I made an iced Apricot fruit loaf, which has Glace Cherries, Sultanas and Dried Apricots. It was very nice.


I took a slice over to my neighbours who have the Ukrainian family, interestingly the lady over there said this loaf was her favourite cake of mine so far. I agree, the Christmas cake is a close second. I have yet another Dog Gig, following on from the one at the top of the road. This time a pair of French Bulldogs, who live near the Cosy Nook. Their owner knows the South African couple ( who live next door to the CN) who also have a Frenchie, who I looked after when he was a puppy. So the owner of the pair is on her travels and I will be looking after them for her. On Thursday this week all of the owners are going to a funeral in Cambridge and I will be looking after all three of these dogs ( who get on really well) while they are away for the day. 

I haven’t made a lot of progress on the jigsaw puzzle my lodger bought me for Christmas, to be fair, I am quite busy, doing various other things. It is proving quite difficult, and I am struggling.  a bit to  get an area that I can build around. I have got my latest prescription of dressings, this time they are a different design that I thought was going to be difficult to use, but once on, they tend to stay put much better than the originals. The next time I replace them, will be the last time, I hope, then it will be a much simpler process, instead of cutting slits in the dressings and fitting them around the pins.

Tomorrow I go in for my pre operation. Then after then I have this body wash fluid, I am meant to be cleaning myself with, until I go in a week tomorrow for the removal process. I have to get there at seven thirty, I imagine I will be there all day. iPad, charger and earphones needed to avoid boredom! 


The local Horticultural society of which I am a committee member has announced the classes for entries for the three shows it will hold in 2024. Some of these classes are crafts, cooking and of course plants, flowers and vegetables. I think for the Summer Show they are inviting people to make a Beetroot and Chocolate cake to the provided recipe. I ended up with a strange result, again I think my position of the cake in the oven and maybe the oven was a bit too hot again, might have caused this. I have plenty of time to perfect my rendition of the cake, before the Show happens. I will try with a  reduced temperature on my next bake. It tastes like a Brownie, very rich, and goey. 

At the weekend one of my Sifnos friends is coming over here for two weeks, and the cage removal just so happens to be occurring then, it’s was so unexpected! Their brother who I know well will also be popping by as well for a few days. We have booked us in with a friend who lives on our road, to the Orangey for pre dinner Cocktails, then a Thai meal at the new Thai Butterfly restaurant in the village. Not really new anymore, but it will be our first visit there. Normality returns slowly, for me at least. Spare a thought for those who have medical dramas who don’t fully recover. 




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