Everyone Wants To Eat.......

 
....... except me! 

I started this week collecting in the menu choices for the Christmas meal of my ex-work team, I'm gathering them together on the 9th.  The Maybush Inn has a really good two or three course festive menu. The medication I'm on has severely disrupted my appetite and thankfully when I sent in the list I asked if I could have just one course and to make it a small portion and they were happy to do that. 

Monday we had our usual coffee morning and this week NeighbourA has a birthday so he brought in a large birthday cake and asked me to cut it and share it out. I cut myself a really thin slice and ate a small nibble to join the celebration but then removed the rest for later, which actually Hubby got to eat. After all the neighbours left my friendM picked me up and we drove round to The Belstead Brook Hotel for us to finally have our lunch together as my treat left from her late September birthday promise (better late than never eh?). I just had a small smoked salmon salad starter and left a lot of the greenery. I enjoyed it but then couldn't eat anything else for the rest of the day. 

This restaurant is also where we are having a Christmas lunch for the coffee morning neighbours on the 8th and neighboursT&S are organising it and they have been to great lengths to meet staff and ensure I can have a suitable menu choice even if it's not on the two or three course options. I really appreciate the effort they are making for my benefit but I don't enjoy the public fuss.

Wednesday night our usual group of six and this week we ate at The Dooley Inn, Felixstowe. Really good pub grub and they actually do a small plate menu as well as saying anything on their specials board can be a small plate portion too. I had lasagne and their small plate was still twice the size of what I could eat and Hubby helped with some of what I left. 

You may remember a couple of weeks ago we cancelled a meal with friends at the last minute because I was having a migraine well they have sent a few dates to try again and the only one we could do was this Friday. The Fox and Raven one of the Vintage Inns. Always lovely to catch up with friendsL&K. 

And I'm sure you'll be pleased to see something not food related at all. 

Our first Christmas card arrived, from my lovely friendAC. She always sends her own hand made cards and this year it's lino print.

I'll say cheerio for now as Hubby needs me to finish the list of food needed for the weekend so he can nip to the shop! 

Oh and happy thanksgiving to anyone that celebrated.

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Domestic Stuff.......

 
Hubby took this woodpecker photo from the kitchen window, amazed it didn't blurr more being so far away! 

This is also feeding time. We finally found a date most of us could do to celebrate Son's early October birthday. The Chinese takeaway had just arrived hence the concentration on their faces. 

Sunday morning the washing machine decided to have a little problem and refused to finish the cycle. Hubby forced it to spin out and all looked clean enough to hang upstairs. Monday afternoon he ran it again and it did the same again!

It's often much cheaper to buy a new machine than to have them repaired and this one was about 15 years old. Not our preferred ethics but being sensible. Hubby went onto the Curry's Website and ordered one. 

Wednesday we nipped out for a quick gift shop mooch, just popping into Halfords and The Range briefly. We came home with a Faraday box for our keys and Hubby bought me an electric overblanket/throw as I'm always cold sitting in the lounge. 

I decided the creamy white one looked so luxurious. WHAT WAS I THINKING? It felt cosy and so soft but as I'm sitting there I'm thinking how I  eat off my lap and wondering what it will look like after Doggy Day Care days! 

So we very carefully folded it back into it's original packaging and Hubby returned it, swapping it for a far more suitable sage green. 

Well done hubby. 

We are not making much progress with the Christmas gift shopping list though! 

Friday afternoon the new washing machine was delivered and they removed the old one for us (for a fee). Hubby did the installation and put it on for its first test wash. 

Predictably it had some noisy balance issues which he'll no doubt sort easily (cos he always does).

Have a good weekend and stay warm.

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Saving My Energy........

 
Thankfully when the sparrowhawk arrived all the little finches flew off in time. 

We also had a woodpecker visit twice this week, but it flew off before either of us could get a photo. 

O has planned to host friends for a dinner party later today which has clashed with other members of their household so Daughter has arranged for us to have the dog all day Saturday. She also came over Thursday to borrow a fold up table and a couple more chairs plus a ceramic dish for O to make his dessert in. They popped in Friday evening too for some extra cutlery. Love how he takes on these challenges. 

Another phone call from the GP this week who still needs me to monitor my BP for another week. I also asked for help with feeling sick/acid reflux a lot of the time which is making eating so difficult. She has made some more adjustments. These cancer pills have so many side effects that are random and totally unpredictable, it's a constant balancing act. 

Hard to make anything else sound interesting or fun as I'm doing hardly anything. It's turning so much colder this weekend and wetter. Seems more sensible to stay inside and get the Christmas cards written. Sorry if it's boring but I quite like it quiet. 

Enjoy your weekend.

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Stay Cosy........

 
A photograph is never as golden as the tree looks in real life and yes it's been windy so these leaves may not stay on the tree for much longer. 

Two visitors on Tuesday, first was a pheasant early morning just came for a stroll up the drive and stood on next door's fence enjoying the view for ages. We don't remember ever seeing a pheasant up here before. 

Daughter and dog came after lunch. There had been a very brief request the day before for dog sitting then almost straight after making the arrangement another message to say her rehearsal had been cancelled, so she stayed home in the morning doing her own music practice (not enough apparently) and we put the kettle on afterwards.

Only just into November and I've managed to make a a start with the Christmas cards, then hopefully I can go as slow as I like. I'm sending less this year, although probably not too many less but definitely leaving out the annual report from now on, not really my place to report on my adult family any more is it?

What I will very gladly report on is the call I got from Oncology  to tell me last week's CT Scan was really good with no new disease or growth yaaaaaay!!! Such a relief. 

And the rest of the time is mostly staying in and under a blanket and enjoying the final episodes of Bake Off and Traitors and Strictly etc. Easy life eh? 

Enjoy your week whatever you do.

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Sorry........

 
Apologies this is not a fun read as I've had a week of feeling unwell or involved in medical stuff but that's how things go sometimes. Last weekend was almost constant migraine headaches which I blamed on the GP adjusting my blood pressure pills, unfortunately Son and fiancé called in on Saturday and left here quite worried about me, which I hated.  thankfully the migraines eased up and the flashing lights stopped but there was still a horrid pain in my head that's when I wondered if it could be toothache. I have an unreasonable dread of the dentist so it took everything I had to make that call on Tuesday but they didn't have any emergency appointments free so I'll try again Wednesday morning at 8:30am with no hesitation. 

Monday morning I had an appointment with the Oncology consultant for 9:45am telephone call,  however he didn't ring until midafternoon, annoying just waiting! 

I know it sounds crazy but Wednesday morning I didn't ring the dentist as I'd had no headaches migraines toothache or whatever the pain was, it had completely vanished, not a twinge since early afternoon Tuesday! 

Tuesday morning was my monthly blood test, thankfully they managed to get the blood out successfully even though the new online system proved tricky. 

Hubby was also dealing with a mouth problem, the dentist told him it was a nasty infection and he is now using a strong mouthwash every couple of hours which seems to be working. Neither of us have any enthusiasm for meals at the moment. Hubby did make a yummy rice pudding though. 

Wednesday I had a CT Scan, the appointment starts with a clinician inserting a cannula as they need to use a contrast dye, however after three members of staff didn't manage it I then told them to stop trying and asked the radiographer to scan without the dye. Keeping everything crossed they got a clear enough image. 

Nothing medical on Thursday yaay, it was a dog sitting day. A very calming dog. 

A really nice thing to report on is the fact that last week I told you we cancelled a dinner date because I wasn't well enough, well friendLW has checked on me every day since and she also told friendLL who has also been checking on me, so caring.

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