I finally remembered I had some photos to upload! So here goes:
First, my yummy rustic shortbread biscuits
And here is something I "invented" the other day - had puff pastry in the freezer, so I thought I'd make some tomato tarts: I spread Dijon mustard on the pastry, layered tomatoes on it and sprinkled with a tiny bit of Swiss cheese. About 20 minutes in the oven and voilà:
They were dee-lish and I'll definitely be making them again.
Then, I took Claire's camera out with me and managed to not take any pictures until I was 2 doors from home again, where I took these outside some neighbours' houses....
Actually, I was going to crop these - I got so excited at uploading that I forgot, ha ha!!
I'd better get going. I am going to make a "rustic minestrone" for dinner. Cheap, cheerful and filling :)
I've always been known as the creative one, but after reading this article today I'm not so sure I should advertise that fact!
In other news, on Friday when Claire treated me to a manicure I then went with her to her place of work as she had to do something quickly. I sat in Costa with my low-cal frozen yoghurt and this young couple arrived with a teeny baby (crying his head off - I knew he was hungry right away). When Claire rejoined me I told her and she said she knew the mum, so we peeked our head round the door of the kitchen, where she'd been feeding him. He was totally adorable, and I found out his name was Alexander. We gave the dad our telephone number and email address and I'm really hoping they'll take us up on our offer of doing a photo shoot. I can't wait to start taking photos of newborns. In fact, if you know of anyone who is having/has had a baby and who would like free photos, please let me know in the comments section. Pass it on :)
Last but not least, yesterday was Elton John's concert at Vicarage Road. His only UK date this year, and it's round the corner from my house. Last time he did a concert here I sat in the garden in the sun and enjoyed it; this year, not only was it pouring with rain, it also happened to fall on Eurovision night. I ended up spending half the evening sitting in the bathroom listening to Elton, and half the evening downstairs making dinner and catching up with the Eurovision. By the end of the evening the verdict was in: the Elton concert won hands down! I nearly cried when he sang Your Song because a) it is a favourite of mine since about the age of 9, and b) I knew it was the last song of the evening. Sigh. (Chrissie - I hope you got my message. I thought of you because all the songs took me right back to those carefree teenage days. Yes, he did Tiny Dancer: blue jean baby, LA lady, seamstress to the band.... ).
Sigh. Enough reminiscing, time to check the tumble dryer then it's off to bed I go.
I know it's probably not the best thing to do when you are trying to lose 3lbs a week (!) but I decided I had to keep myself busy today so I have made some easy shortbread biscuits. I've taken a super "bokeh" picture with Claire's camera but I don't know where the cable is so I'll have to post it next time. They look rather, erm, rustic but they taste goooood. And yes, I have counted them in my daily "syns".
This morning, also trying to keep busy, I popped over to see my friend D at the community centre. There was a power cut in our neighbourhood but she'd managed to wangle some hot water from somewhere for the sacrosanct cup of tea. I passed, and when the power came back on I dropped in on my friend L at the hospital. She was just going over to the canteen for a coffee with some reps, so they took me along. It kept me out of mischief for half an hour!
D gave me a leaflet advertising a "good neighbour" scheme where volunteers offer their services for little jobs around the house and garden. I had told her my garden was a mess, and yesterday I got a quote for £250 to clear the lot, but I just don't have that kind of money at the moment. Instead, I've phoned up the volunteer place and they've put my name on their list. They also operate a skill exchange so I've said I can type and teach French... that way I can give something back to whoever comes and does my garden. Watch this space! It would be rather lovely to be able to have some more flowers in the garden, and grass that doesn't come up to my knees. Ahem.
Today I had a very interesting chat with the psychologist at the neuro-rehab place. She had planned to start doing the assessment tests for memory, concentration etc, but first she wanted to revisit my problems with fatigue. It was so reassuring to hear that what I'm going through is text book after brain trauma - I'm not imagining it, I'm not a wimp. She says I'm too hard on myself, and puts me in the category of "high achiever, perfectionist", which allegedly makes it even harder to come to terms with the fact that I simply can't do what I used to be able to do. She reassured me that this is TEMPORARY, which is a relief! I know I've always been extremely hard on myself, and now I compare myself to others who are worse off and think "come on girl, get on with it". I must remember, though, that this is not an either/or situation: it's not because I didn't end up with outward neurological problems (hemiplegia for example) that I'm completely ok. There is a long way to go yet, and in the same way that no one was able to tell us how my mum would be or how long it would take, no one can tell how long it will take me.
So there you have it: I have to be GENTLE on myself. I must stop thinking I can do two activities in one day (i.e. yesterday, the gym AND Slimming World), because if I continue to do so I'll have more and more days where I spend the morning in bed recovering, like I did this morning. And that's only going to push back my recovery.
I think the most frustrating aspect of this is that there seems to be no warning sign, no way of telling when you've done too much. One minute you are fine and coping, and the next you are felled like a tree.
Anyway, I don't want to turn this into a whiny blog, so here's a funny picture to cheer everyone up. Claire and me, Christmas 1991. She calls it her "chipmunk face"!
Aww!
And one of my favourite adverts. Have I posted this before? Excuse me if I have. It features one of the guys who was in Band of Brothers, and it's like a war movie, with all the pilots getting ready to go off on a raid. I love it, it's so tongue in cheek!
Hasn't it been stunning weather recently? I won't complain... but it was boiling out there today!! No time to get used to it either, as the forecast is for cooler weather from tomorrow.
Anyway, I must say I haven't been tempted to go anywhere but out in the garden, under the shade of the parasol, although I did take a little trek into town with Claire on Friday. We got the bus and had lunch at McDonalds - which I promptly regretted having as it really lay heavy on my stomach all afternoon. Oh, and Claire bought me a book by Philippa Gregory, The White Queen,
which I absolutely devoured. I can't wait for the sequel to come out, called The Red Queen. This latest series is about the War of the Roses and while I'm waiting I might just have to get out the Tudor series and re-read that!
This morning I had another visit from the occupational therapist, who asked if I'd remembered to do a timetable. Oops! This time Claire was there, so we've asked her to remind me to do it. I used to do all the food planning, shopping and cooking, but I really feel overwhelmed by all that at the moment. Claire and I will have to sit down and do it together, and we'll spread the cooking out amongst the three of us too. I've been discharged from the OT because I'm now getting follow-up from the neuro rehab place, so that's one less appointment to worry about.
Right - time for a quick shower then bedtime. And because it's so summery out there, I'll leave you with a photo that reminds me of my mum's place. Sigh.
I fear I have been neglecting my little blog this week, but no wonder, with the appointments I've had. I have to look at my diary to check what I've been doing but here goes:
On Monday I went up to London with Claire to see my rheumatologist at Guy's Hospital. It was the first time I had used public transport since the SAH, and we planned it with military precision. I knew that if I got a cab to the tube station, then I could sit on the train until Finchley Road, where the changeover to the Jubilee Line is on the same platform. Arriving at London Bridge we popped over the road (literally) to see my ex colleagues. It was so weird going back to the office I last saw in August... but everyone welcomed me with open arms. Only "the girls" (i.e. the other secretaries) knew what had happened to me so there was a lot of explaining and showing off the fast-fading scar. The best part of the visit was a trip to the kitchens to see my lovely, bonkers friend M and to get one of the chef's delicious home-made brownies. Shame she was on holiday though :( All too soon it was time to go over to the hospital, which is just the other side of London Bridge Station, so not far to go at all. I didn't have long to wait, either, as the clinic was running more or less to time. The consultant is a lovely guy, and, long story short, he has decided to put me back on my meds that had been stopped when I was in hospital. Hopefully this will help with the joint pain/stiffness. I thought I'd sleep well that night because it was a long day, but unfortunately I reverted to the restless sleep with dizziness of the early days.
On Tuesday I had yet another busy day. First I popped over to our local hospital to see the Dermatologist, who gave me a long list of ointments to put on my skin - most of them old-fashioned coal-tar-based ones. Yummy - not! Then I had a quick lunch before being picked up by NHS transport to go to the neuro-rehab place. I had my first meeting with the neuropsychologist, who was at pains to point out that people who see psychologists aren't bonkers. Hmm, some may beg to differ in my case! She did an initial assessment, told me it was "early days yet", and said I'd have 6 to 8 sessions to work on my little cognitive issues (concentration, memory etc). She has also signed me up for some physio so that I can be shown how to build up my exercise/stamina slowly. Oh, and she said that the better one looks from the outside, the harder it can be to come to terms with the limitations that result from the SAH, and I can certainly see what she is saying. I'm sure people think "oh she's back to normal now", when it certainly doesn't feel that way inside.
A case in point: yesterday I had to go back to bed after breakfast because my brain was literally buzzing and I was desperate for more sleep and PEACE and QUIET. I slept in till I got a phone call at 11.30, and after that I took it gently.
So that brings me to today :) I really must go and write out a timetable for my weeks so that I can spread out my exercise and don't over-exert myself. Byeeee!
W spent all day yesterday clearing out the shed (well, the Anderson shelter that serves as a shed!), and brought out all these photos and letters and things that I'd dumped in there when we moved here. There were loads of things that I didn't even remember hoarding, but I was especially pleased to find my letters from various boys from my past lol! I must point out that I didn't actually have romantic relationships with any of these boys as I was much too shy, but I was a great penpal....
Anyway, the year we were in Terminale doing our Baccalauréat was the year we went on a school trip to Mainz for the "Karneval". We stayed in a youth hostel and met these guys who spoke English: Kevin was American, and Ricardo & Rainer were from El Salvador but were also half Swiss (or something). I was delighted to meet people who spoke several languages like myself and thought they were WAAAAY more mature than the guys I went to school with. We hung out; they came to our "disco", and we went to see the Karneval with them. On the last day we went with them to the train station and someone took this picture:
From L - R: Rainer, me, Chrissie, Ricardo
We exchanged addresses and wrote back and forth, and then at Easter we went to stay with them in Fribourg, Switzerland. While there, we did a spot of sightseeing and someone took this picture of us in Bern:
From L - R: Kevin, Chrissie, me, Rainer.
I had a massive crush on Rainer but it was Kevin who was the most faithful penpal and I have loads of his letters still.
Anyway, I thought Chrissie might enjoy the trip down memory lane, so there you are!
