Right, I’ve decided that as this year is a complete right off, the world’s still spinning of course but things are just too weird, so now I won’t be counting my birthday back in May on to my years old.
Next May, assuming, we’re back to the old normal I shall be turning 47…again.
The hotel we were meant to be staying at for a couple of nights back in May, for my birthday, still hasn’t reopened, with no date in sight, but they have said some time in the Autumn. So we might get to go some time this year at least.
People here might have thought things were all ok again because the government decided to open some things back up, but that is leading to people letting their guard down, social distancing seems to have become a dim and distant memory, which isn’t going to end well.
Prevention only works if you do all 3 advised things, face masks, hand washing annnnnd 2 metre rule.
I was chatting to my friend in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday and they’ve gone back in to full lockdown, complete with an 8pm curfew.
Balance and common sense is the key. Soooo we’re doomed hahahahaha.
I’m just focusing on the positives in my life right now. All tallied up I cycled over 200 miles in July. I can’t actually believe that I’m writing that, or that it’s true.
Me, Couchy Couchison, has cycled that much!! It’s amazing what you can achieve when there’s not much else to do. I literally had to wait for a global catastrophe for me to decide to make some changes. And more importantly changes that it turns out I enjoy.
I like cycling. Which is the first shock. I’ve managed to continue to do it without any flare ups of my hernia, which is a miracle in itself.
I like the idea of getting fitter. It’s very new to me. I’ve never been this well exercised in my life.
In the book The Bowel Cancer Recovery Toolkit you will see that exercise is vital to bowel cancer patients. It certainly helped me comprehend that I needed to make changes to get fitter.
I highly recommend this book for anyone that has been diagnosed with bowel cancer, but even 10 years down the line I’m getting a lot out of it. It’s literally never too late to get fit.
I cycle at least 9-10 miles a day, 5-6 days a week. I think I might actually get fit. :)
I had my B12 jab last week so who knows what I’ll be able to achieve now? ;)
We have had such a busy weekend. Pretty much out for the entirety of it, just popping home to sleep.
We dropped Pepper to my parent’s house because she’s not too happy being left home alone anymore, especially now after 6 months of constant companionship. So with her safely cared for and supervised we headed off out to see, Zak, Sam and Milly.
It seems important to make the most of the freedoms we have right now, especially as we’re on a knife edge of full or partial lockdowns.
While we can go and see them we will. Zak’s changing rapidly, we don’t want to miss out on him.
Milly was doing her first craft fair, in Romsey, Hampshire. She’s got a wonderful little eco friendly business going. She makes really clever things like reusable sandwich bags, therefore preventing the need for single use plastic wrap. Check out @boundlessinteriors on FB and Instagram.
While Milly was busy with the fair we met Sam and Zak for lunch and a lovely walk round.
We had such a wonderful day. Romsey is gorgeous, it has a beautiful Abbey with a moat round it, there was a group of ducks that Zak was fascinated by. Although he can’t talk yet he was gesturing for passersby to come and see the wonder of them. It was so cute. He is so comical. He was really pleased with himself when the people came to see the ducks.
We were passing a toy shop and it seemed only proper as grandparents that we took him in and bought him some pressies.
I bought him a dolly and a truck. I find for a successful life you need balance. Hahahahaha. He really loved his new dolly. He cradled it very gently.
He is the dearest little person. He’s 17 months old now he’s losing his baby-ness and is becoming a proper little boy.
Time is going too quickly, and this year being the way it has been has added to that.
Dress from H&H, Shoes from LK Bennet
She’s an old girl now, so it’s important to me that we make the most of her time left here. Being babysat is a far better option than her sat at home pining. And she quite enjoyed the trip out in the car, that didn’t end in the vets. ;) Plus it was good practice as we’re taking her to Wales on holiday next month (hopefully no more restrictions will occur), she’s not been on holiday in a couple of years so we thought she’d enjoy a little staycation). :)
Our day out to Hampshire was fantastic, we popped in on Milly at the craft fair, she did really well.
We then went for an afternoon cream tea, rude not to really.
Sam is something of a cream tea connoisseur. He’s also a cream tea perfectionist. We had a holiday in Norfolk one year where he kept ordering them in various tea rooms only to be disappointed by some aspect of it. The wrong cream is a big no no, squirty cream is truly unacceptable…where does he get his cream tea obsession? Have you seen me!? I didn’t get this fat on lettuce you know! Hahahahaha
This particular cream tea on Saturday was almost perfect. Home made scones - tick! Clotted cream - tick! Uh-oh black currant jam!! NO!!!
Oh and Sam doesn’t drink tea. So he’s missing half of it from the get go, he was missing the other half as Zak sat on his lap and ploughed his way through the scone, cream and wrong jam with no complaints at all. :)
I am lucky that my stoma being as low down as it is means I pretty much get to eat everything I want no problem at all, with the exception of sweet corn, which I guess if I chewed it properly I might get away with but as I’m a lazy chewer I tend to avoid it.
It is all a case of trial and error, especially when you are new to stoma-ing. I know sweet corn is a no, I know mushrooms are proceed with caution, I know no matter what I eat I need to drink enough to keep everything flowing well.
Ten years in and I still find that bit a challenge, but I’m getting better at it.
If your new to a stoma and are fearful and confused about what you can and can’t eat, please give yourself time. I found it very daunting to start with. I think it’s only natural.
Before diagnosis I equated a lot of foods to pain. I had an undiscovered tumour which caused incredible amounts of pain when some particular foods were eaten.
I have been able to eat a lot that was on that list. So, weirdly, getting my stoma has allowed me to eat far more than I was ever able to.
It can take a bit of getting use to. Trial and error is the key. And start with small amounts.
We didn’t have to rush back as Pep wasn’t home. It was a lovely, chilled out relaxed day.
Sunday I got up, cycled 9.6 miles, came home, had a relax in the hot tub and then got ready for the day ahead.
We had to go to London to get some pain relief patches for Chris, we bought some last week, they were a great success, but unbelievably we couldn’t get any online. They simply don’t seem to exist here.
They are an American product.
Chris felt they really helped so we trekked off to London to get some more.
We did ring the pharmacy in London to get some posted but they wanted £15.95 just to post them out. I’m terrible with money and maths but even I know that was a piss take.
It made me miss pharmacies that I’ve been to in America. Weirdly it’s one of my favourite places to shop there. I love all the weird and wonderful things you can buy.
Anyway, we made a day of it and invited Ben and Kaitlyn too. We booked a lunch at Chutney Mary, obvs! Hahahahaha.
I mentioned we were going again to my friend in Mumbai, she said you really do love it there don’t you. I explained that it reminds me of being in India, and I would do anything to be back there again. I’m heart broken that we won’t be able to go in February for our anniversary. So anything that makes me feel closer to it is fine by me.
The food is extremely good.
I wore this dress, for a very sentimental reason, the last time I wore it was in The Oberoi hotel in Agra, the night before we visited the Taj Mahal. Oh my lord what a holiday. What a dream come true.
Dress from Kate Spade, Bag from Chloe, Shoes from Chloe.
Dress as above, Shoes from Jimmy Choo, in the hotel of my dreams.
Just having a pre lunch photo shoot…..
What more could you ask for? Great food, great company…oh and the food again!
The others raved over these corn ‘ribs’, I wasn’t brave enough to try them, as I’ve got a big week this week and didn’t want to risk any bowel upsets.
But they looked amazing, and I was assured that they were too.
One of the things I love about Indian food is I eat way more veggie dishes because everything just tastes so good.
That said, the butter chicken and Afghani chicken in Chutney Mary is a must.
Full to the brim I decided on Gulab Jamun for dessert because A, I wanted it and B, I wanted it. ;)
My visit was complete with a mirror selfie. And then we hit the shops!
Chris bought his pain patches. I bought some holiday bits, no, we’re not going abroad this year, neither of us fancy it. We don’t fancy the airport, we don’t fancy the plane and we don’t fancy the possibility of changes and restrictions happening whilst away. So staycations are on the cards.
It’s a very odd year, for many and various reasons but I’ve only been abroad once, which is very unlike me, and that was only a day trip to Poland.
I have been on a fantastic trip on the Norfolk Broads in the depths of winter, just before lockdown though, so I can’t complain. Hahahahaha
We popped to F&M again, because I bought a jam selection pack in the sale in there last weekend and the lemon curd was amazing! I bought a couple more packs, firstly who doesn’t love fancy jams and secondly who doesn’t love half priced fancy jams!
We had such a lovely day, then headed back to my mum and dads house to pick up our furry baby.
She had a lovely time but she was certainly very happy to see me, she has a small obsession with me to the point of mania to be honest.
She sat by my side while I was very ill with cancer, then I sat by her side with she was very ill with an autoimmune disease that nearly killed her 7 years ago.
Since then, she has been my shadow, which is great fun, especially when I pop to the loo and she comes along, opens the door with such force it smacks me in the head, I feel so loved. Hahahahaha
This week is shaping up to be a very good week. I went out and cycled a route I’ve been eyeing up for a week now. I wanted to do it, but I wasn’t sure if I’d manage it. I think that’s my biggest fear. Going out and not having the stamina to get home. :o
I needn’t have worried, I managed it no problem (I can proclaim that as you weren’t there and you didn’t see me struggling up the hills I hadn’t taken into account).
It was a struggle, but I did it! I’m loving achieving something, it’s all so new to me. It’s really building my confidence, even if I don’t seem to be getting any fitter, I’m still puffed out walking upstairs. Hahahahaha
It was beautiful out there today. And rather impressively, part of the route I cycled was the exact route when the Tour De France came through. So technically, technically I’ve cycled the Tour De France! Hahahahaha
I’d just like to take a moment to thank all my lovely readers. I have noticed lately a lot of unacceptable and down right nasty comments on people I follow on Instagrams posts.
It’s made me feel incredibly blessed to have only kind and lovely people on my socials and blog.
I have only ever had good experiences and interactions and for that I’m truly grateful and thankful. I get lovely emails and messages. so thank you for that. It is appreciated. xx
I wish you a happy, healthy week. xx
Safety first. I always wear a helmet and always sunglasses. Just in case I ride in to low hanging brambles again. Xx