Amazing Sydney Harbour

Wow - this morning Thursday - yet another Carnival liner arriving in Sydney. It came in, and went out!  It was so windy that it couldn't quite dock and had to re-enter with 2 tugs! It's quite a sight to see them but Jill says it gets boring after a while!

I guess Alan wouldn't know at this stage, lol. He had walked for an hour to get home from the hospital and was just tuckered out!  We'll be going home soon, so I'll have to find somewhere to keep up the good work.  You'd think we'd be able to exercise easily on 25 acres but it's quite hilly so I need to take him somewhere flat. It's important to keep the leg muscles strengthened as the radiation and drugs make them soft.

Weekend in Penriith

What an amazing weekend.  If it wasn't for visiting the hospital each day, the pill taking and the hair loss,(mainly at the back) it would be easy to imagine we were on an extended holiday.

We continue to be overwhelmed by our families, constant caring, support and generosity. Friday night with Jill and Alistair was such good fun - we cooked pizzas in their little balcony weber - apart from the fact that we were overlooking the Opera House, it was just like being at home. Jill had just got back from a week working in Townsville and Alan is "sick" so Alistair and I made and cooked the pizzas for them, while continually topping up their wine glasses. We even managed to do the banana and chocolate one for Jill.

Saturday morning we set off for the railway station with an overnight bag in tow (we are certainly getting some use out of our pensioner excursion tickets!) off to our grandson, Daniel's place for the night.  I promised to cook his favourite sea-food egg roll for dinner and preceded it with some home made crab cakes - both went down very well. The freezer was stocked with almost every flavour of Ben & Jerrys ice cream so Alan was set up for the night!

Next morning we were picked up by Helen, who then also picked up David and Jenny and drove us to a family run Cucina for a long lunch.  It was amazing.  We loved the food and the atmosphere and as a bonus got to see some of our friends who had also booked in for lunch without knowing that we had!

I have to tell you about the food!  We started with a Rosemary bread freshly cooked in the wood fired oven with a plate of olives, chargrilled sweet potato and battered prawns. Closely followed by a fennel gratin which I loved.  Main course was Oslo bucco served with mashed potatoes and fresh veggies from their extensive garden. Dessert was a buckwheat pancake served with the lightest chocolate mousse, blood orange and rhubarb - delicious. David had brought the wine which was perfectly matched and much enjoyed.  OMG - it's in their home, they change the menu every month and I want to go there 12 times a year!!!  They will certainly get a good review from me on Trip Advisor.

Holly picked us up and dropped us at the station for a leisurely train ride back to Kirribilli and the end of another perfect weekend.  Thanks to everyone - again! xxxxxx

The big, the bald, and the breakfast!

Well, that was the weekend and we've had a really busy week since then.  We went to Penrith to do a bit of gardening and house cleaning for Daniel (as you can see we are having withdrawal symptoms). Friday night we caught up with our friends, for, guess what, another meal, Thai this time. Then out with Daniel and Ashley on Saturday night for a steak and blooming onion. Out again for breakfast, then Jill and Alistair picked us up for a whistle stop tour of a Cruise Expo. (We are contemplating a river cruise somewhere) and back to Kirribilli for fish and chips.  If food and a good sense of humour get you through radiation and chemo, then we are streets ahead of anyone else!

We had our weekly appointment with our radiology specialist on Tuesday - she was very happy with Alan, who still looks a picture of health, hair is still dropping out, but he can't wait until the last week to wear his hat with the pony tail!  Don't know what they'll think of that!  We saw the chemo specialist today, who again was extremely happy with the way things are going and explained what would happen when we eventually make it home.  Apparently, we get a month off, then continue double dose chemo for 5 days per month for the next 6 months. They are expecting Alan to "crash" when radiation finishes so we are undecided on when to come home at the moment.........will have to ponder on that one and see how he is. 

Tomorrow we meet up with some other friends, Peter and Rita, for, guess what, lunch! Alan will try to write another blog in the next couple days, in between meals! Seriously, we have been walking for miles to counteract the food!

My first attempt!

Hi everyone! Welcome to our gastronomic journey recovering from a brain tumour.

I would like to start this blog by thanking you all for your support, good wishes, and most of all for caring.

I am truly blessed with a magnificent support team ably led by my wonderful partner in life, Helen, and extremely well assisted by my 2 very special children, Jill and David , not forgetting, of course, Alistair and Jenny. It's hard to find the right words - thank you seems so inadequate, but..... thank you so much, I love you more than life itself!

Anyway, down to this blog business.  Helen and David have done a great job thus far in getting the blog on the road and I look forward to posting a few chapters of my own, starting today.

One of the main things I have gleaned so far is the need for patience............there's a lot of waiting goes on during this journey and I am having to learn to be patient! There are also a lot of caring people around, not only in our circle of family and friends, but in our medical system - clinics, hospitals, radiation facilities etc...........and also in our community. Volunteer drivers pick us up every day for a nominal charge to take us to the hospital, they are always cheerful and very helpful. 

Will take a break now and hopefully will post more tomorrow - cheers, Alan.

At Lowes!,,

It started on Friday night with a trip to Penrith, catching up with our good friends, Mike, Pam, Bev and Bruce for coffee. On to Warrimoo and David's place where we were catching up with another 2 of our grandchildren for dinner, James and Holly.  We had dinner at one of our old favourite Chinese places, Eric's. Then home for an early night ready for an early start.

Here we are again! Had a great weekend with David and Jenny at Mudgee - a surprise for Father's Day.  We started at Di Lusso Winery, tasting a few to choose a bottle to have with lunch of course, then on to Lowes for a bigger tasting, a tasting plate (above) and to choose a few bottles for dinner!

We stayed at Peter van Gynt cottages which was about a 5 minute drive from our dinner destination, Deebs.  A great little place aside their home, no menu, just what he fancied cooking on the night, wonderful.  We had a little middle eastern appetiser, followed by deliciously cooked okra with tomatoes and pearl couscous, an amazing chicken Ballantine and the best baklava I have ever tasted - unbelievable.  

Returned on the Sunday morning stopping at the Carrington in Katoomba for a quick coffee and another photo (below). Alan looks great as you can see - I think it's all the food and drink - our favourite pastime at the moment!

Sorry, not a very good photograph because of the light behind him but I thought it might amuse you all.

We ended the weekend with Jill and Alistair and our favourite fish and chips from the local shop at Milsons Point. Exhausted but very happy!...................to be continued by Alan.

  

Windy Wednesday

Another bit of good news day - he's off the steroids! Still feeling amazingly well except for a bit of fatigue in the early afternoon.  No matter, he can sleep if he wants to.

We had another big day out - certainly taking advantage of the cheap Public Transport here - we caught a train to Penrith and I had my hair done.  It was looking pretty desperate so I was so glad when Jill's hairdresser said she'd do it for me!  I also went to the doctors as my blood pressure, which is always perfectly normal, suddenly jumped to 180/111.  Anyway, I thought I'd better check it out even though I thought it was probably just a bit of stress lol.  He sent me for some blood/urine tests and I'm to go back on Monday.  But.......I took my blood pressure this morning and it was back to normal so probably a false alarm.  Just as well as I didn't want Jill to have 2 invalids in the house!

We've had a normal day today, hospital and then home.  We were going to take a ferry or the train to Darling Harbour for lunch, but the weather is very wintery so we decided to come straight home.  My turn to cook dinner so we are having Irish Stew and Colcannon, followed by caramelised strawberry crepes with cream and ice cream.  Yum.

Jill and Alistair have a break from us this weekend as we are going up the mountain to David and Jenny for Fathers Day weekend.  More news about that tomorrow.  If we had been home, it probably would have been Crams Farm with friends and neighbours so, if you are reading this blog, we hope you all have a wonderful time whatever you are doing.  We miss you all.  

The weekend

You better not sit here too long - my wife will be back in a minute!

We had another great weekend! Saturday was a grey day but it was a shopping and cooking day anyway so it didn't bother us.  Daniel, our grandson, came over for dinner - his requests were French hot dogs, seafood egg rolls and bread and butter pudding with ice cream! A strange mixture but we really enjoyed it. Alan made the bread and butter pudding! I have competition in the kitchen now, just have to measure out the ingredients for him otherwise I don't know what things would taste like or whether they'll reach the bowl!

Sunday was a beautiful day, we were meeting David and Jenny for lunch so we said we'd catch a ferry over to Circular Quay. We were early so went round twice and had our own Harbour Cruise for $2.50!

We had a lovely lunch at a French restaurant in the Rocks - the markets were on so that was a little bonus for me.  Then after lunch we went to what used to be one of our favourite Irish pubs when we lived down here before. A pint of Guiness and a band playing Irish music, what more could you ask for? A great time was had by all. (See photo and Alan's caption)

As you can see, he's still doing well - no hair loss yet and the steroids have been reduced again. Still eating very well and not experiencing any nausea as yet.  We hope this continues for a while or even longer.

Monday was back to our normal routine for radiation - there are lots of people we see every day so it's quite chatty in the waiting room.  Everyone is so positive.  We had a lovely walk home in the sunshine for the first time, it's been raining every other time!  Got back to Jill's, did her ironing and cleaned the windows (have to earn our keep somehow, lol) then made garlic pizzas for a nibble before dinner.