Wednesday 2 December 2015

Giving Tuesday

Yesterday was so called Giving Tuesday - 1 December. It largely passed me by I have to say. Apart from giving another stack of notes to the roofer for what I am still not sure. I am embarrassed to say that yet another "day" or "charity event" has passed me by. Is it me or are we just too bombarded by requests to help. Even with the restrictions placed on charities in limiting the flyers and requests for cash, it does seem that a week does'nt pass by without something happening in the charity area.
Don't get me wrong, charities need cash to survive, but we all have our areas where we like to donate money or time. For me this has been traditionally cancer charities.

Every year instead of sending Christmas cards, I nmake a donation to charity. I tend to have favoured The Pelican Cancer Foundation. This is a charity very close to my heart. Last year I donated to Crisis - a charity for the homeless in London. Sadly I won't be doing this again as the number of mail requests for further cash not only left a bad taste in my mouth but the associated costs of such mailing must have out weighed the actual donation I made.

So this year I will revert to my usual charity, who send you a thank you email and then just get on with it. I like this approach.

There was some great news to come out of Giving Tuesday and that was the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife are setting up a foundation and donating 99% of their shares. This is such a philanthropic act. It got me thinking that there must be lots of other billionaires out there who will never be able to spend the massive wealth that they have accumulated and should follow this example - instead of finding more and more ways to limit the taxes that they pay on their wealth. Maybe we will find ourselves entering an age of philanthropy again and the "me me me " society might just settle down.

OK rant over!!!

And by the way it's December - this year has certainly rushed by.

Wednesday 11 November 2015

So apart from work

So apart from.work what else has been grabbing my attention? I'm loving ......

1 Listening to my latest downloads on iplayer radio. I've become a fan of the Archers Omnibus. It's a treat to listen on my Tuesday morning commute.
2. Reading on my Kindle.
3. Walkies with Colin.
4. Clearing up the garden ready for winter.
5. Watching Nurse Jackie. Its good to have a box set to get into as winter approaches.
6. Eating seasonally. Which means experimenting with new recipes.
7. Ditching salads in favour of warm soups and hot foods. One of my favourites being an aubergine and chickpea thai curry.

The return to wellness................

Out of the blue I'm working again! Yes came as a bit of a shock to me too!!! I started back at PwC on 1 September. Three days a week - two of which are in the office and one at home. It's taken a while to get a routine togther - getting up early to catch the train, being out all day, having brain ache from all the new information I was absorbing and arranging doggie day care for Colin. Thank you Ruth for looking after my Colin two days a week.

I think that I have settled into my new routine now. I am enjoying the work and the money comes in useful. It's been great to catch up with old colleagues and to make new ones. My life has moved on yet again in a different direction. I am conscious how this might affect me and am continually monitoring how this is all impacting my health and well-being. So I will be letting you know how I am getting on. As someone said to me when I was deciding whether to go back to work - "this marks a return to wellness". It feels that way too after the last two months of adjusting.

A sunny lunch break walk in London.

it's been a long time......

It's been a long long time since I last posted on here. Everything is OK. My health continues to be good - the latest scan I had in October was all clear.That's three years since my last surgery. No treatment since. And long may it last.

After a discussion with the consultant in June, we decided that if the October scan was clear, that the scan cycle would change from every six months to every year. As I have been exposed to a lot of radiation during the last five years, there is a risk that this could result in different cancers appearing rather than the original bowel cancer. I am happy with this as it is a sign that we are now looking at my overall well-being from the hospital consultant's perspective as well as in most things that I have now incorporated into my everyday life.

And just in case you had forgotten what I looked like ........

Here I am!!!

Thursday 16 July 2015

Going somewhere new.

Some times its great to do something impetuously. That's how I find myself having an impromptu holiday to see my friend Danny, in Palm Springs Califonia.

Danny is house hunting here and has rented a condo for a month while he does so. He casually mentioned that if I wanted a break then I was welcome to come and visit him, I thought about it and decided why not?! So an 11 hour flight from London and a 2 hour drive from Los Angeles and here I am in the desert.

The comfortable BA A380 interior

It's a 100 degrees outside. What a change from the London that I left, where it was drizzling with rain and grey skies. Here it is blue skies and surprisingly beaytiful. Of course there are palm trees everywhere, What I had not bargained on were the beautiful mountains that surround the town. Apparently in the winter the peaks are covered in snow, while in the valley you can be sunbathing by the pool. How amazing is that!

Having had a reasonable sleep last night, Danny took me on a tour of down town, as the Americans call their town centres.

Down Town Palm Springs

I found a great juice bar called Fresh. It has a great selection of smothies and juices. I had the maca mama smoothie. Its ingredients were raw maca, raw coconut, coconut water, cocao nibs, cinnamon, banana and pink himalayan salt. it was unusual yet strangely delicious.

Me posing inside the Fresh juice bar

The counter at Fresh

My friend Danny waiting for his drink

Wednesday 8 July 2015

The Laughing Gravy

"The Laughing Gravy is one of London's best kept secrets"

I went for dinner last night to the Laughing Gravy with some ex-colleagues and friends. I was impressed with their fish and vegetarian options. I was in the mood for some good veggie food and I was deliberating whether to have either:

Superfood saladHerb-roasted squash, beetroot, cherry tomato and baked goat's cheese salad with quinoa, alfalfa sprouts, broccoli and mixed leaves

Or

Roasted cauliflower three cheese macaroniwith Somerset brie, goat’s cheese and mature cheddar

I decided on the salad, which was delicious and came with a tangy dressing. Although when a friend had the cauliflower I did have food envy! One for me to try next time. In the meantime, I will have to try making this at home. It might not be up to their standards but with these three cheeses in the sauce it will be a luxurious indulgence.

Two things struck me last night -

1. When we were offered bread by the waitress, we all refused. All six of us. I was impressed that we were all individually watching our carb intake. We had not all met up for a long time but somewhere along the line we had all picked up the same message about gluten and carbs.

2. There were 3 vegetarians in the group. How refreshing to be not the only non meat eater.

Eating habits are changing!

Amelia Freer - The most fashionable nutritionist in town and her book is on sale in Costco!

I visited Costco - yes Costco - last week with Ruth. I love a good look around this store. For those of you who have never been is a huge warehouse full of surprises! Well I am always surprised by what I find there,.

My last visit I bought some organic quinoa and organic coconut oil. Yes organic in a vast supermarket! As you can only generally buy one size in this store, large, these two items have lasted me a long time.

What a great read

I found myself browsing through their books which are generally heavily discounted. I had a quick look inside "Eat, Nourish, Glow" while I was in the store It was on offer for £8.99. I decided it was worth buying as it looked really interesting. I have not been disappointed.

I had no idea who Amelia Freer is , so, when I got home, I googled her. She is the nutritionist who was behind the weight loss of James Corden, Sam Smith and Boy George. Check out this article in the ES magazine which calls her the

"The most fashionable nutritionist in town"

I like the simplicity of her message: "I hope to help others discover and celebrate nutritious food - food that is accessible, easy to make and that bursts with goodness & flavour! I aim to empower people to adopt a cleaner way of eating that becomes a natural habit of life, not a short-term commitment (no diet fads here!)."

Reading this book has made me realise how over complicated we can make things for ourselves in trying to eat healthier. It's about getting back to basics and how to eat cleaner and enjoy the flavours.

It was a random purchase that will play a major part in my eating this summer.

Thursday 18 June 2015

It's been 5 years

I have been thinking this week while I have been away, how lucky I am to be here in Norfolk having such a wonderful time. Five years ago I was struggling with the diagnosis that I had stage III cancer. I believed that I would not make 6 months. As you all will know from reading this blog, I did survive 6 months and even though the following two years were difficult, I have had no treatment for nearly 3 years. My last relapse was in July 2012 when I had a lung matatise. Since then I have not had another remission.

How fortunate am I? Very.
Lucky? Definitely.
Privileged? Without a doubt.

An overwhelming sense of gratitude.Five years of a wonderful life. A big thank you to everyone who has a part in my survival and to the universe for letting me have this chance to continuing living my life!

Some of my best moments of this week - another brilliant week in Norfolk.

It's been a wonderful week - be sad to return home! Here's some of my best moments.

Selfie

Fields with poppies

The menu of the best tea shop I have visited for a long time.

The Folly Tea Shop entrance - lovely garden

Walks on the beach with Colin.

The veggie breakfast at the Thornham Deli

Unexpectedly coming across this pretty allotment on our country walk.

Fresh sea trout at the Duck Inn Stanhoe.

This amazing Norfolk sky

Evening walks on Brancaster beach

Wild poppies.

Fabulous Norfolk - again!

I am back in fabulous Norfolk again. I had such a great time here in April, I have been looking forward to coming back here. I didn't think that I would get the opportunity so soon. I am staying in a pretty cottage in Docking. While there is not a lot going on here, it is ideally located to get to different places along the coast.

Colin is of course having the time of his life again - running like a mad thing along the empty beaches and swimming in the North sea. Rather him than me as even in June it is certainly still very cold.

The closest beach to us is Brancaster where we have walked every day. Although Holkham beach still remains my favourite. The walk to the Wells Beach cafe is the walk that gives you the added reward of being able to have refreshments part way through.

All this fresh sea air, walking, being in nature and generally relaxing has to be good for my soul.

Holkham Beach

Colin enjoying himself in the sea at Holkham

Selfie of Colin and me at one of the beach huts at Wells Next the Sea

Morning tea at the Wells Beach Cafe

Paddle boarders at Brancaster on one of our evening walks

My new beach residence!

Wednesday 3 June 2015

Wow - it's been such a long time

I was walking Colin with my friend Ruth this morning, when she mentioned that I had not updated my blog since March. I thought that this could not be right so I was surprised that this was true when I checked.
You will all be relieved to know that all is well - health and life are all good. I have been working on a couple of new projects, which I hope to share with you soon. This has keeping me busy.

So what has been happening?

Here's a quick run down:

April's highlight was a wonderful two week break in Norfolk. I rented a cosy cottage in Thornham in North Norfolk. Had friends to stay and spend quality time catching up with them. Colin and I walked on the beach everyday. The weather was very kind to me and the sun shone most days. I appreciated the solitude of walking on those vast empty Norfolk beaches and looking at the big blue skies. Holkham beach was a big favourite especially when it included a visit to the Wells Beach Cafe. A reviving cup of green tea and a treat was a welcoming break in the walk.