Bloomin' Marvellous

Lillies and clematis in my garden....

Britain's Best Kept Secret

You didn't hear this from me, but Northumberland has it all...clean sandy beaches, dramatic castles, seaside towns, pretty stone villages and cosy tearooms. Best of all, almost no one seems to know about the charms of Britain's least densely populated county, making it blissfully uncrowded. B and I enjoyed it so much that we've already booked another week there in September, based in a cottage just a few hundred metres from this superb beach...

Dunstan beach (Embleton Bay), backdrop to the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle

Dunstanburgh Castle

On our next trip (sans Les Outlaws), we hope to take advantage of the superb walking to be had along the 64 mile long Northumberland Coast Path. To be fair to Les Outlaws, they did their share of walking, as we dragged them around another castle or three, including Alnwick (famously used as Hogwarts in the first two 'Harry Potter' films), Warksworth and Bamburgh.

Alnwick Castle

Alnwick Castle

Warksworth Castle

Bamburgh Castle

Harbour at Seahouses

One of the highlights of the holiday was a boat trip from Seahouses out to the Farne Islands, which lie two to three miles off the Northumberland coast midway between the fishing village of Seahouses and the magnificent Castle of Bamburgh. As well as being the most famous Sea Bird Sanctuary in the British Isles they also have a large colony of Atlantic or Grey Seals. At this time of the year, nesting puffins, seagulls, shags, terns and cormorants can be seen in their thousands. We were taken to view basking seals and the nesting birds on the cliff faces....boy, what a wiff! Nothing quite like the pungent aroma of guana!

Puffins and seagulls

We spent an hour on Inner Farne (one of only two islands that can be landed)...dodging dive bombing terns, hell bent on protecting their nests by incessantly pecking the top of our heads. We'd been warned to warn hats...I think a pith helmet or crash hemet would have been in order as cloth caps offer scant protection from their fierce beaks. The only place to take refuge from this bizarre, Hitchcockesque experience was a tiny church dating from 1370 and dedicated to St Cuthbert (d. 687).

Territorial Tern

St Cuthberts

We also passed Longstone Lighthouse, made famous by Grace Darling and her father, the lighthouse keeper, William Darling. On the night of the 7th September 1838 they rescued nine survivors from the Forfarshire, a paddle steam ship bound for Dundee, which ran aground on Big Harcar in stormy seas.

Longstone Lighthouse

Really looking forward to going back.....

Notes From A Small World

There's an old saying, "Never burn your bridges", that is particularly apt for the circle that I move in, professionally. Every time I go to one of these conference/networking type things I realise just how small that sphere really is....without fail I run into someone I know from working at a previous company or that was a former client. Already at the airport awaiting the flight to Slovenia, I met up with a lady now working for the She-Devil I had the misfortune to know as my former boss (you may have read about her before in my '9 till 5' post). Testing the waters, after the usual pleasantries, I casually asked her "So, you get on well with her, then?"....her reply was evasive, and I left it at that. I'm not one to discuss the fault of past bosses with strangers...in person that is...blogspot doesn't count!

The next evening we ended up on the same table at the conference banquet, along with one of her colleagues (they'd also worked together in another company).....weirdly, he is not just now working for my past company, but he joined it after leaving the one I'd left before that....always one step behind me in the job chain it seems. He showed great interest in my current company and the level of experience I'd gained there compared to his own....so I won't be suprised if his CV turns up in our mailbox shortly. Before long, one of their former colleagues joined us (I met her at a previous conference, and knew she'd turned down an offer from my previous, previous company...the one with the wayward boss). The new arrival sat down and promptly asked about their new boss "So, is she [She-Devil] really the biatch everyone says she is?". I didn't catch their response as I was distracted by my colleague seated on my other side (the one that also worked with me for the wayward boss and got me into our current company) pointing out that the bloke on the other side of the table was one of our clients from that old company. He'd had a bit of a run-in with said tactful boss, and had queried the quality of his work processes. Luckily he didn't seem to remember us but was interested in getting in touch with our new (and highly reputable) company with some potential work.

On the topic of fire and bridges, here's a snap of one of the dragons on the aptly named Dragon Bridge, a landmark of Ljubljana, as seen on the walking tour of the city arranged for the following evening....

No fire on this (Dragon) Bridge

Dinner that night at a local restaurant provided the chance to sample the local speciality...mushroom soup in a "mushroom" bun....

The last night of the conference was the highlight of the social agenda....winetasting and a five-course dinner in the company of Tomaz, a local connoisseur who has travelled the world reviewing food and wines. Slovenia is in fact renowned for its wines, particularly their whites. I'm more of a red wine fan, but was pleasantly suprised by how much I enjoyed the crisp whites that dominated the evening....thought of you Saffa, and your current deprivation! With each course we were served two glasses of wine....the idea being to eat a mouthful, taste number 1.... then eat a bit more and taste number 2... then decide which wine best complemented the dish and left the palate cleansed. A whole new way to experience a wide range of wines (12 in total with the dessert wines served to finish)...and I was amazingly sober by the end of the evening...

Menu

Appertif

Scurek -Rebula

Santomas - Refosk

Fish Carpaccio

Jeruzalem Ormoz - Terase

Jakoncic -Savvignasse

Courgette Soup

Verus - Renski Rizling

Klet Brda - Chardonnay Bagueri

Risotto With Asparagus

Joannes - Spargeljevo Vino

Kristancic - Sivi Pinot

Roast Lamb With Thyme And Vegetables

Simcic - Pinot Noir

Scuurek - Merlot

Apple Strudel

Batic - Valentino

Steyer - Gewurtzraminer

Micro Update

Good news....my dad's cancer has not spread to his lungs and his liver is still clear.

Thank God!

He started the chemo yesterday and so far things are going OK....touch wood! Isn't it funny how superstitious and spiritual we become when faced with aversity? I'm the first to admit I'm a "bad weather believer"....I'd like to think I'm not just a "fair weather friend".

Slovenia and Northumberland were both great...will let you know more soon.

First Gear

I seem to be gradually pulling myself together.

My dad is constantly in the back of my mind... he's the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thought before I doze off at night. But the constant, sharp, aching fear of last week is slowly ebbing into a dull, background anxiety. I can focus on work - last week was just a mess.

It's now a waiting game... waiting for dad's CT scan on the 31st May, waiting for the appointment with the oncologist on the 2nd June, at which he'll learn if his lungs and liver are under threat too (cross all appendages that all is clear!)... then waiting to start the chemo... and waiting to see how it goes.

I want all these things to be done with but at the same time I want the sands of time to slow right down to a trickle through that great hourglass of life. There may only be a bit of time left.

Busy days ahead... the outlaws return from their cruise of the Med at the end of the week, it's a long weekend of entertaining them (no doubt in the pouring rain!) and then I'll be in Slovenia for a conference next week. Back a couple of nights before we all head up to Northumberland for a few days ... I'll be up there when my dad gets his scan results... wish I could be with him, but let's hope it's good news that comes by phone.

Paper Thin

I'm feeling rather fragile.

I can put on a brave face when I need to, when I speak to my dad it's all "Pah! Cancer... we do not fear you, we spit in your eye and defy you!" But when I'm alone I just want to scream "Help! I can't cope with this!"

My dad is showing great spirit - he wants to give the chemo a go and go in guns blazing with the really nasty stuff... more potential risks but greater chance of benefits. It will all depend on how he handles the drugs. Before he can start, he needs another scan - to check if the cancer has spread to the lungs or liver... the liver was clear two months ago, but his chest was not scanned at the time. Hope upon hope that lungs and liver are still clear...and also that the docs pull finger and get him into the system asap! On the plus side he has gained back nearly two of the 10 kilos he lost in hospital.... the stronger he is going into chemo, the better his chances of coping with the fatigue.

B and my friends have been so supportive - it is great to be with people who care but at the same time it can be a bit hard as they want to know what's going on and I do want to talk about it but then get overwhelmed by the enormity of it all when I do. I'm also concerned I may overburden others with my worries.... overload them with details they don't need to know.

I wish I could shake myself up, pull myself together and get on....chin up, old girl and all that!

Update

The news is not great. My dad's tumour is in the advanced stage, ruling out surgical removal. There is the possibility of chemotherapy to retard the spread, but that will come with quite a high risk of infection and other nasty side effects. He needs to decide if he goes ahead with treatment or not, and we need to support him in his decision. Either way, the next few months are going to be very hard.