A Further Life Update
I went to see Mike every day for 11 days at Eastbourne hospital. After a slow start, he was making slow and steady progress in the stroke ward, Sovereign.
He felt out of place there as the other inhabitants of the other 5 beds were worse off than him, most asleep much of the time with their mouth open, several non-verbal, and very sick.
There was a woman in there too, not sure I'd want to be in a ward with 5 men when I'd had a stroke!
On the 11th day when I went in, he was dressed. I remarked on that and said that he must be feeling better. Yes, he said, I'm going home today, I'm fed up of being in here!
My daughter is a senior nurse and on hearing this, she moved absolute heaven and earth. The consultant came round, the ward sister came round, the physio visited, the person in charge of his drugs came round, the physio came again and then, at 5 o'clock we were told, ok, you can take him home now, so he was portered down to the entrance and I drove him home at 5pm.
He had 2 walkers, one for downstairs and one for upstairs, and after a few days, a toilet seat, and we were all set.
Now, 16 days later, he's recovering very well. He's desperate to go out to the pub for lunch, it's one of his very favourite things to do, but 1) he doesn't have the strength or stamina yet and 2) he doesn't have the appetite yet either.
He's wobbly on his legs still, his right arm is weak, his right hand won't do what it's told, his voice is quiet and he tires very easily. But he's getting stronger day by day taking micro walks around the garden and conscientiously doing the physio provided exercises, he's determined to get better.
He doesn't need to use the walkers any more which was a major step forward, although the toilet seat is still needed. I keep telling him he needs to do squats, only joking, but not really, those quads need strengthening up!
Specialists are coming to the house to help him with speech, swallowing, exercises and overall recovery. I feel that the NHS is looking after him magnificently.
Every day I thank our lucky stars, this could all have been SO much worse. I found him within a minute of it happening, the ambulance arrived within 20 minutes and got him to hospital within another 20 minutes where he received the clot busting drugs he so badly needed very quickly.
I might not have found him for hours if I'd been at book club, or working in the office, and we were literally just about to go out the door to lunch and could so easily have been driving. We could both have cashed our chips in a road traffic accident!
And so to some recipes. Here are some I've made in previous May's.
Swede Mash with Ginger, Nutmeg and a little Cream
This easy swede mash can be used a side or a main course. Make it vegan by using a vegan cream. Swede mash is a common side dish, but this has fresh ginger, generous nutmeg and chilli to add extra flavour and a touch of creaminess.
It tastes really good and may even convert small (or large!) veggie phobes!
Line the dish with potato slices and you could even use it as a main course
Easy No-Knead Focaccia
Fluffy focaccia, redolent with fruity olive oil. Delicious with just about anything!
This makes an everyday supper of soup extra special
Wild Garlic Pesto
This recipe is for pesto made from wild garlic, or ransoms, which is in season in the early Spring in the UK. The pesto is pungent, delicious and made from wild garlic foraged from the woods, or Allium triquetrum which is what I have growing in my garden.
Honey Soy Chicken Drumsticks and Thighs
The recipe is adapted from a canning recipe. I made some for my husband, who loves it, but we found the chicken to be rather overcooked during the long canning process, so I have changed it, tweaked it and adapted it to serve 4 (rather than 40!) and to be cooked on a hob.
I published an ebook for meal plan 1 in August 2021 and am delighted that many people have thought it was worth getting. I repriced it again in June 2022 and it was still holding on, even in these scary times. Now we are in September and prices have shifted again and I've managed to get my head around WooCommerce so I can feature it on the blog and you can find it here.
I was busy recooking, photographing and updating the recipes for Meal Plan 2 and putting them into an ebook as well. The meal plan was first written in 2013 and still prices up, which is fabulous and that is finally complete. The book is done now too, prices seem to be stable enough to do it.
I've finally completed the e-book from the Stretch A Chicken To Last A Week series. Took me absolutely ages to finish it off!
Do come and say hello on the Fantastically Frugal Food Facebook group, or the Sensational Slimming Sustenance group. I'd love to see you. Lots of useful tips, recipes and ideas. The over 17,000 membership are brilliant, brimming with talent.
And don't forget Thrifty Lesley, where there are 800+ recipes of fantastically frugal food and many weekly meal plans. And Cheap Family Recipes where you can find all kinds of delicious things that don't cost much, with two family monthly meal plans.
I've also got a few YouTube videos up, not many yet, but I'm planning to do more. I've done a couple more, need to edit them now. So much to do, so little time!
With all best wishes, until next time
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