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Thursday 19 March 2015

At last, spring is in the air

I heard the first Chiffchaff singing on Tuesday, always a welcome sound in the garden at the end of winter. Every time the sun comes out now there are busy Brimstone butterflies flitting about, flying strongly but never seeming to settle to feed. My front garden is more of an early spring garden than round the back, so as I'm not outside as much as usual, I take delight in watching buzzy things through the window, and seeing the bright colours of the first daffs and the zingy green of the euphorbias.

The only gardening I've done has been of the supervisory kind, but my OH has managed to tidy up most of what I didn't get to do before my surgery. Of course what really needs doing and is not going to get done, is redefining the edges of what is flower bed or border, and what is lawn. This is mostly thanks to the chickens scratching, but at least they had fun, and the garden will have to put up with being more 'rustic' than usual this year.

Out in the wild areas, as I walk around carefully watching my feet, I see little things scuttling around in the leaf litter, which I know are wolf spiders. There are more frequent sightings of honey bees and bumble bees, and a few hoverflies buzzing around the euphorbias. I can't capture any of this, as the only photography I can do is upright and even the weight of my DSLR with a regular lens on it seems quite heavy. The macro lens will have to wait a while. So will getting down and dirty, close up or anything that I'm used to doing when taking shots. But in the spirit of keeping up my garden records, here are a few pictures I've taken.

Health report at the end.

Japonica or Flowering Quince and the ducks.

Wiggly Hazel catkins, always slower to flower than the wild Hazels.

Mirabelle plum in my woodland - we don't get fruit from them
but the early blossom is always welcome!

Celandine walk, not that they show up very well
if I can't get down at their level!

And the Goosegrass/Cleavers are growing already - these are our leaf mould bins, we have 3.
The pallet bin on the left is 2 years old and ready to use, the middle bin is 1 year old
and the other bin is last autumn's leaves.

Hoorah - because I've been slack about pruning my Photinia 'Pink Marble',
I finally have some flower buds on it!

Euphorbia characias and some daffies around the front.

Unfortunately I never got to prune back my Thyme bank after flowering last year so it's a bit
scruffy (the brown mess in the foreground). It should be looking like little green mounds by now.
Oh well.

Euphorbia myrsinitis, flowering already where it's against the wall for shelter.
The stump is the remains of our Acacia which kept getting frosted so had to be taken out. 

Forsythia! There are a few more flowers than this further down.

Oriental Hellebore still going strong after more than a month.

Now this is an oddity. This is the mound with the filter bed in it, but the grass that we sowed has
just sulked and is yellow, short and sparse over the filter bed, yet lush and green elsewhere.
The bigger clumps are self seeded paddock grass, which we didn't mind as the rest of the lawn
is hardly bowling green so it looks better this way.

Probably the worst butterfly photo I've put on my blog, but I didn't have the right camera nor
could I get down lower. But it's a Small White, and wasn't interested in laying eggs on
my brassicas at this time, but feeding on the Dead Nettle and other weeds wildflowers
in the veg patch.

Mr Great Spotted Woodpecker again.

I've been happy to see quite a few Greenfinches recently, as although they were always
common birds in previous gardens of ours, I don't see them here very often!

Healthwise, I guess I'm recovering but it's very slow so doesn't feel like I've improved much, although my OH says I'm walking much better now, which I guess I am. However no chance to moan about my apres surgery as it's straight onto Phase 3 unfortunately. I've got to have six months of chemo. Apparently there were still cancer cells in the two previously infected lymph nodes. The surgeon removed these, along with about 15 lymph nodes in total, and the rest were clear, as was the fried tumour. But to be on the safe side (and he says, because I am YOUNG, haha) they want me to have the standard after surgery chemo in case there are any cancer cells floating about somewhere. They wouldn't show up on a scan as they'd be too small.

So this afternoon I have to go and see an anaesthetist (third bloody time since Sept!), because on Monday I'll be having a quick general anaesthetic to insert a catheter/port thingy through which they'll do the chemo drips. The treatment will be on two consecutive days (about 3 hours each) at the hospital every two weeks, plus on day 2 I have to bring 'a pump thingy attached to the drip' home with me and it gets removed on day 3 by a local nurse (you can see I'm not quite up on the lingo yet). This is all going to start early April. However, much as I hate the idea of another sickly summer, the Oncologist said my survival chances without chemo are about 50-60%, with chemo about 80-90% (presumably that's if there are still cancer cells in me somewhere). So it's a no brainer. Also I need to see a urologist because my bladder is not quite right despite the antibiotics, so might be nerve damage. 

As for the bag and stoma, I've seen the stoma nurse and all is well there and probably the least of my concerns! I have to say my stoma is still a source of endless fascination. Am I weird or what?! Must be a lifetime of British toilet humour that's to blame. :-) Oh yeah, and I've tested PSB and I had no adverse effects or extreme gas, so PSB it is for dinner now. Thank god for that!

40 comments:

  1. Awe Mandy this is a G-R-E-A-T blog update and your garden, at least to this non-gardener, looks fantastic with lots of early colour and even more interesting to me, insect life. Well done for getting this done and for venturing into the garden at all; although I guess it's kinda cathartic being amongst it all?

    So good to see an update from you-you put me to shame and...well, I was gonna say there's nothing wrong with me but, that's debatable ;-) BTW...I loved the way you casually dropped 'cancer' into the labels/tags here ;-)

    Continued wishes for your return to full health Mandy, as always, I shall be watching with interest, even if I don't comment often.

    JJx
    .

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    1. Thanks very much JJ! I wouldn't say there's a lot of colour just yet, but it's a start and better than mid winter gloom! So nice to see some buggy friends back on the sunny days. Thanks for the well wishes and I don't expect you to comment, but I'll carry on keeping everyone updated. xx

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  2. Wonderful images Mandy! I can almost feel your joy being out in your garden :-)

    I hate you have to go through this next phase. Hopefully the new mess available for the side effects will keep you from being too uncomfortable. Hope our support helps a little :-(

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    1. Thank you Marianne - although I've just been for a chilly walk around in the gloom this morning and it wasn't quite as joyful! :-) Yes phase 3 is a pain when it would have been nice to be free of all things medical for a while, but I'll battle on and hopefully have some good days in between treatment when I can get out and enjoy my garden.

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  3. Great to see and read that the Good Ship MMM's blog is alive and kicking again. Bit of your garden look very springlike and then I see the sheltered bit which are weeks ahead of us as usual. Still have loads of snow drops and the first daffy is yet to open fully.

    Bring on that PSB!
    xx

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    1. Hi Nick and thanks! Would you like some PSB - we've got loads here and that's just the early variety - the rest is yet to come. It's not surprising your garden is behind here, yet when we go into Rennes we are behind there as it's a good two weeks ahead. It's good to know spring is coming though. :-) xx

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    2. Edinburgh can be three weeks ahead of us - 20 miles and a thousand feet does it.
      Pop the PSB on your private plane and send it up. Ta.
      ;-))

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    3. I think it might have to come via carrier pigeon :-)
      We had the same thing re spring when we lived near Geneva, altitude makes a big difference! Same with the depth of snow in winter, funny that.

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    4. I meant to say their botanical garden beside the lake was even more advanced, with its own microclimate, no doubt due to the large body of water.

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  4. Its best to get as much treatment as possible Mandy, especially as you are so Young.
    Hope it goes well anyway.
    I am hoping to see Chiffchaffs now soon, not heard any yet.

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    1. Yes we young 'uns can obviously take what they throw at us! lol :-) I do love being described as young!! Good luck with the chiffchaffs, no doubt you will get some excellent photos whereas I mostly just hear them at this time of year and don't see them until later in the summer.

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  5. Sorry to hear you have to go through further chemo Mandy.Better to be safe than sorry I suppose, Get through it quick though as we need you in Lydford to identify birds in our garden!

    Philippa

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    1. Hi Philippa and thank you. I know, it's a nuisance but better than the alternative! You'll have to get yourselves a bird ID book - now you're living in the countryside you'll soon be interested in everything that moves..... :-)

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  6. You still take better photos than most of us, even when not up to par. Nice to see you are getting out a bit, spring is so uplifting.

    Mmmm psb, little and often intense vitamin and mineral hits. Can't be bad.

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    1. Thanks D-woman! Hoping to have some more PSB tonight. Leafy greens are very good for you, and we still have purple curly kale to eat too. And leeks - all on my list of foods that give you gas! One doesn't ever think about these things normally! Be interesting to see what happens when I try baked beans..... :-)

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  7. You keep teaching me about birds Mandy, I should buy a book really. We seem to keep getting a flock of Green Tits who eat everything on the feeders. Really like the look of your Euphorbia myrsinitis so will have a look out for them. What is PSB ? neither of us can figure it out. Sabine xx

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    1. Hi Sabine - a bird book is a must and then you'll get even more interested in them! Shame you don't live closer as this Euphorbia self seeds easily so I've probably got babies that I don't want. It lives for a long time and is drought proof and looks good all through winter, it's totally hardy too. PSB is purple sprouting broccoli! :-) xx

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  8. Great to read a catch up here on the blog and see a bit of Spring at Chateau Moorhen despite all that that poor body of yours had had to put up with with past year. We'll be cheering you along Mandy through this next phase of chemo. Loved that curved row of terracotta pots at the front of the house. Will you be planting those or are there plants in those already? Very impressive front gates too ... but you know me I love to photograph gates of all sorts lol

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    1. Thanks so much Rosie. The pots contain my collection of houseleeks, and a few different kinds of sedum, the low trailing kind. Many of the houseleeks had dropped bits off and colonised the gravel drive below, where they were really happy, but all got destroyed during the septic tank works last year. But I'm sure they'll do it again soon! I love our gates too - the original ones when we bought the house were tall solid wood and the neighbours are happy that they can look through at the garden now with these ones. :-)

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  9. Great to read this Chateau Moorhen's Spring update, Mandy! Love the birds and the japonica!
    Over here on my walk to the woods I've also discovered (and shot) some hazel catkins :)
    I hope Spring will give you even more strenght to cope with your ordeal, young Mrs. Mandy!

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    1. Hi Jan, great to hear from you! Thanks my friend - spring will definitely help as I'll be wanting fresh air and to see what new things are happening in the garden. :-) xx

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  10. each picture is just perfectly taken.
    every time I see your pictures, you show that you observe your environment in every details. And you know which detail in the right angle to select. Really impressive.
    Bisous.
    Maryline

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    1. Hi Maryline and thanks for such a lovely comment. Funny, because I felt like I was taking 'snaps' this time, but maybe all the practice is working! Sadly the spring air is more like winter again these last few days though. xx

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  11. Sorry to hear you have to have more chemo Mandy, I was hoping that you wouldn't have to. It's great to see you blogging again. Love the Woodpecker and the Greenfinch.xx

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    1. Thanks Deb! Well I'd hoped not to need it either, but better to be safe than sorry. I had the port inserted yesterday, another gen. anaesthetic and more stitches, getting sick of this. :-) But overall getting stronger. Won't be taking photos for a few days though as too stiff! I'll watch my birds instead. :-)

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  12. A lovely post Mandy looking round your garden, sat here with tissues stuffed up my dose (nose) so I don't drip on the keyboard, full of cold again. Wish you well with your treatment.
    Amanda xx

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    1. Hi Amanda and thanks. I'm enjoying my daily wander round to get exercise, and not having to do anything, lol! Little things happening almost daily in the garden, despite being cold again.
      Sorry that you have a cold, bloody things! Get well soon. xx

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  13. Hi Mandy, Shame to hear you need to have more chemotherapy, but guess better to be safe. I am now in Brittany, your spring shots look great, I am taking stock of what is growing here, between mowing. Like your GSW shot, he looks in fine fettle. This time last week where I live I got my first look and photo of the Northern Lights.

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  14. Hi Ian and thanks. Now sporting my port-a-cath thingy under my breastbone, thankfully not really painful, just a bit stiff moving my arm/shoulder. You must be enjoying yourself though sounds like you have a lot of grass! My OH has just started the mowing and it looks neater here now. The woodies are around a lot - normally two but yesterday I saw 3 in a nearby tree. Will you put the northern light photos on your website? I was having a look at it last week admiring your photos again. :-)

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    1. Bugger! Shoulder blade, not breastbone. Can't edit comments!

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  15. Hi Mandy, I have not put pics of Aurora on website yet, I tweeted it: https://twitter.com/HaworthVillage

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    1. I had a look, beautiful purple colours! How come it was visible so far south - is this a once in a blue moon thing?

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    2. They were saying that it was the biggest solar flare to hit earth for about 10 - 20 years, so was seen further south than usual, there was reports of sightings even in France: http://www.thelocal.fr/20150318/france-treated-to-rare-northern-lights-show

      I get email alerts from Lancaster Uni (and use Twitter) http://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/ which is my son's uni (is studying Physics) and he is a tad annoyed he didn't see them, made worse having a Dad telling him how wonderful it was at every opportunity :-D

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    3. Interesting! I can't do a copy and paste with my Kindle so hard to look up that link, and won't be on desktop for a while as I've just been back to the hospital, and learned
      that the new pain I'm having is an abcess in my former bum area! Can't bloody win. Anyway, really pleased for you. :-)

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  16. Hi there, I'm Lindsey! I have a question and would love to speak with you regarding your medical journey. Could you email me when you have a chance? Thanks so much! I look forward to hearing from you!

    lindseyDOTcaldwellATrecallcenterDOTcom

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    1. Lindsey, just in case you are a spammer I'd rather you contacted me via the Contact Me form, which you will see at the top of the page on the right hand side. I'm being wary because there is no info about you on your blogger profile, and it's unusual to ask a blogger to email a stranger. If you are for real, I apologise. :-)

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  17. When I read you were having chemo, I also thought about myself. i recently finished my chemo, on December 31, 2014 and about 3 months finished radiation My cancer was breast cancer and I had a lumpectomy I haven't had the reconstruction of the breast yet, but I am planning on doing it. I hope you are doing good. Is not fun to have cancer and it's bot fun to go through chemo I wish you the best, I love your blog. I love chateaux.

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    1. Hi Marta! Thanks so much for commenting and I'm happy for you that your chemo and radiotherapy ordeal is over. You must be feeling so much better now. I'm now halfway through and it's certainly tough, but I'm trying to make the most of my 'good' days (or half days, or even a few hours!). I've just enjoyed three good days feeling quite human but today is chemo day again and so it goes on! Only 6 more to go...... Take care and thanks for visiting. xx

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