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Tuesday 21 July 2015

A mini break from chemo which meant some days out at last!

I have finally felt well enough to have a few trips out this last week. I explained how I had negociated an extra two week break with my Oncologist when I saw him last in this post here a few weeks back. My new anti nausea drugs worked really well so I continued to eat during the last chemo session with no nausea, and have continued to eat well and have done lots of cooking during this time.

My brother came over from England and we've had three meals out, two of which were in scenic places where we had some walks around and watched the wildlife and for me it was absolutely magic to have this opportunity to get out and see some different parts of the countryside other than the same old route to the hospital! I've still felt very tired at times as I get bouts of energy, make the most of it doing a bit of gardening (or going out) but then crash out and need some down time sleeping or just resting, reading in bed. But this is still tons better than before! Chemo starts again on Thursday but guess what, finally I have put some weight on - about 5 pounds/2.5 kg, which is exactly what I wanted, as I was so worried about the weight loss and weakness and how on earth I was going to get through the rest of the chemo sessions. Now I've only got 5 more sessions to go and feel refreshed and ready to face the grindstone again. Even if I lose some weight again at least I shouldn't get any worse than before.

Our first trip out last week was to a restaurant we discovered last year when my brother was over. For anyone in this part of Brittany it's called Le Col Vert on the lake at Hédé. They serve interesting food - some Asian and African dishes as well as some Tex Mex ones. My brother and I had fajitas - I must say this is the first time in my life I have managed to finish an entire portion of fajitas, tortillas and all! My appetite is quite amazing at the moment. You'll see that in all the food I've photographed in this post. :-)

There are a lot of photos because I decided to put the two trips out together.

My brother and his fajitas - yes I ate all that!

Le Col Vert at Hédé.

A rather scruffy front garden of a cottage looking great
because of all the self seeded Hollyhocks in it!

There wasn't a lot of bird life on the lake apart from this Great White Egret
(Ardea alba) - don't think I've ever seen one this far north before!

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria).

Spotted Longhorn Beetle (Rutpela maculata) on a bramble flower beside the lake.

Interesting green Sawfly (Rhogogaster viridis).

Thick-Legged Flower Beetle (Oedemera nobilis).

Seven-Spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata).

Black-tailed Skimmer, male (Orthetrum cancellatum).

Les Onze Ecluses at Hédé-Bazouges - there are 11 locks here.

Lock Keeper's House, there seemed to be one of these houses for every couple of locks!

My brother and me.

and with Keith (aka my OH).

Another lake we walked beside and got to hear Reed Warblers here,
another species we rarely see in Brittany. We don't find many lakes
which are accessible to the public, let alone ones with reed beds.

Sunday we headed for the coast to our favourite spot at Port Mer. I've written tons about this place already as around the corner is the headland known as la Pointe du Grouin full of wildflowers where I love to go butterfly spotting! If you want to see photos from sunnier days look at the tag at the bottom of the post and that'll take you to previous posts. We were lucky as although it was quite overcast, it was warm and the sun seemed to come out when we were on the headland so there were plenty of butterflies about. But first, we ate. :-)

I had a fish and shellfish dish with choucroute underneath, a bit of an odd mix but very nice.

I was thinking of having a paddle in the sea but by the time we had finished lunch the tide was way out revealing a rather slimy green seaweedy area, also it just started to spit with rain! But by the time we'd driven the five minutes round to the headland, then spent 15 minutes trying to find somewhere to park (bloody tourists!), the sun had come out.

Up on the headland at Pointe du Grouin; lots of wildflowers here.

Saw my first Small Copper of the year!

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas).

There were two of these lizards beside the Semaphore Station.
I think they are Common Wall Lizards (Podarcis Muralis)
but I'm not 100% sure.

I never tire of seeing Swallowtails (Papilio machaon)! There is tons of wild fennel
growing here which is one of the host plants, although I've never
spotted one of their caterpillars on the plants.

Wild Fennel, Yarrow, Grasses and a partial view of the Semaphore Station.

I was so happy to spot my favourite and most tiny of Skippers,
the Lulworth Skipper (Thymelicus acteon). This is the male which has just
a faint hint of the markings that are prominennt on the female.

Female Lulworth Skipper (Thymelicus acteon).
These guys are tinier than Small Skippers and are oh so cute!

A view over the island (Île des Landes) which is a bird reserve.

Another view with wildflowers and rocky islets.

I'm finishing off with four photos of what I ate at our favourite all you can eat Chinese buffet. I ate four courses.... forgot about taking a photo of the first one until I'd already scoffed the prawns.... I still can't believe that I can eat this much food!!!

First course - Thai salad and prawns.

2nd course, tempura prawns, crab claws, squid rings and a spring roll.

Main course, various dishes!

And a strange mix of Chinese desserts....
I love lychees but I brought the cookie and the 'nougat'
(peanut and sesame seed chewy stuff; it's wonderful) home but ate it a few hours later!

35 comments:

  1. All I have to say to this is Oink Oink Lil' Mrs. Piggy... LOL I am so glad you are feeling better and eating better and I understand some what you are going through because of Angel. Love you so much my friend and thank you for sharing you story with us

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    1. Thanks very much Virgil and I appreciate your comments. Onwards and upwards for both Angel and me! xx

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  2. Ah...food....now you're speaking my language! I'm glad I'm not the only one who takes a camera into restaurants.

    Glad to hear you are enjpying getting out and about. Lovely photos as usual

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    1. Yes but this is the unhealthy version probably full of MSG, but what the hell, we don't eat this food every week.....gotta have a treat now and again. :-) Thanks D - I really enjoyed my mini holiday! xx

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  3. Glorious post with superb pictures as always and lots of delicious food! I am SO PLEASED you've been able to get out and about. Those piccies of you with your bro and hubby are lovely. Sending you lots of positive thoughts for the next round of Chemo- you go, girl! xx

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    1. Thanks so much CT. I feel ready to face it and look forward to it being over, but not too quickly as I still want to enjoy the rest of summer! But already making plans for next year (geting out and about much more) and guess what, my moth trap (like Amanda's) arrived today and is going out tonight! :-) xx

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    2. Yay! Excellent news about the trap! I am now dying to see what you get!! xx

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    3. OMG there must have been a hundred moths and the icing on the cake - two Elephant Hawkmoths - my most want to see moth!!! Lots of other lovely things currently cooling down in the fridge before I go through them all. Not scientific as I didn't note numbers (too many, probably about 100 in all) so loads are in the potting shed and will be released at dusk. Worth every penny! I'm so excited. :-))))))

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    4. I knew you'd be hooked as soon as you put it out! Ellie Hawks are very beautiful aren't they? I still remember the first morning I checked my first trap (a skinner, like yours). I couldn't believe what was flying around the garden unseen at night. It is a magical experience, seeing so many beautiful creatures altogether like that. I hope you're armed with a decent moth bible? The British Field Guide (Waring & Townsend) is a must-have- I'm sure many of the moths in it will be with you in France too. And also the Hampshire Moths website (sorry, have repeated myself as have just left same advice below in your chat with Amanda!) xx

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    5. I can't remember the name of the book but I got one with the moth trap as a beginner's kit. There are quite a few in the moth section of my insect book too, and that's handy as it's Europe, not just UK. Then there is good old Google which comes up trumps sometimes! But I'll still have some don't knows which I hope you'll be able to help with! But it's great making the ID by yourself, and aids learning. :-) xx

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  4. I am so glad to hear you are feeling so much better, eating well and able to get out and about more.

    A wonderful post - all the photos are lovely but the macro shots are my particular favourites especially the Small Copper. I will check out your other posts on that superb looking headland after tea :)

    I am so pleased you have gone ahead with the moth trap purchase - you will have such fun and I can't wait to see some of the moths you trap. Be warned though its very addictive :)

    I hope all goes well with the next round of chemo - at least the end of the treatment is in sight.

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    1. Ragged Robin - See what I wrote to CT just above - my goodness I never expected so many moths! It's fantastic. :-)

      Thanks for your lovely comments and you are sweet to have read the previous posts. Now you understand why I love it up there! I've found out about some other walks around coastal areas nor far away from that area, which if I'm feeling well enough in the few days before the next lot of chemo (I usually feel OK after about 10 days) then we may try visiting one or two of these places this summer, if not, lots to do next spring/summer.

      I'm not too bothered about the chemo as I'm heading towards the end and if the new anti nausea drug continues to work as well as it did last time then I should get through it a LOT better than previously. Thanks my dear. xx

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    2. So pleased to see how many moths you are trapping especially the Elephant Hawkmoth :) Id does get easier I promise. When I first started it used to take me an hour or more sometimes to id some of the smaller noctuids (so many look so similar). I can't wait to see some photos and hear more :)

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    3. Thanks RR - I have managed to ID some of them, the ones that caught my eye the most! I'm not going to even try with the smaller, duller looking ones just yet. Plenty of time in the future! :-) I want to get it out again soon under the lime trees in case there are still lime hawkmoths still around. I will start working on blogging again soon but been sleeping most of the last two afternoons due to chemo again!

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  5. It's great to see that your appetite's so good and that you're getting out and about.
    Great photos, I love the Small Copper and the Swallowtail and the food looks delicious.
    I hope the chemo goes well. Xx

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    1. Hi Deb and thanks! I also saw a male blue butterfly, probably a Common Blue, but couldn't get a photo. Unfortunately they are not common at all around my way and I don't see them very often! I would spend hours there but have to bear in mind that hubby, although he is quite interested in butterflies etc, gets bored after a while! :-) xx

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  6. Just had to leave another comment to say how much I enjoyed reading the past posts - your macro photography is really superb :) My parents years ago when they first retired used to disappear to Brittany every year for the month of June and seeing their photos I could see why. They just used to tour around and stop off for a few nights wherever the fancy took them! Having now seen your photos and read your blog I have to say I would love to holiday there myself one day (out of tourist season!!) - it looks so beautiful and good for flowers and butterflies :)

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    1. There are some gorgeous parts of Brittany which unfortunately are too far for us for a day trip as we live in NE Brittany. We did a 5 day trip around with my mum one time and it's such a gorgeous place with the most wonderful beaches and fabulous rock formations on the north coast etc etc. I have some more Brittany (and a few other places in France posts) under the tag 'French Friday'. I started off labelling all my French posts with that and posting them on Fridays, then that kind of fell by the wayside..... I would recommend it as a holiday destination but if you can possibly get here in June before the school holidays (both French and English), or early September, it would be better!

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    2. Thanks for the tip re: French Friday - I will check them out later - have to go and do some housework now :(

      We did almost make it to France some years ago as the children were keen on Normandy and I did quite a lot of research but in the end the hassle of getting passports meant we never went but I would love to come over one day. The scenery and wildlife in your posts are just fantastic :)

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    3. Ditched the housework!! Have had a look now - a really wonderful selection of posts and the photos are great especially of the insects and birds. Loved the bird reserves you travelled further South too and those villages with higgledy piggedly buildings were exceedingly quaint. It looks so beautiful there (apart from the bird hunting :( ) .

      I must go round to my mother's house and see if I can find the photos Dad took - there are albums full of them somewhere.

      Off to take photos of moths now!!

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    4. Lol, nice to know my blog is more interesting than housework! France in general is a beautiful country to tour around and it's so handy for us to be this side of the channel for our kind of touring in the car holidays - bit like your parents' jaunts around Brittany. It's a long way down to the Pyrenees area which we love and still have so much more to discover (both French and Spanish sides), but at least we can get there in one day - yet it takes us the same amount of time to get from Brittany to my mum's in Somerset which is not so far as the crow flies but have to spend hours on a ferry! Swings and roundabouts really!

      What's a bit frustrating around here where we live is the lack of reserves and places to visit for birdwatching that have hides, and many places where there are lakes are not even accessible! The UK is much better for nature reserves/walks through farmland etc. Having to drive two hours south to find the sort of place we like to visit is quite tiring! It would be nice to relocate in that area one day when we downsize..... but I fear it's more expensive!

      Anyway thanks for looking at my old posts. :-)

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  7. Lovely post and so nice to see you out having fun and food, Thick-Legged Flower Beetle looks like it has been riding in the tour de France !
    Hope you get the trap out this week, some people can catch hundreds but this week with the weather I'm lucky to get 20/30 moths, still exciting though.
    Amanda xx

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    1. Hi Amanda, yes I know about the beetle, it's quite incredible. I wonder why nature made him that way - it's not like he's a grasshopper who needs to leap a long way! I got the trap set up and put out last night and must have caught a hundred, my goodness way more than I expected plus two Elephant Hawkmoths which I have never seen before but have wanted to for years!!!! All in the fridge right now as very flitty and I'll be going through them all later to take photos. I can recognise a few of them due to yours and others photos already! :-) xx

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    2. I am soooo pleased for you.. look forward to the photos, I was a bit worried you might have been disappointed in case your numbers were low, by the sounds of it I did not have to worry..
      Amanda xx

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    3. 5 hours I've been doing this, Amanda! I brought in about 45 to photograph, some escaped into the living room before I could though I've been keeping them in the fridge. I'm not even dressed yet!! Then I have to download the photos and go through them all, process the better ones and attempt some ID..... blimey this is time consuming! :-)

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    4. Ha..love it. It does get easy and you will be surprised how quick you recognise the moths, you can just put it out when you know you have time in the morning to go through them. I have just been putting the light out and catching ones I haven't seen before, then putting the light away befor I go to bed.
      Amanda xx

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    5. Phew good to know it gets easier :-) I wanted to bring them in because I was scared they might all fly away if I tried to photograph them outside, especially when I saw the hawkmoths. I do have a query though, but I'll ask it when I do a post with some of the moths on it - I have managed to ID a couple but the plainer looking ones are going to be the hardest. For the moment of course I'm interested in the big ones and the colourful ones. :-)

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    6. Hawkmoths are generally fairly sleepy during the day and amenable to handling. When they start to vibrate their wings you've usually got a couple of mins at least before they take off. Have a look at the Hampshire Moths website page 'what's flying tonight' it should give you a broad idea of what's flying for that week, even in France I should imagine :o) Will look forward to your moth post with interest! BTW- when I first started doing moths it took me eight hours to process them! But as Amanda says, you'll pick the ids up v quickly if you do it regularly, and of course numbers will start to drop through August and into September. I've a fair few pictured and listed on my blog under various moth posts- you're v welcome to search through the posts (just type in moth) and compare. Little brown jobs are always hard to id with confidence tho! And as for micros.... xx

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    7. Cheers CT - I have managed to ID quite a few now and have got a few from various blogs. I keep looking through the moth posts hoping to learn more, but it'll take time. It does help to 'meet' the moth in person, because yesterday I found one on the floor and even without looking close up I thought it was a yellow tail, and I was right! :-) About halfway through sorting through my moths and photos!

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  8. Oh how wonderful for you to be able to revel in eating and food again!
    And out in the healing power of nature, flowers and insects.

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    1. Hi Diana and thanks - it has been a wonderful break and today I've been playing with my new moth trap (or rather, the moths) which went outside for the first time last night. A fitting end to my vacation. :-)

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  9. So pleased you've had such a nice little break in more than one way!.
    The food looks lovely and so do you my dear.

    Philippa xx

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    1. Thanks so much, Philippa. It was wonderful and even if I don't feel up to going out again until my treatment is over again it was worth a short time of feeling half human again! Now only 4 chemo sessions left - have slept both afternoons after coming back from hospital as sometimes it just really knocks me out. Hope to at least get in the garden a bit today! xx

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  10. The Lulworth Skipper was a good capture Mandy and its good to see that you are 'Pigging out.' {:))

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    1. Thanks Roy - was happy to see them there as I've spotted them through the living room window three times now, only for them to do a disappearing act as soon as I step outside!
      I thoroughly enjoyed the pigging out! :-)

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