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Miles Covered under my own steam in my drive to improve my physical fitness and so strengthen my immune system to take the fight to the tumour.
10.43 Miles
Morning Walk War Memorial Loop 1.7 Miles
Morning Prayer & Organ practice St Modocs Church & Back 1 Mile
Lunch Time Weighted Fast Walk 4.03 Miles with 18 lbs in my rucksack
Evening Walk Wood of Doune Long 2.4 Miles
Evening Prayer & Organ Practice St Modocs Church & Back 1 MIle -
Bags of Rubbish Collected as part of my ongoing drive to keep improving my balance to an optimum level.
1 Bag
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Time in Prayer and Organ Practice. Prayer is the greatest power on earth and forms a significant part of my day In which I thank God for bringing me out of the shadow of night and into the light of a new day that I can spend in service before praying for healing, for guidance on the challenge and most importantly the healing and needs of others. I also take time at this point to read the daily readings as a source of wisdom while practicing the organ tunes I have learnt and am learning as part of my morning and evening prayer routine to force the cognitive rewiring of my brain.
90 Mins of Prayer
20 Mins of Organ Practice -
Food is a huge part of my challenge to beat the beast and has also generated a significant amount of interest so I will mention in bullet points any changes to what was eaten. (Food eaten daily will consist of the following:
- Breakfast will almost always be an oat based cereal mix served with a banana, two dozen or so blueberries and a tablespoon of flaxseed served with coconut milk followed by a piece of wholemeal seeded toast with butter and Marmalade and then an apple and a glass of pure orange juice. Any changes for the day will be noted here.
- Lunch will almost always be either a tuna mayonnaise sandwich with spinach, rocket and watercress salad or a poached egg on toast with spinach, rocket and watercress salad followed by a veggie pick and mix of 50g of tenderstem broccoli, 10g of carrots, 12 red grapes and 4 cherry tomatoes. Any changes for the day will be noted here.
- 8 to 10 Brazil Nuts will also be consumed daily by taking 2 brazil nuts each time I return home from a walk or Physical Training or the Church. A Cup of Horlicks will be drunk each evening along with a port glass of red wine and 3 squares of 85% Dark Chocolate.
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Tea will almost always be a home cooked meal cooked from raw ingredients followed by a tangerine. Tonight was Salmon with homemade Mango Salsa including in the salsa garlic, spring onions, mango pieces, juice of a lime, chopped ginger, chilli powder and mango chutney.
Verdict? Margaret Loved it!!
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Achievements. What have I actually managed to achieve through the day beyond cooking, eating, praying, practising and Physical Training.
- Confirmed the set up and direct debit for my electricity bills.
- Chased up the Factor for the flat to identify expected costs.
- Completed stripping the wallpaper in the corridor in the flat and tidied up.
- Had the telephone and broadband connected and set them up.
- Made somebody else smile!!!
- How was I feeling? Good. Really good. I so desperately want to feel normal again and will do one day but for now I just have to get on while feeling a little odd, a little different and a little off balance which on comparison with other days is feeling really good. The ferret’s batteries never got replaced.
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Memorable God Filled Moments. I was going to break this category down into two parts but then I realised that a memorable moment has undoubtedly got God’s hand at work within it so the two go together and remain together as the point at which I tell the story at the end of the post.
Today was a day full of colour and light. It started with the light in the face of one of my neighbours who lives below me in the flats. I was asked by a member of the congregation in St Modoc’s church to keep an eye on Margaret and just help to make sure that she is okay if I can find the time. She is a widow, getting older and finding life a little harder. I reassured her that I would but wasn’t quite sure what the best thing to do would be. She has a nurse come to visit her 3 times a day and her son and daughter, though they live some distance away come and visit regularly. The time in which she spent most of her time alone appeared to be tea time in the evenings. So after a little thought it suddenly dawned on me what I could do. As an internet food shopper it is very difficult to cook for one person each evening. Salmon fillets come in twos. Steaks come in twos. Courgettes and leeks come in packets of more than one. I could of course just use one and freeze the other but in trying to pare down a recipe designed for four people when cooking for one I found that I was more often than not producing enough food for two. Could I not therefore just give the second portion to Margaret. It is good wholesome, freshly prepared food cooked from raw ingredients from scratch and packed full of the vitamins and minerals that she would need to stay healthy. I decided to go and ask her but then saw a nurse come in so I rushed down the stairs to ask her opinion first. The nurse was not sure that she would appreciate it. ‘She was set in her ways. You might find it quite difficult to accommodate her requirements’. I felt as if she was putting me off so went back upstairs and thought about it some more. Surely I could explain that I am away a lot and often not back until really quite late at night so not to therefore become dependent on me cooking. Surely I could just ask and see what she says. I was suddenly very nervous about asking. I didn’t want to offend her or scare her or put her in a difficult position but here was a golden opportunity to stop wasting food and to improve the life of another person just through some good quality food and somebody else caring for her welfare. I had to ask her so on my way back from Morning Prayer I knocked on the door. I immediately found myself whisked into her flat and shown to a seat. I explained that I had this conundrum in which I was always left with too much food than I could eat when I cook and hate having to throw it away. Would she like to eat it if I brought it down for her? Margaret’s face lit up like a beacon. She was over the moon with the idea. She explained that she was finding it harder to cook for herself so was eating these frozen meals for one but would much prefer some home cooked food. I couldn’t understand why I had been so unsure about asking but was thrilled that I had. I had to be careful not to set a precedent that I couldn’t keep so I explained that I am often not back til late and sometimes unexpectedly so so perhaps we should keep it very simple. If I am back in time to cook a proper meal for us both I will knock on the door by 5:30pm at the latest to check that you are happy with whatever I was proposing to cook that evening. So if you haven’t heard from me by 5:30pm don’t wait for me. Just presume that I am late back and stick one of your freezer meals in the oven. Margaret thought that eminently sensible and then I checked if she had any allergies. No. Was there anything that she didn’t like to eat. ‘No dear I’ll eat anything!’ Do you mind slightly spicy food if I was to do a stir fry or a curry for example. ‘No not at all dear!’ This was so much easier than I thought it would be and I felt a million dollars for having made the effort to make the offer. Margaret kept saying that she didn’t want to put me to any trouble but I was cooking for myself anyway and we were just making sure that I didn’t waste any. I suggested that we make a first go at it this evening as I stood to leave and Margaret showed me out full of excitement and thanks for my offer. I walked back upstairs with a huge smile on my face as the endorphins as reward for a good turn done came rushing in.
On my weighted fast walk I was captivated by the colours of the early summer. The blossom on the trees. The blossom on the gauze framing my route over Currachmore. My first butterfly and the glorious greens of a landscape coming into leaf. Later in the day I briefly watched the wonderful sight of a mother playing on the grass with her young infant in the park in the sun as the swallows swooped fast and low in a criss cross pattern across the park below me and around the mother and her child. It was a perfect scene of Summer that brought me to peace and helped me feel a little more stable inside.
But tea time brought the most humerous moment. I checked that Margaret was in after her afternoon being escorted around Stirling. She was in but tired claiming it was all a bit much for her. So I reassured her not to worry. She could put her feet up and relax while I cook her tea. She smiled radiantly exclaiming ‘Oooohhh I’m such a spoiled Monkey!’ I reassured her that it was a pleasure and cooked her tea. It all came out well. I put the spinach, rocket and watercress salad on the corner of the plate, presented it nicely and with my Apron still on whizzed down stairs to deliver tea with a pudding of mango chunks left over from the mango salsa. Margaret could hardly contain her excitement as I appeared bearing her food in my apron looking like a proper chef apparently. I suggested that she ought to taste it first, laid the food on her table all laid and ready for her and left her to it. The best bit came when I came back. After eating and washing up I was on my way to evening prayer and organ practice and wanted to check Margaret was okay and come up with a plan for the return of the plates. I knocked on the door. I was ushered in so stood and chatted to Margaret for a while. I discovered that she was 92 and then learnt lots about her life as a child and her time in Canada and then I thought she was tiring after her long day out so I suggested that the plates, in the future, could just be left outside her door and I would pick them up on way back from evening prayer. She had already washed up her plates so handed them to me then finding herself stood very close to me she placed her hands on my chest, looked me deep in the eyes with a wonderful sparkle eminent in hers and exclaimed once again with the most wonderful grin and sparkle in her voice, ‘Oooooohhhhhhhhh I am a spoilt monkey!!’ We giggled and then I asked for a hug. I got a hug and remembered that she was 92 so hugged her gently as she kissed my cheek. I reassured her that I should be able to cook for her tomorrow but if I haven’t checked by 5:30pm don’t wait for me. Then it was time to go. It felt so jolly good to have made somebody else so very happy and in such a way that took so little effort yet maximised the return such an investment in thought and time makes. It gives Margaret good healthy food to eat. I gives her company. I get to check to make sure that she is okay and reap the healing rewards of the endorphins. It was win win win throughout so if there is somebody close to you who might value a homecooked meal and 5 minutes of conversation every so often please consider offering. It might surprise you. It surprised me!!
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Encouragement given. Here I give a summary of wonderful messages of support that have caught my eye and given much encouragement to me and hopefully many others when they see them.
Little in the way of messages from yesterday but Mum is making me some curtains for the bedroom. Brilliant and I even had somebody give me a honk and a cheery wave as they drove through the village. That cheered me up massively. Thank you Debbie xx
Yours aye
Archie