I Think My Bilbao Trip Did Me Good
Yesterday, I had lunch with an old friend, S. She thought that I might have got the old twinkle back in my eye.
But there have been various changes I’ve noticed since my return.
The major one is that my body seems to have gone much closer to like it was, before I had the stroke three and a half years ago. My fitness trainer came round on Monday and she got me to do stretches that I have found impossible in the last few years. I could actually put my left arm up my back and my right arm over my left shoulder and touch hands. Which is something, I probably haven’t done since 2009. In this area, I’ve also noticed that I can fold my arms in front of my chest. And both ways to boot!
I walked today to the Regent’s Canal and my feet behaved themselves with only a touch of the pain doctors say is arthritis, that has been with me since the 1960s and at times has been bad in the last ten years.
I also had two glasses of wine with S. And both of them tasted like wine. For the last few years, a lot of wine could have been anything, as it was tasteless. The only thing, that seemed to have taste, was the Waitrose lemonade, that I use virtually as a mouthwash.
I certainly tasted the chilli-enriched shepherd’s pie tonight.
Even my nose doesn’t seem to running so much and certainly the dull pain in my lower jaw and teeth has lessened. My nose hasn’t bled either!
My brain seems to be on top form, and I’m fairly certain, that the mean time, it takes me to solve the Super Fiendish sudokus in The Times has decreased. My short term memory seems better too!
I can now wear my watch on my left hand and even doing up shirt buttons is easier. I suspect the latter might be a clue, as men do up shirt buttons with just their right hand, and mine wasn’t affected by the stroke. But I have found buttons difficult for the last three years.
Also, since I arrived in Biarritz, I have found taking my INR a lot easier and much less messy. Could it be that my skin has absorbed a lot of water and now it is much more normal. It certainly feels a lot less dry. The only thing I put on my hands are water, soap and gloves. Moisturisers are for wimps. And on the subject of my hands, I can now cut all my nails myself a lot more easily!
Can all of this be down to the mild, sunny, humid weather I encountered on my trip to and from Bilbao? I had in fact, first noticed the return of the arm crossing ability, when I was lying in bed in the hotel in Bordeaux.
To try to recreate that lovely atmosphere, I’ve had my humidifier on full since I returned and a hire company is delivering a bigger one tomorrow!
I intend to prolong this good feeling.
Is Putting Chilli Flakes Into A Shepherd’s Pie A Good Idea?
I made a pair of shepherd’s pies tonight; one for the stomach and one for the weekend. It’ll probably be Saturday after the football or Sunday evening, when the second one gets eaten.
As an experiment I modified the recipe, by adding a few chilli flakes.
Perhaps, it wasn’t for the purists, but it did impart an interesting flavour.
Bland it wasn’t!
Next time though, and there’ll be a next time, I’ll use a few less.
The Anonymous Widower 