Almost December

How did that happen. I have been a bit wrapped up in things htis year and missed a year going swiftly by.

Fahed has now had his operation. All went well and he is home but unable to walk, with crutches, any furtehr than the loo. Also somewhat dozy as he is on really strong pain killers. Good news though is that he seems to get some sort of sick pay which is really good. His first certificate runs until 2nd January, when he has his check up.

The allotment is looking good. One of my big hobbies is the allotment that my youngest son and I have. We do the no dig method of Charles Dowding. At the moment we have lots of garlic in, all the herbs and the fruit. The fruit bishes are due for a prube tomorrow morning. Otherwise its all about preparing the beds for action in February.

My house made cheese is still maturing but so far it looks fantastic. As soon as Fahed is vertical again we'll be making some more of both feta and camenbert. I am going on a day course in February to learn a bit more.

Driving up to the hospital every night ( 60 mile round trip) has menat i have missed my exercise classes and got a bit behind on other stuff but now he is home then surely i can get on top of things!

Life update: where things get a little more rosy

I had a bit of a talk to myself about being so down and how it wasn’t really helping anyone etc etc. I also started taking St Johns Wort. Between the two I maybe turned a corner. Has anyone found St John Wort useful?

Fahed has been quite hard work since holiday because he had a date for his nasty knee operation. He is unsettled and doesn’t  really get why and he doesn’t realise talking helps. Anyway, yesterday was knee op day. he had a tribal osteoporosis and the surgeon has said it all went very well. Also they videod the operation to use as a training film. Another doctor is seeing him today as they are studying him. I think because he had one knee down with a bone graft and one without. He’s enjoying that bit I think. He is in much pain but he can cope with that. The operation is behind him and he is the centre of medical attention, so perfect! The hospital is about 30 miles away. I’ll go up when visiting starts at 2 and stay until it closes.

I went on a cheese making course. It was only a single day but it was fantastic! I just want to be a cheesemaker now. I made a goodly chunk of feta and 3 Camembert. They are all maturing nicely. We also learnt about making labneh, which we already made and how to make it into a lovely Boursin type spread. Lastly she showed us how to make  a Baileys Irish cream type drink. Well it wasn’t my thing but the family has gone mad for it so I shall be making that for plenty of people as a little Christmas gift.

Some cheesy photos. Checkout the venue. Very lovely. They provided us with induction hobs and pans which didn’t work with induction hobs. Pretty weird as it’s a purpose built cookery school. Short of a lot of equipment but lovely location and excellent tutor.