Sunday and the first waking up on holiday in FLIP the cottage that has been rented for the week. Of course its a lazy start to a sun day. A low key breakfast long after our neighbours in FLOP had driven off somewhere. So its warm drinks on the lawn that looks out over the sea before we decide to wander down to the closest shop and get essentials, like butter and AAA batteries to make the TV remote work. We discover that it is the village garage sale day and the two houses either side of FLIP and FLOP had a range of crap laid out on tables hoping someone would buy it. There was a moment when I looked at the industrial chop saw for £50 but quickly came to my senses, it is not after all the normal bring home souvenir from a holiday.
The local Premier shop, open 24/7 of course to cater for the chalet parks around it was an Aladdin’s cave goodies of, everything a cabin dweller could ask for. Bizarrely triple A batteries were stored with the spirits and vapes and had to be asked for. With far more in the bags knapsacks than we anticipated we my partner and I returned to flip and squirreled away our shopping. Time for a drink and a bit of a breather before I suggest a walk down the beach. Donning our “walk down the beach outfits” we stepped out and took the twenty yard hike to the beach, which turned out to be far more pebbly than it had looked from a distant. We walk along and noted how there was evidence of a continuing battle with sea erosion and that some of the holiday chalets where going to inevitably one day slip into the sea. It was bright, sunny and blowy but invigorating. One small child had taken her sea unicorn and was doing a runner pursued by a concerned adult.
Back at FLIP it was time for a sandwich and a read. The back garden is sheltered and it was possible to read for a while in the afternoon sunshine and still listen to the sound of the rolling sea. Come three o’clock I watch the Community Charity Shield, which ends in a penalty shoot out, which sees Crystal Palace win. There is cherry cake and water in the sunshine before I start to draft the blog while my partner prepares tea. FLOP, or the tortoise folk, as I have named them, are BBQing slabs of meat on the electric BBQ that they brought with them, eschewing the traditional one supplied by the landlords of FLIP and FLOP.
Having put the new batteries in the TV remote our evening can be a combination of reading, knitting and watching the new series on i-player that we started. All in all a slow day of settling in and finding our bearings. I am still trying to work through the results from my latest bloods and the last oncology review results, they could not be more different. The review brings me the good news that my metastasis is no where to be found, my bloods bring me my highest PSA level for two years and lowest kidney function for the same length of time. I do not know what is going on, its like being on a rollercoaster. I’m not sure what to think at all and I am trying desperately to think about what I can do. So far I have got as far as no more fizzy drinks, only water, and High Intensity Interval Training. I find it all a bit scary at the moment. Tomorrow I shall find postcards and stamps and let the outside world know i am still alive and kicking.
