Saturday rolls around and I wake up not feeling good as my gut is off. As a result I have my back up breakfast of tomato soup and my morning meds. The rest of the day consists of me watching football and rugby while I try to get myself together. By the early evening I felt well enough to have a shower and put on my glad rags to go for an anniversary meal. When it came time to go I felt so crap I did not go, but my partner and eldest daughter went off to enjoy posh nosh. In an effort to pull my gut around I made pasta which I washed down with a brandy. Brandy is my go to medicinal cure for a bad gut, the alcohol in brandy acts as a depressant on the gut and stops it from spasming. By the time my partner and eldest daughter return from the restaurant I am beginning to feel a bit better. After an episode of The Brokenwood Mystery’s I go to bed in the hope that I will feel better in the morning.

Sunday and my waking is tentative as I check to see how I am. My gut is feeling better but I am still feeling tired and the effects of chemo. The worst thing is the terrible taste in my mouth that the chemo is responsible for. It takes any joy out of eating as I do the taste equivalent of a Marcel Marceau performance. Had I gone to the restaurant last night I might as well eaten a napkin, roast, poached, boiled, seared, stewed, braised or just lightly and neatly ironed. My partner brings me a hot water and we chat for a while until I get up and make toast for breakfast. As I am pottering about in the kitchen I have a second look at the dishwasher and spot the Model number that I was looking for, but missed, yesterday. My partner and I jot the model number down and while I munch my way through toast I order new spray arms for the dishwasher. With luck it will give Daisy (dishwasher) a new lease of life.

I retreat to the lounger and start to catch up on drafting the blog while the garden guy arrives and starts to prepare the ground for the new mini green house to go in. Although I am not at my best it seems that things can still get done. The new mini greenhouse will soon be in place and my partner will be able to start the spring seed sowing for the flowering plants in summer.

I spend time reviewing the new poetry website, prost8kancerman.com, and thinking about what I want to put into the blog. At the same time I am thinking about getting organised for my annual wrestle with the tax man. For now I rest and plan an afternoon of writing and reading. Tomorrow will be the day for action.