Some presents for me.

Had a brilliant long weekend away at a friends wedding. It is so good to catch up with mates. 

As we were in Yorkshire we decided to visit a little town called "Holmfirth" you may know it from the TV series "Last of the Summer Wine". Its a really pretty old town,  there were some lovely little shops and I did manage to buy myself some little pressies.

The cushions below were from a little vintage shop. I love the colours and the pattern. There is so much detail on them, not sure where they will go but I had to have them.

More roses (can't resist)

A cute little vintage style jug.

I have also bought a few original vintage pieces recently. Our linen basket was disintegrating to the point it was no longer a basket. I decided to buy a "Lloyd Loom" original one to replace it. I was looking for a while until I found a really unique one with a domed top. It is slightly smaller than our old one but a lot prettier. I will probably take it to the workshop soon and paint it again, although it is in great condition.

Finally my Xmas vintage buy was a box of 1960's baubles. They are so pretty, Can't wait to put the tree up and all the decorations.

My vintage piece from America still has not arrived, hopefully some time this week.

End of one chapter, start of a new one.

I saw my Oncologist this week and the good news is I start monthly injections to put my ovaries to sleep for a few years. It was not that straight forward with him though, I had to prove to him that it would benefit me. I know he would of agreed to the treatment but he just wanted to make sure I understood  what I would be taking on. I am so relieved, just thinking that some time soon I will be pain free, it is so exciting. I shall deal with the menopause issues as I go along, who knows I may sail through it, my mum did apparently. This will hopefully cut back on hospital visits, I am hoping soon it will be just one trip a year for a mammogram.

Its has been an uplifting week for me all round, yesterday I ended my counselling sessions as I am in a good place now. I had 6 sessions as I felt a few months ago I was not coping well. It is amazing the difference now, its like a chapter of my life is done with. I have done my grieving, I have talked everything through, I am happy now. We did not even finish the last session as I did not think there was anything left to say.

Darren my husband who had been selected to donate his bone marrow passed the last and final stage. This now means he starts his treatment next week to grow his Stem Cell's for transplantation in 10 days time. Its great news, so we are back off to London for 3 days. It will not be as hectic as last week though as he will be very tired. It may be that he just wants to rest in the hotel, which is absolutely fine. That is one of the reasons we did so much last week. Maybe I will go off on my own Xmas shopping and let him rest.

I am spending this weekend with some of my Best friends at a wedding, I am really looking forward to it. I am going to have some fun with a bit of glamour.

I have some more vintage finds that I shall post next week. One is on the way from America, it will hopefully arrive in the next few days.

 

London was Fab!

Before I talk about London I want to say thanks for all the comments left on my last post about the menopause. Hearing other women's experiences is helping me to make the right choice.

We returned home last night from London after 2 brilliant days. I am not going to forget about the reason we were visiting because that is really important, but it was fun. 

I really don't like using OMG to describe a situation but that is exactly what I thought when we went to to hospital in London. Its a very posh private hospital, not like anything I've ever stayed in or will ever I am sure of that. The security guards wear suits as do the waiters, who bring your food and drink on silver trays. Its was so clean and brand new. I have paid to go private, I still had the same hospital ward, same nurses, same food I just went up the list a lot quicker. This was on a completely different level. Anyway the medical went well and hubby had a lot of blood taken out of him. We wait now to find out if he goes ahead with the stem cell transplant in 2 weeks. The sad thing is that the recipient has only got a 10% chance of survival at the moment, hopefully the transplant will take him to a 50/50 chance.

London was amazing, it has become a great city. "Blood Brothers" the musical was amazing and Marti Pellow is very sultry and sexy in it. It's a very emotional drama, I really do recommend it. 

The Country Living show was great as usual. I did come out of there with lots of bags with lots of pretty things inside them. I cannot show everything because some are gifts for xmas. It was nice to see some Vintage stalls this year selling unique pieces. I can't lie though and say its a pleasant experience shopping in the show. There is a lot of pushing and shoving, it gets hot and frustrating especially around the popular stalls. There are lots of people crammed into a small space but I really think its worth it.

The wine carrier is new as is the vase and the gorgeous roses which are not real. I cannot resist really good artificial roses, it is my weakness.

A gorgeous vintage roasting tin for £5. I already have one but could not resist.

A 1950's original sugar dispenser.

A cutlery caddy for my vintage cutlery.

Finally these 2 handmade wooden stockings. 

I have also been busy pickling as we are all pickled onion nuts in this house. 

Some of the jars on the dresser.

And more in the kitchen. I have nearly 20 jars in total and some are very large jars. We are all on countdown with 3 weeks remaining till we can start eating them. Can't wait!

A small setback.

I know I have not mentioned the cancer for a while, that is because I do not have cancer anymore. It took at least 2 month after radiotherapy for my energy to return. So all in all everything has been going as planned. There has been changes though in the last few months which are not life threatening but a big problem for day to day living. 

The reason I was diagnosed was because I was having long term treatment for breast cysts, my surgeon told me after diagnosis that the good thing to come out of all this is that Tamoxifen (breast cancer drug) would stop the cysts. For the first 3 months it was fantastic, no lumps or pain. Unfortunately that did not last and they have started to return but actually a lot more painful. I was scanned by my surgeon yesterday who found the cysts and tried to syringe some without any luck as they are to deep. The syringing and examination were very painful and I did cry. I think the nurse and doctor were surprised at how much pain I was in by just touching. My breast nurse was lovely and said we know your not a wimp Clare we can see how bad this for you. The reason why my damaged breast is so painful is the cysts are growing in the scar tissue and muscle, which is affecting my movement.

So an appointment has been made to see my Oncologist again to make some changes. I have 2 options, have my ovaries removed or change the drugs and have injections in my stomach. Both will put me in the menopause but going down the drug induced road it can be reversed one day at the end of all this. I will become pain free so there is no doubt I will be doing one or the other. I personally do not want to do either option, but because of the cancer I have no choice, it is my only protection from cancer returning. I have a couple of weeks to do my research and figure out which choice is going to be best for me. I am fed up, I am tired, I just want some normality.