May 2011

A difficult month overshadowed by the prospect of Jane's operation on 9th and her recuperation afterwards. She has made a remarkable recovery but we are not out of the woods yet. Steve has sold his Porsche and he is still grieving. We've spent quite a lot of time in the garden weeding, tidying and catching up on a list of jobs that never seems to get shorter.
We've revamped the Pig Yard web site because it didn't comply with today's web browser standards and we hope you like the new look and would appreciate any feedback. There's still a lot of tidying up to be done because the site has over 150 pages to be revised. We apologise for the lack of functionality with the Pig Yard Blog which has resulted as a consequence of a software update. Steve will be investigating what has gone wrong in the coming weeks.

Jane's Health

Jane went into Northampton General early in the morning for her surgery and underwent a series of processes before eventually being operated on in the afternoon. Steve picked her up and she was home around 8 o'clock in the evening. After a good nights sleep she felt better and although she was sore and bruised she started working on getting better immediately. Within 24 hours of her operation we were taking a slow walk around Delapre Abbey where this photograph was taken.
Two and half weeks later we went back to hear the results of the operation. It was a mixture of good news and one unknown. The good news is that she won’t need any further surgery however they are awaiting one result to determine what kind of treatment comes next. She expected Radiotherapy which, although uncomfortable, doesn’t carry any of the side effects associated with chemotherapy. If the HER2 test proves positive then she will need radio, chemo and hormone therapy. This can be very debilitating so we’re hoping that the final result is in our favour. We were a bit deflated because we thought we would know all there was to know and we could plan out the next few months. We’re not out of the woods yet but hope to get the results in early June. There’s a possibility that she will need to take Herceptin and as part of this treatment she will need to have chemo as well.
For background information on Herceptin follow this link...

Flowers

Jane was off work for nearly two weeks and she made a remarkable recovery so that she was back to her swimming and cycling by the end of the month.
She received so many good wishes and flowers that she was completely overwhelmed. We ran out of vases to put the flowers in and shelves to put the vases on. It was very helpful for us both to have so many supportive friends and acquaintances. Many thanks to you all.

Spring Goslings

On one of Jane's recuperative walks we came across a gaggle of geese with numerous fluffy goslings. The longer we stood still the closer the came but there was an invisible line they wouldn't cross over.
We wondered how many of them would survive and what predate on them.

Farewell Porsche Boxster

After three years of Porsche ownership Steve eventually sold the car to a local acquaintance. Thankfully there was no need to advertise it. We didn't have the worry of accepting a bankers draft or cash because we knew the buyer was a pillar of the community and was very trustworthy.
This was a difficult decision for Steve as he loved driving the Porsche - the sound of the flat six boxer engine, the road holding and the power in the wide rear wheels that would spin if the accelerator was dabbed too hard. A real drivers car. So with tears in his eyes he gave it a final polish before it was driven away by the new owner.

Garden Barns

The rendering on the garden barns has been slowly dropping off over the past three years so we decided it was time to do something about it. Our regular builder, Bernie, came and worked his magic. Once the render has dried we will then repaint the barns and the garage with white stone paint.
It will be intriguing to see how long Steve can string this job out before he puts brush to wall. Jane will be taking the bets during June and will be offering a prize to the person who gets closest.

Water Feature

The pond sprung a leak two years ago and so we moved all the plants and pond life into a temporary holding pool. This temporary fix has now lasted two years so Jane motivated us into doing something about it. The rill has been cleared out, the pump installed and tested so all we need to do is to replace the pebbles, move the plants and pond life back into their proper place and it will be another garden task ticked off the list.

Hanna

This is a film that is a combination of The Bourne Conspiracies and the Wizard of Oz. Hanna has been trained to survive in a world of CIA conspiracies and she has the aim of killing the CIA operative who murdered her mother. Her training takes place in a remote forest within the arctic circle however her training doesn’t prepare her for the real world of the 21st century and she battles as much with all the new experiences as she does with the rogue element of the CIA.
It’s an action film with lot of running, there aren’t many car chases simply because Hanna’s not old enough to drive. So, although enjoyable, it wasn’t that good – 3 stars out of 5.

Steve - the Parish Councillor

Steve has become a Parish Councillor in an unopposed election (not much of an election when there is nobody else to vote for, so whatever happened to local democracy?). As a member of the establishment he has to be seen at local events such as the village plant sale.
Here he is putting the world to rights with the secretary of the village hall committee.

Next Month...

Jane will get the missing test results and we will know what her medication will be.
We are going to a gig. We've got tickets for Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood at the Albert Hall.
We hope to fit in a holiday before the June is out.

The Pig Yard