Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps please....

Good evening bloggers. G has had a much better run with chemo 2 compared with chemo 1 I am pleased to report and he has texted me each day with his "order" for when I go and visit. Today's txt was for an overripe avocado and a bottle of champagne! I did check on the champagne order as I wasn't sure matron would appove, however G explained that the champagne was for another inmate of ward 8 Paul who is getting married to Jane tommorrow in the hospital. G has been invited so hopes he will be disconnected fom the chemo machine for the occasion. Paul and Jane were delighted with the champagne and chocolates and we wish them all the best of luck for tommorrow and beyond.

We have had a busy week with G being in hospital and I would like to thank Nikki, Judith, Marie, Odrian and Sarah for helping to look after the girls allowing me to get into the hospital via Waitrose with all the "orders" for ward 8! Sarah and I did enjoy a spontaneous bottle of cava together on Saturday night and did lots of good plotting for treats to keep us all going over the coming weeks. She is planning a night out on Friday with some wine tasting thrown in and I hope my sister Dot can join us as she is coming down to check up on the Mulligans and have an overnight stay in our new loft appartment!

As G was in hospital I did have some fun with the bluesmobile this week and took it for a spin down to Dumfries via Moffat for a work meeting, got it into the red a couple of times...yeehah
what fun. Holly and I had a trip to Gleneagles to visit my niece Megan who is working at the horse riding centre, we had a great time horse riding and a gorgeous lunch at the hotel.

Went to the Maggies centre on Tuesday evening to get more info for the Monster challenge and met a few people who had done it last year which was useful. Despite the fact that they said it was a really tough challenge, they all had a fab time and were signing up again this year. I was really floored when I saw Tim (the creator of our gorgeous new house) there, he and his friend are going to join the Monster team. G and I were really touched by his gesture so thank you Tim this means a lot to us! Indeed the Monster team has expanded somewhat from last week we now have me, Lorna, Jim, Duncan, Tim, Alex, Kevin, Jonathan, Alex and Ian with Avril and Ian as chief support team with a few others now that "Gerrys Blog Team" has expanded somewhat. So a huge thank you to all of you and training has now begun in earnest! I am going out for an hour a day just walking and jogging a little to get my baseline fittness up. Lorna (who has a personal trainer....get her!) is taking me for a 9 mile hike along part of the Southern Upland way on Sunday and has some quite scary plans for mountain bike training. I am following Ian's more minimal advice which was "just do it". We are also looking into accommodation and R&R in Fort William and Inverness as it is likely to get quite booked up...so team meeting this week to try and get all that sorted out.

Fundaising efforts have started in earnest and Poppy's school are going to donate their collection after the junior school drama production to the Monster. The children are also planning a fashion show and a concert. Holly (the cooker) wants to do a recipe book to sell to "people who like eating". The theme for Holly's book is Comfort food, so we would like you all to donate recipes of indulgence and comfort and any stories about the recipes to us and we will put them together in a book to raise funds for the Monster. To get the ball rolling, and as I am a girl who likes eating here is a wonderful recipe from the American deep South brought to our attention by the gorgeous and delectable Nigella Lawson:

Ham in Coca Cola

2kg mild-cure gammon
2 litres of coca cola (the full fat version)
1 onion
100g breadcrumbs
100g dark muscovado sugar
1 table spoon of mustard
2 table spoons dijon mustard
2 tables spoons of coca cola

Put gammon in pan add chopped onion, pour over the coke bring to the boil then simmer gently with lid on for 2-2 1/2 hrs. Mix breadcrumbs, sugar and mustards to a thick paste using the coke. When the ham has cooked paste on the mustardy crust and put in the oven (210 C gas mark 7) for 10-15 mins until the crust is just set. Serve with floury buttered potatoes some crunchy green vegetables and a glass of ice cold coke. The stock from the ham can be used to make South beach black bean soup, add 500g beans to the liquid, 250mls of water and the juice and zest of a lime and puree and more lime to taste and freshly chopped coriander.

Sarah and I have tried this recipe before and it is truly indulgent and delicious.

So do send in any recipes and we shall enjoy testing them out here to give us energy for all this Monster training!

G should be released tommorrow, hooray! So we just have to make sure he is infection free for the next week at least prior to the stem cell harvest on Monday.

Music for tonight was "Someone like you" by Van Morrison. Good luck to Paul and Jane for tommorrow and hope you all have a good week.

Deputy Blogger