A time of peace.

Dear All,

Everything is going quite well in this interim between treatments. It is just a case of getting strong again for the next operation. In January there will be more scans to determine if the bowel tumor has reacted to the chemo and radiation and to see if anything has spread further. Again my heartfelt thanks to all of you who have helped us so much at this time. The weather is probably the same over the whole of Europe. How pleasant to watch from ones's warm, cosy living room as the little birds starve to death outside. Seriously we are doing all we can. I gave them a peanut yesterday and shall do so again at the end of the week, if I haven't eaten them all by then. We even get seagulls this far inland. A pleasant old-fashioned Sunday. Adam came round for the afternoon and we all played Klaverjas, a dutch card game, and drank port, followed by 3 episodes of The Tudors with Emma and Merel. All a bit decadent, just sitting in front of the TV munching crispy things and quaffing. But nice. Time to be active later. We have all got even closer since my illness and I value the people around me even more than before, especially Merel and Emma. The room lights up when they come into it. We look for each other and are warm together. You don't know which way it can go, so make the best of the time that you have. I wish I had Adam's quiet, inner peace. I have thought about religion but no further than that there may well be something there, but not in any of the forms that vie so cruelly with each other now and in the past. I don't see any of us as important enough to warrant individual treatment from a God, but I do recognise the forces of Good and Evil. And the even more powerful third force, Indifference.

Hoogeweg polled willow

Hoogeweg 34 under snow

Icicles. Hopefully to fall on one

 of those annoying chickens.

Yesterday (Monday) we went to the doctor to have all my metal stitches removed. I was not sure how this would be done. I imagined, since the whole shebang was red raw and very sore that there would be some kind of local anaesthetic such as footballers get when they are writhing around in agony. Then a magic aerosol and they are away again. Forget it. A pair of pliers and a good yank. Some were only mildly excruciating but others sent me almost into squealing stuck-pig mode. The lady didn't give me a lollipop or a balloon because I hadn't been a big boy and almost cried. Whatever happened to that nice embroidery the surgeons used to do that dissolves itself after a few weeks? Anyway, it's done now and presumably it will all heal up nicely. Most disappointed to hear that the greatest danger  to the healing process is a Ricketts Megabath. 3  minutes max, says the doctor, or you could open up like a squashed grape. Not worth  the trouble or the expense of heating up the water. A pleasant evening watching The Charge of The Light Brigade with Emma. Hundreds of men and horses being shredded and disembowelled by shrapnel. Marvellous entertainment. Tuesday, I drove again and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon with Bernadet cruising the re-cycling shops. Not buying much, just looking at old silver pots and stuff. Bought a few more bath books. A have such a pile of cheap thrillers, courtroom drams and detective stories so as to render my eventual access to the bath an official Bath Holiday. I leave you with some modest Art Forms.  

Still life started by Merel,
 finished by Elli

Homework Crejat - Landcape - our garden
 - in pointilism  style of Seurat - Didn't work out

Homework Crejat - Still life

Homework Crejat - Landscape

Our last contribution to the World of Art - This magnificent snow sculpture spotted in Heiloo.






I am now entering a time of rest and recovery before the real operation begins. I feel really good and remain positive that I am going to get out of this trouble. I have too much left to do. Great that I have so many people to look forward to as visitors in January. And again my thanks to all who have helped me through this first phase of my recovery.


Love Spike.