Or, we can go out whenever we like! For the last eight weeks the undergardener and I, have been going to the hospital in Exeter every day for radio therapy treatment for his prostate cancer. Last Friday was his last session, thank goodness, we now just have to wait 8 weeks to see the Oncologist to make sure that everything is ok once more. Hormone therapy will continue for another 3 yrs.
Looking through the rhododendron bed to the back garden.
Only the essentials in the garden and house have been done, so it will be good to get out into the garden once more and have a good session clearing the weeds. Blogging has had to take a back seat I’m afraid, I am way behind with reading your posts and leaving comments, but I have tried to write a few posts so that it wasn’t obvious that we weren’t at home.
Looking back the other way through to the circular lawn with the bog garden.
My children have been telling me for a while, that some people who have announced to the world through their blogs, Twitter or Facebook that they are away on holiday, are finding that if they have been burgled while away, their insurance companies are now refusing to pay out. Obviously we didn’t want this to happen to us, hence trying to keep the blog as near to the norm as possible, but I now have a lot of catching up to do. I don’t for one moment think that burglars are interested in my gardening blog, but you never can tell, better to be safe than sorry.
The view from the scree across the back lawn to the archway into the woodland.
It will be so good not to have to struggle every day (except weekends) to find a parking space at the hospital. Oncology patients are given a free parking permit so at least we didn’t have to pay (£2.50), but could hardly ever find a space in the oncology car park, sometimes having to go round and round in the main carpark before spotting a space.
View of back garden with Dicentra
The department itself is a wonderfully cheerful place with everyone laughing and joking about their various bits and pieces receiving treatment, you wouldn’t think any of them were seriously ill!
View across the circular lawn.
Some of you may remember that 4 weeks ago I wrote a post called “Playing Truant”, I’m sure you thought we were playing truant from the garden. We were actually playing truant from the hospital, the undergardener was given a rest day half way through his treatment, to go out and enjoy himself, which we certainly did. I think we ought to celebrate the end of his treatment sometime don’t you?!
Pauline,
I’m so sorry that you and the undergardener are going through this…..Life is a gift but it has it’s ugliness! That’s why gardening is so important……to create beauty and push away the clouds. You certainly have created beauty! Everything looks amazing! Your flowering bushes and trees are lovely. The picture you took of the Rhoddy blossom is frame worthy.
Wishing you and the undergardener happy gardening!
Thank you Sally for your kind comments, we are just getting used to our freedom! The garden is certainly calling us to spend more time in it, but I must make sure that we sit and enjoy the flowers, the colours, the scents wafting round on the breeze, the sunshine and the birds singing!
I´m happy to hear that you can rest now, and think of something else. Your garden look wonderful, and now you can fully enjoy it again.
Yes Gitte, I am going to make sure that we enjoy the garden from now on, we will get the work done that has had to be put on hold, but we must also make time to just sit and count our blessings.
Yes, this is definitely to be celebrated 🙂 What a relief that the ‘radio’ is over. I have to say that your garden still looks amazing. I don’t know how you managed. xx
It was a long slog having to go to Exeter each day, but we were some of the lucky ones, some had to come from the north coast of Devon and cross Dartmoor each day! I have been taking a lot more “long views” for my blog, the weeds don’t show up so much from a distance!
Oh that’s great news Pauline. With best wishes to you both and hope that you will enjoy a more relaxing time from now on. Enjoy the garden!
Thank you Jessica, we will enjoy the garden, now that we have the time to do so. It is so good that his treatment is over and hopefully he will recover from the side effects very soon.
Oh….I am sorry to hear the Undergardener has had to go through all that, but what wonderful news that the treatment is complete, here’s to his complete recovery!!! It is hard visiting hospital each day and totally draining, how wonderful that you can now both enjoy that gorgeous garden of yours!xxx
Thank you Dina,yes, we are now just waiting, we hope, for the all clear, in the meantime we will certainly enjoy ourselves, as well as catching up with everything else.
So glad to hear that you both have some time to pause and just enjoy letting the days unravel without hospital appointments dictating the pace. Finding a place to park in a hospital car park seems to be a universal problem Pauline and must increase the stress that patients and their families are under. The garden is looking fabulous. You must have been out there gardening at dawn or dusk 🙂
The hospital Anna, tried to lessen the stress by giving us a free parking permit, which was much appreciated. It still didn’t guarantee a place though in the car park, but we managed to find one each day eventually! I only managed a short spell of gardening each day, hence the long views, the weeds don’t show up so much, I’m really looking forward to tackling them all!
It will be all fine for your undergardener, I’m praying for you and your family 🙂
Thank you so much Lily, we really appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
I am very pleased to hear that the Undergardener has got through all that treatment at last. It must be such a relief, and now is the best time to get out in the garden for some gardening therapy! The pictures you have posted recently of it all look stunning, with no signs of neglect, but I can imagine how you feel… I find that just being outdoors pottering can make me feel better even if I don’t get all the weeding done!
We’re both really glad that it is over Cathy, and garden therapy is just what we need, well, I do at least! I find that just working among the plants is very theraputic and the time soon passes. Some weeds are now so huge, I can’t ignore them any more, I just wish it would stop raining!
I’m happy you two are on the other side of this treatment now and can enjoy your garden and other pleasures.
Thanks Susie, it seems a long time since we had a day just to ourselves, we are now enjoying our new found freedom!
Dear Pauline and Ungardener, I’m so pleased that difficult stage is over, and now you both have the time to enjoy this amazingly lovely and varied garden.
We’re so glad that the treatment is over Catmint, it seemed to go for such a long time, but at least we can now do what we enjoy most!
I am so pleased that you have both come through a very trying time and are free now to enjoy yourselves again. I love looking at your photos of such a wonderful garden, and reading your blogs. Best wishes for the future.
Thank you so much Anne for your kind message, also thank you for your lovely comments about my blog!
Oh Pauline this is wonderful and yes celebrate! Your garden has bloomed beautifully for your homecoming.
Yes Donna, I think the garden carried on very well without me fussing over it! I think we will have to wait a couple of weeks before we can celebrate as the side effects are still in evidence, it would be better if we waited until they are gone, but we can look forward to it!
What great news Pauline, I hope you can think of something wonderful to do for a celebration! I think you need a break from bad news, I hope the two of you have a wonderful and relaxing summer.
The garden looks fantastic. Smart of you to set it up with plenty of reliable interesting things which don’t need fussing over. I’m sure you can see plenty of things which need doing, but for the most part it seems to be carrying on just fine. May is a great month isn’t it?
It is good that it is all finished Frank, we’ll just have to wait a while for the side effects to clear, then I’m sure we can think of something wonderful!
With all the sunshine and showers that we have had for a while now, the weeds are making their presence rather obvious, we have started to pull them out , but it’s going to take a while. I agree, May is a fantastic month, its when the garden goes into overdrive!
I hope the undergardener is doing well. I am sure you are both happy that the trips to the hospital for treatment are over. It is certainly something to be celebrated. The garden looks great despite the fact that you have been busy. Now I hope you both have some time to enjoy it.
Yes Jennifer, he is doing well considering everything, thank you so much. I think we’ll be gardening a little and often, if we tackle one bed at a time, we’ll soon have the weeds back under control!
You both must be thrilled to have such a high hurdle behind you. I’m so glad you’re home relishing the garden and relaxing. Please give my best wishes to the undergardener. And enjoy your weeding!
Yes, Marian, we are so pleased to have that behind us.Thank you for your kind message, I have passed on your good wishes, we have had so many lovely messages, it makes such a difference knowing that people are thinking of you and praying for you. We started the “Big Weed” yesterday, but it is going to take us some time!
I missed this very important post the other day Pauline but glad you highlighted in your GBFD post, I was able to make a point in reading.
It’s been quite a journey for you both and reaching the end of treatment must be such an incredible feeling.
I’m sure you’ll both cherish even the most minimum amount of gardening for the next wee while. Best wishes to the undergardener – he truly deserves them.
It has been a hard slog Angie, but so worth it if everything is ok at the end. We just have 7 weeks now to wait for the result, but the specialists were happy that this way works well in other cases, so should work for the undergardener.
Thank you for your good wishes for the undergardener, I have passed them on and they are much appreciated!
Congratulations to the Ungardener for the completion of his radiation treatments! I went through over seven weeks of daily radiation treatments back when I had breast cancer, and I remember the enormous relief when that was done. I sincerely wish the best for him and pray the treatments will be completely successful. By the way, your garden looks fabulous; it does not look neglected at all. And if burglars would take up gardening, I doubt they would continue long in their life of crime.
Thank you Deb for your thoughts and good wishes for the undergardener, they are much appreciated. I’m so glad your treatment was successful and you are now fine. We just now have to wait a few weeks before seeing the Oncologist when hopefully they will tell us that everything has gone according to plan.
Maybe gardening should be on the list of occupations prisoners take up to rehabilitate them into the community?
Ooops! I meant to say Undergardener!
I think you maybe had it right the first time Deb, gardening is his least favourite occupation!
Hi Pauline,
I hope you are able to breathe a sigh of relief and relax after all the stress you must’ve been under.
Can’t blame you for ensuring you have at least some posts on the blog – I did the same recently when I went away. And never, ever post about going away on something like facebook. You never know which ‘friends’ (and I use the term loosely) could be watching. I know of a blogger I followed years ago (sadly now seems to have stopped) who had to make her blog private after a ‘fan’ began to take things too far and actively attempted to visit her via finding her location using googlemaps and streetview.
Anyway, let’s move on from such scary things!
Your garden is looking wonderful; take things easy for now, after all there’s no rush.
Yes Liz, life is at a more manageable pace now, thank goodness! We now just have to wait for the result but the treatment seems to work for this type of cancer so he should get the ok. soon.
Thank you for understanding my concern over the blog,no one else has commented about this, but I think it is something that we have to be aware of.
We both had a good session in the garden yesterday and what a difference it makes, it will take a while to get everywhere tidy once more, at least with the weeds being so huge, they are so easy to see!
So sorry to hear this Pauline. A close friend of ours has been going through the same process so I know what you have both been going through. All my good wishes to you and the Undergardener. How lovely to have your time back and do what you like each day. Your garden looks wonderful despite the hours you have had to spend away from it. I know what you mean about not saying when you are not at home. I don’ t like to say when I am away either. You never know who might see your blog and work out where you live. Although somehow I don’ t see gardeners as burglars. But you never know.
Thank you for your thoughts and good wishes Chloris. It’s wonderful being able to decide what we are going to do each day.
I think it is mainly Twitter and Facebook where problems have occured with burglaries. I think we all assume that it is only nice people that read gardening blogs, but you never know, I do worry when people announce on their blog that they are going to be away. I’m glad I’m not the only one who is careful!