Beach, haggis and caravan plans

 Sorry for the absence, not had anything I wanted to write about.

Life goes on much as usual.  I'm not in quite so much pain - well, not continual anyway.  I'm still incredibly stiff though, and very wobbly on my feet, I have to use my stick when going out, if only to give me a bit of confidence that it'll stop me from falling over.  I've not regained any further feeling in my big toe, it's still semi-numb.  Got my 2nd osteo session Friday morning, I'm hoping for a bit more improvement.  The amitriptyline aren't making me sleep so well anymore, I'm waking up with pain through the night again.  The GP put me on the lowest dose to start with so I guess they need increasing....he did say they probably would.

We're going to a big Christmas craft fair at Hestercombe House (it's a big stately home near Taunton) on Friday afternoon.  I had to book tickets in advance, it's a ticket only event to control the numbers attending, and you can't buy tickets on the door.  Our timed admission is 3pm, so I hope I can still walk having had osteo in the morning!

Went to Dunster beach this morning with Betty, she enjoyed herself hugely as usual.  I remembered to take my stick and managed to not fall over - I did the last time we went there, although as I fell on sand it was at least a soft landing.  A few people around, and quite a few dogs - it was sunny, albeit with a very cold brisk breeze.

I've just made dinner for this evening - haggis cottage pie.  We were given a haggis by neighbours who'd just come back from a Scottish holiday and I was wondering what to do with it - we have had haggis before, in the traditional way, like spicy mince with mash and veg.  From what I remember, it was ok, if a bit strong tasting.  I reckoned it would make a nice cottage pie, with a few additions.  I chopped a couple of carrots and a leek fairly small in my mini processor, then cooked them with a handful of red lentils in a pan of beef stock, until all the liquid had been absorbed.  I chopped up the haggis and microwaved it until soft and crumbly, then mixed it with the carrot/lentil mix, topping it with buttery mashed potato.  It's made one large (4 portion) and one small (2 portion) dishfuls, so we'll have the small one tonight with a green veg and the bigger one will be frozen.

I've been thinking about a few changes for the caravan for next year......having stayed in it quite a lot this year, we now know what works well and what could do with improvement or adjusting.  I'll write about it more in due course, when we've decided for definite.