Comments (0)

By Vic, 7 April, 2010 18:04

Monday the 5th of April 2010 marked my half century birthday and bearing in mind some of the things I’ve experienced in those years, I’m guess I’m lucky I made it this far. I am not one to make a fuss of  my birthdays and this one was to be no different; as long as I have my health and my family, that’s all that is important to me. For some reasons unknown, I had always dreaded my impending 50th but after my recent scare, I’m damned glad that I was around to see it and now, I don’t mind it at all.

I had a lovely lie-in followed by seeing our living room festooned with banners announcing my milestone and the presentation of gifts. I was then rewarded with a comment from Alex that only a kid can get away with, when he uttered the unforgettable words “Daddy – are you going to die soon”. Well, I bloody hope not was my unspoken reply with unseen but but firmly crossed fingers.

After a wonderfully relaxed day, we dropped Alex off at Anna’s parents for the night before heading off into Brighton for a meal at La Fourchette, a fine French restaurant renowned for it’s excellent food and atmosphere. We browsed the menu for some time before finally making our choices. As starters Anna, selected the Burgundy snails with garlic butter and parsley, while I went for the Seared scallops with jerusalem artichoke purée and a salad of rocket and balsamic vinegar. Both were mouth wateringly good and savoured to the last – the sort of food that you don’t want to end. There was no argument over the main course, when we both decided on the Classic Chateaubriand, Provençal tomatoes, wild mushrooms and hand cut chips. The beef was cooked to absolute perfection and literally melted in the mouth, while the vegetables were exactly how I like them. I have to say though, that the follow up of  Assiette gourmande with a selection of chef’s desserts was to be a little disappointing in the lack of any real flavour or substance. The best part of the selection in my mind was the chocolate brownie. However, Anna was delighted with her dessert wine and the espresso that I finished with was a killer; fantastically strong, both in content and flavour.

It was the perfect birthday meal and although not cheap, it wasn’t exactly lotto winner territory either. If you like fine French eating and are ever in the area, it is well worth booking. They also do a lunch menu and there is the option of bar food in the adjacent err… bar.

Comments (11)

By Vic, 8 March, 2010 13:56

I’ve been laid up recently after suffering from a heart attack a couple of weeks ago. One minute I was fine and the next, I started feeling a bit ‘unwell’ and then I felt Like I’d been hit by a train. The pain in my chest was staggering and intensified and spread until it was down my left arm and jaw in the classic heart attack symptoms.

Anna called for an ambulance and whilst waiting for it to arrive, the operator stayed on the line in support mode, which was very reassuring. Before the ambulance arrived, a lone paramedic turned up by car and it transpired that we knew each other from when I worked in Brighton and he had in fact been one of the paramedics that had turned up to a bike crash I had a few years ago! Must admit, it was good to see a familiar face and it helped to put me at ease during this stressful time. Once the ambulance arrived, I was loaded on board, given a load of Morphine (nice) and taken to the RSCH A&E and then up to the cath lab, where instead of administering clot busting drugs, they did an angioplasty straight away and a stent was placed to open up the blocked artery.

After a few days care in the hands of the coronary care unit, I was released to go home and recuperate. I have to say that the care I received was first rate and showed the NHS at it’s very best. The staff were incredible and a credit to the profession.

I’m now well on the way to a full recovery, although not allowed to drive for another few weeks which is a bit of a bummer. I still have to go back in a few weeks time as there is another artery that is causing some concern and may have to have another stent fitted. Once all that is sorted, I’ll be on my way to full fitness again, although I’ll be monitored by the cardiac rehab nurses and have to get used to the new drugs I have to take now. Hopefully, I’ll be up and running again in time for the spring squid hunting down at the marina.

Now, apart from the obvious bad points, having a heart attack is no fun. Being a bit of a hirsute person, it was bloody painful when they later peeled off the adhesive heart monitor lead connector patches stuck all over my upper body – cheaper than a body wax but not my idea of fun. My chest now resembles the coat of a mangey old hound with bare patches everywhere. My bruised groin, although a fetching purple and green colour is no good when the other side doesn’t match!

The good points to come out of this; I got to see my eldest daughter for a few days after she travelled down from Sunderland to check and confirm that I was still alive. My Mother came up to visit and made her first coach trip from Southampton to Brighton. My wife Anna – unruffled, calm and bloody fantastic. She’s had to put up with a lot, what with keeping everyone informed and being on the phone for hours, looking after Alex, acting as a hotelier for my daughter, visiting me in hospital and generally keeping everything running. You are one in a million my love – thank you

Comments (7)

By Vic, 21 December, 2009 11:37

Haven’t written much lately due to no fishing.

I’d just like to take the opportunity to say thanks to all who have read my witterings over the last year and hope you have a great Christmas and a productive and happy 2010.

Comments (1)

By Vic, 27 November, 2009 13:15

Well, not had much to write about fishing recently what with work, the weather and other committments, so thought it was about time I wrote something.

We took delivery of our new car last week as it had been time to get rid of the old wagon, a 2001 Renault Laguna Sport Tourer. It was a toss up on the new one, between a Renault Scenic or a Citroen C4 Picasso. In the end, the Citroen won as it was the only one that was both diesel and automatic; not really strictly an auto but EGS which basically is like a sequential manual box but can be used in either auto mode or manual shift via ‘Flippy flappy’ paddles. Engine wise, I opted for the 1.6 litre HDi turbo diesel which combines reasonably good performance with good economy. I’ll miss the performance of the 3.0 litre V6 I had but 50+mpg is a damn site more attractive than the 20 I was getting before.

We haven’t done a long distance trip yet but so far, it has proved to be an absolute joy to drive – comfy, roomy and with plenty of ‘toys’ to fiddle with. The seats are a bit on the firm side firm but are supportive with plenty of adjustment to get the driving postion just perfect. All the controls are well laid out, with the vast majority being controlled from the multi function steering wheel central hub which remains static and independant of the steering wheel itself. It’s a bit weird at first but is a fantastic idea and something I think other manufacturers should think about.

As for fishing – well there’s plenty of space for all the stuff I usually lumber myslef with, so there’s no problem there. I just must be careful and remember not leave items such as buckets with bait remnants and other stuff lying around in the boot to fester and ruin that lovely ‘new car’ smell.

Comments (2)

By Vic, 18 August, 2009 23:15

Having been sidelined from fishing for a little while, I took it upon myself to give the site a bit of a makeover as I thought it needed sprucing up a bit. I do like to have a good old tinker, although not entirely proficient in the witchcraft that is coding, I’m more than happy to delve in and have a go; I mean, what’s the worse that can happen?

Undeterred, I ran a test blog and installed a fresh copy of WordPress along with ‘Panorama‘ a WordPress theme by ‘Themocracy‘. It was the only theme I found that was near enough to the way I wanted the site to look.

Once installed, I set about my tinkering and made a few changes – some minor and some not so minor – to the the theme until I was satisfied I had it the way I wanted. The most obvious changes are the colour scheme and background layout, the minor changes are the rounded corners on the blocks (Update. They’ve been removed for CSS validation purposes but I’m trying to find a work around by use of images) and dividers and other small graphics. The header image is a picture of Seven Sisters on the East Sussex coastline overlayed with a photo taken the year before last at Seaford, when I was out fishing with our son, Alex. The layers were toned down and given a shade of blurring and transparency to give the desired effect.

When I was satisfied, I had all the changes done, I copied all the relevant files, installed the new theme into the live blog, overwrote the theme files with the test copies and away we went. There’s just a few minor tweaks to be done under the bonnet but that’s it really. Now to go fishing.

Ahh…. did I mention the FPO’s new blog… I’m sure I did but just in case I forgot, it’s creamuntilfluffy.co.uk