Fish, chips, mushy peas and salad; chocolate cheesecake

I am officially cleared to go home!

Wait, you thought I already had that clearance? Me too, but it turns out the senior physiotherapist from the hospital needed to give his approval before I can be discharged, so he came to see me to watch me demonstrate that I can walk well enough to manage at home. (And totally confused me for a few moments: he asked if I remembered him and I said yes, because I did remember him – I just couldn’t quite remember where I remembered him from.)

He was also meant to be teaching me how to use elbow crutches, which I think will be easier than a zimmer frame to manage in mum’s small bungalow, but that plan was rapidly halted by the discovery that neither of us had a pair of crutches, which are kind of a prerequisite to learning how to use them. He will be coming back on Monday, with crutches, for that lesson.

At some point this afternoon someone will be coming to measure me for a wheelchair that I can use outside the house, which I confess to having mixed feelings about: having spent most of this year housebound (or hospital-bound) it will be great to get out into the world again. I don’t want to do it in a wheelchair, though: I want to be able to walk, like I have all my life, and I don’t know at this stage if that’s ever going to be possible.

It’s a lot to adjust to, and a lot happening quite quickly, so it’s a relief to go back to hiding behind a keyboard (or at least a mobile phone with a keyboard on the screen) and blathering on about food for a while!

So: it’s Friday, and that means fish and chips. I’m very pleased to say that my last fish and chip Friday at this care home was possibly the best so far: the batter on the fish was so crunchy I briefly considered recording a short video to demonstrate the CRONCH¹, and there was a good ratio of batter to fish (variety still unknown: I tried a bit on its own and it was surprisingly fishy-tasting, so perhaps pollock?). The chips were also crunchy, just the way I like them, and the mushy peas were their usual, gorgeous mushy pea self. The HCA who brought me my lunch even included a ramekin of tartare sauce, for which I was extremely grateful as I love the stuff.

(There was also a side salad, but there’s not much to say about that except that it was as fresh and good as it has been every other time I’ve had it.)

Dessert was a “trying something new” bit for me: chocolate cheesecake, the latest item in my ongoing investigation of all things chocolatey.

At first bite I wasn’t sure I was going to like it: the sweetness of the chocolate and the slight sourness of the cheesecake seemed to be at odds with each other. After a moment my tastebuds readjusted and I decided I really liked the flavour combination, although not as much as I liked the chocolate sauce drizzled over the top and which reminded me of the chocolate sauce my mum used to make to serve over ice cream when I was a kid.

All in all an excellent meal, and I think I might try to persuade mum to have fish and chip Friday as a thing when I’m at home.

Scores:

• Fish and chips: 9/10 – the batter was a little bit oily, but otherwise pretty much perfect.
• Cheesecake: 8/10 – really very nice, thank you.
• Overall: 8.5/10.

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1. I might have done it, too, if the cleaner hadn’t been in my room at the time, and I didn’t want her to think I’m even stranger than I actually am. ↩︎