Remission at Long Last!

Above: Alfred Lord Tennyson's 1886 poem The Brook. A piece of work in
which nature tells us that the Brook shows persistence by continuing to flow,
no matter what obstacles get in it's way.
As it says... Men may come and go, but the rivers and streams keep flowing.
Or at least we hope so.

The full Poem and Summary can be found HERE.

And on the subject of mortality and reflecting on life,
I thought I'd share this with you (below).

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Just a few weeks ago at the end of June I came away from the Hospital with some
excellent news, in that all my final lot of cancer tests turned out fine with no problems. And my
visit that day ended a 5 year Hospital Care Plan. So in other words I have finally reached
what is known as Full Remission.

Of course I'm thrilled and delighted and would like to put everything behind me now.
But of course there was a price to pay as I have to live daily with the after effects of
the cancer surgery and the removal of that fairly large tumor. But most days are okay.
It's just a question of eating the right things and keeping away from ready meals and
unhealthy foods.
My favourites are Salads with chicken, Vegetables, fruits, plenty of water and a daily
handful of Nuts... favourites being Almonds and Hazelnuts.
And of course plenty of honey which I replaced instead of sugar
a few years ago. And in fact last Winter I treated myself to some New Zealand
Manuka honey. And amazingly I was Cold and Flu free last January.

I was quite surprised that the Colorectal Nurse informed me that I will not now
be called back in to Hospital until June 2022 for another of those dreaded Colonoscopies.
But still, it's good to know that they'll be keeping an eye on me, and every 3 years after that.

And if you asked me what were the lowest moments then it would have to be the
Chemotherapy in 2013, a truly horrible time. It's like I was being pumped full of
poison just to kill the poison already inside me.
And for people experiencing that, there will be times when you simply wont want
to wake up. But then I had my partner to think of, the one person that helped me through it all.
And then there was that whole year between 2013/14 when I had to wear that damned
Stoma Bag, something I once knew nothing about because they simply don't talk about it.
And a whole year spent wearing only baggy clothes so as to conceal the bag.
And to think some will wear those things under their swimming costumes
at the Beach or public swimming Baths.

Anyway, I guess that all tragedies are a learning experience and that if someone came
to me at the start of a five year cancer journey, then I'm sure I would be able to reassure
them with all my gained knowledge.

On Tuesday night I just missed the Full Moon Partial Eclipse
which was all down to the fact that I simply couldn't see it anywhere,
being that on a full Moon night the Moon rises much slower than on
my favourite night, the night before.
When I finally could see it around midnight last night then the show
was over. The red shadow sitting on the top half of the moon had
moved away. And in my picture you can just barely see the shadow
on the top moving away.

What it would have looked like is what you see in the picture below
which was taken up in West Yorkshire last night.
And all this on the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 for
that historic journey to the Moon.

RETURN TO THE VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM

Having recently visited a few places of interest around West Kensington
last month, I managed to make another visit to The Victoria & Albert Museum.
I particularly wanted to visit a few places and galleries that I hadn't visited
last time round. Naturally I headed straight for the Weston Cast Courts
where all the great statues are housed.
I was also keen to see the spectacular Refreshment Room near the Courtyard
which can be seen further down below.
And that particular Saturday I went out that day proved to be quite fruitful as I
not only visited The V& A. I also made a nearby visit to The Natural History
Museum as well as the spectacular London Brompton Oratory... all of these posts
can be seen on this blog.

Lots more images below.

THE VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM LONDON

Situated (above) in The Weston Cast Court is a cast of
Verrocchio's statue of David after defeating Goliath.
The original work was sculpted in Florence around 1475.

This rather grand and somewhat opulent room is in fact the Museum's
Refreshment Room and Public Cafe. It's also the first Museum in
the world to have a public restaurant.
When these rooms were built back in the 1860's, the intention was
to catch the eye of the visitor as soon as they approached this grand
hall once they entered the building from the Courtyard and garden.

The V&A houses a fine archive collection of photographs. And the one's
in this Gallery are just a few from their huge collection.
There's also a fine display of vintage cameras on show.
I particularly enjoyed some of the vintage 1970's black and
white Rock icon photographs.

THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE V&A

In the outdoor courtyard is the John Madejski Garden
with water fountains. It's a quiet spot for relaxing in
between visiting the Galleries.

Above: The Fall of Phaeton.
Marble  (1700) by Dominique Leferre

Below: The Dying Achilles
Marble (1683) by Christopher Veyrier

Above and below: Some rather fine French decorative art and
furniture of the 18th century.
Objects like these with historical, royal and aristocratic associations
were especially prized. And there seemed to be many of them in this
particular gallery.