Saturday 2 May 2015

Va Va Voooooom into May!

Back in December when the Doctor considered Steve's life expectancy to be a "small number of months", I wondered whether he would still be alive for our wedding anniversary this year, let alone able to enjoy it....But he's still here and still enjoying life.

We had been thinking about a short drive in a fast car for some time now.  What better way to celebrate our wedding anniversary on 1 May than hire an open top Caterham 7 sports car for the day and go off on a tour around the Cotswolds? So that's what we did!


The Anniversary selfie
Getting into and out of the car was perhaps the trickiest bit. There are no doors.  You have to lift yourself over the side panel and slide down into the narrow tunnel under the bonnet. The four point seat belts also take a bit of getting used to, as does the small removable steering wheel. But once installed and after a couple of practice runs around the block with the Caterham's owner Rob, Steve and I set off together on our anniversary adventure using National Trust tea rooms as convenient stopping points on our tour.





Fist stop, Charlecote Park for a comfort break, coffee and cakes....


Charlcote Park


Then on to Hidcote via narrow hilly Cotswold roads for a walk around the gardens followed by lunch....


Hidcote Gardens


In the afternoon, we drove on to Cleeve Hill to take in the view of Cheltenham, then drove up the motorway towards Worcester to enjoy a bit of speed before stopping at Croome Park for tea and a shared cake and a chat with a stranger who was impressed by the car.

Last stop was Stratford-upon-Avon, where we were were stopped by another chap who was impressed by the car, then on to refill the petrol tank before dropping the Caterham back to base at The Open Road classic car hire company near Warwick.


Reflection in the Caterham 7 head lamp

We had spent the day sitting a few inches off the ground, feeling every bump on the road, with the wind threatening to blow away cap and head scarf and deafened by engine noise... and we had thoroughly enjoyed every minute!  Here is just a short taster....



Although we were travelling much faster and in greater comfort on the journey back to Oxford in our own car, it wasn't nearly as much fun!  

What a great way to celebrate a wedding anniversary that we weren't sure we would both be able to enjoy just a few months ago.  

At home waiting for us was a copy of a letter written by the meso/lung nurse specialist Hannah to our GP following up our meeting with her on 20 April.  I am not going to quote the whole letter, but just a couple of extracts from which brought big smiles to our faces:

"It was a pleasure to review Mr Wride in clinic today.  I am pleased to say he is much improved since finishing the trial last year...Since discontinuing the trial and finishing his palliative radiotherapy, he has made a steady and significant improvement....He has slowly regained his strength...I would now consider him as performance status 0-1....I was really delighted to see and hear about what an improvement Steve has made since the end of last year..."

Thank you Hannah!  It's a relief to know that your share our assessment of Steve's condition, and that the improvement is not just wishful thinking on our part....what a wonderful way to end a wonderful day :-) 


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