Many years ago, she was a nurse, and repeated lifting of patients caused a slow but steady damage to her discs, and eventually she was diagnosed as having 3 ruptured inter-vertebral discs. Think of it as having three of your vertebrae rubbing together, bone on bone. Sometimes the pain gets very bad, and she has to take to her bed.
My beloved is a stoic. She refuses most pain medication until she starts to cry with pain, so when I saw her in bed cryimg, I knew it was bad. These episodes normally last for about a week, then she's back on her feet, but they're pretty intense for the first 2 or 3 days.
So I do all the household chores. I normally do my fair share, but I'm not a very good cook. I can make nutritious meals, that I think are reasonably tasty, but my beloved and my children say that while not actually vomit-inducing, all of my food ends up tasting the same.
We had some lovely turkey and ham meatloaf left in the freezer, plus a mixture of different beans, plus some left-over potatoes and some gravy from the weekend roast. My beloved didn't want any spuds, so they were for me. I heated everything up, and I put the remaining spuds into the gravy and gently simmered. As the last of the gravy was absorbed, I added a very large knob of butter and mashed the lot up with plenty of pepper and salt.
The rest of the meal was OK, but the mashed potatoes were fantastic, rich and buttery. And all for me.
Washed up, cleaned up, tidied things away, took in the washing, folded and stored. Such is a Man's lot.
My beloved's pain is reduced, and she's sleeping quietly.
Small(ish) whisky before bed. It's going to be a long day tomorrow. More bloody activities
I guess after a week of that sort of diet your beloved will find you either dead on the kitchen floor or of such proportions that you won't be able to leave through the kitchen door. I guess that the wine cellar will be able to get an unmonitored hammering.
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, my thoughts go out to your wife. I have two ruptured discs and sometimes similar pain hits me.
Well done, you deserve a wee snifter. Single malt I hope.....
ReplyDeleteThanks guys, and yes TC, I'll be hammering the vino while I get the chance.
ReplyDeleteNo Alistair, I've run out of my Laphroig, I'm back on Ballantines.
Isn't it terrible profitting from my beloved's pain?
Ah well, I'll have to console myself with some more buttery mash. I wonder how it would taste if I mix in 1kg of Gruyere cheese?
TSB (not the arena, the Scotsman) I hope your wife is feeling better soon.
ReplyDeleteNo no no..... not profiting.......you're just anaesthetising yourself from the anguish of watching her suffer........
ReplyDeleteAh Laphroig - the best 'talking' whisky......
It's a bit too iodine-y for me. I'm more of a Talisker man.
Hope she feels better soon. And don't you stop taking the medicine either.
Thanks again for the kind words.
ReplyDeleteRichard [of RBB] yes, she's feeling a lot better now. I cooked the dinner last night, and she was not happy. All back to normal.
AListair; Thanks, nice rationalisation. I'll use it many times in the future. Ahhh. Talisker is also way up on my favourite Malts list.
While I do like the really chewy peaty Islay malts, Talsiker has, I think similar notes, but in a more subtle form. I once had a taste of a 15 year old Talisker. Beautiful. Single Malts are pretty expensive down here in NZ. A standard 750ml bottle of Laphroig (10 year) costs about $125, thats equivalent to £60. I don't drink a lot of single malts any more. I just cannot afford it. (sob.)