Red pepper soup and my dad

There's nothing nicer than a bowl of homemade soup, particularly when I have yeast-free bread in the freezer! It's a slight improvement on the toast and prosecco diet :) I'm currently on. I'm sure cooking is a great therapy right now though I'm holding off making any more cupcakes in case I have a really bad day and decide to eat them all!

The best news of the week is that my dad has now been moved from NX hospital, where he's spent the last 3 weeks, into a nursing home where he'll be more comfortable. The nursing home is warm and the staff care more, as dad sleeps more and cares less.

It takes a special kind of man to be able to cope day after boring day with no tv, no book, no music, (his choice, not ours) and no stimulation other than someone popping their head around the door from time to time (and that was rare!) and our lovely family popping in to visit him. He's always managed to keep his mind pretty active, which is a blessing. The last time he was stuck in hospital staring at 4 bare walls and being ignored because he couldn't hear properly, he admitted that he'd kept himself sane by reciting to himself all the bus stops on different routes, one after another! He was a driver so naturally, he knew them all off by heart. As my brother has said, he's never cared much about his surroundings so although we found the bleakness of his hospital room disturbing, it's likely that he didn't care half as much as we did about it. When you've spent time in a POW camp, escaped from your homeland, been an alien in another country, learnt a new language and been shot by a stray bullet - you're destined for a life that's extraordinary and not just run of the mill.

My dad came into the country from Hungary on 3rd April 1948 as part of an operation called 'Westward Ho!' and he has had a most amazing life. On the document that confirms that he had been accepted to come and work in Britain it says:

The land and sea journey will take about 6 days during which time food will be provided.

Luggage: you are not permitted to take with you more than you can carry.

Currency: It is an offence to take out of Austrian more than 40 Austrian Schillings. In any case Austrian Schillings cannot be converted to English currency! They actually put an exclamation mark.. !!

For your personal comfort on the journey you are advised to take with you a blanket, a cup for drinking purposes and a knife, fork and spoon.

That was just the beginning of a new adventure for my dad that has been so extraordinary in many ways. Married to my mum for 58 years is a pretty impressive record. Attending the Olympics in 1948, he's a gold medal winner in so many ways in my eyes.

87 is a ripe old age for any of us to get to and I haven't had a quarter of the adventures my dad has had! My NY's resolution for 2012 has to be to start planning some of the adventures I only dream about to make sure that when I reach the same age as my dad, I've got a life story as amazing and as fulfilled as he has :) xx xx