…a little later than expected.

I apologise my dear readers for not putting this post up at 8 AM as promised. In fact, it is 8 AM, and I am just writing it. My little surprise needed some more time to get right, and our Internet is a little slow today.

Also, I was a little out of sorts yesterday as I had to rescue one of our chicken from the rest of the flock. She got pecked on, and it looked horrible. Chemotherapy made me much more emotional than I usually am, so I had real trouble to get anything done afterwards. 

I also apologise to my readers outside of the UK. It looks like I got something wrong: Unfortunately, you can’t donate to McMillan from outside on my page. Therefore, if you want to give to a cancer charity, please chose one in your country. You can download my little surprise further down the post anyway, and I hope you enjoy it. 

So what is the McMillan Coffee Morning about? 

McMillan Cancer Support is a UK charity that supports cancer patients and their families/friends through a tough time. Having cancer means to go through a lot of treatment that has serious consequences. It is sometimes difficult to decide what is the best approach, and the information that McMillan has accumulated is essential to take the right decision.

They also offer advice on benefits, workers rights and anything that might come up while you are dealing with cancer. As a charity, they rely on donations, and one of their very popular event’s is the McMillan Coffee Morning. 

I always wanted to do one but never got around, and last week on a whim I decided this year is the year. Well, I should have thought a little longer about it really. Didn’t have the energy to advertise for it properly and also didn’t get all the information right. I am so sorry. 

But in the end, it’s the thought that counts and I have to admit that it’s quite fun to create something to support this brilliant charity.

Please come in, have a seat and mug of your favourite hot beverage.

So please, settle down with your favourite hot beverage. I am having a de-caf Jasmin green tea and some shortbread made with date sugar. It got a bit dark but still tastes lovely. It’s stormy outside. Raining and wind gusts up to 60mph so what’s better than to cuddle up on the sofa with a cup of tea, coffee or cocoa. 

Memories of Johanna, Fritz & Tony

My little virtual Coffee Morning is in memory of Johanna, my mum, Fritz my grand-father and Tony my step-father-in-law.

All of them passed away from cancer. I know many more who did not make it after being diagnosed, and there will be many more. 

According to Cancer Research: “There were 17 million new cases of cancer (all cancers combined excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) worldwide in 2018: 8.8 million (52%) in males and 8.2 million (48%) in females…” (Cancer Research on Worldwide Data). The projection is that cancer rates will have increased by 62% worldwide in 2040. 

That is a lot, don’t you think? It will affect all of us in one way or another. 

Fancy some more tea, coffee or cocoa? And what about another biscuit?

My Mum Johanna

Many who know my mother say that I am very much like her. She was a passionate and caring woman. She loved to party, to crochet and knit and she did some mean cooking and baking. 

What I remember most is her smile. Her hugs and how she was always there for us even when she could not leave her bed anymore because of cancer. 

She had breast cancer like me, but in the end, it had spread everywhere, and her body could not cope anymore. Nurses and we cared for her at home in the end, and she passed away in my parent’s bedroom. 

I miss her so much, but she is also an inspiration for how to deal with such a severe illness. Stay positive and live your life like there is no tomorrow. 

Are you comfortable? Do you want anything more to drink?

My grandfather Fritz

My grandfather was a character. He came from the lost German areas in the East of Europe which are now Polish and Lithuanian. He joined the German army as a young man and met my grandmother when he was stationed in Bamberg, where one of my grandmother’s cousins lived. 

He ended up in a prisoner of war camp but escaped or was released and walked back to the South of Germany where he settled and was joined by my grandmother a little later. 

He never spoke much about the experiences he had in the war. I saw him sitting in his beloved chair just before he died, and he had a faraway look. I thought he was thinking about his lost home or about what the war did to him and his generation. Not all Germans agreed to what Hitler did, and indeed not many wanted that war. 

He was funny, maybe disguised his traumas with humour like so many men of his age did all over the world. He used to annoy my dad when eating. He took his false teeth out and put them beside his plate, which made my dad gag. Or he pointed to the ceiling and said to us: “Look!” and while we looked, he nicked delicious morsels from our plate. 

He worked as a riding teacher, and it looks like he was quite a charmer because the ladies liked him very much. He smoked from the age of 17 or 18, and in the end, it got him. He passed away from lung cancer. 

I promise I won’t do disgusting things to get you off your hot beverage LOL.

Tony

My mother-in-law’s partner was a character too. Very similar to my granddad, he disguised trauma and hurt with humour. While he could be quite annoying, he was also very caring and helped my mother-in-law when her husband passed away. 

I wish I’d said more. Half a year before he was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia, I saw a dark red mark on his arm, and I asked him what that was. He said it was a bruise from the dog. I knew that this could be a sign of leukaemia but did not dare to say more. 

More biscuits? Or some more hot beverage? Please help yourself.

My surprise for you

I promised you a little surprise, and at last, I got it finished 🙂

It’s a little early to talk about Christmas, and not everybody celebrates Christmas, but I am from Germany. Christmas is big in Germany and traditional. So I thought I surprise you with a little download. It’s called: 

Bee’s McMillan Coffee Morning German Christmas Download

Three Ultimate German Christmas Baking Recipes

Two Famous German Christmas Poems

One Beautiful Video with German Christmas Songs

&

Lot’s of memories (pdf-file)

You can make the biscuit recipes all year round, and there is a lot of information about Germany and other things too in it, so please enjoy and download even if you don’t celebrate. And please donate to a cancer charity near you or if you are from the UK to McMillan on my Coffee Morning page. Thanks.

Download here: Feel free to download it anyway now that the event has ended

Bee’s Skype McMillan Coffee Hour

I’ll host a Skype McMillan Coffee Hour this afternoon (25th September 2020) at 2PM (find a link to a time converter here) where we can have a chat and a biscuit together.

Please fill in the RSVP form at this post to get the link. It might need a while for the information to get through so please bear with me. If you don’t get any information until 2PM then please sent me an email to bee.halton(at)gmail.com. Thanks!

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Oh, it’s time for you to go? Such a shame. Please take a biscuit with you on the way 🙂

Thanks for stopping by

Thanks to my dear readers for stopping by and go down memory lane with me. Please feel free to share my McMillan page with your followers if you live in the UK or donate. You can donate until January 2021.

And if you live outside of the UK, feel free to contribute to a cancer charity near you. No matter how little because we all need it. Cancer is rising everywhere, and many of us are or will be affected. The work of charities is so important to get through the challenge of having cancer.