Tag Archives: Middlesbrough

From Parmo to Tromsø

October 31, 2026Blog, Food, Holiday, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, Travel, Veteurope, Fast food, Food, life, Middlesbrough, North Norway, Norway, Parmo, Travel, Tromsø, WritingSarah McGurk

This week, I had my first parmo. Eat like a local is something I feel like we should always aim for, or at least, when traveling, we should try local delicacies. (NB perhaps don’t try this in Thailand unless you want a burnt mouth). I haven’t yet tried the local delicacy in Dumfries, which along traditional Scottish carb on carb lines, is a tattie scone (potato scone) in a roll. I must correct that when I get back, but for now, while working in Middlesbrough, I have tried, and loved, their local traditional food, which is the parmo.

So what is a parmo? The one at the top of the page closely resembles that Scottish favourite, pizza and chips, does it not? That may be partly because, on the spur of the moment, I chose a pepperoni version. As a purist, I will return and try the original version, which is, in fact, a flattened, breaded chicken escalope with béchamel sauce, with melted cheese on top. It should, I understand, be served with a small side salad and garlic sauce, as well as the chips. I’m not surprised by its popularity because it was delicious. Something to look forward to when I return.

But for now, I am on holiday. On Thursday, after work (they let me get away early, thank goodness) I drove up to Central Scotland, to drop Triar off at Valerie’s house. Yesterday morning, I drove to Dumfries. Several weeks ago, I wrote that I was about to go to a ceilidh and had tried to pack everything for the next six weeks or so, which involved going from the ceilidh, to Mum and Dad’s, then on to Middlesbrough, then to Norway. I thought I’d got away with it, but earlier this week, Booking.com told me they were about to charge me for my hotel in Norway and I thought, “I’ll change that to my Norwegian credit card, to save any charges for currency exchange,” which is when I realised my Norwegian credit card was safely at home in a drawer. I’m glad I did find out, because having got some overpaid tax back, I actually have holiday money to spend. Not that I’m expecting to go out much, but if I want to buy anything, it makes things easier. Well assuming I can remember the PIN for a card I haven’t used for a year…

Hmmm… I seem to have rambled, but what I was saying was that yesterday morning, I drove to Dumfries, then in the afternoon, on to Settle, from where I will take a train today, to Manchester Airport and from there, hopefully will fly to Tromsø. I’m staying there overnight in the hotel attached to the hospital, then tomorrow morning, all being well, I shall take the fast boat to Finnsnes, where I will be met by Shirley and Kai for the last leg of my journey to Sørreisa. It’s all a bit exhausting, truth be told. It would have been more relaxing to stay in a hotel overnight near the airport and park in one of the long stays, but locumming isn’t as profitable as you might think (my last paycheck showed that I received less than half of what the practice payed for me, after fees and taxes) and not being 100% certain of ongoing work on my return (there’s no sick pay, for example) I didn’t feel secure enough to blow over £200, when the train fare was only a quarter of that.

I really need to start planning better for my complicated holiday arrangements though. I took Friday off, but there was still an awful lot of driving, all of which is going to happen in reverse, on my return, only with even less time, because I’ve booked my car in for its MOT in Dumfries on the Monday. I fly back to Manchester on Saturday afternoon. I could possibly still change the date, but I’m not sure how long it will take for any work required on the car, and I need to get back to work, so on it goes.

Still, I’m feeling very cheery. I’m still loving locumming and I’m about to go see Shirley. Yr.no says it’s raining all week in Sørreisa and getting down almost to freezing later in the week, but that will just allow more time for baking and perhaps writing. I will miss Triar, but Bailey, Ulva and the cats will be there to keep me company.

I’ll leave you with a couple of autumn pictures from my walks with Triar. We discovered a beautiful, overgrown woodland graveyard this week. I tried to photograph an angel with an ivy halo growing around her head, and the dappled sunlight flitting across her face, but couldn’t really capture her properly. Still, as always, thanks for reading and have a good week all.

All in a Day’s Work

October 25, 2026Blog, Vet, Travel, The Vet Who Came In from the ColdCat, Dog, Excelsior Fisheries, Staithes, Fish and chips, Food, Middlesbrough, PDSA, pets, Redcar, Veterinary, WritingSarah McGurk

APHA have finally offered me my job back. I now have a very formal e-mail, asking me to report to APHA on 6th January 2027 and ask for… well my old line manager. I know, it’s the civil service and everything is by the book, but given I asked to go back only two months after I’d left, the whole thing is (more than) faintly ridiculous.

In the meantime, I have been asked to stay on at PDSA Middlesbrough until the end of December, which is pleasing me hugely. It’s always nice to be appreciated and, given I’ve only recently returned to small animal work after a ten year hiatus, it feels especially good. When I’m consulting, I still sometimes quail slightly when I look at the next appointment and it sounds complicated, but now I click on it anyway and get on with it. I still run my treatment plan past another of the vets now and then, but go to them with that plan formed and not for help in forming it. I was on ops on Wednesday and, having operated on one bitch with a pyometra, I volunteered to do a second one that came in the afternoon. I’ve come a long way from the fearful early days after the post-op bleeding spay in Glasgow.

My current accommodation is as quirky, in its way, as the caravan, however it does benefit from a flushing toilet and shower, that don’t involve going outside and into another building. When I booked it, I assumed it was an apartment attached to a bar, but it’s actually a garage conversion on the side of a house in an unassuming housing estate. There’s no sitting area, but there’s effectively a box bed with a TV at one end. Behind a thick curtain, there’s a fridge freezer and a microwave, so cooking is limited, but the shower is excellent, with enough water pressure to comfortably use the large, rainforest shower head – a rare enough treat in the UK!

Last night and today, we’re on the edge of a yellow met office storm warning, so yesterday morning, Triar and I went to Redcar to walk along the beach. This time, I remembered the essential ball.

To my mind, the most striking thing about Redcar (other than that rather wonderful view behind Triar) was that, even at this time of year, the car parks still charged money, from the one extreme end of the promenade to the other. I tried to pay, but the machine wouldn’t take card payments. It demanded coins, and I didn’t have any on me. Fortunately, I managed to find a small car park on Fisherman’s Square that was free on Saturday and Sunday, unlike all the surrounding streets, where only Sunday was free.

The small town of Staithes had been recommended to me to visit, so we drove down the coat from Redcar. There, there was only a paying car park at the top of a hill, with cars for access being the only vehicles allowed down into the centre. Had I had more energy, I would have done it, but I was already tired from the beach walk and the blustery weather was already starting to close in, so I bought some fish and chips at the Excelsior Fisheries (half an hour free parking allowed outside) and then drove to a nearby layby to eat it. I was surprised to be offered “scraps” (extra bits of deep fried batter) with my chips. Usually, in Scotland, you have to ask. Anyway, it was good, hearty fish and chips, cooked in beef dripping and very tasty indeed.

The coastal road leading south towards Staithes

I will probably return to Staithes and walk down to the harbour another day. We also passed through a small town called Loftus, that looked interesting. I’m glad I’m going to be coming back here, so I can spend more time exploring. Redcar is only fifteen minutes drive, so assuming I can find somewhere to park, it would be lovely to take Triar there for a short run, sometimes, after work. He’s being very good and deserves more interesting walking than I’ve currently been giving him.

By this time next weekend, I hope to be waking up in Tromsø. I’m off to visit Shirley for a couple of weeks and I’m very much looking forward to being back in Arctic Norway. Current plans include lots of baking and making apple crumble. Anything else will be weather dependent, but one thing I do know is that there won’t be many hours of daylight left. Winter is coming!

And for now, I’m hoping to enjoy a quiet day in my cosy apartment while the storm rages outside. I bought plenty of provisions yesterday, though we seem to be quite sheltered here, so I should be able to take Triar outside shortly. I’ll leave you with a couple of photos of the quiet graveyard, where I take Triar (respectfully on the paths) for a walk sometimes during my lunch break. Hopefully the storm won’t take down all the autumn leaves, because I’ve been enjoying the beautiful colours.

Thanks for reading and have a good week.

Finding My Feet

October 17, 2026Blog, Food, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, Travel, Vet, Yorkshire DalesAbert Park, Autumn, Cafe Capo, Skipton, Fall, family, life, love, Middlesbrough, PDSA, Photos, Vet, Vet life, WritingSarah McGurk

After my second week of consulting, I’m starting to feel a lot more confident in what I can tackle. As I talk to the other vets about cases, the information they give me slots back into place, like the memory it is. It feels good, like pulling on an old familiar cardigan. Indeed, as I watched one of the other vets working with an animal that had been hit by a car and was struggling to breathe, some very specific memories began to surface.

From 2001 to 2004 (and occasionally after that) I worked as an emergency vet. We saw a whole lot of traumatized animals and dealt with a lot in respiratory distress and I got very good at it. At one time, on my computer, I wrote a flow chart about how to diagnose those cases. It requires minimal handling and movement, because they can be very fragile and you can tell a lot, simply by comparing different areas of the chest to see where there is silence instead of breathing sounds. For example, liquid in the chest (think blood) is likely only on one side and it flows to the bottom, whereas escaped gas may be higher up. I’ll need to see if I can find it.

There’s also a recent graduate and I feel very honoured because she sees me as competent enough to ask questions. That may sound daft, but only a few weeks ago, in Glasgow, I felt I could barely tackle anything. Now I take anything from the waiting list and cope, as I once did. Vets get very used to dealing with things, even when they’re not sure what’s going to crop up next. Anyway, in return, I ask the newish graduate things, because she has lovely, up-to-date knowledge. Working with new graduates is enjoyable and rewarding.

I have been swithering over what to do next, jobs wise. A long time ago, I thought I would enjoy locumming, but then I had a family and we moved to Norway. It never came to pass. Now I discover that I do, indeed, love it, yet at 57 and with a mortgage (and memories of health issues that would have required considerable time off) it feels risky. Returning to APHA with its pension and sick pay is obviously the safer option, and yet…

For now, I can put that decision off. Middlesbrough PDSA want to extend my four weeks until the end of the year and I’m inclined to accept. I’m also going to Norway, two weeks today, for two weeks with my lovely friend Shirley. There will be time away from it all and someone to talk to about the whole thing. And goodness knows, I’m lucky, at 57, to actually have options. I know many are not so fortunate.

I’m back at Mum and Dad’s now for the weekend and went to Skipton yesterday in a hunt for some new winter boots. I didn’t find any (not much call for proper winter boots in the UK) but we did get coffee and a cake in Café Capo. Mine was the mini Victoria sponge at the top of the page. It was delicious and I spent every bite trying to work out whether the cream was butter icing (I don’t think so, it was too smooth and light) or whipped cream with something added. Again, I think not, because it was too dense. It may have been some kind of meringue buttercream, but I didn’t ask, so will never know! I would highly recommend it though, as I would their latte. Very creamy indeed!

A hot cup of cappuccino in an orange mug on a saucer with a teaspoon, alongside a plate of sponge cake filled with cream and jam.

We walked back to the car via Craven Court shopping centre. I love it there. It feels a bit like walking through a Harry Potter set and I saw a couple of things in windows that I might go back and buy as Christmas presents, if I get the chance.

A narrow cobblestone alleyway lined with quaint shops, including a bookshop, illuminated by warm lights and a glass ceiling.

On Monday, I will return to Middlesbrough, but for now, I’m going to relax and maybe do some cooking. Being at Mum and Dad’s is always a good opportunity for a Sunday roast. Last Sunday, I took Triar for a walk after we discovered the gorgeous, Albert Park in Middlesbrough. There was a large pond and beautiful autumn trees, so I’ll leve you with some photos as usual. Thank you for reading and have a good week!