I’m not very good at mornings. In fact, that’s an understatement, as any of my colleagues who have been misguided enough to summon me to an 08:30 meeting can testify! Chris learned the hard way not to even bother speaking to me until I’d had my first cup of tea in the morning, and not […]
I was lying in bed the other night, struggling to get to sleep, when out of nowhere a poem popped into my mind. It was one I’d learned off by heart at school by the Ancient Greek poet Callimachus. I wouldn’t want you to think that I habitually spout poetry to myself at night, as […]
A colleague and I spent today in a darkened meeting room, projecting onto the wall the final milestone report for my project, and going through it line-by-line. It was pretty intense, but necessary. I got through the day on a combination of adrenalin, caffeine, paracetamol and sheer bloody-mindedness. Unfortunately, by mid-afternoon all four ran out […]
Last time I spent a day at the pottery, two months ago, I was throwing some vases on the potter’s wheel. Spring is coming, and I’d rather like to have some flowers around the house to cheer me up. I was back there again today, working on the next stage. I find it takes at […]
Since the middle of February, I’ve spent a total of eleven days so far working at a customer site two hours away from home. I’m sick of living out of a suitcase! But I think that’s most of the travelling over now for this month, and it’s really good to be home and sleeping in […]
Christopher and I really used to enjoy going to Alan Ayckbourn plays. It didn’t really matter whether they were professional productions in Malvern, Worcester, or on occasions London, or am-dram affairs in a village hall somewhere, we would always make an effort to go. Indeed, provided we recalibrated our expectations, the amateur productions (often with […]
I went to give blood on Monday, but was turned away because I am anaemic. That’s rather disappointing – I’ve tried so hard since Chris died to improve my cooking and have a balanced and healthy diet. It’s discouraging that my efforts haven’t been enough and I’ll have to start taking supplements. On the other […]
I really wanted to go to see The King’s Speech, and not only because it stars Colin Firth – though that is of course a major attraction 🙂 Malvern Cinema was showing the film a few weeks ago, but I wasn’t able to get to see it at the time. I was too tired after […]
The saga of Christopher’s tax liabilities continues. I last wrote to HMRC in the middle of January with more information about his estate. Today I got a letter back, saying that they are able to settle the tax liability informally, so I won’t need to fill in a tax return for him – that’s good […]
