I’ve already had the first domestic disaster of the year. On New Year’s Day, my tumble dryer stopped working, with a soggy load of towels inside and another load in the washing machine. It looked to be electrically dead – no lights on the front panel at all. I tried changing the fuse in the […]
When Christopher was having chemotherapy, his immune system was dangerously compromised one week in every three, and it was unsafe for him to go out too much in case he caught an infection. But he still wanted to contribute to the running of the household to the fullest extent he could, so we started making […]
I received a Christmas card last week from Peter, Christopher’s stepfather. In it he wished me a happy and mouse-free Christmas. Well, you can guess what happened next. Almost immediately, the tell-tale scrabbling sounds started from my loft – this time directly above my chair in the living room. The mice were clearly planning a […]
I took yet another half day off work, and the plumber finally came back to put silicone sealant around the edge of the shower. Of course, I wasn’t able to use it immediately – the sealant takes about 24 hours to cure fully, so I had to wait before I could test out the new […]
I’ve been on another of my Archaeological Study Days with Andante Travels. This time it was behind the scenes at the British Museum, learning about the Mayan civilisation of the Yucatan peninsular, straddling today’s Mexico, Belize and Guatamala. It’s a civilisation I’ve been interested in ever since Christopher and I honeymooned in Mexico over 20 years […]
I was on the phone to the National Trust this afternoon, and the conversation incensed me so much that I hung up on them and fired off an email of complaint: I phoned up this afternoon to attempt to buy a gift membership for my elderly parents. First, you wanted my date of birth. That […]
It’s been a while since I’ve been to the theatre, and I certainly don’t intend to go there over the Christmas season, when all that’ll be on is The Panto. Not my cup of tea at all. The actors for that are already in town, and the principals (some minor stars from children’s TV) turned […]
The saga of replacing the shower still isn’t over, though I hope I can see the end in sight at last. The plumber has been back to grout the tiles, and has actually done a pretty reasonable job. The new tiles don’t match the original ones, as those are now obsolete. Fortunately, however, I had […]
It’s that time of year again when I get a flurry of emails from Christopher, or rather from a Google Calendar that he set up before he was ill. They are a series of reminders about the house and car – “Empty septic tank”, “Service central heating”, “Get quote for house insurance renewal” and the […]
When I met up with Christopher’s stepfather, Peter, for lunch a few months ago, he promised to send me some up to date pictures of Christopher’s Tree. It’s getting to be an adolescent now, not a sapling any more, and is doing well on a patch of ground owned by the Woodland Trust near to […]
