In this case, I am in fact talking about the perils of living in a Victorian cottage, which requires ongoing maintenance. But I could equally well be talking about myself at the moment – I feel about ten years older than I did before Chris was taken ill. At least it’s moderately easy to do […]
After the last play I went to turned out to be a “comedy” about the effects that someone dying of cancer has on their wife and friends, I was a bit cautious about going back to the theatre. But this week, Malvern Theatres was showing Yes Prime Minister, and I really enjoyed the TV series […]
I posted last week about the Greek poem which had been haunting me as I tried to get to sleep, and about how Christopher’s Librivox recordings were living on even after his death, I suppose giving him some kind of immortality, like Heraclitus’ poems. Today I got a blog comment from a teacher: “For the […]
I went back to the doctor today to get the results of last week’s blood tests. And on the whole they were absolutely fine. I’m not diabetic; my thyroid and liver functions are normal; my campaign to eat more broccoli and spinach has worked as I’m no longer anaemic. Even my blood pressure is boringly […]
Yesterday was the end of the financial year at work, and I’m pleased to report that I made it in one piece. When I think of everything that’s happened over the last year, that seems an achievement in itself! I delivered the last remaining milestone reports on time, then came home with a throbbing headache […]
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 […]
