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 […]
When Chris was first made redundant, in Autumn 2009, he was very keen to be seen to be pulling his weight as a “house-husband” and spent some time working in the garden. Unfortunately, that enthusiasm didn’t last as the misdiagnosed cancer was making him weaker. But he did spend a while planting dozens of crocus […]
Joan, the Australian cancer blogger I mentioned earlier this week, died today. My thoughts are with her husband Kevin and their family. Kevin blogged earlier this week about terminal agitation, and how the palliative care nurses explained to him what was going on and helped Joan cope with it. Chris also suffered from that in […]
Work is completely frantic at the moment. It always is in the last quarter of the financial year – both the company and our main customer have financial years ending in March, so there is a huge pressure to get projects completed, research written up, and (most importantly!) invoices submitted. This year seems even worse […]
There are, as I’m sure you can imagine, lots and lots of people “out there” blogging about living with (and indeed dying from) cancer. When Chris was first diagnosed we spent a while surfing the net reading about other people’s experiences. Many of the blogs we came across were too depressing, or not updated regularly, […]
When I was a “smug married” (to quote Bridget Jones) we never really bothered with Valentine’s Day. Certainly not to the extent of supporting the totally OTT commercialization that surrounds it – tacky cards, overpriced flowers, and expensive dinners à deux in restaurants full of loved-up couples – all of which we were happy to […]
I had lightbulb blow last week, and it was in the most awkward place in the house – right at the top of the stairs in the extension. I simply couldn’t reach it either from the stairs or from the room above – I’m too short. So it was a temptation too great to resist […]
