In the run-up to Christmas we got an awful shock - my uncle Kev collapsed, and after three days on life support, he died. In the terrible sadness of the week, my cousin Michelle asked my to follow up on the Facebook post I'd written, and expand it for the memorial service. For those that couldn't be there, here's what I wrote...
Continue reading "My Teddy Bear Uncle" »
What do you get if you mix form, elegance and art with a brilliant team led by an inspiring woman whose love of technology is matched only by her sense of humour? Right! You get a typewriter that sends emails! You really gotta see this...
Continue reading "High Tech, High Art, and Tongue-Filled Cheeks..." »
It had to happen I suppose, but a few weeks ago I finally reached the point where I'm thinkin' "y'know what? The side-effects from all the medication I'm on just aren't worth it." The slumps, the sweats, the dry-mouth, the tiredness, the sleepiness, the weight-gain, the insomnia, the aches, the shivers - I was gettin' em all, and for what? Precious little is what. So last week I sat down with my GP and began a "phased withdrawal" from my meds...
Continue reading "Goin' Cold Turkey..." »
It's been a really bad few months in terms of pain levels and so on. The miserable "summer" and the prospect of an equally squibby winter has exacerbated things. But I have at least had one positive result and I'm gonna be spending my time working on that...
Continue reading "Stay Calm and Carry On..." »
Ok, so it's not been a great summer for blackberries. Far from it. It's been shite, truth be known. The promise of the bramble-flowered back roads last June faded fast in the September rain. But in the field beside us, the bushes did, finally, yield enough 'blackahs' not just for blackberry crumbles, but for jam as well. And while filling my bucket with juicy ripeness, I discovered the Zen of picking blackberries...
Continue reading "The Zen of Picking Blackberries" »
