My brother had a baby girl in January. Libby. His first child. As we started shielding a month after Emma and Gary announced the happy news, and because they live a couple of hours from us, we had to watch the pregnancy unfold over the internet. Congratulatory cuddles were replaced with squeals down the phone, … More Finally Meeting My Niece
The bees were buzzing, the sun was beaming, and the drinks were chilled. Lottie was sniffing for stray chips, the ‘Aunt Sally’ team were throwing balls at a dummy, and Phil was critiquing his pint. It was a normal August evening in our village pub garden… except it wasn’t quite! 😉 The benches were spread … More Navigating The New World
This time ten years ago, I was packing up my home and job and life, in readiness for a move to Ethiopia. At the same time, one of my best friends was also boxing up her world, and preparing to move to Belgium. Neither of us had worked in those countries before, so we were … More A Longed For Trip To Brussels
I’ve been keeping something to myself for a few months now. Something unexpected. Something nice. Something a little confusing. For three and a half months, I’ve been watching and waiting and wondering and wishing. I’ve been monitoring and second guessing and speculating and hoping. But all in my own head, alone. I’ve not dared to … More The Unexpected
Before I got my diagnosis of PVOD, I’d been immersed in the world of Pulmonary Hypertension for three years. Deeply immersed. I read blogs by fellow PHers, followed the latest research, and was a member of two global Facebook groups for patients. Each day I’d read and comment and learn from posts with questions about … More Strength In Numbers
When I was a child, my family had one of those guides to campsites in Great Britain. It was chock-a-block full of advertisements for places to camp all over the country. Hundreds and hundreds of listings from large holiday parks with nightly entertainment, to small fields with just a lowly toilet block. My brother and I … More The Best Bit Of Summer
If I win the lottery I’m going to buy a village. Yep, as well as a smart new campervan, an amazing off-road scooter, a house big enough for ten dogs… I’m going to purchase a whole village. Apparently for twenty million I could get a splattering of homes, an old forge and (most importantly) a … More Faraway Friends
I don’t know all of the words to ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Apparently only 3% of the population do. Every new year, when the clock strikes twelve and the singing of the traditional song begins, I repeat the same lines for every verse… and vow to learn it properly in the next twelve months. Lalalala-ing to … More Welcoming In 2018
I’m lucky. Since going on the transplant list, very little in my life has had to change. Whilst waiting on the list, some patients have to move house to live in the city of the transplant hospital… Or have to desperately fundraise the 100k needed to pay for the operation… Or have to stay hooked … More Staying Close to Harefield
For me, Summer isn’t Summer without a ‘Great British Holiday’. Sandcastles and sandals and sticks of rock. Postcards and promenades and pots of tea. Fending off the scavenging seagulls whilst munching on vinegar-soaked chips. Binge-reading piles of tourist-attraction leaflets whilst licking ice cream. Watching boats, jumping waves, collecting pebbles. Paying admissions, taking photos, ambling around … More A Great British Holiday
