I was nervous on the drive down to the campsite. Camping with my family for a whole weekend. Forty-eight hours of living under canvas with my lively and opinionated closest ones. There seemed to be more reasons why it would be a disaster than a success. So when the rain started to fall as we … More Camping With My Family
When Phil and I were dating, we loved to visit an abandoned piece of history. A fort, a ruin, a tower, a monument, a gun battlement. If one was spotted on the horizon whilst out walking, we’d change our route and make a beeline. We’ve hiked up hills, scrambled around cliff edges, and trekked across … More Bingeing On History
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
The ‘PHA UK Conference’ is a much anticipated event in the world of Pulmonary Hypertension! 🙂 Tickets are requested months in advance, nervous chattering proceeds the emails stating if a place has been offered, and excited plans are made in the days leading up to the event. A chance to meet Facebook friends, learn more about … More The PHA UK Conference 2017
I’m 36. An adult. A grown up. Yet I won’t stray far from my village if I’m on my own! Rewind to life before my illness, and it was very different. I’d catch buses and trains and planes alone. I’d explore cities and towns and villages alone. I’d visit people and places and parties alone. … More Learning To Trust Other People
I first met my ‘Girlies’ at university. We each joined the canoe club during Freshers Week, the only four girls from our year group: we were outnumbered. But it wasn’t until a couple of week later, our first weekend away kayaking, that we really bonded. After a day of paddling and swimming down a scary … More The Girlies Who Wouldn’t Let Me Hide
We booked our annual holiday with Phil’s family many months ago. Restricted by my need to stay near to Harefield Hospital, and the want of an easy week, we decided to go to Woburn Centre Parcs. My first ever trip to a famous CP! We were charmed by the website- a fabulous swimming pool, acres … More A Family Holiday to Centre Parcs
Phil and I are country bumpkins. We live in a beautiful Cotswold village, surrounded by fields and farms and woods and crops. With a population of just 200, we have more sheep and cow neighbours than human ones. We love the country: red kites circling our house, the changing harvest over the year, badgers and … More Country Bumpkins in London
As I flipped the calendar over on the first day of October, I felt a little nervous. Since getting ill, I haven’t had the easiest time in the tenth month of the year. In both 2013 and 2015, October was the month when my PH worsened, and my health spiralled down. Hospital visits and emergency … More The Medicine of Friendship
Four year ago I was full of energy. Teaching is demanding, all-consuming, busy. Never enough hours in the day, I became a multi-tasking octopus. In one moment, I’d be counting coins with a group, observing a few playing shop, and soothing another one’s tears. Break times were for tidying away the last lesson, setting up … More Managing My Energy
We Can Adjust The Sails 