Riding the London underground is a rite of passage. My first trip was aged seventeen, with my fellow country-bumpkin school friends, on our inaugural adult-less adventure to the capital. The tube was dramatic, dark and eerie. We nervously stood staring at the map on the tunnel wall, trying to decipher the squiggle of lines. When the … More Braving the Underground
I love a new year. There is so much potential, so much possibility, so many opportunities ahead. I love looking at my new blank diary and imagining all of the excitement that 2017 will contain. 365 days to be filled with craft and books and writing. Four seasons to be filled with catch ups over … More To Plan or Not To Plan
New Year’s Eve is a strange one for me. For the most part it is a big celebration, a reason to be proud. I’ve got through another year, I’ve survived, I’m still alive and hanging in there. But that happy jubilant mood is always accompanied by a slight nervous fear, a niggle at the back … More Welcome 2017
`I love Christmas. It is magical. For one week of the year, the world becomes brighter, sparklier, shinier, louder. It is a chance to take a break from normal life, to get excited like a child, and be surrounded by love. But it is also exhausting! Thus, the way I celebrate has had to change … More Christmas With PH
I fondly remember the first night in our current home. We sat on the floor of the living room, eating fish and chips, drinking wine, discussing what we wanted to do with the house. We were excited and enthusiastic, and had grand plans and intentions. Decorate every room, convert the garage, build a conservatory. The house … More The Upheaval of Decorating
I’d got it in to my head that I was deteriorating. I was conscious that this time last year my health had shot rapidly downwards, so when I started to feel ‘different’, I assumed that history was about to repeat itself. For two months, from the end of October to the start of December, I … More Nervous, Nervous, Nervous
Anyone who has watched him lose a point, will know that an angry Andy Murray is scary. So, imagine an angry Andy Murray staring and glaring straight at you.. it’s alarming. Had we cheered too loudly? Imagine an angry Andy Murray arms in the air, racket flaying around, stomping towards you.. it’s intimidating. Had we … More My First Tennis Match!
Ten days ago I sat down at my computer to write a blog about Pulmonary Hypertension. The UK’s first ever PH Awareness Week was looming and I wanted to do my bit. I started typing with great intentions to write about the biology and the physiology, to write about what was happening to my body … More The Masked Murderer
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 