Returned home last night after three weeks travelling to California and then Scotland to visit family and grandchildren. During the trip I managed to gather quite a haul of CDs. So last night repowered the HiFi system (major storm had a power surge knock out our mains during our trip which necessitated a reset by a mate). Started ripping CDs last night and now relaxed on the sofa listening to some great music whilst the day tells me how T’d off he was about be left on kennels for three weeks. Bad dad 
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Sadly we went to the funeral of a friend today. I think it was the first civil ceremony I have been to. It was very uplifting in many ways, a celebration of his life with music, poetry and a fair bit of humour. Some of the music was his own as he was a published recording artist, amongst other career talents. Plus some Dylan etc. Standing room only.
Without wanting to cause any offence to anyone, it was refreshing not to have to endure a load of old hymns and prayers in a sombre atmosphere.
Although there were many tears I think everyone came out feeling better than when they went in. A lovely send off.
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I bought my brother a bottle of @Ardbeg10y for Christmas. We have been sipping a wee dram. It’s a very enjoyable peaty whiskey.
Phil
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Sorry for the loss of your friend, I’m glad the service was positive for you.
When my (very atheist) wife died 10 years ago we had a non-religious service with a eulogy and music she and I loved. I felt as did her close friends and family that that was the right way to remember her.
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More walking this afternoon on the fringes of Salisbury Plain above Edington, Wilts. A good climb up then some stupendous views. No tracked vehicles and troops hiding in the woodland this time !
Had a look in at the 13th Century Priory Church at Edington. Quite the place - and somehow it escaped the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
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My influence is sometimes disastrous on people!
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We had a celebrant at the daughter’s cremation. She took a lot of time trying to understand what was not the best of lives and it showed during her oration.
If the deceased had no real faith then this has to be a decent choice.
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Waitrose delivery today.
Admitting that night time picker partners were probably busy people
I listed 10 ready meals with their use by dates and sent it to customer services. As most would have to eaten before the weekend expired I wondered if they could,bearing in mind their customer is a somewhat frail 85 year old suggest an order that wouldn’t degrade my health further😉. Good job I had some freezer space.
No. But the matter will be referred back via the consultation process to see if it can be improved.
Ocado calls.
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Really sorry to hear about your daughter. I heard that the Celebrant on Tuesday spent a lot of time with the family, and it showed.
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Do you have a Cook branch near you?
My father who is a little older than you and on his own has Cook deliveries every 3-4 weeks and loves the food which is all frozen, overcoming the issue you have experienced.
I see we have one in Frinton on Sea. Supposed to be a bit warmer next week so I will pop into M&S food first,park up and have a look.
Thank you.
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There is one at Stanes park, Colchester…..thats the shopping area just off the A12, its next to Greggs bakery. Its the retail park that has M and S, B and Q…….and the other side of the road has the big Sainsburys.
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Walked the dog twice, once this morning then again this afternoon, went and collected our new car (it is new to us rather than brand new), downloaded film scans from the developer and am now sitting watching TV whilst listening to the wind created by Storm Goretti.
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Lucky you!
A lot of Truro lost power around 7.30pm.
My lights flickered a couple of times but have stayed on.
Terrestrial TV failed between 8/8.30pm (assume problems at Carne Brea) & has not returned as of now, 11.20.
Storm appears slightly less than an hour ago so I assume it will peter out in the early hours.
I live near the centre of the city, halfway down a steep hill. Despite being fairly sheltered here, it has been the most ferocious in recent memory.
Suspect it will have been really bad for many in more exposed areas.
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We were lucky, we only lost power for about 25-30 minutes, just before the end of Traitors and it came back on around 21:15, lots of lights flickering from then onwards but no outages overnight.
Have you got power back now as we’re hearing that there are some areas still without power?
I didn’t loose power. As I said, the lights flickered a couple of times but, fortunately, that (& loosing terrestrial TV) was all that affected me. Was forced to listen to the Hi-fi for the rest of the evening!
Everything, including TV, back to normal this morning & the only damage done was to a small section of a single block wall between my garden & the neighbours which was blown over.
Fortunately, the debris was blown on their side, not mine. It’s their wall which I gave permission for them to replace a rotten fence about 30 years ago. I did say at the time that the construction looked rather lightweight to me but was told by their builder that it was fine.
Vindicated at last!
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The end of an interesting week. We’ve had a local decorator, and daughter, in to paint the hall, stairs & landing - complete with thirteen doors!
The challenging bit was keeping three inquisitive Burmese cats away from myriad pots of white paint, and newly painted surfaces!
Kitties were not happy about being “banged up” in the rear conservatory - despite “support staff” (human) being in 24/7 attendance, and the air-con running full blast heat mode - yeah, it was bl00dy cold for the early part of last week in southern ‘Ampshire!
But the painting is going well and looking good. Couple more days next week should see it finished.
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This has been going on a lot longer than 24 hours, but it has come to a head now and I don’t think I have written about it before.
Back in Feb 2021 my son in law had a cardiac arrest, was kept alive only by CPR for 40 mins (9 mins by my daughter and their neighbour and 31 mins by the Ambulance Service who had trouble getting him back) and was in a coma for many days in hospital, from which he awoke with no sight and no understanding that this was the case or memory of what happened.
He did recover some sight after a few weeks and has gradually mended and ultimately found himself at peace with his new brain-injured state.
He is no longer able to function as a hot shot media lawyer, but he has written a novel in which the narrator is a young man who had a similar medical crisis. In the novel, the young man slowly recovers while living on his uncle’s farm in Cornwall and then things gradually force him to engage with the world.
Penguin Random House bought the UK and Commonwealth publishing rights. It was published by them in hardback last Thursday in their Hutchinson-Heinemann imprint, which is their literature publishing arm. There have been reviews in the Guardian, the Times, the Times Literary Supplement and Telegraph plus some others and also the BBC, the Guardian and the Times did long profile pieces about him (the BBC’s was an hour long podcast with Emma Barnett). The Guardian piece he wrote himself. You can easily find both the profile and the review in the Guardian (not behind a paywall like the others) just by searching on his name - Patrick Charnley or looking at today’s print edition. His book is called “This, My Second Life.” He wrote the book longhand because he can no longer use a computer. He read his manuscript into Word and my daughter copy edited it and sent it off to an agent for him. The book is fascinating as he gives a real insight into what it’s like to recover very slowly from a severe life-changing brain injury and find a new, different way of life.
The book reviews are all very good and his writing is really beautiful, spare and poetic. He carries one along with the young man’s journey. This has been a massive family thing and it has turned out so differently from how we might have imagined. There is a lot more to life than HiFi or even music come to that.
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