She died .

A colleague at the day job has been missing for a couple of days . He works on another site so I dont know him that well . I heard yesterday that his partner went into hospital for a routine operation ( very minor as far as I can make out , the sort where I imagine she would have been thinking shall I even bother to have this done ? Oh well I ll be fine by Christmas if I get it done now ) , had the op , got an infection and is now in intensive care , organs failing , he has been told she may not survive .
She s in her mid forties I would guess , two children , dont know if she got a hospital type infection or it was something else . I've met her several times as she works in the same business . No words really .

On a mission

Im now on a mission for find the perfect dog walking shoes or ( preferably boots ) . Having walked for years on boots with a heel I now find it very counterproductive to walk any distance on flat shoes . Trainers are no good at all and recently after just twenty minutes on the gym treadmill ( the before Alice experience ) I had aching calves and wa s out of action except at a hobble, for a couplf of days .
Having experimented with some cheap flat sheepskin boots ( too flat , no support , too hopeless for words ) , Ive been wearing my Office ankle boots in black suede Office Shoes - Ankle Boots for her - Office (W) - JADA PIXIE BOOT GREY MICROFIand with silver buckles which both look good and feel great , purchased on recent trip to Edinburgh and desinged to get me through a day of teenage shopping and sightseeing ( more of the former than the latter , a challenge for the footsore ) . But theyre not much good on the beaches and in the mud and will be hopeless once we get real rain or real snow come to that .
Laura , sister with a shoe fetish rivalled only by that of Nathalia , has been texting with suggestions eg Clarks , M and S Footglove . I know it makes sense but I want to curl my lip in dismay .
But now shes talking .
Paddock Boots .
I had never heard of these delicious creatures , but they are waterproof , have a small heal and , oh joy oh bliss , are fabulously expensive and thus much more impossible and therefore covetable .

I'm on a mission .
Watch this space .

Has she gone yet ?

Pearl checking through the stair rails .. have you lot got rid of that dog yet ? Is it safe for me to come down ?

This afternoon the three Birmans storm D s room and his desk , all three competing for space in a " B.....r the Dog ! " attitude .

Meanwhile Alice gets naughtier , piling shoes and slippers onto her bed , opening up the brabantia bin overnight ( I heard it wheeze slowly open in my sleep but was too whacked to come down to investigate ) and puddling on the floor despite a last walk (as always) near to midnight .

But doesn't she ( still ) look angelic ?

Freddie Wills

I started writing this blog back in spring of this year when I was ill and off work and almost unable to get out of bed with all my chest problems . I was there for what seemed like weeks and had no idea how it was all going to turn out . ( Transpired I was probably reacting to Topimirate , an epilepsy drug I was taking , and the coughing I did resulted in me having broken 4 ribs hence the extreme pain in my chest , difficulty ,moving comfortably etc ) .

I read a letter in The Times from Tim Wills about blogging and the fact that he was blogging about his baby son Fred who was in hospital in Bristol with leukaemia . Like many others I logged onto the blog and was hooked . In fact reading Tim s daily life gave mine a focus and I was even brave enough to leave a comment at one stage , and delighted to receive an e mail back from Tim .

Tim was basically telling Fred's story until ( and a little beyond) May , including telling us all the heartbreaking news that Fred wasn't going to get better . Like many others I followed the blog until Tim stopped writing and it was this which inspired me to write my own blog .

Today Ive heard the news that Tim is abseiling in Dec to raise money for Clic Sargent ,and in Fred s memory , the organisation that offered Tim and Rachel accommodation during the time they were at Bristol hospital and away from their home . Clic Sargent was mentioned often in Tim s blog and coincidentally a good friend of mine Ali has recently started to work for them , working directly with children with cancer .

Justgiving - Tim's fund raising page
I'm including a link to Tim 's fundraising page if anyone wants to make a donation .
I only have to look over the side of a building or say the word abseil to go weak at the knees so Tim has my great admiration , as ever .

early start

An early start today . I was excited about the Stephen Poliakoff drama on bbc 2 last night but the start of a migraine meant I took off to bed at 7 30 hoping some pills would fix me up for 9pm . I did come down and sit propped in front of it for about ten minutes but after realising I was staring at a woman in a posh Poliakoff house with three large dalmatians who was monologuing at me and that I really had no clue what she was on about , I took myself back to bed and blissful sleep .
I hate having migraines but sometimes when youve taken the pills and your bed is warm and full of soft furry cats and you have no real responsibilities and there is someone there who knows how to operate the video recorder ( Ive never learned with our latest model ) , then it can be a delight just to succumb and accept you have to do this as you sink in and the cats start up their purring .

So 4 am I was awake and worried that Alice may need to be out . She is scared of the dark and makes a brief foray into the yard when commanded but she really has no intention of taking a chance and squatting in case a bogeyman jumps out at her . I make tea and collect a wholemeal bran biscuit with lemon curd and start back upstairs to Mr Golightley . Im taking ages to read this , I think Ive worked out who he is now , one of those vooks you have to savour .

Then 6 45 and up again to take Alice to the park . She is out for a run when Holly and Polly two large black creatures intercept her run and she scarpers in terror . Always though she escapes the pursuers ( she has so far out run every dog ) then she comes back to look for us . I guess it helps that upon every return she gets a biscuit .

I do catcalls and wonders , little Amber has returned and is safely inside and has eaten two pouches . Then , back to bed with the papers before another walk to the Priory at twelve .

Alice is much calmer this her second weekend with us .
The cats are still considering their verdict .

Watching ...

.. the high waves boiling yesterday against the rocks .

Usually this spot is deserted unless its a weekend . There were people jostling for position yesterday to see the waves . I took a video which came out well but for some reason refuses to upload on here . The sound effects are great and it would be good to have a clip recorded for posterity .

Ive been grumpy today . I went down at five am to find a wet patch on the floor . Alice got frightened by a firework late last night on her last foray into the night , and then refused to do anything . We gave up in the end after several walks around the block then trying to get her out into the yard . So result this morning ! No matter , it cleans , though Im worried that if it persists we should really make her sleep in the kitchen where there is a wood floor . But shes not going to like that . And the kitchen wont like it either .

Last night as I gave Nat a lift somewhere she sneaked a large tin of Soya lecithin ( dont ask ) , off the bench , managed to open it and massacre the box , then snuffle up the contents ( a grainy powder ) . I was greeted by a sheepish black dog with a white face , white powder everywhere and the irony was it must have tasted so bad , and she had just eaten a huge quantity of chicken .

She now has a bad dose of the runs .....

My mood is lifting after several walks . Exercise , fresh air , the wonderful warmish air today despite the occasional drizzle ? the fact that Ive got two CatCalls this weekend?

Who knows why .