Less than two weeks to go until Steve's next hospital assessment, so we've been keeping busy to distract ourselves...What have we been up to?
A day out in London, starting with lunch in Gordon's wine bar near Charing Cross, followed by a visit to the National Portrait Gallery to see the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait exhibition. Fortified by coffee and cake, we then walked up Charing Cross Road, and took some pictures of the brightly coloured buildings in St Giles before catching the bus along Oxford Street to do some window shopping in John Lewis and refresh ourselves with tea for two.
Back on the bus to Westminster to meet up with daughter Katie after work, then a stroll down the Embankment to join in the relaunch of Tate Britain. The new entrance looks wonderful, but I think we will need to go back when it's less busy in order to appreciated it properly.
We should have looked at the re-hung galleries, but ended up in the cafe catching up on Katie's news over a couple of bottles of wine and some food - much more sociable. The art can wait until the next visit....
What else? An afternoon photo shoot at the Bishop Edward King Chapel, Ripon College near Oxford - an exquisite building which was shortlisted for this year's RIBA Stirling Prize. We almost abandoned the jaunt due to the awful weather in the morning, but the clouds cleared, the rain stopped and the light was wonderful - great for taking shots!
The weekend kicked off with a social event - one of my friends celebrating 25 years with the Council. Congratulations Tom!
And a chance to meet up with other old friends from my former life... Some people seemed a little worried seeing me there on my own, but all looked delighted and relieved when I told them Steve is still going strong!
The festive season is now in full swing here in Oxford - Light Night celebrations on Friday evening; the city centre closed to traffic for the children's lantern parade
a Christmas market, live music on stage and traditional fun fair in St Giles;
the Ashmolean Museum open until late hosting more live music ranging from fiddlers to country jazz via an all-comers choir and a whole host of other cultural events over the weekend.
Too much choice and not enough time! But everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.
And so to the Who? bit in the title of today's post. Over the weekend, we've enjoyed a "Dr Who" fest celebrating 50 years since the series started broadcasting. I feel very old admitting that we remember the first Dr Who and very young admitting that we still enjoy it!
In between watching rugby on TV and keeping up with the Ashes cricket series, Steve has designed this year's Christmas card and printed the proto type which means it's time for me to write the annual newsletter, looking back over the last 12 months. The last day for posting to our friends in Australia is 5 December -the same day as Steve's next assessment...do I wait for the assessment result and miss the post? Or catch the post and miss out the most important bit of news? Decisions, decisions...
The assessment appointment letter came in this morning's post. Steve seems to just take it in his stride. I'm the one who starts getting a bit jittery at the thought of what we are going to hear. Perhaps this would be a good time to think about Christmas presents instead!
Big hug to all the meso warriors, especially those going through chemo at the moment and those who have been told that no further treatment will be made available to them - how cruel to take away hope....
Last but not least, if you have or care for someone with mesothelioma, please read Mavis's blog posted 24 November if you haven't done so already. There is some interesting information about possible changes to the law in the UK which may facilitate research; a warning about toys made in China which contain asbestos, currently on sale in Australia (and maybe elsewhere - who knows?) and the transcript of a speech given by Chris Winter of the Independent Asbestos Training Advisors (IATP) about raising awareness of the risks associated with asbestos. You can access the page by clicking here
Stay safe!
A day out in London, starting with lunch in Gordon's wine bar near Charing Cross, followed by a visit to the National Portrait Gallery to see the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait exhibition. Fortified by coffee and cake, we then walked up Charing Cross Road, and took some pictures of the brightly coloured buildings in St Giles before catching the bus along Oxford Street to do some window shopping in John Lewis and refresh ourselves with tea for two.
Back on the bus to Westminster to meet up with daughter Katie after work, then a stroll down the Embankment to join in the relaunch of Tate Britain. The new entrance looks wonderful, but I think we will need to go back when it's less busy in order to appreciated it properly.
We should have looked at the re-hung galleries, but ended up in the cafe catching up on Katie's news over a couple of bottles of wine and some food - much more sociable. The art can wait until the next visit....
What else? An afternoon photo shoot at the Bishop Edward King Chapel, Ripon College near Oxford - an exquisite building which was shortlisted for this year's RIBA Stirling Prize. We almost abandoned the jaunt due to the awful weather in the morning, but the clouds cleared, the rain stopped and the light was wonderful - great for taking shots!
The weekend kicked off with a social event - one of my friends celebrating 25 years with the Council. Congratulations Tom!
And a chance to meet up with other old friends from my former life... Some people seemed a little worried seeing me there on my own, but all looked delighted and relieved when I told them Steve is still going strong!
The festive season is now in full swing here in Oxford - Light Night celebrations on Friday evening; the city centre closed to traffic for the children's lantern parade
a Christmas market, live music on stage and traditional fun fair in St Giles;
the Ashmolean Museum open until late hosting more live music ranging from fiddlers to country jazz via an all-comers choir and a whole host of other cultural events over the weekend.
Too much choice and not enough time! But everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.
And so to the Who? bit in the title of today's post. Over the weekend, we've enjoyed a "Dr Who" fest celebrating 50 years since the series started broadcasting. I feel very old admitting that we remember the first Dr Who and very young admitting that we still enjoy it!
In between watching rugby on TV and keeping up with the Ashes cricket series, Steve has designed this year's Christmas card and printed the proto type which means it's time for me to write the annual newsletter, looking back over the last 12 months. The last day for posting to our friends in Australia is 5 December -the same day as Steve's next assessment...do I wait for the assessment result and miss the post? Or catch the post and miss out the most important bit of news? Decisions, decisions...
The assessment appointment letter came in this morning's post. Steve seems to just take it in his stride. I'm the one who starts getting a bit jittery at the thought of what we are going to hear. Perhaps this would be a good time to think about Christmas presents instead!
Big hug to all the meso warriors, especially those going through chemo at the moment and those who have been told that no further treatment will be made available to them - how cruel to take away hope....
Last but not least, if you have or care for someone with mesothelioma, please read Mavis's blog posted 24 November if you haven't done so already. There is some interesting information about possible changes to the law in the UK which may facilitate research; a warning about toys made in China which contain asbestos, currently on sale in Australia (and maybe elsewhere - who knows?) and the transcript of a speech given by Chris Winter of the Independent Asbestos Training Advisors (IATP) about raising awareness of the risks associated with asbestos. You can access the page by clicking here
Stay safe!
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