A week of highs and lows

It's been a week of highs and lows of one sort or another.....


Sunday


Highs

• A phone call from our daughter to say she's coming back to Oxford for a few days to see us and meet up with some of her old school friends
• Bradley Wiggins is leading the Tour de France!

Lows

• Any thoughts of a relaxing Sunday afternoon go out the window as we scramble to tidy Katie's old bedroom which is littered with prints, boxes and bubble wrap from our last exhibition
• After the wettest June since records began, the rain continues into July and it's still raining.....

Monday

Highs

• It's lovely to see Katie again, still glowing from a week in Italy, and enjoy a family meal together
• One of my images was selected for the 1X gallery
• Bradley Wiggins is still in the Yellow Jersey!

Lows

• It's still raining

Tuesday

Highs

• A day out in London, visiting the Tanks (the new performance art space at Tate Modern); flying high over the river in the Emirates Airline cable car which links the Dome (sorry, 02 Arena as it's now called) on the south side of the Thames with the ExCeL centre on the north bank, now all ready ready for the Olympics; back to Bankside on the Thames Clipper and under Tower Bridge on one of those rare occasions when the bridge is raised!
• I've had another image published on 1X
• Bradley Wiggins still leads Le Tour

Lows

• It's still raining

Wednesday

Highs

• Debbie, one of our Meso Warrior friends has had good news - the chemo has worked and her tumour is shrinking - we are so pleased for her
• Mr Wiggins still leads the Tour de France through the area we'll be visiting in September - it looks wonderful!

Lows

• We say goodbye to Katie, but at least will will see her again soon
• It's still raining

Thursday

Highs

• Bradley is still leading Le Tour
• The weather forecast says that summer is on its way, at long last

Lows

• Francois, another Meso Warrior, has lost his battle with cancer; it was heart-breaking to read about his last few hours via the Facebook support group - our thoughts were with his family
• After a restless night, I woke up with a streaming cold and felt sorry for myself all day
• It's still raining - summer hasn't arrived yet

Friday

Highs

• The sun is breaking through the clouds at last
• Bradley is still wearing the Yellow Jersey
• I've finished the words for an interview in Advanced Images, a Malaysian photography magazine that might feature some of my work

Lows

• The hot air balloon flight we were hoping to take in Bristol this evening with our son Jack is cancelled due to the threat of showers - it seems that summer hasn't arrived in the west of the country yet.  Perhaps it was for the best because... 
• My cold continues
• Steve had a worrying problem with his vision - a large "floater" like a big black spider suddenly appeared in his right eye while he was working on the computer. The Doctor advised to go to hospital if it was still there the following morning, as there was a risk it might be a detached retina..

Saturday

Highs

• wall to wall sunshine!
• Wiggins easily wins the last time individual time trial in the Tour and retains the Yellow Jersey to wear into Paris for the finish tomorrow
• The optometrist tells Steve that his retina is not detached, but wants to see him again in a fortnight, just to check all is still well
• The cancelled hot balloon flight has been re-scheduled for August - something to look forward to...let's hope it will be fifth time lucky!

Lows

• My cold has turned into a nasty cough and wheeze - somehow, thank goodness, Steve has not picked up the infection: it's not the sort of thing you want with a compromised lung

Sunday

Highs

• It's warm and sunny!
• Bradley Wiggins wins the Tour de France (first Brit to do so) Chris Frome, another Brit takes second place overall and Mark Cavandish wins the final stage of the Tour in Paris - bravo boys!
• I've finished preparing photographs for Advanced Images
• The cough is no worse
• Steve is a lot less worried about his spider floater - either its getting better or he's getting used to it and is editing it out

Lows

• Nothing worth mentioning

And that brings to an end a week of personal highs and lows.....

I'm off to work in Guernsey shortly - can think of worse places to be in such beautiful weather ....maybe I'll get to see a bit of the Island between meetings this time.  I'm not so worried about leaving Steve on his own now that the floater in his eye seems to have settle down.  

Enjoy the sunshine which is warming up most of the UK at long last!