Peter's Hospital Diary

A bit of a posting gap I’m afraid, but it was ten days of much needed chilling – well, working with Mark on his house. It was also an opportunity to try out a new camera, and I will upload some more photos to the gallery in due course. In fact the whole blog software needs some updating and sorting out.

My main job during the time was cutting the grass with the big boys’ toys leaving Mark to do the heavy duty DIY. However we did manage to get some time off, and we were in Pompadour for the Bastille day celebrations, a meal (at a restaurant run my an ex-pat couple and some celebratory fireworks. This is one of several I took during the evening.

It wasn’t all work, and a few beers were consumed round the pool, and I wandered around looking for for subjects. These sweet peas were growing wild in one of the hedges (it must have self seeded) and just invited itself to be photographed. However the best photograph I missed were two entwined snakes down by the pool house – as luck would have it, I didn’t have the camera with me, and they didn’t hang around while I got it!

I flew back last Wednesday (we drove out) and while the French Air Traffickers were having their annual strike, the FlyBe flights were still flying out of Limoges. (In fact the only ones flying out of Lomoges airport – there were some VERY grumpy Ryan Air passengers).

I am now in St Thomas’s having had the first of a delayed ECP session, with the second tomorrow! So, onwards and upwards!

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It has been a busy and poignant week. The main ‘events’ have been the funerals of Simon (from BT) and Jane, a friend from University days.

It was an early start on Thursday for the drive down to Faversham from Southampton, but it was a good journey and I arrived at the Church in plenty of time – and just as well as the car park, and subsequently the Church, filled up quickly.
Among the many people gathered to celebrate Simon’s amazing life were some BT colleagues I had met during the “Get on and Get It” broadband campaign from 2003, including Philippa, Sonya and Sarah. Richard (a frequent commentator on the blog!) was also there, so we had a good catch up. I finally got to meet Christine, Simon’s wife, with whom I had had many chats over the last few weeks. After the service, we went to the burial, in a natural burial ground about 10 minutes drive away. With the dreaded words”You can’t missed it” we eventually arrived towards the end of the interment, but the photoshows some of the many people at the graveside. The burial ground is next to a field where Simon’s horse grazes, and this photograph shows the view from Simon’s resting place. The rather brown grass is testimony to the hot weather! After the burial we went back to Simon’s ‘local’ for a beer and a bite to eat, and an afternoon of remembering. In fact the afternoon of remembering went on until after 8 o’clock, when I dropped Sonya and Sarah at Faversham station before driving up to Corsham in preparation for the trip up to Huddersfield.

So I was up early on Friday to drive to Oxford to meet up with Faith, who drove. It was another poignant occasion, but a lovely service, written by Jane in the last few months. Again it was good to put names to faces, and also to meet up with other friends from University days (Judith, Di, Dina, Sue, John and Paul). While the occasion was sad, Jane had been able to say all the things she wanted to say to her friends, and as before the reminiscing went on into the early evening, before Faith and I made our way back to Oxford, and then (for me) onto Southampton.

I feel a little tired today! Earlier in the week I had made a start on some of the household jobs, the biggest being washing and painting the side of the house, using some staging borrowed from Mark. However next week, Mark and I are going to his house in France to do some work on it, drink a few beers and have a break. I had some hospital appointments, but I have managed to move those, so I will be away for just under a fortnight.

So – onwards and upwards!

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Seems to be no end to sad news, as I am sorry to tell you that Simon died on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning after his long battle with lung cancer. I had spoken to him only a few days earlier, and although he sounded frail, he was quite cheerful, and I misread just how far down things had progressed.

We first met during the BT Broadband Campaign in 2003/2004 and although that came to a close in 2005, we remained friends and he was very supportive to me during some difficult times. He was diagnosed just under four years ago, but after an initial operation seemed fine and we met up a couple of times in London for a beer or two, when our visits coincided. The last one was about 4 months ago. He will be missed, and my thoughts are with Christine and his family.

Update – just had this from Simon’s family:

Simons funeral will be next Thursday, 8 July at 10.30 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Faversham then to the burial ground and pub. We are asking for donations to Marie Curie rather then flowers

Back in the mundane…

My contract ended yesterday, I was out for a curry last night, and we are meeting up for a farewell drink at lunchtime today. There is still a possibility of another contract later on, although it is looking less likely now than at the start of the week, and I need to make a decision about the lease on my little flat. However I have a week to decide, and as it is on a monthly rolling lease, even that could be deferred for another month.

So I shall go home either tonight or tomorrow morning and have a look at the list of household jobs!

Onwards and upwards.

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