Yup. Been a while. Edwina came to visit since I last posted. That was November 2021 we were made aware of her presence. Almost a year later and Lola is engaging with recovery and things are looking more positive. We hope for the best and continue to love and support.

John now in nursing home (5 mins walk from Barbican). It is one of the best around. So this will be permanent. She can’t visit due to covid. Looks like he will have perm indwelling catheter. Mike cycled into UCL for his big post-stroke appt. Had an MRI and lots of cognitive tests. That was a whole-day thing. Test results showed he’d had another small bleed since they last looked. Which suggests that what they saw the first time was a more recent bleed and not

Frank posted some footage of Nigel playing with The Cult on Facebook. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_vRZnov3Yw) Really brought him back; he was sitting there drumming with a fag hanging out of his mouth – exactly as he was when he played with us. I sent Frank a PM to say thanks for posting it, and then rambled a bit about memories of those days. I hesitated a little before posting – we’d not spoken for over 20 years, after all.

Neve made a toadstool hat. Mara came to visit. Isa is off to Italy in the morning. Very early in the morning. It is wet and miserable. Aunty Lin will be 80 on Monday. John has a bladder infection, or something, and is being cared for elsewhere for a month as he was impossible to manage in and out of hospital.

Trump and Melania have tested positive and are isolating the the Whitehouse. I failed to call Dad. It rained on and off all day but not when I walked with Neve to and from School. Isa lunched with Nicky at Burwash Manor. Neve got changed and had a shower when she got in - Mum’s words sinking in. Watched too much Critica to end a somewhat listless day. Though I did some useful stuff with containers.

It is 06.30 and I’m starting the day. Sitting at the kitchen table with Neve, who is doing her dance homework researching Lindybop. Outside, the day is just breaking. Last night, Biden and Trump had their first presidential “debate” – from reports so far, it obviously did not merit that name and descending into mud-slinging and name-calling. Woe.

I don’t know if I ever wathched the whole (both, I think) set of series that Aardman created. I sing the refrain from the Random Pavarotti Disease episode all the time, though. Pretty much daily. Always makes me thing of Mark Himsley. “Tuesday.” “Jam!”. I’ve started watching the series with Neve while she brushes her teeth. It really is rather good.

Frank recently posted this pic on Facebook. THere’s some doubt around where it was taken; possibly the New Inn in Dublin.

As usual, rather than devote time to creating meaningjul content, I’ve faffed around with trying different themes and getting menus and titles and other paraphenalia and bling. Otherwise, the weekend was full of girls – Rosie and Anick staying over Saturday night. Lovely, actually, to watch and listen.

You never know. I think I finally have all the stuff required to send off to the consulate to get Neve registered as actually born a passport Only been goodness how many years…