4500 blips

It seems that I have hit another Blip milestone: 4500 blips! Since my last milestone was only four months ago on 7th January 2024 (12 years), I won’t be writing an extended essay today. 

When I look back at my recent entries, I see the usual mentions of exercise, insomnia, work, cooking (especially soup brewing and baking), mending, gardening, charity shop foraging, game playing, book group fun, and entertaining/looking after Mummy hazelh. 

My main achievements in this period are supporting my doctoral student Marina through to an excellent PhD examination outcome of unconditional pass (i.e. no corrections), submitting the manuscript of the main output from the Platform to Platform project (our empirical work on the Lorna Lloyd war diary archive), proving that this 61 year-old can still run 10k+, and (my not-so-little-sister) posing a question (on my behalf) on BBC Radio 4’s Any questions. Mr hazelh and I also enjoyed a fabulous 2-week break in February with a ‘fly and flop’ holiday in Cape Verde sandwiched between visits to friends first in Manchester, then in Cirencester. 

More remarkable in this period has been the dreadful wet weather. I think that this has brought many of us down this winter. On a more personal note, my recent run of bad luck with my health has been rather challenging: the return of the crankle soon after our Cape Verde holiday, my lost crown on 6th April 2024, my neck injury first reported on 21st April 2024, the need for a referral to the dental hospital noted on 27th April 2024, and my rush to A&E in an ambulance a week ago today on 29th April 2024 (poor Mr hazelh thought I was dying when he dialled 999). While I have struggled with all this, I am also aware that some of my blipfriends have also been suffering, for example with bereavements, relationship break-ups, and health issues of their own. The great thing about this platform is that blipfriends support one another through such traumas. I have to say how grateful I have been for the kind and encouraging words that everyone has posted to my journal in the past couple of weeks.

I hope that my entries over the coming months will be a little more cheerful. There is plenty to look forward to: better weather, summer holidays, a couple of babies due in October, and the wedding of one of my sisters-in-law and her lovely long-term partner.

In the meantime, these are my favourite blips since my 12 year milestone:

Kitchen forensics - 14th January 2024
Mummy hazelh's plait - 5th February 2024
Jackie's 60th birthday party - 24th February 2024
Sycamore skeleton leaf in shadow - 18th March 2024 <- my very favourite
Puddle in the city - 27th March 2024
Pink cherry blossom in the evening light - 17th April 2024
Spooky bells - 1st May 2024

As for today (so far), I have returned to exercise with a gentle 20 length swim, helped with the Monday supermarket shopping expedition, and looked after Mummy hazelh (who is reading poetry on the study sofa as I type this entry at my desk). I’m going to cook a fish stew for supper, then enjoy some racing across the world as my evening’s television entertainment. 

My neck is still a bit sore, but I continue to manage on one dose of paracetamol nightly at 2:00am when the pain is at its worst. 

I stopped in the pouring rain to photograph the laburnum blossom in George V park on my way to the gym this morning.

**Bonus extra** A beautiful wee cat peered through our sitting room window while we were watching television this evening.

Exercise today: swim (20 lengths - easing back gently); walking (15,817 steps).