Hawthorn berry landscape

I had a good journey south this morning: out the door at 05:15, brisk walk up the road to Waverley station; train to Newcastle; trot across the city centre to the bus station; bus to the end of the line in deepest Northumberland; 20 minute walk in the sunshine along the lane and finally up the road to my parents' house. I took this photograph near the bus stop.

I was in the house with my mother, father, and not-so-little sister for just over six hours. I helped in the kitchen, dealt with some correspondence (rechecking details about donating bodies for medical science), filled in some forms on behalf of my mother (on behalf of my father), chatted with my mother, tended to my father (I helped him get in and out of bed, with dressing, stemmed a nose bleed, and cooked his lunch), spoke to medical staff on the phone, and arranged for the 'hospice at home' respite care to come and make an assessment.

The palliative care nurse who changes my father's drip each day visited, as did a member of the 'hospice at home' team within a couple of hours of my phone call. Then - completely unexpectedly - my nephew Paddy surprised us all by calling in for 10 minutes on his way back to London after a long weekend with a bunch of his friends on Holy Island.

My not-so-little sister dropped me off at Haydon Bridge station at 16:15 for the journey home by train. All the way back I worked on my grant proposal, as I had also done on the outward journey. It's coming together...

Exercise today: walking (12,716 steps).