First of all let me introduce myself and the easiest way I could think of was to include a short profile which you will find here.
The following notes were never initially intended for a blog, but form part of the ‘Let me show you my scars’ chapter of the autobiographical notes that I have prepared for my family. Speaking of family I must warn the reader that my wife Alice is referred to in this blog as Al. Alice or occasionally as ‘my lovely’.
As the material was originally intended for the family it contains extraneous information which I have not bothered to remove as it makes the note less formal and more human. In any event I am including every day activities and social events so as to show to the reader what I can do one day and what I might find more difficult further down the track. I have also anonymized this version to eliminate the names, of the various doctors and consultants I have seen in connection with the MND, other than the two doctors and support nurse currently looking after me.
The purpose behind this blog is to give succour and comfort to other MND sufferers (and even those suffering from prostate cancer as I have a history of that built into the blog) – Caring through Sharing. Nil Desperandum and Carpe diem (Live for the day) and all that! I hope that some of my ideas and gadgets may give inspiration to others.
The main section on this blog is as you can see in the form of a diary. It starts at a time when I was initially diagnosed and records significant events in the progress of the disease as well as the effect on my day-to-day life.
I shall add to the diary from time to time when I have something interesting to say, or something significant has occurred. The diary itself is fairly lengthy but it is ESSENTIAL THAT NEW READERS READ IT in order to get the background to the subsequent entries. I should also add things that are not immediately apparently significant to other people maybe if one is suffering from MND.
In order to leaven the bread, so to speak, I have added an anecdote link and will, from time to time, pluck some amusing event or inspirational story from my autobiographical notes. I have started this link with two such anecdotes which you might find of interest.
Friends, who are only interested in checking on my state of health must excuse the mundane references to social events and the lavatorial activities. These are included, from a date around 18 months since my diagnosis, to give comfort to fellow sufferers. To show them what is still possible, perhaps with some degree of ingenuity, and therefore, what might not be possible in a few months time.
Then there is what I call the ‘readers page’ where you can share your ideas with me and other readers of this blog. I reserve the right to consider the content of any such contribution before it appears on this readers page. Any contribution should be addressed to dmarkcato@hotmail.com
I would be particularly interested to hear from readers who suffer from loss of use of hands. For example, arthritis sufferers or people who've had a stroke or even to thalidomide victims, some of whom have no hands and from whom, no doubt, I could learn a great deal. Well I hope we all get something out of this blog and I look forward to hearing from the readers.
Professor D Mark Cato
14 May 2009
PS 21 September 2009
This blog has been running now for around five months and the response has far exceeded my expectations. We have had around 65,000 hits to date, not only from the UK but from other parts of the world as well. Heart warming responses have come not only from other sufferers but also from carers. Even more exciting is the fact that the responses were not limited to MND patients. People connected with the terminally ill or friends or loved ones suffering from. long-term illness also seem to have found some inspiration from the blog. For this reason I have shortened the blog title to ‘Dying to Live’. in the hope that the content will continue to appeal to a wider readership.
In this regard than I ask each reader to consider passing on the blog address to their list of friends and relatives in the hope that someone, somewhere, will know someone who could benefit from the experience and draw comfort or support from the content or perhaps a little, much needed, momentary light relief from the anecdotes and jokes.
Latest Diary Entries
British hopes were shattered today when Andy Murray lost, in three sets, in the final of the Australian Open Tennis Championship against an invincible World Number1, Federer. Murray’s record against Federer is good, 6 wins out of 10 matches but never when it comes to a grand slam Not since 1936 has a Britain won a tennis grand slam but Murray is getting closer all the time.
A BBC survey of over 1000 people found that 73% of them were in favour of assisted suicide in a case where a relative or friend was terminally ill and suffering. However, only 48%, of those surveyed, thought that assisted suicide was acceptable in cases where the patient was not fatally ill even if that person is in severe pain. This survey was a prelude to the BBC Panorama programme, scheduled for Monday night, which will highlight the case of the Kay Gilderdale who assisted her daughter to commit suicide by injected her but who was cleared of a murder charge. (see 27 January entry).
This was followed up by a radio interview with a mother who had assisted her son, who was suffering from Hodgkinson’s disease, to commit suicide and was not charged. The point being that the son had witnessed his father die of the same disease when he reached the point when he could not swallow. The son was determined that he would not suffer the same fate and, it appears, from the leniency of the sentence, that the court was sympathetic with the mother’s act of assistance.
I have made my own position clear on this issue. If, and when, my throat is affected, before I reached the point where swallowing, breathing and speaking become difficult, I intend to slip away quietly, hopefully with a decent bottle of Bollinger, a log fire and a good cigar surrounded by my immediate family. With the rate of deterioration in my hands and arms it is also clear that I might need some assistance from a member of the family. I am fairly confident that by that time the law will have changed to permit such assistance without the threat of prosecution.
However, persuading a member of one’s family to provide help for such an act might be a different issue.
It has been my practice throughout this blog after such a serious note to lighten up a little and add some more jokes, anecdotes, etc. So under Jokes you will now find the following: Dirty Old Grandmas; Funny Chain of Title; Health Insurance — Send the Bill to My Brother-In-Law; If You’re over 50, You’ll Think This Is Hilarious!!! and a few more that I have called More Oldies. Under Anecdotes you will find a fascinating catalogue of the quality of the health giving properties of Bananas; a very interesting Aussie view on Global Warming – Myth or Fact. and something described as The Top 10 of Everything, which speaks for itself. All well worthwhile spending a little time looking at. Under Photos you can see yours truly with the famous kilt and smoking stick and two other entries. One for the dog lover, Adopt a Dog and one that should make you realise the important things in life, 45 Lessons in Life. Finally, under Videos the most fantastic time piece you will ever see The Clock to which, I suspect, you will return many times. To round things off there is another rather rude video involving farting, just so we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
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I didn’t have a bad night’s sleep having taken a couple of painkillers at 2.00 a.m. I can now assess the damage from yesterday’s fall. Apart from a large piece of skin scraped off the skull; a sprained left wrist and a stiff neck which I hope is no more serious than that, I clearly got off lightly.
Overnight more snow and the garden was transformed into a magic fairyland once again, set off by a beautiful sunny day with blue skies. This ‘good to be alive’ sort of day prompts me to add some more inspirational material and a few more jokes, first of all the jokes.
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Richard, my web designer, came to lunch today to instruct me on making my own entries on the blog. It all looks quite complicated but provided he gives me a line by line ‘mugs guide’ which he has kindly agreed to produce for me, I should be able to manage.
As Richard was about to leave, I slipped in the garden and had a nasty fall, smacking my head on the wall of a house and splitting my lip. I think it was more to do with MUD than from weak legs from MND!
Fortunately, I don’t think I have done any permanent damage, despite having a very painful neck. I will know better tomorrow morning when I wake up.
A belated Christmas card arrived today with a very welcome £25 M and S voucher from the local MND Association – how very generous of them.
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I fitted the lycra gloves this evening whilst I was watching television, intending to wear them overnight but I abandoned the right-hand glove before retiring. After wearing it for a couple of hours the muscles in the palm of my hand and on the back, both ached rather painfully. I am clearly going to have to take it slowly and build up the length of time that I wear these gloves.
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I had my lycra gloves fitted at Addenbrookes Hospital today. My initial impression is that whilst giving a certain amount of support to the wrist, at least, the downside is that they restricts what little grasp I have left. In other words, it is more difficult for me to curl my fingers towards the palm. However, what the gloves do is to straighten out the fingers and I will probably sleep in them for a week or two rather than trying to wear them during the day. I believe it is a well-known medical fact that the more fingers are curled the less likely it is that one can straighten them. So it seems logical to me that if I can stretch them, say over night, in a virtually horizontal position, that could give them a slightly longer useful life, although no one seems to know whether that will actually be the case.
This week has seen two landmark cases in the ‘assisted suicide’ debate. Kay Gilderdale, who was by all accounts, a devoted mother, assisted her daughter to end her life with tablets and morphine. This, after the sick daughter had attempted suicide and failed. This loving parent could not bear to see her daughter suffer any longer and she walked free from the court with a suspended sentence after being charged with, not just attempted assisted suicide but also attempted murder.
Compare this with the case of the woman who injected her brain-damaged son with a lethal dose of heroine as she could not bear to think of her son suffering any longer, this despite some encouraging medical prognosis. This devoted mother was sentenced to a minimum of nine years in prison for murder.
These cases have opened up the whole issue of the ‘right to die’ and ‘assisted suicide’.
The reason for the seemingly harsh sentence, handed down by the court for the mother of the brain-damaged son, was that he was not in a position to indicate that he had an intention to die. These cases together with the more recent cases in the High Court on assisted suicide make it even more imperative for the government to consider a change in the law.
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My first walk round the golf course for over seven weeks – Christmas, New Year and the severe winter weather intervening. I was curious to see how I would manage as I really felt that I had weakened over this period. In the event I managed 13 holes and believed I could certainly have completed the round.
Thank goodness my legs are holding up better than my hands and arms. I am finding it increasingly difficult to do my morning exercises; to manipulate my electric toothbrush and to shave with my electric shaver — even with the purpose made pouch which I have had made to clamp it to my right hand. In fact, I am beginning to dread all of these early morning activities as they have become stressful but I’m determined to continue to do them on my own as long as I possibly can.
The thatchers arrived today with all their paraphernalia. This is the full Monty this year, a completely re-thatch of the house and the office – horrendous expense, but we have no choice. This has to be done every 25 years or so with a re-ridging in between. In no time at all they had stripped off half the roof and remove tons of old straw, exposing a fairly fresh layer, before they started to apply the new long straw, something in the region of 16 to 18 inches thick. This job is meant to take three weeks.
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Despite slightly panic stricken telephone calls from my sister-in-law in Cornwall concerning my dear mother-in-law’s deteriorating state of health – she will be 99 years old at her next birthday, after all – we decided to go ahead with another arranged social event and had Jill and Tony Griggs, wincing each time the telephone rang, thankfully usually spam call but fortunately no dramas. Again, the house provided a welcoming glow and more Bollinger was consumed.
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I caught the train to London today for the first of this year’s meetings of the Kings College branch of the Arbitration Club. Fortunately, like the Mother Club the meetings are held, at a solicitor’s office, just behind Liverpool Street Station, so the journey was not too exhausting.
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We received a very welcome telephone call from Richard today. He has been released from hospital with a relatively clean bill of health. At least that’s his version of it! (They’re a tough breed these old naval types). We will just have to keep our fingers crossed (and everything else!)
Jodie, from AbilityNet, came today to instruct me in the further use of voice activation on my laptop. I really must try to avoid the temptation of using the one finger that still works and see if I really can carry out the whole process by voice. He also set up my Sony E reader which will be fine as long as I can still press the buttons.
However, I gather that there are a number of new types of E-readers coming onto the market in the next few months which, hopefully, will be able to be operated by voice or foot.
Speaking of gadgets I have certainly not given up on the idea of my own feeding device or bionic gloves. I have been given some new contacts through the Disabled Living Foundation and at least one of these is looking promising.
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Last evening, we received the telephone call that we have dreaded for some time. My mother’s 90 year old husband, Richard, (is he my stepfather once removed!?) was taken to hospital with a minor stroke — the second in two days. Fortunately, we have some very good friends in the area, indeed, I have known John and Anne Prytz since they both got married at 19, some 57 years ago. Anne is kindly holding the fort, looking after my mother and awaiting the outcome of the hospital tests. We will then have to decide what to do from this end.
I’ll say no more about the South African test match other than that it finished a day early with an ignominious defeat for England.
On early Sunday mornings, on Radio 4, Mark Tully frequently broadcasts a thought-provoking programme called Something Understood.This week the topic was Absolutely Honest from the New Unique Broadcasting Company Ltd. In this programme Mark Tully asks if absolute honesty is always the best policy and questions the philosopher, A C Grayling, about his suggestion, that dishonesty can sometimes even be virtuous. I advise my readers to listen to the whole of this broadcasts themselves, if they possibly can, but I reproduce here a couple of extracts which I found particularly interesting which, of course, should be read in the context of the whole discussion. The topic was particularly interesting to me, in particular, as to how honest you are, or should be, with someone who is diagnosed with perhaps, say, a terminal illness. Let’s make the proposition even more difficult and say it was a very young person who has been diagnosed with an incurable disease and has only months to live. First of all then, there was Eleanor Brown’s amusing, if somewhat unkind poem, on the subject of honesty, Bitcherel
You ask what I think of your new acquisition;
and since we are now to be ‘friends’,
I’ll strive to the full to cement my position
with honesty. Dear – it depends.
It depends upon taste, which must not be disputed;
for which of us does understand
why some like their furnishings pallid and muted,
their cookery wholesome, but bland?
There isn’t a law that a face should have features,
it’s just that they generally do;
God couldn’t give colour to all of his creatures,
and only gave wit to a few.
I’m sure she has qualities, much underrated,
that compensate amply for this,
along with a charm that is so understated
it’s easy for people to miss.
And if there are some who choose clothing to flatter
what beauties they think they possess,
when what’s underneath has no shape, does it matter
if there is no shape to the dress?
It’s not that I think she is boring, precisely,
that isn’t the word I would choose;
I know there are men who like girls who talk nicely
and always wear sensible shoes.
It’s not that I think she is vapid and silly;
it’s not that her voice makes me wince;
but – chilli con carne without any chilli
is only a plateful of mince…
I do hope that Mark Tully, for whom I have the greatest admiration, and Prof Grayling, will forgive me for paraphrasing their very interesting discussion and hopefully getting somewhere near the honesty they were trying to demonstrate. If there is any ambiguity in what I say, I can only plead with the reader to access the actual discussion for themselves.
Two researchers at Brunel University have suggested that there is no consensus in our society about ‘ What honestly is’. Asked to comment on this, A C Grayling wrote an article entitled, Don’t Dismiss Dishonestly It Can Be Virtuous. Grayling defined honesty ‘as the sincere attempt to stick to the truth, to tell the truth, to act with integrity, to deal with others fairly and justly’. He emphasised the importance of sincerity with the interests of others in mind. Mark Tully suggested there must be times when you honestly feel, you sincerely feel, that it is not right to tell the truth. Prof Grayling said he particularly liked what the Church of Scotland says, that there are times when to tell an untimely truth is a sin and suggested that you can do a great deal of harm to tell someone the truth at an inopportune moment. Take a simple example, suppose you’re halfway through a dinner party and your spouse says to you, ‘ how do I look’ and you think they look absolutely ghastly, this is the right moment not to say that.
So it can it be virtuous to be dishonest sometimes, provided the concept of sincerity is always present. So the corollary of this is, there are times when it is not right to be honest, even when you are asked for it or, it can be untimely tell the truth but sincerity can be very helpful too.
This extract from Anne Frank’s diary shows just what a tangled tale the business of honesty is:
‘Oh my, another thing item has been added to my list of sins. Last night I was lying in bed, waiting for father to tuck me in and say my prayers with me, when mother came into the room, sat on my bed and asked very gently, Anne, Daddy isn’t ready, what if I listen to your prayers tonight? No, mumsie, I replied. Mother got up, stood beside my bed for a moment, and then slowly walked towards the door. Suddenly she turned, her face contorted with pain, and said, I don’t want to be angry with you I can’t make you love me. A few tears slid down her cheeks as she went out of the door. I lay still thinking how mean it was of me to reject her so cruelly but I also knew that I was incapable of answering her any other way. I can’t be a hypocrite and pray with her when I don’t feel like it. It just doesn’t work that way. She cried half the night and didn’t get any sleep.
Father has avoided looking at me and, if his eyes do happen to meet mine, I can read his unspoken words .How can you be so unkind? How can you make your mother so sad? Everyone expects me to apologise, but it’s not something I can apologise for because I told the truth and sooner or later mother was bound to find out anyway’.
Mark Tully suggests that there is a niggling feeling within us that makes us feel uncomfortable when we are dishonest. This discomfort is beautifully illustrated by Georgina Blake’s poem The Teacup Storm
When the seed
of honesty
fell
to
me
I should have walked straight by
Trampled it not heard its cry
The seed
of honesty
fell
to
me
I kicked it around
For I knew it instantly
I could not bear to hold
it in
my hand
For there was
my tomorrow
my wish
my dream
my sleep
my scream
my yesterday
The seed
of honesty
fell
to
me
As love
I could not eat until it
was planted
safely
buried
secretly
watered
Then as if by torrential tropical
sudden rain
It sprang to life
Cast a shadow by
my window
Tempting me to pick its fruit
a snow white
rosy red
Once bitten would turn
black
Trapped as Jack was I
In the giant’s lair
Its aromatic taste told not
of what would be
until it flowered
Gently
guillotining
my
existence
The seed
of
honesty
fell
to
me
Then I could see
How…one person’s laughter is despair
in another’s eyes
How …even with one word a page
may stain
How … from a tiny drop of rain
storms rage
Why was this seed not taken by bees
Driven by seas
Scattered
by
winds
Why fall
to
me?
Why?
When the seed
of honesty
fell
to
me
I should have walked straight by
Trampled it not heard its cry
The seed
of honesty
fell
to
me
Then I could see
How from a tiny drop of rain
storms rage.
So there we have it, the moral dilemma of when dishonesty may be virtuous and the guilt that can be associated with it.
Today, Sunday, was a particularly sociable one as we had arranged for Ali and Graham Mackrell to come and have a drink at lunchtime and Jane and Kit Orde-Powlett in the evening. Despite the potential problems on the home front with Richard, we decided to go ahead in the hope that all would be well, as indeed proved to be the case. Lantern Thatch was looking at its best. The iconic Christmas card thatched cottage with a blazing log fire glowing on the ancient oak timber framed sitting room – a welcoming sight. Much Bollinger was consumed.
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The third day of the fourth test match against South Africa started with the home side being 215 for 2, against England’s abysmal 180 all out yesterday. Our captain, Strauss, was out first ball which rather set the tone for the rest of the innings. Then, there was the added complication of the South African opener Smith, clearly being out at 15, and the review umpire failing to notice that he snicked the ball and, as a result, wrongly failed to give him out. Smith went on to score 105 which may well have sealed England’s fate.
Whilst I was finishing reading a fascinating book entitled Yemen by Tim Mackintosh-Smith, which broadly covered the period that I spent in southern Arabia in the late 50s early 60s, another book arrived, this from my kind brother-in-law, Col. John Garton-Jones. Amazingly, this book was also about the same region and the same time period. This book, Roads to Nowhere – a Southern Arabian Odyssey, was written by an old mutual friend, John Harding, you was a member of the Colonial Administrative Service and acted as an Assistant Political Adviser in the Eastern Aden Protectorate, as an administrative officer in Aden and finally as a Political officer in Lahej and Radfan. It really looks an interesting book and I shall enjoy reliving old times through its pages.(My lavatory book at present is a tiny volume by Alan Bennett, Clothes They Stood up in.)
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My quarterly MND assessment at Addenbrookes Hospital today. Really there was very little to discuss other than the obvious deterioration of hands, arms and particularly legs. As usual I pressed Dr Alan to predict the rate of deterioration. Unwillingly he agreed that I would almost certainly eventually lose the use of my hands followed by my legs but could not predict when – although he thought possibly within a few months. In fact, I’m doing better than he predicted last March where he suggested I might lose the use my hands by the end of the year i.e 2009, but then, as he says, he always opts for the shorter timescale. This way anything longer is a bonus. He thought we would have a better idea at the next assessment in April. By then I will have paid another visit to Papworth hospital, so the respiratory side of things will also be clearer.
Seeing the deterioration in my legs and the difficulty I had rising from the chair, the doctor kindly agreed to write and start the ball rolling about the possibility of a chairlift. These things can tend to take some months to sort out so it’s not too early to plan ahead.
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I have another truly inspirational video for you, The Amazing Young Man. You absolutely must take time to watch this video from beginning to end. I guarantee that this phenomenal young man will put you in a better frame of mind as a result. If this does not move you, then nothing can. It should make you thankful whatever you have.
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The Siberian weather continues, with overnight temperatures as low -16°C, with another snowfall overnight in some places in the UK as much as 35 centimetres but not so bad here at home.
The test match is also Siberian from the English point of view. South Africa declared at 447 for 7 leaving it almost impossible for England to win and most unlikely to survive for a draw.
With all the excitement of Christmas I do believe that I have forgotten to mention a milestone in my life. My dear wife insisted that I gave up driving in November. She accepted that I was safe on straight roads but very suspect when it came to bends, which is not a good recipe for safe driving. I gave up without a struggle as I realised that she was right. The problem was not so much grasping the steering wheel, as my fingers curled naturally with the MND, but it was the weakness in my arms, in particular the right one, which locked from time to time and would have made it difficult for me to swerve in an emergency. I would never have forgiven myself if, as a result, I was responsible for an accident. In the event Alice sold my lovely old Rover for such a small amount of money I’m ashamed to mention it, but at least it went to a friend.
Another great escape for England in the test match. In a nail-biting finish, our number 11, Onions, survived the last 17 balls, to achieve a draw, which means that England cannot now lose the series.
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The severe winter weather continues so the golf course is closed. In any event, I would not have been tempted to walk around the course in the freezing weather, instead I spent a little longer in bed listening to the first day of the second test match, against South Africa, which started with the almost daily predictable drama we have come to expect, the loss of two of the remaining English wickets in the first over. Fortunately Prior and Onions managed to drag the score on so that we were only left with a deficit of 18 when South Africa opened its second innings.
The great excitement today was Anthea coming to do my use nails, both feet and hands. Although I had a perfectly good arrangement at the Saffron Walden Community Hospital with a charming poderist for my feet, hands were not part of the deal thus my taking the matter up with the Deputy Speaker, Sir Alan Hazelhurst. (Our local MP). He is still battling away in the background for the Essex County Council to provide a fingernail service for Essex residents. I believe he is winning but in the meantime ‘my lovely’ decided that the whole business of driving to Saffron Walden etc. was just too much of a fag and has made arrangements for me to be topped and tailed at home, of course, at our expense. I suppose we are one of the lucky ones and can afford it but I will still battle away to get this service providing free for others who are not as fortunate as we are and can afford it.
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We are in the coldest winter spell for over a decade, possibly longer. Having said that the sparkling frosty landscape is set off by absolutely beautiful blue skies, more reminiscent of Switzerland than grey dreariness are a typical English winter’s day.
In the second test match against South Africa, England had a great start with two wickets for 12 runs but let South Africa off the hook by allowing them to finish last evening on 276 for 6. This morning saw a dramatic half-hour or so with the last four South African wickets falling for 12 runs. England then went in, with its tail up, but this immediately changed when we lost a wicket with the second ball. After that followed the inevitable English collapse, we then regrouped and managed to end the day only 55 behind with three wickets in hand.
I wrote to the MND Association, following up on earlier letter, concerning the provision of a leaflet to be given to newly diagnosed MND patients. What I said was that rather than individual patients collecting information piecemeal, as indeed I have done, could not the Association take the lead and design and provide a template, for such a leaflet, to be distributed to (hospital assessment) teams to be completed by the hospital OT.
What I have in mind is that this leaflet will not only include simple cheap practical DIY suggestions but will also list all the organisations that cover that particular patient’s needs. The name address and contact details, for example, of social services, the district nurse and so on. It should also include details of what the patient is entitled to such, as Attendants Allowance or perhaps a Blue Badge. Also, what, for example, AbilityNet can, or may, provide and how to start this process. What the NHS will provide free and what they might provide that will be means tested. A list of useful websites …….and so on.
I know that all of this information is available from other sources but to bring it together in one bespoke document for each patient would be an enormous help and indeed could make an early substantial improvement in that patient’s quality of life.
Perhaps the Association could run a one day training courses for specialist OT’s who form part of MND Assessment team’s. Not only could they be briefed on the problems that MND patients are likely to face, and suggest some practical solutions, but could also deal with this question of putting together a specialist leaflet that each patient.
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Well, we’ve made it to another year. Traditionally this is the time when one makes New Year resolutions, dieting, drinking less, exercising more etc. I had no intention of doing any of these things instead I intend to pursue last year’s policy of Carpe Diem (Live for the Day).
Today saw another milestone in this blog when we exceeded 150,000 hits
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Michael left early this morning to spend the New Year’s Eve celebration with his family in Sweden. A brief but happy visit.
A visit to Addenbrooke’s Hospital this morning for a fitting for lycra gloves. It seems that they have no experience in trying out these ‘second skin’ gloves for MND patients. It will certainly be interesting, both for the hospital and for me, to see if they do any good. I go for a fitting on 21 January.
I received a report from Papworth Hospital today following my visit on 7 December.
Basically all seems well and there is no evidence that there is any bulbar (throat) involvement in this stage. There was a slight concern over my overnight oxygen saturation, measured on the Oxyimeter, which they will check again on 29 March when they say that they should then be more certain of my trajectory.
Today, was a red letter day for my blog when it passed the 150,000 hits mark, this despite, being still horribly out of date with the last entry, in effect, being 28 November but, as I said earlier, all the information is with Richard, so hopefully it will be updated very soon.
Alice and I are very boring about New Year’s Eve. Unless we are invited to a party we tend to treat it like most other evening, perhaps spoiling me with a glass of champagne, otherwise reasonably early to bed as usual.
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A handsome win by England in the Test match against South Africa, by an innings and 98 runs, one of the best result since winning the Ashes.
The good Dr Michael arrived mid-morning from Ireland and joined me, Roger Goodwin and Paul Newman at the Axe & Compasses for a most enjoyable lunch.
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Tuesday, geriatric golf day. Frankly too cold, with sleet and snow threatening, for me to spend three hours wandering round the golf course. History. The prospect was enough to keep me in bed listening to the test match in South Africa where England have acquitted themselves well, declaring with a lead of 232 and ending the day early, bad light having stopped play, having taken six South African wickets for 76, leaving South Africa trailing by 154.
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For all my diary entries, see Diary Archive ».
