Off to the Marsden

It is early on Monday morning and we are off to the hospital today in Sutton. So far the weather is cold but no sign of snow although sometimes even going from here to Winchester in winter means a change of weather. I am feeling better today but didn’t think I’d feel like doing a blog of today’s visit when I come home. Although yesterday afternoon and evening were not good times for me, the morning was.

It was good to be able to go back to sing in the church choir although the choir is extremely small at the moment compared to former times. I wasn’t sure what sound would come out of my mouth especially as both the lymphoma growths are in my throat and at the base of my tongue. The sound was all right but I could tell I was rusty. The problem is I associate singing with being happy so I have hardly been practising over the last year.

It was both lovely and tricky: lovely that so many people were glad to see me and wanted to give me a hug, and tricky because I have to avoid hugs and hand shakes at the moment. I have no idea when this radiotherapy will start – or even which year! Hence I feel I should make the most of my time before my throat becomes too sore, or my larynx is damaged.

I really considered what I would wear very carefully –no not in terms of fashion or colour co-ordination, but how many layers I could wear under my cassock. It was really good despite the cold but I had to get up very early to make it happen.

The weather outside was bitterly cold and there are few birds around. However, we are keeping their feeders full. Raymond chopped some more logs into appropriate sizes for the wood-burner.

In the past couple of days we have sat down together and ordered our Christmas presents for the family. When the children were very small I could not drag them around town with me, so I did a lot of mail-order purchasing for stocking fillers etc. Now with universal wish lists on Amazon, it is all much easier for items you don’t need to see or handle. This means that my forays into the crowded shops will be fewer which is good

Anna is travelling from Marlborough to North Wales by train and telephoned me. I hadn’t wanted to tell her about her rabbit being poorly until we had sorted him out. She was passing through areas where it was snowing; I don’t know which part of the journey she was on. Let’s all hope it is neither a repeat of last year, nor (and this really must be whispered) a repeat of 1962/3. In the south of England the snow lasted so long in frozen masses by the roadside, it went black.