under another sun

Lorraine definitely brightening now, despite retaining a cough. She saw Beth and Enzo from a distance in their garden, and popped around to see Pat and Maureen. No easter eggs for Lorraine or I.  Another execrable night's sleep for me, I'm exhausted by coughing and now have a feeble croak for a voice. Much of the day on the gold sofa, reading more of The Long Goodbye , by Chandler in between short sleeps.  Mum spent the afternoon with Monica and Oktay. I had a good chat with Tobs. Otherwise little to report. To bed early, and trying to stay positive. So much Easter Monday. 

Another horrible night. Feeling properly ill now, on Easter Sunday. My chest is making accordion noises. Spoke to Mum who is mercifully okay.  Lorraine taking care of me, and ventured out shopping after popping in on Pat and Maureen. Roast chicken. What a waste of time being ill is. I can't focus enough to do writing at the moment. Gah.

My ability to smell seems to have gone, another Covid indicator. A sleepless night wracked with continual coughing and sore throat. The opposite to the night before slept for a few hours, with waking up to cough every few minutes, then bleakly awake after 4am. Did have a couple of hours before I got up.  A tauntingly beautiful day. I went into the garden for a nice cough, but otherwise sat wanly on the Gold Sofa watching TV. My brain barely able to function. Watched a French documentary on the Chauvet Cave art. Wonderful. Then I watched Chelsea stroll seven goals past Port Vale in the quarter finals of the FA Cup which happened to be on TV.  Chatted to Mum too.  Lorraine ordered us in a curry tonight. Curiously tasteless because of being unable to smell anything. I had a sip of Lorraine's beer, not wanting to drink, but gave it back as it tasted nasty. A truly disconcerting development. Watched Extraordinary Portraits on TV.  Then to bed. Dreading it.  Beautiful...

Wretched night. Throat and coughing abominable. Lorraine making inching progress, but well enough to drive to  M&S to buy some ready meals for Pat and Maureen. Maureen has a cold and we're hoping it's not going to develop into whatever plague we've got.  A long chat with Anton, who is using the Easter hols to continue decorating his house. Spoke to Mum too, who had her brother Alex's wife Eileen visiting this afternoon. Finished  The Lady in the Lake  by Raymond Chandler. He is such as skilful writer. Generally adhered to the gold sofa and tried, sometimes successfully, not to be whiny. Lorraine is an excellent wife.

Feeling worse today, coughing like a barking seal. Throat feels as if there is a cactus lodged in it.  This bug has really outstayed its welcome and now look set to ruin Easter.  Lorraine says she thinks it is covid, despite it not showing up in the test we did for her last weekend.  She's taking a long time to recover. She went for a blood test this morning, and saw Pat and Maureen, but she still is very washed out and has an evil cough. I slept in the afternoon, and Lorraine cooked. Boring, but mindful of the fact that I am ill in my own comfy home and all is well. Cups of tea and paracetamol for the win. Bah.

Another day aboard the plague ship. A horrible night's sleep with a raw throat, my cough now a nasty bark, I seem to be getting worse. Lorraine, still slowly improving but still not great either. I had to cancelled an evening out with Anton.  Instead I watched all four episodes of Adolescence on Netflix. It is one of the best things I have ever seen on TV. Fantastically good performances, wonderful direction, a beautifully written tragedy about a 13 year old boy who, influenced by online bullying and incel culture, commits a horrific crime. Also listened to a podcast from the Rest Is History People, but about books. It is called The Book Club. They were discussing 1984 in the episode I listened to. It's a well made podcast, hosted by Dominic Sandbrook and Tabitha Syrett.  Looked at the Kansas story again, but my brain is a but mushy to do too much.   Spoke to Mum, who had Ben around fixing up the curtain in the living room. She seemed in decent spirits, and Eileen, ...

Lorraine still unwell but making slow progress. Still needing breakfast in bed and generally taking care of. I was up early and sent off Snowfall , the short story I'd been revising recently, to a magazine called Superlative -- The Literary Journal. Then I pressed on with editing the Kansas story, which I will probably rename before I release it into the wild. I went for a short walk by the sea this afternoon, and popped into the supermarket.  Once home, my throat flared up and I felt quite ill. Cooked a decent chicken stew, and sat about feebly. Enjoying The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler. A proper page turner.  Snaps by the sea, which looked really green in real life, proving that I did actually make it out today. Also the chaenomeles Dawn gave us in our front garden, a gorgeous flower.   

Up and feeling like getting on with things. Did some writing, then took Lorraine breakfast. She is still unwell, but better than she was. In between looking after her, had a quietly industrious day trimming and tightening a little story called Snowfall   I'd written a while ago. Also published another substack post. Otherwise, drearily, I have a sore throat and a bit of a cough.  Grateful that neither of us has to go to work. 

Sunday. Started The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler. Love the way you become instantly  immersed in the story. This reminds me of P.G. Wodehouse: a brilliant skill to hook the reader  immediately.  Later, I spoke to Mum who was fine and just about to go next door. Lorraine recovering but still with a way to go, and a nasty cough. I'm taking care of her as best as I can.  Some fiddling about with words, and doing another Substack. I aim to do three a month. A last-minute Morrisons. Cooked a roast dinner, sprawled on the gold sofa.  Found out at last about the Live Canon shortlisting asking the new Google AI:   B ased on search results, there is a significant, urgent update regarding Live Canon Poetry. Live Canon Poetry (11714976) was marked as "Dissolved" at Companies House on March 17, 2026. This dissolution explains the lack of communication, the failure to announce competition results, and the silence reported by applicants since January 2026. M y s...

A necessarily quiet day. We had to cry off from a night out at Sally and Marek's in Brighton tonight. Took Lorraine breakfast in bed, she is improved, though still in need of lots of rest. Wasn't worried about her like I was yesterday.  I spoke to Mum, who was off to meet Robert in the pub. Then I made off to see Pat and Maureen to take them some medications and a delivery of two summer blouses that had arrived at our place. Maureen full of dangerous ideas about panelling one of the walls in the living room, and she enlarged on her theory that Lorraine does too much, which is why she is ill.  Home after a short stroll by the greenish sea. Lorraine fed and watered, I did some writing for a substack post, and in the afternoon, popped out to buy tamari sauce for the stir fry I made later. Lorraine a tad brighter as the day wore on.  I finished reading The High Window , by Raymond Chandler, and we watched the last couple of episodes of Small Prophets , which was quirky and or...

Lorraine definitely unwell this morning, and her cough is really bad and breathing was hard. I made her do a covid test: negative. During covid I bought a blood oxygen meter and Lorraine wanted to check this level, and we got a slightly alarming reading from it. I phoned 111 and not long after the local surgery called. Lorraine went in wearing two face masks, Beth, with Enzo in the baby seat, drove us to the surgery. We were seen very quickly. They did a blood oxygen test which was normal, so all well. Vitals all okay, it's just has a nasty virus that needs plenty of liquids and rest and so on. Good to get it checked out though. Home again in the Betty's lipstick red car.  Then I simply looked after Lorraine, popped out for shopping, cooked and tidied. Lorraine improving over the day but being made to rest. Former ward sisters are not necessarily optimal patients.

Lorraine unwell, with the shivers and cold symptoms overnight. Made her a hot water bottle and found the wooly Canadian socks that Joan had given me ages ago and put them on her feet. These seemed to make a big difference. In the morning I took Lorraine breakfast in bed, and did my best to look after her today. Having seen Mum yesterday I began to worry I'd passed this new lurgy on to her. But she was philosophical about it when we spoke. The CBT work I'm doing says there are worries you can do something about and others that you can't. Worrying about things you can't change is futile. A useful  reminder for me. It's funny how the most useful things to be told are often the most blindingly obvious.  Met Robin online this morning to discuss the next two episodes of Planet Poetry, which will be new ones. I always feel braced and more purposeful after we talk. Then to Brighton, as the train pulled in I glimpsed John McCullough standing alone on the platform so distinct...

Lorraine slightly sniffy this morning, but she went to do Rhyme Time, and I made off up to Hampstead to meet mum at the station at 12:30. As usual I stopped off at the Runaway Cafe in Lewes station for a cup of Ceylon tea. Today none of the electronic card readers worked just as I was buying my drink. There was a busy queue, so they gave me mine free. Few people carry cash these days.  Met Mum and we toddled down Flask Walk turning the corner by the school and up to The White Bear, where we were met in a friendly and very shouty way by the landlady. We sat in our usual corner, Mum looking in vain for the Parson. We had a couple of drinks, and soups and apple crumbles with coffee later. All very pleasant. And a new guy starting today, keen to make a good impression. Mum told me about going to John's funeral the day before. Her friends Margaret and John, just lived around the corner, and neighbours attended. After the service, there was a reception at a gold club for cups of tea and ...

Lorraine off to her personal trainer. For me, a good morning's writing. I published a new piece on substack about impostor syndrome  and pressed on with the Kansas story. Otherwise had longish walk by the sea off to Splash Point which was properly living up to its name. A cold wintery day, but I felt in a positive mood. Lorraine a bit snuffly tonight.

A positive start to the week doing lots of writing and thinking this morning. To the osteopath this afternoon in Seaford. A helpful guy called Jonathan, who gave me some exercises to do, which were simple and practical. From there I simply went for a walk down to the sea at Seaford head, and then along the seafront and gradually circled back home. I was listening to a Rest is History podcast about The Ku Klux Klan, of which there have been three iterations. All abominable obviously.  Below may blossom lining a road oddly called Grand Avenue, and looking down at Seaford Beach. Sea mist obscuring Newhaven lighthouse. 

A beautiful day. Up and we went to the Crypt gallery. There was the sketchbook challenge exhibition. Actually very fascinating, and possibly the most interesting exhibition I'd seen there. Some lovely work on show. The challenge was to complete a sketchbook and there were dozens of them there. In fact far too many to look through properly. Some of them were from schoolchildren, and some from excellent local artists. While there, we bumped into Debbie and Adele who both have sketchbooks there. I think I'm going to have a go at it next year. Then to Morrisons and I dropped off a pizza at Pat and Maureen's place.  Pat in the sunshine by the window looking at the sea. Maureen saying darkly that people on the beach queuing for coffee at the kiosk were peering into her flat behind their sunglasses.  Once home, Lorraine and I spent time gardening in the front garden. I simply got to work deadheading hydrangeas now that the new growth is come. Lorraine planted up a camellia, a pink...

Very nice not to be on a train this morning. Felt full of beans and cheerfulness all day, it was a beautiful sunny spring day and I'm beginning to wonder if the months of rain and overcast skies had undermined my mood more than I thought.   I woke up at six and got up at seven, sat at my desk writing for an hour or so, then returned to bed with cups of tea. Lorraine off to Storytime, and then see Pat and Maureen. I went back to my desk and at last finished the first draft of Kansas . It was only this morning that the end, which had eluded me til now, fell into place. The draft is in a fairly finished state. It's just under seven thousand words but will soon be tightened.   This done, I went for a walk around Tide Mills, trying another new path. Home again at a little after two, and Lorraine and Beth were at home. Enzo having been left at the nursery for half an hour without problems, and Beth feeling steady about it. Lovely to see her, and the baby a bit later.   Arranged...

Glasgow to Seaford today. Up early so I could immediately smash the jar holding teabags into a thousand pieces of glass in the kitchen, which made Lorraine spring out of bed. Breakfasted and packed we trundled down Laurel Street at about 10:20 to Partick station then to Glasgow Central which was mainly closed, apart from the trains on the platforms and lots of rail staff standing about.  We were advised to to board our train as it was already in the station, and sat in it half an hour before departure. 4 hours 40 mins to Euston. I did some CBT stuff, and tinkered with Kansas for a while on my laptop. A glorious day, and the countryside green and springlike. We grazed on leftovers from yesterday and sandwiches Lorraine made.  Arrived in London, quite a sensory overload fighting out of Euston station in rush hour. We reached Seaford at about seven, tired but happy. Being away in Scotland, and before it in Ireland, has been really helpful. I feel freer, and seem to have a slightl...

A relaxed morning. I chatted with Mum. Then Lorraine and I zoomed down Laurel Road to buy some grub from M&S. Sam and Amy came around for a light lunch. Sam on much better form today, which was lucky as he had to go to work. Needless to say Lorraine enjoyed spending some quality time with her boy.   They left, and we had a quiet late afternoon just enjoying the flat. Met Amy at Partick station, and travelled the short hop to  Charing Cross station. Sam's pub is called The State, which is just around the corner from Amy's restaurant. A substantial proper pub, its atmosphere managing not ruined by the half a dozen  TV screens showing Premier League teams being thrashed by continental opponents. Sam recommended a bloody marvellous stout, which Lorraine and I both enjoyed. Interesting clientele -- a group of artists, the odd football watcher, a couple on what looked like a first date and an older group from Tampa, Florida, one of whom was wearing a hat with a feather in i...