Hilly's Blog

I’m sure there’s a song there somewhere………!

Today I got the results of the PET scan that I had last Tuesday – and I’m ALL CLEAR!!!! Words can’t describe what a relief that is!

So then, I went to college and threw lots of oil paint at lots of canvases! It was great!!! This is just a little taster!

I am in such a mess!

And….. whilst I am here, I should throw in a photo of our Murder Mystery Dinner last Sunday! We had a wonderful weekend with Vinny, Maurice and The Johnson’s as you can see!

Busy time coming up….. we will be painting the new gallery space this weekend, London the following weekend… Breakfast for Palestine on May 26th (please come and support us!) then chemo, end of year show followed by camp for half term and then our lovely Palestinian friends arrive for the weekend of June 16th – and I don’t want to think much further than that!!! Have a great May all!………….Lots of love Hillyx

I am still here! You may want to get yourself a cup of tea or a glass of wine – this could be a long one! (only because I am so well and have been able to do so much!)

It’s been a while for all sorts of reasons – the usual one being trying to fit way too much into our lives and also I’ve had huge a few technological challenges over the last couple of months….. a new camera to replace the drowned one, a new mobile phone which is impossible for a grown-up to understand and most importantly I have had to get a new main computer for the kitchen as the other one overheated and fried itself! AAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!! I hate computers! Our broadband supplier had problems and then it seems our website was hacked which caused untold problems for Patrick who looks after it for us (thanks P!) Thank goodness (and you lot) for my trusty laptop – what would I have done without it? I have managed to retreive data from my old computer but re-loading it all….blah blah blah that’s enough of that!

So – where was I? Well….. Barcelona of course –  was Absolutely Amazing! Tom and I had such fun, walked so far, saw so many wonderful sights and ate sooooooo much!!! Tom loved all the Gaudi architecture and the Miro paintings. We even bumped into my friend Claire and her husband Kevin which was extraordinary and we spent a lovely day with them at the Sagrada Familia. It was very special spending a whole week with Tom – I am now really looking forward to doing the same with Annie in Florence for her 16th birthday! Any Florence tips gratefully received!

Tapas on our first night

Whilst we were away I had the very sad news from Brian and Ann Marie that Brian’s Mum, Eleanor McGuigan died very suddenly. It was a real shock for everyone and we will all miss her. She was such a lovely, kind woman and a wonderful ‘surrogate grandmother’ to Annie and Tom. We all had a lovely but very emotional time at her wake – she had a tremendous send-off with several hundred people packed into the church… even Dan came which is almost unheard of! Bernie and Brian came to stay for a few days the following week coinciding with a visit from David and Catherine and a good time was had by all!  As we had so many for dinner one evening I invited Paul and Chris as well and we all had a very jolly time! It happened to be the 2nd anniversary of doing my blipfoto journal that day so I baked a cake for all to enjoy! For those who don’t know Blipfoto is where I post a photo a day on the internet – if you want to have a look at my daily picture journal go to http://www.blipfoto.com/hillyx (you will probably have to create an account but it’s free)

The 730th photo!

We have been busy as usual with friends, college, school, work, citroens, theatre visits and wonderful Palestinian women! Last Thursday was ‘International Women’s Day’ and Annie and I were very involved in a visit by 5 young Palestinian women from Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. It really was an extraordinary week of talks, workshops, mayoral receptions, singing, fabulous food and first-hand learning about the terrible situation that they live in, in their respective parts of Palestine. These five young women would never have been able to meet each other in Palestine as it is just too difficult for them to move around their own country so it was a very special,  interesting and wonderful meeting!

Our 5 lovely friends - International Women's Day

It was June 2010 when the young dancers came for their life-changing visit – and what a wonderful and humbling experience it was for all four of us. We will continue to try and raise awareness and funds to help them all. We are planning for the youngsters to visit us again in June and maybe one day Annie, Tom and I will be able to visit them in Palestine! Last Sunday Tom and I got up at the crack of dawn to go and join in a worldwide protest called  Welcome to Palestine at Manchester airport. A group of our friends were leaving on a Jet2.com flight to Tel Aviv having openly declared that they wanted to go and visit their friends in Palestine.

Activist Tom and Paul getting away from the crowds!

Historically you would have to say that you were visiting the holy land in order to get through the checkpoints at Tel Aviv to visit friends on the west bank. Some of the travellers had already been told by email that they would not be allowed to fly and that their money would not be refunded either! When they tried to check in the Jet2 staff turned them away and even made a show of tearing up their boarding passes – effectively operating an Israeli checkpoint at Manchester airport – Tom and I found it really shocking! We had a small victory in that even though they weren’t allowed to fly Jet2 finally issued a letter agreeing to refund their fares but that’s not the point really…

As is the norm in this house we have had ‘hot and cold running guests’ as my Dad used to say! It’s been lovely but I really must calm down, knuckle down and get on to some paperwork, citroen stuff and college work! Saying “yes” to everyone and everything is all very well but it’s really difficult trying to fit everything in! Just for myself I’ve even signed up for a 6 week trial at the gym in Hebden Bridge but I have only managed to go 3 times in 2 weeks and I have to admit that I don’t really think it’s my ‘thing’! What it has shown me though is that I am now much stronger than I thought I was and I don’t feel like my body is going to break any more! That’s a great feeling! So my next plan is to start dancing again – I have discovered a swing/jive class in Mytholmroyd on Tuesday evenings – does anyone fancy being my partner?

We seem to have been to the theatre a lot recently as Annie has become really passionate about the theatre and I just don’t seem to have the capacity to say ‘no’! We saw Time Gentleman Please at Harrogate theatre – a really wonderful dance show by The Demon Barber’s which mixes Folk dance with contemporary and street dance. It was fantastic! The following week we went to see Derren Brown at the Lowry in Manchester which the kids and their friends really enjoyed. I thought it was ‘interesting’ but I wouldn’t go again! Then it was the Northern Broadsides production of Love’s Labours Lost at Dean Clough. We loved it! It was extremely well done, very funny, marvellous music and we all thoroughly enjoyed it, it was a really good first Shakespeare for Tom! Next was Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker at the end of March then an absolute highlight last week was The Pitmen Painters in London. It is a wonderful production – go and see it if you possibly can. There was a particularly funny bit in it where one of the actors made a slip and said blackhead instead of blackleg and the whole cast corpsed followed by the entire audience! Maybe that shouldn’t be considered good but it had the effect of reminding us that these are real people acting – no photoshop in sight! And they very masterfully picked it up and carried on as if nothing had happened.  So that’s the arts budget well and truly spent up! (It’s a good job we’ve just entered a new financial year!) Live theatre is so wonderful and inspiring – I have decided it’s time I learned to paint after the Pitmen Painters and Annie is looking at theatre courses to do after her A-levels!

Philip and Alejandra came for a few days before Easter which was lovely – we had lots of little sight-seeing trips out in the car as we are not very busy with work at the moment. We took them the new-ish Hepworth gallery in Wakefield  - we are extremely lucky to have a gallery of this calibre so close by. It’s the third time that I have been there and every visit has been a delight! Dan took this photo of me sitting in one of the vast picture windows in contemplative mode, looking very much like my mother I think!

Inside Barbara Hepworth!

I was thinking about our friends the McGuigans who, just a few weeks after losing Eleanor lost their sister/daughter, Aileen at a very young age – We were due to go to her funeral the following day and I was sitting looking at the extreme beauty of my surroundings, watching my lovely family enjoying themselves! What an incredibly lucky woman I am to still be here to enjoy all these wonderful moments! Aileen’s funeral/wake was fabulous – a really colourful celebration and I got to wear my favourite jacket of many colours that Debbie bought me in New York! There were some great musicians there and it turned into one big jam session – I had great difficulty dragging Annie and Tom away to drive home in a raging blizzard so I would be able to go and have chemo the next day!! We made it back ok but the next morning the whole of the M62 was impassable so my consultant couldn’t get to the hospital. But it all worked out fine, they asked me how I felt, weighed me, checked my bloods and gave me the poison!  My next dose is May 30th.

On Easter Sunday Debbie, Sally, Alan, Sophia and Amelie came for Bunny pie! What a lovely day! I wish I had managed to take a photo of the pie but they ate it too quickly! Debbie stayed for a few gentle days (I tried not to make her laugh too much!) then we took her back to Watford and spent part of the Easter hols there picnicing with Sally, babes, Irena and Savino, going to the Theatre with Alejandra and having Cocktails and burgers with Vinny and Maurice! Anyone would think that this sharing the Sundae was a fight to the death! I think Tom’s winning though!!!

Bloody Sundae!

We came back from London via Weston-Super Mare. Yes, I know it’s the wrong way.. but it was a very lovely detour! We went to see ‘Grannie Mollie’ in her new house at Sandford and took her out for a drive and a lovely lunch in Cheddar. (I hope you don’t mind me telling everyone Mollie, that you are now 92 and just as amazing as ever!) Mollie lives in a ‘retirement village’ which surpasses all ideas I have ever had about such places. Her house is a very beautifully restored old cottage full of character. She teaches an art class every week and still has a studio in her upstairs bedroom. I would like to book myself in now!

So it’s back to school, work and college now. Tom did really well in his GCSE Spanish speaking test yesterday and bounced out of school saying his teacher predicts an A star! I don’t actually think it’s because I took him to Barcelona…. it’s because he’s very clever and has worked really hard! Annie is currently desperately revising 1000 words of French vocabulary amongst other things for her exams which start very soon.

We haven’t got much work at the moment which is a bit of a worry and hardly any bookings in the flat. So please pass the word around to all your friends that Yorkshire is the place to come on holiday this year! www.oatsroydbarn.co.uk (pass it on!). I am now trying to get some new work together for the end of year show and for the opening of our new ID19 gallery at the bottom end of the barn. It should be opening on June 16th when we have our young Palestinian dancers visiting again and putting on a show at Calder High School. Put a note in your diary – Saturday June 16th will be open house with an artistic and Palestinian slant.

And this is what Dan has been up to (when he hasn’t been working or ‘working’ on the forthcoming  ICCCR in August www.icccr2012.org.uk/new). Look at his gorgeous dashboard which he has fabricated and lovingly trimmed and the newly-trimmed seats made by a friend of his who trims very posh cars and airplanes for a living.

Have a look at Dan’s new website www.id19design.co.uk He has been working very hard and at the moment he is down in ‘the gallery’ with Ian finishing off the woodwork so I can get in there over the weekend and paint it all white. Although I am not sure that will happen as even if they do manage to finish I am currently in bed with the dreaded lurgy so I don’t really feel up to decorating! The up side of that being it’s the only way I seem to have time to blog these days! I’m sure it’s just a bug but they do seem to hit a bit harder these days so I shall be taking it easy until I feel a bit better. Annie will make sure of that!

Ok…. enough! If you’ve made it to the end of this you deserve a medal! I’m going to have a nap!

Lot of love Hillyx

Hooray! With the help of 3 courses of anti-biotics I was ok to have my very delayed session of chemo last Wednesday. All went well and as usual I came home from hospital, went straight to bed and slept for 16 hours! And when I awoke I felt absolutely fine – the chemo had completely wiped out any vestiges of the flu! I haven’t even had much nausea this time either. So we made it to London for Kim’s birthday party which was, in Tom’s words “the best party I’ve ever been to”!! The meal was absolutely delicious, the snow fell as expected and the staff at the pub were particularly friendly, joining in with the snowball fights and getting as drunk as all the party-goers!

What a fun night!

Sarah and Debbie made the birthday cake!

We stayed in the pub until 3.30am when a little group of us trudged up the road to the Travelodge where Debbie had booked one double room just in case we couldn’t get home because of the snow. We were very glad that she had as it was the last room in the hotel so we ended up with seven of us in one room – it was a hoot!

Will they ever stop drinking??!!!

I think Annie and Tom were quite amazed at both the stamina of us oldies and just how much wine everyone could drink! This photo was taken at 4.35am and I think we turned the lights out at 6.30am! I slept at the foot of the bed with with Fiona and Debbie’s feet and Annie, Tom, Stuart and Sarah slept around each side of the bed on the floor! Quite an experience!

So…. It’s off to Barcelona tomorrow for me and Tom! I am feeling fighting fit again and really looking forward to spending a week showing Tom the amazing sights in Barca. Annie is going to Cornwall with Hannah so Dan will be able to have a lovely quiet week working and spreading bits of car all over the kitchen table with impunity!

Happy half term and Valentine’s day to all!  Hillyxxxxxxxxx

Well… it’s still (just) January at least!

I’m afraid I’ve been mostly out of action this year. On New Year’s day I came down with a massive dose of Man-flu!!! (actually, sinusitis, conjunctivitis and a chest infection) which is still plaguing me as I write – but I am tucked up in bed…. I promise!!

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season – we certainly did! It was action-packed and so so much better than last year! I managed to talk Dan, Annie and Tom into doing something different and dragged them, out of their comfort zone, to the southern faction of the family! (Watch out you northerners – it might be your turn next!). Annie was really up for it but the boys would rather have been at home I think! Anyway – it was my call this year – Ha! We set off with a ridiculously full car and spent a lovely day with Auntie Jean near Bury in Suffolk. We hadn’t seen her since September 2010 so we had a lot to catch up on and laughed our heads off as we always have done!

Auntie Jean on top form!

I took a delicious pheasant casserole and some amazing chocs (thanks J&K!). We then spent a very comfortable night in the Travelodge before heading to Debbie’s to deliver our wonderful consignment of local meat and veg, Christmas cake, Champagne etc. It was a quick stop as Annie and I had to press on into London to meet up with Vinny and Mop before going to the theatre to see Matilda. What a day – apéritifs at Thomas’ flat in Aldwych, a delicious dinner at Kitchen Italia then off to see ‘Matilda’ which was extremely good! It certainly deserves it’s 5 stars from The Guardian! Annie was in her element! Mop, Vinny, Thomas, Prosecco, Pasta and Theatre… all in the same day! Then it was back to Vinny’s for delicious cocktails with Prosecco, Limoncello and lemon sorbet. There was much merriment! Hic!

Christmas Eve was spent largely preparing the mountain of food for Christmas Day. We were 14 for lunch and I’m sure we cooked more than 14 vegetables – it was FABULOUS!

Too many cooks? Never!!!

This year, as Tim, Taoa and Ben were in Oregon there was room for us and Jean and Victor – a wonderful addition to the occasion, Jean’s christmas pudding with Victor’s Rum sauce being one of the many highlights! We did miss T&T&B though…. we eventually managed to talk to them on Skype when we were all four sheets to the wind and they were just preparing their lunch!

What a meal! What a day!!

Another highlight was a very funny game of pass the parcel when Philip licked Alan’s nose and Sally got a forfeit which said “Perform a jazz standard with another person”

You should have seen the excitement! Debbie immediately took up poll position at the piano, Sarah on lead vocals behind her, Kim did some wonderfully funny (pissed) backing vocals and a very pregnant Sally dragged Alan on to the floor to dance! And the song…… Summertime??!!!!! It was magnificent! A friend of mine makes these little parcels out of beautiful hand made cards and paper and I swear that she must have made them for our family! (We were very good at it anyway!)

On Boxing day the four of us went over to Vincent and Celeste’s and had a lovely afternoon with them and some of Celeste’s family then back to Deb’s for the traditional Bubble & Squeak Supper by which time I couldn’t eat another thing! Philip and Ale managed to do it justice though! All in all it was a really great Christmas with lots of love and laughter, way too much food and far too many presents as usual! Wonderful!

Then it was back yo Yorkshire to recover for a few days before spending New Year’s Eve with Steve, Anna and Tom et al in Ilkley. That was also great fun! We had an excellent meal with some magnificent wines that Steve had been saving and lots of champagne. The teenagers all watched movies and snaffled beer etc. and Steve and I were to be seen later on jiving to Jools Holland whilst most of the others slept on the sofa! I have no pics of that night….. can’t think why!

Unfortunately I woke up on New Year’s Day not with a hangover, but a nasty sore throat and a very blocked nose which has steadily been getting worse and worse. I  was desperate to fight it off as we had a trip to London planned the following weekend and somehow I managed it (just about). It was a flying visit, picking Richard up at 8am on Saturday morning, lunching with Mop in Kensington and then checking into our hotels. (The Earls Court Premier Inn is very good and was very cheap too!) A quick visit to the Serpentine Gallery, a snack in Covent Garden then Dan, Annie, Tom and Richard went to see ‘One Man Two Guvnors’ whilst I had dinner with Mop and Derek. The play was a great hit with them too – it is sooooo funny!! On Sunday we took in the South Bank where the highlight was The Landscape Photographer of the year exhibition, then Somerset House (interesting city planning/architecture exhibition) and – the main reason for our visit  - the Leonardo Da Vinci. By this time I was exhausted, full of cold and I have to say extremely pissed off that the National Gallery sold quite so many timed tickets for what was quite obviously the same time! It was an absolute bunfight and really not very enjoyable. It may have been the ‘exhibition of the century’ but only if you were privileged enough to be at the private private view! Dan was a real ‘trooper’ and drove us all home whilst I collapsed in the back of the car! The following day I had to go to Manchester but when I got home I went to bed and stayed there for 6 days!

So this is the reason I haven’t been in touch everyone! Sorry…. I really have been extremely unwell. Thank goodness (and everyone) for my laptop! It has kept me sane over the last 3 weeks. I obviously couldn’t have the chemo which was scheduled for Jan 11th but it has been rearranged for February 1st so I absolutely MUST be well by then. I’m on a second course of anti-biotics now, this time ‘industrial strength’ so I really should be on the mend very soon! Besides it’s Kim’s 30th birthday meal on Feb 4th AND… I have flights for me and Tom to go to Barcelona on Feb 9th so being mended is absolutely essential!!!!

Anyway…. enough of that. I shall report again after I’ve had the chemo. Ans, as I haven’t been taking that many exciting photos of events recently, I shall leave you with a photo of ‘Little Becky’ who lives on the shed roof. She has been a bit chilly these last few days!

Little Becky in her new coat!

A Happy and Healthy 2012 to all. Lots of love Hillyx   xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And what a year it’s been! I am very pleased to report that I am still in very rude health and have survived well the excesses of the last few weeks!

Milan was fabulous! I had an amazing time – the recital at La Scala was possibly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been! Everything about it – the building, the people, the soprano, the music, even the sandwiches were beautiful – it was a wonderful experience!

On top of the world (the Duomo actually!)

The Duomo is spectacular! We stayed with Callum and Manuela in their lovely apartment, chatted a lot, ate very well of course and did a lot of walking around the city. All four of us went out for a meal with Franco’s family on our last evening there. It was a very typical Italian gathering – with much food, wine and laughter!

The following week I had a quick trip to London to see ‘One Man Two Guvnors’ with Mop and Debbie. I can honestly say that I have never laughed so much at the theatre! I had to massage my jaw in the interval – it was aching with all that excercise! We had a lovely two days together and I actually went to the hairdresser for the first time in 23 years! Surprisingly it was really quite ok and what’s more – I am very pleased with the result!!!

Not as scary as I had imagined!!!

The next excitement on the agenda was the much anticipated ‘Oats Royd’s got Talent’ party! Actually I think some were dreading it – but what a triumph it turned out to be! It was conceived by Annie who decided that we should have a gathering of a few folk, who came last year to our ‘Dragwitch’ dinner, to celebrate the fact that I am still here in spite of everything!!! It really was an incredible evening, quite old-fasioned like ‘music in the parlour’ – and I had no idea just how talented we all are! There were so many highlights – but this is one of my favourites….

Annie and Sarah singing their hearts out!

Tom also sang and all were amazed by his fabulous deep, rich voice – we need to encourage him to do more! His latest news is that he did one of the oral parts of his Spanish GCSE last week and was given an A! I am so delighted – in fact I think we must have a quick trip to Barcelona before the end of this academic year to inspire him even more! Now there’s a plan!!!

Annie and Tom break up from school on Friday and we’ll have a few days of shopping and wrapping before heading south for the festive season. It is many years since we went away for Christmas as A&T have naturally always wanted to be at home but after last year (which I really don’t remember too much of) I suggested a change from the norm and everyone is up for it! So we leave here on the 22nd to stay at the celubrious Travelodge near Auntie Jean’s (who we haven’t seen for over a year) –  before going further south to spend Christmas Day with Deb’s lot, Philip & Alejandra and Jean & Victor.  Annie and I have tickets to see Matilda on the 23rd – she is very excited! It’s her ‘prize’ for doing so well at school this term and passing her Grade 6 piano exam with Merit! We plan to stay with Vinny afterwards and then head to Debbie’s on Christmas Eve to start peeling veg!

So, as you can see, all is good…. the kids are doing extremely well at everything, Dan is getting stuck in to his new ID19 design/gallery ideas and I am going to college and trying to make work to sell in the gallery! Here is the result of a life drawing class I went to last week (I hate life drawing with a vengeance) but I actually quite like the result for once!

'Larger than Life' drawing!

I’m actually looking forward to having another go next term – I’m playing around with doing really huge drawings at the moment which is really exciting but physically quite hard work!

That’s it for now. I shall report in again after I have my next chemo on January 11th. In the meantime I hope everyone has a great Christmas! We will probably see quite a few of you over the next couple of weeks but if not – come and see us next year!

Lots of love and a MERRY CHRISTMAS from us all…. Hillyx

Dear all, latest news is that yesterday (Nov 2nd) I saw my specialist and had a bout of maintenance chemo and all is looking very good! My bloods are great (not too much alcohol there now!) my body is getting stronger, my hair longer and everything else looks absolutely fine!

New coat.... new hair!

Coincidentally, yesterday was exactly a year since the day when I woke up in agony and realised that there was something terribly wrong! Fi came to see the consultant with me and commented on how strange it is that, this time last year, I looked and felt so dreadful but didn’t know what was going on and now, even though we know I have cancer, I look and feel so amazing! In fact – I don’t think I have felt this well for years! Of course I get the usual fatigue and all the side-effects of being on Chemo and Morphine but there are the bonuses of being able to say ‘no’,  go to bed whenever I feel like it, and the pain-relief is so good that even my long-standing ‘gammy’ knee seems to be much better most of the time! I am, however slowly trying to get off the stuff though! I have managed to get right down to 30mgs of slow-release morphine twice a day –  and I hope to continue the slow withdrawal without getting the heebie-jeebies! It would be great to get off it completely one day so that I can actually know what’s going on with my body!!

Since seeing the consultant and having chemo last Wednesday my treatment plan has changed and I will have the maintenance chemo every 2 months instead of 3 – this is due to the latest research and nothing to do with me particularly so no need to worry! I have to admit that it has been wonderful to have this long period without the chemo (over 3 months) so it was a bit of a shock to my body and I did feel a bit rough! I soon noticed a horrible taste in my mouth and then the nausea kicked in – all ‘absolutely normal’ and I still managed to get to Annie’s school for the 6th form open evening that night. Can you believe that she will be starting 6th form next year? She has nearly chosen her subjects – Media studies, English Literature, Language and a 4th still to be chosen. She is toying with Economics, French, Psychology, Film studies or Photography! I wish I was at school again – I think I would do Media, Film, Photography, Music and Art & Design, become a complete genius and then probably go on to do exactly as I have done all my life… i.e. wander around aimlessly doing all sorts of things!

Who is that sophisticated lady????

Anyway – as usual we have been ridiculously busy since my last blog! Exams for Annie and even a couple for Tom. Annie is working very hard for her grade 6 piano exam which is in 2 weeks time! I am settling into my one day a week at college soon to be two days I hope, but I have been going to Jimmy’s hospital in Leeds every Thursday to a support group for cancer patients. It’s been very interesting, useful, fun and quite challenging at times – I have met some very lovely people, all at different stages of their ‘journey’ and on the whole it’s been a very good experience! We even danced to some samba music today thanks to Sue and her  insistence that Arthur actually taught us all how to do it! Thanks Tuka! Sadly, it was our last session today – I hope that we might meet up occasionally to talk, share and maybe even dance!

I seem to spending a lot of time in Manchester these days (and I am always wearing my fab new orange coat that I bought in Kensington when I was there with Mop and her Mum, Sandria!) Fi and I had great fun in the lovely loos at The Lowry theatre! (see above) For Hannah’s birthday we took her to see a wonderful Australian dance troupe perform a piece called ‘Happy as Larry’ It was so uplifting that all four of us emerged from the theatre dancing! I really love that area of Manchester – Tom and I spent a night there a couple of weeks later after his half-term holiday didn’t go exactly to plan! I picked him up from the station and we went to see the comedian, Micky Flanagan at The Lowry then stayed the night at the Holiday Inn overlooking the waterfront. It was really lovely – no traffic noise at all… just the restful sound of a flock of geese fighting!!! Then we had a great day looking around the city and shopping for ‘cool’ stuff. This is Tom with (my friend) Anthoney Gormley (Mop knows what I mean!) at the city Art Gallery. Tee Hee!

Tom & Tony at Manchester City Art Gallery

What a lovely time we had! Annie was in Scotland with her friend Harriet at the time. She really enjoyed the seven art galleries they ‘did’ but says she needs a little rest from culture now! Tom, however can’t get enough of the streets of Manchester with friend Ben, his bike and a camera! A different culture altogether! We had a lovely sunny Sunday there with Kirsty – I am so glad that my children are growing up in the countryside but can access the city life so easily – It can be very special!

And Dan has been beavering away with his friend, Ian, clearing and then making good, building walls etc. for a new gallery space in what was once the workshop at the bottom of the building. As well as being main design person for the ICCCR meeting next August in Harrogate. It takes up a lot of his time and he is really enjoying it. It’s going to be an amazing event – I have tried not to become too involved – but I have failed miserably…..!

This weekend we are off down south to see Debbie/Sarah in their new band called ‘Marchant’ and will stay with Philip and Alejandra. Dan will bring the kids back and Annie is off to Bradford on Sunday evening to see Jools Holland – I bet she will love it! Sadly I shan’t be able to go with her as I will be on my way to Milan!!! Yes…. I’m off with Irena for 3 days. We are going specifically to hear a soprano and piano recital at La Scala. I can’t wait to see the amazing building (and hear the lovely soprano!) We shall be staying with my old friend Callum and Manuela who live in Milan and hopefully seeing some of Franco’s family too. So, as you can see, I am really loving, and making the most of this remission! Long may it last!!

And…. as I have said since my Mum died when I was 23….. if I do die younger than expected then you can be absolutely sure that I have squeezed as much as humanly possible into my life (and everyone else’s!!!) ……But I’m not intending to –  so you had better all gird your loins and shape up!!!

Lots of love as always………… Hillyx

Shape up!

Yes – Annie and Tom are back into the swing of things and I have decided to go back to school too – well Todmorden Art College, actually! I went to see the course leader last week and have been accepted back on to the Fine Art HND course that I started last year just before I became so ill. It was a great feeling to be back there and I can’t wait to start the course in a couple of weeks time. I can’t quite believe how the time has flown – and how much better I feel now than I did this time last year or even the year before! The course is full-time which means 3 teaching days per week. I’m not sure I shall manage to fit in 3 days every week but I shall do as much as I can in an effort to try and get my brain functioning again – and believe me it needs some excercise just like the rest of me! I am supposed to start this week but I have a long-standing appointment in London on Thursday so I shall have to catch up next week!

So…. you’ve probably guessed that we’ve been very busy as usual! Which means that when I get into bed with my laptop and the very definite intention of writing my blog… I fall asleep! I am getting stronger and stronger though – I don’t think my tiredness is anything to worry about… I still seem to have the energy of twins! (Hmmmm….. I think there is some artwork to do on that subject!) But – not only am I getting stronger I am definitely getting bigger again… Not good! Yes – Good! I’m confused!! Ha Ha! This is the first time in my life that it has felt GOOD to put on weight – so that’s fantastic…. or is it?! So now you can see just how confused I am – it’s time I made some art!!!

And here….. for the many friends out there who have asked…. is a picture of me and my hair!!!

A close crop... but you can just about see it! No red curls though!

We have been all over the place this summer and have had a lot of fun!  London, Holland, Oxford, Liverpool, Pop festival, Folk Festival, 2cv weekend, The Tate…. all sorts! We’ve also had many visitors. It’s been really wonderful to have had a whole 2 months without any chemo and I’ve still got several weeks before the next dose on November 2nd.

I’m far too tired to write all about everything we’ve been up to so here are a few pictures for the time being!

Coldstone Cut - Amazing quarry and work of Art - look at the scale of the white car! (bottom left hand corner)

Cheese Grommit? Amsterdam - was ok but Leiden was better! Lovely few days with Rob and Selma.

See.... Leiden is better!

A&T in Rob's 1938 Traction Avant - Ready for a heist!

Savino and friends come to stay.... what a laugh! Everyone enjoyed it I think apart from Irena who was sure they were going to drown!!!

Swallows and Amazons day! Fabulous! We had such fun.... the best bit of the summer!

Then.... a day of culture at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Me and Savino my (god)son at the YSP

Camping at Towersey Music Festival with Sophia (and Sally, Alan, Sarah, Deb..........I could go on!!!) It was FAB!

One of the highlights... The Spooky Men's Chorale - see them if you get a chance!

Then there was the Tate with Steve and Thomas. The Magritte was interesting - and this was fun!

Happy Birthday Hilal!

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

That was just a little taste of our summer! We really made the most of our time off! I did have to fit in some work here and there including the usual and dreadful (sorry Derek) VAT getting in the way! Now it’s back to Spanish homework for Tom, Grade 6 piano exam for Annie and the usual busy hubbub of everyday life! I am off to London tomorrow for a few days and then Tom and I are going to Warwick for a night on Oct 1st to see his new girlfriend!!! Eek – doesn’t time fly!

Must go and sort out everyone and everything for the morning – bye all!

Lots of love as ever………….. Hillyx

Sorry I’ve been so quiet…. (I’ve had lots of complaints)… but we have just been so busy! That’s the great thing about being in remission! So this really is going to be a quick update as tomorrow we are off to Holland for a few days.

So…. since I last blogged we’ve had Dan’s birthday when we had a day out to the new Hepworth gallery in Wakefield. It was a really great day – the gallery is fabulous and everyone enjoyed it – especially when I lined them all up against the wall to shoot them (photographically of course!)

Modelling the ICCCR Merchandise!

The following weekend I flew down to Southampton for Jenny’s 80th birthday party. Well I couldn’t possibly miss that could I? It was a glorious weekend – I had a fabulous time with Jenny, her five sons and their families and all her friends. It was especially lovely to catch up with Matthew and Rosana who now live in the States – I wish they didn’t though – we miss them! It feels good to be independent again and be able to get around on my own – I really enjoyed the flight!

July really was a very busy month – the following week was Susanna and Andy’s wedding so Annie, Tom and I went down south, this time on the train, and had a wonderful weekend. Debbie came in place of Dan who was very busy working on his new car. We had a fabulous time! Bride and groom both looked very happy and gorgeous and all the wedding guests looked pretty fab too! The hotel was lovely, the food was extra-ordinarily good, the band were excellent as well! All in all I would say it was the ‘wedding of the year’ missing only one important ingredient…. Salvatore of course! He would have been so happy and so proud of his very beautiful ‘baby’!

Susanna looking stunning!

Birthday Fun!

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Next was Annie’s birthday! A quiet affair on the day – making profiteroles with Harriet…. actually, it wasn’t quiet at all – it was hilarious!

…………………………………………………………………………….

Then followed a week of birthday celebrations with Hannah and Fiona which sort of merged into summer holidays and Tom’s birthday as well! First was the Ben and Jerry’s pop festival in Manchester with several bands and as much ice cream as you could eat! (Tom definitely ate his ticket price in ice cream and some of the music was quite good too!)

The kids at Music in the Park

………………………………………………………………………………

At some point we went to an amazing light sculpture in Sheffield called  Amococo Luminarium. Wow! What a sight! If it comes to a city near you I urge you to go and see it – it was absolutely fantastic!

Annie and Hannah in the Luminarium

It was at this stage that I managed to fit in a visit to hospital to see my consultant and have the first of the ‘maintenance’ doses of chemo! All is going well! They are very pleased with my progress and they will keep a careful eye on me to make sure that nothing nasty grows again! I have an appointment with the doctor at the chronic pain clinic tomorrow – I guess we will discuss what to do about keeping the bone pain under control for the longer term. I don’t know if it’s ok to keep on taking the morphine but I expect I shall find out tomorrow! I am going to have an interim blood test at the end of August but apart from that I am ‘free’ until November 2nd when I have the next dose of chemo! YIPPEE!! It feels really good to have a longer stretch in front of me with no hospital!

Then came our London ‘holiday’ – Annie and Hannah went down on the train and were treated like princesses by Mop for a couple of days! Manicures, tea at Harrods, Hamley’s, taxi rides… and The Lion King! What a birthday! Then Tom and I joined them on his birthday and had a day on the river, at the Tate, the Southbank and at L’Entrecote – the best steak frites restaurant in London! It was delicious!

Tom with his graffiti birthday present!

It was an action-packed week ending with a lovely family barbecue on the Sunday. Leon, Caroline and the boys were over from Oregon so we had party! It was so lovely to see the three young’uns, Cameron, Sebastian and Sophia together with Victor, the most senior of the family!

Family BBQ

Victor Hugo!

This week I have been mostly trying to catch up with myself! And tomorrow we take the ferry to Rotterdam to see our friends Rob and Selma. Sadly we won’t be going in Dan’s new car as various little thing have conspired to prevent him from being able to finish it in time. Hopefully it will be ready for an October half term jaunt somewhere or other!

That’s it for now folks!

Lots of love….. Hx

Hello all – a quick update on life in the not so frozen North (or South depending on your viewpoint!).

Everything went very well with the second dose of Methotrexate and I survived a second week of hospital food! Even though it’s supposed to be extremely toxic (the methotrexate not the food), the only side effects were very mild – I really am amazed with this body of mine! I was a bit tired of course so I had a great lazy weekend with Annie whilst Dan and Tom went off camping at a citroen event. We had a lovely girlie time doing ‘arty’ things, making fresh pasta and watching movies!

Home made spinach and ricotta ravioli with fresh rustic pesto- Yum!

Fettucine drying on the aga

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The following week it wasMop’s ‘big’ birthday and I made it to London and back on my own to help her celebrate! I booked the train months ago in the (almost) certain knowledge that I would be well enough! It paid off and we had a lovely couple of days together mostly eating well and drinking fizzy water and G&T! (I still can’t seem to fancy a glass of wine!)

This was the moment when we presented Mop with a very small cake with a ridiculously large and tacky plastic lily candle on the top!  We had a really lovely day together – words can’t describe how pleased I was to be there!

.

.

So… now I’m officially ‘in remission’ we can make plans for the summer – something I hadn’t dared to do until now! I will have the first dose of the ‘maintenance’ chemo on July 20th and then nothing until October! So now I’ve been given the go-ahead there’s no stopping me! The calendar is getting very full already! Annie and her best friend Hannah are going to London on the train at the end of July with tickets to see the Lion King for her birthday – what an adventure! They will be staying with Mop for a couple of days where they will, no doubt, be treated like princesses! On Tom’s birthday he and I will drive down to join them for a few days of fun and family! We have also booked a ferry to Holland in August where we are going to stay with our new citroen friends Rob and Selma who live in Lieden. They bought the Ami from Dan and the plan is to go over in Dan’s new ID19 (like a DS) if the seatbelts are all fitted by then. And maybe….just maybe we will fit in a few days at the Edinburgh fringe but I think I shall wait and see how my energy is before booking that!

But…. the big news is the arrival of Dan’s new ‘project’! The body is now restored, the engine needs a bit of a shake down and the interior is the project for the summer! That should keep him off the streets!

He's traded me in for a younger model!!!

Love to all……… Hillyx

Hello all…… My it’s a busy life! I am just snatching a moment to write this before I go back into hospital tomorrow!

Birthday Breakfast Surprise!

So…. where was I? We have been doing quite a lot of celebrating since my last blog! The great scan results party ran into my birthday party two days later when Mop, Debbie, Philip & Alejandra, Tim,Taoa & Ben, Colin and Lynn and lots of local friends all arrived with delicious food, wine and beer to share. It was a lovely birthday and great to have my family here for it! I am of course super-extra-glad that I have made it to the grand young age of 53! It seems a very long time ago that I was completely unable to get out of bed surviving on large doses of morphine and depending on others for absolutely everything! Who was that person? Thank goodness I don’t remember most of that period of my life – and I’m really sorry to all of you who do!  I do have some photos of Christmas and New Year though…. so I can see that we all had a good time!

In fact it’s only taken 6 months from diagnosis to here with lots of very positive sides to the experience! I love being able to phone up the doctors surgery knowing that I will always be able to get an appointment with my favourite doctor as I am on the ‘palliative care’ list!! But…. why can’t the receptionists always be that nice I wonder? I’m hoping they keep that flagged on their computer for a while even though I am now much better! Actually – I have found our NHS to be absolutely brilliant since I was properly diagnosed. (If you feel so inclined, you could join me and many others in lobbying to save it! Have a look at action@38degrees.org.uk and sign the petition!) Just after my birthday I went into hospital for 5 days and, apart from the inevitable disgusting food, it was actually ok! Everyone is so lovely and caring on the oncology ward and I didn’t have any nasty reactions to the chemo, so I had a really good few days resting (as much as you can in a busy hospital) and sorting through all the photos on my laptop.

I came out on Thursday and immediately started getting everything organised for our half-term holiday at the Gaia Tribe camp the following day. But this year I didn’t camp. Dan kindly (and carefully) drove Sarah and Patrick’s caravan over to Malton for me and he and Tom put up the awning and even made the bed so it was ready for me when I arrived with Annie and Hannah in the evening! I had a wonderful few days resting whilst the kids had a fantastic time staying up most of the night with their friends! On one of the days I didn’t get up until 3.30pm! Amazing! I had a bit more fun with my head as well……

This was painted by Ade the face-painting fairy – I felt like I was wearing a crown! Unfortunately face paints don’t last much longer than a day so the next day I had yet another new head! This time the artist was Tahira with her henna in a tube! It is so relaxing to sit and have this done and it sort of tickles!

So now I’m a redhead!!!!!

I came home from camp on my own very early on Wednesday morning so I could get to a 9am appointment with my consultant. (passing Tom and his friend who were still up chatting around the campfire at 6am!)

She was very pleased with me… I did very well with the Methotrexate so I am having the second and final dose of that on Monday, followed by the first of 8 doses of an antibody drug called Rituximab on July 20th. This one is the ‘maintenance’ part of the treatment and I will have it every 3 months for the next 2 years or however long is necessary. So…. I am officially ‘in remission’! And we just need to hope and pray that Dillan and Jefree  are both Nobby No-Mates! I am still taking slow-release morphine all the time as some of my bones have suffered irrepairable damage, but that’s manageable and I shall look into other methods of pain relief as well. For now, I intend to try and take things a little bit easier than in the past (but that probably still means I shall have most of you begging for mercy!!!) My taste buds seem to be getting a little better now and some of the other funny side-effects are clearing up a bit. I still don’t like wine very much though…. now that’s weird!

Dan and I went back to camp on Wednesday and picked up the kids and caravan since when I have been catching up with work, VAT and tax return stuff… YUK! And now I shall start packing stuff for hospital again before I start cooking dinner. Mop arrives on Monday to try and take control of the household for a couple of days (good luck with that Mop!)  I shall leave you with this hysterical image of the impromptu celebrations on the day of my scan result!

Cordelia and Mop demonstrating how good or bad they still are at ballet!!!!!

See…. as I said it’s a mad, busy life!!……….. I do love my friends!!!!!! Hx