Wednesday and I wake up with little time before I need to up and out. I have time to take my morning meds and down a Lemsip to ward off the end of my cold and to get ready to drive. Eventually I get away about 09:45 and arrive at my friends house a few minutes past 10 o’clock. Staunton Harold is our final destination where my friend and I head for the café. I order breakfast and a drink and then spend hours talking with my friend about how we are and what is going on for us an our families. This person is one of the few people who is able to ask the difficult questions about the relationship between me and my cancer. Some of the questions are difficult but they make me think and I always find that useful. We have more drinks and pastries and of course more conversation. Eventually we went to the garden centre and looked around at what was there. For me the big find was the type of watering can I’ve been looking for, for a long time, so I left with an unexpected find.

Once home I rest for a while and then begin to read the book that my friend had given me earlier. Orbital by Samantha Harvey is the Booker Prize winner in 2024, interestingly it is a novel about peoples response to living in space. The themes and the issues are remarkably similar to the Swedish poet who wrote a poetic odyssey of people set adrift in space, written in thirties. The evening continues with some TV and I finally draft the blog before taking my night meds and putting on my finger splint before going to bed. Today has given me much to think about and new reading to feed my brain, so a good day.