Paul is away at the moment, enjoying a wet and windy 4 days cycling in the Wicklow mountains. Don't tell him, but I've missed him! Not all of him, but his company, and having someone to share evenings with. The weather hasn't helped, and I've possibly been below par healthwise... Anyway, today I decided to grasp life by the lapels and get on with it. Despite the blustery wind and high chance of showers, I went out on my bike for 20 miles. I wore my rain jacket as it seemed chilly out, and...

We're two days away from sailing home after our latest "tour" as Paul likes to call them. Its been great, but as usual I'm ready to go home. We've travelled a long way, from Santander to Cadiz, along the coast as far as Valencia, then up to the Pyrenees and through France to Brittany. We're sailing home from Roscoff. I've finally got the hang of driving the van, I did multiple hill starts in Brest today, and have survived down some very little roads. It hasn't come naturally; I'm somebody...

Thankfully I had a healthy platelet count of 114 (that is very healthy for me!) and my surgery went ahead on 18th February. I was strangely excited to be walking to the operating theatre, I'd waited for a long time, although with trepidations about the spinal block I was about to have. The anaesthetist had cheerfully declared he was giving me one as I'd be in "a lot of pain" afterwards... He wasn't wrong, but it didn't last too long. The care I received was excellent, with the multicultural...