An appropriate photo for this brief post. The bay pony having 40 winks is how I feel I would like to be now. Worrying about Tricia, and being on steroids AND having a cold resulted in NO sleep last night. I was feeling drowsy around 2.30, blew my nose and got the mother of earaches and painful neuralgia right down the right hand side of my head. I had to get up and take some painkillers, and then I sat and watched tv and had a cup of tea, waiting for the pain to ease a little. I watched a very good programme about the Bohemians by Victoria Coren Mitchell - the 2nd of 3 - and she covered the Bloomsbury Set, Edward Carpenter (the original hippy, and who invented sandals but wearing them with huge hairy socks was NOT a good look), the Bright Young Things, dastardly Augustus John who thought it was fun to live in a gypsy caravan with his entourage of wife, mistresses and their naked most of the time children and who reckoned he has sired 99 bastard children, and so on to Eric Gill, who broke every rule going when it came to who (and what) to have sex with . . .
Sadly, I heard this morning that Trish has taken a turn for the worse again and is struggling with a chest infection and her lung cancer worsening now she is off the chemo. It is just a matter of time and so I am having to brace myself for the phone call - it could be a few days or just a few hours.
The photo above is one of the beautiful ones I took when I was staying with her last month. It seems so long ago now. A Beech tree with Gout!!
The peace and quiet of that beautiful beech tree - let's all hope that your friend's end is quiet and peaceful. Thinking of you.
ReplyDeleteIt's very serene isn't it Pat? I hope she just drifts away.
DeleteI feel for you and hope Trishe's passing is peaceful.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dawn. She's a fighter though, and perhaps won't give up without a struggle.
DeleteSending gentle thoughts to you and for your friend, a painful time.
ReplyDeleteMany hugs to you at this difficult time. We are also waiting, for my 90 year old Mother in law who is in hospital and fading and one of my apprentices who had a biopsy for a brain tumour on Tuesday so the specialists can decide on treatment. Your mention of sandals and hairy socks made me smile. When I first started work at the Community Health Council one of the local psychiatrists thought he was making himself totally accessible by wearing sandals and socks. His clients just called him a hippy and didn't think much of him as a professional! Augustus John was a great hero to the herbalist Juliette de bairacli Levy. She went and stayed with him for a time before the war and would send him water from Abbotts Well when she was living in the New Forest with her children. Her father, Joseph Levy was a great art patron before his money disappeared. He even paid for the artist, Charles Spencelayh, and his family to reside in Manchester for several years so he could paint the portraits of Joseph and his wife, Rosa. I've always wondered if Augustus John actually visited one of the Levy's house parties in Didsbury and whether his tales of the romantic gypsy life influenced Juliette to dedicate her writing life to the Romany people. I always think her herbal knowledge and subsequent writing came after she found she could earn money writing about the gypsies.
ReplyDeleteA slow death from cancer with its months of treatments, remissions, relapses, seems like the cruelest ending of life.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you are dealing with this grief along with a bout of illness. Neuralgia is dreadfully painful. Hoping for better news regarding your health--and peace for your friend and those who love her.
I hope you feel well soon and you get some much needed sleep. Sleep deprivation makes everything feel worse sometimes doesn't it. So sorry to read of your friend. Take care xx
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