Home is where the heart is...

This is the corner of B's kitchen where she spent most of her time over the last 15 years, when not working or sleeping. She would watch tv, listen to music, read her gardening books, do her accounts, contemplate the universe, get drunk with N and C, plan her adventures, eat her meals, arrange her work schedule, talk on the phone, entertain me over a coffee and talk to or shout at the cats (depending on how annoying they were being) from this spot. She also died here. She'd be horrified that I've put it on public show but it is the essence of her recent life and it's a really important image to me.

S, J and J made me most welcome yesterday evening and we had a great Mexican feast then S and I talked...well I talked and S patiently listened about recent days while J was down the pub talking football. We went to bed after midnight and I was quite wide awake and read some trashy mags in bed.

I didn't emerge really til 10.30 today and enjoyed a leisurely and relaxed breakfast with them.

I came back to B's house and saw P who was doing yet more paperwork. I did a tip run before realising B's van's battery was flat so I did various tip and charity shop runs while waiting for the RAC. I missed them once and had to recall them. Whoops! I spent the time wisely though, designing the funeral order of service online and I'm now waiting for the proof to come back for checking.

When I got in I found two nice cards, one from B's ex husband (they married young and divorced way back in the 1970s) and his sister, which were both very touching. I'm planning a quiet evening in front of X Factor to just chill out and relax.

(May I say thank you to all blippers who have been sending me messages of support. I really do appreciate them all, even if I don't always respond to them. This virtual but very real world of ours has been a blessing to me during this tough time xx)