I'm not dead.

OK, it's been a while, a long while, in fact, since I last posted and not a lot and yet such a lot has happened since I last hung out in these unsavoury digs.  Firstly, I didn't die, wasn't expected to, wasn't in any danger of dying - unless it was from pure frustration - and well, here I am.

Secondly, just to get it over with - I still haven't got a job.  I may go into that some time as I am now on a Work Programme and it's SUCH fun.  As you can well imagine anything that this present government organises to be.

Mmm.

A sad thing happened in May when I lost my only friend here, Sharon, after a several month-long battle against an infection.  Sharon fought hard but the infection won, taking away a wonderful woman who spread so much happiness to so many.  Richard said it all so much better and we all paid our tributes to Sharon at her cremation which ended with 'I Love To Boogie' by Marc Bolan.  Sharon would have liked that.

An elderly woman, Irene, with whom I worked with every Wednesday at Oxfam also got ill and so I offered to help her if she wanted.  She accepted my help and thanked me by giving us a canal boat holiday.  I didn't want to accept it but after some advice from others, took it and Richard and I had a great week away on the Llangollen canal, chillin'.  It was such a great holiday that I definitely want to go again and it really is a good test on your relationship.  If you go camping with your partner there isn't really anywhere to go if you have a row, but on a canal boat you can either push the other one into the canal or go to the opposite end of the boat and sulk.  We avoided pushing each other into the canal although when crossing the pontcysyllte aqueduct it was good that we were on talking terms.

Irene is better now, but has difficulty getting around so we visit every week and take her out every now and then.  She is a lovely, bubbly woman who originally comes from the Czech Republic - and is a die-hard Trekkie and loves her Sci-fi.  I look forward to our visits as Irene is so interesting but Richard came out with his ears ringing last time as the TV was on and Irene is slightly hard of hearing.

We visited my parents who were staying in my middle brother's house in Cirencester (he and his family are presently living in Oman) for a weekend and saw my other 2 brothers and their families, and then there was a family reunion of sorts for an afternoon at the newest McCarthy's christening.  Only my children were missing, but that was fine as Richard and I were off to see them the following week.....

And we've seen Rich Hall and Jack Dee at the Crewe Lyceum, Wilko Johnson at a very moving gig in Holmsfirth which was a bit like a trek to Narnia, the clouds were so low on the roads and just recently saw my favourite, John Cooper Clarke at the Crowne in Nantwich.

So that's more or less what we have been doing which all sounds good when you compact it into a small box, but the periods of time inbetween each gig, holiday or visit should be filled with work.  Richard is doing well with his eBay shop and I am spending my time volunteering at Oxfam and job-hunting.  But I am not qualified enough to work at Argos, I was told, so you can only imagine what the job-market now requires - a PhD in Science and Technology so that you work out which customer should receive which package.

More on that and Brussels soon.

I promise.

Meanwhile, I want - no, NEED these:

Available for a pricey £39.95 for all 6 from The Literacy Gift Company but I only want 4 of them.

Just sayin'.

Ye Gads, it's that time of the year again.

It's cold, it's wet, it's dark. And then you go outside and it's warmer, drier and the sun is shining. It's called Winter. Getting up in the morning isn't quite so bleak - yet, but the days come to an end very quickly. Around 5-5.30pm. You can't really call that a day, can you?

Well.

The Parental Unit visited in April. It was good. What was better was that they brought flowers and left 6 bottles of wine. One must not complain. They got on with Richard very well - in fact, my dad and Richard really hit it off as they discussed their hernias and respective various operations over a rather good steak and ale pie. Richard's speciality.

And since then, I received a Shed. Oh yes. Mum and Dad bought me a Shed. Isn't that just lovely. A Shed. I'm just getting used to the word. Shed. It's half empty - or half full, but nevertheless, I own a Shed. No garage here, so I need a Shed. It's at the end of my long and horribly narrow garden and most of the things that should be in it are at this end of the garden, in the out-house. Or outside loo. It's time to migrate, oh yee empty boxes, lawnmower, et al.

A good thing about Crewe:

it's not far from places that do gigs.

So we're going to see The Quo next month. Yay, get us. Down, down, getting down wiv da kidz, like, innit? Or more like going down, down with the elderly ones two steps away from a nursing home. That's us. Kool.

We saw Mark Radcliffe in Nantwich in October during the 'Words and Music' week. Radcliffe was very amusing but I thought the small audience was a bit dull and didn't integrate with him enough - so I pointed out that 'Richard from Crewe' was here when asked if anybody came from anywhere other than Nantwich. Richard was mortified, got picked on all evening and I, "his controlling partner" (too bloody right, Mark) found it even funnier. It was an excellent evening. Richard didn't speak to me for a week after that.

Well.

Not until we went to see Thea Gilmore several nights later. Thea is a great artist - noted by most of non-Gilmore fans for her song 'London' which was sung throughout the Olympics and has probably paid off her pension nicely in Royalties. Despite having a stinking cold, she, her husband, son, Fluff, Tracey and Alan were great and I was very impressed by Thea's voice.

It's now November. I'm not growing a moustache or anything weird. Still looking for jobs - had a reject this week, the pain, and am looking forward to Christmas for once. It's also cold.

But I may have mentioned that.