On Tuesday I had the enormous joy of spending the afternoon with my super-sweet twin nephew and niece, Innes and Matilda, having previously only met them briefly in Oxford the other weekend at their joint christening (at which gorgeous UK-based nephew Benedict was also splashed and blessed). Between accidentally putting squished fruit up Innes's nose, returning Matilda … Continue reading Day +129: Taking control
Day +94: The nervous nineties
As a Modern Languages undergraduate, it was my luck and privilege to swan off for the third year of my degree to practise and hopefully improve my language skills. Having spent my gap year in France, I opted to work as an English assistant in Rome, and it was fabulous: my workload was small, I … Continue reading Day +94: The nervous nineties
Days +79 to +82: ‘A matter of life or death’?
For a coffee-lover and football supporter, what could be better than marrying an Italian? There are plenty of other reasons why I hit the jackpot with Mariacristina, but in the early days of our relationship, I assumed that fantastic coffee and long arguments about the relative tactical merits of the 'false 9' and the trequartista … Continue reading Days +79 to +82: ‘A matter of life or death’?
Days +17 to +19: On parole
When I reached a point in my leukaemia treatment the first time around where I was able to get out and about and look to start working again, going back to my old job at Literary Review wasn't going to work out very well, not least because my replacement was doing fabulously and resources at the magazine were limited. In addition, … Continue reading Days +17 to +19: On parole