Spent last week in the Isle of Wight, visiting an old friend. Just days before, her husband had walked out, and announced that he wasn't coming back. So she was devastated. We spent most of the week in the house, talking, crying and praying together. She didn't want me to leave, but knew that I had to go at some point. I did my best to encourage her to make contact with a number of friends and relatives, because she had tended to restrict herself to his family. The house was full of reminders of their 5 years marriage. She was pulling herself together on the day I left, but I will certainly be keeping in touch.

I've held back from travelling north because of the floods still hanging around in Oxford. There have been tens of thousands of homes flooded, and plenty of roads needing repairs. There's one town where a main sewer has collapsed, and left a huge hole in the main road. Still plenty of houses without water. We're fine here; we're some way above the plain, so the water has all run off and it's nice and sunny again.

Put up a gutter around the shed, leading to a rain butt at the back, and helped Mum organise the back to make room for some compost bins. She had about 20 bags of sodden slimy compost which we emptied into the bins. Next job (after having a bath) will be to fill in holes around the house ready for painting.

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