Week 39 - One Daily Positive and Project 365 - All about Bowels, Stephanie and Walking.

Lots of people have commented on the weather we had in Australia, both on my blog and in conversation. It was winter when we visited, August and September, just coming into Spring. It was the wettest winter on record in 27 years. On previous visits we've been walking around in shorts and t-shirts most days. Winter is warmer and dryer further north and previously we've swam in the sea in the Great Barrier Reef up in Cairns at the same time of the year, where as Melbourne is more typically like a UK winter. We also had snow in Tasmania

Sunday 

Day 263 Not a good day at all. I'm starting a new job tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to meeting new people and having to talk about Stephanie. We're coming up to the first year of her death and that is stressing me out. I spent most of the day in tears, I was angry, anxious, switched off, cancelled a coffee date with a friend that I desperately needed to be with and generally self sabotaged everything. I did some gardening, cooked a roast, had a bath and binge watched Eastenders, and went to bed late. I had nothing ready for the morning as at this point I wasn't going in. In hindsight, I feel I needed this, to let it out.

Monday

Day 264 Had a good sleep, waking just before my alarm. Got my lunch ready, made a coffee and drove to Bromyard 20 minutes away. All was good I enjoyed the day. Back into Malvern by 4pm. Met a friend for coffee and home for dinner, get ready for the morning and watch TV before a bath and an early night.

Tuesday

Day 265 A good 2nd day in work. Picked Peter up and we went for coffee and to collect my prescription. Wed moved some pots and plants around so we can access the herbs more easily and there’s a lovely scent when we step through the front door. I sorted a costume for European Day on Friday and Sky installed our new broadband.

Wednesday

Day 266 Home from work via a friends house to collect a head dress from her daughter for my costume, had a cup of tea and a natter then home for dinner, did some packing for my trip away on the weekend, had a bath, did some blogging and bed. The cat has been really needy the last few days and quite clingy with both of us.

Thursday 

Day 267  Some spoils from the garden. Home from work via a meet up with Peter for a coffee. A spit of gardening and while I packed the van for my trip away, Peter sorted out the hot and cold water tanks. We watched tv and had an early night.

Friday 

Day 268 Off to work then drove 2 hours to Henley where I’m camping for the night ahead of the #ultimate50challenge in the morning in memory of Stephanie. I spent the evening in the van after collecting my registration kit, watching tv, reading and blogging.

Saturday 

Day 269 25km walk in memory of Stephanie. I’m physically and emotionally drained. I averaged around 5km per hour for the first 15km and an elevation gain of 486m. There was a 30 minute rest stop and I finished in just under 6 hours.

Things to make you smile:

So called friend sending messages of support and then racing away at lights pretending they haven't seen me. Thankfully I'd seen through their strange behaviour a while back and had distanced myself. It's not just me, who has found their behaviour odd.

Things that made me happy:

Completing 25km of the #Chiltern50Challenge and raising £825 for Bowel Research UK. Despite my initial concerns this week about talking about Stephanie, I surprised myself by being able to do so and it wasn't as frightening as I'd anticipated.

On the blog this week:

Post Comment Love - Link up with any post written this week

Word of the week - Motion

Wildlife in Australia

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Word of the Week - Bowels

Yes, BOWELS. You read that right the first time.

I'm fundraising for Bowel Research in memory of our daughter Stephanie who died on October 7th 2025.

We requested no flowers at her funeral and didn't have a charity in mind at the time.

She was taken ill in the morning. Died in the evening and her funeral was held 8 days later. There was too much to do with arranging for children to fly in from Africa and Australia and just the sheer shock of her death.

I want to mark the first anniversary of her death and I've found an organised walk I can join in with on September 27th.

So why Bowels? 

Stephanie died from an Ischemic Bowel. She wasn't able to communicate, she couldn't tell anyone she was in discomfort, in pain. She didn't reflect pain in her emotions. Often she would laugh even when injured, she might just cry for no reason at all. So by the time Stephanie reached the hospital for help, it was too late. A stoma was not an option, it was too advanced and she died on the operating table.

Our grandson, now 3 was born with Hirchsprung disease and spent several months in his first year with a stoma bag and had numerous operations. 

I've was diagnosed with diverticulitis after a colonoscopy and biopsy. I don't have any pain or even any symptoms other than chronic constipation caused by my new migraine medication.

I'd really appreciate it if you could share my Just Giving Site on your social media sites. I'm aiming for £1000 and already a third of the way there.

In Memory of Stephanie

Why a walk?

The one thing that Stephanie could do independently was to walk, we used to call her Forrest Gump when she was younger. She'd just head off in any direction she fancied. We had to guide her and she had no spacial or risk awareness and you couldn't take your eyes off her. She would grab onto a pram in the street or a trolley in the supermarket to steady herself if she had to stand still and would go off in a total different direction with us playing catch up.

As she got older, she walked less, swam less, rode a horse less, bounced on the trampoline less, moved around less.

Stephanie was 36 years old when she died.