On Thursday it will be eight years since my stroke. I am doing pretty well now, and think that I am doing well because I have learnt that dealing with a stroke is at least as much about managing limitation as it is about recovery. I know that I need an unusual amount of sleep…
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Working on a book can be full of surprises. I did not think, when I set out to write a chapter about tools and objects and the way my attitude to the material world changed after my stroke, that I would end up being inspired by an amazing feminist anarcho-syndicalist . . . but weirdly…
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Without doubt the best thing about this whole blogging thing is the dialogue it enables. Under its first name of “needled”, I started this blog ten years ago, and over the past decade I’ve met some of my best friends and colleagues through this online space. Many of you correspond with me, and though it…
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Tom and I are currently working hard on separate projects. Tom is developing some of his studio techniques, exploring different ways of depicting the textural qualities of vegetables and flowers. I’m writing about my recovery from stroke, and for the past fortnight have been working on a chapter specifically about my left hand, and the…
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I have been doing a lot of reading and writing of late. It feels like a total luxury to be spending my days with books and words and I am enjoying it immensely. As well as writing a good chunk of my own book, I have enjoyed reading a lot of other people’s work. I’ve…
Read MoreI’m having one of those reflective mornings. I got up early to start knitting (I am making something special). With a cup of tea I watched for the hare that comes by our window at first light, and listened to the final chapters of Helen Macdonald’s H is for Hawk (worth reading). I think I…
Read MoreWhat’s this? A handknitted hoose? With flowers in the garden . . . . . . and a wee gate . . . . . leading to a horse-shoe adorned front door . . . . . . there are flowers in the windows too . . . . . . shrubs round the side…
Read MoreIt is coming up to the anniversary of my stroke, and I find myself reflecting, in various ways, on where I am now, a whole five years later. I’ll write about different aspects of my recovery in other posts, but today I want to talk about the change in my employment. I’m a knitwear designer…
Read MoreHello! I hope you’ve been enjoying the first days of 2015. We travelled down to England to spend some time with my mum and dad — the latter of whom is pictured above, on tenor sax. Its been quite a while since I’ve heard my dad play. One of the worst consequences of my stroke…
Read MoreI can’t believe quite how much my horizons seem to have expanded in the fortnight since I passed my driving test. Every day I’ve been able to take Bruce somewhere different for a walk. As you can imagine, Bruce is enjoying this immensely. Each time I open the front door he goes and stands expectantly…
Read MoreI am extremely happy to tell you that I have passed my driving test! The process has not been easy and has never felt straightforward, but at last I’ve got there! The main issue is that my spacial awareness is somewhat skewy, and this makes things like road positioning and reverse manoeuvres rather tricky. I’ve…
Read More1: Bruce loves the beach 2, 3: Great photoshoots in my favourite locations 4. tasty crabs claws at the Port Charlotte Hotel 5, 6, 7: Discovering Billy’s Bench near Bowmore, and a Scarlet Pimpernel growing through the shingle at Portnahaven 8. Fine weather for walking 9, 10: The first time in four and half years…
Read MoreThose of you who have been following my post-stroke progress may be interested to hear how my driving is going. Generally speaking, I have been for the past four years very dependent on others (specifically Tom) for basic travel, shopping, and all the other daily tasks for which a car is necessary, particularly in a…
Read More2013 has been a very interesting year. For us, its main event was undoubtedly leaving Edinburgh, and moving out West! It would perhaps seem to be a massive change, moving from a busy city to a sleepy steading just off the West Highland Way. But I immediately felt at home, and the fact that this…
Read MoreJesus is back. He was discovered at a neighbour’s, lured away by the promise of full Scottish breakfasts, oodles of milk, and a general lack of workmen and disruption. He is looking a bit scraggy, but certainly no thinner . . . We are keeping the wee man inside for a few days and the…
Read MoreIt is almost three and a half years since my stroke. Conventional wisdom about post-stroke recovery suggests that the first neurological adjustments and improvements after a brain injury are very rapid, and then tend to plateau off after the first six months. The importance of this “six month window” was often repeated to me by…
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KDD & Co 