Nicholas Quirke was not used to feeling weary. He prided himself on his energy and when he reached 16.30 on 25th September and he was sat outside Al Campo lounge waiting to meet Cathie for a tea, the will to continue had overwhelmed him. He had always managed his Fybro-Myalgia well but of late, certainly since his brush with Sciatica, he had felt a pain in his feet and a draining of life from his muscles that reminded him of his chronic fatigue when he was first diagnosed. He would have to be more careful and balance his activity better, and eat better. Reviewing his week since Sunday and the heavy, endless rain, which kept him and his visitor Amanda, who had made it all the way from Bedford, indoors, it wasn’t surprising his energy was waning to such a degree. He had not seen her since before the Odyssey and this meant they were locked into non stop intense conversation for 5 hours on travel, corporate life and memory. Nicholas reminded her of a time they went for afternoon tea with Howard Baker. She had absolutely no recollection of this ever happening, she could not put Nicholas in Howard’s house, how is this? And if there is no memory for one person, does it make it a fake memory? Thank goodness for his journals and diary keeping; evidence that he experienced something. Monday morning he woke early and immediately got to start on social networking for ShowShoppers and The Nightingale. He posted on FB, Instagram and Twitter and then followed up contacts on Shelf of Shame. The outlook on Monday was better and the sun was shining for his trip out with Terry to Marmalade. The cafe were rather stingy with the hot water, and Nicholas had to ask them to top up his teapot. His drive to Chichester to the Festival theatre was fraught with traffic incident but it was good to be back as it was now a year since he had last been. ‘Flowers for Mrs Harris’, was based on a book by Paul Gallico, one that had been recommended by his Grandmother Quirke and it had a sentimental appeal for him. It was a charming story and beautifully told. He repeated his morning ritual of updating Social Network and then began a day of PA work. He was delighted to spend time on Hove Seafront, which looked wonderful in the late summer sun. He had started to get into audio books again when driving and called into the Patcham library to find another P D James to listen to but they had nothing. It was then straight on to his next client for his last visit as he had resigned from that particular role, unable to cope with the chain smoking. His final job of the day was quite tiring as he was on his hands and knees cleaning her carpet. This final stop was close to his Mother’s home, which meant that he could call in and see her for a Green tea and chat. Her hip operation is looming and she took Nicholas around the garden to show him what needed to be done during her recovery period. By the time he got to Al Campo to meet Cathie he really was fading,though as ever, he found the resources within himself to converse and have a pleasant hour. On his walk back home in the glorious Sunshine he encountered a traffic incident, a crash maybe, on Beaconsfield Villas with police swarming the area. Nicholas was stopped by a van driver who ashed what was happening, then said ‘we are working on your street, if you need your guttering done we can do it for you’ Nicholas was momentarily taken aback and before he could ask how they knew where he lived he had been given a card and they drove off. Interesting sales tactic he thought. It was a relief to be home and he immediately made supper then took to his bed to watch the rest of Killing Eve and before he knew it, he was waking to another day and another frenzy of social networking. His brother had suggested a guest appearance on Shelf of shame and had provided Nicholas with an image he had painted that was a cause for creative shame. He liked the idea of guest appearances and Michael’s painting worked its way into his collection. He met With Rory for Tea at Marwoods for a very deep conversation about life and love, and experienced the first attack of cramp in a public place for years. He hobbled in pain out of the cafe and walked home through more blue, uplifting skies. he purchased some snacks for that evenings Freevening screening. He was pleased to entertain Noel for The Grandmaster which on the surface was an action packed Kung Fu movie but at its core was a deep and almost impenetrable love story. He subsequently had a long chat with Terry in Denver who was able to enlighten him on some of the more culturally obscure references; also sharing that one of the key scenes, of a young girl training in the snow, took 2 years to film! It was on a positive note that Nicholas took to his bed.