Afterwards we visited mum in the nearby care home on a day when she was not quite herself.

Much later in the day we dined in the Giggling Squid before visiting Theatre Severn to hear Kate Mosse ‘Unlocking the Secrets of the Labyrinth’. She shared her inspiration for her novel Labyrinth and the subsequent books in the trilogy and the book that didn’t quite fit in with her research.

Kate shared the beauty, history and mystery of Carcassonne and the Languedoc region from the 13th century wars of religion between Catholics and Cathars in south-west France to modern-day Grail legends and conspiracy theories.

The talk brought back fond memories of my visit to Carcassonne.

Sunday

Just before my mum fell ill and was admitted to hospital we had signed up to having our kitchen revamped starting on 6th January 2025.

Mum being in hospital (and still not home) and Christmas left us rushing around at the last minute to clear the kitchen. We got there just in time.

Those who have known me for a while will know it isn’t that long since our kitchen was refubished. Some aspects of the kitchen did not stand the test of time, needing repairing or replacing which in some cases proved difficult. Reluctantly we came to the conclusion it would be easier to start from scratch again.

The lack of kitchen facilities led to us having lunch in Truffles, Ironbridge before we visited mum. And later we dined in Willow, Southwater.