A Diagnosis and a Trip to York

On the 5th of March I went to York to see friends, but first of all I need to talk about a hospital visit a couple of says beforehand. 

I've been suffering with massive and chronic fatigue for years now but it flared up wildly last autumn and I was really unwell. I saw a fabulous GP who took me really seriously and referred me to rheumatology. We both suspected I have fibromyalgia, but I have some high infection markers that are consistently high (since August 2020 at least) so the GP wanted to check that I didn't have anything more sinister than fibro going on, like rheumatoid arthritis or similar. I eventually got an appointment on the 3rd of March so I went off to the hospital before work to check. (I work in an office on Tuesdays). The doctor I saw was really helpful and thorough but agreed that it is most probably fibromyalgia so she discharged me back to the GP. 

The GP had given me some painkillers for night time back in January I think. They mostly work and help me to stay asleep so that's really helpful. So for now that, plus graded exercise and rest, is the only treatment available to me. I just have to pace myself, and take things slowly. I am really used to doing that anyway, so that helps. But it is useful and helpful and a relief to actually have a diagnosis and not just be fobbed off as lazy, overreacting, or similar. Lee is relieved too. 

So that was Tuesday. On Thursday I drove myself to York and parked at Rawcliffe Bar Park and Ride. I'd never been there before but it was really good and I would park there again. The bus into town took barely any time at all! I got off at the theatre and walked up High Petergate towards the Minster. I considered going in the Minster and probably would have had enough time, but I wasn't sure. I took a photo of Precentor's Court because I watch the TV show Patience and that's where she lives. I sat for a while outside the Minster because the sun was lovely. I bought some fudge and some chocolate then came back to the Minster as I wasn't sure where Leanne was.

We caught up with each other and went into Ask for lunch. She had suggested it because it is in the old Assembly Rooms which are absolutely gorgeous inside. I had a cherry blossom mocktail, bruschetta, and lentil ragu pasta, all of which were really nice! We chatted for a long time but finally left. We walked round to Card Factory and then I was thinking what else we could do, so suggested going to the shrine of St Margaret Clitherow on the Shambles. I've been before and so had Leanne, but not for a long time. We walked through and then arrived at York Ghost Merchants, of course. 

Leanne collects the ghosts and has around thirty, including a bunch of rare ones. I only have a few, but I do love them. The queue can be humongous but it wasn't on this day, so we thought we might both like a new ghost and joined the queue. We were only third, so had to wait around fifteen minutes before we got in the shop. 

I considered a few ghosts but eventually went for a small one that is red with black and white markings. I love it! Leanne bought a big one and we left the shop and headed just a few shops away to the shrine, only to find it closed! It was locked up and everything! We were upset! Not to worry, really, as we had bought the ghosts instead. Leanne and I then said goodbye and she headed off to the train station. I walked through to King's Square and basked in the sunshine there a bit too. There was a busker playing and he was really good, so it was nice to listen to. I gave him some money. 

I went through to Parliament Street. I had arranged to meet Jacqui for coffee and cake at around 4pm, and it was 3pm by this point. There's a shop on Parliament St called This Shop Is So Gay so after I had rested for a bit I went in. It's really fun, it has lots of fun and funny things for all your queer friends. I bought myself some badges which are cute. I was considering going to Betty's for a cup of coffee when Jac messaged me and said she was done with work so would come and meet me. I asked if she minded going to Betty's and she said no, so that was good because I really fancied it. It's such a York institution! 

There was a tiny queue there so I joined it but I was very soon sitting at a table, and no sooner had I ordered a drink than Jacqui arrived. We both ordered the small patisserie plate which was lush, just enough for me, and then I had a coffee too. We sat there talking until it was nearly 5.30 when Betty's shuts. We walked round to the bus together and I got back on the park and ride bus. I left the car park about 6pm and got home about 7pm! 

In all it was a lovely day and I walked absolutely miles, a really long way! It was so nice to see Leanne and Jac and play tourist in York a little bit. I put my new little ghostie on the shelf above my desk, of course. 

Outside the city walls, I took this photo

Amd this picture of this very old building on High Petergate

Looking up at the Minster

And down at this little model of the Minster and surrounding area just in front of it

This is the street where Patience lives in the eponymous TV show, which I really like

Another view of the Minster from near St Michael le Belfry which is one of my favourite churches in York although it's all covered in scaffolding at the moment

Inside Ask, I had bruschetta to start with

Then took this photo of the beautiful rooms

And this one

Lentil ragu

I took this photo outside Margaret's shrine but I was disappointed we couldn't go in!

The queer shop on Parliament St - do visit it if you're in the area, and Portal Bookshop which is near the Shambles, which is a queer bookshop

My new badges and my new little ghostie!

Tiny patisserie plate in Betty's

And finally, my new ghost among its friends on my shelf

Barnsley Zine Fair February 2026

Saturday the 25th of February was the fifth Barnsley Zine Fair and I again had a table and could sell all my zines! Jason at the Civic has done so well with it and people are now coming from all over the place to table - this time we had people from Fife, Edinburgh, London, and Cambridge! So many people came to buy things, too - there was a steady stream all day which is great. Of the 60 stallholders, thirty of them had never tabled before so that's an amazing ratio! I am so thrilled that it's doing so well.

Lee and I got set up around 10am. I had done loads of copies of my zines in the weeks previous and we had spent a long time putting them together. I had also done copies again of Lee's zine Primark Punks (The Non Punk's Guide to Punk Music) which he made about ten years ago but which we haven't copied for a while. I had some new signs for my stall which I think really helped sales, so that's good. 

As I said there were people through all day. Someone said they had bought the previous two issues of my zine Tracks of My Years so they were pleased to buy the third one! It's always nice to hear that people have enjoyed my zines and want more. I saw some friends like Chris, Gears for Queers from Fife, and Chloe, who has been at each of the fairs too. She's one of Barnsley's young makers, who I LOVE and love to encourage them, so it was nice to see her. A few people asked me to trade, which I also LOVE - it's like a present because you never know what you'll get! I spent way too much money on zines myself, oops. 

When the fair finished Lee and I went to the Market Kitchen for tea. We both had fresh pizzas from Neros which were really good. Mine was olives and feta, dunno. Lee's was just margerita. Then we bought brownies and took them home. We relaxed all evening; I did read some of my new zines! 

I was wearing this new striped dress that I got off Vinted although it's from Shein originally. I got the same one in grey, but I love the peachy colour of this one. I love the fact that the stripes go in different ways, and I of course love the pockets! I think I'll be wearing this a lot this summer especially. It is a teensy bit shorter than I really like to wear with tights, so I will probably wear it with leggings. That's fine, at least then I'll be comfy! 

It was a lovely day, but tiring. 

My stall all set up before the fair started 

Pizza, I love fresh pizza and this was really good

My dress when we got home. Lee had bought a new chest of drawers which is what's in the boxes next to me

Here's everything I bought and traded, including a couple I had traded with my friend Cassian a few days earlier. It was a good haul!

Lunch Out with Philippa

On the 19th of February I went to Sheffield to meet Philippa for lunch. I saw her at the beginning of January so it hadn't been too long, but it was lovely to see her, of course. It was her turn to choose and she chose to go to the Depot Bakery in Hillsborough Park. I've been before but only once, and it's a really cute little place. 

I got there quite early because you sometimes you have to queue for tables, but I managed to walk straight in and get a table. No matter because I had my book with me and I ordered a dark hot chocolate while I read. Philippa arrived soon enough and we sat chatting and eventually ordered food. I went for avocado on toast which had a ton of beetroot on top which I don't like. But I'm a grown up and I did try it to make sure I don't like it. Which I don't! The rest of it was really good. 

We went up to the counter to choose pudding, and I had a salted caramel brownie and a latte, which were both good. We were chatting on and on, like we do. I love Philippa so much, she's one of my favourite people and I'm so glad we're friends!

When we had finished eating we went for a wander in the park, taking it slowly as we're both disabled, so that's okay! We went through the Walled Garden to begin with and saw some plants coming back to life and a lot of friendly birds and squirrels. There was a Little Free Library so I picked up a book from it. Then we walked down by the duck pond and looked at the ducks and geese and so on, and then walked back up to a bench where we sat for a while chatting some more!

We finally said goodbye and I headed back to my car to go home, but I was glad we had had chance to catch up!

Dark chocolate hot chocolate which I always really like, it was nice

Avo on toast, I'm a basic bitch

Brownie and coffee

In the first bit of the park - look at the lovely robin!

A very cute little free library

Signs of spring

And Philippa taking photos of that too. I loved this!

Ducks and swans and geese by the pond - sadly we didn't have anything to feed them

Finally Philippa took this of us, which I love, we're so cute!

Valentines Weekend

On the 13th of February I went across to Huddersfield to see "Wuthering Heights" with Sam and Jodie. We knew we were going to hate it but wanted to see it anyway just so we could get really annoyed about it. We were going to the 4.30 showing so I set off about 3.30 and parked, then went to Wetherspoons where Sam and Jodie had been having a drink. We headed across to the cinema and I got a Tango Ice Blast and we had each taken sweeties. 

The film was in fact dreadful. If you want me to care about Cathy's sexual awakening she needs to be around 17, not 35 like Margot Robbie is. And I love Margot Robbie! But she wasn't right. Martin Clunes was good but in general it was terrible. We all felt the same. 

We walked up to TJ Thai for food. I've been before and it's always nice in there. I had tofu tempura, which there was loads of, and tofu and vegetable massaman curry. It was delicious and I was really full! I drove home and was freezing when I got home so just got into bed. Lee was in Leicester seeing Ross Noble with my cousin Rob (a Christmas present for Lee and birthday present for Rob) so I was by myself until about midnight when Lee got home. 

On Valentine's Day Lee and I swapped presents. He had got me some Lush goodies and some sweeties. I had brought him cake from Slatterys the weekend before but I also had Slatterys chocolate for him which he liked. So we were both happy! We then went into Barnsley. 

I had a ruby ring that I bought myself way back in like 2014 or something, but the ruby was damaged and I must have banged it more recently because the fracture was showing badly. I had talked to Lee about going to the vintage jewellery stall on Barnsley market to see what they had. They had tons of ruby rings and I tried a few on, but I ended up really liking this one, which was actually the first one I tried on. Once I had traded in my old ring for the gold, I only had to pay £50 for this one. Lee was like, yes that's fine, pay it. So I did!

We went in the Lounge for lunch. I really wanted an iced coffee so had one of theirs, which was nice. I had a buddha bowl with Turkish type of flavours; I wasn't particularly hungry so this was perfect for me. It was delicious! We walked back through the indoor market and the Young Makers Market was on again. We've been a few times and it's just so good - there are so many enthusiastic young makers and I like to support them. We bought some curry and samosas from two tiny kids (helped by their mum and grandma) and Lee bought some artwork from a teenager, it's really freaky artwork but Lee loves it! 

We just relaxed for the rest of the weekend but I was glad we had gone out together during the day. 

I wore my new T shirt on the Friday night, I decided I wanted one of these slogan t shirts and picked it up pretty cheaply online. It was made in a factory that is NOT a sweat shop, it is certified and proclaimed on the label, so that's pretty cool! 

Wearing my Sometimes Antisocial Always Antifascist t shirt, it's soft and comfortable too, I love it

Sign in TJ Thai

Tofu tempura 

And my delicious curry

Valentines presents from Lee

The new ruby ring, I've worn it loads since I got it

Delicious decaf iced coffee

And my buddha bowl! 

Brief Trip to Birmingham

A little while ago I joined someone's PhD research, which is about weight stigma in social work basically, so I was happy to join their steering group. I love the opportunity to be fat professionally and to use my experiences of living in a fat body to help shape research and things. We had met online but thenn Laurel, the researcher, wanted the steering group to meet up so they had organised for us all to go to Birmingham. That's not a bad drive for me, so I went by myself. I set off about 11 on the Monday morning I guess, and stopped for lunch at one of the services on the way. I had pre booked parking near the hotel and had to go round a bit to get into it, but I managed eventually. I just had a small case with me but with my coat and bag and everything I had to struggle upstairs as there wasn't a lift in the car park. 

My maps app then sent me totally the wrong way and I had to walk round a bit even though I was so close to the hotel! I did see this pub with Black Sabbath photos on it, which was pretty cool. Even if it was in the wrong direction from where I needed to be... 

I eventually made it, and met Laurel. It turns out we have friends in common so that was cool. A few people arrived then from Brighton, who already knew Laurel and who I had met online, so that was cool too. We each checked in and got our key cards, and then said goodbye for a bit as we were meeting later for tea. 

My room was fine - on the 6th floor and the bed was nice and soft. I had a few hours so I laid down for a rest as I hadn't been sleeping well. I had the TV on and got nice and cosy in the bed. I had brought my book and thought I had about a chapter left, but it turned out there were only a couple of pages. No matter, I had another one with me, of course!

There were ten of us who met downstairs just after 7; including some people I hadn't met earlier, so it was nice to meet some new people. We walked to Nando's as it's accessible and has food for everyone, and it wasn't too far to walk for me. I had the halloumi burger and it was fine! Afterwards we were kind of talking about doing something else, like finding dessert, but generally people were tired so we ended up dispersing and I went back to my room and had a cup of coffee and some chocolate there instead. 

In the morning I was up and at breakfast by about 8.15. I met Laurel and some others there. I wasn't very hungry so I just had some cheese and pastries, they were nice though. Everyone eventually ended up there; Laurel went off to set up the meeting for us, and the rest of us ate and got ready. At 9.30 taxis came and got most of us as the meeting was too far for some of us to walk.

It was in the Friends of the Earth building so there were tons of radical posters around which I really liked. We had our meeting from 10 until 1, and we got a lot sorted. I feel really positive about it! We said goodbye to each other and I and some others went back to the hotel to get our cases which they had kindly kept for us. This time I got back to the car park much easier thankfully, and was soon on my way home. I stopped to grab some lunch and a coffee and got home about 4pm, back to Lee and the cats! 

Black Sabbath photos on the pub. I think there were similar on a bridge nearby and if I had thought about it I would have gone to look on my gap between checking in and meeting for tea, but it didn't occur to me until later

Close ups

The hotel room. I had a quick shower too before I went out for tea, because I was very sweaty and felt gross!

View from my hotel room

I saw this on a building we passed in the taxi on the way to the meeting

And some of the radical posters in the meeting venue