We're (not) going to be millionaires, Rodney

Did anyone see the piece on the BBC News at Ten on Tuesday night about the Man Booker Prize? I was watching it while working on my book. Apparently, authors earn an average of £4,000 a year in the UK. Given JK Rowlings et al must be way above that figure, I guess I'll be lucky if my earnings come in note form.

Back to the drawing board on how to pay for the garage.

The lottery of life.

Unusually, we bought a lottery ticket at the weekend. Not one of our numbers came up. But all the numbers which matter came up yesterday when Quent's scan was clear.

Sadly our friend Philip (IL-2 friend) has not had such great news. His cancer has returned and he is having a couple of courses of Sutent, to try to shrink the tumour before surgery. He gets his results in November and we have everything crossed for him.

Meanwhile, Prof Hawkins is publishing his IL-2 research later this month. We will let you know when. Not that we think he will need the coverage our little blog can give him - we anticipate his results will hit the headlines in more esteemed publications. Still, PR is a lottery, as they say, so we'll do all we can to spread the word.

We're all going on a .....

As seasoned wet weather campers, we set off camping this weekend as a "pre-scan" break. A little scarred from our last experience, I was taking no chances and came up with a cunning plan to ensure our sleeping bags didn't get wet this time:

.

We took an old (well 6 year old) friend of Oakley's - the gorgeous James Wiley, who is a day younger than Oakley and has been a best friend for most of Oakley's life. He has to be the world's most excitable Monopoly player and a great time was had by all.



James told Oakley he was lucky not to have a younger sibling because they prevent your parents playing with you. Oakley told James he was lucky not to live in an old house because it has the same effect. ;o)

We toasted marshmallows in the rain, collected (and then lit) methane from the river bed in the rain, collected acorns in the rain and put up zipwires in the rain.

.

So, after a weekend's training for the Mancunian climate, we are ready for another scan. Prof, with his usual attention to detail, has organised Quent and Philip's appointments on the same day, so we are meeting Philip (fellow IL-2 veteran) and Sue for lunch beforehand.

We're optimistic but we know a scan is no holiday.