Excuses

Sorry there have been few posts recently. There are times when you feel life is conspiring against you. Well the last 6 weeks have been like that for me. It started with John's emergency operation and seems to have continued. As close  family will know his bronchitis was confirmed as pneumonia on Tuesday when he eventually had the xray requested by our doctor the Thursday before. His temperatures were very high last weekend and we spent all last weekend and the early part of this week sponging him down, changing the soaking bed linen or wrapping him up to keep him warm. Lack of sleep for both of us took it's toll. The 2 different antibiotics have now taken effect and he is much better (no fever) but he has to have a second course of both antibiotics and a blood test next Wednesday.

Despite this grotty week everything has a silver lining. All our neighbours have been more than supportive. When we went to the doctor on Monday the first thing he did was tell us off for not calling him over the weekend. We are still in English mode where the last thing you do is call the doctor at weekends!! I went to the pharmacy to collect the medication and they were immediately concerned about John. I had an appointment at the hairdressers but called in to explain that I had to sort John's medication immediately, no problem get here when you can was the response. Yesterday we met "Gabriel" the nurse in the pharmacy (it's our second home) and just asked him to keep calling as injections have to continue. OK he says "keeps my bank balance going". We feel so lucky to have found this corner of rural life where individuals matter and the pace of life is slow enough to have time to express it. Call us old fashioned but it enhances our lives enormously.

In addition to my nursing duties I have been watering the garden for 4 hours each day. I know I am mad but it hurts to waste all the work earlier in the year and watch everything shrivel up. We have had over 2 months of temperatures in the thirties with one shower. The forecast is for it to continue for another fortnight at least. I normally like watering I find it a zen experience, but not at present it is a chore. Of course not having my assistant makes a big difference. He couldn't lift a watering can for a month and now he hasn't the strength to do so. However I am including some photos of the parts of the garden that I have managed to salvage before they go the way of all flesh. By the way, fortunately I cancelled " opening the garden" on the 10th September because of the weather but that was before the added complication of John's health.

We live by the maxim that all things will pass, the good and the bad, so hopefully our next post will be a bit more positive.