Ruta's Travels.

It's still here! However, when I went out to feed the hens it wasn't the soft crunch of powdery snow underfoot but the sharper crunching that immediately tells you that you are walking over a treacherous sheet of ice. With the road being completely iced over there was no way we were going to get the cars out. As I had to get in for my hospital appointment I took up my neighbour's offer of a lift into town. First it was up the hill on the quad bike (see yesterday's picture), then by landrover into town and finally a couple of hours on foot in town. It was quite pleasant to wander around the charity shops looking for extra gifts. Originally I shopped in charity shops because we had little money, now I still like to be thrifty but also I prefer to support the charities and 'recycle' items. Then it was time to make my way to the hospital. As it was pouring with rain I took the bus rather than walk. Then came a VERY long wait for my injection. 3 1/4 hours after my scheduled time I was wheeled into the operating theatre for a 10min procedure. Thank goodness I had been to the library,( I read a whole book while I was waiting) as there was no tv, radio or magazines in my room. Not even a clock to show just how long I had to wait. Just wait until I get my 'customer satisfaction' form that they send out to all patients. It was too dark to contemplate hitching by the time I got out, and I would have had to concoct some sort of story before they would have signed me out so I let them call me a cab. The cab took me along the main road but when he saw the ice on the back roads he declined to go any further and I hadn't expected him to go on anyway. It would have been a lovely walk, no wind and stars shinning in the moonlit sky but I had to go carefully as for a lot of the time the road was iced right over. It was hard to tell which bit of the road was ice or clear and at one point I carefully stepped over the shadow of a tree in the hedge. It took me 1 1/2 hours to walk the 3 miles. I was so hungry when I got home as I hadn't eaten since breakfast. Luckily there was a lovely meal waiting for me when I got home.

Oh, and they told me to take it easy for a couple of days !