Speedy The Spacecat.

Got up early this morning to see the faintest glimmer of a sunrise. It hasn't felt so cold today but there have been frequent showers and it has been generally miserable. First thing I had an appointment with the physiotherapist who says my muscles have eased up and I shouldn't need to see him any more though he will keep my file open for another month in case I feel I need another session. The visit to the hospital left me with a very obvious choice of the thing I am going to be thankful for. That is, not so much our health care, the standard of which can be questionable at times and you have to be proactive in getting the correct care (but that is another matter), but I am truly thankful for the fact that, along with all the other people in this country, I do not have to worry about the cost of medical treatment. Apart from a minority who opt for private medical care, everyone gets free medical care at the point of need. Everybody who works pays National Insurance to cover the cost of the country's Health Service. The only thing that you have to pay for (unless you are on welfare payments or are a child, student or pensioner), is the cost of prescriptions which are a set price. If like me you need a number of medications then it is good value to buy a prepayment card which works out to £9 a month. Getting my back sorted out has so far needed; x-rays, 2 MRI scans and 5 lots of day surgery. The only cost to me has been the cost of travelling to Exeter because I chose not to continue with my small local hospital and instead go to an orthopedic spinal department which has an excellent reputation. I can't imagine how much worry there would be if we had to think about the cost each time a new treatment was proposed.

Walking through the hospital grounds I was surprised to see this cherry tree with blossom on it - in December!

I had a few hours to fill before I needed to be in school so I went and did a few jobs in town, library, Post office etc. I liked the idea of this driftwood Christmas tree in this shop window, (that's my reflection in the window).

At school we had the Dress rehearsal for our Christmas production - Christmas Around The World. The Year 3 children from the junior school always come to watch and there were all my class from last year. It was so lovely to see them and have a quick chat. We also invite Mums with babies or toddlers to the Dress rehearsal so it was very crowded. In between leaping up and acting like a pageant mum prompting the actions for the line dancing and the Hawaiian dances, both of which went well apart from one of the line dancers new jeans falling down half way through, I sat next to the tableau to keep the shepherds in order. The shepherds tended to be the more fidgety children so they needed supervising and reminding to sing/not sing at the right times and I had to give one a tap on his foot to get him to remove his finger from his nose which he was happily excavating. Mary and Joseph let their (dolly) Baby Jesus have a play session with a (toy) baby lamb, I didn't intervene as I thought it looked sweet.

I had to include this shot of Speedy with his head in a tub. Yesterday's bargains had included 2 tubs of fresh baby veg and a pat of butter ready to go in the microwave. One of them made a healthy supper for me and the cats got the buttery tub. Speedy wasn't at all worried by wearing the tub like a helmet and continued licking out the butter until I removed the tub. Then he probably ate the pea that was stuck to his tail. Speedy gets in Peter's bad books when he steals and eat tomatoes, especially when they are the last homegrown tomatoes.