Colder.

It was a little colder this morning and there was a thin skin of ice of the chickens' water bowl. Looking across the lake I saw what I thought was an unusual cloud formation in the valley. It was only when I walked to a different vantage point that I saw it was just the smoke from a bonfire.

I've had a lovely day at home. As I wrote out my list of jobs for the day I reflected on how my activity levels are a bit like going through the gears on a car. When it's just the 2 of us at home for a holiday I'm in first gear, lazing around and doing just a bit of cooking and clearing up. Then when we have friends to stay I shift up to second gear with more cooking and clearing to be done. When the school term starts my activity levels go right up into 3rd gear with a daily job list that hopefully includes some maintenance jobs on the house or garden and some progress on one of my many hobby projects. 4th gear is when I teach for half a day and then up to 5th not stopping for a second when I teach all day and everything else including planning has to be fitted in around it. So today was a 3rd gear day and I've got to the end of the day having done most of what I planned to do.

I had a phone call earlier in the day from my GP (is he feeling guilty about stressing the so-called angers of an MRI scan?) to let me know the initial results of last week's scan. It showed that the operation was a success, which I knew anyway but that I have a bulging disc lower down the spine which is probably pinching the nerve there. He's going to pass all this to my back consultant and ask him to contact me for another appointment. At last things are moving in the right direction and for the time being I shall just have to be very sensible and not strain my back any more.