Dry.

Just been resting today. Having a cough does not help. Having Peter around does.

Sunny.

It's been a beautiful day today. I didn't surface too early as I wasn't able to get to sleep last night. I can't say that I was in pain, only discomfort, thanks to the industrial strength Naproxen and co-codamol I have in my personal stash rather than the paracetamol and ibuprofen suggested by the hospital. There were lots of weird gurglings coming both from my innards as they adjusted to being freed from the adhesions and generally adjusted, and from the gas they pump into your body to make it easier for the surgeon to work. It's very odd to feel the gas shifting around when you lie down in bed. I've been quite lucky and not had much pain in my chest and shoulders, as happened to a friend's mother last week, just a slightly sore shoulder. 

Peter was off early to row. Last week there was a seal in the river, swimming around the 1st gig out on the water. As Peter and the rest of his crew mates were getting into the 2nd gig the seal came up onto the slipway, had a good look around and then flopped back into the water. Perhaps it was waiting for them to start fishing.

I did get up and do a few jobs while Peter was out but since he has been home he has been making sure that I have plenty of rest. I spent some of the morning in bed watching episodes of Grand Designs and sketching out ideas for our dream house but then the sun and warmth tempted me to go and read outside. With the temperature up in the 50's it was very pleasant to sit and read with the cats taking turns to sit on my lap. Squeaky in particular is really showing her age. I think of her as being a confused old lady. There isn't anything I can put my finger on but she does appear frail. It may sound mean but taking her to the vet would mean lots of tests and a massive bill even if they don't find anything at all which quite often happens. While she is active and eating well I shall just keep an eye on her. She has always loved getting right into bed with me (I know it's not hygienic) but right now that's completely out of the question. The other cats are not allowed in our room anyway as I don't want paw marks or cat hairs on our cream bedding.

Introducing Olive.

Meet Olive, my gallstone who has been removed from her sneaky home in my gall bladder. As you may have surmised the operation today was carried out successfully as a keyhole procedure. There were lots of adhesions to the stomach. intestines etc. but as promised the consultant was able to do it and fix the umbilical hernia without reverting to open surgery. So much easier to recover from and less time off work.

I was in a ward with 3 other ladies (2 gall bladders & 1 hernia) and once we had roused ourselves and were drinking tea/ coffee and munching on toast we had a very chatty time which made the day pass enjoyably.

There was one last bit of drama before I left. One of the needles in my hand and the saline drip had been removed earlier but they leave one in until the end just in case.The nurse took out the needle and taped some gauze over it. That was fine until I sat in the chair to get dressed and put my hand down to pick out my clothes from their basket under the table. Whoops, blood started streaming down my arm, over the bed, floor, gown and leg. A quick call to the nurse who came back with another swab and held my hand in the air. She then had to press the buzzer as she needed more wipes, swabs etc. We had a good laugh as I said I was going to get my money's worth out of the NHS.

Peter is now fussing around and insisting on accompanying me up the stairs so I'll sign off now.

Showers.

I took my other class up to the church today and it was a very successful visit. We were lucky that the  morning's heavy showers cleared up though this evening the rain has come back with a vengeance. Also we had 6 extra helpers which meant that the children were in small groups as they wandered around the church counting the crosses and candles and drawing things which interested them. A lot of them were fascinated by this family group on the 18thC tomb of Sir Rodger Chichester. I was impressed by one little boy making a good job of reading the Latin inscription on a tombstone set in the floor.

The church has a large stone font with an elaborately carved lid that is raised with a rope which is a little unusual.

Coming back I had to tell 2 boys to keep behind me as we walked along while a 3rd boy told them, 'She's the teacher so she makes the rules.' We had a really good afternoon but all that walking , especially carrying a big bag with all the children's clipboards, first-aid kit and inhalers to and from the church took a real toll on my back. Then after school once I had printed off the photos for the class teachers to use in the follow-up lessons, I walked into town to choose 8 books from the library. I was feeling really worn out by the time I walked back. I made one more stop before heading for home and that was to the Co-Op where I was in time for the final, final reductions and saving 50-75% on pizzas, doughballs, houmos and other treats, cheered me up. 

So now my bag is packed, plus an extra one in case they keep me in longer and I'm so ready for that operation. I still have no appetite which is very strange but I did make myself eat a banana this morning. If scientists could isolate whatever is causing this lack of desire for food (without the unwell feeling), they could make a fortune in the slimming industry.

Sunny.

The sun was out for most of the day. But then we had a torrential downpour just as my class had their coats on ready to go out for playtime. 

I had a good morning at home getting on with the hoovering and cleaning so that I can take a bit of a break after tomorrow. I also made a batch of flapjacks for Peter. I still have no appetite at all which is an amazing feeling. I did eat a papaya this evening as it probably isn't good to not eat anything at all. I've been drinking lots of tea and decaff coffee so I'm not worried about the fluids.

Today I had my first afternoon teaching the youngest children. They are so small and some of them seem really young. One little lad sat next to me and told me that another girl was his 'girlfriend'. I did try to steer him in the direction of  'all the girls are your friends,' when he interrupted me to say that he used to have 3 girlfriends but he dumped some of them. And this is from a 4 year old! I had a great time working with small groups of children playing with clay and eventually making clay hedgehogs. They did have a tendency to want to flatten their hedgehogs so that they looked like road-kill but in the end we had some interesting alive looking hedgehogs.

The sun was back out this evening lighting up the pond which has refilled nicely after all the rain.

36 Years.

It is our wedding anniversary today. We've been married for 36 years and together for over 40 years! Peter gave me this beautiful cream and pink orchid which matches our bedroom and a basket of exotic fruit. They were perfect presents as apart from the fat-free aspect of my diet I have not been feeling too good for a few days and the only thing I feel like eating is a little fruit. (Roll on Friday when hopefully this will all be sorted.) There were also some meringues and strawberries so maybe tomorrow I'll make myself a fat-free pavlova with strawberries and passion fruit. We will celebrate properly when I'm over the operation.

I had to work in the afternoon. I took my class to visit our local church. Some of them had never been in a church before so it was good to give them the experience. The present church building is hundreds of years old and there has been a church on the site for nearly a thousand years which I find impressive even if it doesn't really register with the children.

Dark.

This morning when I got up it was ....dark! A shock to the system on a Monday morning. I thought I would be efficient and take up the rubbish as I went to work instead of having to do it in the evening. There I was enjoying the quiet of the countryside when suddenly I heard some mooing. I looked up to see this group of calves running towards me. (I think these are the same ones that were in a little field down the road a few weeks ago.) Hoping for food they were brave enough to come almost within touching distance though when I did stroke one on the nose panic ensued. It brought a smile to my face to talk to these silly creatures for a while before starting what would prove to be a hectic day.

It was not one of my usual classes so as well as trying to remember the children's names there was the rush of setting up the week's activities and organising the resources for the day. The teacher in the parallel class was also off today but he had a good excuse. His wife had their third baby at home yesterday. A 9lb 10oz boy, ouch! The supply teacher brought in to teach his class was new to the school and I had to quickly copy all my planning and run through things with her so that the children didn't miss out on the week's lessons. One advantage of such a busy day is that before you know it it is 3.30 and time to send the children home. 

It has been very warm again today, there were a few spits of rain in the afternoon which stopped suddenly and left us feeling quite hot but when I drove home I could see there had been some heavy rain up here in the hills.