I left the Island 13 days ago. I returned on the later ferry last night, had some supper and went to bed just after midnight. I slept well and dreamt that I was growing a hitherto unknown lily. I was up at 6.30 this morning and have spent the day unpacking, washing and ironing and checking the garden and, indeed, spending about three hours working in the garden because it was a reasonably pleasant afternoon.
My cancer review and bone scan both went well and my spell in Ayr Hospital went equally successfully.
Once again I have nothing but praise for the staff at every level who look after those of us who need their services.
The next few days are going to be busy whilst I catch up and the first of my Spring visitors arrives on Friday.
However, in my usually optimistic way, I hope to get some time in Blogland and catch up. What remains of this afternoon will be spent answering letters and writing emails until the time will come for a glass of wine and dinner.
'Bye for now.
PS You might find this Facebook post for a local community-run shop and café on the other side of the Island quite amusing.
You weren't too far from us while in Ayr Hospital! It is a bonus only being ten minutes by car or twenty by bus door to door
ReplyDeleteAlthough I've visited your website (which is how I knew the Welsh connection) and knew you were a member of the SPA, I hadn't picked up that you were in that neck of the woods. As a matter of interest is your pottery open to the public? I ceased to be a member of the SPA in 2005 when I ceased to be a potter.
DeleteMy workshop is just being re-established...inching towards getting the flue on the kiln.
DeleteI don't think I would open to the public...insurance nightmares, being in a rental, all sorts of things...but I'm not saying 100%no....
GZ we were fortunate in that we started the pottery in 1980 in a very small way as an addition to a craft shop my wife ran. Eventually we were dealing with demonstrations for coach parties and produced the widest variety of pottery in Scotland but it was easier in those days and we constantly adapted as the business grew. Keeping on top of insurance was, as you say, a nightmare but fortunately we never had a single problem.
DeleteI amglad to see a post from you, Graham. It seemed such a long time since we heard from you but I am pleased to hear everything went well.
ReplyDeleteThanks JayCee. It has been a very strange start to the year with so much happening.
DeleteAmen, good to hear from you again GB! I sent you a snail mail letter a while back, was hoping it got there okay? One never knows these days...
DeleteMarcheline as coincidence would have it I started a snail mail letter to you this morning when I got home from taking my visitor to the ferry at 0530. Yout last snail mail was dated 13 February and arrived on the 21st. It is sitting here awaiting a reply. My excuse is that I was away for a couple of weeks (hospital etc) and then had Sue staying until this morning.
DeleteWelcome Home!
ReplyDeleteYou sound refreshed and busy. Being out in your garden is a good way to ease back into your home life.
Good news on your health
The cabbage though, borrow? lol Thank you for the laugh
I'm on a blog pause as I try to not quit blogging.
Thanks, Maywyn. Yes, it's a bit unusual for a shop which sells cabbages to need to 'borrow' one. In this case to make coleslaw for their in-house café. I expect someone had forgotten to keep one by or perhaps none had been delivered yet that day.
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DeleteAnd I was wondering if the word "borrow" was a slight jest, or was supposed to stand in for the word "have", as hopefully the cabbage was *not* being returned!
Marcheline, I think they would have offered a replacement when some stock arrived!😂
DeleteWelcome home, Graham. We’ll all look forward to a resumption of your posts. All the best - David
ReplyDeleteThank you David. I've managed to read some of your posts on my phone which is not ideal for your fabulous photos. However the faff of trying to sign in and comment each time just is too much effort.
DeleteHappy to hear you are safely home and your busy life as usual has resumed.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the good person who lent the cabbage went to the Cafe Central for dinner that night to have the coleslaw?
Enjoy your first days of spring!
Pauline, I think the café just operates during the day. I wondered if they put a little notice with the coleslaw "Provided thanks to Kathleen MacLeod from Garenin".
DeleteGood that you're back with good news.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Red.
DeleteWelcome back. I hope they got the right type of Cabbage!
ReplyDeleteCro, it's the staple Is;and cabbage - no frills here.
DeleteIn your grocers do have the choice of red or white, as we do over here? For slaws, I actually prefer the red - it turns the mayonnaise bright pink, which I think is fun, and I always sprinkle sunflower seeds on top - the flavor combination is superb!
DeleteMarcheline I'm not sure how common red cabbage is in the supermarkets here. It's not something I buy. I'll try and remember to look and let you know.
DeleteWelcome back. Pleased to hear that all went well. How can you 'borrow' a cabbage?
ReplyDeleteJanice, you made me smile. I was going to say something similar given that it wouldn't be possible to return it and therefore it could not be borrowed but decided that some of my readers may have feared a return to my old grammar campaigning days. They are now behind me I'm a bit ashamed to say.
DeleteIt's good to hear from you, Graham. And I'm pleased your stay in hospital went well.
ReplyDeleteThe Facebook post made me chuckle. But in all fairness, you can't beat a bit of coleslaw. Xx
Thank you, Jules, You certainly can't beat a bit of coleslaw hence the potential crisis! Fortunately duly averted.
DeleteGood to know all went well with your hospital visit(s).
ReplyDeleteYou'll soon be on top of things again, as you sound very organised in your approach of packing/unpacking and household work. A glass of wine with dinner when most of the day's work is done is so good, isn't it.
Meike, after a meeting in town this morning I spent 3 hours in the outside this afternoon tidying up and sorting the garden, garage and garden shed and filling the car with stuff for the recycling centre tomorrow. Life goes on.
DeleteI wish I had nice dreams about growing a lily! I love that cabbage post on Facebook, cole slaw is one of my favorites!
ReplyDeleteKay, I rarely have pleasant dreams, so this was especially good.
DeleteLiles are a sign of peace - so look forward to peaceful days ahead!
DeleteMarcheline, my life may be peaceful but I would dearly love for some more peace in the world in general.
DeleteI'm so glad your hospital visit went well and you are back home safe and sound. I look forward to your posts and they always brighten my day. Thanks, Graham.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words, Ellen.
DeleteGood to hear all went well with your cancer checkup. Will be nice to read your thoughts again. Happy Spring - around the corner now. From the base of the mini-mountain in Maine.
ReplyDeleteThank you Regina. I've been trying to imagine a mini-mountain in Maine.
DeleteGraham, you could think of how high a mountain might be for skiing or the Alps. A mini-mountain, to me, is not high enough for skiing but it definitely is high and wooded...particularly good for hiking, bears and deer, all sorts of birds. We're lucky enough to be midway down the mini-mountain and shouldn't be affected by too much of a rainfall to cause flooding. It's lovely.
DeleteRegina, that sounds pretty idyllic in many ways. I would have love it as a youngster when I did a lot of mountain and hill walking. I have always lived by the sea and cannot now imagine being up a mountain and away from the sea.
DeleteI adore Maine... Bar Harbor area specifically. EVERYTHING but EVERYTHING comes in blueberry (even the beer!) and Little Moose Island (you have to walk to it between tides) has wild cranberries, gooseberries, blueberries, and all sorts!
DeletePlease don't bother with your friends in blogland Graham. Your life is busy enough without us. Glad to hear that your health has been given another thumbs-up.
ReplyDeleteI hope, YP, that was said with tongue in cheek. My Blogland friends are an important part of my life and some are much more that "just" a friend in the ether. Mind you some may not, indeed, care a jot or tittle about my existence.
DeleteSince I use words with care I call few people "friends". Though I am probably one of the most gregarious people you'll be (un)lucky to cross paths with.
DeleteI am always glad to find a new post of yours, Graham. With a sigh of relief. I lost a couple of long standing blogging friends(!) over the last few years. Not intentionally. They just died. How dare they! Leaving behind a void difficult to describe. It's a mystery how one can grieve, vaguely yet sincerely, for someone one has never met other than on the page.
As to YP, his comments do indeed tend to be, often not always, "tongue in cheek" whereas his actual posts are sincere and thoughtful. It's confusing.
All the best,
U
Thank you for your thoughts. Ursula. I certainly would be very sad indeed to lose some of my blog-friends many of who I 'know' outside blogging as well even if we have never met in person.
DeleteI'm glad you have a good report, you can breathe easy until next time now.
ReplyDeleteOnly a small and tight knit community would see a post asking for a cabbage. It's rather lovely to know social media did a good job in this case.
Thanks, Kylie. Yes. I'm sure they had a cabbage before the ink had dried on the post.
DeleteGood news on your report, Graham! I'm glad to hear it. You were working in your garden because you had a pleasant day. *sigh* It is snowing here. Next week is supposed to be better.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debby. I spent time in the garden on Tuesday as well. It was lovely. Today the ferries are cancelled and we had a storm this morning. It's just starting to calm down.
DeleteGlad you are back with good news. Take it easy in the garden.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Diane. I managed today to get into the polycarb for an hour or two for the first time for a while.
DeleteGood to read that all is well. I suspect the dearth of cabbages is down to one of two things. Brexit or Trump. On reflection both are unlikely as the former has yet to happen and the latter hasn't been around for four years.
ReplyDeleteAdrian a lot depends with Trump as to what "hasn't been around means". He seems a pretty real PITA to me if for no other reason than he dominates every bit of news.
DeleteI'm not a fan of Trump but do admire him. He has that rare thing, the quality of altruism. I judge as I see and from what I have noticed he's a bombastic twat and far too competent to ever be a politician. The Bidens are crooks. Politicians and school teachers are a very strange lot unless proved otherwise. I haven't voted in forty or more years. Prior to that I was a floating voter who gave the Monster Raving Loony candidate. I used to go to hustings but they are a thing of the past as the buggers live in a bubble divorced from reality.
DeletePS. If voting mattered there is not a cat in hells chance we'd be allowed to do it.
DeleteThanks, Graham, for the update on your health review and good to read that all went well. Catching up on things at home and in blog land does take time. And, now you have visits to look forward to as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Beatrice. Just about to catch up with my son for lunch. It sometimes seems easier at the moment to get an appointment with a doctor 🤣.
DeleteI thought I had commented here, but it seems not. I know I read the post, but I probably read it on my phone or tablet, not logged in correctly, and forgot to go back later to comment. Anyway, I was relieved to hear that all your hospital appointments and checkups went well, and you once again got back home safely!
ReplyDeleteThanks Monica. At least we can meet 'elsewhere' to find out what's going on.
DeleteA cabbage they can borrow? Sounds intriguing. I'm sure you are happy to be back home again, it's so much nicer than hospital.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Amy. I'm back home and my visitor has left (sadly) and life will return to what passes for normal for a while at least.
DeleteLate (and maybe last) to the party thanking you for your return. We miss your blog posts when you are otherwise occupied. Add my thanks to others for your good health report! We are all ready to see photos when your garden starts its magnificent greeting to the season.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, Jill. I'm hoping that we will soon have some spring weather. At the moment it's 1 day with sun and three with storms.
DeleteI'm glad to learn everything is going well for you, Graham. I hope the status quo continues...you keep taking good care of yourself.
ReplyDeleteI've been very slack in catching up with blogs lately...so now I have to get my skates on and start catching up! :)
Thank you, Lee. I've been equally slack in keeping up since all the upheaval after CJ's passing and my time away from the Island.
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