As
I left work this morning I had the feeling of it being the end of an era. My
three-month secondment to the Tunbridge Wells hospital at Pembury is up, and (apart from occasional visits) I'm being
relocated back to my usual base in Maidstone.
I've
quite enjoyed my time at Pembury; I've worked with a good bunch of people. The
work has been enough to keep me out of mischief, and I've seen several
interesting cases. And I've even had my first ever snowed-in and had to stay
over in accommodation at work (which was
something of an adventure).
I must admit that I've
not really enjoyed the journey to and fro, but (to be fair) I really don't like driving and my ideal job would be
one without any driving.
If only my local
hospital was a nicer place to work...
I’d been looking
forward to listening to the church service on the radio as I drove home. I had
been hoping for something inspiring and uplifting for Easter. I was rather
disappointed to hear tired old rituals and banshee-like howling. I turned the
radio off and put on my own random choice of music. A cover version of Sparks’
Number One Song in Heaven came on. Far more uplifting.
Once home, "er indoors TM" sorted out hot
cross buns for brekkie and I had a look at the Internet. I had a message via
geocaching dot com. The series of caches I hid in February have mostly drowned
in the recent floods. I shall sort them out when the waters subside somewhat.
Also the signatures on the paper logs don’t match the claimed finds on the web
pages for some of the caches…. With any luck the paper logs will be too soggy
for me to read them. I can’t be arsed with deleting people’s logs only to find
they did me a favour by signing team names rather than as individuals (like I do nine times out of ten).
We got the dogs
organized and walked round to the fountain. Yesterday I’d suggested that we had
a dog reunion of Treacle’s family. Unfortunately not many people could make it,
but "Daddy’s
Little Angel TM" turned up with Pogo, and their brother
Ethan showed up too. We had a good wander round the park, and ended up at the
lower playpark. Being the lower one it was rather damp underfoot. So much so
that the drainage ditches were very full. "Stormageddon - Bringer of
Destruction TM" was warned, but
when you are three years old you rarely listen to sage advice, and he fell in
the water. Only up to his thigh, but it was enough to wind his mother up rather
impressively.
We said our goodbyes
came home; some walked happily, some squelched miserably. Once home, both of
our dogs got baths. It never fails to amaze me how Fudge gets far grubbier than
Treacle. Is it because he is lower, or because she jumps in to the ditches so
that the mud washes off?
With dogs washed and settled we drove round to collect
"My
Boy TM" and we drove round to the Windmill for lunch.
Usually on a Sunday we are either out walking miles or I am at work. Being post
night shift meant I was able to do something I’d been hoping to do for ages;
get Sunday lunch at the Windmill. There was an excellent ale selection, and
Alan came up trumps with a rather good bit of dinner. We weren’t going to have
dessert, but I was so glad we did. They were *so* good – and so cheap too.
Suitably
stuffed we then went out to Stone Green Nursery. This is the sort of place from
which garden centres get their plants. Periodically they open to the public.
Last
year "er indoors TM" got some large garden pots
from her mate and re-potting my monkey-puzzle tree gave me another large pot. I
wanted to fill them all but bearing in mind I don’t know my acer from my
evergreen we took "My Boy TM" along as he knows a
thing or two about plants. We had a good mooch about looking at the various
plants. My favourite bit was the home-made ice-cream stall.
I
came away with two “Pieris Forest Flames” and a “sorbaria sorbifolia”. I’ve read all the verbals about them,
but I shall treat them like I treat my acer and my monkey-puzzle tree. They
will get a bucket of water when I remember, and whether they live or die is up
to them. Gardening in my world is very much “survival of the fittest”.
We took "My Boy TM" home. I
had a cuppa whilst he hid his new plant in the garden. Cheryl had left orders
he was not to get any more plants, but as I pointed out she wouldn’t know what
was in the garden anyway, and consequently he’d be in trouble for getting a
plant whether he had or not. So he might as well get the plant anyway.
I
sat down and fussed Rolo. I woke up an hour later, and we then said our
goodbyes and came home.
I spent the evening
falling asleep in front of the telly…perhaps I should have had a sleep during
the day? I was glad I didn’t though. Today
was rather good.
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