It is such a beautiful morning and even better after the last couple of days’ wind and dullness. These roses have only come out in the last week and they’re already bursting with flowers and buds climbing up the side of the house.
Laundry is done and drying outside. I do find laundry very satisfying; I actually like pottering around and rearranging the clothes according to their damper bits. I hope that doesn’t make me sound like an idiot. And it’s nice to have the pile clean of ironed things at the end. Simple.
I should of course be rushing to write about Papworth although it seems more prosaic now that I've been. Driving there felt perfectly normal and not really as though I hadn’t driven anywhere for over 2 months. There was a fair amount of traffic too; at least good to see what looked like business as usual despite knowing that it is far from that.
The hospital have everything well planned and there were very few patients there as they’re not running normal clinics. I was in my own clinic room for the morning and everything took place there - bloods, spirometry, nurse and consultant - part from X-ray. All the clinicians wore PPE so I didn’t need to, just a mask when I went for X-ray. As it turns out my lung function is fine and getting better, it was my spirometer that was faulty.
I am so pleased also that I can start reducing my steroids so I should be down to lowest dose hopefully after my next appt in 6 weeks. That is good also as it means I should be able to have my cataracts sorted which they won’t do on higher dose steroids due to increased risk of bleeding and infection.
But of course back to lockdown afterwards although I will have to go out for blood tests in two and four weeks time mainly to check for cytomegalovirus as I’ve also stopped my antiviral medication. Something in the diary!
The consultant said he thought I had got through the period of highest risk of rejection so that is a relief. Although I’m cautious about suggesting it was plain sailing. My body is by no means back to normal.
I am increasingly frustrated with lockdown as I’m sure most people are. I am sorry but I am going to have to mention Dominic Cummings. I simply don’t see how he can survive . I do hope the pressure is sustained and intensified so that he has to go. And surely Boris has lost whatever shred of credibility he had. It is unconscionable that anyone could think it was ok given the terrible sacrifices some people have had to make under lockdown orders, like not being able to be with your dying child or with a very sick loved one.There are thousands of individual tragedies that have now been trampled on by Cummings and Johnson.
Going back to the garden everything is blooming:
And the veg patch is doing ok: looks like we will be eating a lot of lettuce:
Although the weather wasn’t the best we fired up the Morso and had another great pizza and unsurpassed wood roasted chicken with fresh peas and broad beans. We’re going to try lamb chops grilled in it tonight.
I’ve been painting but got fed up with buttercups so at least the iris and the roses offer some variety and inspiration:
And I sold two paintings this weekend, one via an online exhibition at The Old Lockup Gallery and one through my website.
I really like the paintings of Toni Scrivener a contemporary painter who has an exhibition at our local gallery (which we can’t go to):
Finally here is Ralph manspreading:
