Life In General. – It’s been a relatively quiet week for me, I’ve had a few things to do for my Mum, including taking her shopping – it’ll be at least another 3 weeks until she can drive again – but she is up to going around the supermarket under her own steam which is a good thing. I’ve also been trying to make a dent on some of the jobs that need doing in her garden. The lawns are a regular task, but there are other things that need doing at this time of the year.
We did manage to sneak an afternoon out towards the end of the week and took the dogs to the beach for a swim:
Work – I’ve been working on a few things this week, and I am reaching the limit of my patients in one particular area where I seem to be doing more than a colleague and picking up the slack that they’re leaving. We’ll see what happens there, but things might be changing soon.
Allotment. – I’ve been pickling gherkins this week. It’ll be another month before I can eat them, but this is the first time that I’ve grown my own.
I’ve also harvested all of the apples from our one apple tree. It’s been a bumper crop, and I’ve already made the first apple crumble [LINK] of the year. I’m planning some relishes and chutneys with some of the remaining apples, assuming I can find enough jars and lids!
Unfortunately the local badger population have decimated my sweetcorn crop, they’ve left me a couple of ears but that’s it, they’ve had the rest and have pushed over most of the plants – apart from the ones that had no ears on them, not sure how they know the difference – so I’ll be clearing those in the next week. I don’t begrudge them the corn, although I wish they’d leave them alone, and it’s down to me really to make sure that they are better protected. A lesson learned for next year.
Currently Reading – “RisingTideFallingStar” by Philip Hoare [LINK], I’ve actually finished this, and really enjoyed it. Particularly some of the authors own experiences at Cape Cod, these are some of the better “memoir” pieces that I’ve read.
The Week In Wildlife – In Pictures
NHS – Plenty of coverage of the virtual discussion between the Health Secretary (Jeremy Hunt), and one of the worlds most respected scientists (Professor Stephen Hawking). In case you missed it here are a couple of links [LINK] & [LINK]. On the back of this came the news that our local hospital is about to go into special measures, if they don’t improve from the inadequate rating they’ve been given [LINK]. Having seen things for myself, I can’t say I’m surprised by the local news or that which has been playing out nationally. I think there are real problems. Locally the staff are under significant pressure, this one hospital covers a huge geographic area, and the through put of patients is huge. I think that the staff are doing a great job – although I’ve seen some individual exceptions of staff who perhaps aren’t doing the best job – the majority are working above and beyond.
Sooner or later if nothing changes I think this system is about to collapse and in my opinion it is being driven there by government.
Brian Aldis – I’ve only read one or two of Brian Aldis’ books but I’m conscious as to his impact on science fiction and literature in general. He passed away at the end of last week [LINK].
Strike – The Cuckoo’s Calling – The dramatisation of the novels by J K Rowling’s (aka Robert Galbraith) comes to BBC this evening. I’m quite looking forward to it.
Electronic Scrapbook 