Cascade

Once again it was my turn to host the Music Group session. I was full of the best intentions to at least make a start yesterday on getting the house ready, and did get a bit done, but still there was quite a bit of tidying and dusting and furniture arranging and hoovering and biscuit-getting-in to do this morning. As usual, though, everything was ship-shape when the guests arrived, and the session turned into another good one.

After solving a few of the world's problems in the local, it was time for me to think about visiting my friend Rita in hospital. I'd been over with her last Sunday, and she'd been let home on Tuesday. But her problem reared its ugly head again the following day with a vengeance worse than before and she had to be taken to A&E. After thirty-six hours in a cubicle there she'd finally been moved to a room on Thursday night to wait to go to Beaumont on Monday for surgery. I'd hoped to get over to see here yesterday, but the problems with the car made that impossible, so I was determined to get over to her today.

I fully intended using public transport (there's a bus which connects Beaumont and Blanchardstown hospitals which I could have taken) but then the rain came and I went over in the car instead. I could feel the lack of power and the 'lumpiness' which the mechanic mentioned, but the car managed the short trip on the M50 just fine. I spent a fair while in Rita's really nice room and then had to dash back to the car to beat the Pay & Display clampers. The rest of the evening was spent lazily, mostly eating and listening to music.

I grabbed the blip between my pub and hospital visits. I was rinsing out the cups after the music gang and this one got stuck under the tap somehow. I noticed the fountain of water jumping out of the cup, raced upstairs for the tripod and tried to catch the action. The result isn't as good as I would have liked (new camera anyone?), but at least it's a blip. (Incidentally, there's no use of selective colour here: this is basically straight from the camera apart from a bit of cropping and curves adjustment.)