Saddleback x2

It was a real relief not to be working today. I woke muzzy headed. Work seems to be taking it's toll at the moment so I was glad to have a quiet-ish day. There were several things that went through my mind today.

After chasing the up the OT referral for dad and to-ing and fro-ing with the carer I can't help but feel that although remaining in our homes for as long as possible has many benefits it becomes a microcosm of our wider care system and ageing population. When it gets to this stage, with the multiple and complex needs of two people it is a constantly evolving process that involves so many diverse elements and it can be a nightmare trying to join up the dots. I really do fear for the future and don't want to be part of it.

After that I thought, once again, as I often do, what a minor miracle Radio 4 is, I can love it more than I can say for it's great diversity of programmes. I began the day with Joan Bakewell's excellent Inside the Ethics Committee - I know it was a bit of a buswoman's holiday but being in the thick of work it is good to get perspectives like these that help. As I drove back from odd jobs in town I listened to' Rumpole of the Bailey' (struggling with Cumberbatch as Rumpole but Maurice Denham's a hard act to follow). And then after my walk it was the tail end of  'Brits Abroad' which helped to balance some of the media bias about migration.

And then, I was treated to this lovely surprise as I topped Great Mell Fell, I stood for a while in the company of these fell ponies (see extras too if you've valiantly got this far) and watched the breath of one of the ponies that was lying resting. I watched and heard this huge lung capacity breathing. I thought of my husband's struggle to breathe. And I thought of the regulation, the emotional regulation, of the breath of another.