Smile!

These cards come out every year! I bought them and love them so much I have never sent them! 
Today I  got a splinter! Putting my veg scraps in the compost bin I discovered the rats  have well invaded, and no doubt ousted the cute mice,  and had made a huge pile of nicely decomposed scraps into a soil mound outside of the bin. To clear this I started to pull up the dried  canes of the Jerusalem  Artichokes - and as I was breaking these into smaller pieces one went clean through my gloves and into my finger - in trying to pull it out it broke off. Once home I dug with a needle and tweezers to no avail, I squeezed it and heard it break inside my finger! So I decided to consult the oracle of t'internet - where I found out that whatever one should not do was squeeze it out!  First home remedy was soaking my finger in white wine vinegar for 30 minutes. Half way through the time I needed the toilet - I managed to do this without taking my finger out of the vinegar!! I was impressed -you may be less so! I tried once more to no avail with needle and tweezers so looked for the next remedy. Not having raisins, bacon nor a banana ( I had  given the black one to the chickens for breakfast! ) I decided to try the soap and sugar paste! Once my finger was securely wrapped and covered with the cut of finger of a thin pair of rubber gloves, I set off to the shops to buy some Magnesium Sulphate to put on! 
First stop the Post office - where I sat on the floor finding the right sized bags for the presents and writing the addresses - discovered I had not written my French Dweller friends address in my tiny address book I have to take out for such occasions - drat it! 
Had a great chat to the till assistant in Waitrose, who FYI do not sell Magnesium Sulphate, about splinters and remedies - much to the annoyance of the people behind me who I heard saying " take all day" as I left! Bah Humbugs! The assistant did inform me that hairs become hard once they get under the skin - she got one in her foot one day and knew! 
Next stop the Aquatic shop for enough locusts and Crickets to keep Gunther happy over the holidays! Also at long last I managed to buy 2 Clown Loaches to consume the water snails in my tank! I used to have some and they are the prettiest things! They also suffer from Whitespot a lot and every time I have gone in to get some they have been in quarantine as undergoing treatment! I bought some Whitespot treatment in anticipation and lo and behold the box had a photo of a Clown Loach on it!  I also discovered from the assistant there that the damselflies I had in my tank over the summer came from Singapore! They get them in their tanks all the time and come in on the water plants as I had suspected! Can't believe the plants are from Singapore however - explains the price of them though! 
Final stop was the Chemist in Callington - who keep the Magnesium in the back - phew! After paying and gathering my various bits I had strewn all over the place finding my purse, I could not find the pot - assistant said it was by my keys - searched the counter and couldn't even find my keys! Another customer kindly gave them to me from further down the counter the other side of the till where I had left them! I told her I blamed Christmas for my forgetfulness! She then proceeded to open the door for me obviously thinking I wouldn't be able to find that for myself either! 
Finally home, shopping unpacked, Tilly let out for a roam before I headed back to the allotment for chicken bedtime and then home to wash the sticky sugar/soap paste off and apply the Magnesium! I happily wrapped presents as I watched a  programme on Dance Rebels: A Story of Modern Dance. Partly a quest to move dance from being a secondary Art form, interpreting music and story telling, to a Primary one. Absolutely fascinating and still available on BBC iPlayer! Strictly Come Dancing it ain't!  However SCD Final tomorrow - how exciting! Got my treats to eat  and a nice bottle of bubbly - time for a nap now!