Poignant

I got up at 7.10. Made some tea and took it to my sister M, who said she was ready to leave. I persuaded her to stay and drink the tea and have some breakfast (cheese) then she set off for Cwmcarvan in Monmouthshire. She did not want to arrive late for her horse-logging course.

Went to work. Back in the Other Surgery today. It was quiet. I had an office to myself. Went out at lunchtime to do a home visit/help someone sort out their flat. We managed one room because I said I could only stay for two hours. There is a plan for the other areas, one that does not involve my labour. Wish we'd taken a before and after shot!

Went back to office. The landline phone had been taken. Odd...worked till 5.30, then had a chat with B the cleaner. She is worried that Lloyds bank will also close it's branch in Stroud, and she doesn't know how to do online banking. I gave B the number of a woman who can help her get set up (free) with online banking. Left the office with laptop. Realised I didn't want to take it home. Brought it back to my usual surgery, walked home. It was very hot by now, so I bought ice creams at Iceland. At an ice cream on the way up the hill.

.Got home, saw that there was no sign of M's van, nor the pony-sized plough I've been storing for her for a few months. What was going on? Went inside, whereupon CS told me that sad tale. M had turned up for the course in Monmouthshire, only to find that it had been cancelled and she had not been informed. All the other participants had been emailed, except her.

She had bought a van, driven down from the West Highlands, driven to Wales, for....nothing. She has been offered a place on a course in Dumfries in September, but that doesn't make up for her petrol, nor her time. She drove back to Stroud while I was still at work, loaded her plough into the van (which will have many uses) and set off again. Last heard of at Lancaster services. What a nightmare.

In other news, I finished my book, Brixton Hill, by Lottie Moggach. Felt bereft, so started another one, Please look after Mother, by Korean author Kyung-Sook Shin. This one is going to be a literary feast. The quality of the writing is exceptional. I read about it recently in an online newspaper, but it was published in 2011. It deals with the self sacrificing role of the traditional Korean mother. The title is, to me, very poignant because M and I had been discussing our mother's care. She is lonely in her flat, and has taken to wandering, so she now goes to Social Crofting Daycare on M's croft. She gets wheeled around in a wheelchair over the rough ground, but doesn't like having her legs nipped by baby goats. 

And now I must go to sleep. Somehow I've strained the muscles between my ribs, which means that certain movements, as well as breathing deeply, are difficult.