Josephine Bruce

I don't usually post arty-farty photos, but I'm absurdly pleased with this one that I took this morning over coffee of the single flower produced by my oldest rose bush, Josephine Bruce, this strange and difficult summer of heat and drought and my going away at critical moments. I took it using the Portrait setting on my iPhone with the Stage Lighting feature enabled and felt the result was rather splendid. 

That was the enjoyable bit about today. After coffee we were off on the ferry to get to Ross Hall clinic at Barrhead to Get Something Done about my eye, or rather my tear duct. I  almost can't believe the speed at which things happen when you decide, for the first time in your life, to pay for treatment: I saw my GP on Monday, got a referral from him, phoned the hospital yesterday morning and was there for midday today. A pleasant specialist examined the bump, consulted my GP's letter, declared it an abscess. And then, having ascertained that I was up for this, dealt with it. Despite local anaesthesia - painful enough in itself - it hurt, and I worried afterwards that the nurse who gave me her hand to squeeze might have been regretting it all afternoon. But by 2pm we were back out in the car park, finding our way back to the M8 through diversions and closed lanes and heading for home. 

I thought I'd be reaching for the painkillers by the time we were back on the ferry, but in fact despite a few nippy moments when I twitched my nose (yes - sort of like a rabbit) it hasn't been as painful as it sometimes became last week. I'll keep my fingers crossed that things stay that way ...

We were starving by the time we got home, because I dispatched Himself into Morrison's en route to pick up some essentials while I waited in the car, but tea and Arran oatcakes (try them if you can - they're wonderful) with some of the marvellous soft cheese I bought in the Arran Cheese Shop kept us going until dinner. I fell asleep, then pottered out into the garden and cut down some wildly flailing rose stems that were threatening to impale anyone coming in the back gate (I wasn't bending down - apparently I should avoid this for a bit) and then ironed some pillowcases. (I'm fussy about that.)

We had dinner, we went to Online Compline. And then I fell asleep over the telly again. Tomorrow I have packing to do for our weekend ...