Casting Off A Millstone?

Dad managed to dip the sleeve of his dressing gown in his soup while eating dinner in hospital yesterday. He phoned us with his new mobile phone last night to ask if I'd get him a new dressing gown so that we could take the other one home and wash it. Driving through Tiptree village on my mission of the morning to find a shop selling dressing gowns, I decided to stop off at the old mill for a few quick shots.

Messing Maypole Mill was built in 1775 and, like Rayleigh Mill, it has had quite a busy history during the past two centuries. But unlike the mill in Rayleigh, this one in Tiptree has been converted into a private house. Even so, as can be seen from this photo from the mid 1950's, it has hardly changed over the years.

My sister and niece came with us to see Dad in hospital this afternoon. He was in much better spirits today, because - fingers crossed - there is at last a light at the end of the tunnel. Dad was told this morning that he is to have a permanent drain fitted to his chest to drain into changeable bags, so that he can at long last come home. The piece of equipment to do this with is on order and should arrive in the next day or so, which means he should hopefully be fitted with it and freed from his "ball and chain" (2-litre drain bottle and suction tube connected to the wall) and discharged by the weekend. We are praying that nothing happens in the meantime to prevent this from happening.