Bartimaeus

Yesterday we had a mostly stay at home day as rain was on the cards all day. We took advantage of a short break in the rain to go for a walk to the hospital, a walk that is mainly through a park and wooded area so is pleasant apart from walking through the actual hospital grounds. Shane has made the journey several times but he wanted me to be confident of the route so I could visit him. Getting there is easier than navigating the hospital grounds but it was well signposted. On the edge of the grounds there was one building that was older than the rest. It wasn’t labelled hospital but “house”.

When we went back we decided to move the boat along so that it was not close to branches. We have recently bought a shorter, slimmer rope that makes tying up at the back much easier, and we had used that when we returned the day before, but we thought with a third storm approaching, we should take the opportunity to switch back to the thicker rope. With the ground very wet, the rope got quite muddy and left brown stripes on my fresh clean trousers. 

The water birds seem unruffled by the weather and we saw some geese being fed hand to beak on the path. The tree and hedge birds seemed to be struggling to fly and land on branches easily. There are quite a variety of birds around and the blackbirds and thrushes are enjoying getting worms from the wet ground.

Shane received an email from Ortomarine, this morning, with good news printed in large red letters: the joystick has finally arrived! Before I was out of bed he had come through to share this exciting development.

After breakfast in the bright light of the cratch, Shane decided his painting of the selves needed a further touch up. The weather was windy but much drier. I only noticed how windy when I looked into the cratch covered area and heard the flapping and howling there. The double glazing is very good sound insulation. It looks a nice sunny space in there, when you can’t hear the wind.

Shane was waiting for them to dry and a call from the consultant. He was also looking forward to a meeting with the plastic surgeon in Wednesday and had some questions lined up for them both. When the call came through however the news was that, although the theatre was booked, they required payment from NHS Lothian and that had been refused. We have had excellent service here, the consultant had spent an hour of his holiday week last week trying to sort out Shane’s treatment. He has sent all the information he has to Edinburgh and even asked Shane about how he would be travelling and is clearly dedicated to his patients.

We went a walk, to talk through options. We enjoyed the spring flowers and sunshine. We popped into the bookshop to collect the book “Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket” by Hilma Wolitzer, that I had ordered. On the back of the highly recommended book it said, “Wolitzer insists, in one gorgeous sentence after a  nother, that there is no such thing as a usual hour, let alone a usual day” and already I like it, that has felt true all the time on Bartimaeus so far and is certainly true of today. There is nothing as constant as change.

 We are confident of friends and family helping us, several have offered already, so we know we will be able to sort the practicalities to be treated in Edinburgh. Shane has already managed to arrange a call with his GP tomorrow.