Up The Farway Tree

Overdue Blog!

It's been a busy week at work because the consultant is on holiday for 2 weeks and the Staff Grade doctor phoned in sick with possible Swine flu....eek! I have been a bit worried but reckon if I had caught it last week I would have had symptoms by now. Might be impossible to avoid it really but hoping I can do so long enough to get the new vaccine they have developed (being immunosuppressed makes it more risky for me to catch it). So it's been a little bit manic at work and I have left late everyday - just trying to deal with all issues arising. However I am not back at work until next week now so they will have to cope without me haha :-)

Last weekend we were super busy in the garden - the forecast said rain all weekend but it didn't happen in the end so we just got as much done as possible. It's the first time in ages we haven't had something or other to do at the weekend, so that was nice in itself. I perhaps overdid it slightly though - I put up trellising for the honey suckle and clematis plants - this was quite successful other than the whole 6ft panel falling on my head as I tried to secure the bottom and it came off the nails at the top. Comedy moment! I actually also had another classic comedy moment when I stood on the bottom of the rake and it pinged forward and hit my head. Andrew seemed more amused than concerned I must say! I then cut the front grass before insisting on having a go at using the strimmer. It's a petrol strimmer which is rather large - in fact you could safely call it 'a beast'. Andrew had to start it since it involves some complicated procedure of turning dials to give it choke and pulling on the cord thingy until it starts - I then tried to hold it - it was heavy! I managed about half the lawn before giving up, which was quite good going. My arms however are now covered with bruises where it was resting on my arm - and my knees are covered in bruises from kneeling in the garden (stupid steroids). I also planted lots of alpines and heathers in the rockery. Now it's been established a year I have a better idea of what is growing and where needs filling in. Unfortunately we have 2 large trees in the rockery - one is dead and has been taken down but the roots are still everywhere, so it can be really tricky to find a good spot for new plants. Meanwhile Andrew managed to get a lot more digging done where we want to lift the lawn at the side and put down chips. A very productive, but tiring weekend!

Seb is still getting on great with the dog walker and in fact was away for 3-4 hours today because they went up to Loch Lomond. He is lying flat out now! We also had him off lead again - where it was quite busy and other dogs were there. It was a route in the country park which is more off the main routes but busy enough - well away from any roads though. He was very good! He sometimes trotted beside us then would get caught up with a smell and we would keep walking - he would then see we were ahead and would run at top speed until he caught up again. He met quite a few dogs and was very good at approaching them slowly, having a sniff and walking off again. He did meet one dog who seemed to want to play - but Seb didn't. I was shouting Seb and he was trying to come but the dog wouldn't let him past! The owner was just sitting on a bench watching and saying nothing. Eventually Seb got past but he seemed a bit stressed out and stayed by our side after that. He was really good at coming when called though - I would give him a treat and then tell him 'off you go' and he would dive off at high speed so excited! Hopefully we will be able to do that more often as it is much more stimulating and tires him out more.

I am already starting to feel nervous about my new job, which I should start on 17th August. It will be very different to my current job with regards the kind of patients and illnesses I deal with. Although both jobs are in Psychiatry, old age is quite different and deals a lot more with illnesses such as dementia, and also depression etc in older people. General adult psychiatry looks after a lot more patients with psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, and also mood disorders (depression, bipolar) and personality disorders. I am going to start some reading to brush up on my knowledge and skills. I am sure I will be fine and I would be a bit strange if I wasn't a bit nervous. Interestingly as I am typing about this I am wondering what people's perceptions/understandings are of illnesses such as schizophrenia.....maybe I should do an educational post some time :-)

On the medical front - I think the new tablets are starting to help but I am still trying to get them up to full dose without making myself feel too spaced out. I am definitely tolerating them better and I am sure I have taken significantly of my other pain killers this week. In fact I have more taken them for my sore hip than for the sinuses......fingers crossed we are onto a winner here.

I will leave you with some garden pictures:

Potatoes! In case of famine.

Tiny tomatoes!

Veg bed with carrots at front, parsnips at back (we think!)

Other veg bed with peas at back, various lettuce in middle and onions at front

One of my hanging baskets - violas I grew from seed. I clearly didn't understand how many would grow and have managed to cram far too many into one basket! You live and learn :-)

Planter with geraniums and pansies grown from seed

A lovely lily we have in the garden

Andrews basil factory. We will be eating a lot of pesto I think....