Yay it's only ..........

a bone spur and a ganglion. We cancer survivors just laugh we we get something that isn't the disease as somehow it never feels quite so bad if it isn't going to kill you.

I have a bone spur on my heel, which won't be operated on as that would probably cause me more trouble than it is now, and the other lump, the gaglion, is on my instep and it won't be touched either, although it is a pest and painful when I hike too far as it swells up and then it throbs. People usually get ganglions on their wrists - it's the lump folk used to swipe with family bible!

So two more things to add to my list of things I need to put up with. If I was a friggin' horse they'd shoot me!

A confidence

A country woman confides

This needs a bit of work, but thanks for the comments.

Malaise

Well I still can't settle to blogging, or indeed writing much at all. Last summer I felt really energetic, this year I feel like I'm becalmed in the Doldrums.

And it isn't the credit crunch or the price of petrol, though Lord knows that's high enough. No I just feel like stopping and doing nothing much for a while - which is pretty unheard of for me. So I'm pottering in the garden, which is running riot as ever, I don't need secateurs so much as a machete! The grape vine has really gone mad, and I've hacked off an incredible amount of growth to allow light to fall on my tomatoes and salad crops. Keeping the paths clear is also a challenge, and I'm hoeing a few yards each day, just to keep on top of the self-seeded weeds and that bloody astrantia.

My foot is annoying me, as it blows up every time I stand on it for too long, and while it doesn't hurt much it does allows my head to go racing to its own conclusions about what it might be, none of which are very good. So I've steeled myself to getting it checked out next week. It is definitely circulatory, but I'm taking comfort from the fact that both feet aren't affected. N is coaching me in not worrying about it until I know it is actually something to worry about - and the upside I can lie on the couch and watch the Tour de France and some of the mountain stages this week have been absolutely amazing. But I hate not being able to go off on long walks, without fighting to get my boot off at the end!

In terms of the news I'm not sure what I think about the changing political landscape here. I think I'm glad that Labour can no longer count on Scots to be nodding donkeys who will automatically vote for them. As the Glasgow Herald says today the New Labour experiment of saying one thing to Middle England and another north of the border is no longer reconcilable. Labour is in such a pickle here, still in denial about being in opposition in the Scottish Parliament, leaderless, without a clear policy on further devolution and basically skint.

And I think I'm quite proud that the SNP can use up-to-the-minute software to target its message and that it has young people, the election organiser in the East End bi-election was 18, actively out there working for them.

If Scotland is going to move forward as a small nation we need to be able to use every tool in the box and we have to engage and encourage our young people.

I'm no dyed in the wool nationalist, but it's about time that we got more confident about our own abilities and took more responsibility for ourselves and our future.
Time to cast the chip, be it deep fried or otherwise, off our shoulders and get on with deciding what it is we truly want and don't want.

80 up !!!

The Birthday Boy

Shorter, smaller, host to uninvited
pain, he turns eighty on a high
July day, surrounded by the surviving
siblings of his spring, the children
of his summer, the grandchildren
of this, his late autumn.

Clouds are building, the forecast’s rain,
but nothing now can mar his day.

BTW my MIL looks like she has a beard, as my nephew wouldn't duck down!

Neglect

Sorry for not posting. In part I've been busy and in part I've not been able to think of anything much to say.

I was away the weekend before last from Thursday to Monday volunteering at a garden up in Aberdeenshire. I had a lovely weekend, especially working in their new long herbaceous border, staking and checking out what was thriving and what wasn't.
Funnily enough we discovered every single plant of a form of phlox had been eaten by snails or slugs - there was nothing left, save a few mangled stems at ground level.

The site is also on a slope, so it was also notable that water was an issue for plants at the top, while the lushest growth was at the foot of the "hill".
The head gardener is going to put in an irrigation system to sort this out.

We also did lots of summer fruit pruning on espaliered medlars, plums and cherries.

And I did two poetry readings at the Open Day in the walled Rose Garden on the theme of roses and gardens - including three poems from Heart Notes, my pamphlet. I was very nervous as it wasn't my home crowd, or a poetry audience - but everyone hushed after the first poem, even the children, and I got really lovely applause.

My FIL's party was a great success too, though almost 30 folk in the house was quite a challenge! But everyone had a good time and we had all 6 grandchildren under one roof for the first time ever, no mean feat when the ages range from 19 to 5 and four live abroad. I just have to get the wine stains off the floor and all will be well!

I also visited Jane Will's, Colin's wife's, art exhibition yesterday. It is beautifully hung and Jane is able to draw and paint in lots of different styles. So I really enjoyed it.

This week I hope to rest up and catch my breath as I'm feeling a little ragged at present with various aches and pains.

I hope to get round fellow bloggers as the week goes on, so don't give up on me.