Oh, and I mowed the lawn. See, told you I could bore you to death with this gardening lark!
Gardener's World chez Jennyta
Well, the potatoes have chitted and have now been planted and I have pricked out the carrots but the parsnips are not ready yet. Broad beans, Swiss chard and spinach are doing quite well but the tomatoes are flagging a bit.
Oh, and I mowed the lawn. See, told you I could bore you to death with this gardening lark!
Oh, and I mowed the lawn. See, told you I could bore you to death with this gardening lark!
Blues and twos - we're on our way!
Keith has landed himself a real bargain. It's an ambulance, which has now been retired from the NHS but is still in great working order and cost him the princely sum of £100. Inside is a high visibility jacket (with stains on it - could be blood!) and lots of First Aid equipment as well as an impressive range of disposable urine receptacles and a stretcher.
The reason for this purchase is not that he is thinking of going into private healthcare (The very thought sends shivers down my spine!) but he is going to convert it so that, when he is called out to attend to a car, he has all his equipment with him and can work on the spot. So, if you have lost your key or have any car security problems, he's your man.
After waiting patiently (?) for three weeks for the log book to come through, he was finally able to drive it home in triumph yesterday. What amused him was driving back up the road in his own car and spotting a woman standing at her window, phone to her ear, patently recounting to someone how she had seen the ambulance going down the road an hour ago, and no, she didn't know which house it had gone to but it hadn't come back up the road since so it must be something really serious.
He did run the idea past me last night that, today he could maybe drive back up the road with siren and lights on and pause for a moment outside her house. Tempting, but I talked him out of it.
The reason for this purchase is not that he is thinking of going into private healthcare (The very thought sends shivers down my spine!) but he is going to convert it so that, when he is called out to attend to a car, he has all his equipment with him and can work on the spot. So, if you have lost your key or have any car security problems, he's your man.
After waiting patiently (?) for three weeks for the log book to come through, he was finally able to drive it home in triumph yesterday. What amused him was driving back up the road in his own car and spotting a woman standing at her window, phone to her ear, patently recounting to someone how she had seen the ambulance going down the road an hour ago, and no, she didn't know which house it had gone to but it hadn't come back up the road since so it must be something really serious.
He did run the idea past me last night that, today he could maybe drive back up the road with siren and lights on and pause for a moment outside her house. Tempting, but I talked him out of it.
Who'd like to be tagged?
I have been tagged today by Jan who asked me to post six random things about myself, so here goes:
1. I am an arachnophobe.
2. I also have a horror of buttons. They make me feel sick.
3. I have lived in southern Ireland and France.
4. Heidi Range from the Sugarbabes was in my class when she was six.
5. I am left handed and so are two of my four children.
6. Someone who once saw my handwriting thought I was doing shorthand.
I think I'm going to throw this open to anyone who would like to take it on - come one, come all!
So, here's what you do now:
1. I am an arachnophobe.
2. I also have a horror of buttons. They make me feel sick.
3. I have lived in southern Ireland and France.
4. Heidi Range from the Sugarbabes was in my class when she was six.
5. I am left handed and so are two of my four children.
6. Someone who once saw my handwriting thought I was doing shorthand.
I think I'm going to throw this open to anyone who would like to take it on - come one, come all!
So, here's what you do now:
- Link to the person who tagged you.
- Post the rules on your blog.·
- Write six random things about yourself.·
- Tag six random people by linking to their blogs.·
- Let each of the six know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.·
- Let your tagger know when your entry is up
Spring is here!
What a beautiful Spring day it has been here. About time we had a bit of sunshine and warmth and walking into town this morning was very pleasant. So after my counselling, I walked home and sat in the garden for a while, before popping down to Sainsbury's to do a bit of shopping. Then I sat in the garden again.....
Finally I managed to persuade myself to get off the old beam end and re-pot my tiny lettuce seedlings, which didn't take too long, so I was then able to sit in the garden for a while.
You see the pattern here? A regular routine like this and I shall soon be sporting a wonderful tan for the summer. Now, where did I put my shorts last autumn?
Finally I managed to persuade myself to get off the old beam end and re-pot my tiny lettuce seedlings, which didn't take too long, so I was then able to sit in the garden for a while.
You see the pattern here? A regular routine like this and I shall soon be sporting a wonderful tan for the summer. Now, where did I put my shorts last autumn?
NHS infection prevention
Three times a week, I walk into town to do my voluntary counselling and pass the local hospital. I have become used to seeing nurses, still in their uniforms, standing on the pavement beside the busy road smoking. I am often passing around the middle of the day when it's likely to be their break-time and, as the policy in Wales now is that no smoking is allowed on work premises (and in the case of this hospital, that is taken to include the grounds), for those who are smokers, there is nowhere else to go.
My issue is really with the fact that hospital staff now seem to be allowed to go anywhere in their uniforms and seeing them standing beside a busy road, with all the traffic fumes, dust, dirt and general pollution, does not inspire me with confidence as to how well protected their patients are from infection when they go back to their wards.
I could go on at length about the five months of nursing I did back in 1966, when staff were never allowed out of the hospital grounds in uniform and were not even allowed off the ward in their aprons but at least in those days, there was no threat from MRSA etc.
But today, on my way to my course, I was astounded to pass a doctor, in theatre greens, stethoscope round his neck, walking along the same busy, polluted road outside the hospital.
I just hope I never need an operation in there!
My issue is really with the fact that hospital staff now seem to be allowed to go anywhere in their uniforms and seeing them standing beside a busy road, with all the traffic fumes, dust, dirt and general pollution, does not inspire me with confidence as to how well protected their patients are from infection when they go back to their wards.
I could go on at length about the five months of nursing I did back in 1966, when staff were never allowed out of the hospital grounds in uniform and were not even allowed off the ward in their aprons but at least in those days, there was no threat from MRSA etc.
But today, on my way to my course, I was astounded to pass a doctor, in theatre greens, stethoscope round his neck, walking along the same busy, polluted road outside the hospital.
I just hope I never need an operation in there!
Senior moment?
Off to Sainsbury's to do the shopping this morning. (Well, we have to eat, so I have to shop.)
After the main shop I went over to the kiosk to get my mobile topped up, buy some stamps and to get £50 cash as I was paying by card.
I had a brief conversation with the lady on the till about stamps as it happened, (No, don't ask; I know it's boring!) which was probably just as well because she remembered me instantly when I went back an hour later.
Why did I go back I hear you wondering aloud, but, patience... we're now getting to the exciting part!
Back home, I took all the shopping out of the car boot and then I took next door's cat out of the boot, as he had sneaked in while I wasn't looking, put all the shopping away and then looked in my purse for my receipts.
And that is when I suddenly thought, "Hells bells!!!"
The reason for this was the distinct absence of £50 in said purse. Nothing, nada, niente. So, back to Sainsbury's, taking corners on two wheels, of course (See, told you this was the exciting part.) and skidding to a halt in the carpark before racing (well, striding purposefully then) into Sainsbury's and back to my new friend on the till who apologised profusely before handing over the dough.
After that, I skipped happily back to my car and went off to B&Q to buy two more large sacks of compost which I manhandled all by myself.
The brain might be going but the muscles are still in good working order.
After the main shop I went over to the kiosk to get my mobile topped up, buy some stamps and to get £50 cash as I was paying by card.
I had a brief conversation with the lady on the till about stamps as it happened, (No, don't ask; I know it's boring!) which was probably just as well because she remembered me instantly when I went back an hour later.
Why did I go back I hear you wondering aloud, but, patience... we're now getting to the exciting part!
Back home, I took all the shopping out of the car boot and then I took next door's cat out of the boot, as he had sneaked in while I wasn't looking, put all the shopping away and then looked in my purse for my receipts.
And that is when I suddenly thought, "Hells bells!!!"
The reason for this was the distinct absence of £50 in said purse. Nothing, nada, niente. So, back to Sainsbury's, taking corners on two wheels, of course (See, told you this was the exciting part.) and skidding to a halt in the carpark before racing (well, striding purposefully then) into Sainsbury's and back to my new friend on the till who apologised profusely before handing over the dough.
After that, I skipped happily back to my car and went off to B&Q to buy two more large sacks of compost which I manhandled all by myself.
The brain might be going but the muscles are still in good working order.
BT - Is there anyone there?
We pay our BT bill by direct debit but this month, it seems that the money was not in the account when BT wanted to get its mitts on it, so on Tuesday, when I picked up the phone to make a call, I couldn't. I was invited to 'press 1' if I was the account holder, but I wasn't so I couldn't - they wouldn't have wanted to talk to me.
When Keith came home in the evening, he got straight onto it, got through to the relevant department and, after a long wait, spoke to a nice man with an Indian accent, who told him that he couldn't take a payment from his credit card and was all for sending him to the post office. (?) However, after a further conversation, during which Keith informed him that he not only could but was definitely going to take a payment from his credit card, the deed was done and normal service promised within the next 24 hours. This conversation had taken half an hour.
Yesterday, the phone was still not working so he tried again and again was left hanging on for half an hour but this time, he was then cut off.
Today, still no phone, so I had a go. I went through all the menus, choosing every permutation of choices I could in a vain effort to get to speak to a human, but no joy. I went online to try to find a phone number to try but still with no success, so finally, I dug out the paperwork for the business connection, chose a number from that at random and dialled.
Success! This time I actually got to speak for a 'real person' and within 10 minutes, our phone was working again.
What a performance. Total time spent on the phone trying to sort it all out - one and a half hours!
When Keith came home in the evening, he got straight onto it, got through to the relevant department and, after a long wait, spoke to a nice man with an Indian accent, who told him that he couldn't take a payment from his credit card and was all for sending him to the post office. (?) However, after a further conversation, during which Keith informed him that he not only could but was definitely going to take a payment from his credit card, the deed was done and normal service promised within the next 24 hours. This conversation had taken half an hour.
Yesterday, the phone was still not working so he tried again and again was left hanging on for half an hour but this time, he was then cut off.
Today, still no phone, so I had a go. I went through all the menus, choosing every permutation of choices I could in a vain effort to get to speak to a human, but no joy. I went online to try to find a phone number to try but still with no success, so finally, I dug out the paperwork for the business connection, chose a number from that at random and dialled.
Success! This time I actually got to speak for a 'real person' and within 10 minutes, our phone was working again.
What a performance. Total time spent on the phone trying to sort it all out - one and a half hours!
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