Camp

" May I have a word?" 
This phrase seems such an innocent one doesn't it? But when a patient's next of kin says it with her head around your office door, you know that something awkward is about to happen.
I motioned for the relative to come into my office and I got up and closed the door.
"What can I do for you" I said in my best charge nurse voice
The woman was in her fifties , well dressed and confident
" I'd like to see if we can change my husband's primary nurse?" the woman stated, a polite smile on her face.
Now her husband, had been only recently admitted to the ward following spinal surgery and unlike most of the patients on the Ward he had the luxury of walking out of the unit on his own two legs.
His allocated nurse was an experienced gentle Filipino nurse called Stan.
Stan was as camp as Christmas.
The relative cut to the chase immediately
"my husband feels somewhat uncomfortable having such a flamboyant carer" she said bluntly
I smiled a big smile
A BIG BIG FALSE smile
My reply went something like this
" Your husband has been allocated a talented , well experienced nurse to over see his care, , he has been admitted to a centre of excellence and has even been given a room of his own. We have a long waiting list for admissions here and your husband got a bed without too many problems, 
I'm sorry I'm not changing any of his nursing care"
I was shaking like a leaf inside
But ..........it felt........ Soooooooo goooooooood

Aliums & Aquilegia

It's my birthday next Friday.
I will be 56 years old.
Even without a calendar I know I'm almost there because the alliums and aquilegia have just flowered in the garden. The blue iris should bloom by the first of June too.....
Blue iris lift the heart.

Several bloggers out there have picked up that I've not quite been myself as of late and of course they are right.
I am not quite myself.
But I hope that a normal service will be resumed at some stage soon.

Sulk

I picked the Welsh terriers up from their kennels this morning.
They had been away a week.
Seven days.
And Mary decided that she was sulking.
When we arrived home she took herself off to the bedroom window seat where she gazed off into the far distance with the pinched look of a young Scarlett O'Hara.
This lasted until 19.20 pm when she found me reading on the back patio
I was reading about wartime potato Peel pies and she looked at me for a long long time
And finally jumped up into my lap for a cuddle

Moll's Gap, Lady's View and Kinsale.

 Just off to airport.......
Hey ho

Last Day

The sun is shining

Irish farmhouse breakfast!!!!!!!

Black pudding, potatoes, onion, bacon and an egg! 

Now off to Moll's Gap, Killarney lakes

And Cork

Nu's Birthday

What a cracking day....sightseeing, a long walk, adventures with good food, wonderful scenery,lots of talking, scrabble, a film and lots of laughter..happy birthday Nu! I love ya xxxx

Film night the excellent Spanish thriller Contratiempo

Kenmare Bay

The Ring Of Kerry

Nuala's cottage is picture perfect.
A delightful hideaway surrounded by what looks like an all encompassing forrest
It was nearly ten o clock when I took this photo and the light in this part of Ireland seemed not quite of this world.
We talked, ate sea bass and sipped wine and I slept nine hours solid without having a wee.