Wednesday, I wake early and my partner brings me coffee. I need to ring the GP for an appointment so I read till the appointed hour. It is of course an endurance test as I repeatedly press redial and get the “line busy” message. After 20 minutes I get through and I am promised a GP call at about 10 o’clock. The days of seeing a GP is obviously past. I expect to be commanded to take a urine sample to the GPs later, where I suspect they will use the same dip sticks that I have at home.

I settle in front of the TV and get an early start to the blog . My day is likely to be unpredictable although I have meeting at 12 o’clock and of course Rangers are in a European final tonight at 8 o’clock. I suspect I may or may not meet my expected events. To my surprise the doctor rings me and I tell her about blood and exercise and back pain, she advises me and tells me to get down to the surgery and to give a sample. I do what I am told. The reception at the surgery are very good and in no time at all I am handing them a specimen tube of my best vintage and a contact number. I return home and contemplate lunch. What I actually do is get my eldest daughter to help me change the duvet cover in the back bedroom as we have a guest tonight.

My afternoon is soup driven and I settle into my 2 o’clock meeting trying to attend to what is going on. We break for a tea break and then continue. I am interrupted by a text saying I have antibiotics to collect from the chemist. This is quickly followed by a telephone call to tell me the same thing. I of course have no any other business at the end of the meeting and walk down to the village chemist. There are some moments of confusion involving a non working print but the pharmacist produces the goods anyway. I guess antibiotics are a sort of drug trump. I get home and unwrap my new drugs and laugh. I have been prescribed Ukrainian antibiotics, see for yourself:

I get my first pill into me as quickly as possible the rest go into my drugs wallets so that they become part of my routine for the coming week. I empty the dishwasher and clear away before setting off to the garden to feed the hedgehog. As I return to the house my partner adn her brother return from potting up their mothers patio containers and are in need of tea. We sit and chat for a bit and give my partners brother his birthday present with the demand for a selfie when he dons it. My partner gives him a lift home and I take pictures of the incredibly scents Iris that has opened in the garden. It’s one of my grandfathers from Kew Gardens where he was a gardener. It not only look lovely but it has a rich scent unlike the modern iris that are around.

Our evening guest arrives and I make her tea and we sit and chat until my partner returns. retreat to the sofa to draft more of the blog. My evening will start with a game from the world ice hockey tournament and will then be followed by the Europa cup final in which Rangers are playing, much to the delight of my work colleague. If all goes well I shall end my evening reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I’m definitely hooked, some of it seems strangely familiar. PS. Sweden beat Finland in ice hockey and Rangers lose in a penalty shoot out.