Monday and I wake up about 8 o’clock and realise it is injection day in one hours’ time. I of course know it is that day but each injection Monday when I wake up there is a moment when I have to realise it. It sets the tone against which everything else is done. So I dress, drink coffee and discover that my drugs wallets are empty so while sipping my drink I refill them and then take my morning meds. I follow these with a couple of prophylactic paracetamols and then I am ready to wander down to the GP surgery.

I arrive just before 9 o’clock and check myself in. My bum doesn’t make a waiting room seat as the nurse appears and beckons me in. I hand over my box of injection and remind her that it’s the right side this time. I point out that this side is the one that is usually the sorer of the two. We make small talk until the injection is mixed and ready. The “sharp scratch” always burns with this one so I lay back and let the nurse pump me full of the stuff and then we check the clinics diary to find that I cannot book the next one as the system hasn’t got the times up yet. So there is more banter and I get asked about my COVID booster. I declare I am ahead of the game but have to admit I’ve not had a flu jab yet. This cheered up no end as she opened the fridge and cheerily said “let’s do that now then”. So I get a flu jab in the arm, she ticks a quota box and I wander out of the surgery discarding my mask like a fleeing bandit.

Once home I make a fried egg sandwich and more coffee before retreating to the Shed. Before I can move out to the Shed I get a phone call from a friend who is on their way to have a flu jab and do other things. It feels like a long time since we actually spoke so there is a lot of catching up to do around how we are and how our families are. It’s a good call and a real pleasure to be able to chat. I go to the Shed and there I write a letter on my new paper that arrived on Saturday. It is less ornate than my usual paper and will make it easier for people to decipher my scrawl as apparently my writing over the illustrations makes my letters even more difficult to read. This takes me to lunch time and I break to have soup with my partner. Dining over I bring the garden camera in and check to see if the hedgehog has been around and crucially whether the addition of holly to the defences of Fort Hog has deterred the cats from stealing the food. I am pleased to say that it appears that the cats do not fancy the cats’ mats augmented by holly and the hog seems to be the one eating the food. I copy the relevant files and then replace the camera. I notice that some of the flowers are trying very hard to put on a late show and indeed I discover that we have Quinces for the first time.

Then it’s on with the jobs. There is a loose eaves board on the Shed to screw back into place and the overflow pipe on the water butt needs to be extended. By a stroke of luck and my anal trait od not throwing stuff out I find I have hose connector of the right size and some spare matching hose. So in a relatively short time I am able to complete my jobs and feel I’ve got something done, which is good as I am beginning to feel sore around my injection site. In a quick burst of extra energy, I go and post my letter and note in doing so that the postal workers are going on strike very soon.

By now I am feeling relatively crap so I sit down for a coffee and another couple of paracetamols. In a big effort I get into my training kit and go to the garage for a half hours row. Its slow and arduous but I get it done. It’s not a good session by any means but better than nothing.

I come out of the garage and find our guest has arrived. I change and make coffee and start to draft the blog. My partner and friend go out to dine as its pie night at one of the local pubs. I continue with the blog knowing that my eldest daughter is waiting to jointly cook and that we have a Tesco order to take in later. So, the evening will not be finished until our provisions are stored at which point, I shall retreat to bed with a book and more paracetamol.