Not my photo but illustrative of weather here over the weekend. Daughter up the hill with her partner was without electricity all day yesterday, luckily they have an enormous wood-burning stove and plenty of candles. Down here it was dark and drear and I would happily have stayed in bed all day if necessary ( if there had been a power cut here too; I have no means of heating that is independent of electricity) but I had to do the weekend shop, so I donned gumboots, mock Barbour (so much less slippery, hard, and cold than the real thing) topped all with a woolly hat, only to feel a complete fool as I waddled through the doors into Tesco alongside other customers tripping along lightly in high heels and sleeveless Tee shirts. Tough lot.

Then I was treated to the wine-and-view afternoon package. Last week was a bit tense and I'd been enjoying chilling out with Miss Marple on Saturday so I wasn't quite ready for 'Le Silence de la Mer' Jeanne-Pierre Melville 1949, which is in many ways an amazing film - it was made from a novella written during the war, but the mood I was in it was just too dark. A German officer with romantic notions (it's true that the Germans are by nature a VERY romantic race) about the beauties of La Belle France and her literature, who sees the Occupation as the beginnings of a beautiful marriage, and enjoys being billeted with an elderly French gentleman and his niece to whom he discourses about his dreams each evening before he goes to his room. He gets no overt response from them but subtly wins a way to their hearts. Eventually the reality of the Fuhrer's intentions find their way through his carefully guarded heart and he applies for a post at the Front, presumably hoping to be killed.

Too dark what with all the weather and - oh god what's happening in Japan. Poor, poor souls.

As a side thought on that terrible news : I hope the 'let's have lots more nice clean nuclear power and no nasty noisy windfarm' enthusiasts in this country will take heed...

And this is what happens just when you think it's spring in Scotland!

The bookcases meanwhile..

...have all found new homes and been domesticated. The clever cabinet maker who made them for the shop then adapted the ones for the Health Store has also adapted this one in my kitchen so I have more cupboard space and somewhere to stand the 'Penguin' book mugs. The extension still looks very pale and new but that will soon change.

New toy...

...for the shop. Not much to put in it yet except some nice fizzy drinks (ginger beer, dandelion and burdock, Victorian pink lemonade) and a lone bottle of probiotics that have to be kept at a low temperature. I'm looking forward to some good tofu, spreads and dips - yum - and probably some pretend vegan cheeses (hmm.). It's an extra dimension and shows the shop is going in the right direction.

These are sentences exactly as typed by medical secretaries in National Health Service Greater Glasgow
Some of them are really funny, others slightly worrying!!


1. The patient has no previous history of suicide.

2. Patient has left her white blood cells at another hospital.

3. Patient's medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past three days.

4. She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.

5. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.

6. On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it
disappeared.

7. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed. 8. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.

9. Discharge status:- Alive, but without my permission.

10. Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year old male, mentally alert, but forgetful.

11. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.

12. She is numb from her toes down.

13. While in ER, she was examined, x-rated and sent home.

14. The skin was moist and dry.

15. Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.

16. Patient was alert and unresponsive.

17. Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.

18. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life until she got a divorce.

19. I saw your patient today, who is still under our care for physical therapy.

20. Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.

21. Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.

22. The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.

23. Skin: somewhat pale, but present.

24. The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.

25. Large brown stool ambulating in the hall.

26. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.

27. When she fainted, her eyes rolled around the room.

28. The patient was in his usual state of good health until his airplane
ran out of fuel and crashed.

29. Between you and me, we ought to be able to get this lady pregnant.

30. She slipped on the ice and apparently her legs went in separate
directions in early December.

31. Patient was seen in consultation by Dr. Smith, who felt we should
sit on the abdomen and I agree.

32. The patient was to have a bowel resection. However, he took a job as a stock broker instead.

33. By the time he was admitted, his rapid heart had stopped, and he was feeling better.

For the sake of your health - stay away from hospital