A Medicinal Infusion

All those loved ones who have been advising this stubborn old git to stick his head under a cloth over a bowl of eucalyptus oil laced steam will be pleased to learn that Jackie inflicted this particular torture on me this morning.  After ten minutes I emerged with streaming eyes and hopefully less blocked sinuses.  Her former New Zealand work colleague, Brent, introduced Jackie to the NZ quiz from their national newspaper.  She now continues to tackle it every day.  In order to make my time under the table-top tent seem a little shorter, she fired a couple of days worth at me from the other side of the room.  Despite gasping for breath as the oil-fired burner forced its way through my system, I managed to score 9/15 and 10/15.  This only shows I had quite a few successful guesses.  But it did help the passage of time, and maybe those in my head.

About five years ago now, when I was setting about the overgrown garden of my flat in Sutherland Place, I cut a small but gangly tree down to its bare bones.  An Eastern European builder working next door leaned over the dividing wall and asked if he could have some of the branches to make oil for a medicinal infusion.  It was of course a eucalyptus.  Tough, these builder types.

This afternoon it was the turn of my friends wishing me to take antibiotics to learn that their advice has been taken.  There is a very efficient method of introducing the triage nurse into patient care at the Lyndhurst surgery.  A phone call to reception brings a call from Brian who is able either to prescribe or decide you need to see a doctor. Today he prescribed Amoxicillin.  Reflecting my state of health, a weak, but determined, sun provided a feeble glimmer to the landscape as I walked via Emery Down to collect the chemist’s docket from the surgery.  Jackie met me at the pharmacy, where I collected the medication, and drove me home.

Trees in the forest still cling to their varicoloured leaves, and there remains, in the form of a primitive swing and a makeshift bridge, evidence at The Splash of this summer’s Study Centre activity.

This evening a plateful of food replaced the steaming bowl which had earlier sat on my placemat.  It contained roast beef, pre-cooked and marinaded in marvellously meaty gravy; Yorkshire pudding and a variety of vegetables; followed by lemon cheesecake and cream.  Water was the drink I chose to accompany the meal.