Soon after 9 p.m. yesterday evening, I received a phone call from NHS Out of Hours service to tell me I was in a queue to speak to a clinician. This call may or may not come that evening, otherwise it would be the next day.
As dawn was breaking this morning I stepped outside with my camera
and put a pair of carrion crows off their breakfast. One flew away.
Soon after 9 a.m. I received the promised call from a clinician who advised me to turn up at Lymington Hospital UCT where I would be triaged and referred to a doctor. This was all very smooth, although the wait was 2 hours because it was busy and they were short staffed – also, we suspect because of the number of families obviously on holiday. A very friendly Dr Katie Wiseman took a urine sample and made all the general function tests, including the perfect blood pressure. She thought the problem most likely to be a urinary tract infection, so prescribed antibiotics, yet instructed me to take the sample to my GP in the morning and ask him to send it to the lab.
After having delivered me, Jackie drove off for some shopping, and, when returning to collect me, photographed
some of the sparrow chorus occupying their lengthy gabion lining the wall facing the car park.
Late in the afternoon, when this hot afternoon was beginning to cool, Jackie took us on a brief forest drive,
having first photographed the front garden pink climber.
Two pairs of waterfowl lined up on the bank of Hatchet Pond turned out to be the footwear of a couple enjoying a paddle.
This evening we dined on meaty Ferndene sausages and gravy; creamy mashed potato; firm cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts; and crunchy carrots.