Talisman

Absolutely.

Personally I love his stuff, but I guess it may not be for everyone.

I absolutely second the idea of Into the Darkest Corner - this is a fantastic book, one of the best, most disturbing books I have ever read. It's the sort of book that leaves you pondering and thinking about it for days, and that doesn't happen very often with me. If you haven't heard of him, I would also recommend an author called Mark Edwards. Be careful when you search for his books though, as there is another author who writes the same genre and goes by the same name, whose stuff according to the reviews is a load of rubbish. The Mark Edwards you are looking for also writes with a female author called Louise Voss. His books include The Magpies and Because She Loves Me, among others. They are all very good. Many of his works also feature characters with mental or emotional issues.

Congratulations to your brother Athena - I hope he likes his gift. I bet you will be glad to finish school as well Virginia, and hope you feel better soon. I am enjoying a very quiet weekend after the somewhat dramatic events of the previous one. The morning was spent pushing a trolley around Sainsbury's and the afternoon sitting up in a bed (almost) finishing a rather good Icelandic crime fiction novel. Tomorrow we are hoping to go and see A Street Cat Named Bob at the cinema - I finished the book recently and we have a couple of free cinema tickets that need to be put to good use. I almost forgot that we booked our summer this morning as well. We are going to the Channel Islands for 2 weeks in June - spending a week each on Guernsey and Jersey, which should be good. We had originally hoped to go this last summer, but by the time we got round to booking all the affordable places were already gone. I was determined not to let that happen again, hence the somewhat early booking. It will be our 20th anniversary while we are away, and both of our birthdays, which will be cause for celebration.

Although it was pretty traumatic at the time, I really cant get too upset about it to be honest as the risks were explained to us and we knew this sort of thing was a possibility. At the end of the day their quick thinking saved her life. She is okay now and getting better each day so that is the important thing. The wounds are healing nicely, and the pain levels are diminishing each day. It could all things considered have been a lot worse.

Glad to hear that you're safe Little Pixie.

They are dark blue. I am thinking of dyeing them pink though.

I am sure that things will indeed turn out well Peacefield - they usually do. On that note, I am pleased to report that Coran is home. The hospital rang about 2pm yesterday to say that she was dressed and waiting for me, so I jumped straight in the car. The staff in that place (and I am sure all hospitals) really are amazing and earn every single penny that they get. The way our Government treats people like them really is a disgrace. Coran is though up and about. She has to wear some rather sexy looking support stockings for the time being in case of DVT's and the dressings on her wounds will need changing in a day or so. There is a little bit of soreness, but that will pass. The main thing is that she is home.

Thank you. She is on the mend. I went to see her this morning and she was sitting up in bed much more like her usual self, but still a bit shaky, which is understandable. It was a punctured lung, but they are keeping a good eye on her and the staff on the unit have been brilliant to both of us. The Doctor came round while I was there and he said that she could go home today if she wished, but the staff nurse thought it best to keep her in for one more night just to be on the safe side. This seemed sensible to me as well, so this is what we have agreed. I will go and see her again then a bit later on for evening visiting and hopefully tomorrow morning she should be okay to come home. It was all a bit dramatic though !

I managed to speak to her on the HDU this morning. She was very drowsy when I saw her yesterday of course from the anesthetic, but is much better today now it has worn off. The staff there really are brilliant. To be honest, I was such a state yesterday when I finally did speak to the surgeon that I didn't really take on what was being said. It seems though that during the operation, too much pressure built up in the chest, causing a lung to collapse. They had to insert a chest drain then to relieve the pressure of the gas and fluid that leaked into the chest cavity which is still in place. They will check that this morning and do an Xray before making a decision as to whether to transfer her to a different ward or send her home. Visiting is at 11am, by which time they should have made their assessment, so I will go to the hospital and hopefully they can tell us both some more then. I am though really not happy about the fact that they didn't inform me of this until almost 4pm yesterday, by which time I was at the hospital myself. There probably isn't very much I can do about that though unfortunately, as what's done is done.

God what a day I have had. My partner went into hospital this morning for a routine operaiton to repair a hiatus hernia and is tonight in the high dependecy unit. I spent most of the afternoon trying in vain to find out why with no one in the hospital it seemed willing to communicate with me or tell me why. In desperation I left work early and drove to the hospital to try and get some answers. Finally the surgeon rang me by which time I was I felt like I was in shock. The mind was imagining all sorts of things. Even the nurse I spoke to at the HDU said she thought it was wrong the way they had treated me, but what can you do? The main thing is that Coran is okay. I will have to ring again in the morning to see whether they are going to transfer her to a normal ward and hopefully get an indication of when she can come home. Thankfully I had tomorrow off as holiday anyway as there is no way I would feel like going in to work after a scare like that.

At the moment, frosty but cold. Perfect for a nice walk around Polesden Lacey.

I prefer synthetic hormones, as they help with my symptoms of menopause.

I am glad that your throat seems better Noll, and hope you enjoy your cross stitch. Coran and I had a great time at the conference yesterday. I know that not everyone is interested in politics, but it was far more interesting than it sounds. There were various talks throughout the day on the party's plans for you guessed it Brexit, their stance on refugees and of course the Witney and Richmond by elections. Our leader Tim Farron also gave a very passionate speech (with no microphone and largely off the cuff - he only rarely glanced at his notes) which was very well received. We met some great people as well from throughout the region, putting names to a few faces that I already knew via Facebook. Perhaps the most useful thing was meeting and having the chance to talk to Party President Sal Brinton, whom Coran wanted to speak to about her friend who has some long health issues. She is really not getting help or support with any of them and at the moment has a lot of problems with her housing association. Sal was able to give some really good advice and point us in the direction of local Councillors who can hopefully help. All in all it was a really useful and interesting day. Next year, depending on where it is, I may go to the main annual conference, at least for the weekend.

The last film we saw, which was last Friday was I, Kevin Blake. If you haven't seen it then I strongly recommend that you do. It's the sort of thing that everyone should see, although you won't leave with dry eyes.

I hope you enjoy your birthday celebrations Athena, and catching up with your brother again after his travels. After the General Election here last spring, Coran and I joined the Liberal Democrats. Tomorrow we are both going to their south east regional annual conference, which we are both really looking forward to. The party leader Tim Farron will be giving a speech, along with interesting talks by others on various subjects such as mental health and of course Brexit. It will be a chance to meet others of like mind and just generally find out more about how we can become more involved, which is always a good thing.

I love the autumn days, but am not so keen on the start of winter and the lead up to Christmas with the dark nights. I much prefer the colder weather that comes afterwards as the days start to lengthen again. After being back at work for about a month now, my colleague has once again been signed off sick - this time for 2 weeks. I fully expect that to be extended. I am told that this is apparently due to a wrist injury which he claims is due to the use of cleaning machinery - vacuum cleaners, floor scrubbing machines and so on. I admit that these machines can be a bit heavy and do put some strain on your arms and shoulders if you don't use them correctly, but I can just hear the words "industrial injury claim" ringing in my ears. I have worked with him for too long and know how his mind works. My Manager is also once again on holiday - this time just for a week. There is no way on this earth that I could manage the whole site on my own, so they have asked our gardener to help out, as cleaning is more important than raking leaves in terns of infection control and so on. I suppose in one way the fact that my colleague is now claiming this is a good thing, as it could give them the perfect excuse to get rid of him on health grounds, but I suspect this will drag on for a few months yet.

I hope the move goes ok Laura. I wouldn't want to go through that again myself in a hurry. As for the weather - it was a beautiful day here today, more like May than the end of October, with temperatures of around 17 or 18 degrees. I spent most of the day walking around the site in just my T shirt, which is crazy for the time of year, not that I am complaining. My colleague who has been causing all the trouble wasn't in again today. At least this time though he bothered to call and let them know. He is off again tomorrow due to another medical appointment, I am not sure what, as he doesn't really talk to me. I much prefer it that way. It does mean more work for me when he isn't there, but it is so much more pleasant that most of the time I don't mind anymore. I had a good weekend though, although it was a quiet one. Coran and I went to see the film I, Kevin Blake on Friday, which I strongly recommend to anyone who is interested. I booked another holiday as well, this time to Malta at the end of February. It has been on my wish list for a while, and a few others at work have been there recently and told me how they enjoyed it. I didn't realise until after I had booked it that it will actually be carnival week, so I have definitely chosen the right time to go.

Where I read tends to depend on the season as much as anything else. My favourite place will always be outdoors, but of course as we get closer to winter and it starts to get a bit chilly, that will soon be impossible. When it does get too cold to sit outdoors, bed is for me probably the best place.

The Olive Readers - Christine Aziz

I am so sorry I missed your birthday Athena, but glad it was a good one and that you enjoyed your meal. I think they will eventually get rid of him if I am patient enough. You are right though, he is now digging a much deeper hole. As for the list, I made a start by emailing the pictures I took yesterday to my own Manager, which he said was very helpful. He has only been here 4 months, but is already fed up with the situation and is as determined to get rid of him as I am. We have to be careful of course though as to what we say and more to the point where, as even trees seem to have ears in this place. As for things going missing, yes this is a concern. We never used to have any kind of stock control system in place until this new Manager started (I would have done something similar myself had I got the job). Now everything we take from the storage shed, and everything that is delivered has to be booked in or out so that we know a) how much we have and b) where it is going. I am doing this, my Manager is doing this, but this other guy is not doing it. As a result the amount of stock that we have in the shed does not tally with what is on the stock sheets. If he is the only one not using the system properly, he cannot prove where this stuff has gone, or that he has not taken it for himself. So yes, this will no doubt be something else that he is disciplined for. As for me, I will just keep on writing it all down, and when I have enough, sending it through to HR, until such point that I have enough to form my own grievance. That is assuming of course that he doesn't go off on long term sick leave again. Even that though would be fine, as if he does this for long enough it will give them the perfect excuse to get rid of him on medical grounds instead. After everything that has happened, I think I will be very glad when Friday rolls around !

The spookiest book by far that I have read is a fantastic Icelandic (where else) ghost story I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdadottir. I love all her books, but this is by far the best. I have read a lot of Icelandic books, but never read anything quite like this one. I actually went to the deserted village where it is set a few summers ago, and I can imagine that to be alone is such an isolated place really would be creepy.

I do hope your stomach gets better Virginia, and I am sorry to hear about your friend. That's a tough one for her to deal with and not something I would be hapoy about either. A year is long enough for him to know her name I would have thought. I am so much happier now though that it looks like things are getting resolved, and that everything is out in the open. I am also really pleased with myself in the way that I managed (in the end) to deal with it, and the fact that our CEO got involved too, as this means that they will finally do something about it. Now that she knows it really cannot be ignored. Having said all of that .... He was today supposed to have a meeting with my Manager and HR to discuss the greivance thta my Manager raised agaisnt him, and he didn't turn up. He didn't bother to even let them know, which I think if pretty bad form - they phoned him at home to find out where he is, and he said that he forgot to call them .... But it's all okay, as all the time that he keeps doing this sort of thing, he is digging himself a deeper and deeper hole. Actually in a way the fact that he did do this did us a favour, as it meant that I had to clean his areas (again). So this time I took my phone with me so that I record the evidence of how he is not doing his job. There was dust and dirt everywhere. Most of the cleaning tick sheets had not been filled in to prove that he has cleaned anything at all, and a lot of the stock that is missing from our storage shed has turned up in the COSHH cupboard in what we call the main house (it had been out of use for a while due to building works). I have then emailed all the evidence to my Manager and tomorrow, which he had booked as holiday anyway, I will make a list of everything that is in that cupboard. As it stands, because he has not been recording what that he has taken, there are several hundred pounds worth of stock unaccounted for. We have no proof of where any of this has gone (other than the stock that is in the cupboard I mentioned). Most of it has no doubt been distributed to different parts of the site, but we have no proof of that whatsoever, and perhaps more to the point, neither has he. When you are in a hole, you really do need to know when to stop digging !

Only if you eat meat. I presume that you do then?

The sound of a wild snail eating. Does that not sound delicious?