"Be where you are"

We have been expecting a date from The Royal Brompton for Roch's PEG operation. The doctor indicated that it would be sooner rather than later and in fact suggested at the time (early December) that if we were given a date before Christmas we could ask that it be deferred until the New Year. So I was getting uneasy that we hadn't  heard anything yet. Well, good thing we thought to check. When we called the hospital today we discovered that although the doctor had referred Roch for surgery, the coordinator hadn't picked it up and scheduled it yet. I spoke to a member of the  medical team and we had a call not long after from the coordinator. We are told that he is going on the list today and his surgery should take place within the next few weeks. It's frustrating as we'd really like to plan ahead and it does feel as if we've been overlooked. 

He's still feeling fatigued during the day although he's using the nippy all night now and for part of the day. Today he felt quite breathless when he was sitting down on the shower seat and I was drying him off. The breathlessness dissipated once he was standing up in the hoist and after, when he was using the rollator to move to his chair. So that's a bit different. 

January is such a dull month and can make me feel melancholy but I'm trying to be positive and notice the beauty of winter, taking pleasure in the little things. The garden is absolutely sodden but I'm just going to enjoy looking out the window at it for the moment. No pressure to do much gardening in winter. Before Christmas I invested in a squirrel-proof bird feeder and it works! Every couple of days I replenish the supply knowing those pesky animals wont be able to poach any. The birds are hungry.

Today I made a pot of tea in my lovely Polish pottery teapot. It has such a pretty pouring spout, although the rim of the pot is chipped. Seeing the scented steam rise as I poured the tea was a real pleasure. 

Later I walked through the rain-soaked streets at dusk to do some grocery shopping and stopped to notice the pale moon in a patch of clear sky, framed by  bare wintry branches. 

“As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are. Otherwise you will miss most of your life.” ~ Buddha

“The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.” ~ Voltaire