A Brush with Beauty

Yesterday was a strange day for me. I have been a little off form for a few days and now have an irritating cough and head cold symptoms. Maybe it's the same bug Lib caught and Gord has. Last week was huge one way or another, and Friday I had extra to pick and by the weekend I was knackered. Lib is still in hospital, a week now, having antibiotic drip every six hours till the neutrophil levels returns to 1 and she can go home. They were down to 0.1 when she went in, then hovered on 0.2 for a couple of days, and yesterday they had got up to 0.5. Google just told me normal level is 2.5 - 7.5. The chemotherapy knocks most of the white blood cells out while it is doing the same to cancer cells. As the chemo wears off or is gradually out of the system the white blood cells begin to regenerate. In the meantime the patient is vulnerable to infection which is what happened to Lib.

She says it's like being in prison stuck there, not that she has any beef with the hospital or the nursing. It is clean and efficient and the food is good, but it is so boring and she has little interest in TV and even reading is not appealing to her. It's like being caged she says.

Saturday I made use of the fair weather to do some weed spraying for a couple of people, then visited Lib. Sunday I mucked about with firewood and dug out an Aloe cactus and moved it for my friend ViIma. I didn't go to the hospital Sunday, Lib said stay home and have a day off from driving. I lit the fire and watched the footy.

I didn't do much work yesterday. There were 5 punnets of broad bean flowers ordered by the herb people and I went out to Margheurita's about lunchtime to pick them. While there I mulched the bed of garlic by breaking up a bale of straw I'd left on the ground last week when I weeded the garlic. I'd hoped Marg would have done this already but the weather has not been good up until the last couple of days. There were three bunches of lemon myrtle ordered also and that was all I did for the day.

When I drove home from Margheurita's I pulled into my parking bay behind our house looked across toward our clothesline to see the washing in the bright sunshine and gentle breeze and I noticed a large number of little birds on the grass nibbling at it. I couldn't make out what they were so I carefully got out of the van leaving Pip in the back and very slowly walked towards them. I got about half way when a number of them alarmed and flew off, so I stopped dead still. The others continued feeding and I could see they were red browed finches, also called firetails. The ones that had taken flight returned and I reckon there were at least 50 of them. As they fed they came closer and closer to me. They kept coming and soon there were ten or so all around my feet. They were eating tiny little grass seeds which normally you'd not even notice. While I watched quite astounded three more were splashing in the bird bath about fifteen feet away. I couldn't stand there all day as I still had to pick the lemon myrtle and get it and the broad bean flowers to the farm, so I got moving and they all took off.

While I was hanging out the washing earlier a grey thrush sang it's joy and there were spinebills flitting and feeding in the camellias, the acrobatic grey fantails were catching insects, and a butcher bird and yellow robin watched everything. Such beautiful creatures, just a walk out the back door. It makes all the political guffawing seem so irrelevant. Melbourne's population may have reached 5 million but fortunately when I'm in my little patch it may as well not exist. (Except I can't block out the noise from all the motorbikes that travel Launching Place Road on weekends when the weather is good. An unbelievable din. Nutter.)

I went inside and put some soup on the stove. The previous evening I'd made a veggie soup thinking Lib was coming home yesterday but she'd told me by message that she's be in a couple of more days. The soup recipe came from the oncology people who sent an email so I'd bought ingredients Friday eg kale cauli zuchini leek, and with the usual carrot and onions always in the house, a tin of diced tomatoes, and broccolli and parsley from our garden I got chopping, and added some green beans and pumpkin too. The soup was great. Lucky I made a big pot, hopefully there'll be some left when Lib comes home, or I can make more I suppose.

After dropping off at the farm Gord and I went to the hospital to see Lib. She seemed a bit brighter. She's longing to come home. I took her a few cards and small presents that were here for her birthday. Our presents for her are still here at home unopened.