A night in hospital and a full leg cast

Well they kept me in hospital last night and I got my leg put in a cast this morning, the Achilles tendon is torn and may need surgery, they will have a look at progress in 7 - 10 days and decide then. I have a nice shinny zimmer frame to get around on lol. My 12 fallen trees will just have to wait a couple of months to be logged.

We went to the Galway Clinic yesterday thinking that my health insurance would cover the injury but they wanted close on £500 that was not claimable so that was knocked on the head and I joined the Que in the public hospital, it was quite quiet when I arrived and it didn't take too long before I was in the A&E proper. All the Orthopedic staff were in the operating theater and it took them about 5 hours before they got round to me and another 6 before I eventually got a bed on a ward, anyway I was kept amused listening to some of the other characters that were admitted and were getting examined the other side of a curtain from were I was. There was a Pikie couple with a wee girl who had a sore leg, Mrs P knew better than the nurse when it came to her kids temperature (She had 5 bairns and she "knew "when they had temperatures) Mr P knew better than the Dr when it came to administering massage to a limb with trauma as he was an ex boxer. I think he had had a few too many head blows, anyway after they left there were a couple and another girl who had been in a blue and had Gaurda waiting to arrest them outside, they were seperated for inspection incase they got into it again.

I was not allowed anything by mouth until the Surgeon saw me at about 4pm then they told me I would get dinner on the ward when I was moved up there but it turned out to be after 10 pm before then and all they had was toast lol then I was back on nill by mouth from midnight till the chief surgeon bloke saw me at about half nine by when I had missed breakfast lol so I didnt get to sample the delights of hospital food.

If the tendon has shown signs of re knitting itself in a week then it will go back in plaster for a total of 7 weeks. If not they will operate and cut it and stitch it back together, meantime no driving or chopping up firewood for me I,m afraid.

severe storm force 11 12 trees down and a strained achillies tendon

Well the wind came up around 5 pm yesterday evening and didn't drop off until this morning. 12 of the tallest softwoods are either hanging on others or down completely we spent today logging one and dropped a second before I went and twisted/ pulled my Achilles tendon.  6 trees on the North side of the garden are over the wall and into the bog luckily nothing apart from the wall was damaged so I shall just have to work away at clearing them. I think so many trees came down partly because it has been so wet recently.

The Pikie Santa and an IQ of 122

Well I braved the elements and did my Christmas grocery shopping this afternoon, I timed it perfectly to arrive the same time as the Pikie Santa and his 26 elves at the supermarket, just what one needs. I was offered to have my photo taken with the Pikie Santa to "update my facebook profile picture" I thought to myself "what the heck would I want to have a picture of an inebriated traveler in a red hat on my facebook profile for" and pleasantly declined saying I knew nothing about computers, being on the tender side of 50 this was taken with a knowledgeable look from one of the older elves who was hanging around the sherry. On the way home I made another list of things I had forgotten to put on the second list, the first list I lost when I went Christmas grocery shopping yesterday.

I did an IQ test yesterday and am going around telling anyone who will listen, that my score of 122 is in the top 6.5 percentile and I therefore have a superior IQ :) Angela is scared to take the test as she will never live it down if mine is higher, she has already stated that "the IQ test is only one of many methods of measuring intelligence and no stead is lent to it nowadays"  of course is she scores more than 122 it will mysteriously be the top method again.

Tomorrow has a forecast of SW gales again and 100% chance of rain "woopeedoo", I'm going to try and get seaweed off the beach for my spud patch in the next few days so yet another SW gale should see plenty weed at the top of the beach. Alan is flying down to Knock airport, arriving at three o'clock tomorrow so Angie is going to work in the morning and driving up there to pick him up, this is easier than trying to get Alan to catch public transport to Galway as he tends to have a dram and go missing, last year he caught a train to somewhere in county Wicklow and I ended up going to the movies. He wasn't at the station at 6pm and eventually arrived at 10 pm lol.

Anyway I'm chuffed that I am soooo intelligent and sorry to the 93.5% of you thickos who will just have to find another method of measuring IQ, ohh did I mention I have a high IQ?

My love of the Puffin

No I'm not talking about cannabis my love is for the wee bird, the puffin. My first attempt at replicating one was for my O level in Art a longgggggggggg time ago when I made a sculpture of one. It still exists as a door stop. Anyway I did the sketch below from a photo I found online, I was attracted to the amount of fish he was holding in his beak and they always look sort of cheeky as if to say "hahahah look at how many fish I got and I wasnt even trying"

 

No trees came down last night in the gales and our electricity stayed on after all but there were a lot of branches around the place this morning, I tried clearing leaves out of the culverts and the water was freezing I was up to my oxters trying to fish them out.

another gale, more painting and John back in ER

Well the ground is so saturated the rain was lieing in pools on the gravel driveway this afternoon, been torential showers off and on and the wind is up to gale force again tonight, the forecast looks pretty awful for the next week.

I did another couple of sketches today not quite happy with the one of Gus yet I need to work on the eyes more but the hooker is ok.

Angies brother John is back in hospital after falling on some steps outside his flat, they are doing tests buck it looks like a hairline fracture in his spine and broken ribs, his legs just gave way and he tumbled down the stairs, thought go out to him.

The electricity has just gone out for the second time so I better publish this blog as usually the third time its off for a while, will have to look out a board game and some candles, I have a pie in the oven but thankfully it is really near to the demolition stage in its life and the hob is gas so the spuds are ok too.

some pastels

Well its very quiet here on the website design front so I got arty with some soft chalk pastels, I,m quite pleased with the one of wee Benny as it captures his mood well, I had an old frame lieing around so it is on the wall now.

I also did a one of a donkey taken from a photo where he was leaning over a wall and one of a chiwawa hmmm that spelling looks suspect but anyway its a small dog with a big attitude.

Excuse the mess of my desk not sure why there is a razor there. Its been a windy wet old week with today being the best day probably.

Away out now to get something for dinner hope you all have a fun Christmas. 


 

Good day to catch up on tv

Well its blowing a gale here again with torrential rain at the moment so its a good day to catch up on movies or in my case the second series of Lillyhammer on Netflix. For those of you who don't know Netflix its an online worldwide streaming movie site, they have a better variety and newer programs in America so I have fooled Netflix into believing I am over there instead of in Connemara by changing my IP address. Lillyhammer is R rated btw so if your parents are over 60 or you have kids under 12 you may have to vet if they can watch it :)
Lilyhammer is a Norwegian / American television series, starring Steven Van Zandt, about a New York gangster trying to start a new life in isolated Lillehammer in Norway. The first season premiered on Norwegian TV on 25 January 2012 with a record audience of 998,000 viewers (one fifth of Norway's population), they must not mind being made fun of as this is a comedy that really ridicules both the Norwegian population and American gangster.

Angie is away touring this week and going up to Inverness this morning to see her Mum and stay with her wee sister, was hoping Sheana may have come down for Christmas but it looks like that is off this year. One of my other Brothers in Law, Alan is coming across so I am planning to put a range hood up over the cooker and a splashback behind it while he is here, I also want to get a trailer load of seaweed for my potatoes if the weather is ok. both jobs are a lot easier with two people.

Applying for a job

Well I,m going to apply for a job signing on the Irish RTE television news, hopefully the people at my interview will be South African as the only sign language I know is the sign for elephant. If they decide that my services are not required then I will go to the Radio :)

Dreich day here so I did some painting in the laundry, a wall and doors and had a tidy up of some of the cupboards in there, one good thign about this house is the amount of cupboards and built ins.

I must get back into my garden as I haven't done anything outside since I went away and there is heaps to do.

I like the French weather on TV more since their female weather announcer did the forecast nude after France qualified for the world cup you can see it here if you are a perv like me lol.

Good drive home

I got back to Derrykyle at just before 2300 Friday night, the drive down started at 0730 when I caught my first ferry across to the mainland with a calm morning and temps of 1C. There was a smattering of snow beside the roads all the way down to Loch Lomond and the temp went down to 0C coming over the "Rest and be Thankful" but the roads were clear and I made good time. I made that good time I was a couple of hours early for the next ferry from Cairnryan to Belfast so I went for some lunch in Stranrae. I was a bit concerned that the ferry across the Irish sea would be rough after the storms the day before but it was as flat as a tack, the temp had also risen to 11C. The ferry got into Belfast at 1745 and the traffic was slow and hectic until I got out of the city.  This time of year it is dark by 1600 so all the Irish part of my journey was in the dark and a fair bit of it in drizzle but it was no worries and the motorway coming this way on the second half of the drive is easier than going North when the roads are getting smaller and smaller.

I spent yesterday putting up the Christmas tree, unpacking the car, putting a unit on the bathroom wall and various other bits and bobs. My Mom gave me a carload of things they do not have space for like an antique sewing box and a semicircular table (which was originally from Angie's Mom) so they are now in the living room.

Dad contributed some darrows for fishing mackerel next summer and an old horseshoe which is mounted on my shed door collecting good luck. I also got some glasses and wooden candlesticks and a whole kilt setup with both day and formal jackets and sporrans etc which I will make good use of. The tartan is Cameron of Erracht which was my Grannies tartan and I love it.

The Cameron of Erracht Modern tartan is predominantly green, black, red and yellow. Ewen Cameron of Lochiel took as his second wife Marjory MacKintosh. Their son Ewen was the first of what would become the Camerons of Erracht. This was in the early 16th century and by 1745, Donald Cameron, 7th of Erracht, was second in command of the Camerons at Glenfinnan when Prince Charles raised his standard.

west coast gales

Well it blew hard last night and at high tide this morning at about 0630 the spray was hitting the windows of the house. It had dropped off a lot come daylight and the tide had dropped so the wee islands were dry again and breaking up the seas. I took a run up to the village and the slate bank had been partially washed across the road. Dad was telling me they had a storm a few years ago and the waves were coming up the road through his front gate into the garden and out a gate at the other side, that must have been a thing to witness. I bought him a weather station a few years ago the same as the one I have in Galway and his disintegrated in the weather here while mine is fine in the Connemara breeze.

Hopefully it will not snow much overnight as I have to leave around 0715 tomorrow morning for the trip south.
 

The breeze before the storm

Well its breezy today and heavy showers between the sunny spells but tomorrow is forecast winds up to 80kmh. I have packed a lot of gear into the car today incase it is pouring rain all day tomorrow. Friday looks to be a bit calmer and that is the day I am heading back home with the ferry crossing so hopefully it has calmed down.

I had a wee drive around the island earlier and took some photos, the one below is of Fladda lighthouse infront of the house here.

The island used to have two slate quarries and the wee cottages were for the workers they sell for up to £180,000 for the renovated ones.

 

I did a painting of the view below when I was about 18 and sold it to a folk singer who had a holiday house on the island, at that point the mill had a roof but it has long since gone.

Mr fixit

 

Moms View Below and our view in Derrykyle above.

Spent the day here on Luing fixing bits and bobs for my Mom, they included a chair, coffee table, and computer and installed a mirror and rack thingie in their new bathroom. The car battery is on charge and i have been sorting out things to take back to Ireland to fill up my shed instead of Dad,s.

Dad went through the operation and is recovering in hospital until he can satisfy them he can walk up some steps and get around well enough for them to be happy, he was just saying he is on a drip tonight but hopefully he will get out soon.

Mum and I stayed two nights in a hotel in Glasgow and one night with my wee sister in Alyth in Perthshire before coming back up the road here to the island last night. I have clocked up about 1100km since leaving Galway.

The visiting hours in the hospital were between 1pm and 8 pm so Mum and I were out and about shopping in Glasgow between times and it was the first time just the two of us had had as time together alone, I really enjoyed it.

 The boats were at Balloch on Loch Lomond side

The is a wee bit of a sunset this evening