When words don't mean much

Say it with flowers!

 I'm having a Victor Meldrew moment as I write this. I must be out of step with the rest of the world. Starting with the biggest and most ridiculous, I'll tell you about Milton Keynes Hospital. This weekend I became more than acquainted with it. On Friday, Danielle phoned me up to say she wasn't well. I told her to phone 111. She did. Their advice was to go to the Urgent Care Unit at the hospital. I went round on Friday evening but Danielle did not want to go to the hospital as the girls needed to go to bed. She phoned me at early o'clock the next day to say she was worse and needed to go to the hospital. We transferred all the baby gear to my car and set off. We were there by 8am on a Saturday morning and we were already in a queue. The waiting room is less than congenial for extended waits, especially when you have young children. 

"Urgent" Care Unit does not fit the description. Danielle did not get seen to with any sense of urgency. In all she was at the hospital for 8 hours. Ezra-Mae ended up eating crappy food from the vending machine and I took Mattaya for a walk around the grounds in her stroller to get her asleep. At one point I spied a sign, "KEEP OFF THE GRASS". This is a reasonable enough request except there was no grass. There were weeds and bare soil and  bits of litter but my expert eye saw not one blade of grass. Perhaps it was a reference to not smoking a joint. Maybe that sign was a health warning inside the hospital. As for Danielle, she has to go back on Monday for a scan which is just as well as the prescription couldn't be filled by the chemist as it had no details of what quantity of antibiotics were needed!  Argh!

While I am on the topic of Milton Keynes Hospital, I noticed how badly designed it is. I think the word "design" does not paint the right picture for the haphazard heap of temporary-looking buildings that make up the hospital. Both the inside and the outside are in need of TLC. It really is a camel of a building. I walked around the outside of it while pushing Mattaya in the stroller. Nothing about it is in the least bit appealing. 

I had planned to continue my gardening this weekend and then go out to a music festival, All my planned plans went out the window. I got to use one of my birthday presents early this week. It is a kneeling mat for gardening. At first I couldn't bring myself to put it on the ground as it looks so lovely. As it has been raining, the damp soil stuck to the bottom of it and now it doesn't look quite so nice. There is a big dilemma... you get given beautiful things and when you use them, you feel sad that you have spoiled something beautiful. 

On a completely different note, I am training for a 5k open water race in Brighton. I am not training to "race" I just want to complete the course and this time, I don't mind if I come last. My racing days are over. I have also tried tennis this week! Well, not actually tennis. I stood on the court and hit a few balls to Naser who was very patient with me. I lasted just about 30 minutes but it is a start. I won't be ready for Wimbledon, unfortunately! 

As for world news this week. Don't get me started. The big, beautiful bill has been the crux of the most idiotic spat in history. Trump's words don't mean much even though he is probably the most powerful man on Earth. He never sticks to anything he says and his "Truth" Social is straight out of 1984 doublespeak. This was especially so when he publicly argued with the richest man on Earth. Both men threw their dummies out of the pram. Not a pretty site. God help us!