April Showers.

It has rained on and off for much of the day.I think that the cloud cover is related to ex-cyclone Ita which is moving slowly south down the coast from northern Queensland. They have had quite a bit of rain up there and the greatest danger now is flooding.Lillian joined us at the table in the dining hall at lunch time. Joe, the male nurse, who could have been an old time movie star wheeled Celia out. He was taking her to another table but she stuck out her good arm and grabbed our table."Oh, you know where you want to sit do you?" he said.It was all very subdued. There was just a flat feeling about the whole place today.We talked about the weather.Lillian hated hot and humid weather. She said it makes her perspire. She said when she is ironing in hot weather all she has to do is shake her head over the ironing board. Who needs steam to get out those creases when you can use 'perspiration'.We talked about dumplings.You can't get dumplings here or Yorkshire pudding. Celia and Lillian both bemoaned that, but neither had heard of Vimto."It's a Northern thing," I said.Lillian hates water. She said the nurse was shocked when they discovered she wasn't drinking any. They said they were getting her some orange cordial.We bought her some in the afternoon when we did a shop at Woolies and took it back in the evening. I made her a glass and she drank it straight away."Oh, thank you," she said " take some money," and pointed to a pile of coins on her bedside table."No, it's our pleasure," I said.

Visceral Vessels.

I was back at Terry's seedy joint by 8.50 am. I arrived the same time as the receptionist.She busied herself switching on computers, putting out flags by the roadside (she did!) and shuffling papers.I sat and waited. There was no sign of Terry.Eventually Jane came for me. I lay on the bed and she apologised for the coldness of the gel,"The warmer was off."I have never seen a gel warmer and wondered where you get them.She was looking for the arteries that go to my kidneys. She probed about under my ribs."These arteries are notoriously difficult to find," she said.I think she found them because she did some clicking and then asked me to lie on my side.More poking followed and then she asked me to lie on my other side. More cold gel and more poking."Could you just turn back on your other side again? I want to check your right kidney again."I did and then it was all over."You were quite easy," she said. Oh, I was pleased!"Just take a seat in reception and I'll be out with the films shortly."I sat back down.Terry came in. He needed a shave and a good shower would have been a good idea. I think he was wearing the same clothes as the other day and it was definitely the same brylcreem.He disappeared out of sight round the corner but I could hear him doing something and breathing heavily."Terry loves meeting new people" said the info sheet on the wall that was all about him. Hmmmm, but do the new people love meeting him? I bet most of them have no choice and it's all down to which keys he picks up out of the bowl at those special parties he no doubt attends.He walked out again and gave me a funny little wave..."hello"...it was on the verge of cheerful....it did nothing for me except perhaps make me want a bath.Finally Jane came with my 'films' in an envelope which said 'Confidential' only to be opened by Dr Wang!Charming! They are my flippin' kidneys!We had the lunch time hospital visit off. Wendi was visiting Dulcie today on her way home from or to an orchid show.I fell asleep on the sofa for awhile after not sleeping very well last night because of the heat.When I woke up one of the first things I noticed on the ipad was the headline:

Why taking an afternoon nap 'raises risk of an EARLY DEATH by a third'

Why me?We were back at the hospital this evening. Dulcie was fine. Wendi and Geoff had been and taken her out in the wheelchair for some sun this afternoon. She had had a game of cards with Danny and his boys Liam and Nolan.All was quiet in the room apart from Maureen moaning about her arm. Celia and Lillian were watching the TV. We had a game of cards after tea.I won.We stayed awhile then headed off.On the way out we were passing the room that has the little old lady in who is always lying there with her mouth open and always appears quite dead.She was alive and leaning up on her elbow..."Excuse me!" she squeaked as we walked past. I stopped and put my head in."I was wrong," she stuttered, "It wasn't the 6th, it was the 9th of April."I gave her the thumbs up..."That's great!"She lay back down and we left.

Of cyclones, and buggers and dead kangaroos!

It was a lovely sunny day today here in Brisbane and yet a few hundred miles north they are battening down the hatches at the approach of Cyclone Ita! For those of you who don't know....in the northern hemisphere theses storms are called hurricanes but in the southern hemisphere they are called cyclones....and just like the water going down the sink the wind spins the opposite way to the winds in a hurricane.Ita is all over the news and tonight ABC1 is doing a Cyclone Live broadcast from 11.00 pm, the time it is due to hit land, for those people who want to watch houses and trees destroyed by 275km per hour winds......as it happens! It was a category 5 but has been downgraded to 4 and is expected to become a 3 on reaching land. I sound like I know what I am talking about don't I? I think it just means it was really bad and it is becoming fairly bad.  I was wondering if Brisbane gets Cyclones so I googled it. The last to affect Brisbane but not directly cross the city was Tropical Cyclone Hamish in March 2009......Hmmmm, quite recent then!Instead of packing and rushing off to find refuge in a cyclone shelter we just went off to the hospital as usual. I took some of my cake for Dulcie and packaged up some more for Lillian, Celia.....and couldn't leave out Maureen.Dulcie was dressed but in bed under her blanket....everyone else was out at the tables. We learned later that she had not gone to Physio that morning because she had stomach pains  and they were probably leaving her in bed....but we didn't know that then and just got her up and out.Danny came while we were having lunch and so we had a game of four handed euchre....it was a really close game....but team 'Nulcie'....I prefer that to 'Dick'.....won!Danny left us and Kirrily came to chat. We asked for a formal meeting next week to discuss how we can get Dulcie home quick. Kirrily was pleased with her and it was a positive chat.We took Dulcie for a ride outside for some fresh air for awhile."Is that the QE II hospital?" she said as we sat on the bench."Yes," I said."I think I'm staying in there," she said.We have noticed that she is more forgetful...she asks about three times what we are having for tea. She is good and so much better but she seems older after this accident. We need to get her home soon.Back in her room the nurses were putting Maureen back in bed."Oh, I'm buggered," said Maureen.Lillian looked shocked. "I wonder if she knows what that means," she said to me. "I looked it up once. I was looking in one of those books...what are they called? The ones that have all the meaning of words in....""A dictionary?" I said." Yes, a dictionary. I was looking up some word that my mum had said and I was flicking through and I saw 'bugger' and I thought 'oh, I wonder what that means'.....well," she gasped," I was shocked....people wouldn't use it if they knew."Heck! I've heard worse words trip off Lillian's tongue. It made me laugh.We went back again for tea. Lillian, Dulcie, Celia and Jorge (pronounced Hor-hay) were sat around a table. It was great to sit all together for once.Jorge only seemed to speak Spanish. Lillian did most of the talking.She came to Australia when she was 26 and is now 90....she has not lost her southern English accent. She's travelled a lot in Australia. Her husband drilled for water. She told how once when they were out in the bush her husband had been shooting and handed her the gun and said "there, get that kangaroo." She didn't want to kill it she said so she aimed the gun away from it and fired...but the sights on the gun were so far out of line that she actually shot the kangaroo!"I felt terrible," she said," I was cradling it in my arms, hugging it and kissing it and saying sorry."She has been in hospital for eight to nine weeks!"I just want to go home," she said.Ironically, one of the songs that the 'talker' plays on the piano, without any feeling just belting it out, is 'Show me the way to go home'.The 'talker' ambled past us at the table heading down towards the piano."Oh, God!" said Celia, clear as bell!Luckily, she was just going to watch the news.......Did I mention there is a cyclone coming?

Kangaroo Tail Soup!

This is what we had for tea tonight!

Ingredients:

• 1 Kangaroo Tail, cut in joints
• 60g Barley, well washed
• 3 large Brown Onions
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 3-4 Carrots
• 2 blades Mace
• 2 Turnips
• 1 whole Nutmeg
• 3-4 Stalks Celery
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons fat
• Cayene
• 3 Litres Stock or Water
• 150ml Claret
• Chopped parsley

MethodPeel and cut the vegetables into rough pieces. Melt dripping in a large saucepan. Add vegetables and allow to cook slowly without browning for 10 minutes. Add the tail joints, stock, barley, bay leaves, mace and nutmeg. Bring to boil and simmer slowly for 2-3 hours.Cool and remove any scum or fat from the surface, then strain. Returned to washed saucepan, season to taste with salt and cayene and bring to just boiling, then add wine, but do not boil again. Serve with chopped parsley.

 (The soup was delicious. The meat tasted like beef but was a bit gristly.)

Saint Lillian of the Afflicted.

Do you know?......Lillian has only gone and paid for Celia to have  TV for a week.'Well, it'll be something for her to do, she gets so fed up."Lillian is fab!