Another fairly early shout – 3 May 2024

Today I was driving Scamp to her FitSteps class in Cumbersheugh and then I was off to Larky to get a second eye pressure test. I got there early and went for a walk down one side of the Main Street and then up the other side. Lots had changed. A big flash Indian restaurant had appeared next to the Coop where the bank had been (probably many years ago – I don’t go to Larky much now). Lots of shops boarded up or the shutters locked down. New houses on Academy Street. Too many changes to keep a note of. It’s a different place now.

I decided to wait in the optician’s in the hope that I’d get taken early, and for once that was what happened. The optician did a series of tests of increasing accuracy and came up with the possible solution that my right eye could have Ocular Hypertension. I would need to discuss it with a consultant at the eye hospital in East Kilbride, and if it is confirmed, it would be repaired with a laser op during an out patient’s appointment. It’s a fairly lengthy wait of 18-24 months for the consultation and it’s still in the early stages. He emphasised that it may not he that at all. It could be my sugar levels are raised as I’m described as pre-diabetic and my sugar levels rise and fall regularly, depending on how many chocolate Easter eggs I eat. So the optician has booked me for a meeting with the vampire in the health centre later this month. Oh what fun.

I drove home by a slightly different route, because the slip road to the motorway from Larkhall was closed to allow the creation of two new roundabouts. Instead I drove up to Canderside Toll and on the way found a new big Lidl. Went in and got a loaf, a mini pizza and a bag or rolls, because Tesco are not selling Scottish rolls any more! They’ve even taken out the ovens!! Cost saving, we presume. Anyway, Lidl to the rescue, and they do sell Scottish rolls. On the way back to the car I got a call from Scamp to ask me where I was. I told and she said she was just going out to the dentist. Oops, I’d forgotten all about her appointment to get her new silver tooth fitted! I apologised and felt bad all the way home.

Back home, we had our lunch and then I drove up to the town centre to get a much needed haircut. It felt so good to have got rid of that awful mop. When I got back, Scamp was chopping down the rose at the back door. I helped and we think it looks a lot neater now.

Dinner was a pizza from a new company in Condorrat. We had a 12” pizza with anchovies, capers and black olives. It took 10 minutes from ordering to delivery. That was amazing. The pizza itself wasn’t, at least I didn’t like it. Hardly any mozzarella and loads of cheddar cheese. A bit dodgy I thought, but Scamp was ok with it.

PoD turned out to be a photo of a pot of sunflower seedlings.

Today’s prompt asked for a bud or a bloom. This is not a flower yet, it is a bud from a Rhododendron (Nancy Evans). The red petals soften to warm pinks and golds as the flower opens to full bloom.
We almost lost it last year when we were on a fortnight cruise and there was a drought at home. “A drought in Scotland?”, I hear you say. Indeed our climate is definitely changing. Thankfully the first three months of this year replenished the water supply … and more.

Tomorrow the dance teachers are at Brookfield and we’re hoping to be there too, before they saunter off on another cruise.