Spring?

February has come and gone and we're now in to what they call meteorological spring. Despite the short-lived storms and consequent power cuts, we've had a very mild winter - so far, at least. One constant reminder of the storms will be the devastation to the forests - the debris will remain there for years - there's no way they have the time nor manpower to clear them all. The focus has been on clearing the main walking/cycling/riding trails and the rest of the fallen trees will just lie there to rot.

The big incident this last month was Barry's sudden collapse on Sunday 20th February. What a shock it was to us all - especially poor Helen, who phoned us that evening and we drove down to Peebles first thing the following morning. We picked Helen up and drove the short journey to Glentress to pick up Barry's car - remember Helen still can't drive as her broken elbow is still healing. Barry had been taken to the Borders General Hospital, just outside Melrose, some 40 minutes away from Peebles. He was still unconscious but had been very fortunate that there had been a team of junior doctors at Glentress who had looked after him until the ambulance arrived - including using the defibrillator.

We booked in to a hotel in Melrose for a couple of nights so that we could go back and forth to the hospital easily. Barry was in ITU so only one person - Helen, of course - could go in and see him. They did as many tests as they could there but they recognised Barry needed to be transferred to the major QE hospital in Glasgow - just as soon as they could find a bed, which eventually they did on Wednesday night - the same day we decided to drive back. Jo drove Helen home in our car whilst I took Barry's car - and bike - back. I made a slight detour to go in past Ross in Edinburgh - he was in isolation at home with Covid, so I went shopping for basic supplies for him.

No sooner had Barry arrived at the QE than they moved him across the river to the Jubilee in Clydebank. By now they had decided it was a cardiac issue and that was where the specialists were. Initially there was discussion about possible stents, a pacemaker and/or a mini defibrillator being fitted, but they quickly changed their minds and thought a bypass would be more appropriate - initially a triple, but now they have settled on "just" a double. The latest estimate is that this operation will take place next Wednesday - 9th March. In some ways, the fact that they're not rushing it is is quite good news. We've been video calling Barry - check out this clever screen grab which manages to get me in the reflection of Barry's glasses:

Difficult to think back now of anything else that has happened over the last month since my previous post, but I do recall we had our first dinner party for a few years when the Masons and the Kilgours came over in a belated Hogmanay celebration - and Jo baked a lovely Pavlova:

When we were in Melrose, Helen, Jo and I took a walk one morning to have a peek at the Abbey:

My exercise levels have dropped off dramatically during the pandemic - especially this winter. I have occasionally tried to do some on my indoor bike, but it's hard to get motivated - this is a fairly rare occurrence:

Dawn has just returned from 10 days in NYC, visiting the MacNaughtons. They spent last weekend on the coast at the end of Long Island:

That's all for now, folks!