For some time now Maureen has been having trouble with a small 'lump' just under her right eye, the local GPs in Scarborough and here on Stronsay have assured her that it was benign and would not spread to other parts of her body. However, they insisted that the lump would continue to grow unless treated and would eventually affect her sight. So we travelled to Kirkwall on Wednesday, 06 October so that Maureen could attend the "day surgery" department at Balfour hospital and have her 'lump' removed under general anaesthesia. I think Maureen was much more worried about the boat trips than the operation. In the event the operation was successful and we spent the night in a B&B in Kirkwall before catching the Thursday afternoon boat back to Stronsay. The owner of the B&B was marvellous, she had the electric blanket switched on when we arrived at teatime so that Maureen could get straight into bed and sleep (which she did, until 8 am the next day). All the hospital staff were quite wonderful, reassuring Maureen, ensuring that she knew what was going to happen next and, after the operation, plying her with cold drinks, hot tea and sandwiches. Maureen is of the opinion that the boat trips were far, far worse than the time she spent in hospital; she is not sea-sick or even slightly nauseous, just absolutely petrified everytime the boat ploughs into the gentle swell. The eye surgeon saw Maureen just before she was discharged on Wednesday afternoon and said that she would see Maureen again in 5 or 6 weeks to ensure that all was well; this trip to Kirkwall will not be by boat, we shall take the daily aircraft from Stronsay to Kirkwall as it only takes 8 minutes as opposed to almost 2 hours by boat.

Our crofting friends (Matilda's owners) have some geese and therefore have to have a large bath full of water in the field so that the geese can wash their heads, if they cannot do so it would appear that they can contract some sort of eye infection. The other day our friends found that one of the two chickens that they hatched from eggs had fallen into the bath used by the geese. The chicken was lying face down and fluttering feebly. When it was fished out of the bath it could not stand up and just lay there gasping. Our friends took the chicken into the kitchen and took it in turns to hold it in front of the Rayburn stove's warming oven to dry it off and warm it up. After two hours it was able to stand up unaided and later that day marched out of the house fully restored to health. Charles, one of the cockerels, also fell into the bath but managed to scramble out with nothing damaged other than his dignity. The hens are 'off the lay' right now but Matilda still pays a daily visit to the lounge, presumably for purely social purposes.

The regular organist at the kirk had a day off on Sunday 17 Oct so I was asked to stand in for her. It was quite pleasant to be back in the organ seat again - my organ playing is much, much better than my singing - and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope the congregation were of the same opinion. On the same Sunday we saw a wren and a robin in the garden, they have both been regular visitors for the last week or two but the wagtails that we used to see appear to have moved elsewhere. I actually went into the garden the other week and dug up our very first root of potatoes - they were delicious!

Last updated 24 October 2004