On its way

It’s one of those beautiful mornings. The temperature is -11ْC. It was a cold night last night. I must be one of the few who sweated through the night – my internal heating system has gone back to my normal, full on at night, off in the day. The sky is a brilliant, quite watery, azure. Roofs, cars, fences, lawns, shrubs, the whole world is covered with a thick layer of frosted white – quite a transformation.

I much prefer days like this. It may be cold but it is cheering. You can wrap up against the cold but there’s nothing cheering about damp grey days. What is more, I sometimes think the damp gnaws into your bones in a way this arctic chill does not. That gnawing is unavoidable & does nothing for my aches.

We’re beginning to feel Christmas is on its way. I’m under way with the Christmas cards. Most of those that need posting are posted. We’ve got the Christmas tree down from the attic space. This afternoon we’re intending to buy a little something for Angie, our home help, to show our appreciation for all her help over the year. The Christmas dinner went well. It was good to see old friends, some of whom we hadn’t seen since the summer.

Yesterday, when we went down to the village pub, we were surprised to discover we’d won a couple of prizes in the Lancashire Day raffle. Now the Fox has a fleece to keep him warm & I have a box of chocs ready for Xmas. It feels a bit as though Christmas has arrived early.

On a non-festive note I’ve got my appointment for the MRI scan. It’s in the period between Christmas & New Year. I will be glad to get it done, then hopefully we will have a clearer idea of how severe the pancreatitis is, & whether any permanent damage has been done. I don’t feel as though there should have been as my abdomen has been fairly pain-free since my hospital stay, the odd twinge but that’s about it. Even my weight seems to be stabilising a bit now, which I would have thought was a good sign. I’m due to go to see the specialist again in January so hopefully something a bit more positive will be said. I’m certainly hoping we can start to plan a holiday in warmer climes.