Stella's Visit to the Hospital and Autumn Morning Light

Well now. That was an interesting few days.

I went to visit Stella on Thursday afternoon, to find her in some considerable pain in her hip and back. No real idea why. She was also quite a lot more confused than she usually is, but that might have been because of pain and pain killers. She had slid off her chair a few days before, but hadn't seemed to come to any harm. However, no-one could think of any other cause for sudden severe pain

Wendy came up on Friday while I went to work. Stella was in great pain and was definitely Not a Happy Little Vegemite. They consulted with her GP and took her off to hospital for scans and tests, in case of a fracture or small crack. Stella has said that she doesn't want to go to hospital under any circumstances but the general consensus was that we needed to know what was going on, even if no invasive action was taken. Wendy went with her in the ambulance and I arranged to come home from work after the lunch breaks.

I don't know what was going on on the freeway, but there was a great deal of traffic when I got to Rockbank and the satnav took me off and along a really lovely route of back roads. Some of them were new to me, some I had occasionally been along and the twisty, winding, steep road in Rowsley is one I drive sometimes for fun (although it requires considerable concentration - it is not unlike the roads into Rowsley in Derbyshire). I didn't ever get back onto the freeway

It turns out that Stella hasn't fractured anything but she does have an enormous haematoma hidden in her buttock that she had been sitting on. No wonder she was in pain!

She eventually made it back to her place just after 9 in the evening. Wendy did not go home. She came to my place for an impromptu overnight stay. She would have been very late home if she had attempted to get back by train.

We went to the Smythes Creek Farmgate Shop (formerly known as the Ballarat Mushroom Farm) on Saturday morning, followed by the Zoo Drive market. We had tried to go there first but there was absolutely no parking anywhere. There was parking on our second attempt but the market was still very busy. (This is not a complaint. Busy markets are a Good Thing). Wendy took the lunchtime train home.

Stella was in her bed when I got there in the afternoon. She was still in her bed, sleeping, when I got there yesterday afternoon. She was once again Not a Happy Little Vegemite, largely because the staff had changed her bed linen and she was not best pleased about being rolled around while they did it.  Chucked a proper little tantie, apparently 😂. Lindsey, now back from three weeks in Canada, changed her nightdress. Stella did not yell at Lindsey, though she did clearly let us know that it hurt. She admired the toy raccoon that Lindsey had brought back for her, drank a cup of tea, ate a maple syrup cream biscuit and was looking much more alert when we left.

I'll go and see what's happening with her this afternoon.

It's a beautiful morning. I might even get my seedlings planted. They've only been waiting for six days!

Morning light: