can I have a sauna in my garden, please

I am properly exhausted... after the busiest week in a long time and a few hours volunteering. The latter has helped calm my mind, which is good. Nothing quite beats sawing fallen branches into smaller chunks for a dead hedge and digging holes for hedgerow planting. My body on the other hand is screaming. Oh how I would love a wee sauna in my garden, complete with cold plunge pool to properly relax my bones and muscles after that hard work. 

Earlier, I thought I had lost my mind. I was searching for my walking boots on the shoe shelves in our porch and they were not there. I couldn't make sense of it at all. Where might they be? I mean, they are filthy and smelly, nobody would lift them from the porch (which is usually unlocked). Would they? I thought maybe Annie had taken them to St. Andrews and was just about to call and ask when I literally (and I mean literally) stumbled over them. Because a few minutes previously I had set them out, ready to put on for volunteering. It is a bit scary to think that my mind had completely blanked on that. 

I blame a challenging and tiring week. Two evening shifts and more (unpaid) overtime than is acceptable. One of my close colleagues was signed off sick on Tuesday (with no prior warning) and I had to pick up the work. It took me the better part of Wednesday to make sense of what needed done urgently, or what could possibly wait. In the meantime, I didn't do my own work and now I am so behind that I will have to work on Sunday to prepare for class on Monday. Obviously, my colleague can't help being sick but with no redundancy in the system, any absence has a knock-on effect on the those still able to work. If feel resentful for being put in this position and I feel guilty for being resentful. 

Of course work is not all bad. My mentor and colleague Susan took early retirement, we celebrated her working life with a small reception, drinks and canapés. It was lovely to catch up. In this post Covid era of online teaching, we rarely saw each other. I also bumped into some colleagues I hadn't seen for years.

In other news, I decided to wax my moustache and lady beard just before bedtime on Thursday. I lost track of the microwave, the wax got too hot and then I wasn't patient enough to wait for it to cool down. The consequence?  Two burns that blistered and are now crusting over, and lady beard still present. Not a good look. 

Richard's sister and her son visited on Friday, en route to see Annie in St. Andrews. I had to work for a bit for my podcast but got to spend some time with them all, having a lovely dinner of Cullen Skink, fresh sourdough bread and a selection of cheeses. It was most wonderful. I waited to have a glass of wine until after podcast recording, it would be mortifying to be half tanked on air. 

I just realise I forgot to publish this post.... Sunday is quiet. Feeding my friends cats, a top-up shop at Lidl, later a walk with a (different) friend. Some laundry, the usual really. I also finished preparing my teaching slides for tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting 😊