Monday 6 March 2017

FIR, SPRUCE & PINE TREES. DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE? WELL READ ON & SUSAN ISAACS'S NOVEL 'RED, WHITE & BLUE' WILL TELL YOU HOW.. AND SPENDING A QUIET AFTERNOON IN A&E!

For a Spruce isn't a Fir or a Pine, which means neither of them are a Spruce.. but there's a really easy way to tell which is which and for this information we thank Susan Isaacs, who wrote 'Red, White & Blue' back in 1998.

It's a story about two individuals and an anti-semitic bombing in Wyoming. The pace is slow but the book is worth reading, she has had the book for a long time. Why didn't it get given away when she culled all her novels and gave them to the Octavia Charity shop? Well, for just this..

'Hold your horses! You've got to know this about fir trees. He gave her the old demonic device: fir, flat, needles, friendly; spruce, sharp, needles square; pine, needles in packages!'

There you go, now you know how to identify them!

Well, she very nearly got 'conned' yesterday! She did a bit of housework, got bored and it was sunny, so she thought 'the weather guys were wrong, I'll go to the allotment', she looked for and found the gate and Little Shed keys but then gasped in astonishment as a bolt of pain ricocheted through her left knee!

Oh ...... (put in a rude word), that's it, I've had enough of this, I'm going to A&E at Chelsea & Westminster, so she took off her gardening clothes, got dressed in street clothes, grabbed her bag and opened the door.. to see a wall of water deluging down in front of her!

An umbrella joined her hand, she put her book into her bag and she left to catch a bus down the Fulham Road. Whoa, a completely new A&E department! With very few people in it, she was seen by a Triage nurse very quickly who felt her knees and said "One is much hotter than the other, how is the pain?" and handed her a couple of pain killers, "take a seat, a doctor will see you shortly as we are very quiet today", she opened her book and started reading but sure enough, someone called her within ten minutes.

"Tell me what has happened and what your gp thought about it and how it all started" he said, so she told him about having flu and the pain in both knees starting in late January and seeing her gp and coming for xrays on February 7th and the Burstitis and the Baker's Cyst behind her left knee and Valerie saying a ligament was too tight and her polio.

"I'm going to do blood tests to make sure you've not got an infection, I'll get hold of your xrays, your left knee is swollen and yes, there is a swelling behind your knee, I am going to send you to the Soft Tissue Clinic in Orthopaedic department to see why you developed this pain and stiffness so suddenly and try to get to what it is", she asked him if it could be Septic Arthritis and he responded "that's why I'm doing the blood tests, to rule that out".

Forty five minutes later the results were ready and he called her back in, she remarked on how quickly it was done and he smiled and "yes, thank goodness for a quiet day, your blood is clear, there is no infection showing, so that rules out Septic Arthritis, here is a prescription for the pain, do not drink any alcohol today or when taking them and don't drive, this is your discharge form and this is for the Soft Tissue Clinic, take them both to reception and make an appointment".

She stood up and thanked him for his thoroughness and kindness, he smiled and said "Thank you, no broken bones, no vomiting and no blood, it was a pleasure" and they both laughed.

She walked out into reception and gave the forms to the receptionist, who looked at the notes and made an appointment, in only ten days time! She thanked her and walked out into driving rain. Dear Old Rabbit and its' hood and an umbrella meant she was dry but oh boy, it was cold and very windy. She thought about what food was at home and smiled.

For when she had been in Bartek she had picked up a mesh bag which contained the ingredients for vegetable soup: Leeks, carrots, hamburg parsley, celeriac, garlic she had at home plus onions and she had a chicken fillet in the frosty white larder.. aka freezer.

No traffic meant a quick journey home and she scurried off the bus, into Boots to get the pain killers and then up the streets and down our stairs.. what bliss not to be in pain.. zoom in through the front door, off came Old Rabbit and her boots and she whistled for me as she walked up the hall.

"YumYum GeeGee, hot yumyum quickly, it's chilly-billy and wet out there", and she got everything out to make a large pot of tasty, thick soup. Vegetables, frozen stock cubes, the frozen chicken fillet, spices, garlic, filtered water, a big pan, herbs, she chopped the vegetables, put the lid on, set a timer and left the frozen fillet out on the work surface to de-frost.

Half an hour later, she sliced the almost de-frosted fillet into thin slices, pureed the vegetables in the pan with a hand held mixer and added the chicken. Set the timer for another ten minutes and made herself a large mug of ginger tea, this is powdered ginger with a slug of incredibly strong ginger juice and four slices of fresh ginger.

And she settled read more of 'Red, White & Blue' and then came across the paragraph where the male character, Charlie Bryant Blair tells Lauren Miller, the female character about the trees.. on page 472.

The thick souP chased away any hint of coldness and she became sleepy and realised why he had said "Don't drive or drink". We went to bed early at 8.30pm and she slept all the  way through until 09.15am this morning.

"No pain BunBum", she said as she opened my night house, "it's really nice not to be in pain, I do so hope they find out what it is, I wonder what they'll find, for my left knee IS squidgy and sore on one side, who knows" and with that we went off to start our day.

And, today at the library, she'll see if she can find anymore of Susan Isaacs's books. It says at the back of this book that she's written seven novels which have all been published by HarperCollins. Thank goodness for the written word, it certainly made yesterdays visit to A&E go even quicker!

GeeGee Parrot.
March 6th, 2017.

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