Counting down for a re-run

Lovely sunny autumn weather has stayed with us this past few days, and my sleep pattern has been less broken. Both of these factors have done wonders for my morale and energy level. Progress in healing has continued during this extra two weeks waiting for the next op, which naturally continues to dominate my thoughts, wondering if I'll be fit to travel afterwards, nearer to medical discharge.

Monday morning, the cleaners came early, the Clare went to the gym, and by ten, I was out shopping, with a call at the clinic to pick up a supply of night dressings. It's good to be awake often at first light though I doze until just before seven, then get up for breakfast. I've been a night bird all my life until this year. Now I'm beginning to enjoy early mornings, though not yet to the extent of getting out for an early walk to the river Taff to listen to the dawn chorus.

I remember when I was on locum duty Mojácar, in the autumn of both 2016 and 2017, getting up at first light and walking on the beach, visiting the nearby nature reserve five minutes away to watch families of egrets leave for a day's feeding out in the countryside, a wonderful sight. It's a pity the Bay wetland nature reserve is nearly an hour's walk from home. But then there's the murmuration of starlings early evening to watch out for down there. I've not yet seen that here, although I saw this amazing sight on several occasions, on locum duty in and around Vinaros.

Tuesday, I spent some time photographing Clare's collection of roses in a sun-bathed garden. They are still happily blooming. I used my HX300, Apha 68 and Lumix LX5 to take comparable shots, in an exploration of a digital camera problem highlighted occasionally by photographers complaining how difficult it can be to render the colour red faithfully. Red roses in sunlight don't reproduce well, losing definition, over-emphasising bright light, in a way that's hard to tone down. The photos from the most powerful of the three cameras, the DSLR, render the environment of the red rose in a superior way, but the red rendering is not as satisfactory as is desirable. With time on my hands some of my curiosity can be devoted to this issue. Is it a question of the right filter? Or white balance or ISO setting? I'll play around before googling.

This morning, I celebrated the Eucharist at St Catherine's with seven others. Emma will celebrate at St John's tomorrow, and I will just attend without communicating, to comply with the medical fasting requirements. In the afternoon I walked along the Taff, and got a few good heron photos, plus some blurry ones of a the bird taking off when disturbed by a dog playing in the river. Getting a big bird in flight or just taking off eludes me. It's one small unfulfilled goal. But then it took me several years to get any hoopoe photos at all, so patience and quickness combined are essential.

I went to bed early and watched the latest episode of 'Non Uccidere' to take my mind off tomorrow, about which I am getting nervous. The odd behaviour of this wound, exuding blood more during the hours of darkness than in the daytime continues to contribute to a broken night's sleep. Tonight I could do with a long slumber, but I doubt if I'll get it.