Remembering Ibiza in spring

Overcast again today. Still not sleeping well. Switching to new blood pressure medication today, hoping it won't dehydrate me like the ones I've taken for the past few months. I dissolved an oral re-hydration tablet in water and drank it as soon as I got up, determined to avoid the sickening palpitations I've had for weeks due to the meds I've now stopped taking. The replacement once a day pill must be taken over half an hour before breakfast, so I lay the table, make porridge and toast after taking it with the others on my daily list. Anyway, I felt much better for the change later in the morning. 

Having run out of printed versions of  my medication schedule. It's a shorter simpler list than it was when I returned from hospital, but I still need to use a tick sheet to ensure I take them. Although my memory is not bad, I can easily be distracted when performing routine tasks. The discipline of ticking boxes on paper keeps me from uncertainty and error. I printed off a dozen sheets on the back of sheets used earlier, good enough for the purpose. My Linux Mint workstation notified me of updates, and this led to an upgrade to the latest Mint edition, code named Zara. 

Once the update was completed I looked through an album of photos taken during my stay in Ibiza in 2021.  I enjoyed re-reading my account of the covid lockdown arriving on the island. Despite the anxiety of the time, the photos were a lovely reminder of a long retreat at the chaplaincy house, surrounded by fields full of wild flowers and countryside, as winter turned into spring. Given the imposed limitations on mobility, much of my time spent in the finca of C'an Bou was devoted to observing the environment in detail with its green lizards on the patio and geckos on walls and ceilings indoors, insects and occasional migratory birds pausing on their way elsewhere. My three month stay was a unique experience of living close to nature. I think it reshaped my relationship to God's Creation in a way I remain grateful for.

I cooked sea bass with steamed veg for lunch, with purple cabbage which still wasn't really soft after a long time in the steamer. Pressure cooker next time. After a rest, a walk in Llandaff Fields, returning home at sunset. I still hadn't walked  enough so after a cup of tea, I went out again as it got dark to  finish my daily quota. I went to the Co-op to buy chicken and grapes. I didn't have my phone with me so I couldn't benefit from the discount on both items. I was very annoyed with myself.

After supper I wrote a Biblical Reflection for next Wednesday's Morning Prayer on the part of the Sermon on the Mount about treating each other with respect, and being reconciled when we hurt each other. That took me until bed time.