By Peg Prendeville

“The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft awa.”

This was made plain in our house last week. Jim and I had plans to visit his sister for a week in Co. Meath and had been looking forward to it but, as I told you last week, he had a fall. We thought it was not too serious but after three trips to A&E a broken shoulder and hip was diagnosed! Then we had to wait four more days for the hip operation. The shoulder will heal in a sling we are told. So it has been a rather tense, worrying week. However his hip has had a rod and 3 screws inserted so now we are working on getting him on to his feet again. We hope and we pray.

Having been in the hospital every day would not inspire any sense of confidence in getting older. It is sad to see so many waiting on operations or recovering from operations. There are not enough nurses to go round and many patients, who have nobody to speak for them, can get ignored for long periods. It can be a very frightening experience for some. There is not enough communication between the staff regarding patients either. I had to tell each person that Jim cannot speak for himself, that he can do very little for himself.

In spite of all that, life goes on. Ta is busy clearing out the burned remains of his shop. We are all trying to get used to the idea that Marian, our great friend and neighbour, is no longer with us.

All the young children are looking forward to the school holidays. Not sure about the parents!

The recent great weather has ensured that silage and turf is saved with little bother but the deluges that are falling this week will soon have the ground sodden again.