and time ticks by

It was beautiful in the forest this morning. The Beech and the Oak are now turning colour and everything looks properly Autumnal. The day is without so much as a whisper of wind, mild, slightly grey and misty but not feeling at all damp.I felt far too warm in my sweatshirt.

Properly Autumnal now
Properly Autumnal now

The camera was not with me, just the phone. I am tempted to go out again later and take some better photographs but I really should be knuckling down to Cézanne, though I shall have to take Nell out again yet. We are on our own today – Mr L has gone into Dalbeattie.

I love this rock in the forest and have taken many photos of it over the past few weeks but none do it any justice at all
I love this rock in the forest and have taken many photos of it over the past few weeks but none do it any justice at all

A few days ago Mr L showed me “a rash” on his leg and thought it a reaction to an insect bite, maybe. I said that he should take it to the doctor and eliminate a Tick bite. We are not aware that he has picked up a Tick at any point but this is certainly Tick country and Nell has had quite some few freeloading since we arrived here. It was an isolated red patch, an irregular round – not quite circular, with a defined redder “rim”. Not exhibiting the typical “bullseye” appearance, but not all bites are typical. It looks sufficiently like some a-typical examples for me to feel that it needed a professional eye on it to rule out any serious problem even though he’s not feeling unwell at present.

“I‘ll put some Benadryl on it“, he said…

The following day I noticed that the patch had spread outward, said so, though he insisted it had not,  and I said again that he should go see at least a Pharmacist. More Benadryl was applied.

This morning I noticed that the patch had well and truly spread and appears perhaps to be yellowing in the centre. It’s huge, about six inches by four or five now, covering most of his shin. He says it’s not itching but is beginning to feel irritated. I again repeated the need to get this looked at. I showed him photos online of some a-typical Lyme. Seeing these, he capitulated.

Looking up the location of the health centre in Dalbeattie, Mr L elected to walk into town and appear at the centre as a walk-in. I suggested gently that a phone call first would be sensible but, no, it says on their web page that staff are in attendance all day and off he went. He rang when he got there, a little before midday and said that he has an appointment for 3:20 pm. The options were to walk home, sit here for an hour, catch the bus back and arrive an hour early, or come back and walk out again later. The appointment time may allow him to catch the bus home but if they are running late or he needs to fill a prescription afterwards, he’ll miss that one and will have to walk home again. That’s potentially a whole heap of walking! In the end he elected to just hang out n town but there’s nothing to do in Dalbeattie, certainly not for three and a half hours so he says he’ll probably… yes, go for a walk!

Yes, I am concerned. I know the chances of it being Lyme are low but I just want to be told that it definitely is not. Maybe Ringworm? Not Impetigo, I think. Sharing showers with Persons Unknown, I guess it might be absolutely anything.

My bruises are coming along well. I mean, really, not that they are coming out or getting worse, but are in fact already fading, turning yellow in places. Still a hard swelling beneath the bruises that is painful to touch but the worst would is looking good and beginning to itch – a clear sign of healing. As f or me – still a little weepy, disinclined to leave my bed and face the day and was distinctly nervous about taking Nell out on my own. There is a nasty GSD on the site that we invariably meet with when out with Nell and every single time it tries to have a go at her. The owner seems barely able to hold it on the lead and does nothing to restrain or quiet it. Had we met them this morning I might well have had a wobbly moment, I think!

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