Tea and Plastic: An interaction

So it turns out when you make a cup of tea within

a pile of 3 plastic cups

the first one shrivels up a lot

the next one down gets really great wavy lines in it

and the last one doesn't do much at all.

It looks great.

But it tastes awful.

Seiled with a Kiss

This quaint gift shop gained my seil of approval

 

Opportunities

Where God (Mother Nature?) shuts one door, He opens another.

Seals

Keep your eyes peeled for exceptional snapshots of the Isle of Seil giftshop.

Adrift in Oban

It's really very pleasant here. Despite the wet weather I have been lucky enough to catch spots of sunlight over the weekends in order to explore the glorious Western Isles.

There is something very nice about working in such a small hospital... Wandering around the wards (all two of them) Naomi and I have become something of a novelty for the patients who enjoy asking us which islands we have explored during the Monday morning ward round and offer up excellent advice about local dining facilities.... Although so far I'm afraid we haven't got round to being very adventurous with our eating habits.

Last night I made a delicious Paella and last week a superb (though I say it myself) Toad in the Hole. But no fresh fish from the sea shores... Oban seems terribly quiet in the month of January.

Today my laptop detected WiFi for the first time in 2013. So I decided to do a blog.

Here's a picture taken on the Isle Of Kerrera; an exciting 5 minute ferry ride from the Oban harbour (where, incidentally, I bumped into a gentleman I had examined in clinic earlier that week)... A small lump of grass and goats in the ocean, with 35 inhabitants and a parrot sanctuary. What more could you want?

How about an idyllic ruined castle with a pair of ravens?

Plus cakes.

Salt of the Earth

Just some really excellent salt.

Educating Rita

Another BBC radio gem.
This time listened to in the middle of the night as I was too cold to fall asleep...

I found Educating Rita inspiring.
The tale of a married 20-something hairdresser who was determined to study and understand English litirature in opposition to her husband's wishing of settling down and starting a family. I think I could identify, to some extent, with the feelings of disatisfaction and longing to excell at something. Although I am in no position to complain about my educational opportunities. I think it's probably true of a fair number of people...wanting what you can't have or longing to be good at something you have neglected in the past? I often muse on my choices about further education and whether or not I am doing the right thing. I think I was talking to someone about this the other day...but I wonder sometimes where you should leave dreams behind and accept reality. When does it becoming 'giving up' or 'not trying' as opposed to just being realistic and sensible?
Anyway...that's drifted a little bit from really what I thought I was going to talk about, which is reading and literature and passion.

I love reading, but I really wish I knew more about 'litrature'. I acutally quite miss the discussions we used to have in English classes at school about what the writer really meant, and discovering the depth of some of the passages in novels. It's so much more rewarding to discuss with someone else than simply read on your own.

I want to read more peotry. But I'm too lazy to get around to doing it.

Mayb one day I'll join one of those book groups where you do that.
We attempted one a few year ago but it dissolved pretty rapidly into just drinking wine...