Poorly sick

Feeling very sorry for myself at the moment. I've always been quite proud of the fact that my immune system seems to fight off colds and flu, or even if I succumb, it's just a week or so of runny nose and a bit of a head cold. The last few days have put paid to that notion, with a hacking cough leading to chest pains and permanent headache, a head cold which has bunged me up good and proper, and until today I've been alternating between sweating like a pig and shivery cold. Fortunately that unpleasant aspect seems to have gone away but the coughing and blocked up nose remain. We were up in Scotland at the weekend, and Ali's 7yr old nephew Liam had a cough and a temperature on Sunday when we left - the kisses and hugs goodbye may in retrospect not have been such a good idea. Ali seems to have escaped any germs though.

[those of a squeamish disposition may wish to skip the next paragraph]

To add to my misery, last Wednesday night, before we were travelling up to Hawick the next day, I was preparing a squash curry before going out to my Wednesday night bookgroup. Take one huge Japanese Global carving knife, a squash fresh out of the fridge and thus covered in slippery condensation, and you have a recipe for disaster. The knife slipped, and sliced most of the soft tissue from the end of my left hand ring finger. Ali wasn't back from work at the time, so I had to try and staunch the massive bleeding as best I could before going out. I didn't think to save the bit of flesh (I threw it straight in the bin with a shudder), which with hindsight may have been a good idea, as then the finger may have been able to bond together and heal a bit quicker. Instead I have a very open wound, which seems to be at least drying out, but will probably look appalling when I can finally expose it to the air. So as I can't put any pressure on that hand at all, I haven't been able to go to Body Balance this week, an activity which I was really getting back into this year. The new routine has us doing the splits - fancy. Of course I am nowhere near the ground, but I was getting millimetres lower each time I did it - let's just hope the finger heals enough over the next week or two for me to go back.

All in all it's a very woebegone Kathryn at the moment. Of course the two days I've been off work sick have coincided with all manner of things kicking off that need sorting out too - but it's hard to summon up much enthusiasm for it when you're on your smartphone on the sofa, covered in a blanket and feeling like death. Next time, dear reader, a more upbeat post. Promise.