It's been a long and arduous week ...

Still feeling like the proverbial steamroller has run me over, the flu is relentless and not even the antibiotics have done the trick. I think they might have prevented pneumonia though. Which, of course, is a good thing. Otherwise I still have a streaming nose, a barking cough, stabbing pain in my sinusses and a general feeling of unwell-being. I guess I have to count my blessings though, that it is not swine flu. To my knowledge, I have not been in contact with anybody who has recently travelled to Mexico or the US. Being part Mexican hopefully doesn't count in this instance ;-)

Being so ill for the last 2 weeks and still having to get on with daily life, has made me realise that I don't really have friends around me. Nobody who would help me with the household or the dog walking if needed, and nobody to keep me company or my mind off feeling ill. By Thursday I was so fed up with the flu, that I thought it was time to completely ignore it and as the weather was nice, I set off with the dogs to the park for a solitary human picnic, although the canines got quite excited when I was packing my bag with nibbles, coconut bar, sandwich and the usual stuff like tobacco, purse and mobile phone. We first pottered down to the supermarket, where I purchased a nice bottle of organic cider. Then off to the park. There were loads of people there, and quite a few were sitting in the grass on their own, either reading or just staring into the sunshine. I found a nice spot, sun for me, shade for the mutts, and made myself comfortable. Out came the food and the cider. About half way down the bottle (it was only a 0.5l one) I thought "Wouldn't it be nice to share this with someone?" Nobody else in the park seemed to be interested (or interesting) though, so I polished it off on my own. Then a call of nature became imminent, and as the public conveniences were closed, I started my way home. Being a middle-aged woman, I can't hold it for very long anymore. I won't tell you where I ended up relieving myself, but let's just say, I didn't make it home. Anyway, having lingered on the thoughts of friendship for too long, by the time I got home I was quite depressed. To the extent that all I did then was go to bed and sleep the effects of the cider and my ponderings off. Needless to say, the rest of the day was pretty rotten.

Off to the park now again. Won't be stopping though, it's about to rain. Which seems to be a blessing in disguise ....