Just had a letter (not a phone call after all) from the surgeon's secretary at Raigmore hospital for 17th December. It doesn't specify if it is just for a consultation or for actual surgery. Tried phoning but they must be out for lunch so I'll try again this afternoon. Not at all sure how I'll get there. If I go with Neil it means an overnight at least for both of us. But I don't think DIL will be able to manage it with her new job just starting. We'll see. I'm sure we'll manage something.
That last storm did some damage to the gate of No 2 son's garden but it was not realised until the 2 biggest dogs discovered it by leaning on it. So, of course, both went out for a wander around the village. They came home soon enough but not before it upset someone along the village road who, after several days, called out the SSPCA inspector to complain. Our local SSPCA man is, if not a close friend, a well known acquaintance and was quite happy to accept the explanation for the great escape, especially since the gate has been fixed. But he said that the same complainant had complained about their free range hens complete freedom (they only go into the hen shed to lay eggs, on the odd occasion) and, as a result, the sheds are both a bit on the small side.
What we had not heard was that there is a bird flu order so that all hens have to be kept in. This has been in force since November so they have been illegally free ranging around the village for a month! As, I might add, have lots of other chickens around the village - it's quite normal here for hens to be genuinely free range. But theirs have been the object of a complaint so, if they can't keep them in they will have to be culled!
This is the result of people being afraid of 2 great idiot dogs, specially bred to be gentle and to rescue humans! Luckily last night was stormy and the hens all took shelter in the 2 little hens sheds, so meantime they are confined to spaces far too small really, but at least they won't be culled. My son can't get around to extending the sheds until Sunday because he works from before dawn to after sunset each day. I daresay working on Sunday will be an offence to someone as well, but it will be work of necessity, which is excusable under church rules.