Tom
I went for my Tottie top up last Friday, not a good day. I
woke in pain and despite taking the pills it raged on, grinding, like bone on
bone from hip to knee. The side effect of pain is that you can’t think of
anything but the pain, so only when I’d driven halfway to Stornoway did I
realise I’d forgotten to bring the medication. You might presume that the
medical centre keeps the stuff, but no it is delivered to me to bring in on the
day of the appointment. Thankfully it doesn’t have to be stored in a fridge,
however when the two elements are mixed together they will coagulate if not
administered immediately. I could tell from the start that the nurse was having
trouble as the first needle in my arse remained there for longer than normal.
The mix had started to coagulate and she needed to get a larger needle. To be
honest neither needle hurt, as my attention was still on my aching hip. I had
planned to have a morning in town, but all I could think of was getting home. I
managed to light the fire in the studio and turn to my latest stitching. At
least that seemed to take my mind off the pain.
I had for several days been working on a small long-stitch piece alongside one of my piers ports and jetties. This was a little something for me as I realised it would soon be my birthday. I’d already got an old rosewood framed lined up and made the needlework to fit. It was to be an almost direct copy of an Alfred Wallis drawing I’d seen sold last year. His naïve eye lends itself well to being transferred into embroidery. The best presents are without doubt those which you give yourself, and if you’ve also made them then it’s doubly so. There is it seems no way of totally ignoring your birthday if you have a mobile phone. Years ago it was only when we were in the month of October before I’d realise that my birthday had passed without note. I’d hope this year might be the same, but missed calls and messages painted a different picture. What I dreaded most of all was that Tottie might attempt a birthday cake. I’d already made a delicious orange cake two days before and made sure I commandeered the kitchen for a baking day. Three vegetarian cheese pasties and a rhubarb and apple pie. However it didn’t stop her from presenting me with a gift that inevitably was supposed to make my day. If it had been edible and not cooked by her then I was sure I could manage it, however synthetically sweet. At least it was small. On unwrapping the box I discovered a small ceramic object. “Do you know what it is?” she said, and to my relief I did. It was a pie cup or lifter to be placed in the pie dish in order to support the pastry, and it was put into immediate use for the rhubarb pie.
I wouldn’t say the gift filled me with joy, but I was
relieved that Tottie hadn’t gone to any great expense as she told me she picked
it up for £2 in a second had shop in town.
What do you give the man who has everything and professes to want for nothing apart from better physical health? To be honest I was dreading Tom’s birthday, and although I knew he liked to forget it, I also knew that part of him was hoping that someone might remember. And that someone would have to be me. I’d spent days wondering what to get. There was no point in taking him out for a meal as he hates eating out, and he made it quite obvious that my presence in the kitchen was not required.
When I saw a shelf full of strange little upside-down egg cups in a junk shop I have to admit I wasn’t thinking of Tom, but when I discovered what they were it seemed the ideal solution to my gift problem. I was sure he didn’t possess one and even if he never used it at least it was small. A snip at £2. I was delighted when he placed it on the shelf above the cooker and even more so when he used it for a fruit pie. At last I got something right.
