"What a difference a day makes."

So.....yesterday we went to the Ashby Markets.Jen went early to set up her belt stall...she sells belts and bracelets that she makes. Here is her website:http://www.jeniferrahmoy.com/Will, Trace and I cycled down later along by the river. We met Shirley there. It was nice to see her.We also met Gillian Munday. She is a neighbour and friend of Trace and Jen.Gillian was born in the UK  but moved to Australia in 1960. Her childhood was not happy and after marrying early to escape her family home found herself in an abusive relationship. She escaped that also but was stalked by her ex- husband for 6 months after which he gave her the ultimatum to 'come home or else.' The next day while out shopping in a Sydney Mall, he confronted her and shot her seven times at point blank range before taking his own life. Gillian survived.She wrote all about it in the book: "Hollow Points". Here is her website:http://www.hollowpoints.netThe market was in a lovely parkland setting with the stalls spread out beneath tall trees. There were second hand books....I took a picture of one entitled "Urine - The Holy Water'...but I had forgotten to put the memory card back in my camera! Will was interested in one entitled "Knitting with Dog Hair"....but thankfully resisted.We cycled home and had a lovely lazy afternoon sitting on the verandah watching the world float by.

At dusk Will hunted for worms but only found 'cockchafers'....for fishing. The fish loved them but were very crafty, nibbling them off the hook without being caught. He caught nothing.

The day began to fall apart as we ate dinner in the evening. I started to feel very dizzy, as if I had just got off a roundabout. I was ok if I kept my head still but if I moved it the World tipped. I kept quiet about it but when Mahjong was mooted I owned up and said I thought I should got to bed. Tracy didn't want me out of sight so I lay on the sofa....it made the dizziness worse. They persuaded me to phone some medical helpline...I spoke to a nurse. She asked lots of questions and had me standing up and raising my arms and sticking my tongue out and smiling. Before she put me through to a doctor she asked "What would you have done if you had not called this number tonight?"I said, I was just going to lie down but my friends made me call."Well done Friends!" she said.The doctor asked more questions and recommended I go straight to Emergency.So at 11.00 pm Will, Trace and I headed over to Maclean hospital.Luckily in the last few years a former resident of these parts bequeathed $2 million to set up an Emergency Department at Maclean Hospital....before that everyone had to drive a  further 50km to Grafton.I was asked more question upon arrival at Triage and my blood pressure taken.....it was high. 'Yes,' I said 'It was slightly high before we left.' We had checked it by using Tracy's dad's blood pressure monitor...."It was 156 over something," I said.Nope, it was higher than that now...it was in the 180's !The nurse led me into the Emergency Department. It was dead.....no one else there but me. The staff were all crowded around the computer laughing at YouTube videos being shown them by a chubby male nurse.I got on a bed and they fitted me with an ECG.....Eek! It was going to be hell to get those sticky pads off my hairy chest again.The fat chubby male nurse came to speak to me.....only he turned out to be the doctor.He said I had 'vertigo' but they were also a bit worried about my blood pressure. I told him all about the recent events and my 'other' trip to Emergency."What tablets are you on?"I told him."Have you ever missed a dose?""Nearly, a few times but I always remembered." I said. He wanted to bring it down so said he was going to give me some additional medicine....a beta blocker. He said some crystals (otoconia) in my inner ear had fallen out of their pockets and he needed to get them back in by doing the Dix-Hallpike procedure on me...He warned me that I might be sick. I didn't like the sound of it.Trace and Will were shown in to keep me company. He explained again about the procedure to them and said he wanted them to go out when he did it because it can be unpleasant with vomiting....he was not selling it to me."Where are you from?" he asked."I was born in Oldham near Manchester," I said.His family were from Liverpool and he switched to a perfect scouse accent which made me laugh.A nurse came with an injection for the vertigo."This may sting a bit," she said.Huge understatement.....It hurt like flippin' heck!I was given the beta blocker and they kept an eye on my blood pressure it was still in the 180's but started to come down.Chubby Scouse Doc came back and sent Trace and Will away.I was nervous.When he had got the bed all ready I had to lay backwards with my head over the back of the bed then he quickly turned it to the right (my head not the bed )and held it there....then quickly turned it to the left and held it there then I had to sit up. I did feel a bit dizzy but was not sick. The injection must have been working.He was pleased. "I usually get covered in vomit", he said."Do you bring a change of clothes?" I asked."I just don't wear Burberry ties any more," he said.Trace and Will were shown back in.After about another 30 minutes we were allowed to go as my blood pressure had come down."Bye Nick," they all said as they looked up from the computer and then went back to watching YouTube videos.By the time we got home I was no longer dizzy. It was well after midnight.We went to bed....and there on my bedside cabinet was a lonely blood pressure pill."Have you ever missed a dose?" Chubby Scouse Doc's words came back to me...."Oops!" I said....looking sheepishly at Will.