Richard Bell's Wild West Yorkshire Nature Diary, Tuesday, 20th July 2010
I'D BEEN filling up my Pentel Waterbrush when we set out for visiting time and
forgot to put it back in my bag, so I improvised by using the screwed up end
of a paper towel to mix and dab on the watercolour, purchasing a coffee from
the machine at the hospital so I'd have a paper cup to hold the water in.
Barbara and her mum (Betty, who is making a good recovery) had to wait until I'd finished to sample the cherries and grapes in this Marks & Spencer fruit basket (I told you that I'm one of the world's worst hospital visitors). We'd heard that her blood tests had revealed a lack of potassium so, ever practical and not given to grand gestures, we'd sent along a couple of bananas this afternoon. In contrast, this fruit basket, tied up with a large yellow ribbon, was presented to Betty by our neice, who happens to work in intensive care at Pinderfields, a useful contact; she's been popping in between shifts to check how the patient is progressing.
Betty has a large fan base so texts, e-mails and phone calls have been whizzing
around to relatives in at least four European countries while, in Horbury, the
bookshop has become a dropping off point for get well cards from her pals in
the village.