Lovely day - in the middle of the week!

No work today, so didn't get up too early. Was giving blood at 4pm so went for my run beforehand. Yes, one of my much-loved daytime runs in Richmond Park. And it was really good. Not only did my legs seem to be working but the park was fantastic. Not many people about, beautiful colours everywhere as the trees are getting ready to bare their souls. Thought I'd try and turn it into a nature run and look about me. So, I saw: pesky green parrots, a jay, lots of squirrels on the ground, a hovering bird of prey (no I don't have a clue what it was), huge group of deer - mostly the cute little ones but with some big red ones in there too, jackdaws, pigeons, wood pigeons (just how stupid are these birds?), crows. Ok, so nothing mind-blowing but I'm a Londoner. And after the torrential outbursts of the last few days, the weather was sunny with a few fluffy clouds, and it wasn't too muddy. A perfect Autumnal experience.

So I gave blood. I have quite tough veins due to scarring after many years of being an apheresis donor. Occasionally this means the needle doesn't get to quite the right position and this was one of those days. Boss nurse tells 'donor carer' not to worry as I'm giving slightly slowly but it's fine. And the cuff on my arm was a bit leaky so kept needing to be re-inflated. 'Carer' suddenly decides that to improve things he should grab my arm and try to shift it into a different position. He was told swiftly, loudly and repeatedly NOT TO TOUCH MY ARM. You'd think he might have noticed how twitchy I was at the moment of insertion of the nasty pointy thing? At least now the whole team knows and none of them will ever try that again. Grrrrrr.

Amusing bit after I'd finished giving - it was the team's 'lunch' break, so they all gather round the table where the donors usually sit to have their tea and biccies. Having seen what they eat, I now know why none of the female staff can possibly have a BMI anywhere near 25. And I don't mean they're all thin.