There are definite advantages to having a family. I was working in Crowborough all day yesterday, where I'd had a manic morning trying (and failing) to keep up with a dozen patients while a nice man from I.T. ran his hand over my laptop and tried to boot-up my hard drive. It was distracting to say the least. I barely got a lunch break, so by the middle of the afternoon I was tired, ratty, and ready to run amok with a plastic pinhole occluder.

At which point my mobile phone bleeped, and this photo arrived...


Obviously the sight of Lisa and Amelie relaxing on a sofa with a playful kitten, while I was wrestling with my 25th patient of the day (not literally), could have tipped me over the edge. But instead it made me smile for the first time all day. It's good to have something cuddly to go home to. And I've got two.

As it happens, the kitten isn't ours. It's just been rescued from the gutter by Lisa's sister. She's called it Tiger, because she found it in the woods. I expect. It might not be the most original name, but their other cat's called Pie, which more than makes up for it. Amelie's already tried to take a bite out of him. She wanted to throw him out of an upstairs window too, but her hopes were just Pie in the sky.

Anyhoo, I made it to the end of my clinic, and stopped at a farm on the way home for some prize-winning sausages. Not only were they home-made by the farmer's son, but they were so fresh, I could hear oinking coming from behind the counter. On the downside, the taste was disappointing. As Lisa put it when she tried one, "They're a bit too meaty". I think we both prefer rusk and eyelids. I should have stopped at Lidl instead.

As for today, I had to do a Basic Resuscitation course at the hospital this morning. I've been with Lisa for six years now, so obviously the thought of giving mouth-to-mouth to a dummy holds no fear for me....

... because we went on a baby life-saving course two years ago. No really, that's what I meant. Click here to see my certificate.

Anyhoo, today's course was pretty much the same, but with fewer pregnant women. As far as I know. It actually ended up being the most entertaining training course I've ever been on. Which isn't saying much, it's true. But the guy who took it was how every course leader should be (but never is) - witty, funny, knowledgeable, and able to share that knowledge in a highly amusing way. As he said within five minutes of our arrival:

"CPR is like sex. Everyone thinks they're good at it, until they have to do it in front of their colleagues."

I'd proved that by the end of the morning. Well, I'd done it in the recovery position. It amounts to the same thing.