The decision-making process I had mentioned here has been completed. I have signed a new contract to start work at a different place, and I have handed in the resignation at the hospital. There I will be until the end of June, and then on July 1st I will begin work in a center for dialysis patients. That’s what the car is for that I wrote about in the last post already. I have been feeling quite a bit of tension about this whole process, and it’s not over entirely. But everything will be alright, I hope. I will indeed feel very sorry not to be continuing with several of the members of the team, but as I was being introduced to more different kinds of operations, I realized that anything regarding joints, bones, or broken stuff just wasn’t the right thing for me. I would have been fine if it would have been possible to say ‘I will only do visceral, gyneacology and the other soft stuff’, but because the hospital is rather small, that would not have been possible. At the new place I will be earning more money, not working on Sundays, no night-shifts – that’s the stuff on the plus side. I will be getting up a lot earlier, and the commute is much longer (30 minutes by car vs. 7 minutes by bike right now), that’s the stuff on the not so bright side. But I am looking forward to it.
At the same time it seems that changes aren’t finished yet. As the garden season started
Trying to grow herbs in pots... ... and once again, an attempt at sunflowers.
and my few attempts at working in the garden were again, as every year, severely
marred by slugs already out and feasting I had to decide whether was I going to
give up any pretense at gardening altogether or was I going to get really
serious about the battle against the slugs. I don’t want to run around picking
them up as they tend to be out in abundance at night, when I want to sleep. Chemical
means are expensive and not very effective either. Tips in gardening journals
include “don’t have a compost heap in your garden”. But I love my compost heap.
Desperate people put out beer in dishes, which has the effect of drawing even
more of them, definitely not diminishing their numbers. BUT.
A new friend had told me that she has absolutely no problems with slugs anymore ever since she has started keeping chicken. When I last saw her, I asked about this in a bit more detail, how hard is it to keep them... and last Saturday she came for a visit with a trial delegation from her little chicken farm.
Four hens and a rooster tested our grounds, my friend had a serious look around and was very pleased with the possibilities for chicken roaming we have to offer. I am now in the process of buying a chicken coop and the organic battle against slugs will soon be on. Never ever had I thought I would be doing this, and it is a bit of an investment. But perhaps working in the garden will give me more pleasure once the chicken have done their work.
Some
quilting is going on, too. I am working on my next piece for the upcoming
reveal for 20perspectives on the theme of windows/doors/portals. Almost there.