Cough, cough, splutter, splutter.

I valiantly soldiered on into my office this morning, despite feeling like ‘death warmed up’ ……did they welcome my fortitude or devotion to duty? Did they heckers like, as my Dad (a Lancastrian) would say.

They took one look at me and sent me home, telling me to go to bed. On my way home, I turned into our road and saw these tatty trainers hanging from a neighbour’s telephone line. Ever mindful of my duty as a photo diarist, I stopped, whipped out my camera and hey presto you are now looking at them too! How’s that for the wonders of modern technology!

I dunno how they got there – they weren’t there yesterday. I can only assume that some reprobate from ‘The Agincourt’ (the local headbangers ball) took them from the Charity Shop at the end of the street and spent some time flinging them up in the air until they scored this (somewhat minor) triumph. I can’t believe anyone who came from the Agincourt would ACTUALLY WEAR such completely awful shoes….not only are they trainers but they are BEIGE too – both of my pet hates rolled into one incredibly horrible pair of shoes. I’m sure the perpetrator would have been in black, hopefully leather and hopefully lots of studs and chains too. Much more suitable attire for the youth of today!

I wonder how long the trainers will remain there? They may become a local landmark – my parents live near a ‘shoe tree’ – a tree that has been decorated by the local residents with countless pairs of shoes over the years and is something of a local oddity.

Of course I have resolutely stood by my need to do what I’m paid for and have sat at my home PC for the rest of the day working on a report, like the good, serious mature woman that I am.

In between the sneezes, coughs, wheezes, croaks and snot that are the mainstays of a cold, I have pressed on. I’ve not given in to it (well not totally anyway).

Now there is a pile of snotty tissues on the floor by my chair, empty mugs on my desk from all the Lemsip I’ve consumed and my current best friend is a pot of Vicks Vaporub that David tells me is much too unsexy to rub into my chest later!!! Damn and I thought there might be some benefits to feeling ill after all!