Reflections on Salt Water

Some book reviews and a bit of spring colour. There is a word for the smell of old books; bibliosmia describes that special scent that is given off by books as they age and the pages decay. I understand the magic of holding a real book in your hand and feeling the pages but I also love my Kindle. I know that some people have strong feelings about electronic books but I love the advantages of them. I was able to carry War and peace around with me easily for the length of time it took to read it and I can read books in poor light by altering the size of the writing. To me these are real positives. This is not actually meant to be an advert for Kindles but it is relevant as a couple of the books I have been reading recently were electronic versions.  Kindle flatlay So, on to some reviews. Trekker girl Morocco bound: Life after blood clots or how I learned to live and love life as a thrombosis survivor  by Dawne Archer Trekking across the Sahara is a massive challenge and this is ...

The start of this new year marks a turbulent time in health care and brings particular uncertainty and challenges . The end of one year and the beginning of the next is a time when we often find ourselves looking back at what has happened and looking forward to what is to come.  Round ups of the year fill our television and our socials - photos, montages, lists and clips of what was best, most surprising or most shocking. These are reflections on the year and summarise the ups and downs that we all experience - twelve months is a long time. Silver balls (Anish Kapoor, Guggenheim Bilbao)  Reflecting back on something that has happened is a way of looking at what can be learned, of celebrating things that went well so they can hopefully be repeated and finding out if things could be done better. Many professions, such as nursing, rely on this type of exploration or introspection of events in order to continually develop and improve the care provided.  As part of revalidatio...