Hiya, you ollreeght?

It has been a full on couple of weeks since I got to Buxton (do I keep saying that about everytime I write on here? this time it is for different reasons!). I've been working for a week and a half and I have just started to feel like I fit in and actually get how this place works. I have managed to avoid going out on large animal calls, which is good as I think that would have been the straw to break the camel's back for me, as my brain has been functioning at maximum capacity just getting into the smallies side of things!
The weather here last week was absoult rubbish - about the same as brisbane in winter, except wet! Several people have happily told me that Buxton enjoys some of the lowest temperatures recorded in England year round because of its altitude, so I am trying very hard not to think about winter. One farmer told me that he didn't let his cows out till the end of May because it was too cold for them (they house all their cows in winter)!
Having said that, it is a very pretty part of the country, I have finally got a car to myself, so I have been able to go for a few drives around the countryside. There are lots of sheep and cattle, and some picturesque valleys and views from tops of hills. I haven't done much walking so far, but there are heaps of people around with backpacks and boots on who seem to be enjoying walking and camping in the area.

Work has been busy, there seem to be a constant flow of very unusual cases over the last couple of weeks. I did surgery on a cat today, which had evidently been shot by an air rifle (no laughing please!) and the pellet had passed through its left kidney, through several loops of intestine, colon, through the opposite abdominal wall where it had lodged itself. After stitching a few of the holes in the gut and attempting the remove the kidney, we put the cat down as it was in a very bad way. I removed a lump from a Gerbil today as well - very exciting that the gerbil is actually still alive! The people are a lot of fun to work with, and quite a young bunch overall, which is nice. I seem to be taking longer to do things at the moment, but I am often having to look up things in books as most trade names of common drugs are different over here (exactly the same packaging, just different name - why do they have to do that?!). There are always different ways of doing the most basic things, which is part of the joys and challenges of doing locum work, and I like learning new ideas. I got my first thank you card today, (from the owner of the afore mentioned Gerbil, who also owns a cat, whose entire digestive system decided to stop working for some reason which we couldn't work out!).

I'm going to the local comedy club on Friday night, and hopefully watching the next England 'football' match on Saturday with a few people from work. I missed the Australia Italy match, but several people have told me that Italy are low life cheats and shouldn't have won!! So I guess I'm over to supporting the poms now, it's such a big deal to so many people, we keep hearing of people getting arrested in germany, and the police are always much more visible near the pubs here after the England games.
I'm no call tonight (please God, no calls!) I almost had to go out last night, but they rang pack to say they'd got the calf out after all - hooray! Better go find some food....................