round

 What's round at both ends and high in the middle?

Ohio?

No, you'd be wrong to think that......

A circular walk starting from my house and going up a hill, of course is the correct answer.

So that's what i did.

It's the longest walk i've managed since that fateful day on June the 8th when the dog broke my tibia ..... the swinehund!

I finally made it back to ground zero.... the very spot, in the very field, in which the impact changed the course of my career, year, probably life, to an extent....  i stood there and looked at Dawn at the other end of the field, and as she unclipped Sookie (the dog) from her lead and the dog ran toward me, i grimaced and turned around to protect myself in case she ran into me AGAIN!  (i figured if she ran into the back of my knee then at least it is meant to bend that way?)

I have to admit.... standing there and letting the dog recreate the moment was pretty terrifying, but i've done it now, and the spell is broken.....  i've faced it and can move on.....

My leg's a bit sore now.....

Took six and a half months to get back there but here i am looking my usual surly self at ground zero!

knot

 Dog toys... ever noticed them?

A popular dog toy is a twisted rope, with knots at either end..... tough, tog-o-war type toys that dogs love to use to yank your arm out the socket.

One such toy was in Sookie's mouth yesterday..... she practiced her death rattle and shook her head from side to side with abandoned ferocity......

The knot on the rope twatted me squarely on the metal plate running down the shinbone..... no muscle or fat to cushion the blow, just skin, and metal and a ropey knot travelling two parsecs an hour.

One tiny moment.....

The world went dim as my eyeballs steamed up, and for a brief moment i could smell colours that have not yet been discovered.

The end!

Or is it?  Here is a photo of a bad crimp..... these are manual crimps that are fairly unskilled in their application but this is so ugly..... we would never have prepared a pallet like this under my tutelage!

na' then....

 I did, once upon a time, suggest i might be back sporadically..... and i will try to stay true to my word.

Problem with trying to keep up a blog is just time.....

The part-time, temporary job i've taken is quite.... demanding.  Basically stand at a desk all day...... put something from one bag into another bag..... and don't you dare even look at your mobile phones!  It feels a bit Dickensian in fairness..... right down to the fact that the longer serving employees have been barracked for suggesting a heater on the desk might make their day slightly more palatable.

But, for me, it's an opportunity to do many things that needed doing....

Get out of the house, tick!

Drive the popemobile, tick!

Talk to someone who isn't a medical professional or doesn't work for the department of work and pensions, check!

Push the leg to the limits a little and see if it makes or breaks it, tick!

So, all in all, it's a useful experience..... my leg is slowly, very slowly beginning to feel more "normal" (it's a low bar), and i guess there's a silver lining in that, given the minimum wage, i'm even getting paid to do those tasks......  I've even bought a few dog treats with my staff discount.

I'm still alive..... quite busy...... neglectful of blogging, but always here in spirit if not physically pushing buttons.

Onwards and ...... onwards!

Here's a little photo from a bonfire that Dawn made for the kids, at the start of the month.....

still

 It's definitely autumn, innit?  (in Yorkshire, anyways)

We've obviously "fallen back" in chronological terms, as dictated by the anecdotal farmers of yore.

Thus, it's bloody dark all day now.

Well.... i've landed a little part time job that runs up until Christmas... so i'll be out of the house and packing stinky dog treats for a few days a week.

Am currently "on hold" with the department of work and pensions to tell them to cancel the small benefit i receive for being unfit to work..... i've been listening to the same piano riff for twenty one minutes and fifty-seven seconds until now..... this could go on for some time.....

I mean, it doesn't exactly inhibit the process of benefit fraud when i can't get through to cancel a benefit.....  just saying!

Four days a week right up until Christmas eve..... 

Now, when i add it all up, and consider the very meagre benefit i am claiming, you probably work out that i'm working for about a fiver a day but it's a step and a process i need to go through if i am ever to halt the downward spiral into full hermitship!

Thank you for waiting.... we know that you are waiting to speak to an agent and will put you through as soon as we can......

i once had delusions of writing a book about these old railway carriages that you find dotted across the countryside.... are they railway carriages?  How come there are so many of them?  Why do they all seem to be roughly the same age?  Did we hive off a load of rolling stock at some point?  I dunno..... the book would largely be a photographic thing just showing them and where they are now....

Thirty minutes and forty second.....

on

 and on... and on a bit more.

So today was a first.... I unlocked the popemobile and climbed into the driver's seat..... turned the key.... and predictably..... nothing!

One short phone call later and i've a new battery delivered and installed.

Now.... this may seem rather unremarkable.....

Given that the vehicle hasn't been driven for five months and it's simply sat there, unloved and unoccupied..... the battery being dead, is a given!

The thought of getting into a car isn't a new phenomena for me.... i've struggled to get in and out of vehicles for the entirety of my condition.... the first few times was a case of shuffling backwards, into the back seat, and sitting side-saddle with my leg stretched across the width of the car.  More recently i've been able crunch my leg up and make it into the front passenger seat.  What was strange today was that this was the first time i've entered the vehicle on the driver's side..... busted leg first, as it were......  it wasn't particularly comfortable as experiences go, but it happened, and i reckon i could drive the vehicle at least.

To celebrate the fact that i could go for a drive if i so wished, i went for a walk.  I've walked as far as the post box lately.... up the village, and back down.... today i decided to push on.... up New Hey Road, past the chapel and the post box..... turned right along Gosport Lane.... struggled  on the slightly downward sloping path to Forest Hill Road.... turned right and walked down to the bowling club where i cut back through the houses and home again.....  mebbe twenty five minutes but it was far enough for today.

Here's a photo i took to illustrate how hard i have to focus on where i am putting my feet so i don't inadvertently trip, slip, keel over...... i mean, look at me with two feet on the floor and that.....

bend

 I always consider my own, personal, best piece of advice to be.....

Bend in the breeze!

Like a piece of grass, gently bowing in the wind, we have to occasionally get blown by the tumultuous gales of life.... but not be broken by them. 

Bend in the breeze.....

Personally, i'd settle for being able to bend in the knees, never mind the breeze.

It's been almost twenty weeks since the dog did done bust my leg.

Physio is ongoing, but i am now discharged from orthopaedics....  I have various bending and stretching exercises to do, but we're still only at a mere ninety-six degree bend on the bad knee..... which is still prohibitive when descending stairs or getting in and out of a vehicle, and in some cases, even just sitting down.

Of course, as mobility increases, given that i've been largely, sat on my arse for .... sixteen(?) of the twenty weeks, then so does the scope for medium jinx.  

Hence my blogging absence.

I'll try and do some updates and i'll try and continue reading blogs..... but it's amazing how quickly your attention can be attracted so many two-legged diversions when you've been starved of them for so long.

Well, i'll leave you with a picture i took this morning while i was out fixing the chicken coop..... we have a birdbath (i'm not particularly fond of it) but it has a little bird feature, that has become moss-shrouded.... the water, fallen leaves, and mossy bird looked quite nice and seasonal.....

pole

 I come from 'Uddersfield, me, pal!

From T' Yorkshire!

England, United Kingdom, Europe, Earth, Milky Way, the Universe.

And so it was.... at stupid o clock this morning, when i inadvertently tried to bend me knee far too far, and it woke me up with searing pain.... that i started to think about flag shagging.

I was born in Huddersfield.... not by choice, not by historical importance, just by sheer luck.

I could have been born anywhere.

My parents were white, British folks, and that's something that wasn't chance.  It was determined and they pretty much organised that much.

What i am getting at.....

Pride in your nation is a weird thing to me.....  

Imagine i was out there waving a flag to celebrate the computers i'd fixed, the mortgage i've nearly paid off, or the flower i'd just grown.... you'd probably think i was a bit mad...... but them things there, they're ACHIEVEMENTS.... things to be proud of.  Pride.

Now imagine i started waving a flag to celebrate which side up my toast landed when i dropped it, or whether i got heads or tails twice in a row, or that i said "now" just as the kettle boiled and switched itself off?  Them things there are chance, pal.... pure speculation.  What do you wanna go and wave flags that celebrate chance for?

I think it's ok to be proud of things you did do, but i don't think pride is the right term for what i feel about things that happen by chance?

So it seems weird that i'd be beating my chest and waving an onion jack to celebrate the chance that i was born over here and not over there.

Anyways.... i am not gonna get in no arguments about that.... what did keep me awake after bloody bending my knee and almost squealing out loud.....

What flag should I be waving then.... is there one that i could wave that would be more appropriate?

I thought about an animated gif of all the flags, cycling through like a different flag every second.... but them's just the same and i've no affiliation with a flag of Myanmar or Peru, so that makes little sense.

The world, or Earth?  Offensive to life forms from other planets.... and still celebrating the chance event that life on earth happened and i happened to be part of that happening.

A clock?  how about a flag of a clock to celebrate that in this moment, in this blink of an eye in the grand scheme of the cosmos, life and everything, we exist(ed)..... but time, as we all know (yawns) is an abstract concept, and that, surely, is not celebration-worthy?

The galaxy.... still too offensive.... what about all the billions of other galaxies?

The universe..... yes.... all i need to do is trademark a flag of the universe, and market it.... wait.... what's the universe look like and how the feck do i get it onto a flag?

It keeps me awake a while......

I get up... start typing, and..... 

I give to you, my flag.....  the one i'll proudly be flying (but not shagging)..... feel free to fly your own....

Metatron's Cube:

bart

 Having talked recently about the word jokes.... or puns, as we often call them, not that i like the word "pun".... it feels a bit, i don't know..... sarcastic, somehow?

Anyways..

I had reason to laugh out loud when i remembered a series of prank phone calls.

The first prank phone call was one we regularly used to make as kids......  dial a random number.....

ring ring... ring ring.... ring ring....

"Hello"

"Oh, hello there.... is Mrs Wall there please?"

"Sorry there's nobody here of that name"

"Oh, is Mr Wall there?"

"No i think you have the wrong number"

"Are there any walls there?"

"No, you must have the wrong number"

"Well how does your roof stay up?"

* click *

Sorry to anyone who took that phone call from me..... i thought it was funny.

And Bart Simpson made some amazing prank phone calls to Moe's Tavern...... Bart would ask the bartender to locate someone in the tavern, so Moe would always shout the name of the person that Bart was looking for.... here's a selection of who the impish yellow haired kid asked for:

Seymour Butz

Hugh Jass

Ivana Tinkle

Here's a little video of some of the best ones:

You get the idea, right?

Well here's a photo of a fly agaric that we spotted in the woodland walk near Threave Castle.  There's loads of them about just now.... fungi, not castles!  Isn't nature wonderful....

cronch

 Went for a couple hours fishing today.....

Started off ok.... got there, got set up, new rod, everything good.

Fished a bit, and fished a bit more....

Bits of bread punch on the hook.... loose feeding a blend of sinking pellets over the top.....

My swim was fizzing as residents enjoyed the smorgasbord in front of them.

Bites were few and far between.....

The float sank, i struck, hit the fish and for a brief few moments it was on and the yellow elastic in the pole was starting to stretch.... only to be followed by the sinking feeling of disappointment as the fish shook the hook and i retrieved to rebait and try again.

This is "fishing" not "catching" - a truer word was rarely uttered.

Again, the orange tip of my bite indicator is pulled beneath the gently rippled surface and the fish is hooked.

A five or six minute battle ensues, and for the most part, i feel like i am winning.

Eventually, the fish is tired enough that i can slip my net beneath it and lift it from the water.

Snap.

My landing net handle snaps in half.....

I regain my composure, manage to get the fish and the broken net onto the grass, in order that i can unhook and return it to the depths from which i enticed it.

A linear mirror carp of about eight pounds, a significant fish.

I bend down to unhook the fish, and fuelled by the adrenalin from the battle, and the drama of the shattered net handle..... crunch, pop, grind, as i absent-mindedly kneel on the grass......

A sickening feeling in my left knee......  bent to the full extent to which it could manage and crunched three clicks further.....   i have no idea what made the sound. 

I manage to get the fish back in the water, and i feel "ok".....

Later, at home, in an epsom salt loaded bath, the swelling knee and thigh pains suggest it's all muscular or tendular (what do you call something relating to tendons?)...

A bit of a reminder that even when you think it's going well..... vigilance is still required.

I am not yet recovered!!

Here's a photo of a lightbulb in my kitchen..... it had gone a bit dusty and grimy, so i cleaned it.... it's quite big and i really wish i had a banana for scale, but alas there were only pears in the rotting fruit bowl.....  i really loved the reflections of the windows and garden, beyond.

cat

 Nar then veterinary.... could ya 'ave a look at mi cat?

Is it a tom?

Nay lad i've browt it wi' mi!

(if you have a go at saying the above in as Yorkshire an accent as you can muster, then it probably works better)

I think i've always liked word and pronunciation jokes..... or puns, if you prefer.....

Take for example. i guess in a Somerset kind of accent..... whale, oil beef hooked!

Iced ink!

Hoof hearted?

oh wah tar nar Siam!

childish but simple word jokes that i've lived and loved for many years......

Anyways....

Yesterday i was at the horse-piddle for another check up on my leg..... 

Half ten appointment..... and i'm still waiting to see the doctor at half eleven......

Get called in, sit down, hello, hello, yes, everything looks fine.... i think we can sign you off now.....  

"Wait... that x-ray you are showing me of my own leg is over a month old and was taken before i started walking on my leg"

"Are you worried about it?"

"no i'm not worried but perhaps we ought to have an up to date x-ray to see if putting any weight on the thing has caused anything to change?"

"ok, go get an x-ray and come back"

I could have done this while i was sat waiting for the last hour couldn't i?

Suffice to say.... none of it took too long and the x-ray looked ok from where i was sitting..... not that i am a trained medical professional or anything.....

They signed me off from orthopaedics and now i am solely in the hands of the physio department.....

One small step for a man, a giant leap for an arctic fox?

Bang!

where's tha' bin?

 Where's tha bin?

Scotland, mate!

No, where's tha wheelie bin?

I wheelie bin to Scotland, mate!

We had a pretty good week last week......

Went to a village called Crossmichael on the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond Ken.

Lock Ken does not have such a romantic sounding name as the other lochs, like Ness, Lomond, Fyne.....  Nope, Ken is kinda like the third member of that popular pop music combo Bros.

Anyway.....

We stayed in a lovely house called Waterfall, which you can view/book here, and i'd highly recommend it..... it was vastly under-priced in my opinion, and the luxurious welcome hamper was gratefully received, and promptly scoffed.  The delightful owners, Anna and Eric, live just across the lane and were a pleasure to deal with.

Walking is still quite difficult and challenging..... i mean i can walk, but it's the distances and the uneven terrain, hell, even a dropped kerb on a pavement is quite tricky for my weak foot and ankle.  We did, however, manage to get into a couple of lochs for a swim.... in fact we swam four days out of the seven.  Swimming was good, the water was cool, the sky was blue..... and dragging a weak leg around would be akin to trying to carry a dead body out into the middle of the ocean for disposal..... speaking entirely not from experience of course!

Anyway....

Here's a photo of a loch.... Ken, in this instance..... pissing about with the dog (or "dug" if you come fae Scotland, pal) after we'd just swum here.

it could be so fine

 So here we are on day one of our vacances....

No clues yet as to where we are or for he burglars reading this, how long we're away for..... let's work with the premise that i'll be home within the hour?

We arrived through torrential rain on the motorway..... 

Lovely place, out in the sticks, where you can get one bar of mobile reception if you stand on your head in the bath and wrap tin foil round your toes.

Not much to report, other than we fricking love this place!!  The house we've rented is a converted watermill and it's bloody lovely.... the owners are lovely.... the welcome basket is lovely..... the whisky with tasting notes, the glass decanter with hallmarked silver fittings is lovely......

We're staying.... possession is nine tenths of the law.... they'll have to prize me out of here!!

The dog likes it too:

paws

 They say it never rains, but it pours.

I guess this is synonymous with the concept of waiting for a bus and two arriving at the same time.

We can't just have, i don't know, a bit of rain here and there.... we have to have the whole year's rain chucked on top of us in the space of two days?

It is, as i write this, undeniably raining.  While i can't physically see the rain falling from the sky from my platform here at base camp (the sofa) from whence i've launched multiple sorties to the kitchen and beyond over the last three-and-a-half-months.  There is water everywhere......

I can see the window panes festooned with aqueous globules that conglomerate and streak, in their headlong race to meet the sill.

I can hear the road outside.... it makes a different noise when wet, as the traffic hisses along, slushy white noise, rising and falling with each passing tyre.

I can hear the odd tippy-tappy of rain drops dripping from bushes, gutters, shed rooves.

In the distance i can hear the metallic ringing of rain drops falling on the cowl atop the extractor fan vent in the bathroom.

To say it's wet, is a mild understatement.

To say this is the first time that local reservoir levels have risen since January, is a fact!

I guess there is a god, and i guess my prayer was answered..... Dear god, please let it rain on Donald Trump's parade!

Well, here's a photo of a sodden looking view from the crow's nest here at base camp.

fug it!

 My bad.....

Attention span.... wait, a shiny penny...... raining again...... wonder if the chickens are in or out...... ooh, Pikachu...... 

The random thoughts that pass through my head as i type the first line of a new blog entry..... mostly about my wandering mind.

To couple with my wandering mind, i seem to have, for the moment at least, one and a half wandering legs, too!

I'm sort of mobile.... i've managed to walk around the "block" without the aid of crutches, and i spend a good portion of the day (against doctor's orders) without the knee brace clamped around my withering leg.

Surprisingly, the majority of pain and restriction i feel when trying to be ambulant, comes from the foot and ankle of the damaged leg.  I imagine this is purely from the lack of exercise those muscles, bones, joints have experienced over the last..... yes, fourteen weeks!!

I have three physio exercises to undertake, every other day..... and although they might seem gentle, like standing on tippy-toes.... i can assure you that they are indeed challenging.... and accompanied with much crunching and grinding in my now arthritic knee joint, make for a decent mountain to summit.

Apart from that....

I've been fishing for a couple of days..... which was great.... to be outdoors...... relaxing.....  meditation.

My birthday week next week, and we've a trip organised to Loch Ken, where i will, hopefully, spend some time in water.... either a loch or the sea, i care not which..... but it will be a test of my boundaries.  Swimming is good for the leg i presume?

In other news.... when someone knocks at the front door, i can now get there before they are a hundred yards down the road, thinking there's nobody home!

This morning i found a mushroom/fungus on the lawn that i will endeavour to identify..... i suspect the membrane on top has disappeared, hence the strange appearance (looks upside down with gills on top), but let's see..... anyways, here it is:

Possibly a Pleated Inkcap and quite a rarity..... how lovely!!

full time job

 I always tell people, it's a full time job being me, and lately it very much feels like it.....  i don't know how i ever fit(ted) work into my days.....

I've lost count of the number of television-free days that i have clocked up, through no particular effort on my part, other than the fact that i seem to be busy.... which of course means, i am the master of procrastination.

I can make minutes become hours, days, months......  and of course my propensity for occupying myself with a raft of mundane mind gymnastics, is probably how i've kept myself sane for the last.... oh, what is it now?  Yes, thirteen weeks..... just two days short of, but i've been nursing my leg/knee for almost an unlucky number of weeks.

Yesterday, a milestone, of sorts.... physio at the hospital......  i decided to brave it with the use of only one crutch to help me limp along the maze of corridors at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, or HRI to give it the colloquial nomenclature.

It's served us well over the years, and i've been there for births, deaths, and everything inbetween......  There are new bits of it, old, tired bits, a bustling cafe area, a pharmacy, and the always-busy accident and emergency.....

So, i met Richard, in room three..... we talked a bit..... he looked at my leg..... noted how far it bends..... what i can and can't do.... made some notes..... showed me a few exercises.... printed me a sheet out..... and before you know it, i was back home.....

My leg was a bit tired yesterday 'cos presumably we'd hit the limits of what i'd dare do to it without supervision.....  it strikes me the physio is as much about giving you the confidence to bend, stretch, push, pull, as much as you need to in order to reach the next phase, stage, level.

I've done the exercises today, and the legs does actually feel better for it.  I'm not saying it bends more today than it did yesterday, or more importantly hyperextends more than the day before, but it feels more.... no it feels "less" fragile and immobile....

That's a fair summary.

Big step for a bloke, baby step for a fox.

This is my dog relaxing on the sofa, knowing that i only stood up five seconds ago, and her response is "well, you weren't using it so....."

snoozin'

 I'm still here.... hobbling round.... sometimes with sticks, sometimes without.....

Often up, occasionally down.... but always, around!

Just busy with a myriad of games that i am playing and they are really helping to pass the time..... i am managing to go..... days.... and days.... without even turning the telly on.

First session of physio at the hospital tomorrow... let's see what happens....

Here's a video of my dog, dreaming.....she even does one of them things where you fall down a step or off a kerb in your dream....

'appen!

 So, yesterday was my four week hospital visit....

Four weeks ago, i had a maximum of thirty degrees to bend my knee.... fixed by the settings on the knee brace.  I could not put any weight on the leg and i couldn't even bend the leg enough to be able to put my own socks on.

Yesterday, on visiting the hospital, i arrived (and left) with ninety degrees bend in the knee.....  i managed to put my own socks on, and i even managed to get some shoes on.....  i walked into hospital with my foot barely touching the ground.  Supported by a pair of crutches whose rubber feet, having pounded the floors for eleven weeks, looking as ropey and tired as you'd expect.

quick Xray.. long wait to see the doc..... what a lovely doctor she was.... calm, informative, knowledgeable, gentle, humorous, professional, empathic, all the things you'd want.... but sadly aren't always given!  She advised me i can now transfer full weight onto the leg..... i can keep the knee brace on but turn off the restrictions (maybe turn the ninety degrees back on when i leave the house for safety reasons).... explained my x-rays..  pushed and pulled my leg about a bit.... gave me a fit note (to give it the modern parlance.... we used to call them sick notes)..... tells me physio will be in touch, and come back in four weeks.

I walk out of there in the same way i walked in, foot skimming the floor, supported by crutches.

Once i get home i turn up the brace to the maximum one-hundred-twenty degrees of bend, knowing that i'll not reach that level of extension for over a week.

I practice walking about, balancing the weight onto the foot and the weight going through the crutches.... easing myself into it.....

I can go up and down stairs almost normally now..... i can walk about with one crutch if i have to...... i can carry a cup of coffee, although the stairs and carrying things are still tricky.

For supper, last evening, i managed a walk up the road a hundred yards or so, mostly on two feet, though still using crutches for stability and moral support.

Today, just as i was typing this, one of the grapes i was holding in my hand, fell to the floor and rolled across the carpet, onto the laminate flooring and came to rest a full three metres away..... i looked at the crutches, and back at the grape..... we all know grapes are poison to dogs so i'm not going to leave it there.....  i look at the crutches again and ignore them....

I stand up, stumble the three steps, pick up the grape, stumble back to the sofa..... eat the grape, stick two fingers up at the crutches, and slump back down to write a blog.....

it's a small step for man.... a giant stumble for a fox.

Here's a little picture that sums up the last three months of my life...... knee (now at one-twenty), dog, crutches, and sofa!  Note... the two "dots" on my knee were where they put the camera in to see the other side where they were putting the screws and plate.....

fonda

 Absence makes me Henry Fonda!

Or so the saying goes......

Been away in Lincolnshire for a couple of days.  I don't like to advertise holidays too much for fear of being "turned over", to give it its vernacular!

Went to see my Aunty and Uncle, and their cat Purdy.... Purdy had a hard upbringing and came to my folks following a load of surgery and whatnot.....  he has definitely fallen on his paws with the life he has now though.... A cat would struggle to find more caring and compassionate adopters than Purdy has.  Despite losing one of his nine lives previously, i am sure he is now living his best eight.

My cousin and her husband visited us while we were there, and i always love catching up with Jo.  She's a bundle of energy and madcap antics, and her contact during my illness and the care packages i've received from her, have definitely made this last three months all the more bearable.

Coupled with the fact that i am now trying to run four distinct, consecutive iterations of Forge Of Empires, and three separate Pokémon Go accounts across three different mobile phones.....  i am pretty much tied up.

I'll tell the tale of my hospital visit in a subsequent post... mebbe tomorrow.....

rang

 Nobody said it and nobody uttered

but Meta says "national poetry day", i feel gutted.

If i knew it was coming or that it was near

i'd have thought this thing through, capital of Zaire!

I head off and google it, get all the "gen",

the search results stop me with what, why and when,

Facebook's fake news made me look like a jackass

Poetry day's in October, for bleep's sake, Kinshas-a.

hop

 One small step for man.... one giant hop for a fox!

I ventured into the kitchen last evening for the purpose of seeking nutrition.

Another milestone was reached.

With the aid of a zimmer frame, two crutches, and a very supportive partner, i mostly managed to cook our evening meal.

It was one of my signature dishes, which mostly has me stood at a countertop chopping and prepping a few things before, at regular intervals, chucking them all in the same pan.....

To give it its full and proper name.... Bibimbap!

To you and me, that's a Korean dish of fried rice with kimchi.

A nice piece of fresh ginger, a little garlic, and spring onions (we were lucky enough to receive some homegrown leeks which are small enough to use instead), some purple sprouting broccoli...... fried up for a few minutes until i've had enough.....

Then i chuck on a good spoonful of my (homemade, i hasten to add) kimchi and fry until until my attention span wanes.

Throw some carrots at it..... and some rice (for this recipe it's fine to just chuck a bag of microwave rice in - do not microwave beforehand though)....  break the rice up cos it's always in a solid lump and tends to congeal into one big lump if you add microwaves to it!

When everything seems like it's probably cooked.... move the whole lot over to one side of the pan and in the space you create, fry a couple of eggs......  while the eggs cook, (we had to get eggs from my mum's chickens as our two chickens have decided they're on strike)  squeeze a lime over the top of everything...... By which, i realise the pedants amongst you may take exception to my use of the term "everything".... try to keep the squeezed lime juice within the confines of whatever is in the pan.

Once the eggs are to yours or my liking or burned, then spoon the rice into two bowls..... chuck the fried egg on top of each one..... wang a bit of chopped coriander on top like a chef would,,,,,, a few more chopped spring onions (in this case baby leeks), add a little hot sauce if required...... i like to use a really spicy sort of ketchup.....

And voila.....

Your foot feels like it's going to drop off.... the kitchen looks like a bomb landed in it..... and you can't even carry your plate of food from one room to another.....

And that's progress!

power

 With great power comes great responsibility.... i think someone once said that?  Mebbe it was Spiderman?

Well, so it is that with mobility comes opportunity......

We ventured out to Brighouse... it's a short walk (thankfully) from the carpark to the Wetherspoons (for them that don't know, the Wetherspoons is a pub chain, and the one in Brighouse is a fine example in a preserved Methodist chapel building).

We managed some lunch and i even drank a couple of pints of ale.

Had a walk around a charity shop and a supermarket.

Returned home, pretty tired and with a swollen foot......

But to sit in the passenger seat of a normal car instead of lying, helplessly, across the length of the back seat with my leg elevated, was a revelation and a step towards....

Feeling almost human again!

Walking upright with two feet on the floor, albeit with two crutches so i don't transfer full weight through my knee, yet.

Sitting in the front seat of a car.

Going to a pub.

Visiting a shop.

Calling round at my mum's house.

They may all seem like very small things and pretty mundane...... but in the world of mobility, these things are pretty eye opening.

I particularly enjoyed the chap leaving the pub who told Dawn to take me round to the ramp to reach the front door, instead of me making my way up the six steps......  almost like i didn't exist.....

Makes you think..... dunnit?

Well, here's a video of my dog with her nose buried in a blanket, snoring......  watch her cheeks going in and out, it's quite mesmerising!

snap

 There's nothing quite like failure to snap me out of my trance.

Usual sketch.... had a long lie in today..... didn't get up till half nine.

Hobble downstairs with my semi-human gait.... augmented by crutches and knee brace, but trying to plant my foot on the floor even though i'm not putting much weight through the leg/knee.....

Sit down on the sofa.

Open my idoku and make a start.... one small error that i trapped as i went along..... think i ended up with two sixes in a column at one point but i soon rectified it.....  difficulty was moderate today as there was a real deficit of ones, sixes, and sevens..... but once the pieces started fitting, it all came together for a quick finish.... circa twenty two minutes?  I lie, it was thirty three.... but, given that i used to take "days" to complete it, it's a demonstration of brain training.

Onto Wordle.....  Less said about that, the better..... once i had the first 4 letters, i had three guesses at the final letter, and of course it could have been any number of them nd i just ran out of guesses - most annoying, and a drop back down to ninety-five percent and a zero win streak.... groans.

Second cup of coffee kicks in and i am enraged at the builders across the road.... there's a little beeping noise, like when the washing machine insists that it's finished washing your clothes and keeps reminding you......  they've also got a fire going.... like it's not hot enough already, and they're burning broken pallets.... which is not a wise thing to do as most pallets are treated to phytosanitary levels, sometimes with nasty chemicals.  I close the windows and curse them on the hottest day of the week.

Even Radio 3 Unwind isn't cooling my biryani today!

I'm going to try and go out for some lunch if the leg holds up.....

Watch this space....

I'm off to get some proper "outside" clothes on.....

done

 i've done some things.....

before breakfast, i'd played boardgames with our little granddaughter..... she's five years old, so the choice of games has to be sympathetic to what i can explain to her..... we played:

• Cobra Paw - A sort of match-em kinda game where you chuck two dice (die?) and then find the tile that corresponds to the faces of the two symbols rolled..... first to get six tiles wins, and of course you can steal the opponents tiles if they don't grab them when the dice matches.
• Rhino Hero - Remember building those pyramids out of playing cards..... well it's sort of like that but infinitely better - it's one of my favourite boardgames with minimal setup and so easy to play.  Stack some walls, put a roof on, move the rhino character up the building... dead easy and of course when it all falls over.... raucous fun.
• Dobble - We played a rule-less selection of matching games where you just shout out the matching symbols on cards you turn over and the first to get all the cards or get rid of their cards depending which way you play it, obviously has bragging rights for the rest of the day.

We also played a little Pokemon Go on the phones, until the battery went dead on the spare phone i'd set up for her.

I adjusted my knee brace to a full ninety degrees.... from sixty.... straight up to ninety.... given that it took me almost a week for me knee to adjust from thirty to sixty, i am already encouraged that i'll hit ninety before .... let's arbitrarily say.... i'll be there in two days?

Played some Forge of Empires.

Ate half a mouldy sandwich before seeing the blue mould on the second half of it......

Scowled at some unskilled builders who seem intent on burning a load of shit pallets.

Joined an online gaming site to play some cribbage with Debra of She Who Seeks fame - and surprisingly, we managed to get a couple of games and it was good fun!!  Feel free to join the site (it's free and search for me for a game).

Didn't watch any telly or films..... until teatime when everything had calmed down and all the ducks were in a row.....

Time for a snooze!

Yea, but this one goes up to eleven!!

random

So, this was quite odd.....

Wordle 1,513 2/6*

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

cards

 Mate come round today.... and between the nattering.... we had a game of cairds.

When i was a kid, there was a guy called Banjo Bob.

Banjo Bob claimed not to be of this world.

Amongst other things, Banjo Bob claimed to be a werewolf and/or an alien.

Mostly, I think Banjo Bob was a hardened drinker, gambler, and i suspect he had something to do with computer systems design, mostly working abroad.

He came and went like the wind.

Banjo Bob used to come and pick me up and take me swimming every Sunday morning.....  I don't know what his end of the deal was, i suspect he might have fancied my mum or summat, but he was a good guy and I liked his aloof and complex backstory.

At a time when i didn't much have a father figure or male role model, Banjo Bob was a pretty good stand-in.

Banjo Bob taught our small family.... me, my mum, and my sister, to play a couple of card games... they were typical boozer/club card games.... Brag.... and more importantly, cribbage.

If you've never played cribbage, then you're missing out.... it's a fascinating game.

It's a proper old fashioned card game that usually only sees the light of day in the pubs and clubs and is mostly out of fashion these days...... and in America it's largely seen as a bit of a hillbilly or redneck kinda game.....

Anyhow.... we played cribbage today..... it proper cheered me up.

Anyone else know how to play?

Here's a stock image of the exact cribbage scoring board that i own.... if i could be arsed to climb over everything and get it and take a photo, i would, but i can't be bothered.

determined

 Got up with a bit of a plan.....

Struggled with this morning's Idoku.... think it took me almost forty five minutes.

Wordle.... strange word today.... not that any word is any stranger than another word but the guessing pattern was quite hard and it took me five attempts.

Emailed the Dept. of Work and Pensions to see what happens next week when my current claim for Jobseekers' Allowance expires, and i'm still not fit to work.......  I've found this one lady there, also called Dawn, that's been SO very helpful and she guided me through the process.

Made an application for Employment and Support Allowance, so i may still qualify for some benefit, and if not then at least they might pay my National Insurance contributions for me.

Emailed the health trust to get access to my newest x-rays.  i'll post a picture of the post-op x-rays of my knee when i can get hold of them but it'll probably take a few weeks..... red tape, innit?

Did a few rows of crochet.

Played some Forge of Empires.

Binged the remaining episodes of Murderbot..... highly recommended if you like a bit of sci-fi..... and how refreshing to have a modern series with episodes short enough to watch without falling asleep..... although one of the ten episodes had me making three or four attempts.

Enough fun for one day.

Here's a photo of my lovely John Shuttleworth mug, in front of my Forge of Empires screen....

action

 Cut my hair....

Trimmed the beard.....

Had a shower......

Almost back to the land of the living......

Apart from a really crappy Ealing comedy i endured today, that's enough action for one day!

Here, as a world premiere, is my first piece of crochet.....  i only learned this week, so this is literally my learning, sample, first piece..... i know it looks a bit ropey but you get the idea.......  it's not meant to be anything other than learning how to do the stitches.....

yawn

 Feeling too tired to do anything today.

Felt cold in the night....

Dawn woke up with a migraine and i gingerly schlepped around the house trying not to disturb her while she had a little lie in, while she tried to shift the demon from behind her eyes.

Stumbling round the kitchen, trying to make a flask full of fresh coffee for the very reason that i can't carry a cup whilst wielding a pair of crutches)..... i grab a bread bag and stick a couple of slices of toast into the grill.....

Woof..... woof woof...... woof woof woof.... woooof wooof wooofowoofoo foewofoow fofeoowofowofo wfowofwofowof wowfowofwoofwo

I look out of the window to see one of our "neighbours" leaning over the garden gate talking to my rabid hound......  It's not quite eight o clock in the morning and if that dog lived next door to me i'd be reaching for the voodoo doll!

Oblivious to the early hour and the incessant barking, our neighbour continues to bemuse the animal....  i'm shouting the dog, trying to grab the crutches. balance the coffee, the toast..... get things under control......

By the time i get to the threshold, Roy's already disappearing down the road after winding the dog up for five minutes....  i scold the dog and she immediately climbs into her crate and looks at me with sad eyes.

I bag up my marmite on toast..... my flask of coffee, and a mug.....  put the bag round my neck and hop across to the stairs to head for the lounge.....

Here's a throwback picture of Dawn..... we'd climbed the path at Grey Mare's Tail near Moffat in Scotland, to swim in Loch Skeen..... it was very windy and the swimming was tough, but it was extremely memorable..... this was in-between bloody covid lockdowns, so holidays were thin on the ground..... we loved Moffat by the way..... Sep 23rd 2020 - this was taken post-swim, hence all the clothing and stuff.... trying to warm back up for the descent.

motivated

 Been watching a lot of telly.

Ironically, today, i watched a film about a satanic television set that brought initial joy to its viewers, but subsequently brought misery and sadness to them.

The TV set in question  was passed around like a hot potato as people tried to shake off the bad juju that it had attracted.

And so it was..... simply watching loads of telly, while being absorbing and engaging at the time, generally leaves me feeling a little bit cheated out of a chunk of time where i could have been doing something more..... what's the term...... interactive?

TV is such a passive experience, isn't it.

So.... amongst the other things i've done the last couple of days:

Watched:

Wednesday (an Addams Family spinoff about their daughter, Wednesday Addams)

Murderbot (started watching this series about a security robot that overrides its own safety protocols)

Bosch (continuing to watch series 3 out of 7... plus there are at least two spinoffs to watch after)

Ealing comedies (i've exorcised the demon and am back on the bus....)

Played:

Worms WMD (on the Switch)

Forge of Empires (laptop)

Pokemon Go (on me mobile phones)

Done:

Learned to crochet.... sort of!

Been to the doctors for a prostate examination.... made another doctors appointment about statins.... it's never ending!

Reading:

Gathering Moss - A natural and cultural history of mosses - R.W.Kimmerer.

.....

And that's about all you can do when you're pinned to the sofa......

I was gonna post a pic of some crochet i was practicing but my mum hijacked it and did a few straight rows in the middle of it and it looks too "professional;" now!

Instead, you'll have to suffice with a lovely example of packaging.... this is the wrapper off a Tunnock's Teacake.... a chocolate coated marshmallow and biscuit.... delicious and very pretty.

ernie

 Not bragging, but i won three hundred and fifty quid on the premium bonds this month.

Anyone else still bother with the archaic National Savings and Investment scheme?

On a system devised by the Bletchley Park codebreakers, a seemingly random set of numbers can be plucked out of thin air and the corresponding "bond" numbers can be ascertained to tell you whether your ticket was  winner.

It's very much like the lottery, only your ticket never runs out..... it just keeps going and going.... forever..... devalued only by inflation, i guess.

I was taught that there's no such thing as a random number generator, but i'd have to bow to the superior knowledge of those that test such things.... the premium bond machine, or ERNIE as he is affectionately known, has been subject to test of character over the years by various bodies.....

Originally tested by PEGASUS, a system designed by Dame Shirley Bassey Stephanie Shirley, who became one of our most eminent British computer engineers.

Currently tested by GAD,  the Government Actuary’s Department.

And they say.... ERNIE has never failed to be anything but random in every test carried out.

Seems like a lot of work for three hundred and fifty quid.....

Still, unlike the lottery, i can always get my pound back for my ticket (or leave it in for next month's draw)

* ERNIE = Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment.

** There have been 5 iterations of Ernie since that first incarnation.  The current version of Ernie now uses light rather than thermal noise to generate massive amounts of random numbers..... i think it said there were eighty-billion numbers to pick from in Ernie 4's final draw of 2019.

The photo, following, is what happened when i listened to a voice note from the dog walker.....

tha' whet?

 Ey up.... sithiiiiii!

It's Yorkshire day apparently, so i am hamming it up and making my broad Yorkshire accent even more Yorkshirey than normal.

I don't know where Yorkshire day comes from and i am not even sure how to celebrate it.... short of donning t'flat cap and tekkin' whippet out fo' t' walk..... i've no idea.

I know when it St. Patrick's day, i've been inclined to to a pub and drink stout.....

I don't even know when St. George's day is.....

Suffice to say, let's luxuriate in just being Yorkshire..... 

Let's eat Yorkshire puddings.... they don't have to be with a full roast dinner.... we always had Yorkshires with gravy as a precursor to a roast dinner..... it's not exclusively savoury, either..... they're nice with jam or a bit of golden syrup!!

Drink a Yorkshire bitter..... in my opinion the finest Yorkshire brewery is Mallinsons.... if you like good beer, i recommend you head over there and buy some!!

Speak Yorkshire....  here's a few sayings to get your laughing tackle around:

• Ey up = Hello
• Tha'/Thee = You
• Nowt = Nothing
• Owt = Anything
• Reet = Right
• Lug 'oles = Ears
• Ginnel - Narrow alleyway
• Chuffed = Happy
• Sithiii = (See Thee Later) Goodbye

Bake some Fat Rascals?  Parkin? Curd Tart?  (all available at good Yorkshire bakeries)

Get thissen a Yorkshire made bottle of gin?

Go support your local, independent shops!

And that, as they say in Yorkshire, is job done!

Here's a (NSFW) look at what the world would look like if Yorkshire 'ad of won t' world war 2:

SITHIIIIIIIIIII!

(sorry (not sorry) if you're offended by the language in the video)

progress pt2

 Doctors and hospital visits aplenty....

Monday i had blood tests.... a mandatory blood test to see if the statins are bringing my cholesterol down or if they are merely lining the bank account of my GP.  An elective blood test to check PSA levels which can be a key indicator of prostate cancer.... Prostate Specific Antigens, apparently, and i also have a physical examination to follow.....

Tuesday.... hospital..... two appointments.... 

1) A date with the dressings clinic, where we all agree i don't need any more wound dressings.  The nurse also increases the bend in my knee brace to sixty whole degrees.  I've been managing easily with thirty degrees for the last two weeks.

2) A dalliance with the x-ray department....  lacking a little bit of empathy here....  not very helpful staff in this department, and it's an uncomfortable experience that leaves me feeling a bit vulnerable.

3) An experience with a rather harsh doctor and a bulldog nurse.... the doctor tries bending my knee in a couple of unnatural directions and suggests i try putting a little bit of weight on it and shows me how to adjust the bend setting on the knee brace.....  everything looks ok but there's a definite lack of bedisde manner!

A couple of days later and i still cannot bend the knee to the sixty degree allowance.... i'm not far off but it flat out refuses to go further.....  i'll give it another couple of days before i start panicking.

My foot's swelling up and my knee is tingling.... 

The weirdest sensation is finally putting my foot on the floor.... supported by the crutches of course, but a slight amount of weight pressing down on it.... causes fizzing in my knee to let me know when i am pressing too hard..... but the bones and the muscles in the foot feel so weird.... like they're spreading back out to create a platform to walk on rather than an impediment to trip over.

It's progress.... albeit seemingly a little chaotic and unguided and without much care or information to work with..... but it feels like i am getting ..... somewhere?

I think i know what i have to do for the next four weeks before my next hospital visit.

It's quite literally.... small steps.

Here's a little throwback photo..... November 2021 i think...... from the lovely island of Madeira.....  sitting at a beachside bar, drinking Coral (black - which is not so common as the normal lager) and eating lupin seeds which is an art in itself..... you have to sort of squeeze the lupin seed so it pops out of the tough outer skin, straight into your mouth, leaving the leathery husk between your fingers.....  i love them.

progress pt1

 Some progress....

Having not watched a film since being thwarted in my quest to find a specific Ealing comedy called His Excellency..... well, things have happened.

A friend of mine, equally frustrated by the lack of online "copies" of the film, took it upon himself to purchase a DVD of it..... i mean, imagine, a physical copy of something.... an increasing rarity in the modern, digital age!

Even sourcing a copy for retail purchase is quite tricky as this movie seems to be particularly rare and lesser known in the Ealing stables.

Well, no sooner had said media arrived with my friend, and subsequently, kindly donated in my direction, than of course.... the digital version i've been trying to secure for a couple of weeks now, finally completed as well.

Truly, you wait all day for a bus, then two buses arrive at the same time..... no exaggeration.

So, i cued it up and set sail for the island of Arista, the fictitious Mediterranean colony where the film is set, and scratchy, fluctuating soundtrack apart, the film was of good quality despite me constantly having to adjust sound settings.

And so it is.... i've broken me fast, and watched another film, which you'll be able to read about in the usual place.

I can honestly say, when you consider the other Ealing comedies, there's good reason why this one doesn't stick its head above the parapets.....  if it wasn't for the difficulty getting it, and the story behind that, i'd already have forgotten about it.....

Sometimes it's not about the destination as much as it is the journey.....

At least my downloaded copy is helping to complete the myriad of partially downloaded copies that are out there......  sharing is caring!

Here's a throwback photo from when we went to Cyprus..... every day they used to bring a herd of goats onto the lawn in front of the hotel to munch on the nice grass..... it were charming.....

annoyed

 Well, to say "annoyed" is a bit of an understatement....

Today's Wordle #1497 has beaten me.....  it doesn't happen often, but today was particularly painful.

* for reference, using the classic "geocache" spoiler cipher..... today's answer would be "tbsre" - just in case you wanted to know what word evaded me.... and or look back on this in the future....

ding ding.... round fifteen squillion.....

Rinse and repeat....

The world moves on, but i do not.

The sofa sags a little more each day with the weight of my spirit upon it.

What possible delights could i unfurl today?

I think the highlight of my day will be an exceptionally l  o  n  g stage of the Tour De France.....  Dunno if any of you, by which i am addressing thin air, my own stream of consciousness. are into the TDF but i'll tell you this much to try to convince the unbelievers amongst you/me/my-mind - it's like chess.... 

It's obviously nothing like chess, is it?  Well it kind of is.... there are some pretty deep nested subtexts running beneath the whole first-person-across-the-line kind of race that we are most familiar with..... it's quite nuanced.

Here's a brief summary i knocked together to explain all the different competitions that are going on in the race...

 🟡 1. General Classification (Yellow Jersey - Maillot Jaune)

Winner: Rider with the lowest cumulative time across all stages.

Prize: The most prestigious title; overall winner of the Tour.

Jersey: Yellow.

Notable: This is what most people refer to when they say someone "won the Tour de France."

🟢 2. Points Classification (Green Jersey - Maillot Vert)

Winner: Rider who accumulates the most points from high finishes in stages and intermediate sprints.

Favors: Sprinters.

Jersey: Green.

Points System: Flat stages offer more points than mountain stages.

🔴 3. Mountains Classification (Polka-Dot Jersey - Maillot à Pois Rouges)

Winner: Rider who earns the most points on categorized climbs.

Favors: Climbers.

Jersey: White with red polka dots.

Climb Categories: Ranked from 4 (easiest) to HC ("Hors Catégorie" – beyond categorization, the hardest).

⚪ 4. Young Rider Classification (White Jersey - Maillot Blanc)

Winner: Best-placed rider under 25 in the general classification.

Jersey: White.

Often overlaps with: GC contenders who are also young (e.g., Tadej Pogačar has won both yellow and white).

🟡👕 5. Team Classification

Winner: Team with the lowest cumulative time of their best 3 riders on each stage.

Prize: Prestige; riders wear yellow helmets or numbers.

No jersey, but: Leaders' numbers or helmets are often marked.

🦅 6. Combativity Award (Prix de la Combativité)

Daily Award: One rider is chosen each day for their aggressive, attacking style (often breakaway riders).

Overall Award: Super Combatif awarded at the end of the Tour.

Prize: No jersey, but red race numbers.

💶 7. Stage Wins

Each stage: Has its own winner, with prize money and prestige.

Special stages: Like mountain-top finishes or time trials, add variety and specific bragging rights.

🏆 8. Special Awards

Souvenir Henri Desgrange: First rider over the highest point in the race.

Souvenir Jacques Goddet: First over Col du Tourmalet (if included).

Prize Money: Total prize pool is around €2.3 million; overall winner earns ~€500,000.

Confused?

Well here's the route for today.... including a whopping five and a half thousand metres of climbing!!

Today's stage is from Vif to Courchevel Col de la Loze - a mere one hundred and seventy two kilometres (107 miles in old money)

See you at the finish line......

dog

 Dog ate my homework.....  that's MY excuse for my absence.....

Truth is, i've been tinkering with tech.....

I think last time i spoke, i'd been trying to get live sports streams to follow the golf, which resulted in me watching the last hour of the "open" in Spanish, which was good.

Since then, i've been really annoyed to be halted in my Ealing comedy tracks.... i've actually found or rather not-found one of the rarer films in the franchise.  I am trying to get a copy of His Excellency, which was made in 1852 1952 but seems rarer than unicorn poop.  Irony is, it's actually the one film that's about a Yorkshireman!  I have seventy-two percent of it.... but it's stalled.

I've been installing loads of different media streaming software to try and locate the film but they've all let me down.  The flipside of this is that i've been diving into all sorts of different things to watch..... today, i waded through ten or more episodes of the terrific Bob's Burgers (if you don't know, it's an animation about a family that live in a flat above their burger restaurant and the capers that occur).

Other than that i've not been up to very much.... managed a standing-up shower tonight, which is cleansing and terrifying in equal measures.  Just letting my scars dry out a bit before redressing them.  They look to be healing ok.

And finally....  with sadness we say goodbye to one of our very best musical characters.....  Rest in peace, Ozzy Osbourne.   massive character and a life of service to the entertainment industry....  we salute you.... i'll definitely have a whisky in your honour tonight.  I'll leave you with a little blast from one of the most influential bands of all time.... Ladies and gentlemen, Black Sabbath......

Ozzy Osbourne : 3rd Dec 1948 - 22nd July 2025

peak

 I think i've settled into  very lazy pace of life.

Got up... on my own.... quietly came downstairs so not to wake Dawn up.....

Straight down to the kitchen and made myself a flask of fresh coffee so that i could carry everything back upstairs to the lounge in a tote bag hung around my neck.... keeping my hands free to operate the crutches, as i clutch the handrail and hop, precariously, step by step.

By the time i was back to the lounge, both Dawn and Sookie were up and about.

I settled down and did my mental exercises.... idoku, and wordle..... and played a bit of Forge of Empires.

'Watched another Ealing comedy.... The Man in the White Suit - a tale of a would be scientist doing experiments in textile factories to develop a new material.  A fabric which is indestructible and never gets dirty.  It's akin to developing a car that runs on water..... and the petro-chemical companies would never allow it to be made, right?  The sound effects of the laboratory equipment are something i always remember from seeing the movie when i was an ankle biter......  pure techno!!

Watched a hundred kilometres or so of bike racing at the Tour De France, which was really good.

Started watching a series..... Bosch.... it's a ridiculous American cop thing.... i was mystified at the liberties they took with some of their policework....very unbelievable.  Don't know how far we'll get with the multiple series of it.....  we're three episodes into season one.

Dialled a curry from Spicy Hut..... i've been dining on their curries for .... maybe thirty years or more.....  I had an aloo ghobi with pilau rice and a Peshwari naan.... there's something about a sugar glazed pistachio naan bread with sultanas that really goes well with a cauliflower curry.... splendid feast.

Now i'm knackered...... i've done naff all, all day, but it's tired me out.

limbo

 A "nowt" of a day....

Treading metaphorical water with my metaphorical working legs.

Spent the morning falling asleep to an Ealing comedy.....  The Lavender Hill Mob to be precise.  I am trying to make my way through all the nineteen Ealing comedies.... so far, i've watched the first eight, and you can, of course, as always, read my lightning film reviews here.

I've seen quite a few of the nineteen films before, and hail many of them amongst my all time favourite movies.....

The Ladykillers

Kind Hearts and Coronets

The lavender Hill Mob

The Man in the White Suit

Whisky Galore

You've probably heard of some of them, maybe even watched them and have fond memories like i do.

Anways.... drifted in and out of sleep to the Lavender Hill Mob, which i've seen dozens of times before.  This marks the thirty fifth film i've sat through since breaking my knee......  and that doesn't include any that i might have watched parts of.

Then i messed about with some technology to try to gain access to the televised golf from Portrush in Northern Ireland.  It's obviously hidden behind a multitude of paywalls, and i don't like paying for stuff.  I'm currently watching it, so that went well......

I've been following the Tour De France quite well this year too, and annoyingly after maybe fifteen years of ITV coverage, this event also disappears behind a paywall next year too.

Mum and sister called round today to take the dog off my hands for a few hours.  Sookie loves it at mum's house and i had a very unstimulating day planned for the two of us, so it made good sense and i am sure all parties will feel the benefit.

In other news, i think my leg is settling down a bit..... feels a bit less "stinging" today..... hopefully desensitising as predicted....  <shrugs>

And, right on cue...... in walks Dawn..... home from work, from shopping, from collecting the dog..... she hasn't sat down since about 7am and it's just gone half seven in the pee emm.  Bless her!!

raisins

 Raisins to be cheerful part one!

ok, enough doom and gloom..... lets give thanks for.....

Thanks:

Dawn - Both the start of the day and my amazing, loving, caring, selfless, steadfast, strong, fabulous partner, without whom i'd be lying on the kitchen floor in a pool of my own juice (as would many others i dare say - by which i mean they'd be on their own kitchen floors in their own juice..... not in mine).

The NHS - unfortunately, and i am sure some of you will identify with this.... as time moves on, i have certainly begun to rely more on the NHS than i did in my previous years!  The last FEW years would have you imagine they'd be naming a wing after me!  Often maligned and complained about, they do an amazing job given the hand they've been dealt.

Perseid meteor shower - begins tonight and runs until August 24th - peaks on the 12th August (in the UK at least)

Forge of Empires - it's a game - not much of a game.... it's a blessing and a curse.... it can take over your life..... but it's kept me sane these past few weeks.

Watermelon - i've always been a fan, but during my convalescence, and the incredible heatwave(s) we've been experiencing, this pink fleshy fruit has definitely kept me cool!

Story tellers.  It's an ancient tradition, innit?  Tales passed down, yadda yadda.... whether it's some ancient folklore, a news report,  a cave painting, a movie, even a blog.....  well done!  Keep it up.  I've been relying on "stories" to keep me awake and connected for a few weeks, and it's something we almost take for granted.

idoku - my brain is active and this fiendish puzzle, every day, has really helped.

Looking forward to:

The day when i am well enough to be able to put the bin out again......  ps, i never put the bin out!

Being able to carry something from one place to another place....  trying to even carry an empty coffee cup while using a pair of crutches is nigh on impossible.

Some more episodes of Dexter: Resurrection (now airing).

60 degrees of bend!

ouch

 Been a miserable day.... the new brace is aggravating the scar from the knee surgery - i am hoping that, over the next few days, it beds in and desensitizes the area......

Ouch!

It's pretty sore and i am pretty miserable!

horse piddle

 Been in t'ospital again today for my bi-weekly checkup......

Got there early.....

Got into the treatment room early and the attentive nurses were great.... a student nurse on placement from endoscopy came and cleaned my wound.  She was very sympathetic and caring.

Another nurse set up my new knee brace and disposed of "old trusty", the knee brace that's served me well for the last four weeks.

Delayed, a doctor finally arrived and gave us a good rundown of what's going on, what the next stage is, and how we're doing.

Knee brace fitted.... knee bending.....

Out of there in an hour!

Three fifty for parking (i am sure they delay you to make sure you get the parking fee to pay the electric bill)

Nought to thirty, in one hour!  

Thirty degrees, that is.... i can now bend my knee up to thirty degrees, no more, but often less.

Feels bloody strange and strangely awkward and a bit on the sore side.

Here's a picture of what a thirty degree bend looks like:

Small step for man..... big bend for a robot!

influence

 Hot damn.....

Anyone know what an influencer is?

They're generally a bunch of people who have a high profile within social media.... they make content that thousands, nay, hundreds of thousands of admirers fawn over.....

It might be make-up tips, or the ability to play a game really  well, or in the case of some of the more nefarious characters, just spouting bile and venom..... and people lap it up.

The internet is a new phenomena in this respect, it allows people of a similar mind to come together and form a group..... i mean, if you've got a niche interest or a kinky fetish that seems obscure.... what you'll probably find is a welcoming group who all have the same feeling as you and you won't have to leave the comfort of your sofa or the safety of your keyboard to find them.

In some cases, such "influencers" use their popularity to help "sponsors" promote stuff......

If i was really great at playing Minecraft, and all i ever drank while playing it was some shitty energy drink, then you could pretty well assume that the manufacturer of that fizzy can of chemicals would happily supply me for the price of product placement or mention in my videos.

It can be a lucrative business.

And so, feeling somewhat like i've finally "arrived".... today i became an influencer.....

You may recall, a few days ago.... i began posting vintage postcards that i'd seen.....

This one in particular!

Well, what should arrive on my doorstep today..... that VERY postcard!!  My Cousin had tracked down the postcard in question, from the Netherlands, purchased it, and sent it to me..... the power of the internet, eh?  Amazing!

Well.... thanks in massive quantities to my sponsoring cousin...... and for any readers out there.... here's a photo of a really nice campervan!!  Sithee!