Random Jottings

Shakespeare: The man who Pays the Rent - Judi Dench

I have just finished reading this book and it is wonderful. It is a series of conversations between Dame Judi and Brendon O'Hea, an actor and director and associate artist at the Globe. If I had my way every single teacher in the land who is attempting to teach Shakespeare should have a copy of this to hand as, in my opinion, it is better than any text book.

I love Shakespeare, though sometimes I have found it a struggle, and thought I knew a fair bit about certain favourite plays, but oh my goodness having Dame Judi chat and talk and dissect her roles, how she played them, how she approached them, their motivation etc is a real eye opener.

As well as being insightful she is also very funny and has lovely tales to tell about the producers and actors she has worked with. She holds very strong opinions and is not afraid to tell Brendon that he is talking rubbish or gets cross with him at times about his slightly more off the wall motivations attributed to various characters. in fact, in the acknowlegements at the end of the book he thanks Sam Williams (Dame Judi's grandson) for 'defusing tension between myself and his grandmother and for making us laugh'.  He also thanks his editor who 'had her work cut out excising Dame Judi's swear words from the audiobook'. Both these made me laugh.

It seems that Dame Judi is prone to falling over and running about and in one production of Midsummer Night's Dream, the director called the rehearsal to a halt "Miss Dench, please don't run in flapping your arms around like two Finnan haddocks'.   Apparently in her eagerness to get onstage she 'had unwittingly knocked over a few fairies. They went down like ninepins'.

Such a joy to read this book. I did not plunge in and read it all in one go. I took it a play at a time, first of all the ones I knew best, and then the ones with which I am less familiar and then a couple I do not know at all and have never seen. All totally fascinating.

One day Dame Judi, after a performance of the Dream at Compton Verney which had no showers, was travelling back to her cottage in all her make up. She wore her own clothes but she still had green hands and a green face "On one occasion a man caught sight of me walking up the lane and fell off his ladder"

The love and joy expressed in this book is palpable and I cannot recommend it enough. It will stay on my shelf and when I next read Shakespeare, which I am now inspired to after this reading, I will make sure to check the chapter on a particular play before I start.   Once I decided to do this I went to my bookshelves and discovered that my copy of the complete plays has disappeared. WHERE has it gone? I know not.  Oh well I shall just have to get another copy but before I do I shall rummage in a second hand book shop I know and see if I can find one. I always prefer old and battered books.

So a wonderful glorious book and I have to end with another anecdote as I love this one so much.  Dame Judi was playing Lady Macbeth in a production which toured West Africa.  They had a wonderful reception but it was very taxing playing outside in the heat. "I remember seeing vultures sitting in the trees and I said to the actors 'for god's sake twitch when you are playing dead, they're waiting to eat us"

Glorious.

Oh and the illustrations are by Dame Judi all taken from doodles in her scripts and they are enchanting.

 

The Lost Memoir of Edward VIII - Jane Marguerite Tippett

I have just finished this book and it is bristling with post it notes covered in my scrawled comments. Somehow out of this inchoate mess I have to try and say what I think about it all and I am finding it somewhat difficult.

The author, Jane Marguerite Tippett, apparently came across an unknown cache of letters, memoranda and notes written by the Duke of Windsor when he was collaborating with Charles Murphy on the publishing of The King’s Story.  Calling it a Lost Memoir is pushing it a bit to be honest as they are fragments which were discarded during the writing process but, I have to admit, they make fascinating reading.

I have always maintained that if you are writing your autobiography, letters or a diary, no matter how hard you try your inate character will be revealed. Many years ago I read the diaries of Laurence Olivier, a person who I never warmed to and whose acting did not appeal. Why I read them in that case is a mystery to me but read them I did and found by the end that a dislikeable character had been revealed all unknown to the author.    A few months later I read the diaries of Noel Coward who many viewed as a dilettante, sarcastic and lacking in warmth. What a revelation when, on reading his diary entries, a person of great charm, integrity and loyalty was revealed.

I am sorry to labour this point but reading these ‘lost memoirs’ of the Duke of Windsor has, once again showed that my assertion is correct.   The written notes and memoranda are penned through the prism of his need for justification and they reveal a total self absorption and lack of understanding of how others might have acted or felt at the time. This comes as no surprise and Charles Murphy, his ghost writer, was skilled enough to prune these outpourings and fine them down to publish in the book.

The author has taken a stance regarding the Duke, that he was misunderstood, hard working and a moderniser and seems determined to prove this no matter what. It all gets a little tedious as time after time his dilatoriness, his narrow mindedness or plain ignorance is excused or dismissed.   In crime novels, of which I am a fan, I have lost count of the number of times it is made clear that it is dangerous to decide who committed the crime and then arrange the facts to support this theory. Well, this is what Ms Tippett does here.

Charles Murphy does not come out of this very well either.   It seems that he and the Duke forged a friendship which lasted throughout the writing process but the more I perused the letters Murphy was writing to his publisher and the newspapers, once again, the real character came through and it was that of a person with a manipulative personality.   He seemed to despise the Duke, he always referred to him in correspondece as 'Our Friend’ and speaks of him slightingly. Publication was constantly pushed back at the lack of progress and Murphy became  ‘bored and weary..  He has stopped working for days without my knowing it or he will be present in the body but not the mind.’    The Duke and Duchess took themselves for three weeks rest in Italy ‘he considers himself fatigued and wishes for relaxation and detachment’

Murphy had to deal with the Duke in other ways. In a diary entry in 1973 he received a call from the Duke who was totally distraught. The Duchess had gone on ahead to New York where it seemed she was enjoying a’romance’ with Jimmy Donahue and openly gay, wealthy playboy.   Murphy accompanied the Duke on his journey as  ‘I truly feared that he might commit suicide’

Over the years I have developed a sympathy for the Duchess.   How difficult it must be to be the focus of such total adoration which she must at times have found stifling.   This episode with Donahue occurred when she was on her own and was probably escaping and just enjoying herself.  She was well aware that the marriage had to succeed after the Abdication and one fact emerged from an interview she gave to Murphy when she was contemplating her own autobiography, was that Edward never asked her to marry him until after the Abdication.   He went through with it and decided her future as well as his just assuming that she would be his wife. 

And now we come to the section of the book headed The German Question and I wondered how the author would deal with this. 

Was Edward a traitor? I hold the view that though his actions could be seen and were judged as traitrous, I doubt the thought even entered his head that his behaviour could be viewed as such. He did not have the intelligence or understanding to think that he could be in the wrong.   The German high comand viewed Edward as a useful tool, knowing his views on the war, and full of confidence that they would win the war, spoke to Edward about his return as King with Wallis as his Queen.   They knew his weakness and his longing to have her crowned.  

A conversation with the Duchess re this visit is almost beyond belief.  Tea was being taken with the Gorings and she describes how nicely furnished the rooms are with cretonnes and fine china.  They were shown a map incorporating Austria into Germany and ‘I told  him we had just been there for our honeymoon and how much we had liked it there’

The Duke then butts in ‘he actually was the nicest of all of them. He was the only, well, gent you could say’ and the Duchess agreed he had great charm and such a pretty wife.

After reading this I found myself totally sure that my theory on the Duke not being a traitor was confirmed. How  could such a vacous, ill informed man like this plan on being a traitor? He did not have the nous or the intelligence to do so.  

But once again the author is determined to forgive the Duke everything and this is backed up by the inclusion of an interview with the Duchess re the response to the visit:

“the strange thing is the British Government. You would have thought they would have wanted to keep the Duke out of the public eye….they knew if he went to Germany he would get into the public eye… they should have sent some official to France and said that this is the situation, because they ought not to have wanted him to get into the public eye in an unfavourable light.  Or so, one could have done some long distant advising. You cannot throw a man out of a country, who has been advised by a government all his life, and then expect him to make wise decisions right off the bat”

And there you have it.  The Duke revealed, inadvertently by his wife, has having no wisdom, no insight, nothing. All somebody else's fault.

I think this book fails on all fronts in its determination to rehabilitate Edward VIII.   The endless excuses and justifications for his actions and behaviour become tedious after a while and merely become irritating.   Once again, through their own words and behaviour, the Windsors are revealed as totally lacking in understanding and empathy and appear as shallow empty people.

It is all very sad and rather pathetic.

Edward himself says of his reign:  ‘Had I remained my reign might have provided quarrel after quarrel with the government. I woud have clashed with them I am sure, over Germany’.

I reckon we had a lucky escape.

Random Ramble

Apologies for absence.  I am hoping that after the end of this year and when everything is sorted out and I see the back of 2023 I can post more regularly. I keep saying this but matters recently have  made it hard as you all know.

I have now been signed off my my physio and the hospital.   After the last session I was told that I was doing really well and to carry on with what I was doing. I have been trying to go out each day for a walk and most times have succeeded and can now walk for an hour. Most of that is without a stick but by the end I tend to use it as I am feeling a bit weary.   But considering that I could not walk for more than ten minutes before I am delighted with this,

I don't know how many of you watch Strictly Come Dancing but I am a devotee and never miss. This year one of the Slebs taking part is Angela Rippon a well know newsreader in the past and a presenter of Come Dancing a ballroom competition series on many years ago now.  She has always danced and when I heard she was doing Strictly I was intrigued. She is now 79 and the first week stunned everyone, including the judges, by raising her leg up to her nose. Last week she did the Argentine Tango and again doing the splits etc.

Angela is the patron of an organisation called The Silver Swans which provides classes for older people. I had checked it out a few years ago but because of my decaying hip could not do it. Well, after watching her I decided I would give it a go and see how my new hip would hold out.

So a couple of days ago I ventured forth and wondered how it would be. Well I loved it.  We did posture, barre work and then spent twenty minutes doing a small piece of ballet choreographed by our teacher. My admiration for those Slebs who now appear on Strictly has gone up a notch as the concentration required just to learn a tiny tiny routine is immense and I freely admit I was all over the place.

We finished up with a bit of fun dancing to Frank Sinatra singing New York New York. It is almost impossible to stand still when you hear this song and we all ended up in a chorus line doing kicks at the end. We could see ourselves in the studio mirror and it was a bit chaotic but such fun and we all ended howling with laughter.

So I shall continue as I feel I need a bit more flexibility in my body.   Everyone was very friendly and welcoming and nearly all of us have had a new hip, knee or other part so we are all in this together.

I came home, sat on the sofa and fell asleep.....

 

Coming up - Books on my list

I am currently taking a look at upcoming publications and have seen some titles that have sparked my interest. As you know, prior to and after my operation, my reading spark seemed to have taken a nap and it is only just now coming back to life. So here are some authors and titles that have been ordered, bought or just thinking about.

Richard Armitage - Geneva.  I know nothing about this book but it has had good reviews and a good “buzz” in the book world.  Of course a lot of this has to do with the fact that Richard Armitage is a well known actor, appearing in the film of The Hobbit, the BBC series Spooks and others.  My introduction to him was the BBC dramatisation of Mrs Gaskell’s North and South in which he played a dark and brooding mill owner, John Thornton.  Oh be still my beating heart.  The final scene in that particular adaptation has reduced many of us to a quivering wreck.

Note: my copy has arrived. It is written in the present tense.............

I mistrust “slebs” who write books as I often wonder if they actually wrote them and also feel they have a distinct advantation when it comes to publicity, but I suppose if you have got it then use it. (I note Shirley Ballas the Head Judge on Strictly Come Dancing has just had a thriller published. She admits she did not write it but had “the idea”)……

Val McDermid - Karen Pirie Past Lying.   I have read all of Val’s books and have enjoyed them all but the Karen Pirie series are my favourite.  There was a tv adaptation of the first book shown last year which was very well done and dramatic though there were a few changes, in my view unnecessary, in order to tick a few diversity boxes.  However, they did not alter the thrust and pace of the story and I found it gripping. I gather a second book is being filmed as it was such a success so I will be keeping an eye out for that.

Note: I see it has Now a Major TV Series on the cover.  Why is it never a Minor TV series?

Rick Stein - Simple Suppers.  I do not buy Celebrity Chef cook books as most of them contain recipes out of reach of most of us from the point of view of time and ingredients. However, I have read excerpts from Simple Suppers and as far as I can see they appear straightforward and easy to do so I have ordered a copy and see how I get on.  I gather Mr Stein has had health problems which has made him evaluate his cooking and this book is the result. I have noticed this in several Sleb books that such a scare has made them re-evaluate their thoughts on food.   Makes you wonder why they did not do this in the first place. Ah, well.

Jane Marguerite Tippett - Once a King.  When researching another matter this author stumbled upon private notes and memorandum written by the Duke of Windsor during the ghost written memoirs The Heart has its Reasons.  The book was very sanitised and of its time, unlike recent Royal publications.  Charles Murphy, the ghost writer, was not overly enamoured of either the Duke or the Duchess and there were many arguments and delays, many of them due to the laziness of the Duke to actually do any work.   Now, it seems these unpublished papers have been found.  It is sub titled the Lost Memoir when, as far as I can see, it is his notes. According to an article I read about this just a few days ago the author feels that this will show that the Duke was a really hard working royal with modern ideas to update the monarchy and was a man ahead of his time.

The article also said that the publication of these papers would be a best seller and cause a sensation and propel Ms Tippett to the forefront of historical biographers.  I have ordered a copy as I have the dubious distinction of having read every book on the Abdication that I could lay my hands on.  It will take a great deal to make me change my mind about the character of the former Edward VIII.   When asked about the Duke's sympathetic leanings towards Hitler and the Nazis the response from the author was that he was 'unwise'.

We shall see.

Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and the Marriage that shook Europe - John Guy and Julia Fox

I wonder why this eternal fascination with Henry VIII and his wives? OK having a lot might have something to do with it but each Queen was so different and though one would like to think that love had something to do with it (in the case of Boleyn certainly), there were political reasons also in play.   I have not read any Tudor history for a while and this recently published title has garnered good reviews.   I have it on my list.

Michael Connelly - Resurrection Walk.   I love the Connelly books and have read the lot. The  Harry Bosch books are well worth reading and if you have not yet done so, you have a treat in store. Set in Los Angeles the books chart the career of Bosch so do read them in order.  He also has a series of books about The Lincoln Lawyer, Mick Haller, which I also enjoy mainly for the cut and thrust of the court room scenes. I have read all of those too and this new title is due in November. I have pre-ordered.

Note: there is a movie The Lincoln Lawyer which is excellent and Netflix have recently produced two series based on the books.  Both the movie and the series use a mixture of the stories but they are done very well indeed.

I hope some of these might interest you as well.  Looking forward to exploring some of these and it is good to have my reading mojo back.

The Man in the Brown Suit - Agatha Christie

Some of my favourite Christies are her stand alone novels, no Poirot or Miss Marple or the annoying Tommy and Tuppence, many of which are relatively unknown.

I love The Man in the Brown Suit. This was published in 1922 and features an intrepid young heroine, Anne Beddingfield, an orphan in search of adventure one of whose favourite pasttimes was watching the Perils of Pauline.  There is a Master Criminal, known as 'The Colonel' a beautiful Russian actress determined to bring him down, stolen diamonds, a victim under a Tube train and a dead body of a glamorous woman found in the country house of Sir Eustace Pedlar.  

I do love these various covers....

The hunt is up for the Man in the Brown Suit seen at the murder scene and also near the area of the Tube where that death occurred. A piece of paper is found by Anne which the police missed finding (naturally) at the murder scene with a mysterious date on it and the name Kilmorden Castle.   This turns out to be a cruise ship leaving in a few days and with gay abandon Anne decides to blue her entire inheritence on a ticket.

In the middle of the night a handsome man bursts into her cabin, he has been shot and, as all good heroines do, instead of screaming for help she hides him and promptly falls in love with him.

"For the first time I took in the details of his appearance. The close cropped dark head, the lean jaw, the scar on his brown cheek, the curious light grey eyes that looked into mine with a sense of reckless mockery hard to describe. There was something dangerous about him"

So we have a real mix here of dashing hero and plucky heroine, a sinister criminal mastermind and somebody determined to kill off our hero, the Man in the Brown Suit, because as we all know he did not do the murders and is destined to marry Anne and live happily ever after.

One of my favouite characters in this book is Sir Eustace Pedler, on his way to South Africa to view conditions there and report back to the government. He is large and lazy and tries to avoid work as much as possible and he supplies a great deal of humour in the narrative.

"The only costume that fitted me for the fancy dress dinner was that of a Teddy Bear.I don't mind playing bears with some nice young girls on a winter;s evening in England, but it is hardly an ideal costume for the Equator. However, I created a great deal of merriment.....dancing was a hot affair. I danced twice with Anne Beddingfiled and she had to pretend she liked it. I danced once with Mrs Blair who didn't trouble to pretend and I victimised various other damsels whose appearance struck me favourably"

This is a John Buchanesque ripping yarn and tremendous fun from start to finish. I love these early books of Christie and if you are not familiar with this title please do seek it out.

I can also recommend They Came to Baghdad which I am currently reading and Destination Unknown all of which have Somebody seeking World Domination. Tremendous fun and I always get the feeling when reading these that Dame Agatha had enormous fun writing them.

The Body at Rookery Barn - Kate Hardy

Kate Hardy writes for Mills & Boon and a few years ago she, along with other guests, came to the Felixstowe Book Festival and we had a delightful session discussing romance.  She has now turned her talents to what is called nowadays “cosy crime”.   I often wonder what makes up a cosy crime and I think it is a murder that takes place in a village, preferably delightful and enchanting where one would think nothing awful would happen. But as we know from Miss Marple in her village of St. Mary Mead there is wickedness everywhere.

I have to say straight away I simply loved The Body at Rookery Barn.  Kate was kind enough to send it to me when I was recovering from my hip operation, for which many thanks, and it was just what I needed and cheered me up no end.

Georgina, our heroine, is a fairly recent widow and has moved to Little Wenborough in the country to make a new beginning and new friends.   She has a barn near her house which she rents out as a holiday cottage and one morning she goes over to clean out after her latest tenant has left.

She is just about to open the door when she hears a voice ‘I really wouldn’t go in there if I were you’,  Georgina could not see who it was, there was nobody there and the courtyard by the barn is empty. ‘I mean it, don’t go in. Call the police and the ambulance’

Puzzled by this seemingly disembodied voice Georgina comes to the conclusion that it must be her new hearing aids and she is picking up a local station so ignoring it she enters the barn to clear up and finds the body of Roland Garnett, a Classics lecturer who had been staying there for the last three weeks working on his book.

‘I did tell you not to open the door’ the voice said again.   By now Georgina feared she was being watched and when the voice told her to call 999 she got annoyed and asked that this mysterious person show themselves. After calling the police she is then told to put the kettle on and make some tea as she has had a shock.

The case is handled by Inspector Colin Bradshaw who had transferred from London to Norfolk for the usual reasons that seem to dog fictional detectives, divorce, drinking etc and he was determined to do everything by the book.  

Roland Garnett had not been the most likeable of individuals being demanding and full of endless complaints.  Wifi was slow, mobile phone signal spotty, no takeaway deliveries and the oven did not work. When a friend of Georgina, who was a cook and delivered food for him refused to return on further occasions it became clear he was a bit of a pest around women.   At first Bradshaw is suspicious of Georgina as he discovers that Professor Garnett was poisoned, with a dinner delivered by Georgina herself. But as the investigation continues and more is learnt about the lecturer the circle of suspects widens.

Now I am going to stop here because if I write further I am going to give away a lot of details and a surprise which I do not want to do.

Main question is – who is the owner of the voice talking to Georgina that only she can here and how is she connected to the house where she lives?   I found this part of the book delightful and witty and also rather touching.

As I said earlier, I found this book utterly delightful.   Witty, amusing, full of interesting characters who live in the village and then we have Colin who sounds rather attractive and it is clear there is a spark between him and Georgina...

If you want to found out who dun it and who is the owner of the voice, then please do get hold of a copy of this book.   I understand it is the start of a series and I cannot wait for the next one.

Just dropping by….

….I am sorry I have not been on Random cor a week or two. I am getting there and feeling better every day. 5000 Steps today. I could barely manage 300 before the op so delighted.

still reading old favourites and wallowing in crime.

back soon. I promise

Reading fog

Well I am getting there with the new hip.  Walking so much easier. I am doing circuits of our communal gardens using crutches but indoors I am managing with just one or none at all which is hugely encouraging.  I am getting rather bored with it all now and just want to get on with things but I know I have to be patient.   Everyone keeps saying this to me and while I know they are right, it does not help.

And reading. Well, I seem to be totally unable to settle down and read anything for any length of time.  A brain fog seems to descend. Nearly a month now since the anesthetic so I was hoping by now this mental lethargy would have dissipated but I fear not,

I am reading anything that catches my fancy at the moment. I have no plan and I am reading a few chapters of one and then a few chapters of another and it is all a bit annoying. A lot of re-reading as well so I do not have to stretch my mind too much.

Michael Connelly is one of my favourite US authors. He is the creator of Harry Bosch, a detetive with the LAPD and they are punchy, well plotted and well written and I am working my way through them.  He has other characters, one of which is Micky Haller, a defence lawyer, who is Harry's half brother and I really enjoy these with the court room scenes etc.  A film was made of The Lincoln Lawyer with Matthew McConaughey which is slick and so well done and then recently Netflix have a new series which I have watched.   The adaptations work well because unlike some they actually stick to the stories. OK there is the odd difference here and there but the core element remains the same.  I note there is a new Haller coming out in November and I have already pre-ordered it.

This was not the case with a series I watched, again on Netflix, Night Agent.  An agent spends his nights sitting by a telephone which is only used in dire case of emergency. One night it rings and off we go with a conspiracy plot, cover up etc. In other words, the usual.  I watched one episode and realised who the mole was in five minutes.   I decided to read the book by Matthew Quirk and then wished I had not bothered as the book bears no relation whatsoever to the series, though the mole is the same.  I tried another by this author but it was poor stuff and I abandoned it.

So I have a heap of books waiting to be read and I simply cannot be bothered at the moment so book reviews will be somewhat lacking until I am back up to speed.

I was looking at my Agatha Christie shelf and have decided to tackle some of them again. I know the identity of every murderer in every one but at the moment the appeal of Poirot and Miss Marple is very strong.

Back soon

 

Random Hip - I am back

Well here I am, new hip and all and before I embark on this ramble, I would like to say thank you to everyone for your good wishes and messages and emails. I know some of you follow me on Facebook and Twitter and every little thing helps, it really does.

It is now two weeks since the operation and can I make it quite clear now that though it was cheering to hear the following from various friends and neighbours:

• Oh my mum had her hip replaced at 90 and is skipping around like a spring lamb
• Oh my friend had this done and said it changed her life, you will not regret it
• Fantastic news - we will soon have you runing marathons

I have no desire to skip around like a spring lamb; I don’t really want to change my life, I am happy with it, I merely want it to be pain free and finally, I never ran a bloody marathon before, never wanted to, never did and I have no intention of starting now.

Yes I know I sound curmudgeonly.  Tough.

So today is Saturday, though the days have lost any meaning to me over the last couple of weeks. Life is beginning to seem tolerable and thing are getting better.   The Oaks Hospital in Colchester was excellent and the staff wonderful and systems and care admirable, though the amount I was paying I would expect nothing less, and though my bank account has been emptied out I am extremely grateful for the care I received and am still receiving.

I opted in the end for a total anaesthetic – friends of mine had opted for an epidural and sedation but they were the kind of folk who liked to hear what was going on. I have no desire to hear the sawing and hammering that this kind of bone operation entails which guided me to this decision.   One moment I closed my eyes, the next I was aware I was lying in a bed in a recovery ward with a few other patients, nurses and in the background I could hear Abba playing for some strange reason. I concentrated on this like mad and identified the number as “Gimme gimme a man after midnight”, which I thought was singularly inappropriate under the circumstances.   After a bit of a chat with the nurses I was wheeled back to my room where my daughter was waiting for me.  I was as bright as a button and chatty and feeling great which I think took her slightly aback but I took advantage of this as I knew full well that I was on an adrenaline high and it would not last.

Well it didn’t and the night was horrid and painful and I draw a veil over it all.

Next day, the bright and shiny and smiley physio team appeared beaming at my bed side “time to get up and get you on your feet”.  I am pleased to say that my immediate reaction I kept to myself. (Note: reminded me forcibly of the time a young nurse told me, when eight months pregnant, to “hop up on the bed”….)

It did get better as the next two days wore on and I found I could stagger to the loo with the crutches and begin to manage.   There was one night when I could not sleep for this grinding noise and the sound of running water and I buzzed one of the lovely night staff to investigate. Seems the top up seat which rested on the loo, which was movable, had caught the side of the bottom seat and, as it was an automatic flush, thought somebody was sitting on it and flushed and flushed over and over. Took me three hours to work this out.

I have now been home for some ten days and I am constantly muttering to myself be patient Elaine, don’t push it, you will get there but it is difficult to do so.

The first night was horrendous, I am not ashamed to say that I sat up in bed weeping with the pain and talking myself through it.   I thought if I can get through to the morning it will be better and it was. My mantra now is see what it is like in the morning and then carry on.  I am sorry if this sounds like a whinge, I am well aware there are others in hospital in pain and suffering, who are far worse off than me, but one’s world tends to narrow in at times like this and one can become self centered and selfish.

And, in the end, it is teaching me patience, not one of my strongest virtues.  Before I sat down to write this I went through to the kitchen to make tea. I have a walker which I am using when transporting food etc as I am on my own and this is a great help, and while I was waiting for the kettle to boil I stood there and realised for the first time in years, my back was not aching, I was not in pain, I could stand upright and I felt a flood of thankfulness.   The pain that I now have is the pain from the wound where the surgeon had to slice through the muscles and that will heal in time and if I continue with my exercises, which I am doing, will finally go.  (I have checked the scar and it is a work of art. Mind you my backside is black and blue).

I am reading randomly and an odd mixture at the moment as my mind seems fuzzy and I cannot seem to concentrate for very long.  I think this is the effect of the anaesthetic and will disappear, in fact it is getting less each day. So lots of thrillers, cozy crime, romance and just enjoyable stuff. It is all very relaxing.

A few random notes to end with:

Crutches – no matter how well you prop them up, no matter how sternly you tell them STAY, they will always, always crash to the ground as soon as your back is turned.

Rich Tea biscuits – a lifesaver. Nibble on in the night when hungry and nauseous and they settle the tummy in no time. Digestives also do the trick.

Leads and chargers – a friend of mine gave me invaluable advice “Elaine take in the longest leads and charger that you have”. I have a plug with two USB ports in it and that came with me as well as the leads and boy, was I glad I took this advice. My bed was some way away from the electric and it would have been difficult to keep recharging. As it was these two leads were tucked under my pillow and my ipad and iphone were permanently attached.   One night, which was not a good one, I was messaging my daughter in Australia and this cheered me up no end.

I will be back again soon. My daughter arrived from Australia today so she will be with me next week which is something to really look forward to.

Again, everyone, my thanks and though I will not be running a marathon any time in the future, the walking is coming along a treat.

Random Hip

I am going into hospital tomorrow for a hip replacement operation so I may be absent for a week or two. Not looking forward to it but the pain and difficulty walking is now bad so it needs to be done.

back soon!