HNY AND ALL THAT

Well, December started as planned. Operation on the 5^th to take out the old artificial hip and replace it with a new one, and at the same time restore the length of my left leg to its original size. This was because the old prosthesis ad come loose and my weight had pushed the stem half an inch or so into my thigh bone. I had resorted to heel lists in my casual shoes and built up heels on the better ones, all of which now have to be undone. But they were necessary to avoid back probs.

The 5 more days in hospital before I went to an outfit called ‘The Clavadel’ in Guildford. It is  rehab centre for ambulant post-operative patients, with a particular emphasis on hips and knees. U[stairs it is a 5 star hotel, with supremely comfortable and infinitely adjustable beds. The Ground floor is a 5 star hotel with some very nice food – far too much of it – and an open bar for pre-dinner drinks. In the basement there is a torture chamber presided over by Tomas de Torquemada, which is in fact a superior physiotherapy gym and a hydrotherapy pool. There is a regime. On arrival you are given a  schedule of the time when your meals are and another showing when you are expected to present yourself to the basement. Twice a day,  An d if you don’t turn up they come and get you.

But it really does work, and I am sure I would not be where I am today without my 10 days there. Out just in time for Christmas, when we provided bed and breakfast for Neil and Family while they visited Neil’s In-laws, which I think is important for them to do, and one splendid day when all the family came to us to be fed and watered.

Finally on New Year’s Day we were invited by Leon’s mother-in law to lunch at the Ritz. Yes, the one in Piccadilly. We organised taxis to take us there from Leon’s house in Dulwich. But I discovered the day before that on New Year’s Day much of central London was going to be closed to accommodate the New Years Day Parade. And that the assembly point for this ENORMOUS parade was in Piccadilly outside the Ritz!

The taxi driver got us a far as Shepherds Market or thereabouts, when all roads were closed off. I have no idea how he got out. And I walked, with appropriate rests from there to the Ritz, apart from the last 100 yards when I was met by a Ritz porter and a wheelchair which Sonia had thoughtfully gone ahead and arranged. Some of the best post-op exercise that I have had.

Lunch was just as good as it should be, and lasted most of the afternoon, - long enough for the taxis to get to the front door, anyway. And I recovered my taste for wine, which, for some reason, had vanished during the operation. No idea why!

Since then, as I am not allowed to drive, or to put all my weight on my left foot, I am leading a life of schedules of exercises and walking increasing lengths daily. As it is the middle of winter and I understand that it is about to get cold, I suspect the walks will become more and more uninviting, but the slightest hint of frost will keep me indoors. I cannot contemplate another fall on to this hip.

Christmas cards came with lots of news from old friends and from foreign parts, which I am always delighted to see. We don’t send these out ourselves, but I try to tell friends that this blog is irregularly kept up, and they can learn a little bit about us here.

Incoming stuff is quite interesting, but increasingly scarce. However, here are a few of what has arrived recently.

Smoking, drinking and unmarried sex

An Angel visited a woman and told her she must give up smoking, drinking and unmarried sex if she wants to get into Heaven. The woman said she would try her best.

The Angel visited the woman a week later to see how she was getting on.

"Not bad" said the woman, "I've given up smoking and drinking but then I bent over to look in the freezer, my boyfriend caught sight of my long slender legs in high heels, he pulled up my skirt and made love to me right then and there."

"They don't like that in Heaven", said the Angel.

The woman replied:  "They're not crazy about it in Aldi either!"

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No one believes seniors . . . everyone thinks they are senile.

An elderly couple was celebrating their sixtieth anniversary. The couple had married as childhood sweethearts and had moved back to their old neighbourhood after they retired. Holding hands, they walked back to their old school. It was not locked, so they entered, and found the old desk they'd shared, where Jerry had carved I love you, Sally. 

 On their way back home, a bag of money fell out of an armoured car, practically landing at their feet. Sally quickly picked it up and, not sure what to do with it, they took it home. There, she counted the money - fifty thousand dollars! 

 Jerry said, We've got to give it back. 

 Sally said, Finders keepers. She put the money back in the bag and hid it in their attic. 

 The next day, two police officers were canvassing the neighbourhood looking for the money, and knocked on their door. Pardon me, did either of you find a bag that fell out of an armoured car yesterday? 

 Sally said, No. 

 Jerry said, She’s lying. She hid it up in the attic. 

  Sally said, Don't believe him, he’s getting senile 

 The agents turned to Jerry and began to question him.

 One said: Tell us the story from the beginning. 

 Jerry said, Well, when Sally and I were walking home from school yesterday ... 

 The first police officer turned to his partner and said, We’re outta here!

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 Winston Churchill on Whisky

His vocabulary and command of the English language is unparalleled!  

How I wish we had representatives, politicians and statesmen of his calibre around today.  

Sir Winston Churchill was once asked about his position on whisky. Here's how he answered:

"If you mean whisky, the devil's brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean that evil drink that topples men and women from the pinnacles of righteous and gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, shame, despair, helplessness and hopelessness, then, my friend, I am opposed to it with every fibre of my being."

"However, if by whisky you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the elixir of life, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean good cheer, the stimulating sip that puts a little spring in the step of an elderly gentleman on a frosty morning; if you mean that drink that enables man to magnify his joy, and to forget life's great tragedies and heartbreaks and sorrow; if you mean that drink the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of pounds each year, that provides tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitifully aged and infirm, to build the finest highways, hospitals, universities, and community colleges in this nation... then my friend, I am absolutely, unequivocally in favour of it..!!!"

"This is my position, and as always, I refuse to compromise on matters of principle!!!"

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Notes left in milk bottles in Scotland- 
  
Dear milkman-I've just had a baby-please leave another one. 
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Please leave an extra pint of paralysed milk. 
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Please don't leave any more milk. All they do is drink it. 
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Milkman, please close the gate behind you because the birds keep pecking the tops off the milk. 
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Sorry not to have paid your bill before but my wife had a baby and I've been carrying it around in my pocket for weeks. 
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Sorry about yesterdays note. I didn't mean one egg and a dozen pints, but the other way around. 
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When you leave the milk knock on my bedroom window and wake me because I want you to give me a hand to turn the mattress. 
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My daughter says she wants a milkshake. Do you do it before you deliver or do I have to shake the bottle. 
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From now on please leave two pints every other day and one pint on the days in between except Wednesdays and Saturdays when I don't want any milk. 
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Cancel one pint after the day after today. 
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My back door is open.  Please put milk in fridge-get money out of cup in drawer and leave change on the kitchen table in pence because we want to play bingo tonight. 
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Please leave no milk today. When I say today- I mean tomorrow for I wrote this note yesterday. 
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When you leave the milk please put the coal on the boiler, let the dog out and put newspaper inside screen door. PS-don't leave any milk. 
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No milk.  Please do not leave milk at No.14 either as he is dead until further notice. 
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And that’s all, Folks!!