Level 2 Chi Kung. Microcosmic orbit.
A lovely day catching up with Denise Ball and Jeannette Njenje and cuddling the delightful Valentina. Overdid things a bit on the knee front – too much standing – so looking forward to bed and intending to take things quietly tomorrow.
Level 2 Chi Kung. Microcosmic orbit. Lovely long skype with Betsy Corliss and Marg Matheson.
Spent a wonderful afternoon catching up with the lovely Denise Ball. Completely failed to get tickets to Warhorse so had a nice dinner at Cote (crab mayonnaise, duck breast with potatoes dauphinoise, peach tarte tatin) in the village with Denise and Nick Curnow.
Level 2 Chi Kung. Microcosmic orbit. Inaugural skype with Betsy Corliss.
Decided that my knee was sufficiently recovered for sedate dog walking – shame I don’t have a sedate dog! Katie, Dash and I walked Sherlock to Manor Park Gardens, so that Sherlock could socialise off-leash. Met a lovely assistance dog called Ringo. Had a good chat with Ringo’s human. Alongside the other benefits of having Ringo (he apparently picks things up and gives them back if you drop them, and fetches the post, papers, books etc when asked), it is clear that having a ready made connection to other dog owners is also a plus. Discovered when we got home that Manor Park Gardens and back was just a tad too far for the knee and (sense breaking out for once) had a nap. Watched (you guessed it!) Ironman 3 with the children.
Level 2 Chi Kung. Microcosmic orbit.
Spent the rest of the day at Lewisham Hospital. The staff were efficient, well organised, thoroughly professional and kind. The results were completely clear. So I’ll just say I’m hugely relieved that it’s over and draw a veil over the gross bits in between.
Felt I needed a bit of back-to-childhood type pampering in the evening, soNick Curnow made mousetraps and cocoa, which we ate in front of Dr Who. Watched Ironman 2 with the children (who find Dr Who too scary).
Level 2 Chi Kung – including standing on right foot where necessary – yay! Microcosmic orbit.
Heavy rain for the bank holiday today so got some bits and pieces done around the house. Would have been a good day to curl up with a book and a mug of hot chocolate except that I was obliged to fast in preparation for hospital appointment tomorrow. Watched Iron Man with the children in the evening. I do love RDJ.
Level 2 Chi Kung – some parts twice, as I was interrupted on the first attempt by Jack appearing in my room and saying “there’s burning downstairs”! Fortunately it was only some thoroughly cremated toast. Microcosmic orbit.
Nick went for a bike ride this morning and in the afternoon I took Kate and Dash to see How To Train Your Dragon 2. Great fun – and Hiccup’s mummy, Valka, is definitely the coolest mummy in cinema, with a very nice line in wing-walking. I have now forsaken Elastigirl and definitely want to be Valka when I grow up.
After we got home, Dash rather surprised us by saying that he thinks that Sherlock is unhappy after his trip to the groomer. I asked if he meant that he thinks Sherlock is cold now that his fur is shorter but he said no, he thinks Sherlock is unhappy because he doesn’t feel comfortable with his new physical appearance, because he no longer feels as cuddly! Sherlock seems happy as a clam to me but until one of us learns to speak dog, it’s impossible to say for sure one way or the other. Since Dash also had a haircut yesterday, it did occur to me that he might be projecting…
Delighted to report dramatic progress on recovery of injured knee. After doing my old favourite, the Six Step Reframe, on knee pain this morning, I was able to comfortably do Level 2 Chi Kung STANDING UP, with hands on floor in the relevant bits! The only remaining modifications being that I had my feet about an inch apart (to accommodate the fact that my right knee is still a little swollen) and, when it came to the part where you stand on one foot, I only did the left, as I thought putting my full weight on my right leg might be pushing it a bit far. By the time I had finished, I felt so good that I decided to take a gentle walk up to the village (my first trip out without having Nick to lean on) and all went well. Other than going fairly slowly, and paying more attention than usual to uneven paving stones etc, it felt pretty normal.
It was so frustrating trying to do ordinary things like unpacking and tidying when every step hurt and felt dangerous – I feel so relieved and grateful to be getting back to normal. In the past, it has always taken weeks to recover from knee injuries, so I can only assume that it is the Chi Kung making the difference. It is rapidly becoming my new Rawleigh’s Ointment – worth trying for whatever ails you!
Meanwhile Nick took Sherlock to the groomer – to the famous Laura this time. We tried to get an appointment back in May but the 23rd of August was the first appointment we could get! Anyway, it seems she was worth waiting for, Sherlock seems happy and looks gorgeous.
Level 2 Chi Kung sitting down. Microcosmic orbit.
A bright sunny, warm-if-you’re-in-the-sun days. Weeded the raised rose bed (raised beds are so great – no strain on the knees!) and supervised Katie in the swimming pool. It was funny watching her motivation to swim overcome her shock at how bloody cold the water was – she put one leg over the side, leaped out again, tried the other leg, leaped out, then decided she might wait until it was warmer. When I said “It won’t get any warmer today – if you are going in today, now’s the time”, she plucked up her courage and took the plunge. I had goose bumps just watching (from a safe distance).
Have felt all day like I’m swimming through waves of intense desire for sleep. I attribute this partly to the knee injury – although I am getting steadily more mobile, moving around without hurting myself requires constant concentration. And today it was aggravated by the fact that the babysitter put the kids to bed really early last night, (whereas we of course went to bed late after the theatre) with the result that Katie appeared in my room early this morning, climbed into bed with me and launched into a long-winded account of a dream she had last night. Every now and then she would poke me and say sharply “Are you listening to me? Because it looks like you’re going to sleep!”
Katie, who is troubled by motion sickness (and attended her first NLP course in the womb), has noticed that singing helps her not to vomit, and has prepared this special anti-motion sickness song.
Level 2 Chi Kung sitting down. Microcosmic orbit.
Katie wanted to have a “summer party” – just for us – she hadn’t invited anyone this time, and decorated the kitchen with pictures of sunflowers, bluebells and honey bees. She was reasonably sanguine when it started raining and readily agreed that we would eat the food in the kitchen and then snuggle up and watch a movie instead of the swimming and trampolining she had originally planned. I heated a wheat-sack and the children fetched quilts and we all snuggled up on the sofa and watched Frozen (again). In the evening, Nick and I were lucky to have tickets to Great Britain – a play about phone hacking which was rehearsed in secret for six months to avoid contempt of court while they waited for the various legal actions to conclude. The play was very good, very sharp and fast, and laugh out loud funny. The only downside was that it turns out there is zero legroom in row B at the Lyttleton Theatre which put a bit of a strain on my injured knee. At interval I arranged with Nick that I would sit on his left for the second half, so that, if necessary, I could stick my right foot out into his leg space and he would understand why. After the performance, he mentioned that I didn’t seem to have taken advantage of this arrangement – I pointed out that I had in fact repeatedly attempted to gently nudge his foot out of the way but he had remained oblivious and I hadn’t liked to try whispering to him as we had already been getting dirty looks from a woman in the row in front, on account of him rustling a sweet packet!
Billie Piper played the Rebekah Brooks character, so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when, queueing for the loo at interval, I turned around and discovered Matt Smith right behind me. Sorry to report that he is no more physically attractive in person than he is on screen – seems like a nice guy though and certainly responded politely when a fan approached him to discuss his performance in American Psycho.