March 2017

It’s like this you see.  I don’t believe in magic or miracles.  Well, I didn’t until the 6^th when I had a cataract removed from my right eye.  Oh dear, I seem to have spent last month telling you all about my illness etc. Honestly, I’m not a hypochondriac; it’s just that the date came through for my eye and I was certainly not going to back out of it. So, lots of miracles and magic all on the one day.  Part of my reason for recounting this is because it might be that some of you are going to have this procedure and I just thought I might be able to stop you worrying.  No injections, lovely people and even a ‘hand holder’ for anyone who might be a bit anxious.  I turned that offer down because they couldn’t guarantee George Clooney.  Within 20 minutes I was having a coffee and cheese sandwich.  The vision in my right eye is now perfect without spectacles.  Of course, it does mean that I still need glasses for my left eye but I’ve had plain glass put in the right side.  Just waiting now for the left eye to be done then I’ll only need reading glasses.  From a vanity point of view, it does mean that I won’t be able to ‘hide’ behind my glasses any more but hopefully a liberal helping of eye makeup will disguise the bags under my eyes!! The only other downside is that I’ve had to give up all my dance and exercise classes for two weeks.  Fortunately, it’s not gardening weather because that too is on the banned list.

On the 8^th, I went to my monthly U3A meeting where we heard a fascinating talk given by a member of the National Trust.  Seems there’s no shortage of money there.  They have bought a wonderful property in Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire called Stonewall Cottage.  The photos show it’s nothing like a cottage but an impressive house in wonderful surroundings built for an artist involved in the Arts and Crafts Movement along with people such as William Morris.  Absolutely breathtaking and so it should be at £1.48 million.  Still, it’s part of our heritage and well worth saving.  I wonder how many of our modern buildings will fall into the ‘well worth saving’ category.

Also been given a real challenge by the Creative Writing Group which is to plan a short play with four characters on the theme of Risk and Innovation.  Exactly!  I’ve decided to sketch something out using Professor Stephen Hawking’s device which permits him to ‘speak’ through his computer.  I’ve done some research and he uses a muscle in his cheek to create the impulse of speech. Of course, this is another advanced medical miracle which will improve the quality of life for so many people.  Such a clever idea but I won’t be going into the technical side of things.  I’ll use a Dragon’s Den setting somehow.  Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time!

It seems that another wonderful invention is having a sad impact.  I was horrified by the news that a whale had been washed up and it was discovered that it died because of eating a variety of plastic which had found its way into the sea.  It led me to do a little research on the litter problem.   It seems that UK spends approximately £10 million each year on clearing up rubbish.  Just think of all the good causes that £10M could aid rather than throwing it away on what has been thrown away.  I’ll try to make sure that whinging doesn’t become a regular feature of my natter but we can’t deny things that are part of our lives, can we?

“20^th was a date for which I’d been waiting; exactly a fortnight after my cataract operation and the all clear to resume exercise and dance programmes.  So life returns to near normal on that count – well, as near to normal by my standards anyway!

In spite of the uncertainties of the weather now, I think there’s an optimistic feeling of looking forward to warmer days, more daylight and the earth returning to life.  I’ll be starting serious gardening this weekend. It’ll be wonderful to leave the curtains open for longer each day and I’ve chosen two Awareness days for March; firstly the 20^th which is officially the first day of Spring and the 25^th when the clocks go forward. I hope there’ll be an extra spring in your step by the time I write again.