Busy, festive and with chairs of the proper height.
Things are starting to get busy. On Wednesday, I got the last of my present shopping done, and met the brother for a drink in a bar crowded with the sort of people who only drink at Christmas. He very kindly offered me the use of their granny flat (currently occupied by my nephew) if I need more help when I get out of hospital, and gave me a pile of presents to open on Christmas day. I gave him a box of gingerbread daleks, and a CD of terrible Christmas music.
Yesterday, after the pre-op checkup last week, an occupational therapist from the hospital came round to count the stairs and measure all my chairs. The wicker armchair in the living-room, the two folding chairs and the bed are all ok to use after the operation, but I shouldn't use my height-adjustable desk chair because it swivels. She gave me a device for sitting in the bath to wash without bending my leg, and told me that a man will come round from the council in the new year to put handles on my bath and by the toilet and to replace the stair-rail that I've been putting off fixing myself for months. Apparently, I'm much better off being in Islington than in Haringey, just up the road, because I'll get all this stuff free (if you don't count council tax). Also, I'll get something called a perching stool, that I can perch on while cooking or working. All this gives me the worrying impression that I'm to have the operation a lot sooner than I'd expected, perhaps in January, rather than February as I'd hoped, although they haven't given me a firm date yet. I must sort out a go-bag of nightdresses and so forth, just in case. I had the bright idea of bringing some of the tapestry kits I've accumulated over the years and never made up, and have also put aside a number of large books. Apparently I'll be in for 5 days to a week, but they won't let me home until I can go up and down stairs unassisted. Thank God for the NHS (hope I'll still be saying this after the op).
In the afternoon, I met up with Lauren from my London Met class at the V&A. Their Christmas tree this year is a dark fairytale production of tall undecorated pine, topped by a rather scary android angel with dark feather wings, and wreathed in brambles at the bottom. Standing close to it, I could hear undergrowth rustling, birdsong and a tinkly music-box. I think I could also smell woodsmoke, but that might just have been the tree itself. On consulting the museum website, I see that the whole thing is based on The Little Match Girl, one of the less cheery Christmas stories. Also in the main entrance hall was a beautiful sort-of-star, made of black or dark blue crystals strung on nylon thread, so that it changed shape as you moved around it.
We had a small lunch, then pottered around the Japanese collection, where we found a little box with a smile, and then the costume gallery, where we stumbled on a stunning collection of ikat robes from Central Asia, in magnificent reds and yellows, with touches of dark blue or a sharp green.
After that, saving the contemporary craft show for later, we crossed the road to the Natural History Museum, where the skating rink has been set up again this year, accompanied by a giant snow globe you can be photographed in, and a clutch of wooden sheds selling food and gifts. We sat in the upstairs bar, drank mulled wine, and watched people falling over on the ice for a while. The weather is much colder than last year, making the whole thing far more successful.
My photography mojo seems to have deserted me, and some of the pictures are rather out of focus, especially the angel on the tree. I think when I go back, I'll try the ikat stuff again, using a flash. It is allowed, I think, although all my conservating instincts are against it.
Today, I did a lot of food shopping in Waitrose, which has the most civilised seasonal queues, and squeezed in a bit of work. Now, I have to finish a striped sock monkey, and cook a lot of chicken/pumpkin/nut pilaff for Jade and her sister, who are coming over tonight (the monkey is for their youngest sister, so I'd better get cracking on it).
ETA - I've put the pictures in a more accessible form now.
Yesterday, after the pre-op checkup last week, an occupational therapist from the hospital came round to count the stairs and measure all my chairs. The wicker armchair in the living-room, the two folding chairs and the bed are all ok to use after the operation, but I shouldn't use my height-adjustable desk chair because it swivels. She gave me a device for sitting in the bath to wash without bending my leg, and told me that a man will come round from the council in the new year to put handles on my bath and by the toilet and to replace the stair-rail that I've been putting off fixing myself for months. Apparently, I'm much better off being in Islington than in Haringey, just up the road, because I'll get all this stuff free (if you don't count council tax). Also, I'll get something called a perching stool, that I can perch on while cooking or working. All this gives me the worrying impression that I'm to have the operation a lot sooner than I'd expected, perhaps in January, rather than February as I'd hoped, although they haven't given me a firm date yet. I must sort out a go-bag of nightdresses and so forth, just in case. I had the bright idea of bringing some of the tapestry kits I've accumulated over the years and never made up, and have also put aside a number of large books. Apparently I'll be in for 5 days to a week, but they won't let me home until I can go up and down stairs unassisted. Thank God for the NHS (hope I'll still be saying this after the op).
In the afternoon, I met up with Lauren from my London Met class at the V&A. Their Christmas tree this year is a dark fairytale production of tall undecorated pine, topped by a rather scary android angel with dark feather wings, and wreathed in brambles at the bottom. Standing close to it, I could hear undergrowth rustling, birdsong and a tinkly music-box. I think I could also smell woodsmoke, but that might just have been the tree itself. On consulting the museum website, I see that the whole thing is based on The Little Match Girl, one of the less cheery Christmas stories. Also in the main entrance hall was a beautiful sort-of-star, made of black or dark blue crystals strung on nylon thread, so that it changed shape as you moved around it.
We had a small lunch, then pottered around the Japanese collection, where we found a little box with a smile, and then the costume gallery, where we stumbled on a stunning collection of ikat robes from Central Asia, in magnificent reds and yellows, with touches of dark blue or a sharp green.
After that, saving the contemporary craft show for later, we crossed the road to the Natural History Museum, where the skating rink has been set up again this year, accompanied by a giant snow globe you can be photographed in, and a clutch of wooden sheds selling food and gifts. We sat in the upstairs bar, drank mulled wine, and watched people falling over on the ice for a while. The weather is much colder than last year, making the whole thing far more successful.
My photography mojo seems to have deserted me, and some of the pictures are rather out of focus, especially the angel on the tree. I think when I go back, I'll try the ikat stuff again, using a flash. It is allowed, I think, although all my conservating instincts are against it.
Today, I did a lot of food shopping in Waitrose, which has the most civilised seasonal queues, and squeezed in a bit of work. Now, I have to finish a striped sock monkey, and cook a lot of chicken/pumpkin/nut pilaff for Jade and her sister, who are coming over tonight (the monkey is for their youngest sister, so I'd better get cracking on it).
ETA - I've put the pictures in a more accessible form now.