Daily Drivel

4 weeks later...

It's now 4 weeks since I broke my leg so I thought I'd write a bit of an update. My ankle is still a bit swollen and I still can't quite put my foot flat on the floor and stand 'square' but I can at least put it on the floor - not with any real weight on it though and it still feels kinda weird. So - I still can't walk at all and hopping around is getting pretty frustrating. On the plus side, I've not had to take any painkillers for about a week now. I spoke to an occupational therapist/physio today and he said it's probably too early for me to be able to put weight on, although as far as the bone-healing is concerned, it's ok for me to do so if I am able. The fibula isn't responsible for a lot of weight-bearing. About 10% apparently.Anyway - he said I just have to keep resting it for a while longer.

So - I guess my main problem is the nasty sprain to my ankle. I have definitely got a little more movement in my ankle (but I really do mean little! You tend to notice tiny changes when you're desperate for something to get better!) and it doesn't feel as stiff as it was when I first had the cast taken off 2 weeks ago but I think it's going to be a while before I will be able to walk propery again (I'm so hoping I'm wrong!).

Have to say with the mega hot weather today I'm glad I'm not in a cast!

Baby robins...

Our resident robin has been bringing up 3 babies in our garden (although we don't think the nest was in our garden - they have been here quite a while now). A and I have both been trying to get some photos of them over the weekend. The babies come quite close and don't seem bothered by us at all!

 

Cute eh?!

Just doodling...

I did this a week or so ago - while I still had the purple cast. Black ink pen and Inktense pencils. Sorry for the poor photo!

Prescott Hill Climb

3 weeks ago we were having a lovely day at Prescott Hill Climb and I was really enjoying all the photographic opportunities....until I broke my leg :-(

Today I've been going through the photos I took. I still feel really disappointed that we missed so much of the action but I think I got some nice shots. Unfortunately it was quite overcast - a bit of sun would have been nice. I've converted quite a few of the images to B&W as I think they work better. There was a wonderful range of cars on display - the day had a French theme but there were all sorts racing up the hill.

I took a lot of photos seeing as we missed about half of the day - and I'm posting quite a lot here. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get out and do some more photography so I thought I'd bore you with this lot! As I had so many photos I decided to have a play around with the Print module in Lightroom 3 to see if I could create some layouts to combine multiple images into a photo mosaic, like you can with Mosaic Maker. It was actually pretty straightforward to create a basic template.

I loved the details on some of the cars - they are so much more interesting than most of today's offerings! The copper is so pretty. One of the cars had a cute little frog on the bonnet and a lot of cars had little temperature dials mounted at the end of the bonnet.

There was a lot of interest in the Morgan 3 wheeler. It is pretty cool!

 
 

This isn't the greatest shot but I love the car - it's so colourful!

  

Taken from the same spot - I like the feeling of speed in this one

 

Another mosaic

 
 
Check out the bulge on the driver's side tyre on this car!

 

I haven't quite got the spacing right on this next one. It's taken me a while to get the hang of how to do these layouts and get the images the size I want them etc. I'm definitely going to do a bit more experimenting with the print module!

  

This was the last photo I took that day. I'd like to go back when I'm better - it was great fun and a great place to take photos. Just make sure you wear sensible shoes (I wore flat shoes - I'll probably be wearing my walking boots next time!) and watch where you are walking!

 

Healthy eating....

Well - there were raspberries in there somewhere - and 0% fat greek yoghurt. And extra fattening cream custard. Yum!

Well, it made me laugh!

One of my friends came and spent the day with me a few days after I broke my leg. She asked if I needed anything - so I asked her if she could bring me a couple of flannels. We don't really use them here as I always have a shower. Anyway - she got me a nice plain blue flannel and this special one. Just so I wouldn't use the wrong flannel for erm, the wrong end?!

Cast off!

So, I had my 2nd visit to the fracture clinic today - 2 weeks and 2 days since I broke my leg. Had an xray and then saw a Consultant who said they were going to take my cast off so he could check out my ligaments/muscles and if they were ok I would just need a brace. A and I were both quite surprised at this - I suppose everyone associates broken limbs with being in plaster for 6ish weeks. Guess I'm old fashioned?! So - bit of prodding and such from the Consultant and he declared that I didn't need another cast and I now just have one of these braces: http://www.medi.de/en/patient/products/joint-stabilisation/ankle-orthosis/mstepr.html which I have to say is quite scarey. Just looks like a couple of shin pads and a bit of velcro :-/

He promised the fracture won't move - although no sign of any callouses yet (reckon I have some forming on my bum though from sitting down so much ROFL!). So - guess I just have to trust him. Feeling rather 'exposed' and a bit nervous at the moment. It is much lighter though. When they said about a brace I was expecting a much bigger moon boot thing which is what most of the people seemed to be wearing. When I asked about starting to put weight on it he just said to start 'when it feels ok'. I don't go back now for another 4 weeks.

A bit of crochet...

So, despite the fact that I am spending ridiculous amounts of time sat on my backside right now, I don't actually seem to be getting a lot of knitting/crochet done! I have added quite a few rows to my granny stripe blanket but it's no where near finished. Might be something to do with my lack of attention span and desire to start new things. Oops.

I started this shawl/wrap on Saturday. I've already started about 3 things with this yarn - all knitted - and I didn't like how any of them were looking. So, I decided to try a crochet pattern instead. It's hurting my brain a bit but I'm getting the hang of it. I have made a mistake on one of the repeats but the yarn is a bugger  to frog so I decided to leave it. Please excuse poor photo and zimmer frame background! Can't be bothered to edit my photos on the netbook - it's almost outa memory and can't cope! I'm sure it will look much nicer when it's blocked!

 

 

Sock scrap squares

I have to say, it is pretty darn tedious having to sit on the sofa all day long. Yes, I suppose it's nice to have time to sit knit / crochet without feeling guilty (although I DO feel guilty, even though there's nothing else I can easily do at the moment) but I can't do exactly as I please. I can't pop to the shop, go outside in the garden, run the hoover round etc. etc. Very frustrating to say the least!

So - I've been doing a bit of work with my sock scraps. I've made 4 very small granny squares (I'm using  3.5mm hook) and then joined them. DC'd round the 4 joined squares and then done a round of trebles in the main colour. I have to admit I've not put a lot of thought into how this is going to come together. Nevermind. It's keeping me amused! Looking a bit wonky but I think it will be ok when blocked!

I haven't done many yet! This is going to take a looooong time!

Now for a leg update - I only took 4 painkillers yesterday, down from 7 on Wednesday so I guess that is good. I've just taken my first 2 of the day.

Pretty flowers...

Some of my visitors have brought me lovely flowers - they have really cheered up the fireplace! I thought I'd have a go at drawing them with my Derwent 'Inktense' water soluble pencils. They were a Christmas pressie from A and I've not used them very much. Excuse the poor photos - taken one handed with my little camera and not in the best light!

Didn't want you all thinking I've been sleeping all day!