A consumate entertainer

Today was the day for Mum's second hand operation. We kept busy all morning and then drove to the RVI, where we were very lucky with a car parking space. (Phew!)

As usual, the staff on the Hand Surgery Day Unit were delightful and very careful and considerate about Mum's needs. We were a bit doubtful about the young anaesthetist - he called Mum "sweetheart" in nearly every sentence - and this doubt turned out to be accurate. He had difficulty putting in the regional block. Mum had a senior consultant last time and she was able to describe the difference!

The operation has gone well but was more complicated than we expected. When the surgeon opened up the offending finger, the tendon was working fine. He concluded that he had overtightened it in the hand during the last operation, so had to open up the previous op site to correct this.

Mum was cheerful but very wobbly on her return home and was fairly easily persuaded to go to bed.

While she had the operation, I walked into the centre of the city. First I met a delightful 90 year old man who was sitting on a new hospital bench, which we both admired. He had come for a check up after breaking his neck in November. He told me how he climbed out of bed to find that one leg had gone to sleep, so he fell heavily, knocked the TV down and landed head first in the wall, creating a hole!! What did he do next? Call 999? Of course not. He crawled back to bed until the morning and then rang his son, and seems none the worse for it.

Out came the camera to take his photo - and I had no card. Three batteries and no card. I did not even have the wit to use my 'phone. Duh!

In Northumberland Street, it was lively as usual. There was a piper outside M & S. Then further down an enthusiastic crowd gathered around this young man. He entertained us with his excellent football skills. Here he is skipping whilst bouncing the ball on his head.

The extra another of him, this time in mono. I particularly like the people in the background in both images.

Now I need to sort out the hedgehog banquet - usually Mum's job - and the cats. Mum was in a lot of pain after dinner; I see she is now fast asleep. The analgesics must have worked.