MY ankle is still a bit tender. I am having to walk slowly and carefully and concentrate on driving in order to reduce the need for use of the clutch. It’s strange how a single joint can make such a difference to your life. As I re-read that sentence, I realise what a complex language English is. It sounds like I’m confessing to cannabis use. Or I might just be talking about a piece of roasted meat, a place where electrical wires meet, ditto for water or gas pipes. I may even, if I were Raymond Chandler, use the word in relation to an establishment offering hospitality. I think that’s about it.

Why, I have to ask, do we make one word do so much when we appear to have other words, like “engative” that seem perfectly good words in search of a meaning.

Anyway, back to ankles. I went to work this morning with the intention of asking the owner to walk to the Post Office this afternoon because my ankle didn’t feel up to it. Unfortunately , he called in sick shortly after I got there as he has a cold and wants to try not to spread it. Seemed like a good idea, as I have enough problems without a cold.

I still can’t, for instance, get into my Open Learn Account, and I’m still waiting for Julia’s Christmas presents to arrive. It’s not serious, but it is irritating. IT’s also irritating when you limp across to the Post Office and find a note on the door saying “Back in Five Minutes”. They weren’t. We all, when running shops on our own, have to do things like use the toilet, so we stick signs on the door. I appreciate that. I do however think that a proper note should say when you will be back. We waited in the rain for longer than five minutes (I had no choice – we need to get the parcels off as the Post Office no longer opens on Saturdays). As soon as the door was opened I charged in, making sure nobody could get past me. It’s a good thing I did, because having handed over my three parcels I noted there were eight people in the queue behind me. Eight!

I slowed down as I walked back as knee and ankle started to protest and on the second part of the crossing – the bit with the slope and adverse camber – I was so slow that the lights changed while I was still crossing. I really am going to have to address the weight question and relieve some pressure on my joints. I suppose a future full of salad beckons…

Compared to getting run over, I suppose salad isn’t too bad.

The tranquil pond is meant to calm my panic at the thought of a lifetime of salad. Tranquil stained glass – ditto.

Stained Glass from Ely