Day 69 FED UP

I know I should not be so impatient, but I am really fed up with this sort of intermediate time ...

• I can walk, but not to far or very fast
• I can cycle at the gym, but not on my own bike
• I can get up and down stairs, but only with the help of bannisters
• I can get in and out of the car, but only if there is enough space to open the door to it's full extent

Moan, Moan, Moan !!

Ok Ok - I know it's going to take time, but I wish it would go a bit faster !!

It's weird, but I don't remember being impatient as a baby

Day 68 Bugger................

Both tyres were flat after not being used for 10 weeks, so pumped them up, checked the saddle height and mounted my trusty stead.....

and AUWWWW !

Raised the saddle a notch and tried again=still auww !!

But at least I didn't fall off !



When I looked at my diary for the other knee, seven years ago, I was actually cycling after ten weeks, even if it was not very comfortable.

He Ho - back to the gym and try again next week

Day 67 Yoga & Zen

Methinks my yoga days are over. Sitting in the half lotus position was bad enough with one knee replacement, but with two it's probably impossible.

But I expect I will still be able to manage the 'Corpse Pose"

Or make adjustments to some asanas which don't involve to much knee bending....

I tried Zen meditation (catch the fly !) in 2008, but the extended sitting position was agonising and not at all conducive of meditation at all !

For Dutch readers : Zen in Rotterdam

Zengroep Rotterdam (recommended)

Zen Nederland

Learn about Chakra's
do the test !

Day 66 Housemaids Knee

This was an affliction that affected a lot of woman in the previous century

They have to be down on their knees scrubbing floors and this would cause them a lot of pain as time went on

Luckily nowadays we have moved on through these variations:

 

To this ultimate solution...

 

 I expect other professions get is too...

           

  

Japanese tea ceremony


Zen meditation... (more about zen tomorrow)

Day 65 Beauty and the Beast

Knees are not always the most beautiful part of the body.......

Knobbly ones

the photo on the right is from a "Knobbly Knees' competition at a Butlins holiday camp in 1940

Famous knees :
Marilyn of course :~))

Thin knees:
                                       Twiggy

Chubby baby knees

                                    Artificial limb

 

Wooden knees



No knees Woman who lost her knees and had them replaced with a mermaids tail

Day 64 work

I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things but find that I am still tired out after to much brain or pysical exertion... I tend to drop of in the afternoon !

But after being involved in a somewhat difficult project for the last couple of years, there is now light at the end of the tunnel !

So I've been picking up an old project that is close to my heart.

It concerns a computer program for repeat offenders. A very small percentage of them are responsible for a disproportionally large number of crimes committed. In America 6% of this type of  criminal commits 70% of the crimes.
Statistics for Britain and Holland are similar.

There are five things, for me, that influence job satisfaction: The work itself, the location with regard to travelling time, the salary, ones colleagues and of course what the coffee is like. If these are all in balance life is perfect, but if one aspect is too much out of balance, life can be hell.

Day 63 Blowing my own trumpet

Great strides were made today on the exercise bike at the physio.... Three weeks ago I started with the saddle about as high as it would go. It was lower the 2nd week, and today I managed to drop two notches :~))








I'll be pumping up my real bike tyres at the weekend for a practise ride in our street

And I won't be buying an exercise bike for home use !

I'll soon be out there in my shiny yellow rain cape..

Day 62 Tea, pills or needles ?

I opted for a new knee, but I could have tried all sorts of alternatives.......

Cupping
An ancient Chinese form of treatment whereby cup are heated to form a vacuum. The cup is placed on the body to draw blood to the affected area and so relieve the pain (That's my theory that is...)

Modern 'cups' and ancient ones
(Votive table representing cupping and bleeding instruments from Temple of Asclepius (360 BC ) at Athens)

Glucosamine  A supplement to help cartilage demise. Some studies say it's effects are no different than with a placebo, but works for me :~)

Acupuncture Another ancient Chinese treatment of inserting and manipulating needles into various points on the body to relieve pain

Magnets A belief in the healing power of magnets has been around since ancient Greece. The theory is that they increase blood flow to the area.....

    One one of these twice a day ?

Day 61 Playing "Kneesies"

As a symbol of vulnerability, the knee has also been a point of erotic encounter, especially as the place where the first touch between two people occurs.

Playing ‘kneesies’, for instance, meant rubbing or touching knees in a flirtatious and surreptitious manner, especially while seated where such activity would be concealed, as under a dining table.

Eric Rohmer's film Claire's Knee tells the story of an older man infatuated by a younger woman; her knee is the first focus of his desire when he encounters her on a ladder in an orchard.

Fashions which exposed women's knees were considered daring and risqué in the 1920s — a sign of new freedoms; however, by the 1940s short pants were acceptable for both men and women.

And in the 70's Hot Pants were all the rage.
I wore them myself :~))

Day 60 Disappointment

The photo session was unfortunatly cancelled because the photographer was ill....  We will make a new date for September

BUT we all made the most of the day anyway and got together, swapped cuttings, exchanged magazines, ate Jannie's fantastic apple pie, visited the local garden center and had a really nice afternoon

Some of us took our own photo's

If you want to take better pictures of your flowers and garden, take a look at Clive Nichols amazing site

Kneewise it's now just carrying on with the exercises etc....

But I'll stop before I get legs like these !

Day 59 Becoming famous...

A couple of years ago, a group of friends started a small gardening group.

It's called the "StekkenGekken" which literally translated means the "Cutting Crazy's".

Several members have huge collections of their favorite plants, like pelagoniums, cacti/succulents, hosta's. The rest have more general tastes, but we are all a tad excentric in our own way !

Plants are so cheap here in Holland that a lot of people just buy plants etc at the garden centre instead of sowing seed or taking cuttings.
Our group actually 'gardens' in the British sense of the word :~))

One of our group, Loeki, is well known for her 'Hosta garden' and takes part every year in the Rotterdam 'Verborgen Tuinen' (Secret Gardens) There have been articles about her and the garden in a couple of magazines and she will be on TV next year too !

One of the journalists heard about us and is doing a piece about us for a national garden magazine.

So we are all going to meet up at a members garden today (Saturday) to have our picture taken !!