I got the confirmation letter today regarding my appointment to see the consultant next Tuesday, so that is good news as it will be just under two weeks since the surgery. I did watch a couple of episodes of The Good Wife this morning, but have spent the rest of the day marking out and then painting the two vases that I brought home from the studio. I marked them with a Sharpie pen. I experimented with them a while ago, where the pen lines are will be slightly indented and not coloured, so the final effect will be very different.

The vases are quite big, the flat area is about eight and a half inches square. Once I had them marked I sponged some paint over the vases, including over the design.

I have been painting the leaves using two different purple shades. This was after the lighter one, the darker shade is still work in progress. I have spent several hours on them today.

I will probably get the painting finished tomorrow. Darren will drop them off at the studio for me so that they can be glazed and fired.
The walking frame is much better, but it still exhausts me getting around, really need to work on getting fit when I can get out and about again!

Beginning to get a little stir crazy now!! I have watched several episodes of The Good Wife, and I am enjoying them, but don't often watch episode after episode as I have been doing. 
I had a phone call from Scarborough Physio department saying that I have an appointment with the consultant on the 28th and they presumed that i would be getting the cast removed and fitted with a boot. They have made me a provisional appointment on the 2nd March, but want to me phone and re-arrange it if the cast has not been removed. I haven't received the letter yet, but am presuming it will arrive soon.
Spent a lot of the day hoping the walking frame would arrive. It did arrive this afternoon and is very compact, ideal for getting around in my limited space.

I still find getting around very tiring but it is great not to have to keep removing the crutches and then wearing them again.
A while ago I bought a box of twelve jigsaws, varying sizes, 150, 350 and 500 piece puzzles. I decided to do one of the 150 piece ones this afternoon, it is quite small so can do it on the little fold up table.

It didn't take too long and was just right for getting me do something other than watch more tv.

Will pack it away and maybe do another one tomorrow, maybe a 350 piece. Darren is working tomorrow and Tina will be out most of the day, so will need to keep myself occupied. Holby later, Isaac is a really unpleasant character!

Not a lot to report today really. I am enjoying The Good Wife, I have watched four or five episodes now. Darren and Tina have kept me well supplied with drinks, too well almost, as I keep needing to go to the loo which is a real pain! Hopefully the walking frame will arrive soon and I can put the crutches out of the way!
I got the little set of Russian dolls out, they are quite cute and I was surprised that the paints had not dried up. Only six colours, but thought I would get on with them and see how it went.

I carried on and this is how they were before I applied the varnish.

My sister gets me the Peterborough Lions quiz to have a go at every year. This year I actually finished it and sent it off. I asked for a result sheet and they send the form back, that is what is on the table. The theme this year was Out and About in the UK, some very obscure answers but I enjoyed researching it. I actually had two answers wrong so didn't go in the draw for a prize, but it was good to enter. 
I have finished the little dolls now and will give them back to Isobel next time I see them.

The pain is still not too bad although my toes do keep going numb now!

Today has been a good day. Anya drove up from Peterborough and spent four hours with me which was lovely. She came on her own so we had lunch together, Darren had bought me a chilled lasagne that was easy for Anya to get ready when she arrived. Then he had go a very silly cake which we all shared. I am sure the fact that it was pigs in mud was the reason he chose it, as he knows how much I clove pigs.

We watched Sabrina, the Audrey Hepburn film and then had a game of 'Bananas', a word game that we had played at Christmas.

Anya also set up Netflix on my chrome book so that I can watch different series without having to move to change dvds. I have started watching The Good Wife, and have several other programs already marked. Isobel sent up a set of 'Paint your own Russian Dolls', she has had them for some time and thought I might like to paint them for her while I am stuck indoors. They are quite cute, I will take a picture of them another day. I am hoping Anya is well on her way home now, I do hope she didn't get caught up in too much traffic, she his quite a lot as she was approaching Scarborough today. Feeling quite tired, so won't be too late to bed, but doing okay, not too much pain and managing to get around on the crutches when I need to.

I slept fairly well and for much longer than usual, obviously needed to catch up a bit and let some of the drugs work through my body! Darren came up with a cup of tea this morning when I was still asleep, so a good start to the day. Tina came up and sorted my breakfast and they have taken good care of me all day. 
I watched some catch up tv and particularly enjoyed Room 101 which had me giggling away! My friend got me a couple of colouring in puzzle books for when I was laid up, so did colour one page in today and did the word search as well.

A while ago I sent for three rare old films from a site called 'My Rare Films'. This afternoon I watched on called Love Story, filmed in 1944 starring Margaret Lockwood and Stewart Granger. I enjoyed that and I have a couple more to watch another day.
I am feeling pretty good, have moved around as little as possible because my chest is hurting, that is hopping around on crutches and sadly I am no lightweight! So, onward and upward now I have no inclination to be energetic at the moment.

Yesterday Darren drove me to Bridlington Hospital for 11 am so that I could have my  Achilles tendon reconstruction. The hospital and the staff are all very good, I saw the nurses, anaesthetists and the consultant in the morning. I made sure to tell them that I didn't want to be given codeine. I was first down in the afternoon, and after a battle finding my vein for the cannula The mask went on and I didn't know anything else until I was being brought round. Back on the ward and feeling okay, had a cup of tea and a nice dinner in the evening. Didn't do any 'hopping' yesterday, that was saved for today. I had very little sleep, but felt fairly well, and the pain so far had not been too bad. I have a stocking on my right leg and an ankle to knee 'pot' on the left one. Will need to have injections every day for 6 weeks to avoid clotting and problems, but have them and know what to do.

Only had the phone with me and did try to take pictures of the very nice ward but keep getting film mode without trying!! This morning I practised hopping along with the walking frame, and that I managed fairly well. Then the physios took me along to stairs in the hospital, I managed to get down and then up two full flights, but they are very different to the stairs at home. But I was passed as able to do it and Darren collected me, I was there less that 24 hours!
When we got home I realised how ill equipped for the challenge I was. I almost fell at the gate as no one had shown my how to go up a step with no rails! The man next door had arrived when we did and he and Darren half lifted me over the two steps into the porch and then the house! The stairs at the hospital have a proper hand rail, the perfect height. We had the old fashioned banisters, higher and harder to hold. Then, at the turn in the stairs there is nothing to hold onto! I was in quite a state by this time and decided to crawl.....Then crawled the rest of the way up which was much safer and I managed fairly well. But needless to say, I won't be going down for the next two weeks!! Now feeling quite relaxed and glad to be in my own environment. 

I caught the bus to town and went via the studio as Sandy left her scarf behind when she dropped the pottery off to me yesterday. From there I went into town, managed to get some new cartridges for my water filter which I was really pleased about.  I have had to get new filters several times, not because they were worn out or damaged, but because the model has been discontinued and the new cartridges don't fit! Got the bus home. I took photos of the stairs which I won't bore you with, but just going to try and show them the challenges I will have when I come home. Then I got the bagged packed and did a bit of straightening up so that it is relatively ship shape when I get home, providing I actually make it up here!
Tina was going to take me to The Mere to feed the geese and ducks so I got a generous helping of the special pellets ready for each of us. We were mobbed! Don't think many people can have been feeding them and there was very little grass left. We have never seen the birds so aggressive. The geese were attacking the other geese and swans, the swans were retaliating, at one point one had a mouth full of feathers!! This picture was taken when the others were feeding and not trying to take the bags off us!

There were some signs of Spring on the way, which was lovely to see, I haven't been anywhere a bit wild for a while.

The Mere looks lovely at any time of the year.

We had a short walk and some of the birds swam alongside in case we suddenly produced more food. One of the cygnets had brown markings rather than grey, which I don't think I have seen before.

We had a drive along the sea front on the way back, we had hoped to see the murmuration but we missed it. Apparently it has been seen regularly from the south bay. Tina parked up and we had a cup of tea in the car and shared a portion of chips. A good way to end off the little trip. While Tina was collecting the drinks I took a picture of the bay with mad surfers from the car, so not great, but you can see they were out!

I am now packed and as ready as I can be. Earlier this evening Blue decided to sit on my lap and stayed for almost an hour. She has not been a lap girl really but no doubt she will hunt me out again now! Won't be blogging tomorrow night, maybe the night after if I actually get home, but that one is in the balance at the moment.