Hopalong Cassidy Returns!

Unlike me, the original Hopalong didn't, it seems, hop at all. I, on the other hand, had a minor op on my right foot last night: only in outpatients, so I'm back home, but it turns out that hopping is incredibly hard work!

What makes the set-up even more fun is that, the afternoon we got back from The Lakes, John got zapped with sciatica, so he too is hobbling everywhere, with a stick, like 75 year old. What a pair or cripples.

I had a local anesthetic, so was fully conscious for the four injections delivered between my toes, the last with a needle similar in girth to a soldering iron! No pain, but it was fascinatingly ghastly watching the doctor's face, straining with the effort of forcing it in through my skin.

Then, as it penetrated, I got that nasty sensation of 'sudden give' that I imagine you get when ramming a stake into the chest of a vampire. Nice.


I took my sketchbook, with the intention of taking my mind off proceedings, by drawing the doctor at work. I wasn't in a very good position though and, to be honest, I didn't want to distract him. It came in handy for the obligatory delay in the waiting room though.

I should be able to walk again by Thursday, so not too bad. Bit sad though that the garden is blanketed in thick, virgin snow, but neither of us are capable of getting out there to build a snowman. Bum.


At least we are cosseted from the fact that Sheffield appears to have ground to a very slippery standstill.