UPDATE AT LAST !!!

I am sorry to say that I have recently fallen behind in keeping up with my previously regular BLOG.

A question of health is the cause – a long overdue hernia operation – which has now thankfully put the matter right , although I am not fully operational just yet and must take things easy for another 3 or 4 weeks.  Not that this will make much difference to my everyday life as I tend not to do very much physical stuff nowadays in any case -or any other kind of stuff to be quite honest.

My Operation;

Right in the middle of the mixture of old stalls that is presently the old Whitechapel Market, a gleaming spectacle of shining steel and  glass rises into the sky- a bit like the Empire State Building in New York , but this one  in the heart of the East End of London is not more than half a mile from where I was born 78 years ago.  It is in fact the new LONDON HOSPITAL and full of the latest high tech medical equipment and expert staff and last week I had an inside view of what goes on inside this superb new medical centre when I was admitted for my small operation .  Outside it’s all a bit of a mess at the moment , but a massive amount of change is already underway and what was the old market will eventually become  the centrepiece of a  5 year multi million pound regeneration scheme.

Abut half an hour after my admission, when I was comfortably settled in my hospital bed I had a visit from a charming and attractive smartly dressed woman in high heels who introduced herself as Mrs (indicating to me that she was a consultant and not a Doctor) , that she was Head of Surgery  and that she would be carrying out my operation the next day. I have to say I was very impressed by it all and filled with confidence. She seemed very young for such a position and I couldn’t help but mention it to her. She appeared pleased but slightly embarrassed by my comment , but obviously content enough to respond that she was not so young and had only recently had her 52^nd birthday.  She was I think of Anglo/Asian origin and could have easily passed for about 30.

My operation went well and this very attractive lady  came along to see me the following morning – as did dear Barbara both of which  cheered me up no end.  The operation itself was an unmitigated success and I needed very little aftercare not even any painkillers which were offered me.  I did have an unpleasant side effect – it must be one of my weak points -  with urine retention and had to have a bag on for a few days but fingers crossed the whole thing now seems to be healing OK .

Back home we are currently engaged on a vast clearing out operation. I have already binned a lot of paper stuff but there is loads more to go.  Some – like my old albums of Art and Erotica stuff , Punch Prints and etc; will go on EBay when I get the chance and will raise some cash for one or another of Barbara’s special funds or sell at a boot fair and what’s left will be chucked.

We had a little scare recently after Barbara had her regular breast scan and she had to have it again. In fact it was a big scare really as they don’t tell you what’s going on until the very end. Thank goodness it was nothing at all , just another look at the scan to make sure all was well.  And it was as Barbara was diagnosed by her consultant to be in overall first  class condition and as fit as a fiddle .  Quite remarkable news and a time for celebration - which we will be doing very shortly.

At present there is not much time for celebration as Barbara has recently made comprehensive plans for a complete redecoration of the lounge , a whole lot of new furniture and upholstery and a paved patio for the back garden , which will greatly reduce the amount of weekly maintenance for her.  I just wish she would get a part time gardener but at the moment she seems to enjoy it – so ??? 

This fantastic looking nine storey building is the r stuff , and am hoping to sell a reasonable amount of my completed albums covering the subjects of Art, Erotica, the Eccentric  and etc;. which I will put on e-bay as soon as I get round to it.   But there is still a vast amount of archive material to go through , photograph and list in order to get it onto e-bay.  It’s a lot of work but it has to be done and at the end of the day a fair bit of cash will have been raised and the office will look a lot tidier.  The next clear up will be the computer and the accumulation of files on it that are no longer needed.

My Books:

I have already written the two volumes of my autobiography and with the help of Peter May ( who described himself as “ my editor “ ) they have been put on Lulu and so far one of each has been printed. I don’t know quite what has gone on lately as I can’t seem to get any info from Peter May but I am going to try to persuade Bloomsbury Publishing to publish them.   I have just discovered that volume 1 is on Amazon available as a kindle version and a paperback.

 God only knows how they got there or where the money for them will go but I will eventually find out and in the meantime will attempt to get the second book published on Amazon too.

hopefully I will find out eventually.  

Fashion in Shoes.

Unlike dear Barbara I am not really much of a fashionista, although I do like to wear nice well made clothes and shoes. But like Barbara I also have different styles of clothing to go with the lives we lead in three different places – London , Suffolk and The south of France.  Some of it is new , modern and up to date , but the rest of my wardrobe is quite old or even ancient although well kept , looks good and is still very serviceable.  A good example are my brown leather boots with a Cuban heel.

 Hand made in Portugal by an old wizened man of an indecipherable age , I actually watched him at work sat outside his tiny shop at an ancient glue encrusted bench before ordering a pair from him.   All this took place 41 years ago and they cost me the equivalent of £4 in English money.  The leather used was of the quality of hand made shoes which in the UK would have cost even in those days around £600 a pair – nowadays around £2000.

The boots still shine up beautifully and its easy to see the quality of both the materials used and the skills of the maker.  I have only once needed to have them attended to apart from regular cleaning and a good spit and polish.   Last year I succumbed to modernity and had a thin rubber sole and heel stuck on but it hasn’t altered the overall appearance. 

I can’t remember which is the oldest – my superb Italian overcoat, made in Rome and bought in Milan – made of alpaca – or my boots ?. The alpaca lives in the high mountains of South America – The Andes – so no wonder its wool is practically impenetrable.  Wrapped up tightly in this coat which is mid calf length and fits me like a glove I can withstand  just about any weather conditions in this country as long as my head is well covered. 

                                       Back home we are currently engaged on a vast clearing out operation. I have already binned a lot of paper stuff but there is loads more to go.  Some – like my old albums of Art and Erotica stuff , Punch Prints and etc; will go on EBay when I get the chance and will raise some cash for one or another of Barbara’s special funds or sell at a boot fair and what’s left will be chucked.