Thursday

I'm feeling better following the couple of falls I had recently.   I saw the doctor on Tuesday of last week because I was still in a great deal of pain, so much so that when I went for the blood test she thought I should have, a nurse and doctor there decided I needed an x-ray of my spine.   By the time |I got home I was so convinced I had seriously damaged some vertebrae that would need delicate life threatening surgery, I almost packed my hospital bag.  But as I say, I'm feeling better today having started the medication she prescribed, and I am walking about rather than shuffling.  But I am feeling nervous of going out so have decided that I have got to go into Summertown tomorrow before I lose my confidence.

Following the blood test the doctor prescribed several medications including folic acid.   She asked if I ate green vegetables and expressed shock/horror when I told her I didn't, hence the folic acid.   I don't think I've quite readjusted to our national cuisine of meat and two veg., particularly the two veg.   But I will make an effort to eat some greens.

So the last few days I've been mostly watching tv and reading.   I'm reading a very thick, but interesting biography, nearly 700 pages, of George VI, and I'm only up to his experiences as a naval cadet in WW1.   I was 13 when he died in 1952 and still remember the shock when our headmaster came into the classroom to break the news of his very sad and sudden death at the age of 56, he was much loved.  He brought the country through WW11, refusing to leave London when it was suggested he go somewhere safer;   reaching out to  those  who had been bombed out, picking his way through the debris of the bomb sites.

It is a well known fact that he was terribly, painfully, shy and never wanted to be king but he didn't have a choice when his brother wanted to marry a divorced American (the offence was being divorced, not American)  Whenever I read or hear it said that he (Edward VIII) gave up the throne "for the woman he loved"  I think "what rubbish".   I don't believe he wanted to be king either, he was having too much fun being Prince of Wales  but  the scheming Wallis Simpson had set her heart on being queen and could hardly ditch him when he was told he couldn't marry a divorced woman.   Rather ironic considering the divorces there have been in the Royal Family since, including the heir to the throne.

Still on the subject of the Royal Family I was astonished to read that the Queen has her own deeply private, personal Facebook account with a secret friend list.   How does that work I wonder.  The two people she reportedly chats to most are Princess Anne and her racing manager, John Warren.   She also has a lightweight smart phone impervious to hackers, which causes me to wonder why all phones can't be impervious to hackers.   And I am sure, right now, every computer whiz kid in the country is trying to hack into her Facebook account.

Well, I seem to have gone on rather, so will hit 'publish'.