Antigua Penny Puce

 I have been persuing my list of secondhand books with a philatelic theme. They are older, out of print and hard to find. This one reminds me of a Jane Austen saga, family feuds, love triangles, a set of twins and a lifetime brother and sister dispute about a stamp collection. A philafeud no less.  It all stems from the idea that older brothers have the better knack and know how of maintaining a stamp collection than younger sisters.  After auction room swindles, court cases and news media taunts, the who owns what seems settled only to start again with the next generation.  Graves wrote this in 1935 when stamps were king. He is more famous for historic writings like "I, Claudius" which made it onto TV and a book I already had on the shelf, "The Twelve Ceasars". 

True Retrievers

 It is a team effort when it comes to putting and getting. It's like what goes up must come down and what gets put must get got.  It was the perfect beach afternoon and MRI's were not the reason to hang back. If we were going across then I had to bring the shot, even if it was just to roll the arm over with a few upright puts and I did have some true retrievers with me.  I had to find our gear, proper solid umbrella with the four anchor bags, beach seats, floor mat with all four corner pegs, coolarised drinks backpack and heavy duty beach towels to name a short list. The afternoon lulled into evening with mid twenties all night. The water is very clear and refreshing however swimming has not been a focus but it's turn will come.

true retriever

true retriever

MRI Revisted

 The last one of these I had was for a prostate examination and that resulted in removing body parts. This time it is a version of sciatica. MRI's use magnets and radio waves to interrupt bodily functions. It is like lining up metal filings with a magnet then switching it off to allow them all to fall back in place. Except this time they are lining up protons and snapping a picture when they settle back.  They are wanting to examine the hole where the nerve pokes thru. Ah the science!  The venue is a new one here with a brand new machine. Is it just me or are these machines getting smaller? One question they do not ask is how are you with claustrophobia?  Either I am getting bigger or that tube is getting smaller.  They asked me what music to play and I said Magneto and Titanium Man but they didn't have it. 

the latest in MRI casual wear

Water Therapy

We went across to try the cold water soakademia method of dulling this persistent ache in my leg.  Beaching is a good way of taking your mind somewhere else anyway. Physical activity is also good but it has to be mild enough not to reawaken the problem. I had my trusty retriever here so I let fly with 12 or so attempts in a fully upright stance. Since I did not have to go fetch or bend down, this session worked out ok.  We finished off in the water but only in the shallows where it is not really that cold. 

retrievers are believers

Fashion Shoot

 Or should I say fashion shot. I will be the best dressed shooter in the ring now that the uniform is coming together.  I have to get there in one piece first, seeing I am having complications with this pinched nerve business. My left ankle is not responding and the leg is weak but at least the pain has receded to an ache. I have been having a contest in my head about which is worse, this nerve thing or the shingles I had previously or maybe knee tendonitis which I have had three times. yadayada.  I have vowed to stand and deliver a few shots today and I have the shirt to prove it.

Orchid Hunt Not

 Some weeks back we arranged for an orchid hunt today. A new area was identified, lunch was set but instead I am visiting doctors and chasing an MRI appointment for later this week.  It seems this pinched nerve business can affect strength and movement as well as feeling. The feeling is coming back and the strength but there is reduced movement in the ankle. So a scan is being arranged to get a closer look. In the meantime I have done a home orchid hunt. The cover below is what we were after, the endangered candy spider orchid.  Now that is a hard thing to find and when they do pop up kangaroos will happily munch them. At least the home orchids are blooming and booming.

candied spider

We Solve Murders

 Even reading is a problem lately as concentration is short but I did finish off this new Richard Osman book. He has retired the retirees at the murder club and moved onto a new set of characters, much younger, more agile and able to shoot back. It took me a while to switch from the retirement village scene to a romp around the world scene for this whodunit. There is still one retiree in the new bunch, the elder statesman of the group who seems to be able to unravel the clues better.  A new dective agency is born and a second book is already here, so fast work by Osman between TV quiz shows.