On the holding of hands

There has been a lot of hand holding in the last few weeks.
With the ambulance men and the primary care nurse it was a traumatic experience, I was in shock.
With Benjamin, the plastic surgeon on the evening of the accident it was very painful..
With the wonderful anaesthetist who searched for nerve bundles in my armpit whilst I watched the strange black and white ultrasound images on the screen.
With the nurses in the operating theatre when my hand was an unfeeling lump that had very little to do with me.
With Rachael the hand therapist who fashioned the splint and worked the tendons and massaged the scar
With Ellie the plastic surgeon specialist nurse who cleaned and anointed.
With Barbara, my wonderful wife who has held my other hand and tied my shoelaces!
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I recall when I first started selling my work that an Irish customer said to me as she left the stand "Health to your hands" which I thought was a wonderful thing to say to a craftsman. The Greeks say "Yas to heri sou" meaning much the same. We don't seem to have an equivalent saying in English but then we don't say "Bon appetit" either!

pink snow

The cherry blossom outside the house formed a thick carpet this year, like pink snow.

Chipolatas anyone?

I had an operation on my right hand on Sunday April 25th to repair the cut tendons to the ring and middle finger with a local anaesthetic, a nerve block, and here is the result a week later. Chipolatas!

My hand came out of plaster on Friday. Rachael, at St. Thomas's Hospital hand therapy unit fashioned a lovely blue thermoplastic splint with contrasting dark blue velcro straps and gave me horribly painful but necessary exercises to do if I am to get full usage back. What has intrigued me is the almost universal reaction to hearing about and seeing wounds. I get a physical reaction on the inside of my thighs, others report a clenching of the testicles. My lovely neighbour, Jo used to say "it makes me bum crimble" I wonder what this deep-seated human reaction is all about?

A tad too many tadpoles?

This morning the water in the pond looked a though it was boiling. I had fed the few fish that the heron has left and when I returned there was a feeding frenzy. I have never seen so many tadpoles. I hope the garden will be able to support so many froglets I thought the pictures on the left looked a bit like impressionist paintings.