Thought provoking points Jane, especially the concept of buying ether! Although I do occasionally now make notes in books that are my physical property, I still feel a tinge of guilt. The ether that I've bought remains unread as there still enough tantalising real books in the house to last me another lifetime and for some reason I always seem to reach for one of those! Thank you for visiting my site and your comment!

I think we were very lucky with ours George, they were almost fun to have around! A new roof must have been even more disruptive than this. I bet you were pleased when that was over!

Thank you all for your lovely comments. Please excuse a communal reply but after last night's lovely meal with Em and family, where we felt duty bound to drink her health, many times, and to consume her share of the wine, matters seem to have been a little out of hand today :-) Thank you all for your good wishes. It was a lovely day. And as yet, Trish, she still doesn't know! xx

Hello Anne, How lovely to have you as my first visitor to my spring-cleaned blog and thank you for commenting too. The Starting With Fiction course is actually very stimulating and I might well try others, but all a question of time, as usual :-)

40 more days in plaster Anne - not that I am counting :-) The postscript to the story is that my OH went up to C&H fabrics this afternoon and bought some waddding and a remnant of black fabric. Tomorrow morning he intends to upholster his invention! There may be a follow-up Twitpic :-)

Thanks for speedy reading and comment Jo! Have to confess this was a bit of a challenge, but in the end 50 pages wasn't enough and I learned a lot :-)

Lovely to see you Anne :-) I am sorry I haven't been a very attentive Tweep lately. I know you have lots of experience of the NHS too - and I bet you have some stories to tell - hopefully some as positive as this? You keep well too! xx

Hello Jo - thank you for reading and commenting. It certainly is! They are a super, hardworking and cheerful bunch - and I am sure there are a lot more dedicated people whose tales don't come to the surface often enough!

Thank you both, Anne and Jo. Bags are pretty much packed now and toes are pretty and pink. Hope the weather stays warm and sunny here while we are away and waits for us to come back. Not that I am greedy or anything :-)

Lovely surprise to get your comment Lindsay xx I am getting there - having therapy three times a week at the moment, so a bit time consuming. But driving again and leaving my stick at home - unless it's a long walk! Also aware I must pay attention to my website soon :-)