FOOT, FILM & FROLICKING

That pretty much sums up the events of the past week, most of which has been spent just watching the world go by.

Recovering from any operation takes time, but boy is it boring. Before the operation on my foot two weeks ago I had a long list of things to do. In reality I've been so exhausted through lack of sleep that I've been unable to find the energy or willpower to do much of anything. That said it has been a fairly productive week.

Foot

I'm supposed to be already manipulating the toe and exercising it, but at times the pain is so bad that I can't even bear to touch it. I've been given lots of varying drugs to take, at ever increasing levels of trippy'ness, but the majority of the time they just don't hit it on the head. Exercising the toe goes by how much pain I can stand, and to be honest, that's very little. As things stand I can tell that I'm going to have increased flexibility at some future date, but everything is so stiff, sore and swollen that I can't imagine that. I'm persevering, otherwise it will have been a gigantic waste of time. My main concern currently is the severe nerve pain, which is like having someone touch my foot with a live electric wire every 5 seconds or so. That's not getting any better and has left a large degree of numbness on the foot. Let's see what another week brings.

Film

Some of my time has been spent distracting myself with planning ideas and lessons for the kids in the academy I teach at every Saturday, though I wont be there again until the 18 April at the earliest. An idea came to me in the week about having the kids all having a camera each, or in pairs, then filming and editing their own ideas, but that would work out very expensive. Then I thought, well, most kids have a mobile phone which can take video, maybe they could use them. Getting the footage off the phone onto an edit suite might prove difficult though. That then took me to thinking about a kit consisting of a camera and a tablet with editing software. At first it was a wish list, due to the thought of the hundreds of pounds this would cost, multiplying it by 10 students. But further research led me to a very simple video camcorder for just £21, and a basic 10" tablet running Android for £55, plus a basic editing software app for £10. All of a sudden the kit is looking feasible. So I've ordered one of each to test out next week.

Frolicking

Sadly this is not about me. No frolicking going on here for quite some time yet I think. This is what's been going on in my garden. Just this week I've noticed that the bird life seem less interested in the food being put out for them than they are about chasing each other, mostly in pairs. Spring is here after all, so time to get those nests built I guess. It's been fun watching the speedy chases between all the birds, with the exception of two collared doves that sit happily together in the birch tree, watching all the fuss.

Another weekend approaches when finally I'll be setting off out of the house for the first time in a while. Saturday is my local farmers market that I help run, but this time round I'll be a visitor, which will be a nice change.  There's going to be an Easter egg hunt ongoing all morning, so I think I'll take charge of that whilst I sit on a park bench and watch the world go by.