Just back from a lovely, lovely weekend in Southampton. Went for a walk on the beach in Southsea on Sunday, and it was just beautiful. Cold, sunny and windy. Perfect.

Also, lots and lots of “yarn bombing” which is a bit like “guerilla gardening”. People knit random things and decorate lamposts, benches, railings, all sorts of things. Sweet!

JR the cat, who is very interesting and sure of himself, decided I was an ok person, and slept on my bed, sat on my lap, and generally made me very welcome.

Kim and Paul cooked me fabulous food – chicken fajitas on Friday night, full roast dinner on Saturday night (beef fillet from farm shop) – delicious. Thoroughly spoilt.

Then Kim drove me home last night, on her way to a job near Nottingham.

And this morning I saw a consultant privately about my poor old hands. It is carpal tunnel, which has been suspected all along, and I need a small operation under local anaesthetic to decompress, and an injection in my poor old thumb for the arthritis. I didn’t know there was anything anybody could do about arthritis! I’m delighted. 

Got the quote from the private hospital for the surgery on my hand – £2,125, which is too much, so I’m on his NHS list. I do have the comfort of knowing that he will do my thumb too, and that if anything goes wrong I’ll be fixed by the NHS without any grumbling. I had worried about something happening, so if , say, I had to stay in hospital overnight, that would bump the price up considerably, so even if we stretched to the two grand, it could be much more. Best stay with the NHS. Also, my other hand is on its way down the same route, so I want to see the same man, really, even though his NHS clinic is at Warwick Hospital.

And I do also have the comfort of an actual diagnosis!