The Last Thing I Want To Do...

I don't want to go to Greece this year, I really don't. It is a country in turmoil at the moment and somehow I don't think it will be over in three weeks. Currently the truck drivers are on strike and they are the good gents that deliver fuel. Hence, there is a fuel shortage in and around Athens. The port workers go on strike occasionally which means any plans to go to an island via ferry could be a problem. The air traffic controllers are doing work to rule which means most flights are not landing on time. So there are my reasons but since the tickets are bought and paid for I guess we're going.

Three weeks ago we finally went to open up our cottage and this weekend we are going to close it. Number of trips in between, zero. I hope that next summer we will use it more or it's time to sell. No point keeping a place that we don't go to. Next week my offspring and family are coming to T-Dot for a vacation which will be a treat. I'm looking forward to seeing my granddaughter Elliotte and wondering if three is too young to learn how to knit. I sure would like to teach her.

As for me, well you know how Murphy's Law works in my life by now don't you. Seems my surgeon can't measure properly and my right leg is 2 cm (3/4") shorter than my left leg. So I trotted off to the shoemaker with three single shoes and asked him to put lifts on the bottoms. I asked for 1.5 cm because I was told the muscles might stretch a bit during therapy. When I went to pick them up two shoes were good, one was not. He can't measure either, he made it 2 cm. I wonder if he knows the surgeon.

I finally had my eyes tested now that they have healed from the cataract surgery and went off to have glasses made. One pair for reading, one pair for the computer and one pair of sunglasses with readers so I can knit in the car while my sweetie drives. I'll give you one guess how that turned out. Yup, if you guessed two out of three your right... two were good and the sunglasses had to be redone. I guess Meatloaf had it right, two out of three ain't bad... I remember actually liking this tune a lot in the day, in fact I liked all his music. Lots of good parties were had to this music. Just listening to it again makes me really happy.






Oh yes, after six weeks of waiting I'm finally getting physiotherapy, three days a week. There's something about three... Have a lovely weekend.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani

First and foremost, I am okay... I seem to have two good days and one bad day but that's okay. It could be worse.

I have been meaning to post about a subject near and dear to my heart and that is, the treatment of women in some cultures and countries. Last year here in Toronto, a young girl was brutally murdered by her brother and father because she wanted to be like all other teens here in Canada and not wear a hijab. Take a good look at this young girl and tell me she deserved to be murdered. Wanting to be like everyone else cost her her life.

Aqsa Parvez


Last month her father and brother where sentenced to life in prison, which in this country means 25 years if we're lucky. The most disturbing thing to me was that at the sentencing hearing this child's mother pleaded with the judge not to put her husband and son in jail. He murdered her for family honor.

But the case that deserves every one's attention just now is the one of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. This woman has been sentenced to death in the most horrible way in Iran, by stoning.
Now there are a number of videos available on YouTube but they are so awful I won't link them here. If you are curious I'm certain you will find them. What they do is wrap a person/woman up in a white sheet and put them in an open grave. Then she is stoned until she is dead. You can see the blood on the white sheet. This is a barbaric form of punishment.

This woman's crime was alleged to be adultery. Can anyone in imagine being put to death for that? Her son's are pleading for her life and for the moment the stoning has been put off. That doesn't mean it won't happen, it just means Iran will wait until the world has calmed down and isn't paying attention anymore. They may instead hang her. Her life is still at risk. Go here and sign the petition to save her life. Oh yes, she's already been flogged.

Oh The Joy!

What you might wonder has brought me so much joy today. Something as simple as taking a bath. Not just any bath but a bubble bath in my 22 inch deep tub. I had my six week post surgery checkup yesterday and all restrictions have been lifted. That means I can bend the hip past the 90 degree mark without risk of dislocation. It also means I can do things like sit on a normal toilet without that dam booster, a regular chair without a 16 inch cushion to raise it, drive my car again and the absolute best part, get in the tub.

I have been reminded gently that I've been a bit quiet over here but that's because I've been seriously concentrating on getting better. I exercise a lot, walk a lot and when I'm done all of that I have little energy left for blogging. I also think constant updates on how I'm doing are boring to my readers. There have been challenges along this road but it's not stuff that I need to share on a daily basis.

I would like to say that with all of this stuff happening my sweetie who is definitely my anchor, tends to forget about his own health but I remembered to book a colonoscopy for him before I went to the hospital and he had it this morning. He now has a clean bill of health after having a scare three years ago. He had pre cancerous polyps and had three follow up tests in the first 18 months. Now he's good for three years and I couldn't be happier. It is definitely a life saving test for colon cancer which if caught early is very curable.

This weekend for the first time this summer we are going to the cottage where Steve can do a little fishing and I will spend some time knitting again. It doesn't look like we will be going there too often this summer since my offspring and family are coming from Calgary in early August. After that I need to get packing again. Oh yes, the annual trip to Greece has been booked and for the first time ever I'm treating me and the hip to first class.

Happy weekend all...