Christmas message 2023

Having been nagged by my friends for years to do something about my ageing kitchen, I caved in and asked B&Q to do the honours. It is a significant improvement on the old one. It's nice that everything works now, and I might even keep it clean!

I celebrated my 60th birthday in October, including a lovely trip with my two sisters to Rome for some autumn sunshine. Now I get all the medicines that keep me alive for free!

I know it's all downhill from here, and I have noticed that bits of me don't mend as quickly as they used to, but I'm not doing too badly in general. However ...

This March I fell onto my shoulder somehow while skiing. It was a heavy fall, and once I got my breath back, I realised that I couldn't lift my left arm. It wasn't actually painful, but when back in the UK I went to A&E to get it checked, and was told that I had snapped some tendons up there.

Eventually I had a delicate 3-hour operation in June to reconnect them. I was warned that the rehab would take at least nine months, including 7 weeks in a sling. Indeed it is taking that long, but I am making steady progress, and I am now able to do most things comfortably. I'll be giving skiing a miss this winter, though.

Owing to my injury (see above), this was the first year for over 35 years that I didn't play any cricket. Still, there's always next year.

I was however lucky enough to see a day of the Ashes v Australia at The Oval in July. A good time was had by all, even at £7.50 per pint for lager.

I still volunteer for St John Ambulance, and this year I took on a management/co-ordination role, which has gone quite well with support from my team dotted around Dorset. Even when my arm was in a sling, I could still swan around with a clipboard at events looking officious :-)

I finally caught the dreaded Covid in September, following a rare trip to the pub with friends who were in town visiting. Four of the six of us who went out caught it. Thankfully it proved mild for me, for which I am grateful to the vaccinations that I credit with helping my immune system to fight it off. As an asthmatic I was concerned how badly it would affect me, and I have been quite fastidious with my infection control, but in fact I felt worse with a cold that I caught a few weeks later.

Back despite popular demand, once again this year you are invited to try my quiz. Click or tap on what you think is the right answer to each question. Only your first answer for each question will be scored.

Your score: 0 / 0

1. What difficulty of piste was I skiing on when I fell and injured my shoulder in March?
   1. Blue (medium) Correct! How embarrassing.
   2. Red (difficult) No, I always concentrate on red runs and rarely fall on them.
2. How many appointments did I have at Poole General Hospital before I was admitted for my operation (seeing a different person each time)?
   1. 6 Correct - and I never did meet my surgeon.
   2. 3 No, that would have been far too efficient.
3. While I was in a sling, under strict instruction not to lift anything with that arm, I ordered an indoor exercise bike, so that I could keep active until I was fit enough to ride a proper bike again. It was supposed to be delivered to a 3rd party who would assemble, deliver and install it for me; unfortunately it was dumped on the kerb outside my house. How much did it weigh?
   1. 50kg No - I might have just about managed that one-handed.
   2. 100kg Correct. I had to ask a friend to help me unpack it and take it indoors in bits.
4. Which England bowling legend announced his retirement on the very day that I went to The Oval in July?
   1. Jimmy Anderson No, he's soldiering on for now.
   2. Stuart Broad Correct.
5. In Rome we visited the Flavian Amphitheatre, but what is it commonly known as?
   1. Colosseum Correct.
   2. Circus Maximus No, that's where they raced chariots.