Resting My Legs...

Some books are definitely ones for reading in the summer - ideally in the garden, with a floppy straw hat and a long cool drink. Two of my favourites are One Summer's Grace- the story of a  family summer holiday spent sailing round the coast of Britain [by broadcaster Libby Purves] published in 1989 - and Three Men in a Boat, a fictional account of a holiday boating down the Thames [by Jerome K Jerome] which was published exactly a century earlier.

I read Libby's book the year it came out - my girls were at primary school, and much of it really resonated [not the sailing bit, I can feel queasy on a 4 foot deep boating lake] The JKJ one just makes me fall about laughing. The opening of the tin of pineapple in chapter 12 brings tears to my eyes. I was reminded of the older book this week, because the narrator tells how he once read a medical book, and was convinced he had every malady listed - except Housemaid's Knee.

This week I have had dreadful HK. I know exactly why - I spent Friday afternoon on my knees, scrubbing the tiles of the Futility Room. They are hard and cold. But they were filthy, having seen a lot of traffic [and food prep] during the ongoing Kitchen Project. I've had it before, and know all the correct actions to ameliorate the symptoms. It will pass. 

I have been doing quite a bit of housework. The spare bed is completely clear now [OK there is a cupboard in this picture but that is temporary] All the kitchen stuff is stacked in boxes in the corners. It is not all going back!

But there is at least somewhere for Julian to sleep when he arrives later today. It will be so good to have him with us for a few days.

I will go on resting my knee, using ice packs and taking ibuprofen. It is a good excuse to sit and read!

By the way, the K in JKJ stands for Klapka. He was named for General K, hero of the 1849 Hungarian War of Independence. His father was called Jerome Clapp Jerome, and was allegedly a very funny vicar. They called him Parson Clapp. What a crazy family!

Speaking of crazy families. I have recently realised how many J's there are in our family. On our Sapphire Anniversary photo, we have Julian, plus Jessica, Jacob and Jon [and Rosie's second name is Jean] Almost as bad as the K-Kardashians!

I need to sit down with my knee on an icepack for a bit...