The joy of rain

After such a long dry time here in Australia it is so nice to see that rain has been falling in some areas, at least. This past weekend I was visiting some friends down in the southern tablelands of NSW and we had downpours almost everyday. In fact, they've had 4" in February. On the farm where they live there were some paddocks that had only been brown dried grass ever since they had bought the property a couple of years ago. Now it's a beautiful green and the grass almost grows inches as you watch it. Wonderful!

Queen Mary 2

Queen Mary 2 - #1
Originally uploaded by bhojman.

The QM2 arrived in Sydney this morning and leaves later tonight. It's size is incredible! I went in to see it late morning. It was awesome... It dwarfed everything in sight. The city around the area where it's docked has been in gridlock for most of the day. I was stuck in traffic for over an hour to get away from the Lady Macquarie's chair area.

This evening the QE2 arrived. I was sorry to not be able to stay to watch its arrival but was too pooped to even try. I'll watch it on the telly later.

New knees before massage therapy -- 5 weeks after surgery

New knees before massage therapy -- 5 weeks after surgery
Originally uploaded by bhojman.

A pix of my new knees 5 weeks after surgery. They were still very angry looking, painful and swollen. It's now 12 weeks after surgery and the scars are looking a lot better though there are still warm spots and they don't all that decorative.

New knees!!

After a very long hiatus I'm finally coming back up to the surface following my knee surgery in late November. I had bilateral surgery, which means I had both knees replaced. Many folk thought I was crazy to have both done at the same time... but, let me tell you, I'm so glad I did. I was forced to work hard and not favour one knee over another. The result is I walk without a limp!! Not only that but I can walk easily and well. Very different to the pain and agony of the past several years. Fantastic!!

I still have some issues to be sorted out. One is that my left knee is not as good as the right knee and seems to have developed some painful scar tissue which keeps me from being able to bend my knee very far. I can't bend it far enough to ride a motorcycle!! Drat!! But maybe the surgeon will have a solution when I see him next. (They talk about breaking up the scar tissue under anesthetic as they manipulate the leg... that sounds incredibly painful to me... but if it helps...)

I am so glad to be finally free of the arthritic pain of bone rubbing on bone...