Eyes

I saw the Great Man. After eyedrops and many machines, he told me that I have unusually long eyes (a factor in my life-long short-sightedness) which involves an increased risk of a detached retina. This risk, I gather, operates at all times, even as I sit here, and is also a complicating factor in cataract surgery.  If the retina does detach, it will need further surgery to put it right and will never be as good as before.

 

I had thought that I had committed myself to a conveyor-belt leading to eye-replacement surgery soon, but he lobbed the ball back into my court. It's my decision.

 

If all goes swimmingly well, he still thinks that six weeks without driving is about right. Putting drops in my eyes every day -- will I be capable of that? -- and having follow-up examinations.

 

I have pretty well decided, if my husband will let me, to postpone it all until October. The worry, of course, is our little house in the country.  By then we could have celebrated the Games, dug the potatoes, battened down the house for the winter, and would be ready to face the worst that fate could produce for us. It would be taking a bit of a chance on my current driving, but the decision is hedged with risks on all sides. If it happens right away, even if all goes well, we would spend April aching for Strathardle. And if it didn't go well, the thought of the daffodils blooming unseen and the grass growing uncat and the seed potatoes rotting in their trays, would make it far worse.

 

When I got home from all this, I found a message from Meg about the books I just ordered. I had stoically asked for them to be sent surface mail:

 

"OK Jean - your books all went off yesterday - together - and Air Mail was
only a few $ more that Surface - so we deducted the $4 for your early order
of O.K. and you should have the parcel in 8-12 biz days...?"

There's a woman to do business with!

Knitting

I got nicely forward with the ribbing of the second sock for Thomas-the-elder during the intervals of eye testing, and the second sleeve of the jacket has inched forward. That project  is going to take a lot of finishing, when the knitting is done -- the sort of thing it's best not to think about, like eye surgery.

Mary Morrison's URL (recommended yesterday) is http://morcatknits.typepad.com/. The first link in her "Bloggin' Along" list, also mentioned yesterday -- the one that connects to the page of the Shetland lace designer whose work is beyond imagining in its beauty -- is http://members.shaw.ca/wool-garden/studio/studio.html#robes