but not quite out. As you might be aware, I've been suffering from grumpy gall bladder. Finally, after trying, unsuccessfully, to manage it with diet, I agreed to have my gall bladder removed. This is usually done as keyhole surgery, and so it started... however, it ended as a rather long incision (nearly eight inches end to end), what a nurse described as a 'rummage around' to remove the gallstones that had managed to locate themselves in my bile duct, all forty three of them, and left one stubborn stone lodged there. So, a further intervention involving contortions (me) and a camera (them), was performed to remove the remaining stone. Instead of being in and out of hospital the same day, I spent a week toying with a morphine pump (which kept breaking down) and sleeping a lot. The recuperation period for this kind of thing is six to eight weeks; this is the end of Week Three, and whilst I do feel a lot better, I'm not really up to doing much at all about anything. I will be ready for Festival of Quilts, however, barring accidents and acts of God... I'm teaching various bits and pieces, including lino cutting and working with Markal sticks...
So, I thought I'd explain where I'd gone (Nowhere), apologise for my lack of energy and hope that next week, I'll be feeling like doing some painting.
I do, however, have all forty three gall stones, all of which are relatively small, cream and brown, a bit like rotten baby teeth. I'm planning a small sculpture, with the provisional title 'Points of Pain', which will include razor blades and broken glass. Anyone who has suffered from gallstones will immediately understand the (not so subtle) subtext...
Meanwhile, there is a pile of work waiting, including this image. It wants stitch, apparently. And who am I to argue with that?
