Daily life is a bit different…

So, I have new knee! Yup, early last week I had a total knee replacement. I’d been putting it off for far too long. It was only during our recent trip, when I could hardly hobble over the cobblestones, and had to wait in a cafe while Husband went exploring. It was then I made my decision to finally have it done. We have too many trips in our future and all involve walking.

I’ve known about this surgery since September and have my moods have varied between angst, anticipation, worry, hope, dread and pure fright. You see, I’ve never had an operation before, let alone been in a hospital. (I know!)

In the end, It went really well. I was extremely well taken care of, all the nurses and doctors were kind, understanding, and comforting~~and as to the actual surgery – I remember nothing. And, I was home that same afternoon. So, all that pre-surgery worry and emotions was for nothing – a waste ~~ will I learn from this? Probably not.

I must admit the first three days were the worst, but here I am on Day 5 and every day is getting easier. To explain the title of this post — daily life has been reduced to exercises, walking around with walker, visits from the physical therapist, icing the knee, light meal, read, sleep – and repeat. Big shout out to Husband (and my favorite cabana boy) – coaching me with my exercises, preparing all the meals, fetching an afghan here, my book over there. He’s applied his Eagle Scout training to my care and rehab — to the point he sets his alarm to give me my meds exactly on schedule (at the sometimes ungodly 4am). He’s totally rocking the ‘for better or worse” vow. Getting choked up just writing about it – love that guy.

But enough of this about me – I want to talk about something else – not a book, per se, but another PBS Masterpiece series (bravo PBS!).

This series is based on the mystery novel of the same name written by Robert Thorogood . I’ve never read this book even though it has been on my to be read list. But,during the days leading up to the aforementioned surgery, I needed a good distraction so decided to watch it anyway.

The series is based in the village of Marlow* in (of course) England, and stars one of my favorite actresses, Samantha Bond who plays a former archaeologist Judith Potts. Judith unexpectedly comes across a murder in her very back yard when she overhears her neighbor being shot.

Initially, the police brush her off but when she successfully recovers the missing body, they launch a full police investigation, warning Judith to not get involved. Well, you know where this is going, Judith however immediately starts digging around , enlisting the help of dog-walker Suze, and the Vicar’s wife, Becks along the way.

Each of these women are keen to solve the murder and bring some excitement to their lives. Each has their own wonderful skills which they bring into the sleuthing. Suze being a dog walker, goes unnoticed as long as she has a dog at her side. Becks, the Vicar’s wife, is welcome into private homes and is privy to all sorts of tantalizing gossip and key clues.

This sleuthing trio soon uncovers another two dead bodies and realize that a serial killer is at large in Marlow. But what connects the three victims and how is it that the prime suspect in each instance always had the perfect alibi? With so much to figure out Judith, Suze, and Becks have their work cut out for them but if anyone can do it it’s the newly appointed Marlow Murder Club.

This is a extremely well done production (again bravo PBS) with beautiful local settings and lavish sets. I really enjoyed the multi-layered mystery, as our sleuthing trio tries to tackle a nearly impossible mystery. The story line develops across the four episodes — as one murder soon turns nto three and we get to dive into the past, as well as the present to find out how it was pulled off.

A great watch from start to finish, the casting is just great, the writing sharp and fun. The Marlow Murder Club is an homage to the golden age crime era with a touch of modern spunk.

Here’s the trailer~~

And here’s a bonus story — on a business trip in the late 1990’s, I was fortunate to stay at the hotel featured in the PBS series ~~

It’s The Compleate Angler in Marlow – a magical hotel with all the amenities one could ever want. (For me it was tea and scones room delivery – sigh). The hotel is named after the1653 literary nature classic by Izaak Walton. I hated to leave – but of course, there were those pesky business meetings I had to attend. Someday I’ll go back and never leave – except to go on long walks along the river with my new knee!

Here’s the book and a sequel, if you’re interested – available at your local library, of course. I may stick to PBS as they are reportedly filming a second series based on the sequel.

Two Good Films

During my bout with COVID, I watched a couple of old films – well not that old, but not recent. And yes, I had seen them both before, but they once again were absorbing and a couple of scenes still choked me up. I didn’t plan it this way, but both dealt with very similar themes.

Dead Poets Society

A new English teacher, John Keating (played by the late Robin Williams), is introduced to an all-boys preparatory school that is known for its ancient traditions and high standards. He uses unorthodox methods to reach out to his students, who face enormous pressures from their parents and the school. With Keating’s help, students Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard), Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke) and others learn to break out of their shells, pursue their dreams and seize the day.

Favorite quote: Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.

Neil Perry’s performance as Puck in a school production of A Midsummer Nights Dream, is just magical and his fate afterwards is simply heartbreaking.

Mona Lisa Smile

Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) is a recent UCLA graduate hired to teach art history at the prestigious all-female Wellesley College, in 1953. Determined to confront the outdated mores of society and the institution that embraces them, Katherine inspires her traditional students including Betty (Kirsten Dunst) and Joan (Julia Stiles) to challenge the lives they are expected to lead.

This is a female variant of Dead Poets Society and I found it lacking a little. Strangely, Julia Roberts is outshone by the acting of her students. But, again well worth re-watching.

Yes, folks I was sick and not up to much intellectual challenge, but if you come across either of them – even if you’ve seen them before – give them a try.

Fabulous Fjords

Sorry for the delay, are you ready to hear about our trip? If so, keep reading

If not – totally understand – skip this post. There will be books to tell you about over the next days.

We started with a few days in Edinburgh to acclimate to the time change before sailing. Had a lovely B&B run by a great couple who had lots of ideas and served the most incredible breakfast. It rained off and on but we went out anyway with no schedule or agenda – hopped on a bus and stumbled into old town, wandered around, discovered a hidden garden, and had tea in a little tea room.

Sorry we didn’t take many photos as the weather was so dreary. When it came time for our departure, we discovered our ship left from a dock just near where the Britannia is docked – so we dashed over and took a tour. The Britannia was the Queen’s favorite place to relax and many important events were held there. It felt very comfortable and relaxed. I would have been most happy guest – had I ever been invited aboard.

As we finished the tour of the Britannia, we got a good view of our ship ~~The Star Legend. It’s a smaller cruise ship carrying only 200 passengers. Note second photo is a publicity photo from Windstar ~~ as I wanted to show it’s a very pretty ship.

Here’s a map of our cruise itinerary. Such a wonderful trip, which went by all too swiftly.

I created a very amateur video with the photo highlights. Full disclosure, we are not very good at remembering to take photos – we tend to go exploring and forget all about taking pictures.

Photos range from our very nice ship’s cabin, to the tiny Norwegian towns, the amazing fjords, waterfalls – lots of waterfalls, a train trip up into the hills, and ends up in Copenhagen, where we spent our last night touring Tivoli Gardens, after the crowds had left, and with wonderful lights.

To play this very amateur video ~~ Click HERE

Fear not, we’re still barmy about books here. Between this trip and the recent bout with COVID, I have a stack of recent reads to tell you about. Be back soon.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

I know, it’s been a long while and I have lots to tell you…

There was a once in lifetime trip – involving this lovely ship

And beautiful fjords, in sometimes dicey weather

Full admission, I stole that photo from the internet and I am not up to going through all our photos right now….

Why, you may ask?

Two days after arriving home I came down with COVID – I successfully dodged it up until now…getting all and every vaccination and booster.

Then, this morning Husband came down with it too. We are very rarely sick at the same time, always one to take care of the other – not this time.

We are a pitiful sight – endless cups of tea, sounds of coughing from separate bedrooms, protecting our separate dishes, tissue boxes everywhere, and all the over the counter cough and pain relievers we could find from our medicine chest. However, as one dear friend pointed out, it’s good thing we didn’t come down with this while traveling ~~ always a silver living.

On the way home from picking up our Paxlovid* – we stopped at our favorite neighborhood restaurant and got enough varied Chinese dishes to last us three or four days. Why is it when you’re sick, Chinese seems the only cure?

Sorry to say, there will be an recovery interval before I am back to myself and eager to tell you all about everything. It was indeed a trip of a lifetime, and yes, there were books which I read on the trip and now during this illness.

But for right now, my only trip is to repair to my chambers with more tea, a book – and yet another nap.

In case you haven’t ascertained – I am a lousy sick person.

*while effective, turns out to be a wretched drug – giving a variety of unwelcome side effects and a constant horrid taste in your mouth.

A trip downtown

We don’t go downtown much anymore – since the pandemic and our own little neighborhood sprouting with good cafes, shops, bakeries and the farmer’s market on Sundays – there’s no reason. However, we updated some legal documents and needed to sign them in person at our lawyer’s office – you guessed it – downtown. So we dug out our transit cards and hopped on our public transport.

Husband had a great idea – lunch at Tadich Grill – a very special place, and located right on the cable car line – it’s the real San Francisco treat.

You see, Tadich’s opened in 1849, and is the oldest running restaurant in California.

Now, I know you folks on the East Coast and Europe undoubtedly have much older places, I’m thinking of Durgan Park in Boston and almost any pub in the UK – but for us this is a piece of history.

I used to work right across the street (see brown building to the right above) and many a time I would join co-workers and grab seats at the counter. And, if I remember, martinis were involved – it was the 80’s.

But this day Husband and I got a proper table, right in the window, with fresh starched table linen.

Many of the waiters have been there forever and they wear long starched aprons and range from fun to surly. All part of the experience.

Tadich’s has had never closed since their opening, but had to shut down during Covid for 55 weeks and, like so many other eating establishments, many of us feared it might not re-open.

I am happy to report it is back and bustling.

I never take photos of our food when out eating (we put phones away) but because this was the first time we’d been here since it was closed down, I decided to make an exception — everyone else was. Tadich’s is known for its seafood – so we both had fish – locally caught and very very good. I think it’s all in the butter sauces.

If you’re coming to San Francisco, this is a must – and happy to say — reservations recommended

Creative Book Sellers

I’d love to tell you about a book I’ve finished, but regretfully, I have none to share. It’s not that I’m not reading — I am! But I’ve got myself reading several books at the same time, so my book completion rate is nil.

I did wander into my local bookshop the other day, ducking out of the rain before meeting a friend for lunch. I didn’t buy anything (see my quandary above) but I did admire this very clever display for Valentines day.

It got me thinking about how creative booksellers have to be. Not only keeping displays fresh, but also coming up with events. Every week, my local bookshop hosts a children’s reading hour, a knitting night, open poetry readings, and of course, lots of author readings – lots of work to sell a book or two or three.

Kepler’s Bookstore once had a display called Blind Date with a Book which looked something like this:

I wonder how many customers actually buy books blind, I’m not sure I would, but it is a very creative idea.

There’s funny displays based on customer questions ~~

Scary and spooky Halloween reading recommendations:

And a great idea for around the holidays, a perfect gift for a reader on your list — a series of books, a book for each day of Hanukah or a book a day advent calendar.

Perhaps I’ll start planning my bookish gift list now.

But enough distraction, back to the pile of books I’m currently reading…

They’re all so different that I can read in and out of each without confusion…depending on my mood. But then again, I’m barmy.