Fit to burst!

This is one of the buds on an Amaryllis (or should that be Hippeastrum?) I was given at Christmas. It's looking like it's going to be a beautiful red colour.

Have been absent for a bit due to circumstances completely beyond my control. My last blip was from Pensthorpe where I had a fab day with my lovely friends from Wales.

The next morning I woke with a pain in my left side which I soon recognised as been renal colic i.e. caused by a kidney stone. After a day of agonising pain during which I was so sick I couldn't keep pain relief down, an ambulance arrived at my house in the early hours of Friday morning and I was whisked off to hospital. A CT scan revealed a large stone (7mm) trying to work it's way out which would not be possible naturally so I then had a procedure to relieve my kidney and prevent damage. I will have to return in a few weeks to have another procedure to remove the stone.

Consequently I have been rather unwell and have really been knocked for six by the trauma. Every little thing wears me out quickly and I have only just returned to living on my own after spending some time at friends'.

I have discovered that I have some fantastic people around me who will go the extra mile for me without question. How lucky is that?