Thanks to chameleon-like powers I did not realise I possessed, I have had a major transformation in the last week. Having said that, I did feel like Little Bo Peep when walking with the pole. Helen (the ultra-bright goddess) took one look at the photograph of me with the pole and declared: "You look just like a bishop without his hat!" I hope this was said jestingly and with affection. I am now known to the OTs as Bishop Elliott. Perhaps someone will buy me the hat to complete the picture! A super bank holiday The bank holiday weekend has now passed. Fortunately, I had a super time when I was able to put the cares of a stroke and paralysis to the back of my mind. Avril, a good friend of many years from Swindon, came to visit. We had an enjoyable outing to Clarks shopping village, where we all gave the plastic cards a bit of a hammering. Thanks to the fantastic innovation of chip and pin, I was not required to sign my name at all. Before returning home and to the hospital we enjoyed a tasty meal in Street, washed down with a few pints of Rucking Mole ale (it really is called that!). Avril fetched me from the hospital on Sunday morning and took me home, where I spent a fabulous day. Aside from the delights of Barbara's cooking, I was pushed round Hannah More Park in Cheddar to give Leo some exercise. More good friends have loaned me an electric wheelchair and I successfully navigated this as far as the local garden centre, before the inevitable return to hospital. Gloucestershire v Lancashire On bank holiday Monday, we went to watch Gloucestershire play Lancashire at a one-day cricket match in Bristol. Thanks to the excellent bowling attack of Dominic Cork, James Anderson, and Muttiah Muralitharan, Gloucestershire were humiliated. Hopefully they will soon rediscover their form before the season turns into a nightmare. On Friday afternoon I completed quite a long walk along the hospital corridors with the pole. This prompted Fiona to comment that I always save my best work for Friday afternoon. As if! And so the well-ordered pattern of hospital life continues. Much of this routine is centred on meal times, which are almost written in tablets of stone. I am now accustomed to the routine, but sincerely hope that I will not become institutionalised around it. The big challenge for this week revolves around further improvements to my walking ability, in the hope that we can carry out an official home visit next week. Perhaps I will be able to confirm that in the next edition. | 
