Kitchen battlefield.

It's calm in our kitchen where the real battles are mostly internalised. Skirmishes do occur for an hour or so each day. We've stopped playing chess, probably because the games took ages and we assiduously played them out to the bitter end. Scrabble/Scarble is still in the repertoire and, recently, the Warhammer pieces bought in Germany two years ago have been assembled and glued. The rules of the game are complex and the mental arithmetic required to play can be daunting. I have a new-found respect for the 'trekie' kids and adults who hang around Games Workshop and actually understand what they're doing. The rule book for our older set is out of print and we purchased one online from an American supplier called Nerdvana.

The results of recent scans have mirrored the results from Germany last December. Both times the MRI suggested something unusual but further tests found no discernable physical basis for symptoms. A local ENT specialist also checked the sinuses and declared, "It's like a Mercedes Benz in there!" The Helios team at Bad Saarow have done an excellent job.

Occasional animation.

There's an old TV and DVD player in our kitchen but they're only used occasionally. A few months ago, it was impossible to sit and watch for more than a few minutes because of the discomfort that sitting and watching caused. Slowly the duration has been extended and thirty minutes is now achievable on a good day. It's taken weeks to view a single video, and we've given up on some which felt a little too suspenseful (Karate Kid!) and others that were too long (The Party). Anime has proved to be a favourite genre and, thanks to Tess, we have a very good collection to work through. It's hard to be animated when you're unwell, thankfully there's enjoyment to be found in watching these amazing stories. The medication dose is now almost six times higher it was originally and occasionally we see signs of animation and improvement.

Spirited Away

Laputa: Castle in the Sky

Porko Rosso
(web images)

Everything changes.

The cottage is on the market.

We only managed to stay in the cottage for a few months. It was very liveable and I really liked the location: set back from the highway (but with full view of the occasional passing traffic) and beside the track leading to the cemetery. Lots of stories could be, and some have been, told about the events of the past autumn and winter in this little cottage on the edge of town. It would have been nice to spend the summer there, and that was the plan, or one of the plans depending on how things worked out. We were potential buyers for a while but, somewhat sadly, that now seems increasingly unlikely. Everything changes, and we move on.

Scarble Deluxe.

Scarble Deluxe™ We often sit at the kitchen table and play Scrabble. It's been difficult to complete a game in one sitting and usually takes a few days to finish. A few years ago, Uncle Peter and I inadvertently invented Scarble; Scrabble with spelling mistakes that are discovered well after the letters have been placed on the board. Ben and I have just invented Scarble Deluxe where the spelling of the very first word was incorrect but we convinced ourselves it was right and kept playing. The Scarble Deluxe™ game pictured has at least two spelling mistakes, including that extra special first-word error.

C2 Déjà vu.

The recent scan picked up the same anomaly as the scan in Launceston last year, C2 looks slightly unusual. The report from Launceston suggested a "developmental problem" and the recent report suggested a possible "healed fracture". Further investigations are underway and Ben's seeing an orthopaedic specialist in Richmond, near the Epworth which is very familiar territory. This is exactly where we would have been if Ben was living at home last year, but conditions weren't right at the time. The Berlin neurologist considered and then, it seems, dismissed this line of investigation. Perhaps that's partly because of specialisation since an orthopaedic specialist would be more interested in bones. These visits do get us out of the kitchen where, finally, the medications are taking effect and the fog is gradually lifting.

MRI at DVP.

Still pursuing the source of neck pain, Ben had an MRI at Dandenong Valley Private Hospital today. Next week, there's a specialist appointment at the Epworth to review the results of the many tests and scans done over the past few years and, of course, to examine the patient. I believe the term 'MRI' means 'Medicare Rebate Ineligible'; the scan costs just under $300 and the amount cannot be claimed on Medicare. Just over twelve months ago, an MRI was done in Launceston and that event escalated into a hurried trip to Berlin. Investigating these mysterious medical conundra has been rather expensive.

Church on Sundays.

It's 10:25 on Sunday morning as our neighbour parks their new silver Mazda 3 exactly opposite our driveway, then moves their new white Mazda 2 from its parking spot behind their regular visitor's Mazda 626, up the drive past their other new car, a blue Mazda 3, and into the carport. Shortly after, I reverse our rapidly fading Ford off the nature strip, taking care to avoid the car now parked opposite and another neighbour's dark blue Mazda 6 sedan positioned right next to our drive. We arrive at the church late as usual and enter quietly just as the congregation stands for the Gospel.

We go to church every Sunday now, after a break of several years. It used to take some cajoling to get the kids to church and eventually I just gave up because it didn't feel very edifying making a 'sign of peace' with someone who'd been really annoying. We've all grown a little since then and, somewhat unexpectedly, I find that I'm the one being reminded to leave the house on time. I'm not sure if the parish priest noted our long absence but he's still there and we've said hello a couple of times since our return. They never stopped sending the planned-giving envelopes, even after I wrote to say we'd moved to Mulgrave all those years ago (before we moved back to where we started, we've done that twice now). The planned $5 per week was a pathetic amount now that I think about it, but we're now in arrears by a thousand or two.

We're supposed to be at the farm this weekend but didn't get there. A nephew/cousin had his 21st and we didn't get there either. Sometimes we just seem to be stuck, he and me.

Little steps forward.

Game Masters, ACMI.
(web image)

Iron eagle, Healesville Sanctuary.

We've had a few outings over the last two weeks: a train trip to the city, a visit to the Game Masters exhibition at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), a longish drive and a wander around Healesville Sanctuary. Also an old school friend and former fellow parkour practitioner came to visit. These are tentative steps in the right direction.