Tenterhooks

 It has been a strange day. Diane phoned just before 8 o'clock. She was sitting in her hospital room enjoying the morning sunshine and waiting for the build-up to commence. She seemed pretty relaxed and chatty. I wished her luck and left her to the unfolding events.

I walked around to Zoe's and escorted Ellie to school. She was very chirpy this morning (even though she had lost another tooth yesterday).

Back home there was the best part of the day to fill before I could expect any news. I started preparing a big batch of curry. This took about an hour to get properly underway, and then I could leave it to simmer. I retired to my study and continued with the editing of the 2020 blog extract. This took the rest of the morning. 

At lunchtime, I switched off the curry and went to meet with the Sonning Crew. They had arranged to take me out for lunch to The Gribble. We sat out in the lovely Spring sunshine and quaffed a very tasty beer and ordered some lunch. I chose the crispy chicken baguette. This proved to be an excellent selection, with a huge tiger-loaf baguette stuffed with katsu-style chicken and salad and served with a side order of chips. The rest of the Crew went for fish and chips, or ham, egg, and chips. I think I chose well.

Back home after a couple of hours, I fired up the curry pan again to allow it another hour on the simmer. I again returned to the study and continued editing.

At ten minutes to four, I received a phone call from Amanda, the Sister in the Critical Care unit. Diane was out of theatre and was nice and stable. There's been no opportunity to hear from the surgeon as yet, but she suggested that I call back this evening for a status report. My plan is to go and visit tomorrow afternoon.