Saturday, the 16th of June, 2012

The House of Falling Canes...

Charles has a great variety of canes.  Probably if you counted them all up, - the ones in use, the ones that looked elegant but weren't very practical, the old discarded ones and the home made sticks - well, there must be at least a dozen!!!

I have now accumulated two.  The Butterfly cane and the one that folds up and disappears into my purse.

Charles feels quite proprietory about the business of canes, having had a much wider experience than I and being much more dextrous with them, both walking and picking them up....because alas, each and every cane has a mind of its own, and when it doesn't feel like resting in the spot you placed it when you sat down it promptly falls over, lying lengthwise on the floor, or, if it is feeling particularly mischievous it can sometimes manage to slide under a couch or chair, in some unreachable spot.

Unreachable, that is, unless you have had the experience and expertise that Charles has accumulated.  Besides the canes he also has a number of picker-uppers, and if they aren't at hand he has developed a trick of picking up the recalcitrant cane with the other one he uses by pressing down on the end and bringing it to an upright position.

This damp and miserable weather we have been having for the last few weeks has caused my left hip to seize up when I sit.  It wasn't too bad at first.  I could stand alright, and then if I stayed in one spot and looked around at the pictures or continued talking to someone I was eventually able to get the whole operation in motion and glide off, albeit somewhat awkwardly.

Now, however, I require a cane to get up, and I cannot quite cover my distress at getting underway!

Charles' great experience puts him in a position of somewhat smug authority, and I am receiving all sorts of instructions and advice, - even to the point this morning when he suggested I might use a walker in the house...  A WALKER!!  I promised him I would try it :(

In the meantime if you hear a clatter, followed by a mild oath, you will know another cane has bit the dust.  I have considered storing them as a wind chime!

On a more cheerful note the delphiniums have started to bloom in the midst of the beautiful pink climbers that David so kindly untangled and put in their proper place yesterday..  I take this picture through the den window, - it rained all night and I don't want the canes out in the cold damp grass,  and besides they might trip me up going down the stairs.

A bouquet of flowers from the garden