A to Z of bookishness - a book by Olive Etti

Olive (my typewriter alter ego) has been busy.

She was set the challenge by the Instagram group  #areyoubookenough to make a book on the theme of alphabet.

What better way to address the theme on the subject of A to Z than an A to Z of bookishness she thought.

So she popped to her favourite shop in London, Shepherds for some suitable paper and started compiling a list of book related words.

She got stuck at Z, and it occurs to me now, that she forgot that the book is printed on Zerkall  paper. Ah well, next time.....

Next she searched for some photos....

The internet has a wonderful supply of images available under creative commons licence.

She started her search here, and rapidly disappeared down a rabbit hole of wonderful old photographs.

She particularly likes this self portrait taken in her days of working for Bell telephones.

She rather likes the way that her right hand rests nonchalantly on her left thigh while perched at the top of a ladder in high heeled shoes.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14569555060/

And then she set to work.

A rather unplanned process of typing and experimenting, in the way that only Olive knows how.

Each time she made a mistake, she tried re-typing. each time she re-typed, she made a new mistake.

So using her motto 'good enough is good enough' she settled for far less than perfect.

She found an old scrap book and pilfered a few images from there, as she knows that people enjoy looking better at pictures better than reading words.

Her old friend, Frenchy has such a marvellous smile. And she used to have a bit of a thing for the Prof.  So she cut them out and did a bit of sticking and glueing.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14743606386/

N is for nonsensical notebook

V is for verso, W is for well thumbed

She got sloppier and sloppier as the project progressed, and eventually sewed the pages together.

Shocked to find that she had fogotten how to do coptic stitch, this took longer than it should.

Luckily Pinterest saved the day.

A to Z of bookishness

She had no time to make a cover, as the deadline was approaching fast, and she couldn't think of a suitable way to cover it anyway. She created a very nifty hanging thread instead.

And here it is.....

keeping up with Beckham and Rooney ; the joys of a metatarsal injury

my right foot

The week has started well. Other half is in India for the week, and my youngest has just left home to be near the Farrow and Ball shop in Islington, where life is so much trendier, and he can maintain a social life fit for one of his age.

I meanwhile, having been hobbling around for a week after tripping on the driveway carrying a newly repaired PC, decided to do the right thing and try out the local urgent care centre to find out whether I had broken any bones in my still bruised and tender foot.

Off I drove and was 'triaged', seen by a very kind nurse practitioner and then X-rayed all in the space of an hour, as most of the local populace had yet to wake up and realise that they needed to see a doctor urgently.

We looked at the x-ray, hummed and ha-aahed a little, and then decided that there may well be a crack in the 5th metatarsal. Kindly nurse ran off to check with a couple of doctors, and before I knew what was happening, I was prone on a couch having said foot encased in plaster up to the knee.

'Aren't you going to put a rubber thing on the bottom that I can walk on?' said I hopefully. 'Oh no' said she 'you are going to have crutches and be non weight bearing for at least 6 weeks'.

Reality loomed.

Going to have an Xray now seemed like a really big mistake. I had imagined a walking boot or bulky bandage, but crutches? No thanks.

Within the next two hours I discovered how difficult things are going to be. A friendly taxi driver dropped me home, and I hobbled to the front door. I had been advised to sit on my bottom to go up and down stairs; but the two concrete steps to the door weren't softly carpeted or dry. I stood there for a while, wondering how on earth to get up two steps. I can see I am going to learn a lot about disability in the next few weeks.

So now I am unable to

• drive
• walk the dog
• carry a cup of tea or coffee
• carry a plate of food from worktop to table
• shower
• bath

I won't bore you with any more, but the list is getting longer as I write. 

Other half rang from India -  'you've got the footballers fracture' - he gaily announced. 

And he is right. Beckham and Rooney are just two footballers to have suffered a similar plight. If I spend a large sum I could get an inflatable boot like they had, that allows some sort of normal walking. But I don't have access to the kind of advice that they do, and so will dutifully sit out a two week wait for my fracture clinic appointment at the hospital that is about to be declared bankrupt.

I have already ordered my plastic tube to keep my foot dry in the shower. I was tempted by the paints above from the same website , but decided to remain a dignified shade of off-white for professional purposes.

Dog has been shipped off to a friend for a few days, as there is no way I can walk her with both arms attached to crutches.

And I am spending my time sitting in front of the computer waiting for a very long day to end so that tomorrow I can go to work and see how difficult that is. At least I have a wheely chair in my office, so will be able to scoot around my room taking in the door, the cupboard and the desk as I go.

I have armed myself , as advised by wise individuals on the internet, with a shoulder bag for carrying essential items. The only problem is that I keep taking things out of the bag and forgetting to put them back in before I make my way from one room to another. I proudly hopped across the kitchen with a sandwich, and then sat down, only to discover that I had left my cutlery the other side of the room.

It is going to be a long week. 

I am investigating the merits of Pinterest as a means to pass the time when I would normally be doing all sorts of things that involve walking; check out my 'boards' and see what I have found if you are bored and have nothing better to do!