Back in time!

Hello everyone!  Yes, this is the author writing - live, alive and if I do say so myself quite well!  Huzzah!

I can't begin to tell you how pleased I am to be able to say that things seem to have gone smoothly this time - so well in fact that I was kicked out of the hospital after only one week, on the day my first scheduled post was published as it happens!  I almost needn't have bothered; talk about sink or swim!

If I never see the inside of a hospital again it will be too soon and looking at the admittedly fascinating pictures accompanying one of my favourite Red Nichols/Charleston Chasers numbers above I'm as relieved as ever to be living at a time when I can be satisfactorily fixed up and continue to enjoy a good normal quality of life - something I know only too well would not have been the case 80-90 years ago. 

The song title says it all (just a dull stitch-like ache among other things, really) and the upbeat tempo chimes perfectly with my hopes and happiness for a healthier future.  It's still early days (two weeks yesterday) but it's looking positive.  I'm certainly back in the Blogosphere, although there's still one or two scheduled posts that I'm going to let run while I find my feet again. 

All that remains is for me to thank everyone for their kind thoughts, messages and comments (comments will revert to being moderated again now - I didn't get the flood of spam I expected but there were one or two and I like/find it easier to read what people have written before I hit the "Publish" button - so worry not if they don't appear right away) they really did help and mean a lot to me during my recovery.  I'm pleased to see Eclectic Ephemera continued to enjoy frequent patronisation while I was away (I had a record 1,109 page views in one day - perhaps I should leave the thing on autopilot more often!) and rest assured normal service will be resumed very shortly.

Until then and with a full heart I bid you - tinkerty-tonk!