Here's To The Next Time

Not Mr Partington-Plans AGAIN?!?!

As I mentioned in my return post at the end of March I had been away from the blogosphere for some time in part due to my health being rather fragile for the past couple of years.  Those of you who have been following Eclectic Ephemera from the start will know that things have been rather up and down in that department from the get go and in all honesty have been rather stop start during all that time.  At the risk of sounding like a cracked record, though, and ever the optimist I aim to be in a better place again - hopefully by the end of the month at the earliest - as the trip to the hospital for another dig around what's left of my innards is back on and set for this Friday.  That's right, the day after tomorrow!  Gulp!

"Can you come in on the 15th?"
"Erm, yes okay then(!)"

Credit where it's due to the hospital whose care I'm under (and the wider NHS in general, which is doing a remarkable job in the circumstances) - St Mark's in Harrow, Middlesex, the centre of excellence for the condition I'm being treated for and home to the best doctors and surgeons in the business - for working so closely within the current Covid guidelines and turning things around so quickly once things were relaxed enough to allow surgeries to restart.  St Mark's itself is still under quarantine (it's sister hospital Northwick Park was forced to declare a "critical incident" at the beginning of the pandemic when it ran out of capacity) so it has joined forces with a nearby private hospital that is Covid-free and which is making its facilities available to the NHS.  Come Friday morning, therefore, at the ungodly hour of 5:30am as I have to be there for 7 o'clock, my fiancée will be taking me to Harrow (whilst still trying to observe social distancing as I am, apparently, "clinically vulnerable") for what I hope will be seventh time lucky.

"I need another pad, this one's full up..."

In the meantime I intend for it to be business as usual here at Eclectic Ephemera, as once again I have a few posts waiting in the wings that are scheduled to be published over the coming weeks (yes, I've remembered how to use the Schedule setting!).  The medicos are anticipating a 7-10 day stay but given that my past experiences have ranged from everything from a week to 3 months I am not holding my breath and will just see how things pan out.  It's unlikely that I shall feel much like blogging in the immediate aftermath anyway so I wanted to have at least a few posts lined up to keep you entertained (I hope!).  Fortunately I have at least half a dozen Drafts floating around, some of which I've been finalising in readiness for my enforced absence.

"We're going to need a bigger tray..."

Hopefully this will be the last time - or at least the last time for a while - that I'll need to go through this again and I very much look forward to carrying on here at Eclectic Ephemera once I'm over this latest hurdle.  In the meantime everyone keep safe, continue following your government's guidelines and we shall all be back to some semblance of normality ere long - perhaps of the sort enjoyed by Henry Hall and His Orchestra in this splendid British Pathe newsreel from 1932. Here's to the next time indeed!