Sore

I have arthritis which is very painful today. I tried sleeping with my electric blanket on but a short trip to the supermarket has left me in dreadful pain, to the point of giving in and taking painkillers which I know make me really sleepy. This happens every time I stop taking anti-imflammatories so wonder if I should continue.

I have started a new book on my kindle.

Cindie tried to send this to me as an email attachment but it did not work so I was alerted to the fact it was free last week on Amazon. The story of a couple who abandon their comfortable life in the US and cycle around the world, ending their trip in India where Cindie now lives, divorced from her husband and a convert to Buddhism. I have read as far as their arrival in Australia so will be fascinated to see how their cycling goes in New Zealand.
 
I began reading this last night on my VRS. Dervla makes a foray into Northern Ireland at a time when the troubles were at their height. She has begun the book with an outline of the recent uprisings and explores the differences between the two Ireland's. Certainly a story worth pursuing. Having visited Ireland in 2012 I was surprised at the surface decency yet the underlying tension was palpable. I met people in Dublin who had never been to Belfast, something people in this country find difficult to understand where one's religious beliefs are both respected and ignored. I loved Belfast but certainly found the writers mores of Dublin very moving.

After reading Grand Obsession I have become obsessed with having a look inside a grand piano so have arranged this for next Friday. Should be an interesting lesson in how a piano is constructed and the differences in sound.