Starting at the former, I'm gratifyingly reaching full mobility again after my recent "incident". It seems the time put in strengthening this injury prone knee earlier in the year (it's been the weak part of my body for many years) has paid dues, and with the swelling almost now clear, the stronger (anterior?) muscles are healing rapidly.
And the latter? Although not quite attaining my initial goals, this is now my 4th blog entry in just over a fortnight. A good average to continue with I think.
Most interestingly, however, it may relate to Luca's football. Following on from some pretty execrable recent performances (as detailed in previous blogs - he's developed a fear of getting hurt), a new, braver Luca appeared at training on Saturday. Or Luca Mark 2, as we'll rather tenuously title him.
He's slowly beginning to understand what's needed. We'd had a number of discussions both previous to the training and also immediately prior to the actual game. The gist was to forget his fears, and become more selfish too. "So I should dribble more Dad?" came a final question from the perma furrowed browed boy.
With the affirmative in his mind the game kicked off. The first test occurred when Luca received a pass from his goalkeeper. In recent weeks he'd immediately passed the ball back to his keeper on each occasion to avoid the threat or someone tackling him. But not today.
He put his foot on the ball and turned. An opponent came running toward him. Luca sidestepped him and began running up the wing with the ball at his feet. Fast. He covered the full length of the pitch before passing inside for a team-mate to shoot (badly, and wide)
A grin now appeared on his face. Four more times during the game he burst up the pitch with the ball in tow, and though he was eventually tackled or crowded out on each occasion it mattered little. The boldness was back.
As much as I'm over-egging the Luca pudding here (does this turn of phrase even make sense?) I'm in turn doing him a discredit by not mentioning another event of note - Luca can now swim!
Almost
I've re-begun (ah, I'm in one of those "make words up" modes today) Luca's swimming lessons. We ventured to the pool yesterday, where we continued the "let go of him half way across the pool and hope he doesn't sink" method. This time he didn't sink.
I just Googled it. "Rebegun" is actually a word. I guess my education continues. As feasible as it is, it just doesn't sound right though does it? Much like eating ice cream in winter, or having a hot bath in the summer, or watching "Strictly Come Dancing" when in possession of the XY chromosome.
I had to Google again for that latter piece of information. My memory is way past the stage where you can adequately describe it as a sieve. It's more like a thin paper bag filled with soup.
I won't report too much on the horse situation. Astonishingly grateful for the insurance cover (HOW much???), Harvey is being treated and it's a genuine case of wait and see. Carole put rubber mats down at the stable yesterday in preparation for the horses return, although there's also the alternative of moving it to the vets stables. A viable alternative, but not preferable - it's double the distance from our house compared to the existing.
Allied to this is that Luca enjoys the current farm. One of his school classmates is always there (who has her own pony. I know........), and he's almost made friends with a boy who lives on the farm too. It's nice to watch the three of them play together. Well, I say play, but I actually mean Luca odering them what to do while they do as they're told.
The bossy gene. Wonder where that one came from.?
I saw that traditional Coca Cola advert on TV today. You know the one, "Holidays are coming, holidays are coming........". With this, the festive spirit is entering our home. That, and I'm now quite thirsty.
Photo's now, by the river in Dyce. It was reeaaalllyyyy cold:-
**Useless fact of the day - Advertising uses subtle suggestion commonly to sell. The following standard statement being used in various forms by all agencies ""The first fact to note about suggestion is that statements which rely solely on suggestion for their acceptance must be simply expressed , confident in tone and repeated often if they are to be effective. A single, halting statement is not at all persuasive. A confident statement, often repeated, is immensely persuasive""**
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