THE CURMUDGEON

I'm not running up and down my scales today nor am I going to mow the lawns.

For one I don't have a musical instrument to play with and another we chose a house without lawns this time which is quite a boon (not Daniel although I do have a 'coonskin' hat).

No, it'll be a quiet day today like yesterday with no walks and little activity. I seem to have a gout flare-up on my right foot (not my left foot - that was a different Daniel).

I haven't had a gout flare up for some time and wrote about it in a post HERE if you want to see what gout is about (Richard could do with rhymes like that in his 'poetry')

I don't know what triggered this flare-up but do know that it's related to arthritis so is to be expected at my age. It's less (for me) to do with a debauched lifestyle although I did drink 3 glasses of red wine (pinot noir) on Saturday night). I made mention of the effect in that earlier post which you probably won't be bothered to read:

"This is bloody painful and makes normal walking difficult. It is one of those conditions that don't bring sympathy when mentioned. It in fact generally elicits howls of laughter and derision. Why is that? When one mentions the possibility of gout the listener conjures up images of a fat and debauched Henry VIII. Hey! I hardly ever drink Port, eat very little red meat, never eat shellfish and run a mile at the thought of eating offal so why me?"

I'm drinking extra lots of water to flush out my system of uric acid and taking the odd paracetamol. I cannot take anti-inflammatory drugs as recommended because of the medication I take (blood thinner) so just have to put up with this for a few days. It's a good job that I have neither a musical instrument nor a lawn as I wouldn't be able to do any 'running up' on either.