One more thing crossed off the list....

Well.

There I was minding my own business, wedged behind my shed chopping back the holly tree, when a voice came out of the tree. It was my friend's husband, one of the "new home" neighbours. You know. The ones with the building sites. The building sites I now appear to be obsessed with. He said....."If you would like to sit in the JCB (the bulldozer-digger-thingy) tomorrow, come round at 12.30pm and I will take a photo of you in it. The driver suggested it."

Now I ask you. What would you have done???Huh???? If I hadn't been wedged behind the shed, I may have tried jumping up and down with excitement.

I said yes thank you, with as much decorum as I could muster at the time. And you can bet I was round there like a bullet ( in my car) at 12.30. I have failed to mention that walking is a little difficult at the moment. My leg is hurting like *************** and I have been walking with the crutch, but I hobbled down the track to the building site. And do you know what that sweet driver-of-the-digger-thingy did?????

He leapt into his cab, and started banging the scoop on a mound of soil. I thought hmmmm....he must be doing something important. Then he roared it over the hill, so the hill was directly under the step! He made me a hill so I didn't have to climb up so high!!!

Sigh. He was so sweet. My own hill. I gave my camera to my friend, and told her to take photos. I have many, but they make me look slightly demented, so you get one. From a distance.

See? The mound above is my hill. Close to the step. And look below....me in the digger.

I can't tell you how much fun I had. The seat swivels round so you get to work both ends. This side (above) is the one which stretches out in a delicate fashion, and it has 2 antenna-like levers and a foot pedal. This is the complicated side, but I did manage to work it a little too.

I absolutely aced the other side. The big side. The one you can see in the top photo. I can make it go up and down, and open and shut. I do believe they were all quite impressed at the way I took to it all. I had such fun.

This is my new best friend. His name is Bob. Bob the Builder. A true gentleman. Apparently he is very protective of his digger, and no-one is allowed to sit in it. I did.

And at this point, I should tell you that I took a video of me making it all move. One small problem.......I turned that wretched camera on the side again, and now I have to lie down to watch it. I have tried to rotate it but for some reason, Windows Movie Maker is not co-operating. It is a masterpiece. I am a star. I may just pop it on here, and let you all put your heads delicately on your desks so you can watch. You may need cushions. But you will see it. David says he will sort it when he gets home next week if I haven't done it by then. I may not be able to wait.

Anyway. It made me grin. Scratch that - I was laughing with delight. And that is one more thing I can cross of the list. I have volunteered to fill in if ever he goes off sick. And I have also added a trip to Diggerland to the list. They really let you dig with JCBs there. I need to go. Soon.

I do realise that this is totally weird to some of you. But we all have secret dreams, so bear with me a little. Mine just tend to be a little weirder than most!

PS..... Don't worry about the leg hurting. I have been told that the pain does not mean it is being damaged, and to move through it. I am trying. I am doing all my physio exercises every day and I have been swimming to do all the hydro exercises ( I will tell you about the hysterical over 50's sessions at the pool tomorrow) and trying to go for at least one walk a day. The pain is always there, so we ignore it. I will also tell you more about what I learned over the next few weeks. I can't do it all at once.

Ok - that's it for now. I am now going to lean over and watch my triumph once again!