“Hi professor. i am a young guy in China, reading your blog is really help me a lot.
I awlays complaint when I am in some bad situation before, but now you make me know how to face trouble, how to have a positive attitude to our life. i really appreciate.
Now, I am definately sure nothing can beat me.
Anyway, we celebrate the Chinese new year (the tiger of the year) in our country. i wish you professor a good health like tiger, all the best in the new year.”

I have reproduced this precisely as it came to me, warts and all, but before anyone sniggers at this spelling and grammar, ask yourself how good is your Mandarin? What a wonderfully inspirational response this is. To think that this young man is not sick, dying or depressed but just inspired by the blog. It makes me feel very humble and certainly inspires me to go on writing it.

As a result of the two falls downstairs and being absolutely prohibited by ‘my lovely’ to make any further attempts to go upstairs, I have now slept in the sitting room for the last two nights. A strange sensation after the best part of 50 years in my beautiful four poster upstairs. However it was not as weird as I thought. The good thing is that I can still manage to get out of bed by swinging round and clutching onto an adjacent heavy armchair, If I need to go and have a pee in the middle of the night. This, instead of yelling for help from ‘ my lovely’. I’m spoiling her beauty sleep.

As Richard was about to leave, I slipped in the garden and had a nasty fall, smacking my head on the wall of a house and splitting my lip. I think it was more to do with MUD than from weak legs from MND!

Fortunately, I don’t think I have done any permanent damage, despite having a very painful neck. I will know better tomorrow morning when I wake up.

A belated Christmas card arrived today with a very welcome £25 M and S voucher  from the local MND Association – how very generous of them.

This is an appropriate time to wish all my readers a very happy and relaxed Christmas and enjoy every minute you can in the New Year. In this vein I have included an American Christmas message: Christmas Blessings – rather sugary but the sentiments are sincere.

Incidentally, I tried a bath a couple of weeks ago, during the very hot spell ( our summer!), while Alice was in London. It was a hot day and I was sweaty and thought it might be rather fun. Unfortunately I found I could not get out, despite struggling for up to an hour. I managed to swing my legs over the side but all the twisting and turning was without avail, I was simply too weak to lever myself out I even let the water out in case I landed on my face and drowned.

I did panic a little as Alice was in London until late afternoon and this was lunch time. I had visions of her arriving home and finding me sitting there, blue with cold, probably hypothermic, and subsequently being ticked off like a small child. Fortunately I had taken the mobile telephone up with me and managed to reach it by the side of the basin. I dialled the directory enquiries for my neighbour’s telephone number and found her in. Even more fortunately her son was with her and he popped over and hauled me out. I never told Alice. She would kill me if she knew but as she never reads this blog she may never know, leastwise, until I am beyond being ticked off.

Reverting to the shower, I should perhaps mention that the only reason I can continue to wash myself is by using a 3 foot long handled sponge. A cheap and useful device which I can recommend for anyone in my position.

Not a great deal has happened since my assessment on 2 July. Although I still spend eight or nine hours a day in the office most of it seems to be on the computer, answering or sending e-mails; dealing with correspondence; updating my blog; editing my autobiographical notes etc. (this week with one ear to the radio listening to the first of the Ashes Test matches, in Cardiff).

Talking of cricket I do hope you bloggers have read my latest anecdote, The Cricket Match. There always seems to be a backlog of things to do.

I did go to London on the 3rd. to lunch with my stockbroker; walked round the golf club on the following Monday (with the geriatric crowd – Tuesday becomes Monday sometimes when there is a match which interferes with the normal arrangements); I attended the Arbitration Club in London on Tuesday and tonight we are going to the first of two dinners, very kindly being given in my honour, ostensibly for services to arbitration. So life is not entirely dull.