Charlie Brown

The chicken's plopping. We're having Mandarin Chicken for a change. The recipe was given me by Fran from Geriatrics' Corner. It certainly sounds interesting. I've not got many recipes using tinned mandarins - so much easier to open a tin than segmenting fresh oranges. It's got some Chinese flavourings with soy sauce & ginger, & some more European elements with its cream. Should be interesting.

Saturday brought some excitement in the form of the arrival of Charlie Brown. No, I'm not talking about the cartoon character. This is my new walking stick/stool. Many years ago I discovered the advantages of this piece of equipment. The boon is that if I am walking, it means I can sit down at any time if it's getting too painful. I also use it every day to sit down while I brush my teeth & have a morning wash. The present layout of our bathroom means there isn't room for a proper stool. This stick/stool can just fit in the gap between the sink & the frame around the toilet.

Why Charlie Brown? All my sticks have names. The stick stool I'm replacing was called Charlie after that inimitable stick user Charlie Chaplin. This new stick has a brown seat so rather than calling it Charlie Mark II, it seemed appropriate to call it Charlie Brown.

He's already proving his worth. I'd just about got to the stage of thinking it was time to call in the Occupational Therapist (OT) as I was finding myself having to hold on to the sink to get up from old Charlie. I know this is dangerous & the sink is likely to be pulled off the wall. I thought the OT could probably provide me with an extra grab rail for me to use to pull myself up. However, this is no longer necessary. Old Charlie was developing a saggy seat & the framework was continually working loose. No more. I once more feel that little bit higher when I'm sat, which makes it easier for me to lever myself up. I also feel confident that Charlie won't collapse beneath me. The design is such that I can push down on either side of the seat, helping me to get up & increasing his stability at the same time.

My first Charlie I got from the National Trust but, to my regret they've changed the design of the stick/stools they sell. The new design is fine if you're able-bodied & don't really need a stick for walking, just wanting an easily carried occasional seat for bird watching or painting, for example. The new handle is a double handle which is quite difficult to stretch my hand across & still be able to use the stick to help support me for walking. I finally found the old design elsewhere on the Internet, & Charlie Brown has now entered into my life.