Nothing ventured, nothing gained

In the last little while I have composed half a dozen blogposts and discarded them all. Nothing satisfied.

I spent two days in hospital last week, during which time two kidney stones were surgically removed from my right side. The larger of them measured 7mm (approximately 1/4 inch). No one wants to read about that. No one wants an organ recital unless your name is Diane Bish (British, E. Power Biggs).

Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at the age of 96. Unless you have been living under a rock, you know this.

I was hoping Prince Charles would choose to become King George VII, but no one ever listens to me.

A blogger friend, Rachel Phillips of Norfolk in the U.K., is in the midst of her first trip to Albania. Today, on Day 4, her post included a photograph of a statue in Vlorë and she also mentioned visiting the excavations and museum at Apollonia. My father-in-law was from Vlorë, which he called Vlonë, and my mother-in-law was from Fier, only 5km (3 miles) from Apollonia.

People often say it's a small world, but today it seems smaller than usual.