Good morning Guardians, I hope everyone is well, and ready to see in a new year - 2023 -
sounds like science fiction! 
Please feel free to skip the next bit
I'm afraid that my run of bad luck is still ongoing
I hadn't realised how swollen my left foot and ankle was until I tried to put on my boots to go out last night!
I wore something else, and walked down to my pal's to give them all their presents, then we caught a bus up to the pub. We had decided to go to a place called the Black Sheep Brewery Tap - Black Sheep is a brewery based 50 miles away, so I'm not sure why they would have a Leeds-based brewery tap, but we thought we'd give it a go. They had some live music on though, loud, and not very good, (Leeds has a large music college which comes with mixed benefits). We couldn't really have a conversation there, so we tried another pub, but it was very crowded. My mate has a party to go to tonight, so we decided to call it a night, but not before he had told me something alarming. His son, Cillian, had had a conversation with his head-teacher in which he'd told her about his friend Jack, who had a house full of guns and knives! I'm not sure what else was said, but the teacher was in a state of some panic, and rang my mate's missus. She told her that I did not have any guns, but volunteered that I did have a lot of knives, as I was a collector, and wrote about them, and that I'd given one to Cillian, (at his dad's request), but that he was only allowed to use it under supervision. What else was said, by her or Cillian, I don't know, as I suspect I was getting a rather sanitised version, but law-abiding people get their doors kicked in for this kind of thing here
We decided to walk home, as it's downhill, and there's a convenient series of connected alleyways, which run all the way from where we were, directly to my street, and then onto my friends. It's usually a pleasant walk, and a nicer alternative to the main road. Over the past couple of years though, an initiative aimed at reducing car use, has been encouraging people to cycle down the route, without any additional maintenance to the footpath. We were walking along, when I suddenly went flying, falling quite badly. After my friend had helped me up, I had a look at what had caused my fall, and there was a small section of tarmac, which had been used to fill a hole, and immediately next to it a rut 6 inches deep! As the edge of my foot had caught the tarmac, my right ankle had been turned by the adjacent drop, and I'm surprised I didn't break it. I did end up with a badly grazed knee, an injured elbow, a jarred back, and the issue of TWO sprained ankles, which is going to make life rather difficult!
Hanging onto my Hartshead Barlow, and I'll try to get some more vacation photos posted later
Have a good day Guardians
Talking to a policeman friend I have here he has been telling me that the reason most criminals get caught is because they aren't too smart.
Have a good day Bob 
