Sunday June 3--Osterley House

 Hoping my back and leg problem would allow it, we set out this morning to visit Osterley House, a National Trust property. It is, as the cliche has it,  a 'Stately Home,' built in the second half of the seventeenth century, and its interior, to quote the guidebook, 'is one of the finest and most complete by Robert Adams still in existence.'

It was AMAZING--incredible, extraordinary. Cannot begin to describe it. Google it and look at the pictures.

We needed two buses to get there, changing in Hammersmith. After the buses, we had quite a long and--for me--a taxing walk to Osterley Park. For the final stretch to the house we were able to take a small electric shuttle bus. After the house tour, Joan went through the gardens while I sat in the cafe area to reduce the amount of walking I did. To get back, we took the shuttle bus again, followed by a long stretch of walking--in the wrong direction. 

We were expecting to get to the Tube station, and when we seemed to be nowhere near it we asked someone the way: he told us we should turn back. He explained the route we needed, and in fifteen minutes we were on the platform at the station when we heard an announcement that the Circle line, to which we wanted to transfer after a couple of stations, was not running, and we would have to get a shuttle bus from Acton to get us to Hammersmith. So, after three stops on the Piccadilly line, we were jammed in the shuttle bus for about twenty minutes, scarcely able to move. 

From Hammersmith, we took the usual 9 bus to get us back to Kensington High Street. 

My left leg and lower back varied from uncomfortable to painful, and sometimes--for short stretches--the discomfort eased. Occasionally, I had to stop and spend a little time bending over and touching my left foot, which seems to ease the discomfort. (I try to make it look as if I am tying my shoelace.)

Back home, I used the heating pad and followed it with a cold compress, and things seemed to calm down a bit. So much so that I thought we could take a short walk after our meal. We did--and after a brief, pain-free stretch--the leg and back pain returned, and the short distance we went (to try to get a gelato--but the line was far too long) proved quite difficult for me. 

But Osterley House was magnificent, and I do not regret the discomfort I endured to go there.

My worry is that I am not getting any better. The hot compresses and the exercises do not seem to be achieving anything. 

I see the physiotherapist again on Wednesday. I fear she will say that I need a spinal scan....