Trickers' Ticker working well

Mrs The Millbrooker is away for a few days. She's staying with Milly up in Bath whilst Trickers undergoes an operation to replace one of the valves in his heart, with some by-pass work being carried out at the same time. Serious stuff. All the Millbrookians who've met Trickers will know he's a big hearted fellow with a big laugh (as shown above) and an unfortunate (and incurable) Daily Express reading habit.

He had his operation on Monday, went straight to intensive care (as you'd expect after major surgery) and then got moved down a grade to "high dependency". Speaking to Mrs The Millbrooker on the 'phone as I type this posting, he's now back onto the ordinary cardiac ward and is performing all of the usual Express-reading-grumpy-old-man stuff and asking any passing member of staff who's daft enough to get within range about when he can go home; excellent news. So all seems to be going well and I'm sure everyone will join The Daily(ish) Millbrook in wishing my favourite step-father-in-law a speedy recovery.

My dad had valve replacement surgery in 1992 which gave him an entirely new lease of life; he was the fittest he'd been for years and I reckon that, by and large, he made the most of it. I'm sure Trickers will too and I'm looking forward to welcoming him for some ale and bird watching in Millbrook again soon. Not to mention our eagerly anticipated sojourn to Nice this autumn.