And a Happy New Year to you too

Driven out by my noisy neighbours we are spending the next two nights in an hotel. After 4 nights running last weekend WH had just about had enough of being kept awake until 4am by shouting, dogs barking and general carousing and un-neighbourly behaviour. Last New Year was worse, they didn't go to bed at all and the party was still going strong at 7am. Accordingly on Boxing Day WH booked two nights in the nearest hotel to our middle daughter's house in the midlands. Even if they were not going to be at home (they work over all the holidays normally) he reasoned that we would at least get a good couple of night's sleep.

The last laugh however is with those next door. It has all gone very quiet, the brother is in residence and the recycle bins are already out in the street for next Tuesday's collection. It seems our neighbours have also gone away so we could have stayed at home as normal.

Happy New Year.

Twelve gifts I received this Christmas

1. A dogwood bush
2. A pair of thermal gloves
3. A pair of thermal slippers
4. A HUGE box of chocolates
5. Women and Ghosts by Alison Lurie
6. Tamarind and Saffron by Claudia Roden
7. The Collins Bird Guide
8. Collins Wild Guide to Birds
9. Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros
10. A Wild Life on Exmoor by Johnny Kingdom
11. Ta Dah by Scissor Sisters
12. Stainless steel cheese knives in the shape of mice.

Now, do my friends and relatives know me well or what??

Christmas night in the shed

"I have to hold your hand because it's scarey outside in the dark and you won't be frightened," In truth it was more likely to be my 5 year old grandson who would be frightened but anyway we held hands.

"You have to go on the stepping stones because it's very muddy out there," We gingerly picked our way across a path of chip-board paving slabs laid across the lawn which curved round to the little wooden door. The key to the door was retrieved from a little pocket and pushed into the lock. "You open it, it sticks, but I'm having a padlock next week," I duly opened the door.

Beyond the door was a little wooden room, walls painted in camouflage shades. Across the far one was a worktop with cupboards underneath, above it was a list of rules, no drawing on the walls, no being messy and no playing with electric. "That's my rules, so anyone knows. You have to take your shoes off really but you needn't, you'll get too cold"

"I can do anything in this shed, painting, reading, building, sawing. It's all mine, Daddy and Grandad made it and Father Christmas brought me the key." The earnest little face looked into mine to see that I understood.

"This is my own real shed-house and I can do painting whenever I want, look." I was treated to a master class, each paint was shown to me, a brush stuck in and thoughtful lines in various colours streaked across the page. It was the Stable where the Christmas donkey lived apparently and had a star over the top, very seasonal. After that I was shown all the miniature tools, had a demonstration of how to saw wood like Grandad and even offered a drink from the diminutive water cooler. A cloth was on the worktop and was used for keeping the windows clean, "Just so I can see outside, and I've even got a mirror so I can spy who's behind me."

"I can even read in here." A quick rummage in the cupboard produced 'The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark'. He sat back in the chair and open it at random, "Hmm let's see, a, up, me. Yeah, well I can only do more easier ones yet." He jumped down and returned the book.

A big smile beamed out of the normally serious little face, "I love this shed-house and it's all mine. I could kiss it all over and I could even marry it sometime. Hmm, might be a bit big though".

A bonus: Christmas MeMe

A Christmas Meme from Di

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? I’m allergic to eggs so it has to be chocolate but I can do without the cream, flake and sprinkles, au naturel for me.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Definitely wrapped and definitely under the tree.
3. Coloured lights on tree/house or white? Coloured on the tree, white in the window. None on the house.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Of course being as we are in one of the places it grows really well
5. When do you put your decorations up ? Round about the 10th then they’re up for 3 weeks.
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child: It must be snow.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? My Mother told me when I was about 7 but swore me to secrecy as I was NOT to tell my younger sister.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Not usually unless someone particularly asks me to open a present they have given me.
10.How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? 200 lights, lots of sparkle and a theme, this year pinks, pastels and lilacs.
11. Snow! love it or dread it? I adore it.
12. Can you ice skate? Ever seen a whale ice skate??
13. Do you remember your favourite gift? An amesthyst necklace, last year.
14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Family, doing nothing and cold, sliced turkey
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? It has to be Chrsitmas Cake, followed by Christmas pudding and mince pies. Love them all!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Not sure really, we don’t have many here.
17. What tops your tree? A fairy or 3.
18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? Well I love choosing things then seeing the person’s face when they open it.
19. What is your favorite christmas song? O Little Town of Bethlehem including the verse that rarely gets sung that says ’the dark nights waits, the glory breaks and Christmas comes once more’ Just reminds me of waking up in the morning and everyones lights are on really early!
20. Candy canes! yuck or yum? Yuck, say no more.

This is not a tag but if anyone wants to do theirs post your link here or on Di’s blog.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Well it's finally upon us and I thought I'd never be ready, having lurched from one crisis to another this last week.

I'll have some really big news early in 2007 and hopefully some answers to my continued illness.

Until then watch this space and have a great Christmas.

Another tough week

I started on Methotrexate 2 weeks ago. This meant I have had to stop all other anti-inflammatories and vitamin supplements. The rationale behind this being that Methotrexate can affect your kidneys as do the anti-is and it also works against Folic acid in the vitamins. No worries I thought. By the time those wear off the meth will be almost ready to kick in. A few days discomfort will be worth it.

In reality it is not like this. Today I have had borrow a wheelchair for my visit to my Mother next week as I can't walk more than a few yards. It's like my legs have switched off and I can't find the switch to put them back on. Add one masively inflamed left wrist, fingers where red angry, painful lumps are popping out all over and the remnants of the costochondritis and I'm not a happy bunny. The best bit is that I get my ESR and rheumatoid factor amongst other things tested weekly right now. It will be interesting to see how those change.

All this means that I am doing very little and but it is taking me all day to do it. Sorry I haven't been here more. I would have loved to be able to.

Birthdays, Danish - style

Well Ms A's party went ahead on Saturday and although I wasn't there to take part, WH was and has phoned me every few hours since to give me all the gen so that I didn't feel that I had missed out!

It seems that 'big' birthdays are even bigger in Denmark. I mean usually we don't always want to publicise the fact that we're getting older but really, putting the national flag in your front yard is hardly being discrete.

They also have a birthday cake for breakfast which could be seen as sensible, you can't say you don't have room to eat any! The cake is what we know as a Danish pastry but this one is person shaped, male or female, and is huge. Then everyone sings a song thay have made up about you. Well fine, I hope it's only friends who take part or you could be in trouble.

The main celebration takes place in the evening. This do was catered, no things on sticks and finger food here, Pork Stew or Venison was the order of the day, along with lashings of mashed potatoes and veggies. Filling or what?? Sounds like the assembled throng needed it though to wash down the several gallons of chili vodka and champagne on offer.

And you know the really amazing thing? No one got drunk and no one misbeheaved. A perfect recipe for a birthday party. Think I'll have my next one in Denmark too.

PS WH is due back tonight bringing me a slice of left-over birthday cake!!!

This week, mostly.....

I'm reading.....

Brick Lane by Monica Ali. I just love this book. Having spent part of my life working with a lot of Asians and having Asian friends the dialogue is just so right. I'm only half way through but savouring every moment. The story of the 19 year old Nazneen sent to London to marry the revolting, older man, Chanu, is so typical of the culture and gives a great insight into the life of Muslim girls who follow the same path.

I'm eating.....

Not a lot. I started methotrexate on Monday for the RA so everything tastes strange and I have sore lips which I gather is quite common with this drug. All I want is drinks with strong flavours. Water just doesn't do it. As one who drinks water 99% of the time I'm strugggling to find anything else I like. Meanwhile I am eating blue cheese on toast, marmite and curry!!

I'm watching.....

the leaves on the old oaks opposite my house finally drop. Those treees are always late, late to leaf and late to drop but I can't remember a year when they have lasted quite so long. After yesterday's gales there are few leaves left now so I can see the tree creepers which love their big trunks and all the other flocks of little tits which use them as a meeting point.

Denmark, here (one of us) goes

Sadly not me.

Having been struck down with a nasty bout of costochondritis such that I can barely move, my only move today has been to stay at home whilst WH set off on the journey to Ms A's and the forthcoming party.

Yet again I am living my life vicariously through 'he who likes travelling'. Looks like the most exciting thing for the next few days will be watching TV and answering the phone when WH calls to tell me what he's doing.

Meanwhile it's gone very cold here. Looks like Denmark sent me their weather.

Out Clicked by OneClick

Yesterday I posted about Greg Crowhurst's new video regarding the Gibson report to the OneClick Protest Board. His wise words counseled moderation and to use the report as a gift which the ME community could use a base for further bringing the subject into the public domain. All posts are moderated, nevertheless I was rather surprised to receive a curt note from the moderator and self-styled censor that my post was not welcome. Other remarks in her email I found deeply offensive. I countered with the copy of a comment to Greg from another member of OneClick which was very supportive.

The reply I next received was even more offensive and I was really shocked at the words used. I won't begin to reproduce them here as they are not the sort of thing I would expect to read in polite conversation not were they the sort of terminology conducive to productive dialogue. I was then hastily removed from their membership list and locked out of the site.

My point is this: We all know that the Gibson Report is less than ideal by a long stretch but surely as sufferers trying to get some sort of public recognition we use the opportunity to bring this to the public's attention and highlight the way that the Psychiatric Lobby has hi-jacked this disease for it's own. A point which Gibson actually makes very well.

As Greg Crowhurst so eloquently puts in his video surely by infighting and divisive action amongst the patient groups we are playing straight into the hands of the Psychiatric Lobby at a time when we should all be joining together to further our cause. This is surely a case for moderation in all things and I am equally sure that we will not win the fight by rude, overly aggressive dialogue. We want to get all the medics and researchers on our side not wondering if perhaps we are all crazy after all.

Neither here not there

Sorry I have not been around recently. Looking after my Mother has taken it's toll and I am in the biggest flare I have had for 10 years at least.

The good news is that I started on the methotrxate last night so should hopefully be gaining some relief from the RA pretty soon. The bad news is that this involves weekly blood tests - again - so I will be looking even more like a pincushion.

Our planned trip to visit Ms A in Denmark is under threat now, we have decide tonight if we go ahead or if we stay. I suggested WH went alone so as not to disappoint our hosts. The jury is still out on that one.

Watch this space.

The Iris Murdoch effect

or some things I have heard over the last few days spent with my Mother:

I think I was born in 1938 or was it 1976?

I'm not telling that woman how much I earn, she's got a loud voice.

That woman didn't even know how to cook a baked potato, she said you didn't peel it.

Look I can stand up, does that count as walking?

I gave that cleaner £50 for doing the laundry, she said it was a bit much.

I haven't been down stairs for 5 years, I did go last week once.

I couldn't eat another thing, unless it's pudding.

Me, confused? I'll have you know I 'm bringing up 2 small children on my own.

I've never eaten a sandwich in my life, well maybe a prawn one.


The EMI bed beckons.

The Gibson report is out

At long last someone is listening to ME patients.

To Dr Ian Gibson MP I can only say thank you.

Read Invest in ME's response here

Read the full report here

Not a very NICE 36 hours

What is going down with The One Click Group Response - NICE Guidelines is entirely redolent of an episode of the 24 television drama series that One Click Group Technical Director young Ben, is so fond of.

The events of the last 36 hours delineate the following in relation to The One Click Group Response - NICE Guidelines.

1. Yesterday, NICE wrote to One Click and refused to accept The One Click Group Response - NICE Guidelines because the document had not been produced via its online proforma piece of paper. This is despite the fact that a precedent had been set by the 25% ME Group whose document was to be accepted by NICE in document format.

2. This morning, One Click is given the news from both the Gibson ME/CFS Parliamentary Inquiry Office and the Countess of Mar (all in writing), that the One Click evidence will be accepted and that NICE is proposing to type up the One Click evidence line by line to insert it into their online proforma, wasting British taxpayer's money by employing this fool strategy.

3. This afternoon, One Click receives an email from the NICE Chief Executive Office, one Andrew Dillon, who states that NICE has changed its mind and will not transfer the contents of the One Click document on to the proforma. This shows that NICE either lied or deliberately misled both Dr Ian Gibson (MP) and the Countess of Mar. Dillon's email indicates that:

3.1 The One Click Response - NICE Guidelines will not be formally acknowledged, recorded or published by NICE.

3.2 NICE will not respond to any of the points made in the document.

3.3 NICE will not accept the One Click evidence and it will not publish it on its website.

It states in the Guidelines Manual, April 2006, that NICE must "Treat Stakeholders in a collaborative and transparent manner." Really? Has any of this been collaborative and transparent and designed to help patients?

Not to put too fine a point on it, has NICE CEO Andrew Dillon completely lost his head? Is he on medication or has he overindulged on wacky baccy during office hours? What is the matter with this man who is supposed to act with due diligence and care towards the millions of the sick in the United Kingdom?

Where is NICE Chairman Michael Rawlins in all this? Has he been stuffed and gagged in the office cupboard or is he sitting on the dunce's stool with his fingers stuffed in his ears on the basis of hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil and all will be smooth and retirement peachy?

For the One Click document to so petrify NICE and the Wessely School psychiatrists as it clearly has done is quite probably the biggest compliment that we have ever been paid.NICE is acting against its very own regulations throughout this extraordinary drama and it will be held accountable.

We will keep you all posted of developments.

This information is available on the ONECLICK group website

Something to look forward to

The latest crop of holiday brochures are now landing on the mat. Not sure where we will go next year yet, ( proabably Greece just for a change) but meanwhile it is all systems go for our long weekend in Denmark in 2 weeks time. We are going to Tonder on the marshland in southern Jutland , near the German border and will be partying with our friend Ms A who is celebrating a big birthday.

Counting down the days now. I need something good to happen for once.

Down in the dumps

Sometimes this ME just gets to you. No matter how upbeat and cheerful you try to be the reality of having a debilitating illness for 14 years just gets to you.

This is one of those times. My GP suggested Prozac and I went as far as collecting the prescription but it just sits on the cupboard unopened. I realised that nothing could be that bad to make me take a drug like this with all it's attendant risks of suicide and goodness knows what else side effects. It might have had some effect on my pain but somehow I don't think so.

I feel like I have slipped back 10 years, I'm sleeping about 16 hours a day, the smallest task is so tiring and my pain level is through the roof. I have night sweats like I have never had before then 10 minutes later I am shivvering. Brain fog is so bad I can't get the right words out, trying to offer WH bread and butter pudding for dessert tonight I actually said steak and kidney pie! The RA is worse too but then I have had no treatment for about 3 months so it would be wouldn't it?

I haven't even got the energy to make another video to complain about all this constructively.

I remember a net-friend of mine whose motto is 'this too shall pass' , I just wonder how much longer I have to wait.

This week, mostly

I'm reading.....

And that's about it!! I have read several books in the last week though:


A Boy of Good Breeding; Miriam Toews , Courtesy of Trashionista (I WON it), thanks folks. This is a real, feel-good, warm read for a cold winter's evening. I loved it.

Recipes for a Perfect Marriage: Kate Kerrigan. Just one step away from being too twee, the ending was fairly predictable with a couple of twists along the way. The main character Tressa was just a bit too feisty for my liking and actually I didn't like her much, but it did pass a couple of evenings without using much brain on my part.

And What Do You Do?: Sarah Long. To say this was one big cliche is perhaps to oversimplify. The original idea was good but really, stay-at-home mum in Paris, has affair with local doctor to-the-ladies-who-lunch, whilst hubby has a fling with his researcher and generally acts like God, well we all know the type. Or at least the caracature, and as for the ending, well, totally unbelieveable. As you may gather I found it a bit light.

Toast: Nigel Slater. Not a novel this one but a memoir and actually my second reading. I love this book. Nigel must be a similar age to me and being brought-up about 20 miles from where I was it brought back a real nostalgia for those things we ate in the 60's. I found another connection in that my father had died at about the same time as his mother and in some ways much of the family reaction was similar. For anyone brought up in the sixties this is a must read. Get some sherbert fountains and jubblies to suck whilst you read it.

Not very NICE

Now I wonder why Prof Wessely is pushing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and why the recent NICE draft proposals are full of it when some of his own research seems to imply it is not the be all and end all of treatments.

Just read this:

CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive behavior therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome can produce some lasting benefits but is not a cure. Once therapy ends, some patients have difficulty making further improvements

Am J Psychiatry. 2001 Dec ;158:2038-42
Long-term outcome of cognitive behavior therapy versus relaxation therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome: a 5-year follow-up study.
A Deale, K Husain, T Chalder, S Wessely

Interesting isn't it??

So why then are we supposed to grin and bear it?

All quiet here

Mr Naughty is in the vets for twenty four hours. His rotten, smelly, horrid teeth have finally got the better of me and despite the 5 antibiotic injections, the course of pills, the cortisone treatment, I decided yesterday that the time had come to do something about them. Accordingly, today he is having his teeth cleaned and any real horrors removed. This meant an overnight stay. I mean, how can you starve someone who insists on eating 7 times a day? And what about the other two? I'd have to starve them as well.

So 5pm last night he was unceremoniously bundled into the basket and he whined and wailed all the 500 yards to the vets office. Nelson has not quite got to the hysterical stage in Misty's absence but it's a close run thing. He slept ON TOP of me last night, all night and has now decamped to a new bed on the chest of drawers, after a breakfast of his favourite food. Goggins as per usual is totally oblivious.

It's weird without Misty though, no-one jumping around the bed as I try to get up, no one tripping me up on my way into the kitchen, no-one grabbing the first bowl of food. He is the one of the three who spends most of his time near me, particularly in this wet, winter weather we are currently having. It's odd really, he can be most annoying most of the time, but as soon as he isn't here, I miss that little grey bundle lying on the sofa chewing his feet and purring for England whilst he does it.

I've just called the vet, he is doing fine and has come around from the anesthetic just fine. Normal service will be resumed at 6pm when I collect him!

I'm so excited

I got a little mention, well one word only, my name, Jas, on Joshilyn Jackson's website, Faster than Kudzu. She was answering my comment about her cat and his picture on her answer comments day.

Wow. I am impressed, I have had a conversation (well a dialogue really) with a famous writer. Strange it was all about cats though. Better read her other book now!

Regrouping

Just back from a frantic few days away trying (in vain) to sort out my mother's woes. Am absolutely pooped so will be back here with some really interesting stuff a bit later when I've got my breath back!

Not a NICE job

I have finally finished reading and making comments on the NICE guidelines for CFS/ME. I've sent a copy to NICE and also a couple of copies to other interested parties I know.

The awful thing about it is that it wasn't nice at all. Most of the document is deeply insulting to sufferers of true ME. When 61% of the Guideline Development Group is firmly sitting on the pysychiatric side of the table before the discussion even starts, we ME sufferers know we have problems.

I am always a believer in the adage 'The Truth will out'. In this case it may take a very long time, but oh yes it will, believe you me, it will.

Bonfire night and the feline members of the household

Well it's that time of the year again when everyone has bonfires and fireworks. The day itself is actually tomorrow, Nov 5th, but fireworks have been lighting up the skies and booming out in the dark around this valley for several weeks already.

Last night there were several lots behind us, as there had been on Wednesday too. This all really upsets the cats who shriek and run off and hide behind the nearest furniture. When the bangs are really loud and close Misty rushes up the stairs and cries on the bed. Nelson shakes and goes behind the sofa until the noise has well and truly gone, emerging hours later looking weak and shell-shocked. Goggins wants only WH, cuddling up close and digging his claws in if he thinks he is about to be moved.

Tonight, being Saturday, we will get the loudest and nearest fireworks, in the gardens adjacent to this one. Our strategy, worked out over the years, is to distract the cats from some of the noise by having loud music blaring throughout the house. What it does for us is secondary but last year I wore ear plugs! If it all gets too hysterical I go to bed and attempt to read or watch TV and one by one, the cats creep up, in the brief interludes between bangs, and jump on my bed with me, jammed up against me and in Misty's case down the bed and under the covers. Nelson lies on my stomach and I have to hold him tightly through the loudest bangs, he can't understand all this noise and cries real tears and looks into my eyes imploring me to stop it. Goggins sits close but not too close so as not to ruin his reputation as the 'hard-man' of the three.

WH has to sit downstairs as even Goggins abandons him when the prospect of a warm bed is beckoning. Goggins is no cissy but in times like these he becomes a real pussycat.

I've bitten the bullet

and recorded a response to one of Greg Crowhurst's videos about publicising the injustices done to ME patients.

It's my first attempt, it's not very good and it's here. I was totally freaked out doing it and apart from forgetting what I was going to say I wasn't sure how the camera worked either!

If it helps the cause then it was worth it.

Trick or Treat

We had the usual rash of Trick or Treaters the other night for Halloween. One group consisted of a very small fairy with bright pink wings and multi coloured dress over a bright pink fleece jacket, a slightly larger 'Barbie' type of fairy, 2 grotesques with green faces and black clothing, a large black cat with home-made mask and two witches with neon pink hair sharing a pointy hat. This was just the family - 3 grandkids, 2 daughters and 2 friends. This lot were picky about their loot, grabbed the bag from which Grandad (WH) was trying to distribute small items of booty and sorted through it, taking all the best sweets much to Grandad's disgust. Grandad, meanwhile, had eaten 6 packets of 'kiddy sweets' before the first knock on the door. I gave out an apple apiece.

"Cor, I'm not having that" said 8 year old Grandson "What do I want one of those for?"

"Because you like them" I retorted, "You can take it to school tomorrow for your lunch,"

"Well I'm just not carrying it. OK?"

"It will look big in your bucket," countered an Aunt.

"S'pose so, huh. Everyone stop looking at me." The offending apple was buried beneath the other sweets.

"Well I want grapes if I've got to have fruit" said the smaller brother and made for the fruitbowl.

The two fairies were counting their haul and stuffing fizzy sweets into sticky mouths. Their booty was carried in orange plastic buckets which were decorated to look like a pumpkin, the buckets already half full although this was only their fourth stop. A solitary apple was atop a mountain of the worst kind of sticky sweets. E numbers ruled, OK.

The group finally left and made off down the street. WH and I retrieved our dinners which were congealing on the stove and started to eat. At the second mouthful the doorbell rang again. I sent WH.

This time he was confronted by a larger group of about 10 assorted older kids.

"Trick or treat," the throng boomed out, followed by another single voice:

"And we don't want no fruit."

Making the invisible visible

I'm here again plugging Greg and Linda Crowhurst and their videos on Youtube. Their two week diary of a carer is over and now Greg is updating on a less frequent basis. This latest post is a plea to all of us in the ME community to go to Greg's video Making the Invisible Visible and to post a video reply. The aim is to get everyone talking about the wrongs done to ME suffers all over the world but particularly in the UK. He wants to get his videos the most watched on Youtube and then maybe the rest of the world will start to take notice.

Please go there, watch and if you have ME post, preferably by video or failing that in words. It would be great to be a part of the movement which finally outs this grave injustice.

If you are bored by all this talk of ME and righting these wrongs, just imagine how we suffers feel when we have had the illness for decade upon decade and nothing is done to try to treat us or even begin to understand our illness. I rarely get comments on these topics here but this time I'd be grateful if you would take the trouble to comment elsewhere.

Please, please contribute to this fight. ME sufferers need all the help we can get.

This week, mostly.....

I'm reading.....

Skewed by Martin J Walker. This is a must-read book for anyone who wants to know the background to the stronghold the psychiatric lobby have over the treatment of ME in this country. It also gives an insight into why the politicians are not that interested either and postulates that this illness is actually man-made and is caused by modern chemicals. I read it in a single sitting and ended up enraged but enlightened as to what all this is really about. Knowledge is power so read it and join those who are fighting to overturn this gross injustice.

I'm eating.....

Mushrooms. I bought a 3kg box of field mushrooms last week for the princely sum of £1. Since then it has been mushrooms with everything and friends and neighbours shared in the bounty too.

I'm watching.....

the leaves on the old oaks opposite my house start to turn brown. They are still 95% green however and will remain on the tree until almost Christmas, testament to the longer growing season we now have. 21 years ago, when I moved here, they would all be gone by the end of November.

Some good news

to start the week.

They say things happen in threes, so here are my three for this week:

1. Stepdaughter No 2 has announced her pregnancy. Now that the rest of the world knows I can post about it here. They are about to move into a brand new house any day now so the old adage 'New house, New baby' is proving correct. Expect lots of oohs, ahhs and cooing by next summer.

2. We are off to Denmark in a month's time. We're going for a long weekend to help celebrate our good friend Ms A's special birthday. Ms A lived next door for some months whilst she lived over here and became firm friends. Now we're off to see her neck of the woods.

3. I have saved the best 'til last. A planned trip to take my Mother to the eye clinic has been postponed as she has hurt her leg and has been advised not to go. I can stay here ALL week now. Woo Hoo.

More problems

Blogger sucks! I have tried all day to get a decent post on and now I'm having all the problems everyone else had and I never got. It must be my lucky day.

Fog in the office

Well yesterday I managed to get this wireless router thingy working. Then I set about doing the laptop to run on broadband as well. Not so easy so I plugged in the printer to print out the destructions (yes really they were!). Having got that far, WH arrived home and wanted to print out the British Standard for floors or something as he had had an altercation with the building inspector.

I plugged in the printer again and do you think I could get it work? Not a chance. It didn't seem to recognise the printer at all. Tried everything. Then I clicked the wrong thing and totally uninstalled the printer. AAAAAHHHH

All the while WH was pacing up and down and it was by now 10pm. He thought he'd go home to his place so left me to it saying he would be back this morning if he needed them very urgently.

I looked for the intallation disc. All the others were there together but no sign of this one. I then realised I could get the software on the Net. So at this point, by then midnight, I went to bed and gave up. This morning I downloaded the software,made a new installation disc, did the whole installation wizard thing, starting and restarting the printer about 6 times. Got to the bit where it said plug in the printer with a lovely picture.

I had the plug in the wrong hole.

That's all it was.

I finished the installation and did all the clicky bits and I now have a lovely wonderful, working printer and a complete set of Part L Regs printed and another about some flooring stuff, and the u value ready reckoner and the whole lot, all stapled together and in a lovely pile for WH who no longer needs them until next week. He's doing doors today instead.

Only took me about 6 hours in total.

I just have to find out what else I have uninstalled as the Wizard did lots of other stuff itself (my webcam for instance?)

I disappear groaning into the background..........

This week, mostly

I'm in bed, exhausted.

Not my normal type of post under this title I admit, but I have the energy for nothing more. The last 6 weeks of trips to and from Birmingham have taken their toll and I am trying to build up strength for the next one. True to form at a time of overexertion my ME has shown it's true colours. I can push myself for so long, run on adrenaline, but without regular rest and being able to pace myself, the crash was inevitable.

This is a common, almost usual, response for those suffering this dreadful illness. Why then does the medical establishment keep pushing Graded Exercise Therapy?? Do they want us to remain sick, perhaps so they can pump us full of antidepressants and earn their kudos from the drug companies? After all if a causative agent and appropriate treatment was found, the treatment time would be finite and so would the amount of drugs needed. The multi-nationals wouldn't like that would they??

What is going on in the UK?

The number of people living with ME in the UK is now around 240,000 according to Dowsett and Richardson, 1999.

The number of people living with HIV in the UK is now around 58,300 according to a Health Protection Agency report 2005.

Who gets the publicity and the government funded research?

"If you have to prove you are ill, you can't get well." Nortin Hadler

Just a reminder

to watch Greg Crowhurst's video diaries on Youtube, running for another 4 days. Caring for a wife who has severe ME is hard enough, trying to fight the system in order to get recognition, research and treatment for this illness is a whole other full-time occupation.

Please give him all the support you can and send the link to everyone you know and get this scandal the attention it deserves.

Post script.

I have just watched today's video, A Video Response to NICE by Linda Crowhurst, a severe sufferer and Greg's wife. It is compulsive viewing, so brave of her under such difficulties. Go there and watch it please.

EMI

No not the record company, it stands for Elderly Mentally Infirm.

I am shell shocked, dumstruck, tearful and exhausted. My ME symptoms have gone back about 6 years and I am not sleeping at all.

I am learning about EMI fast. It seems my Mother may be just suffering with Mental Illness. Either that or she has just turned plain nasty in her 86th year, I have just had the visit from Hell. Previous visits were no picnic but this has taken me totally unawares.

And that is what EMI is like. It creeps up and bites you on the bum when you least expect it. And boy is that bite painful.

Playing Deric again

I'm Deric Longden's alter ego again. This week, the fourth in row, I am up in the Midlands 'sorting Mother out'. Well trying to anyway. She has now been in rehab for a week following 2 weeks of respite care. The best of it is, I am sicker than she is, and what is more, her Carer told me that herself!

Today we had the weekly review. A sombre gathering, with not one but 2 African social workers, apparently this area is importing them to solve their staff shortage. The Carer was there too as was the Occupational Therapist. We` sat for an hour and reviewed progress, or lack of it in this case. Sure the patient can walk, dress, eat and do everything expected, but does she want to? No. Why bother when you can be waited on hand, foot and finger? 'Of course I can do it all normally, I'm just having a rest.'

Unfortunately this didn't wash with those who decide. Going Home is only allowed if there is help and supervision. You could cut the air with a knife. I was asked to comment. I said my comments would be ignored so it was pointless. I did however pass on a comment from my sister over the pond, 'Take all the help you can get'.

That was the decider. The assembled party collectively took a large intake of breath.

'Well if she says so I suppose I'd better have it then.'

Relief all round. The problem is now, they're not sure when they can get the help.

Greg Crowhurst - A man with a mission

I have been watching a series of video diaries made by Greg Crowhurst. He is posting them on YouTube and is showing for 2 weeks what it is like caring for his wife Linda who has severe ME. Today we have reached day 6. I find them extremely moving and am glued. This chap is the only one I have ever seen truly put the case for proper research and treatment for ME.

His presentation to the Gibson Enquiry was brilliant. It should have been on primetime TV. He should be on the News, in the newspapers and on the radio. Of course he wouldn't have the time being as he is a full-time carer to his wife and has been for many years.

I so wish I was in a position to publicise this more. This is my attempt here. Please watch these videos and get others to watch them too. The scandal of the treatment of ME sufferers in this country, particularly those with the most debilitating form, those 25% who suffer with severe ME, must not be allowed to continue.

Please support him in what ever way you can.

Faster than Kudzu

I've been spending some time at Trashionista. Not just because my good friend Di is one of the editors, not just because they have been giving away free books but just because, well I like it there. I wish I could read books like they were going out of fashion, WH thinks I do, (well I buy them anyhow) but they read far more in a week than I read in a month! One consequence of this is the ever increasing pile on my bookshelves, currently I have 15 waiting to be read.

One of the things I really liked about Trashionista was a mention of Joshilyn Jackson, erstwhile writer of southern novels, blogger extraordinaire and just general madcap person. If you want a good, old-fashioned, side-spliting laugh and have plenty of tissues to hand to mop up the tears of laughter which I guarantee will stream from your eyes, just read this tale of her arrest. And the two succeeding parts to the story. You will not be disappointed. I wonder if she ever thought of doing stand-up comedy? This is funnier than most comedians ever get.

I am currently reading her novel Between Georgia and loving every minute of it. Funny yes, but with a serious side. I can thorougly recommend it.

Why the straightjacket??

Some people have asked me why I call this blog Life in the Straightjacket. If you read the previous post about government funding for ME research you might have clue.

I have had ME for almost 14 years, no treatment has been forthcoming except CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and GET (graded excercise therapy) both of which have been shown in numerous studies not to work and at worst to be positively detrimental to the condition. The accepted practice is to treat the symptoms not the root cause of the disorder.

This is why I feel I am in a straightjacket, one made by the Medical Establishment and fastened by Prof Simon Wessley and his ilk, psychiatrists who refuse to accept the findings of the researchers the world over and prevent proper recognition and help for us suffers.

I am hoping and waiting for the day that all of us stuck in the straightjacket can shake if off and strike out for pastures new but I fear it will be a very long wait.

Balderdash

So the British Government is to invest £1.9m in a cure for baldness in the hope of attracting voters. This is in order to boost the confidence of men whose lives have been shattered by hair-loss.

One sufferer said: "Balding made me feel aged. Looking in the mirror before going out, or standing up in a meeting was difficult." Well how nice for them, at least these folically challenged males can now look forward to an end to their suffering. Figures suggest at least 40% of men over the age of 50 suffer.

The Times says:

Similar doubts can afflict the most apparently confident of men. Shane Warne, the Australian cricketer and Graham Gooch, the former England captain, are among those who have apparently benefited from such treatment. /span>

Pity the poor ME sufferers then, they only represent about 1-2% of the population (Shepherd, C. (1999) Living with M.E. p.9. ) and in the ratio of 1 male to every 3 females. No wonder the Government doesn't want to spend money on that research. No wonder we still see no end to our suffering. There are not enough of us. No matter that of these sufferers approximately 6% recover after 3 years, 50% are not able to work and 33% are unable to perform any type of physical activity. (Wilson, A. et al. (1994) 'Longitudinal study of outcome of chronic fatigue syndrome,' British Medical Journal, 308, p.756-9.) Obviously there are not enough of us suffering, as an inability to walk, work, stand up in meetings, go out or play cricket is insignificant when compared with the distress of all those middle aged males who are traumatised by being bald, let alone our distress at what we look like in the mirror.

The research into baldness is a great stride for Britain in the biotechnology stakes, it is hoped that Britain will become a world leader in cures and this could bring in a possible £1bn a year in trade.

I wonder how much money could be added to the British economy if the 250,000 people (Early Day Motion 260) currently estimated to be suffering with this disease could return to a 'normal' life, be able to work and to live benefit and help free as they formerly did. Perhaps one of these people could find a cure for baldness or even captain England at cricket.

Lost for Words

A close friend yesterday remarked how my life is turning into a saga resembling that of a Deric Longden book. Well thank you Di. but actually she is right. Lost for Words is about right just now. My Mother isn't dotty or even charming like Deric's but there are a lot of similarities. I have spent a whole week now trying to sort out living arrangements/care/help for my mother, most of it done from the end of my telephone. I am all talked out as they say. I am also more clued up about pensions, care homes, costs of maintaining care and how to make a successful choice of accommodation. Also similar to Deric's saga is that my mother doesn't know any of it. Not in this case because she is not capable but rather because mentally she is too capable and choices might have to be made at some later stage and I want to be prepared and know what I am talking about without unknowingly having the wool pulled over my eyes.

Right now she is geared up for six weeks rehabilitation. Today I have to talk to her Social Worker along with her and this will involve a 3 -4 hour drive depending on traffic, meeting in the emergency care home where she is living right now and then trying to persuade her that a move to another care home, albeit short term, really is her best option. If she agrees (and to be fair she looks quite likely too at last, although at the start of the week it seemed she would refuse) it will be the first thing has agreed to this week. I have already been told that if she doesn't she will be 'booted out' next week and more or less left to her own devices as she has refused all forms of help so far.

In the last 48 hours I have had a panic attack, 2 severe headaches and forgotten where I was supposed to be. I have not like Deric lost my car but it has been a close run thing. Right now I am lost for words as I keep replaying how I will be trying to coax and cajole and justify all the while keeping an eye out for hidden agendas and trips-ups and also trying to persuade an 87 year old that she has to listen to a young African man and that he really does have her best interests at heart as do we all. Good thing WH is doing the driving, as I can't remember at all where the care home is or how we got there.

This week, mostly.....

I'm reading.....

not a lot. My brain is completely dead right now and other than doing the daily Sudoku in the Times I am not reading at all. For pleasure that is. What I am reading is reams and reams relating to care homes, care of the elderly and how to obtain help for the elderly. My mother is at present in respite care and who knows where she will go next?

I'm eating.....

anything which doesn't require much preparation. Spending upwards of 5 hours on the phone most days, trying to sort my Mother out, is not conducive to cooking elaborate dishes. Yesterday ready-cooked chickens were two for the price of one at the local supermarket. No need to say what we ate for dinner last night!

I'm wearing.....

my new fluffy ankle boots/ slippers. Made of 3 inch fun-fur, they come in a delightful shade of bright turquoise and Nelson is frightened of them. Don't half keep my toes warm though!

Over at Trashionista

BAFAB will be fab!

Diane Shipley and Keris Stainton, co-editors of Trashionista, the books news and reviews site whose motto proclaims, “We read books like they’re going out of fashion!” are excited to announce Trashionista’s participation in this October’s Buy a Friend a Book Week (BAFAB).

From October 2-6 2006 on www.trashionista.com, you’ll find exclusive guest blogs from best-selling chick-lit authors (stop by to find out who!), interviews, and seven (and counting…) book giveaways. Plus, find out what books we’d buy for our friends, and why!

It goes without saying (doesn’t it?!) that of course you’ll also find all of the usual great Trashionista content: book reviews (focusing on women’s fiction, chick-lit and memoir) and book news (focusing on anything hot or controversial in the book world in general) all delivered with intelligence and a sense of fun.

Please stop by from October 1-5 for BAFAB week, Trashionista style- and help make it a week to remember!


More about Trashionista:
Trashionista gets to grips with the wonderful world of female fiction. We take an unbiased look at beach reads, bestsellers, new releases and old favourites -and we actually read the books before writing about them. At Trashionista we don't believe that 'chick lit' is a dirty word - but if a book is trash, we'll let you know!
Trashionista is a Shiny Media (www.shinymedia.com) website created by Gemma Cartwright and edited by Diane Shipley and Keris Stainton. To contact the editors email here

OK so I didn't write this, I cut and pasted what Di sent me. But hey, give them a break and go and look at Trashionista right now!!

NICE Clinical Practice Guidelines

My favourite campaining organisation Invest in ME has publicised news of these Guidelines which are at present in draft format and the public are allowed to comment.

Here

In order to formulate these guidelines 399 questionaires were sent out and 219 returned (page 50), 119 from patients, 63 from healthcare proffessionals, 29 from carers, 8 unknowns. Of the 180 who didn't reply nothing is known of those categories of people. There are however some very pertinent comments given as examples (pages52-54). Of 6 published comments 4 refered to the difficulty of the task involved for people with ME. One comment refered to over 450 pages of accompanying notes which needed to be read in order to complete the task.

And that's the point isn't it?? People with ME need to be heard and yet the very instrument which purports to be helping them is geared up to preventing those people from giving their experiences and opinions.

No wonder the psychiatrists and other health care professionals are having a laugh at our expense and disregarding anything we say. Once again the main focus of these guidelines are Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Graded Excercise Therapy.

Professor Malcolm Hooper stated in 2005 in a document entitled THE GROUP ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH INTO MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS , (THE GIBSON PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY) , CONCERNS ABOUT A COMMERCIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST UNDERLYING THE DWP HANDBOOK ENTRY ON MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS / CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME :

as far as ME/CFS is concerned (and in general), the proposed psychiatric “rehabilitation” regimes ie. CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and GET (graded exercise therapy) that are to be imposed on UK claimants are poorly researched; they have already been shown to be of no lasting benefit, and they may be harmful: in four surveys of a total of 3,074 ME/CFS patients, 77% of those who had tried CBT found that it either made no difference or made things worse, and of the 1,467 patients who had tried a graded exercise “rehabilitation” regime, 48% found it to be the most harmful intervention.

For this reason I am reading the whole of these proposed Guidelines, all 269 pages of them along with a quick scan of the 646 pages of appendices.

Comment, you bet I will.

What a start

to the month of October. Someone let off a load of bangers after the pub shut and the cats went mental. Then we had a full blown thunder storm at 4 am for a couple of hours, thunder, lightening, torrential rain, hail, the whole works. The cats all had a total breakdown then, especially when the hail-stones, as big as bullets, were rolling off the roof. Nelson disappeared. Misty tried to sleep down my bed. Goggins had come upstairs after the firework episode for the first time in about twelve years and slept on my bed, jammed up against my hip for comfort, he then tried to sleep on top of me, only retreating to the floor after Misty had sniffed him savagely several times. In the midst of all this I start developing the symptoms of the local bug which seems to be affecting half of the village. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep.

This evening I collected WH from the station. He had been to a farewell party in London for several mates who are all moving to random points of the compass. Unbeknown to me he'd booked into the Holiday Inn last night.

'Waste of time, I was sick all night, must be that bug going round'

I wasn't symapthetic at all.

September

It being the last day of the month I have pinched one of Di's ideas and give you my September poem.

I love this description of the children back in school after the long summer and was reminded of it when the grandsons the other evening were moaning that they could only play at 'night' now!!

(Part of) September
from the Shepherd's Calendar

As yet no meddling boys resort
About the streets in idle sport
The butterflye enjoys his hour
And flirts unchaced from flower to flower
And humming bees that morning calls
From out the low huts mortar walls
Which passing boy no more controuls
Flye undisturbed about their holes
And sparrows in glad chirpings meet
Unpelted in the quiet street

None but imprison'd childern now
Are seen where dames with angry brow
Threaten each younker to his seat
That thro' the school door eyes the street
Or from his horn book turns away
To mourn for liberty and play


John Clare

I don't exist

Two days ago I spoke to my mother, as I do every day, and she had siezed up from a fall the previous week. I tried to contact her house manager and left a message. Since this lady was in a different part of the building, my mother decided to press the emergency alarm. Help arrived immediately, the cavalry in the shape of the manager, her cleaner and the doctor whom I had summoned independently. WH and I set off on the 150 mile drive to to her flat.

The upshot of all this is that she is now in respite care for two weeks and I must arrange help for when she returns home. Not easy anywhere here but the problem is compounded when you are so distant. The doctor thanked me for giving her my phone number, they only had that of my sister in New York. WHAT?????? WHY???

Removing all valuables from Mother's handbag before the trip to the nursing home, we found a diary. 2005.

'Oh it's brand new' says Mother.

'It's last year's' says me.

'Oh I know, I keep it for phone numbers' she realises.

She looks through its' blank pages. On the very last page there is something written. "My Daughter: XXXXXX Phone Number XXXXXX. Address: XXXXXX New York."

I always knew. Now I have written confirmation.

It's that day again

when I add another year on the clock. Think I'll stop counting soon.

Sulphasalazine sucks

I'm doing really badly on this. I'm still only on half a dose daily and I am so tired I could sleep for England. Factor in a period of nausea each day after I have taken the second tablet and you get the picture? It's not a pleasant one. I am fit for nothing after dinner and just want to crash out. I am sleeping about 14 hours a day right now, almost double my usual 8.

All this is somewhat depressing as my hands are like wood again, my knuckles have disappeared under a load of swelling and it takes a good 90 minutes each morning for them to uncurl sufficiently for me to do anything. The Raynauds is worse than ever, my feet hardly ever seem pink at all now and I am wearing 2 pairs of thermal socks most of the time. I am already wearing gloves for part of the day too.

Yesterday we discovered that due to clients holding-up WH's work when they have hitherto been overly concerned that the job go ahead as fast as possible, we could have had our customary autumn trip to Greece after all. We had been thinking of Lesbos again; the birdwatching now is brilliant as the autumn migration gets underway.

All this conspires to make me feel worse, particularly as it was so cold in August here. It seems like winter is going to be very long this time round.

This week mostly .....

I'm watching.....

Misty and his brother Nelson playing in the house more, now that the evenings and nights are colder. Misty has a new sleeping place, in the wash-basin in the bathroom. Funny how he curls his little body into a perfect fit, just his ears sticking out over the rim!

I'm listening.....

to the sound of next door's new puppy chewing their stair-gate throughout the night. The gate is on a quarry tiled floor and the sound of the metal gate banging on that all night is enough to waken the dead. We have had words already as 5 nights running we were awoken by this. Just hope it stops soon or I will be forced to turn into angry neighbour mode.

I'm eating.....

blackberry and apple crumble. It must be autumn as thoughts turn to hot puddings and especially those whose ingredients are 'free'. The scent of the hot fruit and the toasty topping is divine, just makes you want another helping!

Worth the wait

I'm writing this half way through today's family festivities. The ceremony over, the wedding breakfast eaten, we now have a couple of hours respite to catch our breath and let everything digest before this evening's marathon party in the local village hall. WH is in classic position, head back, eyes shut and mouth wide open. Even the large black and white cat on his lap doesn't bother him.


My stepdaughter looked radiant and her groom ecstatic when he saw her in her 'Once in a Lifetime' dress. Not just 'wedding dress' but 'any dress'. This tomboy doesn't do skirts of any description and her knees have not seen the light of day since she was at primary school. For one day, our capable, miss-fix-it with the totally laid-back style of motherhood on the side, just to confound all who meet her, looks like an angel. Gone are the familiar trainers and baggy jeans and instead here is a swan who according to one dumbfounded relative looks more beautiful then Julia Roberts and has an even better figure. A figure never before seen in public. So stunning the transformation the whole room was silent when she walked in on WH's arm.

So now I'm off to revive my own flagging hairdo, put on the glad rags and sit back and witness another hundred people being stunned at the site of our own beauty on the arm of her new husband who has waited ten years for this priviledge.

By golly it was worth the wait.

To Eldest Stepdaughter and her lucky, lucky man, we wish you all the happiness in the world.

It never rains but what it pours...

All geared up for the Big Day on Saturday and now Mother in Law has had a mini stroke. This has put our last minute plans completely upside down and WH, who is always very last minute, is now wishing he had actually done a few things earlier! Hard lesson to learn and not really the week to be learning it.

On the bright side, today I kept a long-standing date to meet two of my cyber friends whom I have known in the ether for almost 5 years. It was so good to actually meet in person at last and the strange thing was, you thought you'd only seen them yesterday. Totally weird, but it was great to put voices and actions to the dialogue. Now we are even better friends.

Just a little bit busy

I'm still here and still in one piece but extremely busy as we have a wedding in the family in the next few days.

No, no NOT WH and me but someone close.

More details later.

Meanwhile I am learning the art of doing 5 things at once as opposed to the usual 4 things that we women do!

8 things I have done in the last few days

1. Visited my mother
2. Eaten crab salad at the Sea Shanty
3. Sat in the sun on a Devon beach
4. Read 3 family tree magazines cover to cover
5. Been clothes shopping...woo hoo..
6. Watched squirrels chasing each other up and down a stand of ash trees
7. Bought a handbag
8. Had another blood test

What have you been up to????

Replies on a postcard please....

Hard Times

I've recently been transcribing some census sheets from the 1861 Census of England and Wales for an internet genealogy project. I do this most of the time but have a had a break over the summer and have taken up again in earnest over the last week or so. What interesting things I find out. Today I had a family of 8 living in the same house and three of the children aged 11, 9 and 8 were working as Nail Strikers. Now my eldest Grandson is 8 and I just can't believe that children of this age worked. Well I know that they did, we have long had all the historical evidence to support it, but I just can't conceive of the sort of life they had. Grandson would be hard pushed to leave his play station for 10 minutes let alone do a days work!!

Another family was somewhat extended with an elder son, his wife and toddler in the one house. I then realised that the married son had a younger brother who was younger than his own son. It was not unusual to find families of 10, 11 or even more offspring all living together. The poor mothers must have been exhausted after all those years of child bearing. I go down through the lists of children and they are regularly spaced at generally 2 years apart. If a bigger gap appears you can be almost sure that a child had died, or else had gone to work in service somewhere else. Some of the families have widowers and widows in their twenties, such things we feel are catastrophic nowadays but quite common place then.

Occupations are interesting too, today I had a striker, in an iron works no doubt, a lot of steel makers, and a new one on me: a gas pumper. Blacksmiths, whitesmiths and brass founders abound, after all I am studying the City of 1000 trades. As for the wives they are often occupation-less unless they happen to be washerwomen, greengrocers, knitters or dressmakers. Sometimes they are identified by their husband's work, baker's wife, bedstead painter's wife, coalman's wife, as though it were an occupation in itself. It probably was!

All this has reminded me today rather graphically that however much we think times are hard now and problems beset us which are hard to solve, we have an incredibly easy life now compared with our ancestors. it's about time we started being grateful.

This week mostly.....

I'm watching.....

the US Open Tennis on satellite TV. Problem is, some of the best matches are at 1.30 in the morning here, such as Agassi v Bagdatis tonight. Will just have to settle for the reruns tomorrow.

I'm listening.....

to the (European) Robins which have suddenly become very terrtorial now that autumn is definitely in the air.

I'm reading.....

The Last Resort by Alison Lurie. Di says it's her favourire Lurie book so here's hoping. I'm only a third of the way in yet so it remains to be seen. I've met Wilkie Walker and Salty so far!! Wilkie I'm not sure about, Salty I love already.

Fireworks

Blogger seems to have a mind of it's own at the moment. Hopefully I can now post the pic I took of the fireworks at the weekend.

Looks like it worked so I will try my luck with a couple of others taken of Kingswear from the Dartmouth side of the river.

Loads of boats in sight and this was only a small section of them. We'll definitely be going back next year.

Those magnificent men

We celebrated our 15th anniversary in style at the weekend at the Royal Dartmouth Regatta no less. During the day we saw a myriad boats and ships of all types, rowing, sailing, a couple of frigates and everything in between. then we watched a display of the new Typhoon bomber being put through it's paces, a dancing Chinook helicopter, a Harrier jump jet and finally and most breathtakingly, the Red Arrows, the RAF's display team.

Some of the stunts are really death defying like the picture above with some of the aircraft flying upside down.

Or how about this one where they pass in mid-air just a few feet apart?

Later in the day we watched the Firework finale whilst the band of the Royal Marines played in accompaniment sharing a celebratory plate of chips on the riverside as we watched. The perfect end to a perfect day.

Blogger doesn't want my fireworks picture so you'll have to wait for that one!

Cancel Mansell??? Why???

There is a campaign locally to Cancel Mansell, that is to stop a planning application to update a local carting track to provide a first class leisure facility. They've even got Kirsty Allsopp of Location, Location, Location fame involved.

Several things occur to me here:

1. The past 21 years the site has been a complete eyesore and it could do with updating.

2. It is already classed as a brownfield site so no damage will be done to surrounding wildlife etc on top of what has already been done.

3. Only part of the planning application seems to appear on their website. Where is the rest of it??

4. The leaders of this group seem to be totally annonymous other than one lady whom I believe spends a lot of time abroad on projects for her business.

5. It seems that some campaigners have been busy contacting various campaigning groups all over the country, in particular student groups, asking them to sign up to the petition against the planning application. How fair is that??

6. Shouldn't a local issue involve and take account of local people who have first hand knowledge of the situation??

I'm getting off my soapbox now but it does seem as though a certain few will stop at nothing to get their way. I wish some of them would put a bit of effort into campaigning for something worthwhile, like my old favourite Invest in ME!!