Please come over and join us and participate in a New Venture over @ The Recipe Hunter and let’s have fun at the Weekly Share and Inspire, Meet and Greet!
We will kick off this new venture next week, Sunday, 7 January 2018, and I would like to welcome all old and new bloggers and trust that this will be a good opportunity for all of us to get to know each other better.
Watch this space and be ready for the first Weekly Share and Inspire, Meet and Greetnext week, Sunday, 7 January 2018.
This is an open invitation to all bloggers from any niche,so please leave us a comment and tell us a little about yourself, and yes, we want you to leave us a link to promote and showcase your own blog.
You can use any link of your choice. You may wish to…
I hope that you have all had a wonderful holiday season – I appreciate that for many of you this will have been hampered by health problems, for others it may be the first year since a bereavement, or just simply a difficult time – but we have to believe that there is always something positive, even out of negatives (hope my eldest is reading…..we call him Mr Glass half empty!).
I’m not going to do a look back at my year and bore you silly…..this week is probably enough. Our week hasn’t gone exactly to plan – when does it ever? – with yours truly managing to fall off the sofa (I know, I know!) and putting out my shoulders, neck, ankle and hip in one foul swoop!! Of course this would be the night before we were due to travel to visit the in laws…..add hubby having a horrendous case of man flu (actually he has the most awful chesty cough and was banished to an empty child’s bed last night!) and the trip is off. if you are reading, Dave and Wendy – I am so sorry! Kids are too as it meant any plans for New Year’s Eve parties in this house were ruined…..the teen girls due to gather decamped to another location and at the time of writing we have had no communications from the lovely girl! Plus one boy still old cold and snoring in bed here, having made it home.
But two huge positives for me were managing a lovely family meal out on Boxing Day, and hosting the extended family the day after. My brother’s family, the student engineer’s partner, and of course my lovely parents…..plus the drone that one very silly auntie bought her nephew for Christmas. Well I didn’t think he would be flying it around my living room!!!
I have put together a huge list of New Year blog posts for you from some of my blogging family…..many from the Big Up Your Blog community, others from Chronic Illness Bloggers. There are reflections, good wishes, goals & resolutions, poetry and don’t miss Phil’s hilarious Predictions from a legit Psychic! Plus the first is a great blogging invitation on Smorgasbord. Sit back with a glass of something good (dry Jan can start tomorrow!) and enjoy.
Good evening! I’m a bit late posting today as the dreaded task had to be done – Christmas shopping! I have to be honest and say that this is the first year that I was dreading the trip that has become something of a tradition for Duncan and me over the last decade. We get up and head off in time to have our breakfast in a cafe just off the market place, and then enjoy some empty shops before the crowds arrive.
But with each year early mornings become trickier and some days I can rival the youngsters for not being able to get out of bed. Then there is the cold…and it was cold this morning! Typically as the temperatures plummeted this week, so our central heating behaved in the same way as my body….it grumbled, then shrieked in protest, and finally refused to cooperate! So between dodgy pipework in the home and dodgy systems in my body, I have been snookered. But I am pleased to announce that we did it…..even managed to find a very central blue badge parking spot and found that the cafe could cater for my increasing dietary restrictions. The bulk of the shopping has been completed between today’s haul and my online exploits, and Duncan used the wheelchair as an effective battering ram as the crowds increased toward lunch time.
So now I am flaked out, dosed up to the eyeballs for my dodgy shoulder that constantly forgets the ball is supposed to live inside the socket, and have put together my favourite Christmas inspired posts of the week. I have even managed to persuade the lovely girl to photograph our Christmas tree for you….
There is a blast from the past with eighties gifts (my generation – I had a Petite typewriter), a short story with a twist in the tale, suggestions for those of us with chronic health, crafts for the kids, food….food….and some more food! If you don’t have time to check out all of the posts – please let me direct you to the final post (film) which will bring a smile to your face…hopefully without a Bah Humbug in sight!
We are now well and truly into the countdown for Christmas, PainPals, so it seems only right that Monday Magic for the next couple of weeks will become Christmas blog posts for you! Here in the UK the old song “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” is very true as a blanket of snow has enveloped great areas of the country. The snow here south of London hasn’t settled, but other parts of the country have ground to a halt with schools and Christmas markets closing, ice rinks shutting and grid lock on the roads. Those of you in other parts of the world accustomed to snow must look at us and laugh…..
Pin for later
So it is bitterly cold – pretty awful for the nerve pain – the Christmas tree is bought and just about decorated and the outside lights are up…..but only half are working! Aghhh. This weather is pretty grim for us spoonies and believe me that the cold and damp really do make a huge difference to our ability to do things. Friends, please still ask us to parties and carol concerts, but don’t be too upset if we have to bail at the last minute. I for one will always get to a party if I can!! At the moment though the cold, nerve pain and spinal cord stimulator are doing a manic battle in my back and leg!
On a family note, for those who sent such lovely messages when I wrote about my lovely girl and her friends’ exams – she did really well and is so pleased. So fingers crossed for next summer. Meanwhile the art coursework takes priority….
Sketchbook street scene by Lucy
I have really enjoyed reading some fantastic Christmas posts over the last few weeks and have pinned many. This is a selection of just a few – they vary from traditional recipes(check out the slow cooker hot chocolate – gorgeous), a Christmas book review, gift ideas for the family and for those with chronic health, ways to keep stress at bay and some classic Christmas movies. But to start off I’d like to direct you, with some mulled wine or cider in hand, to a Christmas limerick….enjoy!
Well here we are, friends, in December and I cannot believe just how the year has flown by. There are plenty of fantastic Blogmas posts that have begun to appear in the blogosphere, but I am resisting the urge to share just Christmas posts….yet!
We had our first Christmas night out last week with our local book club. My hubby Duncan and I meet with like minded friends once a month in the local pub and have a very informal, often funny, chat about the book that we have all read the previous month…..or not in the case of Duncan! Actually that’s probably not fair – sometimes other people haven’t read the book either!! No, seriously, he has read a couple in the past. Anyway this month – with a meal out being on the menu – we found ourselves accompanied by the eldest and yougest kids…..the middle one probably would have come too if he had not been at uni. I was worried that book club might think they were being overtaken by the Bendy family, but they were happy for the engineer and lovely girl to join us – particularly when the student engineer found a voucher for 30% off. He even chose the book for December – which I have purchased on audible in the hope that hubby might get to the end of it if he can listen whilst walking the dogs.
Well, maybe this old man won’t be walking! 15 years young, Sam is quite happy on his bed thanks!
Dunc and Prince
I was incredulous when in the space of 10 days I received two hospital appointment cancellation letters – one rheumatology and one cardiology. But then I had a CT scan appointment for my shoulder out of the blue scheduled the week before Christmas, NHS at 7.20pm. I had no idea appointments were ever scheduled this late!! Today I had a phone call for an orthopaedic appointment – so where I have lost two, I have gained another two…..don’t worry that they are different speciality.
Currently the student engineer is pacing the room ahead of a telephone interview/coding test this afternoon – and another with facebook later this week. The prospect of interviews and work in the real world are suddenly very real – so how does mum calm down a very nervous adult son, who seems to be talking in a foreign language when describing what is expected of him. I feel old!
Without further witterings, I introduce blog posts for this week. The first post from the lovely Angela is not a conventional wish list and it would be lovely if you would join in – please let Angela or me know what you are taking from her list! Sheryl’s December prompts on A Chronic Voice are listed below – again I look forward to reading your responses. For those in the UK don’t miss the post for reserving your ticket for the Bloggers Bash in London in the New Year – hope to see you there.
So for now sit down with your cuppa – or maybe you have started on the mulled wine – and enjoy some great blog posts!
Black Friday has gone…although I suspect it will roll into the pre Christmas sales, my friends in the US have celebrated Thanksgiving and in our household we have celebrated my nephew’s 7th birhtday…and on St Andrew’s Day will celebrate my brothers’s birthday (no age, he might be reading!). This must mean we are really starting the count down to Christmas!
I have been party to several inspirational moments this week – no, not making the Ghostbusters birthday cake although I think it was pretty good considering the ongoing struggle to keep my shoulder in socket! The first was a visit to see the film Unrest, made by Jennifer Brea about living with ME/CFS at a local theatre with my mum. I’m not going to say much about the film here as I will write a review – but Jen introduced us to some really inspiring people across the globe, and then mum and I met some lovely people in the foyer after. Naturally they assumed that I have ME, and I explained what I do have (EDS, POTS) and how there are many overlaps. I was delighted to meet one gentleman who was there alone, but has a daughter with a new tentative diagnosis for hypermobility syndrome and possibly POTS. He took my details, the blog, and information for EDS UK and I really hope that his daughter will get in touch.
As Chair of the KGS Friends, I am often invited to events at my old school and this week Duncan and I attended the senior school production. We had no idea what to expect and I was slightly nervous when I realised that my wheelchair spot was virtually on the stage – if I had released the brakes I would have taken out a bale of hay and been centre stage. But we need not have worried about having to applaud politely…..this production of “Nell Gwyn” was fantastic! We were so impressed by the acting, the singing, costumes – everything! It equalled a night out to any professional theatre – honestly. As in every production there were several stand out performances – one from a young man playing the actor who always played the female role (remember this is Charles II time) and he was hilarious. Comic timing that many pros would envy just oozed from him. Then there was the young lady playing the lead role, Nell Gwyn. Isobel Thom was superb!
Isobel Thom (as tweeted by Izzy)
She never missed a beat with her speech, her singing or the comedy – I do hope that she continues to act when she leaves for higher education next year. A truly inspiring group of teenagers – we had a wonderful night.
Finally the student engineer asked me yesterday about my nursing at the Middlesex Hospital, London as he had come across some articles about the first HIV unit and a photographer who took intimate pictures in the early 90s. The photographer is Gideon Mendel and he has published a book called The Ward…..the wards in question being Broderip and Charles Bell.
Photograph from collection by Gideon Mendel entitled The Ward
As student nurses working and living at The Middlesex, I believe that we were priviledged to witness some very special times. They were not easy times and this was probably the first encounter that many of us would have with people our own age dying. HIV and AIDS was a death sentence then and the majority of the patients were young gay men. They were misunderstood and villified by certain elements of the press – they were blamed for this disease and feared by the general public. I remember that there was a huge stigma attached to the unit even amongst other hospital staff in the early days, and haemophiliac HIV positive men did not want to be on the same ward. Many of the young men had been disowned by family (for being gay) and their support network was from the gay community and the nurses. But I learnt so much about human nature, tolerance and love. I still remember the first time I saw a Kaposi sarcoma lesion and a young man needing assisted breathing for pneumocystitis pneumonia – both AIDS defining illnesses then. I believe that for many of us young nurses, we saw no distinction between these young men dying and others dying on the oncology wards. We “grew up” in our nursing training knowing this terrible disease and the few retroviral drugs available at the time, but this was unusual. Many of us went on to undertake a specialist course for Care of HIV and Aids once we had qualified (ENB 934 i believe!). One of my friends also pointed out that it was very unusual for a partner to be allowed on the bed with a patient in those days – no matter sexuality. The care was enlightened and a patient transfer to the AIDS hospice, The London Lighthouse, really stayed with me into my days as a hospice nurse. It took years for other areas to catch up – I can still remember the first AIDS patient to be admitted to our hospice in approx 1997 and the ignorance (not intentional) amongst experienced staff. The young men we cared for and those pictured in The Ward all died, but just several years later advances in pharmaceuticals meant that HIV was no longer a death sentence. As a former nurse and the mother of a young gay man, I am so thankful that times and attitudes have changed and must continue to.
Wow…bit longer than I intended so I will launch straight in and hope that you will indulge my first choice which is a post about Broderip ward. There is some cookery and stress relief for the holiday season and something called “The Single Woman syndrome” – intriguing. So grab a cuppa and enjoy some new blogs!
This weekend has been one of Remembrance in so many places across the globe. With Saturday being the 11th November, it was totally fitting that the Lord Mayor’s parade in the City of London started with the playing of the last post and a 2 minute silence. In true UK style, the weather was miserable – I can’t remember the last time it was fair for the Lord Mayor’s show!! Sunday however was a beautiful, crisp day as the veterans and current serving forces gathered alongside politicians, members of the public and the royal family for the service at the Cenotaph. The oldest veteran attending, a 99 year old former Royal Marine Ernie Searling, sent a heartfelt message to the world – “I feel very humble seeing so many hundreds of men and women on the parade today. So very, very humble, particularly those who are not with us on this day today… All I hope is that the future generations could see this parade, see some solidarity in it. See that the betterment of mankind in England, especially Great Britain, should be at its highest level. We don’t want street fights. We don’t want arguments. We don’t want racial injustice. All those things are horrible!” He brought a tear to eyes in our lounge.
Former Royal Marine Ernie Searling
Over the last week the BBC have been broadcasting a series of programmes celebrating and highlighting the roles women have played in war over the last one hundred years – Women at War 100 Years of Service. – currently available on the iplayer. It is difficult not to be inspired by the young women of the World Wars who were trailblazers for so many careers that women had previously not been able to undertake – and I would imagine that this is the case in other parts of the world when the men were on the front line. Some of these women, now elderly ladies, recounted tales of their training and deployment – as radio operators, munitions workers, pilots and engineers. These women paved the way for both women in the forces and in the workplace generally.
Image from Homefront Heroines website
Recruitment poster
My first inspiring blog for you today follows this theme and gives thanks on Remembrance Day – but the others have a mixture of themes from midlife crisis (me!!) to migraines to books & disability to Christmas baking & gifts! Not on quite the same par as WW2, but I think that you will enjoy these inspiring posts and urge you to grab a drink, take a seat and enjoy.
Good evening – yes, I know, evening, Pain Pals! I am just about managing to make this a Monday Magic post, having spent yesterday and today asleep after The Book Club party on Saturday – I could tell you that it was over indulgence, but sadly these days it is just down to fatigue. Those of you in the know appreciate how hard it can be to do anything – and believe me when this mum doesn’t even care what is going around her in the house (yesterday) things must be dire!! But a good time was had by all and we came away with some fantastic goody bags full of TBC author books – all arranged by the lovely Tracy Fenton (TBConFB and Compulsive Readers blog).
The lovely Tracy Fenton – we got the cake there in one piece, just!
Anyway feeling a bit more human now, and noting the date…..I thought I would have a flick through some of the fab groups I belong to and find my favourite Halloween inspired posts. There are some spooky books, scary films, ghostly doughnuts and a haunted Indian fort. My personal favourite as a baker is the Brain cake! So it is time to sit down, grab your favourite tipple and enjoy some All Hallow’s Eve fun! As for me…on the topic of all things eerie, I’m off to start season 2 of Stranger Things!
Another week has flown by, there have been yet more storms – why did ours in the UK get the name Brian? – more Brexit and the increasing #MeToo campaign. In our house we saw the end of the German exchange as our lovely girl and her friends’ student partners returned home. Absolutely exhausted! The girls are now coming down off a high and the start of half term is a bit of an anticlimax, particularly with mock exams looming.
Our girl is studying art – you probably know already as this proud mum has posted pictures, much to the disgust of my girl – and has a portfolio to work on and also a sketchbook for an interview. The house is destined to filled with paints, charcoals, paper and panic! I am doing something this week that I don’t normally, but I’d like to shamelessly introduce you to some other talented youngsters – the triplet daughters of an old school friend.
Art By Three
They have been featured on Sky Landscape Artist of the Year, and are currently working with the UK’s National Trust on the Scotney Old Castle campaign. Whilst not strictly a blog post, I have included both their website and the campaign site as I strongly believe we should support and nurture young talent – I am not asking you to donate but to take a peek, maybe follow them on Facebook and Instagram…..
The other posts are all fantastic and range from an article that fits with the #MeToo campaign but stems from a personal story of surviving from Illness to Wellness, to acupuncture at My Migraine Life to social well being from a new blog to me Little Adventures NZ. There are a couple here that are particularly great reads for you ladies – I love the look at Envy on Wendy Fairy Art – and all you mums and dads must read “My Husband Doesn’t Help” from the Coffee Mom. It is not what you think it is!!! Add in some OCD at The Thyroid Damsel and what more diversity could you want?!
Image from Googles Images
So it is that time to grab a cuppa, turn your mobile to silent and spoil yourself with some great reads. Please comment, share and follow some of these lovely people if you enjoy their work.
Please comment, like posts and share far and wide in the spirit of the season! Have a great week,
PainPalsBlog 