Autumn and a lovely visit

Autumn is well and truly here, since yesterday it is grey, total cloud cover over the city.

It has been raining also since yesterday, and it is considerably cooler, so much so that I have the duvet again instead of the fleece blankets.

This morning I noticed it quite abit as being cool seems to have woken me up too early, somehow I managed to doze off again.

No wonder that I was in so much pain yesterday, it is the weather change, always find it very hard to make the adjustment.

Will write only a quick post now as my favourite cousin Katrin is visiting me very soon, she lives in France.

She will be here at 12 noon and is visiting until 5 when she goes back to Germany where she is visiting her brothers.

Her mother auntie Lilo sadly died in February, she would have been 102 this december, Lilo was quite a woman.

Remember staying with them when I was 15 and being astonished that she was already 60, I recall that it was wonderful how energetic she was.

A very dynamic woman, Katrin is the same, I have adored her since we met when I was 4 on one of our visits from Trinidad.

She became my role model right away, she made her prescence known, she was just 6 at the time.

A very independent girl, in the first minutes that I knew her she took me out of the garden without the grown ups noticing.

We sneaked across the road and had a terrific game in a field of poppies, a liberating experience for me.

And one I have never forgotten, going to get ready for her so will post this now, maybe update it after her visit.

Maybe until later, I am very excited at Katrin's visit.

Champion's League Football- Arsenal v Olympiakos.

Slept reasonably, but was disturbed a couple of times by noise from outside, loud conversation around 3 am and at 6 a dog barking loudly.

I drifted back off each time with a little bit of THC, and finally got woken up when I must have moved.

As soon as I move in the mornings even if it is just moving my arms a fraction it results in horrible cramps in my arms.

It is unpleasant, it is difficult to straighten my arms, and this morning my only o-option was to literally grit my teeth and did my arm exercises.

Still painful during and after but then I could stretch my arms out and use my hands without too much trouble.

Hands are noticeably, more clumsy and it remains potentially very frustrating doing things, it does not put me off doing things.

Sometimes I cope by shouting, once I have reassured Richie I do not need his help, I can shout as much as I need to.

This morning was extra painful and my arms were very tense and very difficult to do anything with.

Shed a few tears because I hurt so much, Richie was over holding my gently and whispering lovingly to me.

The Spike started to squeak until Richie lifted him up onto my bed, where he very careful came very close and snuggled down in to arms.

He was extremely quiet and very delicate so as not to hurt me anymore, we had the loveliest cuddle for about 40 minutes.

After which Richie took Spike off and put Marleen onto my bed, much to her delight and when she had also done her bit in making me feel better she was returned to her own cosy bed.

Richie did my leg exercises and massage after that, my legs did not feel so tense and painful.

The baclofen tablets were duly taken and after washing face, neck and hands and brushing my teeth all done in bed my day could start.

It is lovely having two such nice dogs like Marleen and Spike, they are a delight, so glad we re-homed them now.

They give us such pleasure everyday, with their playful good nature and their total trust and affection for us.

It is very endearing to see how much they love us and their lives and where they live.

Really lovely to see, especially as both of them were not in such a good condition when we got them.

Spike we found online at a Dog Rescue in Den Bosch, he had been dumped as a puppy and was just 7 months old when we took him home.

He was hysterical and depressed and badly in need of love, poor little dog, he could not believe his luck when we took him home.

Even more so once we got home and it became clear to him that he was getting lots of attention and best of all toys and games.

He was very excited when I returned from the Pet shop with a bed and bowls for him plus a ball.

I recall his excitement as he snatched the ball out of my hand, we think it was the first toy he had ever had.

We were both extremely surprised to see that his paws were still pink, he had never been for a proper walk, and maybe he had been taken for a quick walk on the grass around the dog shelter.

But from what we saw and heard the day we went to see him they did not have any time.

They did not have the time to check his collar, they told us that he had suddenly been coughing but seemed healthy, they were puzzled by this.

When we got home Richie remembered what they had said at the shelter and checked his collar and found that the collar was far too tight.

The wee dog had outgrown his collar and it was just starting to cut into his neck and the skin was very red and raw, another day and it would have cut his neck and it would have started growing into his neck.

No wonder he was so hysterical, the pain must have made him slightly demented.

Marleen we found in 2005, also on the internet, she needed to be re-homed as the new baby had asthma and Marleen is very fluffy.

She was twice the size of Spike, at 12 1/2 kilos to Spike's 6 kilos, we gave her slightly less than Daisy and Spike and she soon started to lose the excess weight.

She was so fat she could only get into her bed with a huge effort, grooming was a nightmare as she lay in bed like a large seal.

She constantly flopped around trying desperately to groom, with little result, she panted if she walked only a few steps.

She had never had toys or played both of which she learnt with us.

However in the park she ran like crazy, stopping to pant and then getting her breath back so she could run again.

She loved to swim and dedicated herself to swimming, after two months of not getting extras she lost 6 1/2 kilos and looked and felt better.

It had been noticeable that she had been depressed when we got her, gradually she cheered up, and losing the weight gave her a new lease of life.

Now she is our gorgeous Marleen, who is happy and loves to run and play, she is the top dog and she knows it.

I am very pleased and happy we have been able to make a difference to the two dog’s lives, they have certainly made a difference to our lives.

Glad we re-homed them both, it is very worthwhile thing to do and it has been good getting to know and understand them.

They certainly give us great pleasure, they love to spend time with me in the bedroom and seem to make it their mission to look after me and keep me entertained.

Would for sure advocate people giving rescue animals a new life by re-homing them, they will repay you hundreds of times with their love and devotion.

Arsenal Football Club is playing in the Champion’s League tonight against Olympiakos, a Greek team.

It is going to be very exciting, hope that I can cope with watching the game tonight.

Have a good day, I intend to despite my pain and the lack of blue sky and sunshine, it is our first grey cloudy day.

Lies, Tax and Profits.

There are many misconceptions about marijuana, it's a natural herb, anyone who uses it can easily stop at any time, and stopping doesn't result in withdrawal symptoms.

There is also a common fallacy that using marijuana increases the tendency of an individual to start taking other drugs like heroin and cocaine.

However, statistics have shown no proof of this, there is proof however that it can lead to a desire to eat chocolate.
Marijuana is not addictive, unlike alcohol, tobacco or heroin.
Marijuana is known by many to be a drug that makes one start taking other more dangerous substances, but this is not the truth.

I recently heard tobacco being called a gateway drug by drug councillors, as once kids start smoking cigarettes they usually start drinking alcohol.

Cocaine is the clubbers drug of choice as it allows you to stay awake for hours and drink even more.

The chance of marijuana leading to other drugs increases only when drug dealers sell marijuana together with other substances; which is a good argument for legalising.

Another misconception is that marijuana causes brain damage, however there are no established links between marijuana use and death of brain cells.

In the anti weed campaign it is often said that marijuana can cause psychiatric problems.

In my opinion psychiatric symptoms are often there, just not diagnosed before marijuana use.

Consider the horrible side effects of much prescribed medicines such as opiates that are incredibly addictive.

Drugs that damage the kidneys and liver, and what about the dependency on sleeping tablets and tranquilizers and other muscle relaxers.

What about the side effects from morphine, diazepam, baclofen and blood thinners and drugs that reduce blood pressure.

The drugs that doctors prescribe have horrendous side effects look at the medicines for MS.

The drug companies are as far as I can see drug dealers who want us all to be dependant on them for life that is why they do not concentrate on finding a cure for MS.

One of the benefits of marijuana is pain relief (neurologists in The Netherlands advise it as the best pain relief) it helps with spasticity, gives a good appetite, helps sleeping, good for relaxation and other benefits.

There is alot of negative publicity about marijuana this is because the other drug dealers, the drug companies and the alcohol and tobacco companies have the franchise and want to keep it that way.
In the past physicians have used the plant for helping with headaches, insomnia and gastrointestinal disorders.
It was considered a sedative it was even used to aid in child birth and went on to aid in the treatment of inflammations, ear pains and oedemas.

In 500 B.C. the plant was used as a textile plant for fabricating cloth and manufacturing paper.

In Medieval times the plant was used as a diuretic, anti-epileptic and an anti-inflammatory.

In the 19th century Marijuana was considered to be useful in treating headaches, melancholy and insomnia.

Queen Victoria used it for menstrual pain.

Today marijuana is extremely helpful to aid in the treatment of insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks, depressions, neuralgias, rheumatism, gastrointestinal dysfunctions, ulcer, cholera, cancer, epilepsy, bronchitis, asthma (because of the property of bronchodilator), and gonorrhoea.

It has also been used in relieving epilepsy convulsions, multiple sclerosis and spasms.

And it used to aid in the side effects of chemotherapy by relieving dizziness and nausea.

So why such an important plant illegal?

Why are so many people being punished and jailed every year, many just because they are trying to get relief from their painful ailments?

Alcohol, which along with tobacco is really addictive is allowed, these are the drugs which are legal.

Marijuana is more useful than alcohol but yet it is illegal.

The government has found a great way of lining their pockets by heavily taxing alcohol and tobacco.

The Alcohol and Tobacco trade is legal and therefore not only tolerated by the Government, who gives it great support, but also protected.

The perceived competitor marijuana is heavily penalised and briefed against in order to maintain the profitable status quo.

Alcohol and tobacco have no benefits only negative effects.

So why are they legal and marijuana, are which has 100’s of benefits, is not legal.

Singing is good for you.

We have been watching an excellent program on BBC 2 called The Choir, where Gareth Malone, the Choir Master of a large well known orchestra, The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) goes to schools and in the last program to a community and encourages people to join the choir.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Malone


http://www.garethmalone.com/

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sing/choir/images/gareth_malone.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sing/choir/gareth.shtml&usg=__ixqZC-TXZ3xvSltccLpwl_WNg5U=&h=288&w=512&sz=142&hl=nl&start=4&um=1&tbnid=nZM8b-mWncrUoM:&tbnh=74&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bchoir%2Bgareth%2Bmalone%26hl%3Dnl%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

In the first program he transformed the kids from bored kids, who did not have anyway to express themselves into a choir.

It was beautiful to see the kids blossom and show the potential they had, that only needed to be encouraged and presented well.

The knock on effect was that kids became confident to apply for courses and jobs that they would not have done prior to joining the choir.

They even went out to the 2006 International Choir Competition in China, they did well, even just being there as they were just formed.

All the kids were so proud that they had got so far and went on to bigger and better things, most were still singing in choirs
.
The last program was in an unattractive town called South Oxhey, which was basically one huge housing estate and an ugly town centre shopping street.

They were next door to Rickmansworth, a more attractive, very middle class town, one with wood beams and ye old tea shoppes and people, who seemed to look down on their working class neighbours with contempt.

At first no one was interested, then he got some people and the rest followed, he went around town to everywhere there were people.

He went to schools, social clubs, boxing club, cafes and bars and the shops, karaoke evenings everyone was charmed by him and the first session he had 200 people turn up.

Gareth Malone is a very nice man and he went out and befriended this charmless place and the people loved it and you could see the feeling was mutual.

They became good choirs, he had two choirs, the Youth Choir and the Community Choir including the young men and the whole town turned out to see their first performance in the summer in the park.

There were people there at the concert, from neighbouring Rickmansworth who were full of surprised praise for the choir, they were impressed, that they had been so good.

When Gareth had visited Rickmansworth to invite people to0 South Oxhey, they could hardly believe that trhe people there could talk let alone sing.

After the performance in the park, the community spirit was alive and well and people were proud to be from the town, many who had been feeling isolated and lonely were now very obviously part of the community.

The Choirs were a source of pride to the community and this was lovely to see and was quite a transformation.

The choir was a source of great pride to everyone from South Oxhey, and at the end of the program Gareth Malone announced he would carry on being the Choir Master of the Community Choir and the Youth Choir.

An inspirational program, am now totally in favour of singing in groups, in choirs now I have seen how good it is for people to sing together.

Happy singing.

Kippers and Grand Prix Race Isle of Man.

Slept well last night until spasms and shouting outside jerked me suddenly awake; my darling heard me and was right there with thc.

Inhaled and slept again quickly and had a great dream of speeding around outside on some souped up cross between a wheelchair and a scooter.

This is my first dream in a year of being outside; it was a wonderful dream, very realistic, could feel the wind on my face.

It was so realistic that I slowed down by putting the brakes on too quick and nearly did a crash landing stop.

Felt like years ago and I was speeding down country lanes on my 250 cc Greaves motorbike, a sweet memory.

Going to the Isle of Man in 1973 (I was 22) with the Triumph Owners Club was a big event, felt great riding up the motorway to Liverpool with the other bigger bikes.

The Isle of Man is a beautiful place, very friendly people and pubs open all day, a veritable paradise for us.

We stayed in this little hotel, we had bed & breakfast & evening meal, and they served us excellent food, for breakfast there were plenty of the famous Isle of Man kippers.

The Grand Prix races were on all week and we went along to each race, on our bikes, and on the way home we emulated the racers.

Great fun, especially going over a couple of bridges and doing a sort of bunny hop and both tires were off the road briefly.

Very exciting, felt like we had taken part in the race ourselves and we would arrive back in Douglas flushed and elated.

Very exciting indeed, on the boat going over I had been mobbed by bike enthusiasts who were all over my bike.

Apparently the Greaves was a classic bike, sadly could not answer their many detailed questions which seemed to mystify and sadden some of them.

Funny that dreaming about being outside again brought back those memories of the Isle of Man and my motorbike.

Had a very pleasant phone call from a good friend from Devon, very nice to hear from her, we have had a great talk for 1 ½ hours.

Hope the big cloud moves on fast and the sunshine returns soon as it has been very nice indeed.

My hands and arms are very painful today, notice that typing this is very slow and clumsy, my fingers have no sensation at all, my feeling is that I do not care anymore how it feels.

As long as I can still write I do not mind that it is slow and there are many errors to be edited out.

In the here and now I am happily writing my post and looking forward to visiting other blogs and leaving comments and getting comments as well.

Have a good day, I am enjoying mine very much, hope you enjoy your day.