The August bank Holiday and the sun goes away

All that super weather we have been having, heat waves and sunshine and what happens when the August bank holiday arrives, the sun goes away "Typical"

However welcome to...................................

Saturday 24th August 2013.

Saturday started pretty well really considering I did not take my Methotrexate until later on Friday evening, had a decent nights sleep on friday and had a lie in until 9.00 this morning. once I was up and in the lounge with a coffee I sent the morning text to Pauline and then settled down to have some Porridge for breakfast.

well once I have had breakfast I take a stroll with the rollator round to the tEsco Express to get my morning paper and also some milk before going back home and settling down to read the paper  and get the crosswords done. It has been a quiet morning so far and have been messing around on facebook and then the front door bell rings and it is Gordon and their friends son Charlie. Gordon had hired a van for the morning and They have been down to Pauline,s flat to move the last bits and pieces over to te Garage at their new home, and popped in for a coffee on the way back.

Charlie helping Gordon

After Gordon and Charlie have gone I get some lunch and then go for a lie down for an hour before taking a coffee into the lounge and going on to the computer to do some more world war one research.  Next Year is the 100th anniversary of the start of WW1 and Portsmouth is bidding to become 2014 National Armed Forces city as 2014 is the 350th anniversary of the Royal Marines, the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of WW1 and the 70th anniversary of D-Day

HMS Illustrious leaving Portsmouth in Aug 2013

D-Day Museum Portsmouth

Royal Marine Museum Portsmouth

Royal Navy museum Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

All in all it was a very enjoyable afternoon and it was soon 6.00 pm and time to give the research a rest, I had recorded two episodes of Bonanza which I will watch tomorrow morning and now there are two episodes of "Walker Texas Ranger"on the CBS channel which I can watch, but first I need to get my dinner prepared and on to cook ready for 7.00 and while that is cooking I watch the Tv and have dinner at 7.00. it is salmon with fresh vegetables and a parsley sauce tonight and it was very tasty as well.

well I had just finished Dinner at 7.30, made a coffee and had settled down to an evening of watching TV when Pauline, Gordon and Charlie arrive. They had decided to come and visit for the evening and brought a deck of playing cards and some bags of Pennies so we spent the evening playing Cards for Pennies (Newmarket) and guess who won the most money (41p) "ME" we played until 10.30 and then they left to go home at 11.00 so y the time I sorted myself out I got to bed about 11.45, but what a super and enjoyable evening after a good day.

Its Mine all Mine

Sunday 25th August 2013

"Early to Bed, Early to Rise"

"Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise"

or so the Poem Goes, well last night that did not apply to me and today I had a lie in until 9.30, well that was a brilliant evening last night, and I slept really well, but will probably have to rest a bit today, but well worth it.

Time to get up

Once I was up and in the lounge I had a coffee and sent the text to Pauline before getting some breakfast. Pauline phones back to say that all is ok with them , her and Gordon got up about 9.30 but young charlie was still fast asleep, still he is only 15 so no surprise there. and Gordon is out with misty for her morning walk so that is OK

Don't get lost in the woods Gordon

once I had spoken to Pauline I had my Breakfast and then got on the laptop to check out the emails and facebook. before I have a phone call from Gervase to say that he will be round about 2.00 to go out to get some shopping. so I spend the morning just relaxing with the local radio and the laptop.
As it is a bank holiday there is the yearly kite festival taking place on southsea common along with other events so it is probably busy down the seafront today

The kite Festival this weekend on Southsea Common.

There are several other things going on in Southsea this weekend, There is the "Gerry Cottle Circus" on the common until Tuesday,

Gerry Cottle,s Circus

There is also a Tribute band concert on at the Bandstand this evening ending with a firework display at 9.30 pm.

The bandstand at Southsea Castle fields.

Gervase arrives at 2.15 and we head off down to Asda at Fratton to get some shopping, it is not worth going to far as the roads are chock a block with traffic, anyway we get the shopping and head back home where we put the shopping away and then have a nice chat before Gervase heads back home.

Asda at Fratton (Stock photo)

well that is about it for today then, Gervase has headed back home to Leanne, and I am now going to settle down with a coffee and get this journal finished but before I do I would like to mention that There is a young man named Tom Coleby who is cycling with 4 of his friends from John O,Groats at the top of  Scotland to Lands End on the south western tip of England, a Total of 1000 miles over 10 days.  They are cycling in aid of Cancer Research but Tom is cycling in aid of the Myositis Support Group as his Mother Lesley Coleby has Myositis, some of you may Know her through the "Myositis Ramblers" group on Facebook.

Tom and Friends at John O'Groats

So Far through his Just Giving page tom has raised in excess of £3,160.00 so well done Tom . Here is the link to Tom,s "Just Giving Page"


Well Tom and his friends are now on Day 3 of their ten day journey and I am sure that we wish them well and to say a big thank you to Tom .

Lands End, Cornwall

Well that is about it for today so until Tuesday I will say.........................

What a good Saturday

And a good welcome to you all on this fine Sunny Saturday. I thought we would get away from the flowers and cartoons for the day,s so this week the headings for the days will be british birds.
Well after a really positive result from the dental appointment yesterday i am feeling a lot better about the dental treatment I require as it is not as bad as I feared. so we start the treatment plan on the 8th October so that will be OK so it won't be long before I have some false teeth as well " Rock On"

Morning coffee.

Well after a bit of a false start this morning the day seems to be going along pretty well, i went to bed at about 10.00 last night after watching "Mrs Browns Boys" on TV. I had taken my Methotrexate about 8.00 pm , I listened to the quiz on the radio until 11.00 and then off to sleep, but woke about 3.50 this morning and I was wide awake ??. Anyway made a warm milk drink and went on to facebook for about 45 minutes and then went back to sleep and slept through until 7.50, just ready to get up with a coffee and ready for the carer.

Breakfast

Jo arrives at about 8.30 and soon has me washed and groomed and is then on her way to the next client, Once she has left I get dressed and Text pauline, and then get myself a couple of Boiled eggs and a Toast Soldiers, followed by a Morrisons breakfast yoghurt, and another decaf coffee.

Pauline phones me back to say that all is OK and I then take a walk round to Tesco Express to get the morning paper, then back home to settle down and read the paper and do the crosswords, It is a really nice day today and is really quite warm and sunny, but the  forecast for the week gives it as getting duller and cooler Oh well "Welcome to Autumn"

Portsmouth at 8.30 this morning

A Tasty and quick lunch

Well the morning goes by quite quickly and it is soon approaching 12.30 so time to think of lunch, today I do myself a Heinz Lancashire Hotpot, these come in a microwavable container and are very tasty and only takes 3.5 minutes to prepare and are very filling as well. Anyway once lunch is over I get on the laptop and check out my emails and go onto facebook before sorting out my medical and social care paperwork and bringing the folder up to date, ready for my appointment with my Neurologist in a couple of weeks.

A new University Student

I have noticed a lot of activity in the street today and it has just dawned on me that this weekend all the students are arriving to there rented accommodation ready for the university term starting on Monday, there are about 6 Houses further down the road that are let out to students, it gets a bit noisy to start with but soon settles down once they have spent all the student grant money LOL. "Oh to be young and fit again"

Here comes gordon

Anyway once the paperwork is sorted into order I start to watch some old sitcom,s on TV when the doorbell rings, It is Gordon, he has cycled up to see me for an hour, I think he has left Pauline doing the Ironing, anyway it is good to see him so I make a coffee and we sit outside in the patio and have a good old chat, anyway about 3.30 Gordon heads back home and once I have done the washing up and made a nice cup of tea I settle down with the laptop to write todays Journal and get it Put up on my blog. I have noticed that my arms are getting a bit blotchy today so need to get some Diprobase rubbed in, I think it is being out in the Sun in short sleeves that has caused it because once indoors it seems to recede a bit, anyway it is now 5.10 and I need to get this Journal Posted, so until tomorrow I will say Bye Bye,

Another Sunny Friday

well here we are, another friday comes around and again it is a bright Sunny start to the day, it is only 14 days left to Myositis Awareness Day on the 21st if September and I am still producing illustrations which people can use and share to raise awareness of this disease.

As you are no doubt aware friday is commonly referred to by me as "Freaky Friday" due to the fact that Friday is the day I take my Methotrexate, however last week I did not take it in the morning as usual, I took it in the Evening an hour after my Dinner and it seemed to be better for me as I did not have the yucky feeling that I was getting during a friday, I put this down to the fact that I slept through it all in bed Friday night so I am going that way again today so as long as it works for me again today then that will be the new regime for the Methotrexate.

The other reason that I am taking the Prednisolone on an evening rather than in the morning is that next Friday I have an appointment with the dentist in the afternoon so don,t want to feel all yucky when I go to see him either so now you know.

Anyway back to today, It was a very warm and humid night last night and although I slept quite well I did wake a couple of times during the night and ended up with a very dry throat, which frequently happens when it is very warm and humid, anyway I got up with a coffee about 8.00 and went into the lounge ready for when Jo arrives, the temperature in the lounge at 8.00 this morning was 21.5 C so it will get a couple of degrees warmer as the day goes on so the firsts thing to do is get the window open for some air to come in but there is not a lot of breeze around this Morning.

Portsmouth at 8.00 am this Morning

Go Jo Go

Jo arrives at 8.40 and is glad that she has got a short day today, I am her second client today and she has three more after me and then that is it until she has to come out again at 3.00 to see a couple of clients later on this afternoon, anyway she gets me washed and groomed and is then on her way to the next client. speeding down the road on her Cycle

Once Jo has gone I decide to do a couple of boiled eggs and a slice of toast for breakfast and then afterwards I text pauline to let her know all is OK. I then get dressed and take a walk around to the Tesco Express to get the daily Paper, once back home I make a coffee and sit out on the patio and read the paper and do the crossword.

Tesco Express Portsmouth

The morning goes by quite quickly, and during the morning I get a phone call from Portsmouth City Council Adult Social Care to arrange a visit next week to re-asses my Social care needs, It is difficult for me to get in and out of the bath unaided so they will supply a bath step and seat for me if I need them to so that will help. also it is over 12 months since I was last assed and since then I have had the reveal monitor fitted so they will arrange the meeting at home with me, The care company and themselves.

Edinburgh to Southampton

once that phone call is over I get myself some lunch of tinned Salmon with bread and butter and also a Banana and a Yoghurt, and after that I go for a lie down for an hour. I listen to the radio and it is a lot cooler in the bedroom and i have a cat nap and then get up at 3.00 and make a coffee and then go out the front to have a chat with the Neighbours before going back in to start todays Journal. Gervase Phones at 4.00 to say he is at Edinburgh Airport waiting for his flight back to Southampton, but it looks like it is delayed as it was on the way up this morning. in this day and age it seems a waste of time to fly to Edinburgh and back for a 3 hour meeting, I would have thought it would have been easier to use something like "Skype", but it gets Gervase out of the office for a day. The other News about Gervase is that he is also in the latest two Halifax TV Adverts so that is four he has been in now, getting to be a proper TV Star.

Time for pointless

Well it is now 5.15 and ready now to watch Pointless on BBC1 and then at 6.00 it will be time to get dinner started for 6.45 and then the dreaded methotrexate about 8.00 pm tonight so I will say tatty bye for now and will see you all again tomorrow with the saturday edition of the journal.

A Sunny(ish) Sunday.

Where is Facebook.

Well here we are on the first Sunday in August and things are starting to take shape with the move, In a fortnights time I will be in my new home and it will be so much easier living on one level.  I had a phone call from the people at BskyB yesterday and they are disconnecting my Phone, Broadband and TV here on Friday 17th of August and reconnecting the TV on Saturday the 18th at my new Flat and activating the Phone and broadband on Monday the 20th of August so I will be off line on the 17th, 18th and 19th of August, 3 days without facebook, will I ever survive LOL.

Womens Marathon

Well Team GB did very well in the Olympics Yesterday 6 Gold medals in a day and it is possible we may pick up a couple today, I didn't watch much yesterday as Pauline and gordon were here and I will not be watching to much today, although at the moment I am watching the Women,s Marathon and it is raining hard in london today while I am sat here looking out the window at blue skies and sunshine, don't you just love the british weather.

I caught up on Chris Burrows blog this morning. It is a very amusing account of her daily trials and Tribulations and I would recommend it as a very interesting read. however it seems that chris has a case of Pneumonia at the moment, although it has not dented her sense of humour anyway I hope she gets well soon.

The Marathon is going along well in London and it is interesting to sit here and watch it and see all the different sights of London and I am pleased to say that the weather is improving in London as it has stopped raining and the sun is coming out.

Homeward Bound

It is now 12.20 here and it looks like it is going to be a pleasant afternoon here, My son gervase has just sent a text to say that he and Leanne have checked out of the Hotel in Amsterdam and are enjoying their last few hours in Amsterdam before catching the flight back home this evening so I am glad they have had a nice few days away and Gervase does not go back to work until Tuesday so he has tomorrow off as well, and Leanne is on Half Term Holiday until the schools go back in September after the summer holidays.

so here we are then at 1.53 pm. The weather is getting better and better as the day goeson and although there is a lot of white fluffy cloud around there is also a lot of blue sky and sunshine as you can see from the Photograph taken from the live webcam at Portsmouth Harbour today.

Portsmouth Harbour today

I have had some lunch and enjoyed that and I am now thinking of getting the bookcase containing all my Family history research into boxes ready for when I move, most  of my research is done on line these days and I have an awful lot of resources in digital format and saved on CD,s and Memory sticks but I still have a book case with 4 shelves of paperwork and paper research, Photo,s Certificates etc which need to be archived. also I have printed copies of the Seven books I have written.

Before I start to sort out the family history material to archive, I will take this opportunity to let you know that I have finalised the design for the Myositis website I am going to set up once I have moved and also I have done the storyboard for the first "Myositis Awareness" Animation, so once I have moved and assembled the equipment I will be ready to start on this new project and I can say that I am looking forward to it.

Website header Graphic

That was a good hours work getting some of that sorted out, there is to much to do it all in one go so I can do a bit each day for the next 3 days. anyway I am also working on some more Graphic designs for the days of the week promoting Autoimmune awareness and Myositis Awareness and here is an example of one of a set of seven based on the Nursery Rhyme " Mondays child"

I have also produced another illustration with a graffiti theme for "Myositis Awareness and am also working on another couple of Poems.

Latest graphic design project

The Idea is that I will collate all my designs that I have produced over the year and make them into a e-book that will accompany the "What is Myositis" interactive slide show. which will be available FOC later in the year.

"Interactive Awareness video cover"

So as you can see it is all systems go here at the moment, at least It will give me something to do while I am at home all day and hopefully will help to raise awareness of Myositis as well as Autoimmune diseases.

Well that I think is about it for today, as you can see it is going to be a busy two weeks in front of me getting everything organised to help the move go smoothly and an exciting time ahead working on the new projects, It is amazing how far I have come in the last 14 months and although there are many things that I still cannot do there are still many things that I can and will do and still goals to achieve, so I will say Bye Bye until tomorrow and leave you with Todays "Day in History" from the 5th August 1100.

Who overslept today then ?

I Did..................... Had a bit of a oversleep this morning and scared the living daylights out of my carer. 

A Good Nights Sleep.

It certainly is a magical Sunday. For some unknown reason I slept through until 9.00 am this morning when I was awakened by the phone ringing, it was the Care agency office on the phone to ask if I was ok as the carer was at the front door but could not contact me and was worried if I was OK. I was fast asleep and oblivious to the world, it is the latest I have slept for a long time as I am usually awake at 5.30 am and  up at between 7.00 - 7.30 every morning.

Wakey Wakey

I have no Idea why I slept that long. probably needed it as I feel so much better today, I did stay up late last night watching a "Steven Seagal" Movie " Fire Down Below" but I was in bed by 11.30 and as normal woke at 5.30 for the bathroom and then fell asleep again, perhaps the time has come to start setting my alarm clock for 8.00 am just to be on the safe side, as It is not fair  on the carers to have to start getting the office to ring me as it will make them late for their next clients. anyway that over and done with I get washed and groomed and once the carer has gone I get some breakfast and text Pauline to let her know all is OK.

Swimming tonight

so the major decision of the day now is what to watch on TV. I will be watching the women,s Cycling road race later on about noon and also it is nice to see that in the women,s 400 m freestyle heats Rebecca Adlington got through to the finals which are on tonight. The swimming starts at 7.30 so will have to watch that so until the Cycling starts at 12.00 Noon I will watch a couple of repeat episodes of "Rosemary and Thyme"

Rosemary and Thyme TV Series 2003 - 2007

 It is now 11.50 so I make a nice coffee and then change over to watch the Cycling on the BBC Multi screen channel. Gervase phones to say he will be round about 1.30 so we can go to Asda to get the shopping so that is OK as I can watch the first hour or so and then catch the last hour after shopping so that works out about right. The weather is quite sunny here today although a lot of white cloud and a bit of a breeze but in surrey and london where the cycling is taking place they have had some heavy rain storms, and some of the roads have been flooded in places.

A Wet and Flooded road.

However it is a steady pace and Gervase arrives at 1.40 so we get into the car and off we go to Asda to get the shopping for Today and Monday and then I will be back down the city centre on Tuesday shopping with Pauline.
well we get the shopping and then head back home along the sea front, it is a very nice drive today as it is nice with the car windows open and the breeze flowing in. anyway once we are back home we get the shopping put away and then Gervase gets away as he is going up to Ikea in Southampton now to get a couple of items and I get myself a "Meat and Potato" pie for lunch and also a Banana and get back to watch the end of the Cycle race.

Across the finishing line.

Well that was a good finish and the UK get the silver Medal. well that was a great race and well done Lizzie Armitstead on finishing in second place. so the result of the Women,s Cycling road race was:

1. Gold Medal:   Marianne Vos : Netherlands
2. Silver Medal:  Lizzie Armitstead : Great Britain
3. Bronze Medal : Olga Zabelinskaya: Russian Federation.

So after two Days Great Britain gets its first medal of the London 2012 Olympics.  so at the moment we are number 15 in the medal table. China is first with 9 medals, USA second with 7 Medals and Italy third with 6 Medals, but still a long way to go yet and I am looking forward to watching the swimming tonight.

So there we go then, where has the time gone today it is nearly 5.30 and I have not done half the things today that I planned to do, anyway I am now watching "Police Academy 5" on the TV so will say tatty bye for today and leave you with todays " Day in History" from 29th July 1948.