A Dull and dreary Saturday.

More Energy.

Good morning people and Welcome to Easter Saturday. Well I went to bed at 11.00 pm last night and slept through until 5.30. so another night of uninterrupted sleep. 6 hours this time, so hopefully the sleep pattern is starting to fall into place, certainly do not feel so tired in the morning and seem to have more energy.

Well I laze in bed with a coffee and doze on and off until 8.00 when I get up and go to the kitchen for another coffee. and then into the lounge to await the carer. The carer arrives at 8.30. it s a young Rumanian girl. I have only seen her once before but she is very nice and soon has me washed and groomed and ready for breakfast.

That did the trick.

I am having some porridge today and taking it easy as I have been suffering with bouts of Constipation due to the medication, they all list either Constipation or Diarrhea  as one of the side effects, so normally take Lactulose in the mornings. well I phoned the GP last Monday and she said to try taking Lactulose in the morning and Laxido at Night so that is what I have been doing all week, well yesterday and this morning it worked with a vengeance.

Go gordon Go. Don't let Pauline
catch you slacking

Now that I am Washed and groomed I text Pauline and let her know all is OK here, Pauline phones back to say that all is OK with them and they are hoping to finish wall papering the front room today. so that will keep her and Gordon Busy. anyway I now go and get dressed and then settle down with the Laptop and to watch "Time Team on TV until lunch time at 12.00.

Well lunch time is approaching and today it will be a light lunch of Chicken soup and a couple of crisp bread, and once I have had that I can then settle down to watch a couple of " Old " Movies on TV this afternoon. The first Movie is "Road to Rio" starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy lamour. This is a 1947 Film and the 5th film of seven in the Road series of movies

Road to Rio Movie

The second film "Bringing Up Baby" is a 1938 film starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. It is a Very funny film and was voted 24th best film of all time by Entertainment Weekly. "Baby" is a pet Leopard and the Title song to the film is "I can't give you anything but love, Baby"

Bringing up Baby Movie

Southampton Stadium
St Marys.

Both these films were very good although I have seen them before, Many years ago though. At the same time the local Derby game of soccer was being played between Portsmouth and Southampton, always great rivalry at these matches and unfortunately often resulting in violence between the opposing fans after the match. however it was a good match today, it was played at Southampton and the final score was Southampton 2 Portsmouth 2 so a good result.

My sister Eileen and her friend Chris have a stall out at a craft and garden show at Somerley out near the New Forest. They are there with there craft items and demonstrating "Leaded Glass work" as the two of them have a company called "Decima Design"  They are there Today, Sunday and Monday so hope the weather stays good and they have a good time.

Eileen and Chris "Decima Design" stall

Well that is about it for today, Gervase came round for a while this afternoon and did a bit of shopping for me, and now it is time to start thinking about what to have for dinner tonight, I think it will be Pork loin steak with potato, broccoli and Cauliflower. so now I need to get this Journal posted and have a cat nap for an hour and start dinner at 5.30 so until tomorrow I will say Adios Amigo.

Its a Good Friday.

Today is Good Friday

And here we are on The Start of the Easter weekend. Had a really good nights sleep last night slept through from 11.30 until 7.00 this morning so it looks like going to bed at 11.00 at night rather than at 10.00 is the way to go.

Woke up to the sunshine streaming through the window, it is a bright Sunny day with Blue skies but it is very cold, the temperature outside this morning at 8.15 is only 3⁰c but it is expected to rise to a maximum of 12⁰c as the day goes on.

Portsmouth at 8.15 ish this Morning

so the next thing is to get out of bed and into the Kitchen to make the coffee and then into the lounge to await the Arrival of my carer, Amanda. This is the last time I will see her as she is on holiday next week, and I had a phone call yesterday from Adult social care to say that due to Government cut backs a new Care company will be taking over this area as Portsmouth city council has cut the number of care company,s they use so the new company take over from the 16th April. To say I am not "Happy about this is an understatement."

Not Happy about changes to care company.

From 1980,s wheatabix TV Advert.

Amanda arrives as usual at about 8.40. She was not pleased about the changes being put in place by Portsmouth City Council over Adult social care, as she is now going to be unemployed, anyway she soon has me washed and groomed and then is on her way to the next client, it was sad saying good bye as she has been coming to me since May last year, anyway I now get some wheatabix for breakfast and then send a Text to pauline to let her know all is ok here.

Pauline phones to say all is Ok and that Gordon is out with Misty for the morning walk. I then take my 15 mg of Methotrexate and then settle down with a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits and check out the emails and Facebook, and catch up on some facebook games until 11.00 and then go into the back room and sort out some of the books in the Hall cupboard. I have Classic FM on the radio while I am doing that and it is very soothing listening to classical music, the sun is coming in through the back room window so that is nice.

Well the time has gone on today and it is now nearly 1.00 and that can only mean one thing "LUNCH" I have decided to have Salmon Fillet in a Mustard and Deal sauce with a couple of Crisp Bread and also a Banana and a Strawberry and Cream Yoghurt, all washed down with a nice glass of Tropical Fruit Juice. I need to take a photo of that as along with my  Brother, Sister and Niece, we are taking part in a " Photo a day for April " on facebook and todays subject is Lunch. this is great fun, and I do like photography. so here is my attempt for today.

Good Friday Lunch, and very nice it was too

Well that was Lunch over with and very nice it is to, and now for an afternoon of Movies, as the Methotrexate is starting to kick in now. I will be working on this journal while I watch the movies. there are two on this afternoon the first one started at 1.15 and is a 2007 Film Starring "Nicholas Cage and Diane Kruger" it is called "National Treasure, Book of Secrets" I have seen it before and enjoyed it then as far as I can remember.

National Treasure "Book of secrets"

The second film I am going to watch starts at 3.10 and is a Walt disney/Pixar Animated film "Cars" again I have seen bits of it but have never watched this film all the way through. made in 2006 starring owen Wilson as the voice of "Lightning McQueen" and Paul Newman as the voice of "Doc Hudson" this goes on until 5.00 pm when it will be time to think about preparing dinner. 

Lightning-McQueen from the animated Movie "Cars"

I am now going to get this Journal Posted as the body is telling me it is time to rest, It has been a good day for a Friday so until tomorrow I will say Adios.

The Thursday Jaunt.

A Later Bedtime.

And another Thursday is upon us, Easter is creeping ever nearer as tomorrow is Good Friday. It was a decent nights sleep again, perhaps it is going to bed later that is helping as I went at 11.30 last night instead of 10.00 so will try that again tonight and see how it goes." well that is the plan anyway"

Well as I said a good nights sleep and woke at 6.30 so lazed around in bed for an 90 minutes. don't really want to get up today as the weather is really crap, Dull, wet and cold but Amanda will be here soon so need to get up and have the morning coffee before she gets here.

I Need My Morning Coffee

Coalition Government in disguise

 So I go into the kitchen and get the coffee made and then into the lounge to watch the Breakfast news on TV. The news this morning is about all the tax changes taking effect from tomorrow, the start of the new financial year, as usual it is the under privileged and the Pensioners that suffer the most, My Pension went up, and my Pension credits went down so I am no better of this year than I was last year, as my final pension increase is well below the rate of inflation, and there are working mums on there that will be better of going back on benefits and Unemployment. How does that help the country. ?

Breakfast Today.( Stock Photo)

However that is beside the point, amanda arrives at 8.45 and she tells me that she is off all next week so I will have to arrange for the care company to make sure I get a carer here by 9.00 am on a tuesday and thursday because of Doctor on Tuesday morning for blood tests and Optician on Thursday morning. once Amanda has finished and on her way I get myself another coffee and some scrambled egg and toast for breakfast.

The next thing once breakfast is over is to text Pauline to let her know all is OK.  pauline phones back to say she will be round about 11.15 as she will collect my Prescription and Medication on the way round to me . so I get a shave and get dressed ready for Pauline,s arrival and then watch some TV and check my emails and Facebook and put some cartoons on Pinterest.

Pauline arrives at 11.20 and I make a coffee and then we decide we will take a stroll with the wheelchair down Goldsmith avenue to Lidl and see what we can get from there and so I walk half way there pushing the wheelchair and then Pauline pushes me the other half. once we are there Pauline gets a trolley and I wheel my way around the store and we buy a few things that we need like Yoghurts, Pork chops and toilet rolls.

Lidl Portsmouth Goldsmith Avenue.

A Laughing Shopper.

Now talking about Toilet rolls I did think about buying what was advertised as " 100% Recycled Toilet Rolls " Now did they mean that the toilet rolls were recycled or that they were made from Recycled Paper ? I said to Pauline that the thing that put me off buying them was the little brown specks on the toilet rolls LOL. The shop was quite busy and people were laughing out loud at that remark, I do like to make people happy.

Once we were out of Lidl we made our way along Goldsmith avenue to the Tesco Express and got a couple of items from there and also got a sandwich for lunch, I then pushed the wheelchair laden with the shopping back round the corner to home.

Once indoors we got the shopping put away and then I made a coffee and we had lunch. Pauline then sorted out some of my washing to take home and then I got a Taxi for her to go home and went for a lie down.

Gervase has Just arrived so I will have to get this blog finished and Posted and then I can spend an hour or so chatting with him. I certainly have overdone things today so will be taking it easy for the rest of the evening. so until tomorrow I will say Bye Bye.

I'm Busy doing nothing

♬♬♬ I'm Busy doing nothing, ♬♬♬

♬♬♬ working the whole day through. ♬♬♬

♬♬♬ Trying to find, Lots of things not to do. ♬♬♬

A Lazy Day

As the words of the song goes I am absolutely knackered today trying to find things not to do, in other words I am having a lazy day. At the moment I am going through a period of one day good, the next bad.

This all started about 6 weeks ago when I last saw my Neurologist. He wants to reduce my Prednisolone down to the equivalent of 7.5 mg per day, at the moment I am on 10 mg per day, the way he is doing it is for me to take 5 mg one day and 15 mg the next, and then at some point drop it to 5 mg one day and 10 mg the next, the problem is nobody has told my body. the day after I take the 15 mg I have a really good day, the day after i take the 5 mg I have a really lethargic day. "Weird"

Well yesterday I took the 15 mg so today is a good day, so that means I can Enjoy lazing around and doing nothing. and I also had a good nights sleep last night.

I went down to see Gervase and Leanne yesterday evening, and Leanne,s dad was there and he gave me a lift home at 9.00. It was nice to spend the evening there and I took down the Easter present I brought them. Gervase was saying he had trouble getting a decent TV reception in their bedroom  so as he has wifi in the house and has netflix etc I treated them to the " Apple TV Box, so now he can stream everything via wifi to the bedroom TV.

Apple TV Box with Remote control.

Is it Sunday already

Had a text from Leanne this morning to say that they are really pleased with the Apple TV box, it looks quite good so I may even get myself one of them. 

Anyway I woke  up about 6.00 this morning, the weather was still nice here on the south coast although they are still predicting rain , but hopefully it wont reach us here and according to the Met office we will not get any rain until Sunday.

Once I am up at 8.00 (I lazed in bed until 8.00 am) I made a coffee and went to the lounge to watch the news until Amanda arrives at 8.45. she is all excited and looking forward to the bank holiday weekend. anyway she gets me washed and Groomed and then is on her way and I get some breakfast, Pauline phones and lets me know that she is feeling better today and then I settle down to watch Mondays episode of "Little house on the Prairie"

Little House on the Prairie

After little house on the prairie I make a coffee and a strawberry complan and then get on the laptop to check out the emails and facebook. I also do the online crossword in the Daily Mirror and check the local News Paper " The News". I see that HMS Dauntless the latest Type 42 Destroyer leaves Portsmouth for a 6 month deployment in the South Atlantic, to a large farewell from Portsmouth Residents and Naval Families on the Round Tower at old Portsmouth 

HMS Dauntless leaving Portsmouth Naval base for the South Atlantic.

Pack of 4 Dole Snack Pots.

The time is now 12.45 so time for some lunch so I have a nice cup of tea and a couple of crisp bread with a Salmon Spread and also a snack pot of Peaches in Juice. That went down very well and now it is time to watch the lunchtime news and then spend an hour or so on the Family History research and a bit of cartoon creating before I get this Journal written and posted.

This has been a pretty god day doing "Nothing" so I am now going to get this Journal finished and then have a nice coffee and sit out in the back room and enjoy the sunshine so until tomorrow and another day of shopping ( and Bill Paying) with Pauline, I will say Cheerio.

Down Town Tuesday

Its Tuesday.

Welcome to Tuesday,s Edition of my daily Journal, well the year is rushing along and this weekend coming up will be the Easter weekend, Last Easter was the start of my journey with Dermatomyositis. I have come a long way on that rocky road and still a long journey ahead, but as with all things in life," It is what you make it"

Well today is another bright Sunny Day here in "Sunny Southsea" although the cold and wet weather is on its way down from the North. They have already had some heavy Snow falls in Scotland this Morning, But as you can see from the following Photo it is not here yet.

Portsmouth 8.20 Today.

Alpen porridge.

Well a restless night last night so glad to see the morning arrive, Amanda arrives as usual at 8.40 and gets me washed and groomed and then I get myself some "Alpen Porridge"for breakfast. That is an excellent porridge filled with fruit and very tasty. anyway once that has been consumed, I make a coffee and then text Pauline to let her know all is OK. Pauline phones back and we arrange to go down to Commercial road today, as I went shopping on Sunday with Gervase so Pauline will be round with the Taxi at 11.00, so I have time to check emails and facebook before getting shaved and dressed ready for when Pauline gets here.

At 11.10 Pauline arrives and we get the wheelchair into the Taxi and off we jolly well go. The Taxi Driver drops us off at the Precinct entrance in Slindon Street and Pauline goes to post a letter, then we are off to the bank to get some cash out of the ATM.

Barclays Bank Portsmouth

Once I have got that sorted we decide to have a coffee and a Burger from the burger van in the Precinct and we sit in the Sun by the fountain and drink the coffee and have a nice chat, it is very pleasant sat her in the spring sunshine although it is not so warm once you are out of the sun, once we have finished that we go into the electronics shop "Currys Digital to get Gervase and Leanne,s Easter Present. ( Its a Secret until tomorrow)

Currys Digital. Portsmouth.

Once we are out of Curry,s we make our way into Wilkinson,s. Pauline wants to look at Wallpaper and I will have a look at the art supplies and then we also need to get some treats for Misty and Pauline needs cat food for Charlie. (Who happens to be a Female cat), don't ask why she is called charlie, Gordon named her and I think he must be short sighted LOL. However Pauline gets some wallpaper samples, { I think she has enough to paper her room}, we then get some treats for Misty and a couple of other bits and pieces and then off we go back into the precinct.

Wilkinsons Portsmouth.

The next stop is the Specsaver Opticians at the other end of the Precinct, I need to book and Eye test as i think my Steroid induced Cataract needs to be checked again, when I had an eye test in November the optician found a cataract in my left eye which he believes is Steroid Induced (Bloody Prednisolone) anyway he said we need to keep an eye on it (no pun intended) and arranged yearly eye test, however I have a feeling that my left eye has got a little more blurred so will have another eye test to check if the prescription for the lenses needs to be updated.

Specsavers portsmouth

So I have booked the appointment for Thursday the 12th of april so that is OK and we now have another coffee at the Dinky Donuts van and then make our way to Marks and Spencer food hall where I get a nice fish dinner for tonight and also some scottish salmon fish cakes and Pauline gets some items as well and then once we have paid for them we make our way back out and go over to Tesco in Crasswell street.

Marks and Spencer

On the way to Tesco pauline stops and goes over to the her bank to get a statement and I am left in the wheelchair in the precinct, a lady looks at me as she walks buy and I say "She just dumped me here and went off"  she say " where did she go then" I say " Off to sell her body I think " that made her laugh, my good deed for the day has been completed, I put a smile on some ones face.I have got everything I need so I wait outside of tesco in the sun, watching the world go by while Pauline goes and gets what she wants. once she is back outside I phone the taxi and we head home, once indoors I make a coffee and we have a sit down, it is nearly 2.15.

Home again.

Pauline has brought my clean shirts back with her and takes my washing back home, and is also going to drop my repeat prescription request into the doctors and collect it on Thursday when she comes round, so i phone city wide and get a Taxi to take her home. I then go foer a lie down as I am Knackered and then at 3.45 I start this Journal. I will have an early dinner today as I will be going round to see Gervase and Leanne tonight so I will get this posted and then watch TV until 5.30 when I get my nice Fish dinner from M&S.

Where Gervase and Leanne Live in Southsea.

So Untill tomorrow I will say Adios.

Its A better day today.

Its Monday Today.

It is Tablet Time.

Seeing as it is another Monday I thought  would start off with a Cheerful Cartoon to get you all Smiling (or not) as the case may be. So How did i sleep last night ? It was a good nights sleep last night, I had a nice meal of Fish in a cheese sauce with 3 vegetables but had it earlier than usual and cut down on the amount of coffee yesterday as well and had more "Fruit Tea,s" so that helped as well I think. The trouble with this disease is that it changes so much from one day/week/month to the next and also you have to deal with the side affects of the strong Medication.

My Happy Doctor 

Since I was diagnosed with a twisted stomach in November 2010 I have been on PPI Tablets and since I was diagnosed with Dermatomyositis and taking Prednisolone I have been on Lansoprazole taking 1 oro dispersable tablet a day. however since I have been of the puree diet and on a soft lumps diet I have been noticing that I have had a increase of Acid Reflux. So phoned the doctor this morning and we are going to change to 2 Tablets a day, 1 morning and 1 evening for a week and see if that makes a difference.

Anyway as I said the reflux was a lot better today due to a slight eating and Coffee alteration so I will phone my Dietician on Wednesday and see if we can work out a better diet, with foods that will be easier on the digestive system. My goodness life is never boring with Myositis, however as with any up side there is always a downside, so if the Acid reflux is getting less it looks like my "Job Prospects" have taken a hit.

"No job for me now then"

Ok so back to today then not a lot happening today, stayed in bed until 8.00 then made my way into the lounge with a coffee and put on the TV to watch the news until Amanda arrived at 8.45. she had a good weekend, her and her husband went up to the churchillian on Portsdown hill for dinner yesterday and had a good time. The Churchillian is a nice Public House and Restaurant and Me and My late wife Christine had many nice meals up there, and we used to Take gervase up there when he was young, it has great views across Portsmouth.

The Churchillian and the views over Portsmouth from Portsdown Hill.

Amanda soon has me washed and groomed for the day ahead and off she goes to her next client so now I get myself a couple of wheatabix and also a Banana for breakfast, I enjoy that so now to take the prednisolone and the folic acid and the Calci Chew D3 and then I am set for the day ahead, and then phone the doctor.

OOOOP'S

It will not be long now and the Prednisolone will be down to 7.5 mg per day and hopefully by the end of july or august will be down to 5 mg a day, well that is the plan anyway. I am also holding steady at 15 mg of Methotrexate a day but I am off the
Vitamin b Compound and the Thiamin, but still on the Strontium Ranelate for bone density. also still on the Lactulose and Laxido for Bowel Movement ( an interesting subject) "not really its a pain in the butt"

My macbook Pro.

So I text Pauline and let her know all is OK here , Pauline phones back to say that she is out on the common with Misty, the weather is fine and bright, but it is a lot colder than it has been, she still has the "sniffles" and her knee is still sore but she thinks she is getting there with them, anyway after Pauline hags up the phone I get the laptop up and running to check out the usual E-Mails and Facebook. The Tv is on so I am quite happy her just sat hear with the laptop until 12.30 when I decide to get some lunch.

Lunch today is a cream cheese Sandwich and a packet of crisps. this goes down well with a nice cup of tea, after lunch the weather is still very nice so wrap up warm and take a short stroll dow the road and back, not a great distance but I got the fresh air and a little exercise, Then it is in to the back room with the computer and sit in the sun as it is South facing and gets the sun all day long and work on a bit of Graphic Design (Cartoons) until 3.30 when I decide to get this Journal written,

So there we are my "Not so Exciting day" but a better day than yesterday and Saturday and again the weekends are alway a bit iffy as I take the Methotrexate on a Friday, so that is the way it goes anyway will now re asses the food I eat and hopefully the dietician when I phone on Wednesday will be able to help with advice as she is very good. So until tomorrow I will say Bye Bye.

not a good Sunday

Bloody Acid reflux.

Hello one and all and welcome to the first day of April, the weather here is really sunny but not as warm as it has been, but at least the sun is out. I must say that I was pleased to see the dawn today as I had a really crap night last night, just could not get to sleep due to a lot of acid reflux, just could not bring it under control. so was up and down all night with Heart burn, Burping and flatulence, I must make a note not to eat food containing red peppers, I knew this but thought "what the hell" and now have "paid the price".

Anyway as I said the weather here is really great so I get a nice cup of tea made and make some Porridge for breakfast and then settle down with the laptop and wait for the carer. The carer arrives at about 9.30 and is a new girls she is very pleasant and soon has me washed and groomed and I then get back to the laptop and take a screenshot of Portsmouth Harbour from the live webcam.

Portsmouth harbour.

Flaming Keyboard.

Here is how Portsmouth was looking at 9.50 this morning, anyway phone Pauline and she is still under the weather, so she is having a rough time of it at the moment, still Gordon is looking after her and is out with Misty on the common for the morning walk. The other problem I have is that my Raynaud's is flaring in my fingers today so not much typing on the keyboard today I don't think, so am wearing gloves, It is bloody awkward typing with gloves on.

Gervase.

Gervase phones to see if I am ok, he is going to come round at 2.00 to take me shopping at Asda, as Pauline probably will still be recovering on Tuesday so i need to get food etc to take me through the week to Thursday. So at 1.00 I get some chicken soup and crisp bread for lunch and then get changed for when Gervase arrive about 2.00, well the Acid reflux has abated and the Raynaud's seems to be going so that is OK but what a crap morning that was. and just as promised at 2.00 Gervase arives.
I am all ready so he gets the wheelchair into the car and off we go. He was saying that he had no trouble getting petrol today and filled up at the garage just round the corner from where he lives.

We get to Asda and it is not to busy, anyway I walk around the store pushing the wheelchair and we get what we want, I have got a nice fillet of fish for dinner tonight which I will have with some mashed Potato, Cauliflower and Broccoli, all served up with a nice cheese sauce. anyway about 10 min,s before we have finished our shopping I get into the wheelchair and propel my self along while Gervase pushes the trolley, as the legs are starting to feel a bit heavy. Once we have paid and got everything in the car we make our way back home via the seafront.

Southsea Sea front.

well we get home and it is turned 3.00 so gervase gets everything out the car and I make a coffee, we have a chat and Gervase makes his way home and I get settled with the Laptop and get this blog written, it is now 5.10 and i am just about to get this Journal posted and then get Dinner started, so now that everything seems to have calmed down, and the sun is still shining I will say Tatty Bye until tomorrow.