A Storm, A super moon, and Sunshine.

Welcome To Monday

Well after the tail end of Hurricane Bertha, and the super moon last night, all we need now is a visitor from outer space and the start of my week will be complete.

My Dream came true

So here we are on A Monday Morning, but Let me tell you first of the events of Yesterday. As you probably Know we were bracing ourself for the arrival of the tail end of Hurricane Bertha that has been tracking across the atlantic from the Caribbean

Here Comes a subdued Bertha

true to form the Storm reaches the western shores of England and Wales, late on Saturday Night and travels eastwards  reaching us here in Portsmouth in the early hours of Sunday Morning. there were several torrential downpour,s and Thunderstorms to begin with and some very high gale force winds which caused some very high waves along Southsea sea Front.

Southsea Promenade early Sunday Morning, Photo By Mike Walker.
Published by the Portsmouth Evening News.

Photograph by Helen Yates

By lunchtime the rain had cleared away Eastwards and Northwards, but the strong winds remained, To say we were lucky here is an understatement as most of the UK got it a lot worse than we did with Mini Tornadoes, Flash Floods etc, I think we were spared the worst as we are shielded by the Isle of Wight to the South and Portsdown hill and the Southdown,s to the North and also we are in a natural bay along the South Coast.

Showing Portsmouth in Relation to the Isle of Wight and the coast line

Showing Portsmouth in relation to France and the English Channel.

However the Isle of wight got some really heavy storms as did some of the villages inland from Portsmouth but the storm affected Wales and the Midlands and the North of England far worse than we did, also the east coast got hit quite badly as well.
The weather cleared  and had settled down a little bit in the afternoon so my Son Gervase was able to come and take me shopping at 2.00 pm, we went to Sainsbury,s up at Farlington,
There were some heavy gusts of wind along the dual carriage on the way up to Farlington, but not to bad, anyway we were back home by 4.30 so after that it was a nice evening of relaxing and watching the TV, until bed time at 11.00,

Sainsbury,s at Farlington

As I said earlier we were back home by 4.30 so I put the shopping away and made a coffee and sat down for a chat with Gervase, He left about 5.30 to head home to Leanne and I get my Dinner cooked, a nice Steak Burger with Broccoli, Sprouts, Potato and Gravy, followed by Tropical fruit salad in Jelly ( which Pauline made for me) and then an evening of Facebook and TV until bed at 11.00.

There was also a full moon last night, what they call a Super Moon, apparently it is the nearest it has been to the earth for a generation and the next time is in 20 years time, Perhaps this has something to do with the weather ???

The Moon above the Houses

I went to take a picture with my Phone, it is not that good as too much light in the city but at least you can see it

Its Time for Bed

Well I had a decent nights sleep and woke at 6.00 am this morning feeling not to bad, I know I am Ok as I got out of bed without falling on my butt, so that was a bonus. anyway as is the norm at the moment, I make a coffee and just do a quick check on Facebook on the Laptop.

I Want My @@*&@@ Breakfast

1 hour later I am still there I blame the Australians. On the Australasian myositis support group, so I wrote a little poem and put on there this morning for them.

For Amber and Barry and all those people on the Australasian Support Group.

 Once I had managed to drag myself away from Facebook, I get myself some Breakfast of Wheatabix and the obligatory Four  prunes and then get washed and dressed, before going back to Facebook to check out the other Global Myositis Support Groups,

There are 4 Myositis support groups all together and there are links to them on the left hand side of this blog under Facebook Groups, the 4 groups are.

• Myositis support and Understanding (USA Based)
• Myositis Friends support Group  (UK Based)
• Myositis Support Australasia. (Australian Based)
• Myositis-Canada. (Canada Based)

These 4 Groups are closed groups and are for People that have one of the forms of "Myositis" or who is affected by Myositis i.e. Spouse, carer, relative, medical professionals, Although based in one of the 4 countries as listed that are open to people from all over the world, and because of the time differences around the Globe, they are truly a global 24 hour a day support group.

There are other myositis Facebook groups such as the Ramblers KIT Group plus others there are also links to those on the left hand side of this blog under Facebook Groups.

Anyway once I have posted and checked out all the Myositis sites I then go and get my daily paper down the local shop and have a walk around the block on the way home, I am only out for about 20 minutes, as the wind is still very strong, once back home it is a nice coffee and settle down to read the paper and do the crossword,s before going for a lie down for 30 minutes before getting some lunch at 1.00 lunch time.

Going to Settle down with the paper

today I am having some John West Canned Smoked Mackerel fillets with Toast for my Lunch.

These are really nice on Toast.

Well that was very tasty, healthy and filling, so now to settle down to watch the news and get this Journal started. as it is now 1,45.

Now it is 3,30 and I am just finishing the Journal so now to get it Posted and then start getting myself sorted and decide what to have for dinner tonight, something with a jacket Potato I think, anyway that is about it for today, the rain has kept off, but the wind is getting stronger, so until tomorrow I will say .............

Its another Freaky Friday.

So here we are on another Freaky Friday. It seems strange not settling down to write my journal on a daily basis but hopefully it will not be to long before I get the new computer and then we can get back to writing it daily again, as I do miss not writing it every day.

Writing a daily Journal

well yesterday was an interesting day as I had my Appointment with my Neurologist Dr Gibb up at the Queen Alexandra Hospital (QA) at Cosham. my appointment was for 11.30 so I booked a taxi for 11.00 as it is about a 20 minute journey from here in Southsea up to the QA. I was meeting Pauline there, as she was getting a bus from Waterlooville which is where she and Gordon have moved to, so she is nearer to the QA than I am.
Anyway I am meeting Pauline at the North Entrance at the QA as that is the easiest entrance to the Outpatients department.

North Entrance to the Queen Alexandra Hospital Cosham.

Well I get to the QA at about 11.20 ish and Pauline,s bus arrives about the same time. The taxi drops me off at the North Entrance but Pauline has to get off at the South Entrance and walk up the hill to the north entrance, anyway we meet up and go in to report to reception to let them know I have arrived.

Outpatient Department  Reception

When we report to reception I am informed that Dr Gibb is running about 30 minutes late in actual fact My appointment was for 11.30 and Dr Gibb calls me in at about 12.50 so he is actually running an hour and twenty minutes late still never mind, gives us time to read some out of date waiting room magazines, ( really should have brought a Newspaper or the iPad with Me.)

Waiting For Doctor Gibb

Once I was in with Dr Gibb we had a chat and all my Blood works have been coming back OK, over the last 6 months and all my downloads to the cardiology department from my Reveal Heart monitor have shown no repeat of the erratic heart beat over the last 16 months. I told him about the fatigue I have had since tapering down to the 10 mg of prednisolone on alternate days but he is reluctant to increase it and I am going to start on a daily multi-vitamin and see if that makes any difference.

 we discussed my Digestive/constipation issues in regard to my inability to digest some foods properly ie (beans, cabbage, cereal etc) due to my "Cup and Spill" stomach which was diagnosed after an endoscopy in 2010 and has been put into the background after being overshadowed by the onset and diagnosis of Dermatomyositis, so I am going to be taking a sachet of Fybogel every Morning to add more fibre to my diet so that  (along with the increased dose of Lactulose) in the evening should help with the constipation.

  
The Methotrexate is remaining at 15 mg on a Friday and the Folic acid is staying at 5 mg on a Monday. also the Lansoprazole is staying at a daily dose of  15 mg before breakfast and 15 mg before dinner . and the Prednisolone is staying at 10 mg on alternate days.
I said about the Ventolin Inhaler from the GP Dr Tyrrell that he prescribed to help with my breathing in this humid weather.

Ventolin Inhaler and the Aerochamber. 

I have  my yearly Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) scheduled for next Friday. and Dr gibb said that once he has the results of that  he will contact me with regard to on going treatment. hopefully the result of the PFT will not have changed over the past 12 months as the one last year and also in october 2011 was around the 80% to 85% which was acceptable.

Q: Did I pass the Pulmonary Function Test ?

well I must say that apart from the long wait in a very stuffy waiting room it was a very positive appointment, so now just the PFT on next Friday to get over and done with and then we will see where we go from there but feeling very positive as I said to Dr Gibb if it was not for the difficulty with the walking and the mobility of my arms I would be as fit as a fiddle, I wake up in the morning and feel like an 18 year old, get out of bed and feel like a 60 year old which on reflection is not to bad as I am 70 in 7 weeks time.

A positive appointment yesterday

Once we had finished with Dr Gibb me and Pauline headed down to the cafeteria on A level which is at the other end of the hospital where we had a cheese and ham toasted sandwich and a coffee each before going outside the South Entrance

Queen Alexandra Hospital Main entrance (South Entrance)

where I phoned for a taxi to take me home and Pauline waited for her bus back to Waterlooville. Pauline,s bus arrived before my Taxi so saw her safely on the bus.

Pauline,s bus arrives before my Taxi

Well there we are then, slept pretty well last night and had a decent day today, I am glad the weather is getting cooler as that does help, although it is still very humid, we had some rain during the night and also this morning but the sun returned this afternoon.
 It looks like the weather is certainly on the change for the week ahead but it could be worse I suppose/

so today has been a very quiet day of rest and TV for me, it is now almost 5.00 pm so I will get this journal finished and posted before watching Pointless on BBC 1 and then I will be having "Fish and chips for dinner before taking my Methotrexate

Yummy, Yummy Fish and Chips.

So until the next journal which will probably be On Monday I will say.....................

its another Dentist Visit Today

Not enough hours in the day

Hello again and here I am on a day of a Painful Back and a Trip to the dentist to look forward to, These days just get Better. As many of you may have noticed there has been days where the Daily Journal has not appeared, the reason for this is that there are so many other things going on at the moment that there are days when I do not have enough time to fit everything in, but the journal will still be appearing on most days.

Ouch, Ouch, Ouch

Well as some of you will have gathered by my facebook page I pulled the muscles in my back yesterday moving my Fridge out from under the kitchen work top, On Hindsight a silly thing to do but to be honest I did it without thinking, I had knocked a pair of kitchen scissors of the top of the fridge and pulled it out to retrieve them all went well until I bent down and twisted myself to reach round and pick them up and that is when the Pain kicked in, so it was a day of rest and Co-Codamol yesterday, although I did manage to go out shopping with my son Gervase in the afternoon once the tablets kicked in.

Well as most of you know by now that with Co-Codamol come Constipation, so at least that was the excuse I needed to treat myself to a Gluten free Chicken Korma Curry for dinner last night, which I really did enjoy so with every dark cloud there is a silver lining, anyhow I got myself to bed early last night and slept right the way through until 7.30 this morning and today the Back is feeling a lot better so hopefully the damage is not to severe, the question is, " Will I Learn to think before I act in future ?" the Answer is "with my track record in life probably not". Now the Question you are all asking is did the Curry help with the constipation well the answer is "NO" so the lactulose will be out on force tonight. LOL.

My Morning Coffee

However as I said earlier I had a really good night and slept all the way through from about 11.00 until 7.30 this morning so a good nights sleep and thank goodness the back is a lot easier this morning still a slight twinge but nowhere near as bad as yesterday, anyway I take a couple of Paracetamol just to be on the safe side as I have a dental appointment this morning at 9.30, so I am out of bed by 8.00 and into the lounge with a coffee and a banana for breakfast, I text pauline and she phones back to sat that her and Gordon will be with me by 9.15 and take me down to the Dentist and then Gordon will drop us off there and come back to start the weekly flat cleaning and then we will get a Taxi back home when we are out of the Dentist.

"Must clean Teeth"

Once I have spoken to Pauline I make another coffee and then check out my emails and facebook before going into the bathroom to get myself washed and shaved and then get dressed ready for when Pauline and Gordon arrive, They are here by 9.20 so we are off down to Outram road to the dentist where Gordon drop me and Pauline off and then he goes back to my flat to get the cleaning done while I go into see my Dentist.

The Happy Dentist

I report to the Reception and I do not have to wait long before the dentist,s nurse comes to take me into the treatment room, The dentist checks my mouth to check that all is OK and that no more work needs doing on my teeth and after checking that my Medication has not changed since my last visit he explains that he is going to take the impressions for my upper plate that I need doing and also for a lower plate, this will give me a full set of teeth again, The upper plate will be made and fitted first and then the lower plate, later I have to go back in 3 weeks when the upper plate will be back from the lab so we will then have another fitting then, so once he has taken the impressions I am off back home.

Outram Road Dental Surgery, Portsmouth

A Cat Nap

Once Back home Pauline and I walk round to the Tesco Express to get my morning paper, and then back home where Gordon has just finished the weekly cleaning for me, so I make the coffee,s while Pauline sorts out my Laundry for me, She brought some clean back with her today and is taking another load to do this week so thank you Pauline and Gordon. Once we have had the coffee and a chat ii is 11.00 so Pauline and Gordon are off back home and I make a coffee and settle down to read the paper and then at 12.15 I make myself some Sardine and Tomato Paste Sandwiches for lunch which is very nice and get washed down with a nice cup of tea and then I go for a lie down at 1.15 until 2.00 and have a bit of a cat nap, as I was up early this morning.

Once I am up I go into the kitchen and make a coffee and get the vegetable prepared for tonight,s dinner and then into the lounge to get the journal written. It is now 4.20 and I have got the journal written so I will get it Posted and then I can settle down with the TV for the rest of the day, as tomorrow will be a busy day out shopping down commercial road. This week is also armed forces week with armed forces day on this Saturday the  29th June.  The Local flag raising ceremony took place in Gosport this morning.

Well there we are the end of another day, there are lots of events taking place throughout the week in Portsmouth and Gosport with Armed Forces day taking place on Saturday. I am now going to post todays blog so until tomorrow I will say Tatty Bye.

And Freaky Friday Comes Around.

yes folks not only is today the summer Solstice and the Longest day of the year it is also our favourite "Freaky Friday" when we sample the delights of "Methotrexate"

Whoo Hoo Time for bed

Well it was a very busy day yesterday and after the shopping it was nice to settle down for a rest before my Son Gervase came in to see me on his way home from work, after he had left I had my dinner and then at 8.00 I went next door to my Neighbours Kim and Chris to a gathering they were having with the children who had been over from the Ukraine and the host families who they stayed with for the 4 weeks, and then at 9.00 it was back indoors for a coffee and an early night after a busy but enjoyable day.

Misty,s Morning Walk

Well it was a decent nights sleep last night, listened to the radio for an hour or so and then got off to sleep by about 11.00. slept through until 7.30 when I made a coffee and took back to bed and then just lazed in bed with the radio until 8.30 when I made another coffee and then into the lounge to text Pauline. Pauline phones back to say that all is Ok with them and that she will be taking misty out for her morning walk soon, so hopefully it will stay dry as it looks very gloomy and cloudy outside today, not the weather one would expect for the first day of Summer, but then again this is England.

Well today is the Summer Solstice and the First day of Summer, it is also the longest day of the Year as well. As usual there was a large crowd gathering at Stonehenge in Wiltshire to celebrate the Sunrise at 4.50 am although the cloud was so dense that the sunrise could not be seen. The Police estimate that there was in the region of 21,000 people there including Pagans and Druids along with the spectators

Stonehenge is a Circle of Stones believed to date back 4000 years and used by early britons as a religious site.

The crowds at Stonehenge this Morning for the Summer Solstice

The Photo below is a stock Photo of Stonehenge in its entirety. Stonehenge along with Avebury is a world heritage site and is situated at Amesbury in Wiltshire about 9.5 miles from Salisbury and about 60 miles from Portsmouth.

Ham and Eggs for lunch

Once I had spoken to Pauline I take a walk round to get my morning paper before coming back and settling down with a coffee and Toast and Marmalade for breakfast, and reading the paper. I spend the rest of the morning listening to the radio and playing around on facebook before going for a lie down at about 12.30 for 30 minutes, after that I get up and wash up the breakfast things and at 1.30 I get some 2 slices of ham carved off the bone with a couple of poached eggs for lunch and then I make a cup of tea, take my Methotrexate and settle down to get todays Journal written.

At 2.30 I go and get the washing up done from lunchtime and get the vegetable prepared for dinner tonight, it will be a light dinner tonight so I am having a small salmon fillet stuffed with a Mozzarella cheese with a cauliflower and broccoli cheese bake "Tasty" so that will be nice and easy to cook and will only take 20 minutes, so once that is done I decide to carry on and get this journal finished while watching/listening to some old episodes of " Little house on the Prairie"  This was an American TV series 1974 - 1983 starring Melissa Gilbert and Michael Landon. there were 203 episodes and 5 specials, It is a series I do enjoy watching although I did not see many episodes when it was first shown on British TV so now I am catching up on them along with my other favourite the Walton,s.

Little house on the prairie, season 2 episode 1
The one I watched today

Happy Birthday Leanne

Well It has certainly been a day of rest for me today, I think walking that mile yesterday really did take it out of me, but it can only get better, anyway it has been an enjoyable day and now the sun has decided to make an appearance at 2.56 pm, so I might take a coffee out into the garden after I have finished this Journal and got it Posted, so That is about it for today except to say 'Happy Birthday" to my lovely daughter in Law Leanne as it is her birthday today so Happy Birthday Leanne and enjoy your afternoon and evening down at Gunwharf tonight.

Gunwharf Quays at Night.

Ok so there we are then folks the end of another day so I will now get this journal posted and then take a coffee out into the garden for an hour to finish the crosswords in the paper in the fresh air before the sun disappears again. so until tomorrow I will say Bye Bye.