Another Thursday Shop.

And so the countdown continues...............................

Morning Coffee

It was another decent nights sleep last night. went to bed about 10.30 listened to the quiz on Radio solent until about 11.15 then Turned off the Radio and was asleep very quickly, woke once during the night about 2.45 and then back to sleep until 7.15 so pleased with that. lazed in bed with a coffee until 8.18 when I made another coffee and into the lounge to watch the breakfast news and await Carol my Carer.

Breakfast Today

Carol my carer arrives as usual at about 8.45 and soon has me sorted ready for the day ahead which is going to be a busy one down town with Pauline shopping and looking for Gluten Free Items for my Trial Gluten free diet month. anyway once Carol has gone I text Pauline and then go and boil a couple of eggs for breakfast.

Check out facebook.

I enjoyed the boiled eggs, they went down a treat, once I have finished breakfast it is 9.45 and Pauline phones to say she is booking a Taxi for 11.00 to come and collect me  to go shopping down at the city centre. Once I have done the washing up from breakfast I have a shave and get dressed and then while I am waiting for Pauline I go on the laptop to check out Facebook and to check the emails, at 11.10 Pauline arrives with the taxi and once we have the wheelchair loaded we are off to the city centre.

We get the taxi to drop us off in Paradise street behind boots the chemist as I need to go into boots and get my Prescription made up at the pharmacy

Boots the Chemist

Once we have been in boots we make our way to the Nationwide Building Society which is just down the way from Boots,

Nationwide is at the far end of this parade of shops

so we get what we need to get sorted in the Nationwide and then I go into Holland and Barrett to get a packet of Gluten free Biscuits and a couple of bars of Gluten free Chocolate, they have not got a very good range of Gluten free items here really so we will look in Tesco in a few minutes to see what they have.

Gluten Free Biscuits and Chocolate from Holland and Barrett.

Once we are out of Holland and Barrett we head back to the Tesco store which is in Paradise street where the Taxi dropped us off when we got here.

Tesco Supermarket.

Once in tesco we start to get the shopping that we want, we have not got to get a lot just fresh Vegetable and some fish and Chicken and a stew pack as I will be making my own soups for lunch with fresh ingredients, we find the "Free From " Aisle and they have a decent selection of Gluten free items so I get some Porridge for Breakfasts also Crisp bread and stock cubes and bouillon so that will do me for today.

Gluten Free Porridge

Gluten Free Crispbread

Gluten free stock cubes and Bouillon.

Once we have got what we want we then go into the Tesco Cafe and Get a couple of coffee,s and Pauline has a ham and cheese Panini, and I have a bowl of Vegetable soup, after that we pay for our groceries and get a taxi back home.

Once home we get the shopping put away and then have a coffee before Pauline makes her way home and I settle down with the laptop to get today daily journal written, It was a good day out shopping today at least I can get some Gluten free items and also will see on Sunday what morrisons do,

Anyway it is 5.30 now so time to get this posted and to say Bye Bye until tomorrow.

another bright but cold day here in Portsmouth.

Well so here we are on Wednesday, It is a bright but chilly day here in Portsmouth today, but we are lucky as there was snow falling in the north of the county and also to the west of us in Dorset and Wiltshire, and to the east in Sussex and Kent. below is the snow falling in West Sussex.

Well at least it did not reach us, but as I have said before we are Surrounded by the sea and protected by the Isle of Wight in the Solent and by the South and North down,s chalk hills to the north of Portsmouth, as you can see by the map below.

stay snuggled in bed

It was a decent nights sleep last night, went to bed about 10.30 to listen to the Quiz on Radio solent, the next thing I know it is 2.20 and I need to go to the bathroom, went back to bed and woke again at about 6.45 so a decent nights sleep overall, so at 7.00 went and made a coffee and took back to bed, it is very cold this morning so stay in bed listening to Radio Solent, until 8.15 when the heating has been on and warmed the flat up a bit, I do not like it too hot otherwise it affects my breathing slightly so try and keep a constant 18.5 degrees C during the day and 19.0 degrees C in the evening. That seem s to be comfortable for me.

My Carer.

At 8.15 I make another coffee and go into the lounge to listen to the radio and check out emails and facebook while waiting for my carer, who arrives at 8.45. I does not take her long to get me sorted, we have a chat and she takes the completed form for what days I need care over the holidays and off she goes to her next client.

Gluten Free Breakfast

Once Carol has left I text Pauline to let her know all is OK and then decide to get some breakfast.Yesterday while Out shopping I went into the health shop and got some gluten free Cornflakes, as I am finding that the days that I have wheat and/or Gluten free food my digestion is better so I am going to go gluten and wheat free for a month and see if it does make a difference or if it is just me. anyway I have some of those cornflakes for breakfast and then Pauline phones back to say all is OK there.

Now George Osborne our chancellor is making his Autumn budget speech today so I want to listen to that live on the radio so I get dressed and go round to get my morning paper before that starts. once I have the paper I get back home and get a coffee made just ready for when the chancellor starts his speech. Much as everybody thought it would be a load of pulling the wool over peoples eyes the end result is that we will all be worse off next year apart from the rich who will get richer as the poor get poorer.

Chicken Soup

So that was not as interesting as I thought it would be but at least it made a change from watching morning TV, anyway it is now 12,30 so I am going for a lie down for 30 minutes and then I will get myself some chicken soup for lunch, I cannot find any tins of gluten or wheat free soups so I am contemplating buying myself one of the electric soup makers, I could do it in the slow cooker but always end up throwing half of it away as I make to much and I do not freeze food or use frozen food,

Watching the TV

Well the chicken soup went down a treat with a slice of toast and I also had a Gluten Free Mince pie to follow it. and now for an afternoon of some old TV sitcom,s and then at 3.00 I will start to get todays journal started. anyway I watch a episode of "As time goes bye" and then an episode of " Keeping up appearances" it is now 4.25 and the nights are closing in, the lights on the christmas tree are switched on and the curtains drawn so now to get this Journal finished and posted and settle down to a nice evening of TV with dinner at 6.30 of chicken with Mash Potato, Cauliflower and sprouts. Excellent. so until tomorrow I will say Tatty bye.

A visit to Adult Social Care.

well here we are again and now there are only 21 days to Christmas, time does go by fast when you are having fun living with Myositis, makes for an interesting life to say the least.

A Restless night

Anyway not a good night last night as I was awake for a couple of hours early this morning from about 4.30 until about 6.00 so was on facebook playing words with friends for 30 minutes anyway managed to get back to sleep about 6.00 until 7.30 so better than nothing I suppose.

Todays Breakfast.

Anyway once I was awake I make a coffee and take back to bed until 8.15 when I get up and make another coffee and then go into the lounge to watch the morning News on the TV while I am waiting for Carol my carer to arrive. Carol arrives about 8.50 and soon has me washed and groomed ready for the day ahead shopping down town with Pauline. Once carol has left I text Pauline and then go and get a couple of boiled eggs for breakfast with a slice of toast.

Pauline phones back and says that she will book the Taxi to take us shopping at 10.45, so as it is now 9.30 I go and get a shave and get dressed so that I will be ready for when Pauline gets here, while I am having a shave the postman delivers a letter, and this is where the day started to get interesting.

Ageuk Logo

The letter was addressed to a "MRS F SMITH" at my old address. and it was sent by Age uk. Ageuk is a national charitable organisation in the uk to give assistance to the elderly, anyway the letter I received today was to say that they had been asked by Portsmouth Adult social care to carry out a survey of our care that we receive and to contact them so that they could come and ask me some questions about my satisfaction with the care I receive and of the care company. Now there was nothing wrong about that apart from:-

1. It was addressed to "Mrs F Smith ( Have I had a sex change)
2. It was addressed to my old address ( I moved 3 months ago)
3. It was typed on a photocopied ageuk headed paper
4. I had no prior knowledge that my personal details were disclosed to an outside organisation.
5. I was not asked by Portsmouth Adult Social care if my Personal details could be disclosed to an outside organisation.

So I decided that I would take the letter down to the Adult Social Care Department at the civic offices and ask some questions as I had no idea if this letter was genuine or not.

Portsmouth Civic Offices.

 Getting to speak to a member of the Adult Social care department at the civic offices is no easy task, Pauline kindly took me there before we went shopping and we were keft waiting in the foyer for almost 30 minutes before a very nice lady came down to speak to me. The outcome was that

1. Yes it was a genuine letter
2. it was not professional that it had been typed on photocopied headed paper.
3. I should have been informed that I would be contacted by Ageuk
4. I should certainly have been asked to give permission for my personal details to be given to a third party.
5. my correct details ( once permission had been obtained) should have been given to ageuk ( Why did ageuk have my details from 3 months ago ?)

So at least my concerns were listened to, the lady I spoke to said that there were obviously lessons to be learnt from this and that Lea my caseworker would be in contact with me about what happens next.

I have no problems with either ageuk or with Adult social care, it is the System that is at fault in this instance and I would expect it is mainly to do with the austerity cuts in the NHS Budget and in the local council budget that is causing these kinds of problems, and safeguards should be put in place to safeguard the elderly and disabled. ( Rant Over)

Ok then so I am now off my soapbox and then we went shopping, First of all we went to the Heart Foundation charity shop in the precinct to drop off a load of my Ties I have no Further use for

After that we went to Wilkinsons which is just opposite and Pauline got some bits and Pieces for Charlie their cat, after that I needed to go to the Nationwide Building society and then into Holland and Barrett the health food shop to get some "Gluten Free Items"

I got some Gluten free mince pies and also Gluten free cornflakes plus a couple of other items and then we went for a coffee and a snack at Greggs before going into Marks and Spencer to get some food shopping and Pauline got a couple of Christmas gifts for friends of hers. we then took a short visit to British home stores before being collected by Gordon and heading back home.

Medication Refills

Once back home we get the shopping put away and then I make coffee for us all and we have a good old chat , While we were out in British home stores I got a sparkly butterfly to go on the top of the christmas tree, and it looks very nice, anyway at 3.15 Gordon and pauline make there way home and are going to drop the repeat prescription request in to the doctors for me as I need to replenish my Lactulose and also the Methotrexate. Pauline will collect the prescription on Thursday for me on the way to collect me for shopping.

So that is about it for today, so I will say Tatty Bye until tomorrow and get this journal posted.

Monday Comes, Monday Goes.

Monday comes but once a week, and Christmas once a year,
The Christmas tree is up and lit, and I fancy a Beer.

But it is to early in the day and I don't drink anyway so out of bed and make a coffee and then decide to lie in bed and listen to the radio for an hour as it is only eight O'clock and I do not have a carer on a Monday, so a chance of a lie in. and also to Remember.............

However Once it is 9.00 I get out of bed, get dressed and then make another coffee and into the lounge to catch up on the morning breakfast news on the TV, while I text Pauline to let her know I am up and that all is OK, I then check the emails before getting some weetabix for breakfast.

Customer Advisor

Once I have had breakfast I check out facebook and then need to Phone Southern Electric to check out my gas Supply as it is not showing up correctly online on the website. as Southern Electric supply both my Gas and Electricity but although they sorted out the electric account OK when I moved they have made an error sorting out the gas account. anyway spoke to a very helpful customer advisor and within 30 minutes she had it all sorted and my online account with them is now correct so thank you young lady. Very impressed with the service.

Nice Job Gordon

Once I have sorted things out with Southern Electric Pauline phones to say that she is out on the common with Misty, It is raining lightly but there is a strong wind blowing but at least it is milder today and no frost. Everything is all right with her and Gordon, although they both had a restless night, she also said that gordon would be round at about 11.00 to do a couple of hours cleaning for me.

But to many tea breaks LOL

well that was a busy couple of hours so I get the washing up done from breakfast and then at 11.00 gordon arrives to do some flat cleaning for me. I have been doing a bit of family history research for Gordon, and as I have mentioned Gordon has is own cleaning company and it is a co-incidence that his Great grandfather was a Canteen Cleaner in the Iron Works in Wales at the age of 13 in 1861. anyway Gordon does a couple of hours cleaning plus Tea breaks and Biscuits

well the flat is all spick and span so we have a chat and then Gordon is off back home to Pauline and I decide to have a mini "Cheese and Tomato" Pizza for lunch,  that went down a treat and now it is time to have a lie down for an hour until 2.45 when I have a "Strawberry complan" and then make a start on todays Journal. at least it has stayed mild today with a few showers and sunny spells, but the nights draw in very early and by 3.30 it is time to put the lights on in the room and also on the christmas tree.

However it is now 5.15 and Pointless has just started, so I have to get this journal posted for today and then this evening I will watch pointless, I will be having dinner at 6.30 and then a couple of hours on Family History research before having an early night as Tomorrow will be a busy day down town shopping with Pauline so until tomorrow I will say Good Night.

A Lazy Morning, Busy Afternoon

So Here we are again then folks, another Sunday is upon us and all is well with the world " I Think"  however for your information and pleasure it is only 23 days to go until St Nick comes a calling.

So the big question is am I going to go Christmas Shopping Today, The Bigger answer is No. I am in fact refusing to get out of bed today as it is very cold and frosty this morning,

Back to bed with a coffee

Anyway I went to bed about 10.45 last night and apart from waking once during the night I slept through until 7.00 this morning, Got up to make a coffee, looked out the window and saw that there was a heavy frost covering everything so went back to bed with the coffee and listened to the radio until about 9.30 when I decided to get up. At least the heating had been on since 8.00 so the flat was nice and warm, so made another coffee and settled in front of the TV with the laptop, also sent Pauline a text to let her know I was up

The Morning Paper

so what to do for breakfast I decide to have a Belvita Breakfast Biscuit and a Banana and Yogurt it is a bit late in the morning to have to much, once I have had breakfast I get dressed and then go round to the Tesco Express to get my Morning Paper. It is a nice fresh morning for a walk round to the shop but to cold to stay out long so get the Paper and then head back home to the warmth of the flat, dread to think what my heating bill will be like this winter, probably less than it was when I had the house though.

Please wake up, I Need a wee.

at 11.00 I go and make a coffee and then decide to phone Pauline as I have not heard from her this morning so hope Her and Gordon are both OK, anyway there is no reply and then as I am about to ring her mobile the house phone rings and it is Pauline to say that she has only just woken up and that Gordon is still fast asleep, they were obviously both very tired as I know they haven't slept well the last few nights, and poor misty has not been out for her morning walk yet.

Todays Lunch.

well at least they are both OK so I now settle down to check my emails and also to see who is on Facebook and to play some facebook games, while the old sitcoms are playing on the TV. anyway it is nearly 12.30 and gervase phones to say he will be round about 2.00 this afternoon so that we can go down to Asda at fratton to get the shopping and then have a drive along the sea front. so I decide that I would go and have a shave and get changed ready for when Gervase arrives but first I will have some Cream of Chicken soup with some croutons for Lunch.

well once I have finished lunch, I go and get a shave and change ready for when Gervase arrives, While I am waiting I am watching an old episode on the Gold Channel of the sitcom "Green Green Grass" this was an of spin of only fools and horses and was produced and screened between 2005 and 2009. anyway Gervase arrives at 1.5o and so we get in the car and off we go to Asda.

Green Green Grass 2005 - 2009

The Weather is starting to cloud over and rain is predicted for tonight so at least that will keep the frost from forming and will raise the temperature above 0 c. anyway we get to Asda and get the shopping done it does not take long today and then we get my prescription from the Asda Pharmacy and once we have finished we take a drive back home along the seafront.

Southsea Sea Front in December.

well once we are back home we get the shopping put away, I make a coffee and then Gervase {With very little input from me} gets my christmas tree put up for me it is an artificial pre decorated 6 ft pop up tree from B&Q but at least it gives a bit of christmas cheer to the place, this is the first time I have had a christmas tree up since about 1998. so really feel pleased that I have at last got back into the spirit of Christmas.

well there we are then Christmas has officially started here in Southsea. well it is now 5.45 and time to think about starting dinner, tonight I am branching out and am going to try Steak and Kidney Pie with Mashed Potato and Baked Beans, It will be interesting to see how I get on with that. so I will leave you with a couple of cartoons I did yesterday evening that were to late for yesterdays journal and say Tatty bye until Tomorrow.

Number 15 of Myo Man dreams

Yesterdays "Days to Christmas"

The Beginning of December

And so another month ends and a new one begins, today we go into December and there is only 24 days to go before santa comes to visit us with all our goodies, mind you if Christmas eve has a frost like last night I can see Santa coming a cropper trying to land his sleigh on the roofs of houses down our road.

Oooops

Anyway it was a decent nights sleep last night, I woke once during the night at about 3.00 am but apart from  that I slept through from 11.30 until 7.30 this morning so that was good, once I was awake I made a coffee and then got up at 8.00 and into the lounge to watch the morning news and to wait for Carol the carer to arrive. I have the heating on as it is a bright sunny day but there was a heavy frost last night and it is a low temperature this morning about 3 C. I took the photo below at about 8.15 this morning, it shows the frost on the roofs of the houses and the cars all iced over.

Toast for breakfast

Anyway Carol arrives at about 8.45 and is feeling the cold, she is happy that she is only working until lunch time, so it does not take her long to get me washed and groomed and is then on her way to her next client, I text Pauline to let her know all is Ok and then get a couple of slices of toast for Breakfast with some apricot Jam and a nice hot coffee.

Time for walkies Pauline and Gordon

While I am having Breakfast Pauline phones to say that Gordon is wrapped up warm in bed and she is out on the common with Misty, ( Gordon,s not silly ) anyway as Pauline says it is very cold and a heavy frost on the common and there is a sea fog out in the solent, Pauline is on her Mobile phone and you can here the Ships in the harbour sounding there fog horns.
 Once breakfast is over and I have spoken to Pauline I get myself dressed and take a walk round to the tesco express to get myself the morning Paper, it is nice to walk out in the fresh crisp morning air, but even with gloves, scarf and a hat I still feel the cold so it is a case of getting the paper and then heading back indoors and making a nice hot mint chocolate and reading the paper before settling to watch a film on the TV.

The Christmas movie I am watching on TV this morning is the original 1947 "Miracle on 34th street" in black and white starring Maureen O'Hara , John Payne and Edmund Qwenn. and a very young Natalie Wood. It is a brilliant film and one that I enjoy watching every year for as long as I can remember. I first saw this film in the Embassy Cinema in Fareham about 1950 or 1951 with my Grandfather.

Miracle on 34th street with a young "Natalie Wood"

Embassy Cinema, Fareham, Hampshire.

The Embassy cinema was one of two cinemas in West Street Fareham, the other one being the savoy. The Embassy was closed in 1983 and demolished in 1989 with a McDonalds being built on the site.

Once that movie is over I decide that I will get a crossword done in  the paper and while I am doing that I get a piece of Smoked haddock cooking in the oven for lunch, I will have that with a slice of bread and butter, it is a fresh haddock fillet so it needs to be used today. once lunch is over I go for a lie down for an hour before getting todays journal started. at 3.00 pm.

It has been a pretty good day today, although it has been cold outside it has been nice and warm indoors, hopefully it will stay nice for shopping tomorrow with Gervase. It is now 4.10 and it is getting dark outside and the temperature is falling, so I need to get this journal posted and then settle down to a nice evening of TV, coffee anf Facebook so until tomorrow I will say Bye. Bye. from a chilly Portsmouth on the south coast of the UK.