Foxes

 I see a lot of foxes. They have become urbanised and actually quite bold about being seen in the open. That worries me a bit. A wild animal should be more shy.

I keep an eye on them and especially a family of them that live where I have some work. This family have white flashes on the tips of their tails. Last year the poor things were terribly thin and their coats were sparse and dull. I've seen two of them this week and I'm happy to say that they look sleek and in good condition. 

Winter is hard for the wild ones. I would like to get some photos of them but I only see them when I'm out walking a client's dog and don't usually have my phone with me. My coat pockets don't take a mobile phone comfortably. 

Cinderella Soap

With the Covid pandemic, people are having to wash their hands more carefully and frequently than before. Soap and water has a vastly greater effectiveness than alcohol based hand sanitisers. But with much washing, soap can make hands very dry. 

I'm developing a new recipe I've called Cinderella Soap. It doesn't look great but it is very much more effective at cleaning the skin  and removing bacteria than alcohol gel. It has a high cleaning index combined with a high conditioning index. I've added some skin soothing pure Essential Oils. So it will be a soap that functions very well for frequent handwashers such as Carers. As far as appearance goes, I'll try using low temperatures instead of higher ones. We'll see. I'm using some and it really is very good. It's just a question of appearance now. 

As far as possible, ingredients are Organic. I'll list some of the ingredients:

Coconut oil

Avocado oil

Avocado butter

Olive oil

Hemp oil

Lavender, Tea Tea, Rosemary Essential Oils.

New Lockdown

Once again, the UK is under strict Lockdown, enforceable by law, due to the extra infectious Covid variant. It has been announced that school exams are cancelled this year due to too many interruptions in actual school time. One grandchild was sent home by the school with instructions to isolate as she had been in close contact with someone who tested positive. People who are vulnerable due to age or illness have to "shield" and have no personal contact. A lot of hope is being pinned on the vaccines and the government is trying to get as much of the population vaccinated in a short amount of time as possible.

Once again, my life has not changed. I'm doing domiciliary care work and my old ladies need me to go to them because they can't help themselves in many ways. I have been asked to take on an extra two clients but I've explained that the schedule is extra busy due to one lady being in her last days and needing more care. So my new clients can be visited four times a week until our case load gets easier. My dog comes with me and he is so good to the ladies and they really perk up when he runs to greet them. 

Another reason for being wary of over committing in work life is that I'm having health investigations and I need to be more certain about my abilities before I make promises I might not be able to keep.

Working with the elderly

 Working with elderly people can be emotionally difficult.  One of our ladies, a widow, was crying because the husband she loved so much had left her.  How do you comfort her?  By saying that he was dead?  And now she is concerned about her elderly dog dying too.  She is such a dear, sweet person, but it is so cruel when her mind keeps tormenting her. I could cry about it myself. 

Another lady cries for her only child who lives in America.  With Covid restrictions, it is very unlikely that he will be able to come. It breaks him up when he phones her and she cries.  He doesn't know that she isn't always like that, that she can giggle and laugh only minutes after ending the phone call. 

All of our elderly clients were deeply disturbed and unsettled as they watched the constant bad news in the early days of the pandemic. It was only when we got them to change channel and not watch the constant stream of bad news that they began to calm down.  Now that they are watching farming, garden and veterinary programs they are much happier. 

Fatigue

I have ME / Chronic Brucellosis and have been going through a bad patch. I have slept all afternoon so that I can do my work this evening but the sleep hasn't made me feel any better. I'm still feeling floppy with jelly like muscles. Just three more shifts to do and then I have some time off. I will have to spend the first part in bed but am hoping to get some soap decorated on Friday. My cat enjoys my bad health days when she can curl up on the bed with me. She's a good friend. 

More past soaps

Past Soap

Here are some of the soaps I have made. With each one, I have had to wait weeks for the saponification process to complete before testing them. When that day comes, I wash my hands with it and think it is the best recipe I have made. 

They are, in fact, all good. I only use pure organic ingredients and use organic essential oil to scent them. So in terms of the quality of ingredients, they are superb. After that, it is a matter of individual preference. 

Rose Soap Saga

I made this soap the other day and it will be ready on 20 October. I have been planning to build up a stock of good quality soap for Christmas, and in particular to send to my brother and sister who live in the Antipodes.

But I checked on parcel services and they all said that their service was affected by Covid and they weren't taking on any new parcels at the moment. One of them wanted to charge £86 for a 2lb parcel! 

Things may have changed by the time the soap is mature, and if it hasn't, I'll send it by sea. It takes 84 days but it is at least cheap.

The Covid Factor and where it led me.

 Covid at first sounded like a nasty dose of 'flu that could kill you if you had a serious co-existing health condition.  It was constantly on TV and my elderly clients watched it all day and it made them extremely anxious. So, with agreement from the families, we banned it and put on channels without constant virus updates. 

Doing care work, my life was not affected really, except that it got busier as a needy new client came to us. So why did I decide what I did?  I really don't know.  I decided that I would learn something new and what I wanted to learn was how to make soap. 

I made the first very simple batch.  And then another.  Then I tried new recipes and bought more ingredients and equipment.  I have been bitten by a bug!  I can't stop.  So I broadened my scope to include body butter and lip balm. The soap falls broadly into two groups.  The "good" soap made from pure organic ingredients that matures over 6 weeks.  It has no chemicals in it, it is mild and moisturising and if I put a fragrance in at all, it is a skin friendly organic pure essential oil.  I wanted it to be fit for people with allergies and sensitive skin and those who want to be careful of our planet. So far, I make four different recipes of these soaps. 

The other soap is mostly "melt and pour" that I buy ready made.  I melt it, add colour and fragrance and put it in moulds.  If there is a bird and a flower in a mould for instance, I can colour the bird white and the flower yellow and surround everything in a soft blue.  This soap is pretty so most people don't use it, which is rather disheartening. It is also good soap, but not in the sense of the purer organic slow maturing soaps. I think I'll post some of my recipes later so that I'll have a record of them. 

But the best place to learn about soap making is YouTube.  There are thousands of tutorials on there.

Heat Wave

 Here we are in the middle of August 2020 and we have been sweltering for days. Its too hot to sleep so I thought it might be time for a bit of a catch up.

I moved to a new flat about two years ago. Objectively, the new flat is nicer than my previous one but I don't like it as much as I liked the old one.  I had to move because my landlord was selling up.  As I had lived there so long he allowed me to take time to find somewhere else.  It took 9 months to find a landlord who would allow me to have my dog. He's a great landlord and its a lovely flat.  Naturally, I have a cat too, but she's not 'official'. 

Several years ago, a friend and I started our own domiciliary Care business.  Driven by her, the business flourished.  It actually grew beyond my comfort level, but she made it enormously successful. She died two years ago and the business changed.  At first we went on on autopilot.  Clients died and carers left.  Now we are back to what I originally envisaged.  A few clients and a couple of carers.  A very small and very personal outfit. We are doing well, we enjoy what we do and our clients are cherished. 

Both of my daughters are single parents and although it takes a lot out of them, they are both excellent parents who put their children's needs before their own. Between them they have given me five grandchildren who are all very different. I love them all and enjoy them more than I enjoyed my own children. I think this is because as a mother you are always rushing to deadlines. Everything is regulated by the clock - up, wash, dress, breakfast and out of the door to school.  Rushing to work, hurrying to be in time to pick them up, homework, projects, shopping, cooking, bath, pyjamas, bed, housework. And so it goes on, the treadmill of family life. All this doesn't really apply to grandparents so time with grandchildren is relaxed and fun. 

Review of the Luggie Elite

Conclusion:  The Luggie makes life easy for Everyone. 

I’ve put the conclusion first for those who don’t want to read a lot.  Mobility equipment has to be easy for the sick or disabled person and their carers to use. It has to be convenient and reliable, not extra exhausting hassle.  In scooters as in cars, you don’t expect a Mini to do the job of a Jeep.  They are designed for different uses and both have their merits. The Luggie won’t take a weekly grocery shop home up a steep hill, but as a travel scooter, it is second to none.

The Luggie Elite was bought to replace a Pride Revo 4, which was so heavy to disassemble and put in a car boot that it wasn’t used very much.  In two months I have used the Luggie Elite more than the Revo had been used in 9 years.   The Luggie Elite is more comfortable than the Revo and performs better, particularly on hills. The build quality is superb and the metals used are top quality, although the plastics on the tiller seem a little cheap.

The Luggie is so portable.  It has been on several train journeys, a few buses, taxis and ferries, as well as private cars.  It is so easy to include it in everyday life, and this has had a good effect on relationships with family and friends. You don’t have to have strong men at hand to help you get it out of the car and put all the heavy pieces together and then do it all again in reverse. I have just been on holiday with a group of friends who used to get impatient with the time needed for assembling/disassembling, especially if it had to be done at several places on one day. They were very impressed with the convenience of the Luggie, and one of them is a GP. The Luggie makes life easy for everyone.

It can be used indoors, even in homes that do not have specially widened doorways. Being so portable, it is great for hospital appointments, which are usually along very long passageways and quite a distance from the car park or bus stop.

You don’t need a special hoist to get the Luggie in and out of a car, and that’s great because your family and friends are unlikely to have such a hoist in their vehicles.  (Hoists would be needed for other brands of mini scooters as they don't have the flexible folding choices the Luggie has. Rented cars and taxis don't have hoists, and you are unlikely only ever to travel in your own car.)  

By all means check out the competition, and I’d bet pounds to pennies that you’ll choose the Luggie and be delighted with it. 

Things to bear in mind:

I have a large 3 wheeled scooter for everyday use, plus I had the Revo and I have used various other scooters from Shopmobility from time to time.  The Luggie does not ‘handle’ like other scooters do, so I strongly urge new Luggie owners to take time to get to know their machine before taking it to unfamiliar places.  It is a fabulous machine, but it is different, and there will be a learning curve.

It is expensive and replacement batteries are expensive.  Hopefully, in time the price will come down.

It is probably not the best piece of equipment to choose if you cannot walk at all.  At times I have had to put my feet on the ground to ease the Luggie up a small kerb or to balance when I have approached a change of terrain from the wrong angle.

You have to be fairly fit to use a Luggie successfully.  My ability is about 40% of what it was before I was ill and I cope well with the Luggie now.  But when my ability was only 5% of what it had been, the Luggie would not have been the best choice in terms of support and suspension. 

Having said all that, I can say sincerely that the Luggie was an excellent buy, and has opened up new possibilities for me and my family.  The Luggie can go places other scooters can’t and as it is so ‘luggable’ it gets used very frequently.  My partner and I firmly feel that the Luggie has been a marvellous investment and we look forward to lots of fun with it for years to come.  

On the Isle of Wight

Charging in a restaurant, taking up very little space.

In the baggage compartment on a train. See how small it folds.

In France. No problem on the ferry.

The day it was delivered, 21 July 2014. Its so narrow it can be used
indoors without widening the doorways.

On its first journey

Helping my granddaughter on a Treasure Hunt

Gluten Free Oats Cookies

Flourless Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

(gluten-free)

They take under 5 minutes to prepare!

• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 T brown sugar
• 1 T plus 2 tsp white sugar 
• 2 T raisins
• 1 T oil or pre-melted margarine
• 1-2 T milk of choice (start with 1)

Blend first 5 ingredients together in a food processor or blender.  

Mix with other ingredients, form into cookie shapes, and place on a greased cookie sheet. 

Cook 6 minutes at 375 F.

You can chop dried apple and add cinnamon to vary the recipe a bit.  

Potato Based Pizza

POTATO BASED PIZZA

BASE                                                FOR THE TOPPING

6 large potatoes                                 2 Garlic cloves

6 spring onions                                   1 onion

2 eggs                                               chopped tomatoes                                                                                    

Salt and pepper                                  fresh basil leaves

Fry light                                             6oz/170g mozzarella cheese                                                      



Peel and dice potatoes, boil until tender, drain return to pan and mash. Set aside to cool a little. Meanwhile finely chop the spring onions. Place the mash, spring onions and one egg into a bowl and season well. Using your fingers, mix well and shape into a ball. Cover the bowl and chill overnight.


Prepare the topping: Crush garlic, finely chop onion, remove skins from toms (if using fresh) and chop basil leaves. Place in a pan with sweetener and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring often until thickened. Season well and remove from heat.


Preheat oven 200C/400F or gas mark 6. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Place the potato mixture in the centre and, using your hands, pat into 10in pizza base. Beat the remaining egg and brush over the base, spray with fry light and bake for 10-15 mins or until lightly browned.


Spread topping over base. Slice mozzarella and arrange on top. Return to oven for further 6-8 minutes. Remove from oven and scatter basil over the top.

South African Rusks - NOT Coeliac friendly

1.5kg selfraising flour
3 eggs
250ml cream
500ml buttermilk or plain yoghurt
250 ml sugar
250g butter
5ml salt

Rub butter into flour.
Beat eggs and sugar.
Add buttermilk (yoghurt)
Mix to a soft dough. 
Form balls of dough & pack tight in a greased dish.
Bake at 180c or 350f for 35 minutes.
Break cooked balls and spread them on the wire racks in the cooker.
Dry overnight in cooker on a low temperature - 80c or so.

Cinnamon Rolls - Coeliac friendly

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

•  2 egg whites (powdered ones work well.  Follow instructions on the packet)
• 8 oz ground almonds
• Pinch of salt
• 4 oz castor sugar
• 1 level tablespoon cinnamon
• Icing sugar

Method:
Beat the egg whites and salt until stiff.

Fold in sugar and ground almonds and cinnamon. 

Make mixture into balls and place on oiled baking sheet. Bake at 300F for 25 minutes.

Roll cooked balls in icing sugar.

Luscious Apple Cake - Coeliac Friendly

Apple Cake gluten free

http://whosayscoeliacs.com/2011/01/23/luscious-gluten-free-apple-cake/

Ingredients

• ·         225g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• ·         450g Bramley apples
• ·         Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
• ·         225g caster sugar, plus extra for dredging
• ·         3 large eggs
• ·         225g gluten-free self-raising flour
• ·         2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
• ·         25g ground almonds
• ·         1 tsp mixed spice
• ·         1 tbsp demerara sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4.

Grease a deep 23-24cm springform cake tin and line with baking paper.

Peel, core and cut the apples into 1cm pieces, and toss with the lemon juice.  Or use a tin of pie apples. 

Cream together the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, adding a little flour with each addition to keep the mixture smooth.

Sift the remaining flour and the baking powder into the bowl and fold in with the ground almonds and mixed spice. Stir the apple pieces into the mixture.

Spoon into the prepared cake tin, lightly level the top and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until well-risen, brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. If the cake starts to look a little too brown, cover with a sheet of baking paper after about 45 minutes.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the tin and place on a serving plate.

Dredge heavily with the extra caster sugar.

Cut the cake into generous wedges and serve warm with a spoonful of clotted cream, if you like.

Easy Choc Chip biscuits - Coeliac friendly

Ingredients:

• 1 jar peanut butter
• 1 cup choc chips
• I cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Method:

Mix everything up in a bowl

Drop spoonsful on a baking tray

Bake at 190 for 15 minutes

These cookies really are delicious and very easy to make.

And no, I did not forget to include flour.  The biscuits are flourless, but truly, you wouldn't ever know because they taste wonderful.

Suggestion for Petition

SUGGESTION: The Government needs to be straight with us and tell us whether they believe an ill or disabled person has a right to live or not. Because if so many thousands of people are to lose the means for their survival, the only decent thing for the Government to do is to send out cyanide capsules with their refusal of benefit letters. Shall we embarrass them by putting a petition to this effect on the Downing Street website?

Lots of Catching up to do

Tristan is 6 days old, and to celebrate, Sean took us out for tea. Caelyn hasn't been able to eat much for ages because the baby was squashing her stomach, so she knew what to do with this!

Tristan and big sister Wendy

The Story of Tristan's Birth

Dear Family and Friends 

I’m at home at last, so let me tell you the news.

Caelyn’s baby, Tristan James, was born during a gale with torrential rain on Monday 12 December.  As the winds were buffeting the car so much, they didn’t get to the hospital in time.  I had phoned ahead and Labour Ward had told me that they would examine her, but that they had no beds.

They got as far as the ambulance bay, and Nigel called an ambulance crew to come and help and they were calm and laid back about it until they saw Caelyn – and Tristan’s head!  No one knows how, but an emergency call must have been sent because two ladies came running in their scrubs.  A Paramedic sat behind Caelyn to support her shoulders and back; Nigel was in the front seat holding one of her legs and the N2O.  All four car doors were open so an icy wet wind was blowing through the car.  Somehow, some screens were put in place.  Caelyn was the only one who stayed relatively dry – everyone else was standing outside in the rain and wind.  I think they all were frozen.

Baby was born, and as soon as the cord was cut, he was bundled up and the lady who delivered him handed him to the other one and told her “get this baby inside”.  So off she went with Tristan (whose Apgar was 9 at birth and 10 at 5 minutes!) while the other lady saw to the placenta which came about 20 min later.  Then Caelyn was put on a trolley and taken upstairs.  She and Tristan were very cold, and even with lots of hot drinks and extra blankets, it took until 04h30 for her to stop shivering.

She was the talk of the ward, and several staff members stopped by to see her and wish her well.  It turned out that the lady who delivered him was a paediatrician!  I bet delivering her patients doesn’t happen too often!  Caelyn was very happy with the care she received. 

Then Meridian News started phoning the ward, wanting to do interviews, but she said she just wanted to get home.  She did cave in eventually – all sorts of news people were sending her messages on Facebook.  So here are some links.  The BBC filmed her for the News and the page has a video of the interview, if you can see it in your part of the world.

  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-16190955 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2073741/Ex-Chile-ambassador-Richard-Wilkinson-injured-tree-falls-house.html  (story between pic of house and lighthouse)

http://www.localrags.co.uk/index.php/News/2011/12/15/Storm-forces-Hawkinge-mother-to-give-birth-in-car-at-Ashford-hospital/

http://newspano.com/news/i-was-asleep-then-the-next-thing-i-knew-there-was-a-tree-in-bed-with-me

http://www.nigeriancompass.com/index.php?option=com_

content&view=article&id=9405:i-was-asleep-then-the-next-thing-i-knew-there-was-a-tree-in-bed-with-me&catid=324:world-news&Itemid=542   (yes, Nigeria!)

And she was in the top two stories of Meridian News too. 

After all that, Caelyn says she feels well for the first time in months, and Tristan is a contented little baby who is feeding like a gannet.

Well, thats quite a story to tell the lad when he grows up!  There is just one worry, and that is that he was conceived while his mother had a contraceptive device surgically implanted in her arm, and it has a failure rate of 0.04%.  The pregnancy was very troubled, and Caelyn spent a lot of time in hospital.  They stopped premature labour 3 times.  Her kidneys were failing and her breathing was a big problem, with her only having a Peak Flow of 150 for most of the time. Then he was born like this.  You know how we say that if there is a bizarre or weird situation, our Kate is in the middle of it?  I wonder if young Tristan is going to follow in his mother's footsteps ...

Peaceful Sleep

Daddy, baby and toddler snoozing on a sofa.

The Eventful Arrival of the New Boy

My daughter Caelyn went into labour last night when the weather was at its worst. The wind buffeted the car so much her husband couldn't get there fast enough & she said she had to push, so Nigel pulled into the ambulance bay of William Harvey. He called to the ambulance crew. When they came over, they could see his head.

A doctor & midwife came running. Caelyn was on the back seat of the car & the medical staff had to stand in the wind and rain to deliver him. They got soaked. As soon as he was born, they wrapped him up & took him in out of the weather, then the ambulance crew put Caelyn on a trolley to take her in.

Mother and baby are both well, and already the talk of the ward, with staff popping in specially to see him. They are due to be discharged later today.

In view of the circumstances of his birth, a special name is called for, but we can't think of one. His sisters can't wait to meet him.

A New Baby Boy

At about 10 pm on Monday 12 December, Caelyn had a son. He weighs 2.3 kg or 5 lb 12 oz, and he and his mum are both well.

When they left for the hospital, Caelyn asked me to phone to say they were en route. The midwife said they would examine her but they had NO BEDS AVAILABLE.

Then I had a call from my mum & I was expecting her to say they were being sent to another hospital, but she very excitedly told me he had been born in his dads car!  Nigel pulled up to the ambulance bay and asked for help. They were just about to get a wheelchair but then realised there was no time, so the ambulance man delivered him there and then, in a howling gale and torrential rain. Mum phoned me as they were helping then inside after the delivery.

Congratulations to all concerned. I can't wait to see Wendy and Teresa when they are told their little brother arrived in the night!

God bless them, every one!

An actual letter - supposedly. Anyway, its funny.

This, apparently is an actual letter received by the UK Passport Office.

Dear Sirs,


I'm in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe this.. How is it that Sky Television has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a bleeding satellite dish from them back in 1977, and yet, the Government is still asking me where I was bloody born and on what date.

For Christ sakes, do you guys do this by hand? My birth date you have on my pension book, and it is on all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 30 years. It is on my National Health card, my driving license, my car insurance, on the last eight damn passports I've had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed off the plane over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms.

Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Mary Anne, my father's name is Robert and I'd be absolutely astounded if that ever changed between now and when I die!!!!!!

I apologise, I'm really pissed off this morning. Between you and me, I've had enough of this bullshit! You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my bloody address!!!!

What is going on? Do you have a gang of neanderthal arseholes workin' there? Look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I don't want to dig up Yasser Arafat, for gods sake. I just want to go and park my arse on some sandy beach somewhere. And would someone please tell me, why would you give a shit whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days? If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, you'd be the last bloody people I'd want to tell !!

Well, I have to go now, because I have to go to the other end of the poxy city to get yet another copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of £30. Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day?? Nooooooooooooo, that'd be too damn easy and maybe make sense. You'd rather have us running all over the bloody place like chickens with our heads cut off, then have to find some arsehole to confirm that it's really me on the damn picture - you know, the one where we're not allowed to smile?! (bureaucratic  morons) Hey, do you know why we couldn't smile if we wanted to? Because we're totally pissed off!

Signed

An Irate Subject


P.S. Remember what I said above about the picture and getting someone to confirm that it's me? Well, my family has been in this country since 1776 ............ I have served in the military for something over 30 years and have had full security clearances over 25 of those years enabling me to undertake highly secretive missions all over the world. ......... However, I have to get someone 'important' to verify who I am - you know, someone like my doctor - WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN SODDING PAKISTAN !

Sincerely,