Into The Unknown With Parkinson's

Hello Friends!

It's been a while since I've been on Blogger.  I have decided to change tack and write about my Parkinson's journey {don't like using the word "journey" but it'll do for now} although it's more of a voyage into the unknown, like the Spanish Conquistadors and Christopher Columbus and all the other explorers who sallied forth into the great unknown.  Only they had a choice, I don't.

So, what is Parkinson's?  First things first. You may know it as Parkinson's Disease, but there is a move now to drop the word disease which gives the impression that it is contagious. It is not contagious, and it is now being known simply as Parkinson's.

Parkinson's is one of the fastest growing neurological conditions.  In the UK alone there are approximately 145,000 people diagnosed with this condition {around 83,000 men and 60,000 women between the ages of 50 to 89} and it is calculated that by the year 2050 there will be over 25 million cases worldwide.  It is more common amongst men than in women. It is progressive and debilitating, it robs you of being able to do the simplest of tasks, and there is no known cure, and it remains one of the most underfunded and under researched of medical conditions.  Try to imagine what it is like for your brain to be telling you to pick up that book but your arm and hand just will not comply and you hover above the book unable to grasp it.  Or when you are walking along, something that is automatic but all of a sudden your feet are rooted to the ground, your torso maintains momentum and over you go on your face.

It sneaks up on you and awareness of changes in your own body and discussing them with your GP it's about the only way of obtaining a diagnosis. There is no definitive test for Parkinson's, yet there are about forty different indications that can manifest years before the condition is suspected, never mind diagnosed.  Little things we might blow off as something else.

This is my story.

As many of you know I was a caregiver for my mother for several years. During this time, in 2015 I developed a frozen shoulder in my left arm. It was unexplained, I had no idea what was causing it, but because I was caring for my mother, I pushed my own medical needs aside to continue caring for her. Time passed and there was no ease to the frozen shoulder, but I pushed through the pain and mobility issues because I had to. Sometime in 2016 my left wrist started to hurt, and at that point I started to think perhaps I had a trapped nerve, or possibly arthritis. The pain was intermittent and became more of a minor inconvenience that I tolerated and ignored. Had I known that these two things were early symptoms of the onset of Parkinson's I would have probably gone to the doctor far earlier than I did. In 2017 the frozen shoulder finally started to ease but then I notice my little finger started twitching from time to time. Over the coming months the twitching started to spread until it was my whole hand from my wrist down. People were starting to notice, but still I refused to go to my doctor. My mother's condition deteriorated she went into hospital in early 2018 and from there she went into a care home. I was travelling for about eight hours a day, back and forth to visit and as a result didn't even give my tremors a second thought. She passed away in the autumn of that year and I focused on trying to rebuild my life by going back to work trying to pick up where I had left off 12 years earlier.  I had noticed I was getting slower, but I put that down to being older and less fit than I had been, and to my body's reaction to the cumulative stress of fourteen years of being a caregiver. I was incredibly tired and often found myself having to push hard to get through the day. It was winter and our bodies react differently, and I kept telling myself I'd get back on track properly after a winter of hibernation and self-care, then come the spring I would be able to start walking on a regular basis, regaining my former fitness. Of course, the next thing to happen before I had a chance to even think about putting myself back on track was the pandemic. We all know what that did for so many of us, no need to explain further that it knocked my intended recovery for six.  Of course, I know now there will be no recovery for it is incurable and progressive.

I muddled on, there was no improvement to my tremor but it wasn't getting any worse and I genuinely started to believe that it would heal itself eventually because nerve damage can take a while and there was no need to bother the doctor with something that would heal itself in the middle of the pandemic when appointments were conducted over the phone. However, in the summer of 2021, I noticed a tremor in my left leg. That was when I realised there was probably something that would require medical attention happening and I went to visit my GP. Everything was still very much about wearing your masks and keeping your distance, so off I went only to be told that he was very concerned and there was a high likelihood that I had Parkinson's.  He was thorough examining me and in questioning as any GP could do without being specifically qualified in neurological conditions. It seemed that so many things over the past four years or so were indicators. Sudden onset of an unexplained frozen shoulder being one of the major early indicators, even before tremors started to develop. The slowing down of movement and the increased tiredness, again both indicators. So I had evidence of four indicators and ignored them all through self-diagnosing. He sent a referral off to the local hospital and by the end of September I had been seen and officially diagnosed.

Since then, it's been like a roller coaster.  I will talk about my experiences over the coming weeks.  It won't be all about Parkinson's, there will be other stuff, but if you don't want to hang around, fair enough.  Thank you for being here this far.

In the meantime, please consider signing this petition to get better recognition, support and funding for research into this heinous condition.

Increase funding for people with Parkinson’s and implement the "Parky Charter" - Petitions

Until next time

Debbie xx

An Update

Hello Friends!

The situation has been a bit rough here lately and I've been on an extended social media break. Thank you to those of you who have noticed me by my absence, and especially those of you who have been in touch checking in on me. I am still here, but changes in my medication mean I'm not up to scratch at the moment.

I hope to be back reading your blogs and writing my own soon again. In the meantime, I don't know why I had this thought this morning, but it seems rather appropriate after seeing the news.

"Thinking if I was one of the astronauts stuck on the ISS looking down I'd just ask them to send up more food, toilet paper, and 6 new pairs of M&S knickers and say I'm staying up here."

Until next time

Debbie xx

Let Yourself Be Drawn . . .

Hello Friends

I came across this quote, one of many of the wise words of the great Persian poet, mystic, theologian and scholar, Rumi. 

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you truly love. It will not lead you astray.”

The love that pulls me is creativity.  I have passed through a crossroads.  I am now being silently drawn by the pull of a different aspect of that love.

I think I was born creative because by the time I was four years old I was already learning basic embroidery, knitting, and baking.  I would create in the evening as we sat around the fireside before bedtime, and I would come down in the morning to discover, to my delight, that the fairies had come in the night and put right my mistakes, picked up the dropped stitches and left little notes of encouragement! 

I used to help my Nanna in the garden, growing and creating new spaces and plants.  In turn, this creativity became growing food and creating delicious and nutritious meals to feed the family.

Now , not through choice, I'm turning away from the creative side of gardening and returning to the creative skills of my younger days.  

These days my creativity is keeping me sane in the madness of the world that spins in a web of deceit, lies, and tragedies of all kinds.  If I did not find solace in my creativity I don't know what would happen.

My latest foray into creativity is dabbling in junk journalling.  I'm not one hundred percent certain in the definition of junk journalling, it seems to be different things to different people, but here's what I'm getting up to with mine.  I started off with a blank spiral bound journal and now I'm basically decorating each page with ephemera, papers, fabric, stamps, images and more. You'll get the drift as the blogs go by.  Here is the cover.

First I did a mock up and took a photo when I was happy with the placements

then, once happy with the arrangement I glued it all in place

I used a mop up paper, ephemera including recycled Susan Branch calendars and some of a prize I won in a YouTube giveaway on Handmade by Shirley, stamps and die cuts.

I have already completed several pages which I will share in the coming days.  I think my blogs will be shorter from now on as I am getting very tired very quickly and must adjust accordingly.  Thank you for your support and understanding.

Until next time

Debbie xx

Hunkering Down Again

Hello Friends!

Well, here we go again, less than 36 hours after we see the tail end of Storm Eowyn, here comes Storm Herminia {named by the Spanish weather forecasters} I am sitting in my living room, in the silence that is broken by the wind that is already howling about the corners of my cottage.

No rest for us in the coming week, this is today's forecast and although the wind speed is considerably lighter it is still damaging and will be like this most of the time between now and Thursday.

Any time we see the black circles we know we're up for another blow.  Time for a hot drink  . . . 

. . . ahh, that's better.  A mug of freshly brewed, hot tea, the panacea to all that ails . . . 

I use social media. I enjoy it, but I have to admit my days on various platforms are now probably numbered because of AI.

In recent weeks I have encountered numerous problems on different platforms. The first time anything started showing up was on Instagram. Every time I logged into my account, I would get a pop up saying that suspicious activity was detected on my account. There was no suspicious activity. It was me. I have two separate accounts and from time to time I log out of one and into the other. Then I switch back. Unfortunately, if I do this too frequently, Instagram logs it as suspicious activity. This has also happened to a few of my friends, several of whom have lost their Instagram accounts. Some have been fortunate and able to reclaim them. Others not so.

One day I was on Facebook, and all of a sudden up pops a message informing me that my latest post has been deleted because it is obvious that it is written by a spam bot.  SPAMBOT!!!! Moi?!  Trust me, the irony of being told by AI that it has identified me as a spambot was not lost on me.  This went on for weeks with me sending screaming messages to FB but in reality I was wasting my time as there was only an AI on the other end not a real person.  Eventually, it let up, until . . . .

 . . . last week on the site I share photos to for publication in the local paper suddenly refused to share my submissions on the FB page.   I contacted the page admins immediately and they didn't even know I had submitted anything much less had it declined!  FB and AI were making the decision for them.  I am getting too old for this malarkey.

Mind, I've not had anything picked for weeks now.  Not that it matters, au contraries, but all the photos being selected now {there's a new person in charge} are heavily post edited, something I am not into doing on my photos.  I don't object to removing blemishes or telegraph poles but do draw the line at changing colours, for example.

Well, that's it for now. I've just discovered I haven't got water. I guess I'd better phone Dwr Cymru to see what they have to say.  We've been having a lot of time where there's been low water pressure recently, but it isn't often we are without water completely as we are now.

until next time, stay safe.

Debbie.

Dydd Santes Dwynwen Hapus

Hello Friends!

Dydd Santes Dwynwen Hapus

Today is Dydd Santes Dwynwen which is celebrated annually in Wales on January 25th.  Her story, drawn from the mists of time that veil myth and folklore, is often equated as a Welsh Valentine’s Day.

Dwynwen was a 5th century Welsh noblewoman, the fairest and most beautiful of all the twenty four daughters of King Brychan Brycheiniog. She fell in love with a prince named Maelon Dafodrill and he with her. They wished to marry, but her father doubted Maelon's integrity and, despite the heartfelt pleadings of both Dwynwen and Maelon, he forbade them to marry. Unable to disobey her father, and distraught by his disapproval, Dwynwen ran away into the forest and prayed to God for divine guidance to help her fall out of love with Maelon. She fell asleep on the forest floor and while asleep she was visited by an angel who gave her a potion to erase all memory of Maelon and to turn him into a block of ice. The angel then granted her three wishes.

For her first wish, Dwynwen asked that Maelon be thawed and life restored to him.

Her second wish was that God meet the hopes and dreams of all true lovers.

Her third wish was that she would never, herself, marry.

The three wishes were fulfilled and thereafter Dwynwen devoted the rest of her life to the service of God.

With her father's blessing, she left the court of Brycheiniog, and taking her elder brother Dyfnan and her sister Cain, crossed the sea in a small boat and eventually landed on a small island just off the coast of Anglesey. Here Dwynwen build a small cell of mud and wood, and over the years that followed many young women joined her and so founded a convent.

On the island is a sacred well {as so often happens in the ancient Welsh folk tales} sometimes depicted as a cauldron, and therein swims a sacred fish with the ability to predict the fortunes of couples. Another tradition says that if the water boils while you are present then good luck in love will follow.

At the end of a long life of devotion to God, Dwynwen lay on her bed and prayed for one last glimpse of the sea that had carried her to the island. Legend says that a large boulder blocking her view split asunder and she once more looked out on the ocean that had carried her here.

After her death, aged 80, in 465 A.D. the church became a place of pilgrimage. Dwynwen's belongings were placed in a chest known as Cyff Dwynwen and pilgrims would bring a white pebble and place it on the chest in memory of Dwynwen.  Later, money was donated and nearly one thousand years after her death it was used to build a small stone church on the site and was called Llanddwyn, or Church of Dwynwen, the ruins of which can still be seen today.

Dwynwen became the Welsh patron saint of lovers and, according to some, friendship. The most famous quote attributed to her is “nothing wins hearts like cheerfulness”. Over time she became  associated with healing of sick animals, a purpose for which she is still invoked today. 

Unlike St Valentine, there are no traditional ways to celebrate her day, but of late the commercial practice of card giving seems to be increasing in popularity, if only in Wales.  We do not have the hype and hoopla of Valentines Day on Dydd Santes Dwynwen, just a quiet and personal observance of a little known Welsh woman and I think that is a fitting way to celebrate her life.   However, we do have one other unique tradition to do with love and marriage and that is the Love Spoon.

The Welsh Love Spoon is the traditional symbol of engagement or betrothal was given by the young man to his future wife.  It is hand carved by the young man from a solid block of wood and is full of symbolism to his commitment.  For example:

A Bell: togetherness in harmony, marriage

A Ball in a Cage {difficult to carve from solid wood}: each ball represents the number of children he hopes to have

A Chain {difficult to carve from solid wood} the number of links relate to the number of children hoped for, or a symbol of togetherness

Cross: Faith in Christ or God

Heart: Love

Diamond: Wealth and Good Fortune

I hope you have remained safe during Storm Eowyn, who viscously unleashed her wrath across most of the British Isles yesterday, wrecking havoc and leaving mayhem in her wake.

Until next time

Debbie 

{pronounced Dwee~n~wen or Dweenwen}

Hen Galan and the Mari Llwyd

Hello Friends!

I am putting this up a day early to give you a chance to read it before tomorrow.

It seems that Pembrokeshire is becoming quite the place to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. According to Tripadvisor, St David's is one of the best places in the whole of the United Kingdom for Father Christmas to come and visit for we have some of the best proper working chimneys in the country, which means Father Christmas doesn't encounter problems over access as he does his parcel dropping rounds on Christmas Eve.

Several places in Pembrokeshire host New Year's Day charity swims, which attract many people to don their peculiar fancy dress swimming costumes and take a quick dip in the chilly sea to raise funds for different charities. Two particularly famous ones now are held in Saundersfoot and Tenby, with lots of smaller ones dotted around the coastline.

Fishguard is in the top 20 places in the United Kingdom to celebrate New Year's Eve with their mahoosive street party on the square.

And the celebrations don't stop until the middle of January when one small village celebrates Welsh New Year's Day, or as it is known, Hen Galan, on the thirteenth day of January.

Cwm Gwaun is a beautiful, picturesque, small valley to the east of Fishguard in north Pembrokeshire and they celebrate New Year's Day on January 13th, two weeks after everyone else.  They aren't two weeks late, they just celebrate on the old Julian calendar which was abolished in 1752 when it was replaced by the Gregorian calendar {still in use today}.  However, the people of Cwm Gwaun resisted the change which is why to this day the children of Cwm Gwaun get the day off school to go from door to door singing in exchange for sweets and money.

A traditional verse such as this is sung at each door:

Blwyddyn Newydd dda i chi / A happy new year to you

Ac i bawb sydd yn y tŷ / And to everyone in the house

Dyma fy nymuniad i / This is my wish

Blwyddyn Newydd dda i chi / A happy new year to you

Another seasonal tradition which occurs between Christmas and Twelfth Night is the Mari Llwyd or Grey Mare. A horse's skull on a pole is decorated with greenery and ribbons, and paraded around the village, this time by adults, going in and out of houses, accompanied by singers or wassailers who traditionally exchange "pwnco" or rude rhymes with the residents. If successful entry is gained, the household is guaranteed to have good luck in the coming year.

You can read a lot more about the history and possible origins of the Mari Llwyd HERE

Until next time
Debbie

photos from the archive of the National Museum of Wales 

Best Comedy Award . . . Goes To . . .

SPOILER ALERT!!!

MAY CONTAIN A SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN GAVIN AND STACEY THE FINALE

Hello Friends!

We all love a good giggle, and in my opinion this is one of the best . . . from the Gavin and Stacey The Finale Christmas 2024 . . . 

Best Comedy Moment Ever {since Del Boy fell through the bar at the Nag's Head} . . .
         . . . when two random extras also unexpectedly stand up . . .

Apparently, these two ladies, guests on the Bride's side, are extras who are huge Gavin and Stacey fans, opposed to the wedding in reality, and so they stood up, unscripted, when the celebrant suggested anyone who thought the marriage was a bad idea should stand up.  It was so unexpected and so funny that the producers decided to leave it in.

Until next time

Debbie xx

The Shipping Forecast Part Two

Hello Friends!

I hope you are keeping warm as our temperatures plummet.  I have made the executive decision to dip into my savings in order to supplement paying my heating bill when it comes in, for I cannot be cold.  I shall worry about it later, but for now the thermostat is up and the living room also has an oil filled radiator in use and a plug in heated blanket over me!

After I shared about the Shipping Forecast in my last blog entry, I came across this.  So for your jollification and amusement, here is the alternative Shipping Forecast read by 

Brian Perkins

Enjoy!

Until next time

Debbie

The Shipping Forecast

Hello Friends!

THE SHIPPING FORECAST

The Shipping Forecast .  Always there, ever since my childhood days, steadfast and reliable. This year, it celebrates its 100th birthday.  100 years of being there for those in peril on the sea and hopefully guiding them into safer, calmer waters when maritime weather turns bad.

Although I don't think of it this way, I do actually live on an island. I am an islander. for no one can deny that the United Kingdom is completely surrounded by water and therefore by definition is an island. And when you live on an island, your life is very often governed by the sea. Certainly more so in days gone by than it is today when the sea was a main way of transporting goods and travelling.. As the crow flies my cottage is about half a mile at the nearest point from the sea. I can see the sea from my garden. Although a carpenter by trade my father always owned a small boat and we ate a constant diet of fresh fish and shellfish.  Nothing better than fish freshly caught!. And in later years, he came off the tools and went into boating full time when we ran a successful day trip boating business during the tourist season. During the winter he fished, .and for anyone who plies the waters, the shipping forecast is required listening.

The music of the Shipping Forecast is instantly recognisable. It will be the last music I hear as I leave this mortal coil.

Music Maestro please!

Contrary to popular belief, it is not a singularly British thing!  You can read more about the British Shipping Forecast HERE but there are shipping forecasts and regions across the globe. You might even have one where you live so please. share in the comments.

Met Office Map this link will show you the British map.

The distant headland on the right side of this phot. is the point where sea areas Lundy and Irish Sea meet. It is St David's Head. Oftentimes I have bobbed about off St David's Head in our boat with one foot in the Irish Sea and the other foot in Lundy.  Many a delicious supper caught there.  Fresh line caught mackerel. From sea to plate in under two hours.  filleted and dusted in seasoned flour. Pan fried. Wedge of lemon. Slice of brown bread and butter. Food for the gods.

The following link may not be available in your area. However, do click on it and see if it is. Because on January the first, BBC Radio 4. Did a day long special interspersed with lots of information on the shipping forecast. Well worth a listen to.  BBC Radio 4.  Radio 4 is a very good station to listen to during the day.

I hope this nasty cold snap isn't affecting you too badly. It's a bit of a struggle to keep warm. I think that's for most of us. I don't think it is snowed here for at 6:00 AM when I did stick my nose out, there wasn't any sign of anything. It's just blinking cold. I'm afraid I've got my heating on all day now and night with Parkinson's I can't afford to let myself get cold.  I'm cwtched up in my chair under a quilt and a blanket. And I've got the oil filled radiator on next to me.

Until next time.

Stay safe and stay warm.

Debbie. xx

Great Start..{updated}

Hello Friends!

A while back, I discovered that there is a voice activated typing system on the laptop.  I find this very useful, although it isn't perfect. If I don't use it for anything else, it helps me keep my blog going and I can use it for my emails. I was just getting really into the swing of using it when one day I came online and it didn't work. It was really annoying as these days I'm getting bad cramps in my hands so being able to type voice activated is very useful indeed and imagine the frustration at not being able to use the voice activated typing. Well, the other day, I'd had enough of it, so I started to fiddle around in the settings. Lo and behold. I have fixed it.  I don't know how, but it's fixed and I'm happy.

Well, two days into the new year. And we're already off to a good start with the local council. We have three different collection rotations for our household waste and recycling. We have multiple skips and bags that go out weekly for all the things that can be recycled, such as glass, paper, cardboard, tin, etc.  Food waste also goes weekly but other compostable wastes such as garden waste goes out once a fortnight.  Then every three weeks, we get to put out up to three black bags of what is termed residual waste. Household waste that doesn't fit into any of the recycling skips.

The one thing you don't want to do is miss one of the three weekly black bin bag collections. We are allowed one bag of rubbish per house per week and if you missed a three weekly collection. You aren't allowed to put out six on the following collection week. Therefore, it is important to keep on top of what is going on. I used to get text message reminders, but as our Council is hugely in the red, they have. discontinued this service. So last year I started putting colour coded dots on my calendar in my journal. Green for regular recycling. brown for garden waste, and a black dot every three weeks for the black bag. It worked well. I didn't miss a single collection..

Over Christmas and new year. If your weekly collection falls on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year's Day, then your schedule is altered because the council don't work on those days. Fair enough. We get an amended schedule. 

One of the jobs I do over New Year's is to transfer all relevant information. from last year's diary into this year's diary. It was time to fill in the multi coloured dots for the refuse collection. I went onto the local council website. I found the collection calendar. Straight away, I noticed that the. first black bin bag collection, which is due to go on Thursday, the 9th of January is scheduled for Tuesday, the 14th of January. It didn't take me long to work out that the council have put our collection schedule for everything for the entire year. down for Tuesdays instead of Thursdays.

This calendar will have already been printed. thousands of copies to be distributed .What a waste of money and paper. Our services are being cut left, right and centre because the council hasn't got enough money and then they go and make a mistake like this.

This is not how I'd planned to start the New Year blogging with a moan, but it really annoys me when we aren't getting the services that we used to get and then they go and make mistakes like this. I shall be calling them as soon as they open at 9:00 o'clock. I will come back and put an update on what they say.

Until next time.

Debbie.

The council switchboard. Seemed completely nonplussed. To paraphrase what I was told, it must be a technical error, we'll pass it on to the IT Department. 

Fair enough, but who's going to clean up the mess when all the bags are going out on the wrong day?

New Year's Eve

Hello, friends

Today is the last day of 2024. Thank you to everyone who has followed me in the last few months. A special thank you to those of you who have regularly read my blog and left a comment on my wittering. 

I don't know how we got to the end of the year so quickly. I think many of us feel the same. The past 12 months seem to have been accelerated away from us. It is a shame that so many of the outdoor events across the entire country have had to be cancelled because of the storm that is quickly approaching our shores. Our local New Year's Day swim for charity has also been cancelled.  I guess we have to blow the cobwebs of the old year away somehow.

I hope our paths will cross again in 2025. For now, all that remains is for me to say I wish for you all 

A Happy, Healthy New Year 2025.

Advent and Christmas Eve

Hello Friends!

A gentle reminder today that not everyone is merry and bright at this time of the year and that some of us are struggling just to get through each day while those around us, wrapped up in the holly jolly spirit of the season go about their days blissfully unaware of the pain that lies within the hearts of so many. So, be kind to everyone, for you don't know their story.

Everything is as ready as it's going to be now. Shopping is done and in the fridge and freezer. I have already eaten the box of Milk Tray. I did not enjoy it. Either my tastes have changed or they've made a tweak too far. Radio Times has been checked and viewing list made. Presents are exchanged. Cards written but not posted. I will spend the afternoon on the phone.

Wishing you all a Peaceful and Happy Christmas!

Nadolig Llawen i chi gyd.

Until next time

Advent Four Day Catch up

Hello Friends!

I have to play catch up today, I've been feeling low, my tremors are bad, and I haven't felt like doing anything.  

The winds are howling again and it hailed in the night. The strength and direction could not be worse for my midday Tesco Christmas delivery.  Still it is what it is and can't be helped, I am grateful for the convenience of delivery.

The Curse of the Tesco Substitute Strikes Again . . . you have to laugh!

I'm getting as much as I can pre made for my Christmas Dinner.  So I ordered Tesco's Finest Bread Sauce.  It's out of stock. So, I'm being sent Turkey Gravy instead.  Where do they come up with these inappropriate substitution suggestions? 

Until next time . . .

Advent Day Eighteen

Hello Friends!

A classic television series from the late 1970s was called The Good Life.  It was good fun and hilarious viewing as Tom and Barbara Good gave up their affluent lifestyle to become self sufficient, much to the chagrin of their friends and neighbours Margot and Jerry Leadbetter.  It seems imbued in our comedy and television viewing history and yet there were only ever thirty episodes.

One of those episodes that sticks in my memory was when Margot Leadbetter, played by Penelope Keith, in a very upper middle class way declares that "Christmas comes in a box!" in as much as everything you need for Christmas from the tree and baubles to gifts to the Christmas feast comes delivered and you don't have to do a thing.  Well, this year, my Christmas lunch is coming in a box.  I no longer enjoy cooking and more often than not cannot be bothered to cook so I'm treating myself to Christmas dinner from COOK and hopefully tomorrow it will be delivered and ensconced in my freezer ready to just heat and eat on Christmas Day.  Long gone are the days when I would have a house full of company from Christmas Eve until New Year's Day!

Here's what's on order     

Roasted Vegetable Lasagne (Serves 4)
Roast Potatoes (Serves 4)
Portobello Mushroom Wellington (Serves 2)
Winter Vegetable Gravy (Serves 2)
Carrots with Orange & Thyme (Serves 2)
Shredded Brussels Sprouts & Buttered Leeks (Serves 2)
Maple & Thyme Roast Parsnips (Serves 2)
Nut Loaf (Serves 2)
Cranberry Sauce with Port & Orange (300g)

The lasagne is not for Christmas but it is most excellent so it's a treat.  It is the closest bought one that I have come across to match my own homemade lasagne which used to take two days to cook.  I will have four main meals between the Mushroom Wellington and Nut Roast with plenty of delicious vegetables.  A friend is getting me two sides from M&S, their Carrot and Swede Crush and Braised Red Cabbage.  I will be set to have a scrumptious Christmas dinner.  Yes, it is expensive but it is worth it and it's not as if it's an everyday occurrence.  My Christmas pudding and brandy cream are coming from Tesco.  

Now, if you want a good laugh, follow this link and watch the series of Fanny Craddock Cooks For Christmas and prepare to be shocked and incredulous at everything from the pink pussycat bow blouse with "soup strainer" sleeves to the bright green Brandy Butter Christmas tree.  It's required viewing every year for me!  Don't forget, it's all in The Booklet!  Does anyone still have a copy?

Until tomorrow . . . 

Advent Day Seventeen

Hello Friends!

One thing that is synonymous with this time of year is seasonal music.  There are essentially two types of seasonal music and both dominate their own genre at this time of year more than any other music throughout the year.  I'm talking secular and ecclesiastic.  Christmas songs and Christmas carols.  Something that sets me off is Christmas carols being referred to as Christmas songs.  Do you hear this pedant's teeth gritting?  Here's my definitions of the two:

Christmas and Advent Carols are religious hymns.  Simple as.  These days carols are all generally called Christmas carols, but technically they are divided in two:  Advent carols and Christmas carols.  As with most hymns through the year, Advent are less well known outside of a church setting, whereas Christmas carols are very well known and are often heard being sung on street corners or being whistled and hummed down the High Street.  Which is, of course, how they become called songs. which they are not.

Advent carols herald the coming of Christ, in anticipation of his birth, the most notable example and a particular favourite of mine is O Come, O Come Emanuel.  This particular recording by Enya is haunting in it's beauty

O Come O Come Emanuel

Christmas carols, on the other hand, are sung in church from Christmas and and include all the well known and favourite melodies and words.  There are so many, but a handful of the familiar and most popular include Away in a Manger, Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, While Shepherds Watched, O Little Town of Bethlehem, The First Noel and many, many more.  My particular favourite is the processional carol Once in Royal David's City, sung here at the world famous Carols from Kings.

Once in Royal David's City

Listening on the radio, or watching this very special service is rooted in my Christmas traditions as it is with many.

So, those are Christmas CAROLS, not songs!

Christmas SONGS are the secular melodies and lyrics that have nothing to do with the religious side of Christmas but essentially everything else from presents to Father Christmas, from snowmen and sleigh rides, from reindeer to festivities and beyond. Every pop star and personality seems to release a song for Christmas in the hopes of attaining the much coveted Number One spot on the music charts on Christmas Day.  Probably the most famous Christmas song that did not make the Number One spot is 

Wham's Last Christmas 

which lost out to Bob Geldof's Band Aid charity fundraiser

Do They Know It's Christmas

and not being bitter over the ousting, the incredibly generous George Michael gave all the royalties from Wham's Last Christmas sales to the charity Band Aid.  A very magnanimous and generous gesture indeed.  

This year, it is once again in contention for the Number One spot and, if it achieves it, it will enter the Guinness Book of World Records as the song that took the longest time from its release to become the Christmas Number One and will be 39 years.  Let's hope they make it!

I have two personal favourites

Driving Home for Christmas by Chris Rea

and

Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt 

I'll leave you with this, one of the wonders of modern technology, and it will be someone's favourite

The Little Drummer Boy by Bing Crosby and David Bowie

Alexa, play Christmas music

Until next time . . . 

Advent Day Sixteen

Hello Friends!

The night is slowly aging but the dawn of a new day is still hours away.  The darkness swirls around the village, like the sludgy dregs of coffee in my mug. When the light finally pierces through it will still be dull and depressingly dark for most of the day.  The big light is often on when it should not be.  It is cold, I should be asleep but, once again, insomnia keeps me company.  This is becoming the normal pattern for me now, and I will sleep later in the day, only to be disturbed by the ringing of the phone or the calling of a courier.

The radio is on for company and once more, people go on about the Government taking away the Winter Fuel Payment from all but the most vulnerable and the impending repercussions of this cruel decision.  It was sudden and swiftly done, State Pensioners had no time to prepare, and the cost of fuel continues to soar.  It puts a dent in the budget of most of us and will affect the health of many in the coming months as people must choose between food or fuel.  Heat or Eat as it is now known.

The news is full of misery, sorrow, disaster, wars, natural disasters, an endless stream of bad news, negative energy, not what we need to be talking about or thinking about as we slip into the darkest time of year.  I scroll the news, these days I believe it is called "doomscrolling".  I actively decide to stop.  I don't need this.  Just as I lift my finger from the mouse to stop and just as I do I see that a new category of news stories rolls onto my screen.  Uplifting Stories.  Now that's more like it!  A collection of news that warms the spirits, makes us smile, brings us joy.  Stories such as a 16 foot knitted Christmas Tree to tackle loneliness, or the podcast story of a Scout Hut saved by the kindness of strangers, or the wedding saved by an hotel manager when the original plans were destroyed by Storm Darragh.  We need more like this in our news feed. We need change for the better and it is up to us to be that change.

This is Advent.  A four week period of time when Christians across the world prepare for the arrival of a new baby who will bring change.  Advent is a noun which means the beginning of an event, the invention of something, or the arrival of a person.  In a few days Advent will be over, Christmas will be here and then it will be New Year.  The time of arrival of the resolutions to be a better person, of new beginnings and fresh starts.  Within days, it becomes a time of epic failure for many as resolutions are broken. For that very reason I do not make resolutions, they set you up for failure by the very name Resolutions.  Maybe intentions is better, less cut in stone and easier to begin again with purpose.  They say it takes 30 days to break a habit so if you are making changes don't be hard on yourself if you don't get it right first time.  Don't word them setting yourself up for failure, set them up for success.  Now I'm not even sure if I am making sense, I hope you understand my rambling and cut me some slack for after all it is barely 3:30 a.m. and I am awake when I should be asleep.

There's music on the radio now, I think I'll ask the disembodied voice {Alexa} to play my Christmas playlist, and I'll be talking Christmas music tomorrow.

Until then . . .