Well Hello! Remember me? Thought I should pop in and make some sort of effort to update this blog and bring you up to date with what me and my MS have been up to.
On the job front? Nothing at all. Still haven't heard back from the second Practice I wrote to, and I enclosed a SAE for a reply - how rude is that. Am currently toying with the idea of contacting the local Branch of the British Red Cross, OK so its only voluntary but I spent many years as a First Aider with the organization before I developed MS and they may have something that will enable me to use my Nursing skills and knowledge. If they can't help then maybe I will have to go to the opposition - St John Ambulance, but having been loyal to the Red Cross since the age of 14 it doesn't seem right to desert them now. Will keep you posted on progress.
Not really sure that I have got time to work at the moment. It is the busiest time of the year on the Island and we are overrun by Grockles (holidaymakers) from both abroad and the North Island (mainland). There is so much to do here in the summer and it seems not a day goes by without a carnival somewhere or other on the Island. Our chalet is now booked out until September and the holidaymakers are having some lovely weather during their stays.
Regular readers will know I regularly walk along the seafront of Sandown Bay, and I have often been jealous of the youngsters playing in the sea in those large inflatable rings. We have no children and thus no excuse to play on the beach in such a way, but despite my resemblance to a large waddling whale I though that this was unfair. I brought one of those rings and last week I took the giant step of going to the beach on my own and went in the sea with it. It was wonderful, the sea taking my weight and I was just floating with the current and watching the families playing on the sands from another angle. I spent twenty minutes out on the water and truly enjoyed it. The sun was hot and I am very fair skinned so I returned to shore and drove home. Amazingly no-one died and no children ran off screaming at the sight of this giant rotund florally costumed being emerging from the sea encased in a fluorescent blue inflatable ring. Yes I will do it again - soon.
Saturday and Sunday were the annual Garlic Festival on the Island. A wealth of local dishes made with garlic from the garlic farm are available, including, believe it or not, beer and ice-cream! I like the ice-cream but not liking beer at the best of times left that one to my beloved other half. Of course if swine flu tries to get a hold on the Island it has now turned on its heels and run off in fear, if garlic cures colds and flu we should now be entirely immune! It was actually cheese and cider were my favourites as we sat watching the displays in the arena - falconry, some dogs, a strong man and a trapeze troupe. It was a wonderful weekend - a stage was erected and a number of groups and artistes performed including local Island group "Loser Token" (not our cup of tea) our very own reggae singer Derek Sandy and on Sunday there was Dr and the Medics followed (eventually, due to technical problems) by.... the Wurzels. We saw a couple of tracks by the Wurzels but having been there several hours in hot sunlight and standing around waiting for them to start had made my back ache badly, we unfortunately missed their biggest hits "I am a cider drinker" and "I've got a brand new combine harvester..." Any non UK readers now think we are all totally bonkers here in the UK! One of the main attractions of the weekend was Titan the robot (almost certain he had a man inside) this was incredible. He was funny and a little scary. I have just spent an hour trying to upload some robot video to Youtube without success, so now really annoyed Grrrrrr. Will try again tomorrow when calmer and less likely to murder of a video camera and laptop.
Today, well today I actually got my hubby to take a day away from all his many DIY jobs to have a day at sea. Yes, hooray, we got the dinghy out of the garage for the first time since we moved here. It needed patching in a few places and we brought a couple of new car batteries yesterday to run the outboard but we did it. He still wouldn't wear his shorts but at least we got out onto the water. We cruised almost the full length of Sandown Bay, OK it was slow but nothing wrong with that and there were no emissions as we used an ultra quiet electric outboard. I think people were a little worried to see what looked like a large inflatable sailing so far out, in fact at one point the rescue helicopter seemed to hover overhead, believing I suppose, that we were in trouble. I suppose because they couldn't see any obvious wash from an engine they thought we were drifting. That's the joy of an electric engine - scarcely any noise. The jet ski riders also looked at us rather oddly, perhaps jealous of our quiet and slow progress (although frankly I doubt it!) It was lovely to see the thousands of people on the beach from such a quiet viewpoint - except of course for the jet ski's and helicopter. We were out for about 2 and a half hours and had to connect to the second battery just after turning back - the sea obviously needs more propulsion than the quiet rivers of the fens that the dinghy was previously used for.
Healthwise - my MS seems quite stable but I am suffering quite a lot of dizzy spells, I suspect it is a drop in blood pressure as it is usually when I stand up from sitting of bending. This is a bit of a nuisance as recent news seems to indicate the use of the blood pressure tablet Lisinopril as being a possible treatment for MS. If my BP is low (which is good!) I'm a bit worried I shall faint if I take a medication that will lower it further. Watch this space. Like an idiot I forgot how bad it feels to suffer sun burn. The sun on the Island has been very strong, and after my inflatable ring float day, two days at the Garlic Festival and a day at sea, my redness and burning is now itching furiously. I used sun protection factor 20 today and wore a hat, but I think the sunburn from Sunday was too severe to respond to the thick layers of aftersun and aloe vera and is on the verge of peeling. Best buy some calamine tomorrow methinks, unless any of you have any better ideas?
Enough for now, take lots of care. -x-
