General Chat

Hi all, My 1mg prednisolone (I use both 5mgs &1mg tablets)is a tiny white pill too.... and a night mare for dropping around. But I have long nails which are handy for picking things up. ;-0)
Allan has an even smaller tablet which he has to halve..., and the size of his hands , it is very difficult for him.
We are lucky to have all this treatment to hand, but sometimes it is so difficult as we get older, isn't it?

It is absolutely freezing today...that is an unusual thing for me to say, isn't it?
I phoned my sil this morning and she had the fire on... (one electric bar) so I'm not alone in my coldness.

I am supposed to be sending a message through AMAZON and here am I, chatting away with you lot. Well.... why not?
Happy birthday Ann. XX

All of you , look after yourselves and if I get any warmer, I may be back later.

Deanna XXX

Just putting this on, wonder whether the funding will really help those who need it, it's always very hard and expensive to access counselling etc

Re Petition to:
save the UK’s leading anxiety disorders charity, Anxiety UK, at a time when demand for their services is hugely increasing due to the economic crisis.
This petition is now closed, as its deadline has passed.

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to save the UK’s leading anxiety disorders charity, Anxiety UK, at a time when demand for their services is hugely increasing due to the economic crisis. Anxiety UK supports over 30,000 anxiety sufferers every year and has had their Department of Health funding discontinued from April 2009. More details

Submitted by Anna Caig of Anxiety UK – Deadline to sign up by: 18 September 2009 – Signatures: 942

More details from petition creator
Anxiety UK, Britain’s leading anxiety disorders charity, has been given the devastating news that their Department of Health funding has been pulled, despite the fact that the country is facing an anxiety epidemic due to the credit crunch and demand for the charity’s services are going through the roof. Calls to the telephone helpline have doubled in recent months, and emails from anxiety sufferers requesting support are up 400%. The Department of Health funding of £50,000 per year has formed a substantial part of the charity’s core funding for the last 9 years, and this shocking news has thrown the whole financial sustainability of the charity into question.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SaveAnxietyUK/

Government response
In the current economic downturn, the potential exists for more people to become anxious or depressed and experience lower levels of mental well-being. No one should be left in any doubt about where to turn. That is why the Government’s aim is to make sure that services are in place to support people affected psychologically by the recession.

The Department of Health has increased funding to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme to £173million in 2010/11. The total investment between 2008/09 and 2010/11 will be £309million.

This will be used to continue to train a new workforce of 3,600 extra therapists and treat up to 900,000 more people with anxiety and depression over these three years. In March 2009, the former Health Secretary and the former Work and Pensions Secretary also announced an additional one-off £13million package of measures to help people experiencing depression or anxiety as a result of the economic downturn in 2009/10. As a result, the NHS as a whole will be better equipped to recognise these issues and refer people to appropriate treatment or support.

The Third Sector Investment Programme (TSIP) replaced the Section 64 General Scheme of Grants from 2009/10. Under the TSIP, core funding is no longer offered through the scheme, but organisations can apply for development funding to develop capacity and sustainability whilst reducing dependency on Government funding.

Anxiety UK submitted two applications for consideration for the round commencing 1 April 2010. The applications sought funding under the Service Development and Community/User Participation and Peer Support themes. However, in a competitive field, the applications did not meet the criteria as clearly as the successful applications.




If something was working well, why not continue to fund it, not try and fund something new which will take time to be up and running! How many people will slip through the net or be unsupported in the meantime?


Lizx

Deanna, thanks for the natter love, hope I helped you as much as you helped me lol xx

On for the usual whinge.
As you know,getting the old man out is like organizing the coronation.So,he needed to go to the wheelchair service as he has worn out his electric wheelchair and,as his bum no longer resembles a perfectly pert peach so much as a watermelon,his manual chair was too tight.
It was decided to send him home to await the delivery of a brand new wheelchair,RESULT,carrying with him a set of out riggers for the engineer to fit to his manual chair on his next visit.
Having waited ages for him to appear,I called the company as the old electric chair was playing up.He turned up only to find that the outriggers were the wrong ones and could not be made to fit the manual chair.

This in the same week as the old man had been to the hospital for the fitting of a new brace to his right hand,the useless one,to stop it curling up.He had waited quite a long time for this too as it had been ordered especially from America.I had asked if the OT unit might come out to fit it but they don't do home visits.

So,having managed once again to get the planets in alignment,we get him off to the hospital,only to have them open the box and take out a left hand splint!!!!!

Why am I grey haired with gnawed off finger nails?

I just cannot imagine why Sharron.
I know from experience, the problems of our wheelchair services...
Perhaps if there were a few wheelchair users in their midst , they would be more understanding. The only advice I can think of to give is....1) stop chewing your finger nails, and 2)get yourself a hair dye......
Did that help Sharron? ha ha ha


I really enjoyed that chat too Liz, we at least left each other laughing love.
TWO eedjits together.
Tony tried (a few times)to phone me when he go home, but I was engaged.....
You would think we were on for ages the way he tells it!! ;-0)

And, the doctors around here have been charging for a good while now, £40..... a snip at twice the price, especially for the people who may now have lost their jobs.

Hey, I am too cold to be sitting her chatting to you.
Going to put my feet up and read my amazing book.

Look after yourselves everyone.
Deanna
XXXXXX

I know most of you are asleep, but this is a good time for me to drop in.
I haven't dropped off the twig, just been out of circulation with work etc for a couple of weeks.
I am actually well out of Sydney at the moment, with work, in central western New South Wales. Two days drive from Sydney, but only because the boss thought 9 hours was too far to drive in one day so we broke it up. So an easy 4 1/2 hoursa or so each day. The spot is a small spot on the map. About 3 pubs, two motels, one caravan park and one supermarket. A Catholic primary school and a public Central school (primary and secondary combined). More importantly for us, a police station built of brick and asbestos-cement sheeting, which caught fire a couple of months ago. One company is cleaning it up by removing all the asbestos and other debris, and I am the qualified hygienist doing air monitoring for asbestos fibres and will certify the job is complete.
Teresa, I hope you are feeling better now, although it is a bit early yet. One thing to watch however. If your doctor prescribes anti-anxiety drugs, remind him that you are taking the St John's Wort. It interacts with the other drugs.
St John's wort may be natural, but that does not mean it can't hurt you. So are strycnine (?) and arsenic. And asbestos, too. It is a mineral that occurs widely and was mined extensively in this country, Canada, US, South Africa and Europe.

Warm wishes to all the regulars.

Colin

Hi Colin, nice to see you, take care with all that asbestos around, it's nasty old stuff as you know.

Lizxxx

Hello,
I don't come on here much anymore, but this doesn't mean I don't think of many of you, and wish you all peace & happiness with good health thrown in, of course.
Lots going on still. Am on yet another course of extra strong antiboitics, hope they help this time, otherwise it means going into hospital to be put on a drip.
Went to see my favourite and lovely (ex) s.i.l yesterday.We have always been close. Was looking though a lot of old photos, which made me feel nostalgic.She gave me one of the whole family, all 11 (!!!!) children plus mum and dad.Great to have.
Miserable, depressing weather over here.Come back very hot sun, all is forgiven.
Am glad that my g.son and his dad came back from Moscow on saturday, after being there for 3 weeks in that searing heat and smog.Will be seeing them all again in another 10 days or so.
Box is jumping around, should have typed this in Words first.
Keep well and cheerful everyone.
Eileen

Eileen, lovely to see you as usual. I do hope the new antibiotic works for you. What a lovely photo to have.

YCaz, Many thanks for the pretty card which I received today, it is beautifully made, thank you. I think I have had a card every day since about a week before my birthday, talk about spreading it out.

Eileen, I forgot about your Russian twigs in the family tree.
I heard of the dreadful heat in Moscow killing about 700 people and more in one week....Never even thought about you Eileen.
Is everyone okay?

Well.... I am certainly not in danger of heat stroke here!!

I am not staying on too long, only came on to catch up with myself....

Hi Colin.... and everyone else who has not been on much lately.
See you all again later.

Yes Ann, Caz does make lovely cards and the love is in the fact that she is suffering all the time she is making them.
Bless her. I almost cried when I had mine in April.

Good night all, and sleep well.
Love to all,
Deanna XXXXX

Just a quickie, thank you Ann and Deanna for the lovely compliments, I do have trouble with the cards with my hands and having one good eye can't always gauge things right, lol. Ann I sent your birthday card two days before your birthday and the anniversary one a couple of days later, I know it's early but I know you are going away but not when.

Love and hgs
Caz xxx

Caz, we go to our daughters on Friday. then to Jersey on Sunday

Have a lovely time Ann.... and ... am I jealous?
What do you think? ;-P

Deanna XX

Good afternoon everyone,
At last the sun seems to be happy to stay put for the coming days at least.Makes you feel more hopeful, doesn’t it?
Thank you Anna and Deanna for your good wishes etc.
The Moscow visit was awful, but son-in-aw and g.son could leave it after 3 weeks, unlike the poor souls stuck there.G.son was bored out of his mind, with nothing to do.This city was a nightmare, but Tula, oustide Moscow wasn’t much better. The large garden around the dacha has many fruit bushes and trees, which are normally heavy with fruit, but everything was shrivelled and dead. In a way, I was pleased, because the sheer size of fruit and veg. Is alarming, I was never happy about them eating it because of the fallout from the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl. Even the fish are enormous in the lake next to the dacha, which is full of rubbish, thrown in by local inhabitants, there being no rubbish collections there, so it is polluted..jeeepppeeerrrsss!
We went to a real rose grower in Limburg yesterday, bought some wonderful roses that have a lovely perfume, and were far less expensive than those you see at garden centers. Am getting rid of the old Conference pear tree in my garden, it has such tiny fruit this year, and nearly all of them have either dropped off or look decidedly unhappy.I never used to be so ruthless, would allow things to limp along, even though they looked awful, but have got rid of a lot of plants etc. this year that were past their ‘bloom-by date’, lol.The tomatoes I grew from seed of ones from last year, have much less tomatoes than former years, and are a lot shorter too.
Colin, we could have used your help back in early 2000, when the houses in the street my aunt lived (before she came to live in my house) had the roofs renewed, and all the asbestos got taken off. It shocked me to see the workmen climbing up and down ladders, with no protection whasoever, handling the asbestos, whilst the experts stayed on the ground, covered from head to toe in special overalls and head gear.The street wasn’t even blocked off, so all who lived there were exposed to the bits and pieces flying around. Shows again that human lives are worth nothing…After they were finished, I was picking bits of asbestos out of aunt’s garden for weeks.!
On this rather dire note, I will say goodbye for now, will try keep up with posts from now on, but, know that I am weak when there is so much to do.
Keep as well as possible everyone, and enjoy any good weather as much as possible, it will be a long time cold and miserable.

Eileen

Good night all.
I will be back.
But today has been a day full of visitors,
Phone calls, and news of both types.
I need to rest now, and get over the day we have had....
Love to all, and hope you all have a good restful sleep.
Love to all,
Deanna XXXX

Hello all, a wee update onour two autism service dogs, sandy and Dudley. we are having some VERY positive experiences with both dogs. Both have distinguished themselves now at the dentist's office. i told you about sarah having had a tooth pulled with minimal upset, now Gareth, for the FIRST time in his 9 years, has had his teeth cleaned by the dentist with the "buzzing thingy". Dudley lounged on top of Gareth and there was no fuss at all. Absolutely amazing. With the help you all provided, our lives have turned a corner.
It may be coincidence, but my blood pressure is the most normal it has been in 5 years, almost too low!!!
I was reduced to silent giggles yesterday when Emlyn began to outline for me,what she thought she would say AT MY FUNERAL!! I assured her I had no plans to need a funeral any time soon!! Apparently i am funny and like my feet massaged - 2 very pertinent points. Nothing about my wisdom of advanced years LOL.
Hugs,
Mary

Latest update on One-hand. We do have him interested in gardening again,mostly in a supervisor capacity,giving his orders.

He demanded his gardening books yesterday but could not see well enough to read them.Looks like I am going to have to find out how to get his cataracts treated.
It's all a learning curve I suppose.

Next thing he will be wanting a vasectomy or something!

Better get on with sorting out the freezer now,he is back on the blackberry picking.

Mary.... do you REALLY think that your little ones think of you as WISE?
No, no, no, no nooooo .....

What could you possibly know at your age?
Goodness, they come home from school at the age of 4 to 5 years old, and already "my teacher says....... " becomes their mantra, and do not even TRY to disagree with "my teacher".... lol

My girls were dividing my mother's things between them at 4 and 5 years old.
My mum loved it.... bless her.;-0)

Hello everyone.
Will you help me search for the DVD that my son brought me about an hour ago?
Where did I put it??

Have a lovely day everyone.
Deanna XXXX

DEANNA LOL - of course I am wise, the wisdom of advanced age LOL. . . .I am trying to be like you LOL. I suspect that most of my 'wisdom' comes from the things I've learned while correcting mistakes or escaping bad decisions.

I'd check for the DVD under the cushion of my fav chair, it's absolutely amazing what can fit in there . . . . . my chair is red but I'm sure the same goes for blue chairs.

Sharron I could do with some of those blackberries, I have been making 'bread and butter pickles', and going to get a 1/2 bushel of tomatoes today to make some 'ripe fruit relish' with pears and peaches mixed in with the tomatoes. Yummy, then on to jam this week. Can't make jelly because either Sarah & Gareth or the dogs would drink the drippings before I got to boil it up!

It's so dreary I almost think I am in the UK . . . oh I wish.
Hugs all round
Mary

Hi Mary, I did not mean to imply that you are NOT wise.
It is just that our children/grandchildren think that we are not so wise. Not once they have met teacher number one!
Then later, teacher knows NOTHING.... we become SO wise.... then with time , we become .......
absolutely STUPID....
Have you never noticed that Mary?

Oh, my chair.... yes, me too, I have left a lot of my brains in my blue chair. Well at least I know where to look for them. ha ha ha


How are you, and any one else on the thread today?

We seem to have been deserted by all our friends.
how can we get through the days without our friendly FIX of chat with our pals?

friend has taken her grandchildren on holiday this week, and bless them, it is pouring.
The beach does not offer it's best 'face' in the rain.
When mine were little, especially the boys, they did love the rain... something they inherited from me no doubt.
I love a good thunder & lightning storm, the heavier the more enjoyable it is for me.
My eldest boy had a yellow coat and sou'wester which my husband bought him to enjoy his walks in the rain...
I know that my boys got the love of it from me, but where did I get the love of the rain?
My poor mother was TERRIFIED of a storm.
What I did pass on to my sons was.... the fear of spiders!

The rain has started here again , and I mean sheets of it. The street is empty of people.

Will you Ever manage to get home for a holiday Mary, or be able to show the children where you came from?

Sharron.... peel a couple of apples, make a pie with them and the blackberries... a nice sprinkle of sugar over the top of the pastry... I will provide the custard, Allan will make the coffee...... and we can have it later.
Is that a plan?
A good plan me thinks!

I seem to remember making marmalade when I was young. We bought it in a big tin, with the instructions, and it made 5lb's of marmalade.
I did not really need to bother with jams, a my Ex MIL used to make the most delicious jams and marmalade... and lovely pies with the fruit she picked while out walking with her friend an their young sons.
She used to make lovely pies and serve them with CARNATION MILK.....
Oh dear.... I am in a state of maudlin remembrances . ;-0)

Well everyone, I suppose I will have to go as I am getting a bit worried about myself. Sitting here chatting away to myself cannot be a health thing to do.
So, I will go and do something else less STUPID.

Oh, I did find my DVD..... right by my chair.. where I myself put it!!!

Look after yourselves and come on an chat to me sometime...Eh?

Deanna XXXXX

Oh Deanna, some days I really feel quite dense!!

My dreams of making jam have vanished, as I received a free bushel of small cucs this morning -of course I couldn't refuse LOL.
most of them are now sitting overnight with onions and/or cauliflower to become pickles tomorrow. Thank goodness we have lots of jars!
off now to nurse the dog who is very unwell, not one of the service dogs thank goodness.
mary