Day out

Monday was my friend W's birthday. For ages we'd been planning to go to the Farne Islands for the day, but checking the met office website at the weekend I saw there was a severe weather warning and I doubted the boats to the Farnes would sail. Not only that, but even if they did sail I didn't particularly want to be in a little boat on the sea in a storm and then on an exposed little island with no shelter, and neither did W. On Sunday night W and I decided to postpone the Farne Islands trip and find something else to do to celebrate W's birthday, so we both spent quite sometime online searching for an alternative. Eventually I came across Chipchase Castle in Northumberland, which I'd heard the name of before, but that was it: I didn't know anything else about it. Well it seems that although it's still a private family home, they open it up to the public for a month every year in June, and they have nice gardens to wander around too, so that's where we decided to go.

When I got up on Monday morning I was a little miffed to see that it was quite sunny outside and wondered if maybe we could've gone up to the Farnes in the end, but it was already too late for that and I was determined to give W a good day for her birthday. Before going up to Chipchase Castle we went to Cafe Bar One for lunch (the other place in Newcastle, besides Peppy's, that I can eat out), which was very pleasant, and meant that W could have some birthday cake too. So anyway, then we made our way up to the Tyne Valley and found our way to Chipchase with the help of the wonderful thing of satelite navigation - essential in this case as I really didn't have much idea at all of where the Castle was and it wasn't marked on the road map. As we drove we could see the weather closing in, and just before we arrived we saw lightning flash not far ahead, but we seemed to circumnavigate the storm itself and hadn't actually seen a drop of rain before we arrived. The storm we saw as we approached Chipchase got closer as we stood in the grounds watching the sheep, the thunder crashed menacingly, the lightning flashed frequently and there was a constant booming as the storm got nearer. It came ever so close - within a mile I think - but it did actually reach us, although we got a good view of the storm. The sheep didn't like it much though and they looked very warily in the direction of the vicious storm before gradually drifting away from it's general direction. However, they were soon confused by another storm that quickly came rolling in from the opposite direction, and then a third and a fourth from the other two of the four sides of us. The thunder exploded all around us, with fireworks of lightning flashes flickering on all sides, but amazingly we stayed dry. It was like we were in a little pocket of calm amidst the tempestuous anger. I've never experienced anything quite like it.

In the end we did get a few drops of rain starting to fall on us so we headed into the house/castle for the tour (our own private tour as we were the only people there at this point), leaving the storms outside to battle with themselves. While we were inside it did rain quite heavily, and the thunder continued to crash around the area, but the storms never actually came right up to Chipchase. The tour was quite short, but it was interesting, and I felt quite privileged to allowed into, and shown around, this family home. After the house tour we were free to look around the gardens, pele tower and chapel (set out on its own in the first sheep field) on our own. It was all very lovely. I could waffle on describing it, but instead I'll post up a number of photos so you can see for yourself.

The castle

The sheep

The pele tower exterior

The pele tower interior

The chapel exterior

The chapel interior

The gardens

Chipchase castle and gardens closes at 5pm so after a mooch around the gardens we went off to find somewhere to have a cup of coffee, landing in Corbridge, which I knew a little from when I was a child and my father had lived in nearby Hexham, but I didn't remember it very well. Although there were various coffee shops and tea rooms in the town, they looked shut up and dark, but not to be defeated we thought that we might get a much needed cuppa at the pub we'd just passed so we wandered up the street and found ourselves entering a candlelit bar. It was a bit of a weird thing to walk into, but actually quite nice too. It turned out that the storms that had surrounded us while W and I were at Chipchase had been horrendous over Corbridge and had flooded some places and wiped out the town's electricity. With no electricity we couldn't have coffee so instead W had a glass of wine and I had an alcohol free Beck's, and just as we finished and were deciding to make tracks homeward, the pub's electricity came flickering back on.

I had been very conscious that W hadn't had the birthday day out originally planned, one that she'd been greatly looking forward to for quite some time, but I hoped that she'd still had an enjoyable day despite the storms. W reassured me that she'd had a lovely day and a great time, and I certainly had. We'll go to the Farnes when I'm back from my holiday to France (I go on Saturday!), but in the meantime I'm pleased to have discovered Chipchase Castle and would recommend it as a nice day out, even in the middle of a quartet of storms.

Check up

Let me start with another apology for again neglecting my blog. For the most part I've been enjoying having a break from studies so busy doing fun stuff :o) I've also been getting the paperwork sorted for my holiday to France in 10 days time :oD I'm very excited and have all my medical stuff translated into French now, thanks to a rather wonderful OU peer who read my blog, lives in France and offered her services of translation for my paperwork and if I have any medical problems while I'm out there. She's a marvel.

So now for today's post.

A couple of weeks ago I was getting twinges of toothache so I made an appointment with the dentist, but the earliest I could get was yesterday and of course, as is the way with these things, almost as soon as I made the appointment the toothache disappeared. As it had been some time since I'd seen the dentist (about a year, because as it turned out there was something wrong with their appointment recall system and I hadn't received the last appointment they'd sent out) I kept yesterday's appointment for a check up. I explained to Mr V (the dentist) that I'd had toothache when I'd made the appointment and when he checked my teeth he said there were no cavities, but my teeth were very sensitive and there was some gum recession. He said I should use a sensodyne mouthwash, but I pointed out to him that I'm allergic to mint/menthol so can't use it and haven't found a mouthwash I can use, and also that I'm allergic to colourings and all the mouthwashes I've seen are not only minty, but are always a lurid pink, blue or green. Mr V seemed to find it difficult to get his head around this for a while, but eventually did and said to use warm, salty water instead of a mouthwash. Anyway, he said that all he needed to do was a scale and polish, but as my teeth are so sensitive I'd be writhing around in the chair with pain if he did them there and then, so advised me to use the salt water mouthwash this week and he'd put some fluoride varnish on my teeth that should help and mean that when he does the scale and polish next week the pain shouldn't be too bad. He smeared the pastey varnish on my teeth and sent me on my way. The pastey varnish, though, had a taste that I vaguely recognised but couldn't identify ... until I was going down the dental surgery stairs and my lips started to swell. It was banana. I didn't go back up to the surgery, instead opting to go back to the car and get home as soon as I could, but by the time I got back to the car my lips were really quite swollen, my tongue was fizzy and swelling, my throat was itchy, my eyes were itchy and, I was feeling a bit nauseous and my lungs were tightening. I took a double dose (as prescribed by the immunologist) of each of the antihistamines I'm prescribed for severe allergic reaction and used my nebuliser. I probably shouldn't have driven, but all I could think was that I needed to get home, so that's what I did, whereupon I continued on with the meds, sat with my Epi-Pens, phone, mobile and care alarm next to me and hoped that the antihistamines would kick in. I probably ought to have sought medical help, and I certainly don't advise taking the risk that I did, but I got lucky and things did begin to settle. Once I was well enough I thought I should probably call the dental surgery, tell them what had happened and find out the name and ingredients of the thing the dentist had smeared on my teeth. I spoke to the receptionist rather than Mr V, and she was very concerned, but also very helpful. It turned out the stuff was called Duraphat, and she asked me if I wanted to speak to Mr V. I didn't think there was an awful lot of point in talking to him as there was now little he could do, but a couple of minutes after I put the phone down Mr V rang me, sounding very worried and said that he wanted to see me straight away. The dental practice has two surgeries and he was doing his afternoon surgery at the practice so that's where I was to go, but seeing as I thought I probably shouldn't drive I wasn't sure how I was going to get there so Mr V offered to pay for a taxi. That's what I did. Between ending the call and arriving at the surgery Mr V had spoken to them at the dental hospital and they advised that I either see my GP or go to A & E. Personally I didn't think there was an awful lot of point in doing either of these things now as I was better than I had been, even though I still didn't feel 100%, but Mr V wasn't happy so I opted for phoning my GP to ask them for advice. Mr V gave me their phone and waited while I called. I spoke to Michelle - one of the GP receptionists I know well - and explained the situation. She said I'd need to speak to the on-call doctor, that they'd call me back, but she couldn't say when that would be, so I prepared myself for a long wait at the dental surgery. Mr V was going to have to go somewhere before too long, but wanted me to stay at the surgery so the other dentists there could keep an eye on me while we waited for the GP to call back. He spoke to the first of the other dentists, explaining what had happened, who was as surprised as Mr V at the reaction I'd had (Mr V said he'd never heard of an allergic reaction to Duraphat, and hadn't known about bananas containing benzoates, but that that explained my reaction) and asked him to keep a close eye on me. He then went into the second of the other dentists and did the explanation thing, but came out saying that this other dentist's patient was a nurse and she'd said that I should go to A & E, and that I should go soon because otherwise the queues would start to build up. Mr V seemed very relieved to have this second opinion that I ought to be seen by a doctor and it was decided that that's what would happen. Again he offered to pay for a taxi for me to get to A&E, but first I had to call my GP surgery to tell them what was happening and that I now wouldn't need them to call me back. Michelle asked if the dentist was getting me an ambulance and when I told her that no, I was getting a taxi she said, 'A taxi. That's an interesting approach ... well, you know where we are if need us.'

I have to say that I felt like a bit of a twit arriving at A&E displaying few symptoms of severe allergic reaction by now, but saying how things had been earlier, but they were okay (although saying that I probably should have gone earlier) and I was seen fairly quickly. The doctor was rather patronising and obviously hadn't read the copious notes they have on me from my multiple admissions for my asthma. He questioned my 'possession' of so many different antihistamines, until I explained that they were prescribed by the immunologist; he questioned how I had access to a nebuliser (!) so I then had to explain about my asthma; he questioned my allergy to mint (I keep a list of all my meds and allergies and I'd given him this list) simply because he hadn't heard of it before. Anyway, after examining me he said that mostly I was okay, but I was tachycardic, breathing a little quickly and my peak flow was a bit low at 165, so he prescribed more nebulisers and said they'd keep me there for a while to make sure that I didn't have a second wave (biphasic reaction). After a couple of hours or so a different, much less patronising doctor came to see me, saying that the first one had now gone off shift but had handed me over. He redid my peak flow, which had picked up to 250 and he felt I was probably okay to go home, but because of my history (he'd looked at my notes) he didn't want me to feel like I was being pushed out before I was ready and he'd be happy to keep me in overnight if I felt like I needed to be. I didn't think I needed that and I felt lots better, though very tired by now. The doc checked that I had an Epi-Pen, was a little worried that I live alone, but reassured that I have the community care alarm. He gave me strict instructions to keep that beside me, the Epi-Pen beside me, all my other meds beside me and the phone beside me all evening/night, and if there was any deterioration at all then I was to 'dial the 9s' immediately.

I have now had the very weird, but very good experience of walking out of A&E! I don't know when the last time that happened was. In fact it was such an exciting experience for me that I had to take a photo of the exit/entrance as proof of it. Here's the photo:

Today I'm okay, but still very tired and still have that post-poisoned feeling so I've done very, very little, which is rather boring and very frustrating.

Even though things turned out okay in the end, yesterday really wasn't the day I'd had planned.

The next installment

I got post this morning, and in the post was a letter from the Criminal Justice System. I have been summoned to court to appear as a witness in the case of the attempted theft of the holey watering can! I can't really see how my evidence is going to help the case along, other than to say that I am the owner of the holey watering can, and that after being made aware of its attempted theft I looked out of the window and sure enough there was a space where the watering can had been. How on earth am I going to keep a straight face?! I'm sure I'll break down into fits of giggles at the absurdity of the situation.

As I reported in the update on the saga, the guy who tried to steal the watering can had gone missing for a while, but had then handed himself into the police. Now, I'd have thought this would be an admission of guilt ... as did the police when they contacted me after this event ... especially as he did then 'come clean' about his involvement in the situation and his use of the minor in the crime. However, it turns out that in his hearing on 20th May he pleaded 'Not Guilty', which seems quite odd to me, but I guess he thought he'd try his luck so we'll see what happens.

I guess I'm unlikely to hear anything more now until after the court case on 29th July, but I'll let you know. In the meantime, Wilfred is doing a fine job guarding the watering can, and as far as I'm aware no other attempted thefts have occurred.

Getting back on track

Now that I've had a few weeks out of hospital, and now that I've finished my course and all the work for it, I'm finally beginning to get my strength back. For the weeks I had the pneumonia and for a couple of weeks after getting home from hospital I was having to use my electric wheelchair most of the time, but now I'm up and about and having to build up my muscles again. This is great, although it's also hard work. I'm determined though and I'm slowly building up my muscles and strength, and I've just started back to a more structured fitness programme. Okay, so I'm a bit limited at the moment in what I can actually do, because it's been a fair while since my muscles were actually used properly, but I'm getting there. I started out on Saturday with a walk along Longsands beach at Tynemouth. I took it slowly, but had a nice time wandering, watching all the dogs that were around playing and chasing each other, getting sand in my shoes, and enjoying the sunshine :o) Sunday was another lovely day so this time I went to St. Mary's Lighthouse for a walk along the cliff tops. The tide was in so the island causeway was covered, but I quite liked that because it's not something I often see - usually finding myself there when the tide's out. I met a friendly chap taking photos of seagulls while I was up on the cliffs, and we spent quite a while chatting about photography and snippets of life before ambling back towards the car park together, where we parted. It was lovely.

So yesterday (Tuesday) I made it back to the gym/physio for the first time since before the pneumonia. I didn't do even half of what I had been doing before I went into hospital, but I worked hard nonetheless, and have felt it today, though not too painfully. I thought about going back to the gym today, but decided that I was a bit too tired to do anything effective and not wear myself out completely, so instead I decided to try walking into town and go to the gym again tomorrow. I have to say that I was quite tired by the time I got into town this afternoon, but it felt good to have made it, and also quite a surprise. I know it's not really that far (a couple of miles), but considering how sedate I've had to be for the past few months it was a real achievement. Having survived the trek into town I was determined not to waste the trip and only come home with the small packet of yeast I picked up from Waitrose, and the funky door key I had cut for my new front door, so I went to Waterstones and ended up buying/ordering the books for my next course. I'd vowed that I wasn't going to do this yet; that I was going to give myself a break, but I couldn't resist ... books are just too addictive. I've put them on a high shelf where I know I won't forget about them, but they're not in immediate reach so I can make sure that I read some things that are completley unstudy related. I have a huge pile of books I've been wanting to read for ages, so it shouldn't be hard to make myself read something unstudy related ... for a while at least.

Tomorrow I will go back to the gym, and back to building my strength and stamina. I still have the plan to do the gym marathon in October, but I'm also still waiting to hear back from the ward Charge Nurse about the ward's fund. I tried asking him about it when I was in hospital, but he was very busy and never had the time to get back to me about it. I'll try emailing him again ... and perhaps write to the ward Sister as well, who's perhaps a bit more organised than J ;oP However, when I have details about the fund I'll get back to you with a way to sponsor me (if you'd like to), but in the meantime I need to get back to getting fit enough to do the gym marathon by the end of October.

Getting back to getting fit is also helping me to focus again on getting back to losing weight. I've been trying to while I've been ill, and had some success, but it's been minimal, which I think is partly down to my infection-induced inactivity and increasing asthma symptoms, though of course also down to the usual thing of just not cutting down enough on what I'm eating. I'll get there, and now I'm getting back on track :o)

Well, one of the benefits of doing more is that I sleep better, and last night I slept very deeply :o) After this afternoon's walk into town I think I might sleep okay tonight too, and now is the time to see if I'm right. Night all :o)

Loose ends

I finished my ECA! Actually, I have to come clean and say that I finished it and handed it in to Regional Centre on Friday, but it's only now sinking in that the course is done and there's nothing more I can do but wait until my results come through sometime in early August. I worked so hard on getting my project as good as I could, but I was also desperate to finish, desperate for a break, and the desperation did at time burst through in the form of tears. The final deadline for getting the ECAs for this course to the OU's national centre in Milton Keynes isn't until this coming Friday, so I got mine in a week early. This is quite an achievement considering how poorly I'd been for weeks before hand and had been in hospital, and really it's not surprising that given the post-infection exhaustion I had tears over my studies. It's done now! It's over! I'm on holiday from study till October 3rd (when my next course - Children's Literature - begins)! Hurray!

Having been studying without any kind of break (hospital admissions don't count as breaks, especially as the deadlines don't stop when I go into hospital) since October 2006, I am more than ready for a study break, but it's also really rather strange. Suddenly I don't know what to do with myself. It's like there are almost too many options of things that I could do so I end up not doing any of them. Although, having said that, I have done some of those little jobs that have been put to one side for ages. The other day I actually changed the lightbulbs in the kitchen and the living room that had blown several months ago. I haven't been sat in complete darkness, but it's amazing how much difference working lightbulbs make ... or maybe it's not that amazing, and it's just that I've got used to sitting in dinginess. No more! I have light!

Oo yes, the other thing that's been going on here is that the council contractors have at last done the work to the outside of my flat that they've been telling me they were going to do since 2006/2007. I have sparkling new windows and smart new doors at the back and front - all very swish, and it makes the outside of the flat look so much better :o) At some point they're going to come back and paint the stonework too, but I don't know when that's going to be. So this new smartness to the inside of the house has also had an impact on the smartness on the inside of the house, because you can't change the outside of a door without also changing the inside (funny that!), so the front porch is brighter and smarter, and the kitchen - where the backdoor is - is also smarter. I decided to treat the smart, new kitchen window next to the smart, new backdoor to a smart, new blind. The old one was nice, but I was bored with it and actually it cut out quite a lot of light. I had to cut the new one to size and I did that when the workmen were here changing the front door on Monday. Once I'd done that I sat in the living room for a moment thinking, 'I could probably put this up at the window myself, but ... hmmm ... there are men who know what they're doing with this kind of thing in my house at the moment ... I wonder ...' so I decided to be cheeky and ask if they'd do me a favour and put the new blind up for me. They did! Hurrah! :o)

Other loose ends that I've been tidying up have included getting my passport sorted out. It's only a month now till I go on holiday to France, and I was getting a little worried that I hadn't left enough time to get my passport back (I hadn't been well enough to get my photo done for the new passport so hadn't been able to send the forms off), so I phoned the helpline and they thought all would be okay. I sent the forms off, which I'd filled in online, and got my new passport through about ten days later! Brill! In the same line of things, I've been to the doc's to ask for the letter I'll need for the aeroplane to take my EpiPens and nebules in my hand luggage, because otherwise they're considered a terrorist hazard! I still need to get my hospital letters and allergies translated into French, but I have had an offer by a lovely blog reader and fellow OU student to do that :o) All I need to do is get the info to her, so that's something for the next couple of days.

So I'm finding various bits and pieces to do in my new-found freedom from study, but I haven't yet got used to being guilt-free about not studying. Dare I say, sometimes I even begin to feel bored!!! I'm at a bit of a loose end ... though I'm sure I'll get used to it and will enjoy it too.

Right then, I'm off to bed in a mo. I didn't sleep well last night, only getting about three and a half hours :o( It was quite muggy here yesterday evening and my lungs don't like that, which I think is why they were quite grumpy last night. I then woke up with the early morning light coming through the (new) window, which was nice in an 'it's summer and summer is lovely' kind of way, but it was too early and I couldn't get back to sleep :o( So yes, it's now time for bed and hopefully a better night's sleep.

Night all.

Protection

You may remember the incident of the holey watering can. There have been developments. A week or so before I went into hospital I had a letter from Victim Support offering me counselling for the trauma caused by the attempted theft of said holey watering can! Can you imagine my turning up to see a counsellor in distress at the event of which I knew nothing until it had been brought to my attention later in the day of its happening? I think I'd either be laughed at or carted away on the grounds of being far too sensitive for my own good. Now I know that Victim Support do a marvellous job, and I'm not belittling the work they do, but really, how can it be imagined that I'd be traumatised by the attempted theft of a watering can with holes in the bottom, and an attempt that I didn't know had even taken place until a while afterwards? It beggars belief. Needless to say, I'm not taking up their offer of counselling.

Last month it was my birthday, and aware of the attempted theft of the watering can, and aware of the uselessness of the worms in the wormery beside said watering can, my friend K got me a protector for the can. Meet Wilfred:

Don't you think he's rather fine? I have to say that I never, ever thought I'd be in possession of a garden gnome (or a guarding gnome ;oP ), but look, Wilfred even has his own little watering can! He clearly cares about the destiny of such things and would hate to see one come to a bad end, so here he is guarding the holey watering can that has caused such a stir:

Marvellous!

Now it's good to know that the police are protecting us from the villains of the world, but it has seemed rather surreal that a significant amount of police time has been spent on the search for the watering can thief. I know that the real issue isn't the can, but the fact that the 'leader of the operation' coerced a minor into the illegal activities of trespass and theft/attempted theft ... and that is why police time has been taken up on this matter, but still, if you look at the smaller picture - that of the watering can - it seems very trivial. So anyway, when I came out of hospital I had a message on my answer machine from PC May, the enthusiastic trainee police officer who had been investigating my traumatic experience. He didn't say much in the message, but sounded quite excited. A day or so after I picked up the message I had another phone call from him asking if I'd heard of developments in the case, which of course I hadn't as I'd been otherwise engaged in relearning the art of breathing. Oh, he was excited! PC May went on to inform me that the man they had initially tracked down as responsible for the crime had given false details and gone missing, and it turned out that he'd been living not at the address that he'd given the police, but in various hostels. After a couple of weeks of having disappeared though, the man had walked into a police station and handed himself in - a villain with a conscience! Only not enough conscience to admit to the coersion of a minor as he then proceeded to insist that he had nothing to do with the child, had no responsibility for him, and certainly hadn't led him into a life of crime. Only then he crumbled and admitted he was guilty. And the consequence of this? The case of the attempted theft of the holey watering can is going to court!!!!! Oh my! I am going to feel so incredibly foolish if I have to stand up in court as a witness (which I'm assured by the police, without having asked, will be under the witness protection programme and I can give evidence via video-link if I want!). 'Yes, Your Honour, I am victim to the crime of the attempted theft of a holey watering can that I once grew rosemary in, hence the holes. No, Your Honour, I didn't see anything ... or hear anything, because I was tucked up in bed and fast asleep at the time, having taken a sleeping tablet the night before. I do have a box of worms, which my father gave me for Christmas, next to where said holey watering can was taken from, but they have not been forthcoming with information regarding events of the morning, nor with giving a description of the villain. Your Honour, there is no need to look distressed at the uselessness of the worms' observation skills as I now have a fine protector in Wilfred,' at which point I could hold up a photo of Wilfred. I could, of course take the real thing, but that would mean leaving the watering can unprotected so it's probably best that I just take a photo.

PC May was so excited at the prospect of this going to court. Aren't you glad that your taxes are being spent on the protection of my watering can? I can hear your cheers of support from here. How about giving Wilfred a cheer too? I'm sure he'd appreciate acknowledgement for the fine job he's now doing. After all, so far as I know, no crook has tried to steal the holey watering can since Wilfred took over its protection.

Safely home

Sorry for the delay in updating you all. I did indeed manage to get home on Sunday and I've been enjoying being back, although I've also been rather tied up with writing my final project for my current OU course. Because this is a creative writing course then the final project isn't quite a dissertation, but rather it's a long short story. I'd done a first draft before I went into hospital (I'm not quite sure how I managed to get my head around doing that when I was feeling so poorly, but I'm glad I did), but I wasn't at all happy with the ending. In my post-hospital stupour and recover period I've been trying to re-write the end of my story and got myself so tied up in knots that I haven't been able to see what's been good and what's been bad about what I had. I've written three or four different versions of the end, but now have something that I'm happier with ... which is a relief as I ended up in tears over it yesterday - testament to the exhaustion that illness causes. The ECA (End of Course Assessment) isn't finished yet as I still have a commentary to write - a reflection on the process of writing the story - but the end is in sight. This is just as well as the completed ECA needs to have reached the Open University central office by 22nd May, which is only two weeks away! :oO

My mother has been staying with me for a few days this week, looking after me in the aftermath of the most recent admission. It's been lovely to have her around, especially while I've been so tired from the pneumonia, asthma, and hospital experience, and so wound up by the ECA. Mum's going home (Edinburgh) tomorrow afternoon, but as was already planned, I'm going up to stay with her for a few days next week. We're going to the theatre on Tuesday evening to see 'West Side Story', which promises to be excellent.

So that's a quick update of where things are at and where things have been, and where I've been.

I have news to get back to you with, but there'll be more on that in the next post.